· June, 2008

Stories about Weblog from June, 2008

GV Summit- Day Two Completed!

  30 June 2008

While Day One of the Global Voices Summit focused on Advocacy, today focused more upon Global Voices proper, with information presented on the other GV projects of Rising Voices and Lingua. The day began with an introduction by Georgia Poppelwell (GV Managing Director) and Solana Larsen (GV Managing Editor), in...

Public Health Projects to Use Citizen Media to Empower Community Voices

  28 June 2008

Rising Voices and Open Society Institute's Health Media Initiative are happy to announce the six newest health-focused citizen media outreach projects. We received over 110 proposals from health activists and organizations based in over 50 different countries. The six selected grantees represent the most innovative applications of citizen media tools like blogs, podcasts, and online video to help further the advocacy goals of public health organizations, and to empower the communities they work with.

Israel: Sarkozy Security Scare at Airport

As French President Nicholas Sarkozy departed Israel's Ben-Gurion Airport, shots rang out. A quick assessment revealed that one of the Israeli members of Sarkozy's security detail had turned his weapon on himself, apparently committing suicide. The victim, whose name has not been revealed at his family's request, was in his...

GV Summit: Day One a Success!

The first day of the Global Voices 2008 Summit in Budapest, Hungary was a wild success, as far as we can see (obviously we can't know all of the implications this early in the game). The morning started with an introduction from Ethan Zuckerman and Rebecca MacKinnon, founders of Global...

Shhh… The Global Voices Citizen Media Summit 2008 Has Begun

  27 June 2008

If it's quiet on Global Voices the next couple of days, it's because we've transported around 80 of our editors, authors, and translators to Budapest, Hungary for a Summit about online freedom of expression, citizen media, and the role of Global Voices in the next year. You can follow all...

Palestine: She Shoots, She Scores

Muna Nawajaa has scored a victory for social justice. Using a camera given to her by B'Tselem's Shooting Back project, Palestinian Nawajaa recorded the masked beating of members of her family, resulting in an investigation and arrest of suspects by Israeli police. In a post entitled “Cameras as Weapons,” Uriel...

Morocco: Shutting down Al Jazeera?

After a clash between protestors and police in Sidi Ifni lead to injuries and possible deaths, Al Jazeera issued a report at a news conference held by the Moroccan Human Rights Centre that several protestors had been killed. The Moroccan authorities, angered by the report, charged Al Jazeera's Rabat bureau...

Israel: Broken Truce Angers Israelis

Six days after Israeli and Palestinian forces brokered a ceasefire agreement, four kassam rockets fired from Gaza blasted the Western Negev. Islamic Jihad claimed credit for the attack, while Hamas, Palestine's ruling party, encouraged “all Palestinian factions to abide by the calm agreement,” asserting, “Hamas is keen to maintain the...

Cambodia: Riding the Wave of Change

  26 June 2008

In a country where men tend to have more privileges in family and society, a new wave of change is about to begin. Sopheap Chak is another urban woman with initiatives and ambitions. The 23-year-old, originally from Kampong Cham province, is a prominent human rights activist. When she talks about changes she believes in it's as if she's a new hopeful inspirational leader.

Ecuador: Constituent Assembly President Steps Down

  25 June 2008

The president of the Ecuadoran Constituent Assembly, Alberto Acosta, recently stepped down. Many local bloggers are wondering the role that President Rafael Correa and his political party had in this resignation. Others wonder about the future of the new Constitution and whether articles will be passed through without much discussion, now that a person considered to be fair is no longer presiding over the debate.

“Qatar's greatest football moment…”

Football fans in Qatar were ecstatic over the Qatari national teams 1-0 win over Iraq in a World Cup qualifier. Greeker described it as “Qatar's greatest football moment…” writing: 75th minute, Said Bachir heads in a goal. A moment frozen in time. QATAR lives its greatest moment in international football....

Morocco: The Fez Festival of World Sacred Music

As the 14th annual Fez Festival of World Sacred Music comes to a close, bloggers – both Moroccan residents and travelers – share their experience with this year's festival. The View from Fez bloggers, who were fortunate enough to be in the thick of things for all of the festival,...

Korea: Hiddink’s Miracle and Korean Politics.

  24 June 2008

When Hiddink led the Korean soccer team into the semifinals of the 2002 World Cup he became a hero in Korea. Everywhere – in bookstores and on advertisements – was his face. People were busy talking about his leadership and fresh thought. He was harshly criticized by the media early...

Uzbekistan: Fighting internet censorship

Today, Uzbekistan is remaining one of the repressive countries in the region that maintains a tight grip on mass media. Despite it has all the nominal guarantees of the freedom of speech, the media is being systematically attacked by the government. The article 5 in the law of the Republic...

Russia: “Football Revolution”

It was a wild, sleepless night in Russia, following the national football team's 3-1 win over the Netherlands and its advance to the Euro 2008 semi-finals on Saturday. In the streets of Moscow, some 500,000 fans celebrated this unexpected victory - and similar euphoria engulfed most Russian cities as well. Below are a few reactions and photo posts by Russian bloggers.

Venezuela: Government Halts Proposed Education and Intelligence Policy Changes

  21 June 2008

In 2007, when President Hugo Chávez announced that he was going to begin the “5 engines for the construction of socialism in Venezuela,” he did not know that one year later that he would be changing speeds or in some cases, going in reverse. This is part 1 in a series of articles about some of these changes in education and intelligence policies.

China: Is the West afraid of our patriotism?

  20 June 2008

Are there factors informing your perception of China circa 2008? Novelist-blogger and researcher of worldly affairs Yang Hengjun moves on from ‘How did America cover up the truth of the bombing of our embassy in Yugoslavia?’ to his post last week, ‘Are Western countries afraid of the Chinese people's patriotic...