Global Voices Online

Stories

Swahili blogosphere: Sounds of Wisdom, Peacekeeping mission and the Last King of Scotland

J. Nambiza Tungaraza · 17:08

Boasting a line up of artists from Sub-Saharan Africa as well as from Europe, the annual Sauti za Busara 2007 Festival (Sounds of Wisdom Music Festival), took place this week in Zanzibar.

Tanzania's leading Photoblogger, Issa Michuzi, takes us around the festival and pays a special tribute to Bi Kidude, a 95 years old 2005 winner of WOMEX World Music award. He follows Bi Kidude on stage as well as backstage relaxing with fans.
Busara Live has a collection of videos from the festival.

Another photoblogger Mrocky posts a picture of Tanzanian troops ready to leave for their first peacekeeping mission outside of Africa. They are joining the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

(more…)

2 comments · »»

The Global Voices Valentine's Day poetry contest: let the judging begin!

Georgia Popplewell · 13:52

Many thanks to all who submitted entries for the Global Voices Valentine's Day poetry contest. We had 28 submissions in all, including some fine doggerel, plus one entry from an actual dog!

As this contest was a spur-of-the-moment idea cooked up on the GV mailing lists, a few things fell through the organisational cracks. Among the more notable of these was our failure to announce how the winning entries would be determined. This was easily remedied, however, as the only person who seemed to notice this omission also happened to be highly qualified to judge the competition.

It is my great pleasure, therefore, to introduce our esteemed contest judge, Nicholas Laughlin, Global Voices author and editor of the Caribbean Review of Books (he's also a published poet, by the way).

AND NOW, JUDGE FOR YOURSELF . . .

As a professional, Nicholas is going to have to be a little harder on those who didn't follow the contest rules, which means that some of your favourite entries may be out of the running. So we've also decided to open a separate round of voting to you, our dear readers.

For the People's Choice Award, all 28 entries qualify, even those submitted after the contest closing date, with one caveat: we could not facilitate the translation of foreign language submissions submitted after midnight PST on February 14, 2007.

Here's how you can help determine the winner of the People's Choice Award: (more…)

2 comments · »»

A Week Goes by in Kuwait

Abdullatif AlOmar · 10:57

From a new movie to a naming special day after a popular soft drink (pop for Americans) to creating Kuwait's very own supermarket brand. These were some of the conversations going on at the Kuwaiti blogospehere last week.

K TheKuwaiti talks about a new movie Sharq that is produced in Kuwait. He posts a link to its trailer.

“Sharq” (”EAST”), Directed by Erik Sandoval and Produced by Abdulaziz Alsharhan, “Sharq” is one of the first independent filmes produced in KUWAIT. Stay tuned for links to the trailer and still shots of the movie due to be released in the “Hala Febrayer” festival in Kuwait theatres among many competitions worldwide

Meanwhile, a couple of Kuwaiti bloggers declared February 14 Shani Day ( Shani is a soft drink that is found around the Gulf countries and produced by Pepsi Co ) Nibaq shows us in one picture how long he is planning to celebrate the day.

intlxpatr takes a picture of a house which she calls the mangaf mansion. She enjoyed its unique look and says:

Every time I see this house, I grin. I love it that someone has the money and the imagination to build exactly the house he wanted, and that he did it knowing he would probably get criticism. He built it anyway. Good on him.

(more…)

0 comments · »»

Lebanon: Terrorist Attack and Hariri’s Commemoration

Moussa Bashir · 10:11

Two years ago, on February 14, a massive terrorist explosion targeting Rafic Hariri took away his life and the lives of many others. Fast forward, two years and many dramatic incidents later, the Lebanese marked the event with a mass rally in Martyr’s Square. A day before the memorial, a tragic terrorist explosion targeted innocent civilians as two buses exploded in the village of Ain Alaq, near Bikfaya, in Mount Lebanon. Bloggers discussed these two events with posts and photos. The following are a sample of the Lebanese blogosphere’s take on the subjects:
On the Ain Alaq terrorist attack:

Pierre Tristam comments on the explosions and reminisces about his childhood experiences in this part of Lebanon:

How pitiful it all seems. How disarming of any hope for good will. How shattering of those petty old memories—the resort on the hill, the imaginary occupants and their colors within—that had managed all these years to live on unscathed. I don’t believe in the whole psychology of repressed memories. I do believe in the vengefulness of memories, once they decide, as they so often do, to seize on a contemporary event’s violence and absurdity, and recast one’s personal history accordingly.

Angry Anarchist questions how some leaders are capable of predicting these terrorist acts and asks for investigations and trials for the atrocities committed during the civil war:

What I cannot believe is not that there was a bombing — we all knew it was coming, our very own Nostradamus, Samir Geagea, “predicted” it. What I cannot believe is how some people find it in themselves to translate such a horrible act…
Speaking of the investigation and tribunal, why not investigate the systematic murder of 150,000 people (that includes Palestinians, in case some people forgot the Palestinians were people) in 15 years? Maybe that will settle once and for all the Martians vs. Lebanese issue. Oh I see, the ones calling for the international tribunal for the Hariri assassination were the same ones who carried out those massacres and killings. Oh wait, sorry, I take that back. It was the Martians.

(more…)

1 comment · »»

Links for Roundups

Sub-Saharan Africa

La Réunion local official Eric Fruteau writes (Fr): “After the end of slavery in 1848, after departmentalization in 1946 and all the other fights to end colonial misery, instaure the great social laws that have marked our island, after the achievement of social equality, we must now anticipate and prepare for reflection on the future and lasting development.”

Sub-Saharan Africa

Za'Gasy posts (Fr) pictures of Mahajanga, Madagascar and asks readers to post about what they inspire.

Middle East & North Africa

Palestinian blogger Haitham Sabbah gives us a brief round up of happenings on the Palestinian-Israeli front this week here.

East Asia

Yangon Thu is pondering setting up an information portal for guest Burmese workers to prevent them from getting exploited by scrupulous agents and contractors.

East Asia

Cakap Tak Serupa Bikin ridicules Malaysian government's plans to strictly enforce its affirmative action policies in infrastructure projects. Malaysia awards a lot of its official contracts to Bumiputra (ethnic Malay) contractors. These contractor in turn used to sub-contract it to local or foreign sub-contractors who may not necessarily be bumiputras. Now the government wants the contractors to sign an official declaration not subcontract the project to others.