Global Voices · Citizen media stories from 2008 July 19

19 July 2008

Daily archive · 11 posts

Stories from 19 July 2008

Bahrain: Obsessed with a Turkish soap opera

Written by Ayesha Saldanha · Middle East & North Africa

A Turkish soap opera, Noor, has become a hit in the Arab world, with reports of fights and even divorces occurring because of the obsession of many women with the handsome male star, Kıvanç Tatlıtuğ, who plays Muhannad. Some Bahraini bloggers have been examining the popularity of the drama series amongst Arabs.

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China: Looking back at a campus shooting

Written by John Kennedy · East Asia, North America

“...the first few days with the cast were really strange, everyone kept whispering to each other wondering if I was a big kung fu master back in China.” Why does it always have to be so awkward when Chinese and Americans get together?

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Saudi Arabia: What if Olive Riley Had Blogged All Along?

Written by Amira Al Hussaini · Middle East & North Africa

The world's oldest blogger, Australian Olive Riley has died at the age of 108. In mourning her death, Mohammed Al Shehri, from Saudi Arabia, wonders what the legacy Riley would have left behind been like, had the Internet and blogging been available all along.

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Global Voices' New Public Health Editor, Juhie Bhatia

Written by Solana Larsen · Announcements

Last month, we announced six new Rising Voices citizen media projects in partnership with the Open Society Institute’s Health Media Initiative. This month, we're pleased to introduce our new Public...

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Brazil: Tears and Cheers for Middle East Prisoner Swap

Written by Paula Góes · Middle East & North Africa, Latin America

Brazilian of Arab descent or bloggers interested in all things Middle Eastern talk about the Israel-Lebanon Prisoner Exchange. Considering that Brazil is the country that arguably holds the largest Arab population outside the Middle East, there are very passionate points of views both for and against the deal, and as much tears as cheers.

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China: Olympics side-effect on industry

Written by Bob Chen · East Asia

What will be the cost of presenting an unprecedented Olympics? A dialogue between a blogger and workers somewhat revealed the predicament met by heavy industry in China during the Games.

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India: Should Pre-Marital HIV Testing Be Mandatory?

Written by Juhie Bhatia · South Asia

In an attempt to lower HIV rates, the Indian state of Maharashtra introduced a controversial proposal earlier this year, which would make it compulsory for couples to undergo an HIV test before getting married. Our new Public Health Editor, Juhie Bhatia, makes her debut.

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Sudan: Reactions to the ICC charges against al-Bashir

Written by SudaneseDrima · Sub-Saharan Africa

Since the ICC's prosecutor asked for an arrest warrant for President al-Bashir of Sudan a few days ago, there haven't been many big reactions in the Sudanese blogosphere (although we covered reactions of several bloggers elsewhere in Africa in this roundup). However, the Sudanese debate has been alive and full of passion on Facebook.

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Israel: Why did Israel Approve the Hezbollah Deal?

Written by Gilad Lotan · Middle East & North Africa

A day after the controversial deal with Hezbollah, many Israelis are still puzzled and disappointed. Puzzled over why their government accepted the terms of this deal, knowing that the kidnapped soldiers were not alive. How did the government and security entities approve handing back live prisoners with blood on their hands for dead bodies?

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Palestine: The Word of the Israeli Against that of an Arab

Written by Yasmine Abu Khazneh · Middle East & North Africa

A few days after the release of Lebanese Samir Kuntar from three decades in an Israeli prison, Palestinians bloggers are reminded that when it is the word of an Israeli against that of an Arab, the Israeli's will always be the one to be considered.

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Updates from 19 July 2008

Guinea-Bissau

Commenting on a piece of news about the arrest of a three Venezuelans suspected of being smuggling cocaine into West Africa, Jorge Rosmaninho [pt] asks: “if three were caught, how many of them have passed through unscathed?”

• Paula Góes

Brazil

Brazilian comedian and actress Dercy Gonçalves, famous for irreverent interviews and notorious bad language, died today at the age of 101 years [June 23 1907 - July 19 2008). 365 Dias [365 Days, pt] uploads a collection of films to remember her career.

• Paula Góes

Brazil

Nardol translated the new Brazilian Cyber Crime Bill: “So the World can be made aware of what’s going on in Brazil. I also just sent an email with it to EFF, asking for their help. Not that I think they can do much, but they surely will know one or two strings to pull in order to put more pressure on the Brazilian government.” Read the bill text in English.

• Paula Góes

U.S.A.

Regrets only: An Africa Journal comments on the recent report by Refugees International about “the increased militarization of U.S. foreign aid” and how it “is complicating the achievement of American foreign policy goals in Africa”. He also posts a response from AFRICOM to the report.

• Elia Varela Serra

Saudi Arabia

7alablog [Ar] celebrates his third year as a blogger in Saudi Arabia.

• Amira Al Hussaini

Central African Republic

Brock Boddie at HPDT CAR, a blog by the humanitarian and development organizations in the Central African Republic, writes about Prime Minister Faustin Touadera's emergency appeal for international support after a failure of the country’s power system, as “without electricity, cleaning water, providing minimal health care and maintaining security would all become virtually impossible”. On a different post he speaks about the Dzanga-Sangha nature reserve (including some photos), which “offers some of the most beautiful and pristine wildlife that can be found in Africa and, indeed, the world”.

• Elia Varela Serra

Zimbabwe

Chipo at Sokwanele's This is Zimbabwe blog, expresses his anger about the current inflation situation in the country: “Last week chaos reigned again as the banks were choc-a-block with transfers. Delays became longer and longer. Salaries and wages were not honored. And while the banks were busy “processing”, the value of the money was eroding rapidly”.

• Elia Varela Serra

Armenia

Unzipped says that while the first 100 days of the new Armenian president, Serge Sargsyan, were a missed opportunity to implement major changes in the country, they were notable for what appears to be an unprecedented opportunity for reconciliation with Turkey. Commenting on news reports, the blog says that there is now a shift with regards to policy towards Armenia's western neighbor.

• Onnik Krikorian

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