Global Voices · Citizen media stories from 2008 October 31

31 October 2008

Daily archive · 8 posts

Stories from 31 October 2008

Pakistan: Baluchistan Quake

On Wednesday morning an earthquake shook the eastern section of Pakistan tipping the Richter Scale at a massive 6.5. The most devastated region was Ziarat, a remote location in Baluchistan....

· read »

Corporations Agree to Standards for Internet Freedom

Written by Ivan Sigal · North America

The Global Network Initiative has been launched. The Initiative is a code of conduct for corporations on privacy and free speech created by a coalition of human rights, media development...

· 4

· read »

Frightful Facts or Fantastical Fictions?

Written by Juliana Rincón Parra · Sub-Saharan Africa, East Asia

This third part of the "Lore, ghosts, demons and frights" series has arrived, and we are looking this time a bit beyond the Latin American borders. With this last installment, we seek out the Chupacabras, stick our heads into Voudou rites, observe examples of exorcism and inquire after a cannibal murderer who has become a Venezuelan legend.

· read »

China: Blog is Outdated?

Written by Oiwan Lam · East Asia

The 4th Chinese Blogger Conference will be held November 15-16th, 2008, in Guangzhou, China. However, in the past year, there is a continuing discussion in the Chinese blogosphere on whether...

· 3

· read »

D.R. of Congo: Blogging From the War Zone

Written by Ndesanjo Macha · Sub-Saharan Africa

The following are eye-witness accounts from bloggers based in the Eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo about the situation in the area following fresh clashes between rebels, government and UN forces.

· 7

· read »

BOBs: Global Videobloggers Compete for Award Part 2

Written by Juliana Rincón Parra · Western Europe, Latin America

Earlier this week we visited the videoblogs of some of the nominees for the BOBs, Deutsche Welle's Best of Blogs awards. On this second part, we'll see which other videobloggers...

· 2

· read »

D.R. Congo: Confusion Reigns in Goma

Written by Elia Varela Serra · Sub-Saharan Africa

Two months ago fighting resumed in the DR Congo's Eastern province of North Kivu between the rebel group led by Laurent Nkunda and government forces, in violation of a peace accord signed in January. The fighting has intensified during the last 6 days and, although a cease-fire was announced, the situation remains uncertain in Goma. Here are a few impressions from bloggers on the ground.

· 2

· read »

Japan: Thoughts on Itochu trading scam

Written by Chris Salzberg · East Asia

On October 10th, Itochu Corporation announced that it had paid close to one hundred billion yen in false transactions valued at nearly 100 billion yen to Mongolian suppliers for construction machinery and materials. One blogger and chartered accountant offers their thoughts on what happened inside Itochu.

· read »

Updates from 31 October 2008

Russia

Massachusetts-based Eugene Ivanov of Ivanov's Report explains why he is voting for Barack Obama.

• Veronica Khokhlova

Russia

Window on Eurasia writes that “ethnic Chinese working and living in the Russian Far East find their surrounding social and political scene far more congenial than do their co-ethnics living in Moscow or other cities in European Russia but are far less interested in remaining there permanently than the latter group.”

• Veronica Khokhlova

Ukraine

Leopolis explains in detail the current economic and political situation in Ukraine: “The stakes are high: Ukraine's economic health, its image for international investors, and a risk of default. Just as the Ukrainian stock market has seen 75% of its value wiped away, the current political crisis may undo every gain made by the ‘orange revolution'.”

• Veronica Khokhlova

Serbia

“[…] In a dingy underground passage that connects two sides of one of Belgrade's main streets,” A Yankee-in-Belgrade discovers someone who could possibly become a promising fashion designer and posts a picture of this person's work: “Whoever created them should consider a career in fashion and literally move up, I think.”

• Veronica Khokhlova

Albania

Balkan File links to a BBC story on “Albanian women who became men, not as transsexuals, but because the man of the house had died, leaving a mother alone with her daughters.”

• Veronica Khokhlova

Serbia

Belgraded contributes an article on what it's like to be a mother in Serbia to the Women's International Perspective, becoming “one of the rare men blogging there.” Showcased in the article is a Serbian blog called Majka Hrabrost (”Mother Courage”), whose author, Krugolina, blogs (SRP) about childbirth issues and has recently been “invited to have a chat with the Serbian Health Minister”: “It is a case of a simple citizen action that could actually help change the current poor state in Serbian maternity wards.”

• Veronica Khokhlova

Came to find this post after signing the AllOut petition (which already has almost 50k signatures, and needs to grow...
Please sign this if you are pro