5 November 2008

Stories from 5 November 2008

Southeast Asia celebrates Obama’s victory

  5 November 2008

Southeast Asian bloggers are celebrating the victory of President-elect Barack Obama. In fact, Obama's election success has led many bloggers in the region to reflect about the need for change in their local politics.

Egypt: The Struggle to Wear Hijab on TV

  5 November 2008

Faith tackled the story published by BCC, about Ghada El-Tawil who recently returned to television, after she was sacked from her job as anchorwoman in the Egyptian National Television six years ago when she began wearing a headscarf or Hijab.

The Lusosphere for Obama

  5 November 2008

See how bloggers from Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde and East Timor are celebrating Obama as the new US president, and how they hope his election will bring change to their own countries.

Mexico: Plane Crash Carrying Top Government Officials Leaves Doubts

  5 November 2008

On Tuesday evening, a small plane carrying 8 people including two important members of the Mexican government's fight against crime and drug-trafficking crashed into rush-hour traffic in a Chapultepec neighborhood and left at least 13 people dead. Due to the nature of the officials' work and the risk faced by government and security officials, many are wondering whether it was the work of drug cartels exacting their retaliation or whether it was an unfortunate accident.

Bhutan: Crowning of a new King

  5 November 2008

Cigay at Kuzu-Bhutan weblog writes a poem as a tribute to the coronation celebrations of the King Fifth Druk Gyalpo to be held tomorrow in Thimphu, Bhutan.

Nepal: Learning from US election

  5 November 2008

Kumar Paudel at Nepaleon writes on the US election: “Will Nepali leaders learn from this event? Do they have courage to accept their failures in election and congratulate the winners? I doubt. But, they need to learn.”

Jamaica: Farewell to the Dragon – Byron Lee

  5 November 2008

Despite earlier rumours of his death, Jamaica awoke this morning to the news of the passing of the legendary Byron Lee. Lee, bandleader of the Dragonaires, died at the University Hospital of the West Indies yesterday, November 4, 2008, after a two year battle with cancer. Although the news was...

Bangladesh: Cloud of uncertainty over election

  5 November 2008

An Ordinary Citizen writes on the steps of BNP, one of the major political party in Bangladesh to delay the impending parliament election: “BNP will make a unforgivable mistake if it does not join election.”

Egypt: Activist's Flickr Account Censored

  5 November 2008

Egyptian activists are screaming foul after Flickr resorted to 'censoring' their accounts on the photo sharing network. Two activists report that their accounts have been censored - and supporters are threatening to migrate to other services if the blackout continues. Nermeen Edrees reports from Cairo.

Obama and India

  5 November 2008

The election of Barack Obama was a keenly watched event in India. Obama appears to have been the choice for President for many bloggers in India. Here is an quick snapshot of the initial reactions from bloggers in India about the historical significance of Obama's election. Interestingly, an underlying theme...

Obama for Bangladesh

  5 November 2008

The US presidential election was closely watched by many nations in the world. Bangladesh was not far behind. In a recent post in Voices without Votes we see how Bangladeshi blogs engaged in cheering for Obama and McCain. What impact the victory of the US presidential elect senator Barack Obama...

Paraguay: Violence Between Supporter Groups

  5 November 2008

A fan of the Paraguayan football club Sportivo Luqueño recently died at the hands of rival fans. Mabel Rehnfeldt of El Dedo en la Llaga [es] is placing the blame on the clubs’ management for looking the other way when dealing with supporter groups.

Azerbaijan: Good Morning, Mr. President

  5 November 2008

The View From Baku posts an account and video from the Hyatt Regency where the U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan invited American citizens to watch the election returns from yesterday's presidential vote. The bloggers says the emotion was surprising and that many Azerbaijanis congratulated him on Barrack Obama's victory.

Costa Rica: Rise in Telemarketing Calls

  5 November 2008

Opinion 3ccv is fed up with the increasing number of “spam” telephone calls [es] being received at home. The majority are from travel agencies offering packages and from credit card companies.

Mexico: Dangers With Peseros

  5 November 2008

Daniel Manrique of Tome Chango Su Banana [es] writes about the some of the dangers of the public buses in Mexico City. “Peseros” have been involved in accidents, often due to inexperienced young drivers and writes, “why do they hire 18-year-olds with no experience and entrust them with the lives...

Egypt: Noha makes Egyptians angry!

  5 November 2008

On October 24, Noha made Egyptians proud when in an unprecedented case, sexual harasser Sherif Gommaa was sentenced to three years behind bars, hard labor, and was also ordered to pay 5,001 Egyptian pounds fine to Noha Roshdy Saleh for groping her in the street. Now she is making them angry. Marwa Rakha tells us why.

Egypt: ‘Obama's Win was Obvious’

  5 November 2008

It's official now, Obama is the 44th president of the United States, and for sure the Egyptian bloggers have mixed opinions about the new president of the world ... ehm ... USA, writes Tarek Amr, who reviews Egyptian blogs on last night's historic election results.

Maldives: Change for good or for worse?

  5 November 2008

Footstep of dreamer from Maldives reacts to the news of Obama winning the US presidency: “2008 has definitely been a year of change..to the Maldives and to the world! But would it come as a good change?”

South Africa: Afrigator Launches AfriGreater

  5 November 2008

Africa's blog aggregator, Afrigator, launches AfriGreater: “Afrigator has partnered with Africa’s coolest T-shirt company, SpringLeap.com and we’re giving away five great t-shirts every month to you – our favourite African bloggers.”