26 November 2008

Stories from 26 November 2008

Angola: Children as young as 6 face accusations of witchcraft

  26 November 2008

Children as young as six years old have been accused of witchcraft and abandoned, mistreated, tortured and even killed in Angola, where such accusations are deemed valid. Clara Onofre investigates this practice advised by members of illegal churches and seemingly not related to local peoples' historical traditions.

Brazil: Over 80 deaths in the worst environmental tragedy

  26 November 2008

Over 80 people have been killed in landslides and floods caused by heavy rain in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina, and the death toll is rising by the minute, as rescue workers sift through the wreckage of the flooding that started at the weekend.

Madagascar: Land deal with Daewoo finally rejected by authority

  26 November 2008

Mahefa Rakotomalala writes at L'express de Madagascar that the alleged land deal with South Korean company Daewoo has been officially rejected by the Malagasy government. The minister of land reform explained in a press release to local newspapers that anyone can request to lease an unlimited amount of land but...

Congratulations Pour in on Queen Rania's Youtube Award

  26 November 2008

Bloggers from across the Middle East and North Africa are tipping their hats to Jordan's Queen Rania, and her visionary initiative on YouTube, after she was awarded YouTube's first-ever Visionary Award for launching an interactive online channel to combat stereotypes and misconceptions associated with Arabs and Muslims.

Searching for blogs in Myanmar

  26 November 2008

There are several sites that provide a list of blogs in Myanmar. Myanmar Blog Directory contains an alphabetical listing of blogs. Sharbar offers a list of blogs according to category.

Myanmar: Social networking site

  26 November 2008

Myanmar Space is a new social networking site for Myanmar speaking people all over the world. There is a chat room, photo and video upload, forum, polls. There is also a blog section where members can post articles.

India: First photographs of Mumbai blasts on flickr

  26 November 2008

The first photographs from Mumbai on flickr are coming up. Vinu from Vinu's Online Cloud has uploaded a lot of photographs from the streets of Mumbai. MumbaiHelp is back online and offering to make call for anyone who can't get through to their families and friends. Leave a message if...

India: Terror attacks continue in Mumbai

  26 November 2008

In what appears to be a surreal sense of reality, television channels are airing footage from the various places in Southern Mumbai that are being attacked. Ultrabrown writes – A large-scale S. Bombay terrorist attack is going on right now using automatic weapons, hand grenades and possibly a taxi bomb....

India: Blasts, Gunfire and Terror in Mumbai

  26 November 2008

In a series of blasts and shoot outs, the city of Mumbai appears to have come under attack. According to the news, there appear to be at least seven different locations in the city that have been attacked. In an unprecedented sort of terror, a combination of gun fire, blasts,...

Venezuela: Jose Ignacio Cabrujas and His Mark on Society

  26 November 2008

One of the great Venezuelan critics provided thoughts on daily life. However, since his passing, many are left wondering what he would have said about the events of today. Jose Ignacio Cabrujas, was a well-known playwright, director, and even transformed Venezuelan soap operas into social commentary that used many well-known literary works.

Iran: Art gallery was shutdown

  26 November 2008

Several Iranian news sites and blogs such as Haftan reported[fa]that Iranian authorities, a couple of days ago, accused an art gallery to expose “immoral” photos and closed it. The photos were the creation of Peyman Hooshmanzadeh. Here are some of these photos.

Armenia: Eurovision Contenders

  26 November 2008

Esctime.com reports on speculation that Armenia's entry for next year's Eurovision Song Contest will either be U.S. rock band System of a Down or local pop singer Aramé. Meanwhile, in a post made at the beginning of the month, Unzipped: Gay Armenia says choosing a singer such as Aramé would...

Watch ‘Best of the Blogs’ Awards LIVE

  26 November 2008

The winners of this year's Best of the Blogs awards (The BoBs) will be announced in Berlin tomorrow, November 27, 2008 (8pm CET). The event is open to the public. If you're not in Berlin, you can watch the whole thing online via this post. Global Voices website, Rising Voices has been nominated in the Best Blog category.

Trinidad & Tobago: Monkeying Around

  26 November 2008

From Trinidad and Tobago, Paolo's Blog is convinced that “Patrick Manning and his roving band of capuchins have thrust us headlong into an economic conundrum that will be far more complex than many imagine.”