Global Voices · Citizen media stories from 2008 December 06

6 December 2008

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Stories from 6 December 2008

Latvia: Freedom of Speech Controversy

Written by Aleks Tapinsh · Eastern & Central Europe

Prominent Latvians are outraged over the detention of a university lecturer at a seaside town of Ventspils by the security police. The economic crisis, a bank bailout, and the launched talks with the International Monetary Fund served as a backdrop for the arrest of Dmitrijs Smirnovs, who said this during a discussion at a provincial newspaper Ventas Balss: "The only thing that I can recommend is: first of all, do not save money in banks; second of all, do not save money in lats because right now it is very dangerous."

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Updates from 6 December 2008

India

Renowned Bangladeshi photo journalist Shahidul Alam reviews the works of Dayanita Singh, an award winning Indian photographer. Her works were displayed at “Positive Lives”, an exhibition on people’s responses to HIV/AIDS.

• Rezwan

Pakistan

Temporal at Baithak suggests some effective ways of sacrificing wealth for the poor during Eid-ul Adha instead of sacrificing animal (Qurbani) and wasting the meat: “We can think of many ways to make Him (God) happy and spare the lamb”.

• Rezwan

Iran

Pars Arts has done an interview with Tom Loughlin a Colorado-based artist whose portraits of Iranians in Iran are being shown in a groundbreaking and thought-provoking installation across the United States.

• Fred Petrossian

Iran

Edalatkhaneh, an Iranian blogger, has published[fa] a report on economic disaster in Gaza Strip. The blogger says Israel's economic sanctions have made life very difficult for people living in this area and the world is silent about it.

• Fred Petrossian

Iran

Bepa09, an Iranian blogger, writes that an article in the UK based Guardian says about its source of information: according to Jahan News, a website considered close to Iran’s intelligence ministry. The blogger adds “the writer does not explain who says this site is considered close to Iranian intelligence.”

• Fred Petrossian

Iran

Haj Rezvan, an Iran based blogger, says [fa] “resistance in Gaza Strip will become stronger if [Israel's]blockade continues”.

• Fred Petrossian

Latvia

Baltic comments on the potential for political crisis in Latvia, as news broke that Prime Minister Godmanis and his ruling LPP/LC party overstepped the legal threshold for campaign spending for the 2006 parliamentary elections.

• Vilhelm Konnander

Ethiopia

Addis Journal reports that Teddy Afro was been given a six-year sentence on Monday, convicted on two charges of killing a homeless in hit-and-run accident and driving away without reporting the incident. His arrest last April two years after the original incident captured nationwide interest, was filled with drama and inspired a petition for a fair and speedy trial.

• Elia Varela Serra

Malawi

Boni Dulani describes his 36-hour bus ride from Mangochi, Malawi to Johannesburg, South Africa going through Mozambique and Zimbabwe. He concludes “despite all those challenges, there is a positive story to tell from my trip: Zimbabwe is the only country where I didn’t have to pay any bribes to get both an entry and exit visa”.

• Elia Varela Serra

Philippines

ToTomel reflects on the history of Iloilo, a center of trade and commerce in the central Philippines since the 19th Century when the country was under Spanish colonial rule.

• Karlo Mikhail Mongaya