Global Voices · Citizen media stories from May 2009

May, 2009

Monthly archive · 180 posts

Stories from May, 2009

13 May 2009

Japan: Marriage Hunting!

Since autumn of last year, in Japan, a new term has been floating in the air. It is konkatsu 婚活 (an abbreviation of kekkon katsudô 結婚活動), based on the popular...

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12 May 2009

Help Global Voices Advocacy win $3000 by writing one post

Written by Solana Larsen · Announcements

Help Global Voices Advocacy win $1200! The prize money would help us continue to raise awareness of attacks on online freedom of speech, and share tools and tactics with activists and bloggers facing censorship on different parts of the globe. All you have to do is write a post in your own blog, including the following text…

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Egypt: Obama to Address Muslim World from Egypt

Written by Amira Al Hussaini · Middle East & North Africa, North America

The date is all set. US President Barack Hussain Obama will deliver his much anticipated speech on relations with the Muslim world in Egypt on June 4 and the Egyptian blogosphere is as divided as ever, with some questioning whether Obama will turn a blind eye to the country's human rights record. And although the speech and its content and impact on relations with the region are taking a backseat for the moment, the pressing question on many bloggers' minds is: "Why Egypt?"

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11 May 2009

Brazil: When climate change meets cyber-activism

Written by Diego Casaes · Latin America

In another display of global climate change, Brazil has suffered an inversion of its usual weather for this time of the year. The traditionally dry North and Northeast regions of Brazil have been devastated by floods, whilst the usually wet south of the country is suffering a severe drought. People have gathered together in online social networks to cover the news and create an alliance to aid the populations hit by yet another natural disaster. It is cyber-activism at full speed.

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The Gurkhas: Long History Of Discrimination

Written by Bhumika Ghimire · South Asia, Western Europe

The Gurkhas, young men from Nepal who serve in the British military, have served the Queen and the United Kingdom for almost two centuries. Unfortunately, the British government has been less than fair when it comes to honoring their service and sacrifice. The British press and blogopshere are buzzing about the new government proposal that is very unfair to the Gurkhas.

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Global: The polyglot internet and translation exchange

Written by Ivan Sigal · Announcements

Global Voices has recently been awarded a grant by the Ford Foundation to support our work with Lingua, our translation project, and to research and develop a project to investigate...

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Updates from May, 2009

23 May 2009

Lithuania

With a Grain of Druska writes that in Lithuania, “it is time for a younger, more energetic leader.” Eternal Remont mentions president-elect's karate skills: “[…] who wants to see the judo master Putin go against the black belt Grybauskaite in an ultimate fighting match?” More updates - at Lituanica: Dalia Grybauskaite's bio; the candidate that outgoing president voted for; possible replacement for Grybauskaite as EU commissioner; major policy changes under Grybauskaite aren't likely; Grybauskaite's views on economic development.

• Veronica Khokhlova

Russia

In Moscow, Eurovision coincided with this year's Night of Museums (IZO) - and with an attempt to hold a gay pride parade, which was interrupted by riot police (Robert Amsterdam's Blog). Some more thoughts on this year's contest - at Foreign Policy Association's Russia blog.

• Veronica Khokhlova

Japan

Former Livedoor chief Takafumi Horie wrote on his blog that NHK, Japan's national public broadcasting organization, rescinded their request for an interview when Horie stated as his terms the right to videotape the interview and upload it on YouTube. Keita Akai is not surprised, saying that for NHK, allowing unlimited coverage of their reporting process would be to deny everything that the existing media stands for. The blogger at Halt387, while admitting that s/he's not a fan of Horie's, says that this is quite clever of Horie, who's had his share of run-ins with the media in the past.

• Tomomi Sasaki

Malawi

A video from PenPlusBytes about using Information and Communication Technologies to cover Malawi Elections 2009.

• Ndesanjo Macha

South Korea

Todd Thacker from Ohmynews International reported about South Korea former president Roh Moo-hyun's sudden death. Western media mostly assumed that Roh had committed suicide because of corruption scandal.

• Oiwan Lam

Zambia

The postponement of HIV discrimination case in Zambia is surprising: So the only reason for the postponement was that the lawyer assigned to the case from the Attorney-General’s office was unable to come to Livingstone from Lusaka for the trial today. A few reasons why I find this surprising. First, the date of the trial has been set for months now and both sides have been informed of the date.

• Ndesanjo Macha