Stories from 19 December 2009
Russia: Yegor Gaidar, Russia's Economic Reformer, Dies at 53
Yegor Gaidar, a Russian economist and politician who initiated the 1992 "shock therapy" reforms, died in Moscow on Dec. 16 at the age of 53. Russian bloggers' responses serve as a vivid reflection of how divided people still are on Gaidar's legacy and on the direction the country has taken since the demise of the Soviet Union.
Azerbaijan: Education, free thought and development
Following a previous post from Flying Carpets and Broken Pipelines on European concerns with the situation of freedom of expression in Azerbaijan, and especially following the imprisonment of video blogging youth activists Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli, the blog comments on remarks made by the country's Minister of Education. The...
Honduras: Christmas Songs
Nacer en Honduras [es] shares Christmas music from Honduras, including an album by the group The Speeds, which released the Christmas album in 1969.
Chile: Vote for Chileans Abroad
Centros Chilenos [es] released a statement calling for right to vote for those Chileans living abroad.
Bolivia: Deforestation Rate Twenty Times Global Average
With the end of 2009 fast approaching, Carlos Gustavo Machicado of Guccio's [es] takes a look back at some of the economic and environmental issues in Bolivia, including noting the fact that the country's deforestation rate is 20 times the global average.
Armenia: Embracing multiculturalism
Ianyan hosts a guest post responding to nationalist perceptions of identity, culture and language. The entry concludes that all nations and ethnic groups absorb other influences, benefiting from such a reality greatly while also evolving into something with their own unique peculiarities.
Guatemala: Restaurant Review Blog
La Papila Gustativa [es] is a blog that has been reviewing a wide variety of restaurants in Guatemala City.
Colombia: Twenty Years After Assassination of Luis Carlos Galán
Twenty years after the assassination of former Colombian presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galán, a documentary is filmed where the son of Pablo Escobar meets the children of his victims, which includes Galán.
American Petitioner in China
Julie Harms, an American and a Harvard graduate, hit the news as she becomes one of the few, or perhaps the first, foreign petitioner in China. Her case was a grievance against the government that her fiancé, Liu Shiliang, was jailed on a charge which she says is not true....
Japan: Peace picture books
The pacifist association called Peace Picture Books [ja, en] published online their last story titled Evil & Punishment: psychology of punishment [en]. On the same website it`s possible to read picture books by different illustrators.
Podcast: Interview with Sudanese Drima
Sudanese Drima is the pseudonym for Global Voices' Malaysia-based Sudanese author. In this ten-minute interview we discuss how social media is affecting Islam, the Darfur conflict, and issues of Afro-Arab identity in South East Asia.
Russian Rock Star Talks About His Social Network
Ikra.tv is a pioneer of music social networks in Russia. It currently consists of about 6,500 members and offers various forms of communications for fans including blogs, forums and different options to share music, pictures and videos.
Russia: A Third of Russians Use Internet
There are 42 million Internet users (29,6% of total population) in Russia according to the latest Public Opinion Foundation research [Google Translation ENG]. This is 2 million more compared to the Summer of 2009. Daily Internet audience in Russia accounts for 23,9 million.
