Global Voices Digest

Armenia/Azerbaijan: Journalists Under Attack

Beaten in Armenia and imprisoned in Azerbaijan, journalists in the ex-Soviet South Caucasus know the price of freedom. Some of them are even fighting from prison cells, wrestling state persecution and challenging societal intolerance for dissent. Bloggers tell the story of free speech in the South Caucasus.

Venezuela: Following the Local Elections Online

Today Venezuela is taking part in elections for mayors and governors., which will paint the political map between States and Municipalities aligned with President Hugo Chávez or not. Venezuelan bloggers and twitter users are covering the election with the tag #23N and a campaign was launched to encourage people to vote and discuss the elections among their friends and family.

Egypt: Shaaban Sings for Obama

Shaaban Abdel Rehim, the illiterate Egyptian singer whose songs are mainly about political and social issues, has released a new song about the new American President-Elect Barack Obama. Tarek Amr looks at the blogosphere’s reactions to Abdel Rehim’s newest hit.

Egypt: The InterFaith Conference and Arab Israeli Relations

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdulla sat in the same room with Israeli political leaders for the first time ever, during the UN Interfaith conference, held in New York, US. How will this impact the Arab Israeli peace process?

Egypt: Uproar as Lawyer Suggests Raping Israeli Women

Voice of Egypt is ashamed of Egyptian Lawyer Nagla Al Imam, the same lawyer who made Egyptians angry, for encouraging Arab men to sexually harass Israeli women during her interview on Al Arabia TV (Ar). Marwa Rakha translates from Arabic.

China: Deadly subway tunnel collapse – who to blame?

On 15, Nov, a 100-meters-long–50m-wide section of the subway tunnel under construction collapsed. The most serious subway accident ever in China claimed more than 21. But far more than that, the accident might imply more incoming tragedies, since the danger is not simply lurking in tunnels, steel rods, or under roadbeds, but deeply in our system.

Madagascar: South Korean Land Deal Sparks Controversy

South Korea has just leased half of all the arable land in Madagascar according to the Financial Times. This has stirred quite a debate in the Malagasy blogosphere about land sovereignty and economic development. It is still unclear whether the land deal has actually been signed by both parties. Meanwhile, bloggers are arguing whether this sort of deal should be considered “neo-colonialism”.

Today on Global Voices Advocacy: Yemeni blogger appeals to prevent possible assassination

In a rather emotional entry posted on his blog, Nashwan Abdu Ali Ghanim, a Yemeni blogger with blogs on maktoobblogs.com and kitab.com called upon international advocacy groups and the Arab Bloggers Union to come for his rescue upon escaping ‘three failed assassination attempts’. Ghanim believes that his latest blog entry noting the involvement of senior Yemeni officials in the plotting of the attack carried out against the U.S. embassy in Sana’a on September 17, 2008 triggered a new wave of harassments and life-threatening acts.

Also Today on Global Voices Advocacy: Iran: Cyber writers jailed, millions of sites filtered and threat

Iranian cyber writers are facing very difficult time. We can summarize Iran’s current situation in three words:Jail, Filtering and Threat. Iranian authorities recently jailed two cyber writers.Paris based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reports online journalist Shahnaz Gholami’s arrest at her Tehran home on 9 November.

Today on Voices Without Votes: Africa: Back to Reality after Obama’s Election

The election of Barack Obama prompted hope throughout Africa that the perception of the continent and the nature of relations between Africa and the US will now be different. However, many bloggers are now warning their fellow Africans against unrealistic expectations. The fact that Obama’s father was Kenyan, they argue, will not alter the fact that Obama was elected by Americans to look out for American interests in the world.

Rising Voices is a nominee for the Best of the Blogs!

As you may know, Rising Voices has recently been nominated for a “best of the blogs” award in the category “best weblog”. At the moment we are trailing behind almost ALL the other nominees in spite of having such a big, powerful, and active community.You don’t need to vote in all the categories to have your vote recorded. Just click on the project you would like to vote for, enter your name and email – and click send.

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