Posts tagged Global Voices
Drug money is fueling abnormally high property prices in Dushanbe and in the provinces. Other signs of great wealth are visible, including lavish houses and vehicles that are well beyond the means of the public servants who own them.
In a report (pdf) released this month, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates that 75 to 80 tons of Afghan-made heroin and 18 to 20 tons of opium pass through Tajikistan annually. This means that about 200 kilograms of heroin and 50 kilograms of opium enter the country every day. Only a tiny fraction of this amount is seized.
The report also notes that many senior officials are either directly involved in the trade or take bribes to look the other way. According to the UNODC, much of the $1.4 billion made from heroin trade in Central Asia in 2010 went to Tajik traffickers.
A painting by Cape Town-based artist Brett Murray depicting President Jacob Zuma’s genitals has ignited online debate about morality and freedom of speech in South Africa.
Image by kickmugabeout.blogspot.com
A short documentary on the Macedonian graffiti scene in the context of the state-sponsored art/construction boom, made by two female scientists and bloggers–Vasilka Dimitrovska and Ilina Jakimovska–has been shown at the renowned archeological conference Buffalo TAG 2012.
Entitled “Lions, Warriors and Graffiti Artists: Counter-Culture in Times of Revived Antiquity”, the documentary juxtaposes (an important visual arts theory word!) information about the vigorous efforts of the government to impose new, polished classicist/baroque visual identity on the center of the Macedonian capital through the Skopje 2014 project (which features bronze lions), with interviews of people from the graffiti scene.
New Malawian President Promises to Lift Ban on Homosexuality
In her first national address Joyce Banda told Parliament that her government will repeal laws that discriminates against people based on sexual orientation.
Malawi will be the first country in Africa to lift ban on homosexuality since 1994. It is outlawed in 38 African countries and it can be punishable by death in Mauritania, Sudan, and northern Nigeria.
The governments of the Gulf are discussing transforming the current Gulf Cooperation Council into an EU-style union. The move comes in an atmosphere of uncertainty and tension caused by the Arab uprisings and Iran’s growing influence. As a first step, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain might seek closer union.
Global Voices Ivan Sigal interviewed at the re:publica 2012 conference in Berlin, Germany.
It’s World Press Freedom Day
This World Press Freedom Day (#WPFD) why not check out our database of bloggers who have been threatened, arrested or killed for speaking out online?
In this edition we explore the latest work and events in the Global Voices community. We also speak with some friends about the cross cultural elements of our lives, with a special focus on food: both food for thought, and to eat!
Beatrice Catanzaro is a visual artist and one of the newest additions to the Rising Voices community with her project, Food Tales from Nablus. Alongside her friend Fatima she is working with women from the heart of the Old City in the city of Nablus, Palestine, to celebrate their culinary skills. One of the major components of their project will be the creation a cooking school for foreign visitors that will employ local women as chefs and instructors. We speak with these two amazing ladies to find out more about their work.
Gustavo Arellano, editor of the OC Weekly in Orange County, California and the writer behind ‘Ask a Mexican‘, has been on a culinary journey to find out how Mexican food has become so popular in the United States in his new book, Taco USA. Journalist, producer and blogger, Cyrus Farivar chats with Gustavo about the flavours that cross borders.
Listen for much more!
Demotivational Humour from Lebanon
Internet memes are just as popular in the Arab world as elsewhere. Recently a number of Facebook pages have been started about specifically Lebanese memes. In this post Global Voices interviews the creator of a page called “Demotivational Lebanon”.
‘Civil war is more comfy in pyjamas - the only lesson that the Lebanese learnt from the civil war.’
‘I know he will steal from me, but I vote for him because he is from my religious sect.’
‘Planning to buy a house in Beirut? Please tell me which bank you will rob.’
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Mostar in Autumn, by Evan Wakelin.
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Ki Nikham by Ari Goldwag. This is an a capella song, which is the only music religious Jews can listen to during days of mourning in the Jewish...
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The number of languages spoken worldwide vs. the languages of the internet.
