Ticker: Kim Jong Il, Sri Lanka concentration camps, Mexican drug trade, Iraq withdrawal, cyber warfare

16/07/2009

Global for menews ticker


Today’s Freelance Story Ticker

Good morning, bloggers.

We have a slew of story possibilities for our ticker today. All of these are stories submitted by our freelancers – as the drill goes, if enough interest surfaces, we can roll out the story. If not, the stories will pass on and fade out.

A lot of stories simply go unreported, simply because there is no funding for them. GFM seeks to change that by using a crowdsourcing model to fund hardworking reporters – in other words, we need you.

It’s all about connecting you, the readers and viewers, to the reporter behind the news desk. Sometimes mainstream media simply miss other stories in the world that arise. Our goal is to bring them to you, and to support our freelancers that work hard to research and produce them. No middle man or coroporate interest involved. It’s news that goes straight to your inbox – it’s you from then on who chooses how to distribute it.

Read more about our mission here, or visit our main website.

For today, here is our story ticker, courtesy of Kit of the Global for me team. Click on the links below to read the full story pitch or view each correspondent’s Global Radio News profile.

What happens after Kim Jong Il’s Death? by Jason Strother

N. KOREA – News leaked via a South Korean newspaper that Kim Jong-Il has pancreatic cancer has been greeted by many with suspicion, despite recent speculation about his health due to recent photographs showing him looking frail. Read on.

Sri Lankan concentration camps by Florence Muchori

SRI LANKA: At the Manik Farm in Sri Lanka, displaced Tamils from the recent civil war are being detained- 1,400 people are dying every week. The Sri Lankan government is calling them “welfare villages”. The Sri Lankan government has asked the Red Cross to scale down their operation. The government claims to have the situation under control. Is this really the case? Read on.

Mexico: the affects of the drug trade by Ioan Grillo

MEXICO – Mexican gangs have left eight dead, tortured bodies by a motorway. At the same spot last week they left four. Since President Calderon came to power in December 2006 over 12,300 people have died in drug related violence. Is this a futile war? Whilst the US has pleged £860 million to battle the cartels, this is but a drop in the ocean- the Mexican drug trade is worth £25 billion per year. Read on.

How is Iraq coping alone? by Neil Arun

IRBIL, IRAQ – As US troops recently withdrew from Iraqi cities, citizens celebrated. A national holiday was declared. However there has been an upsurge in violence by those who wish to derail the transition. As the regular news outlets become numb to the daily violence in the middle east, and Iraq slides down their agenda we wonder… Will Iraqi forces be able to cope? With hindsight how do the Iraqi people feel about the withdrawal? Read on.

Cyber warfare: US, S. Korea versus N. Korea? by Nancy Youssef

N. KOREA – US and South Korean governmental websites were recently attacked by a virus known as Mydoom. It wreaked havoc, taking some websites out of action for days. Blame initially was laid at the door of North Korea. Could it really have been them? Investigations have shown that in fact a server in Britain was orchestrating the attacks. But was this just a smokescreen? Read on.

If any of these stories caught your attention, piqued your curiosity or inspired another story idea, don’t hesitate to tell us or pass the word along. We rely on word-of-mouth, not corporate advertising. It’s telling the story and supporting freelancers – in the crowdsourced way. An experiment in journalism, and one that we use for them and you.

Cheers,

Kim

–GFM Team


E-mail your story ideas to  

View our story ticker on our main website.

Join today’s discussion on Twitter. @GFMEditor

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Let yourself be heard in the comment box below. Liked a story? See something we missed? Don’t hesitate to let us know. We’re listening.

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Much a-Twitter about the G8 and climate change

09/07/2009

Global Twittertweets today


Blogging the tweets from Twitter.

Morning, bloggers!

When the Global for me office wakes up in the morning, the western hemisphere is still asleep. Regardless, Twitter is always wide awake and all a-flutter over the world’s current issues.

Today, one of the major Twitter trends was the G8 Summit in L’Aquila, Italy. Simply put, it’s always a big story when the world’s most powerful leaders gather in one place – with the exception of Chinese President Hu Jintao, respectively. The headlines from Xinjiang keep coming in.

But a whole other flurry of tweets erupted from G8 conversations: climate change. So we joined the fray to hear what other Twitter users think.

Our question…

@GFMEditor: The G8 Summit hammers out a new climate change bill. What do you want to see on it?

@kim_bach massive investing in getting rid of fossile fuels: highspeed trains, moving cargo by trains and ships that are windpowered

Which led to…

@GFMEditor Climate change is always a touchy subject among the big powers. What about developing countries?

@theginlady If India/China fail to sign up, it is coz Industrial world have failed to communicate their own mistakes. Clean Tech is better.

@Societas_ as many Developing Nations are rich in renewable energy resources Developed Nations work with them on joint on projects.

@Societas_ we propose that tackling energy issues will also help tackle conflict issue – giving nations greater energy security.

Another user brought up the proposed 50% reduction of emissions, but the BBC reports that some G8 leaders have proposed for rich countries to reduce carbon emissions by 80%. By 2050, that is.

She had this to say…

@Barros_Isabel Very, very ambitious. A reduction of 80% doesn’t even seem viable. Lot’s of work to be done…

And of course, we couldn’t stay quiet on Iran for too long…

@GFMEditor 156 dead in Xinjiang, but news coverage quantity doesn’t equate the election protests in Iran. Strange, or not?

@berkgun It’s not strange. Iran is a political issue for USA and UK but they don’t really care death bodies of innocent people.

This particular tweet was retweeted by @iranfreelection.

Have something to say? Tweet us. But for now – thus concludes our morning tweets, only because 12 o’clock noon is only 20 minutes away!

Sincerely,

Kim

–GFM Team


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Join the real time discussion on Twitter.

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