Stories about Protest from May, 2007
Latvia: Doctor to Become President
All About Latvia reports on the election of the new president: “And this is the first time in my recent memory, the Parliament voted in a person opposed by so many organizations.”
Bolivia: Residents of El Alto Fed Up With Bars
Residents of the city of El Alto took the streets and forcibly “closed” clandestine bars that were said to contribute to the rising delinquency of the city. Mario Duran, GV author, descended to the area to have a look and presents a slideshow of images that he posted on Noticias...
Venezuela: More Protest Photos
GV Author Luis Carlos Díaz continues his on-the-ground coverage of the post-RCTV closure and adds another Flickr photoset.
Latvia: Gay Parade and Other “Problems”
“Gay parade is the least of our problems,” writes All About Latvia: abortions, the lowest life expectancy in the EU, and human trafficking are no less – if not more – significant.
Jordan: Sheehan Quits
Jordanian blogger Hareega, who is based in the US, bids farewell to Cindy Sheehan. “Yesterday she announced that she was tired and she quit her anti-war activism. She said that her son died “for nothing”. About 54% of the CNN readers today agree with her,” he notes.
Morocco: YouTube is Back; Maroc Telecom Subscribers are Elated
MidEastYouth broke the news this evening that YouTube, which had been blocked by Maroc Telecom, Morocco's leading internet provider, has been restored to subscribers. It seems that the blogging community, with the help of bigger sites like this one, helped to get the story noticed by majors like Reporters Without...
Ukraine: Internal Troops
“When Ukrainians send Troops to suppress protestors they never – thank God – seem to arrive. In Russia (and the remainder of the CIS) they always arrive and, as in Uzbekistan in 2005, they shoot to kill,” writes Taras Kuzio and shares ideas on how to transform Ukraine's “internal troops”...
Russia: Attacks on Gays and a British Diplomat
“This weekend marked yet another not particularly glorious episode in Russo-British relations, as one diplomat and two (well known) British gay rights activists were attacked in separate incidents,” writes Siberian Light.
Bahrain: Police Excessive Use of Force
“I’m not sure what the Ministry of the Interior wants to achieve by its continuous excessive use of force. If this is their idea of instilling love for the country, they failed; if it is their intention to protect public and private property, they failed, their habitual use of tear...
Belarus: Blogger br23/Uładzimer Katkoŭski Passes Away
Belarusian blogger Uładzimer Katkoŭski/br23 passed away in Prague on May 25 at the age of 30. As one of his online friends wrote, "To a large degree thanks to his effort Belarusian-language Internet is now what it is."
Trinidad & Tobago, Venezuela: Media & Politics
“When media become political players themselves, they lose their credibility, and they betray the people who rely on them for truthful, accurate information.” Jeremy Taylor weighs in on the controversy surrounding the closure of RCTV in Venezuela.
Venezuela: RCTV Protest Photos
Luis Carlos Diaz posts a Flickr photo set featuring images from the May 28 protests against the closing of RCTV.
Lithuania: Homophobia
Music and Life – Everywhere! writes about homophobia in Lithuania and a few other EU member states.
Bulgaria: George Michael For Tripoli Six
Eternal Remont reports that George Michael has joined the “You Are Not Alone” campaign to raise awareness of the Tripoli Six, “the six Bulgarian nurses who await death by firing squad in Libya.”
Cambodia: Myanmar and Cambodia
The latest cartoon by Cambodian blogger/cartoonist Sacrava mocks the recent contacts between Cambodia's strong man Hun Sen and Myanmar's generals. Myanmar recently extended pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's detention for one more year.
Hong Kong: Remixing Government Propaganda Song
Plastichk has remixed the Hong Kong government Propaganda Song (zh) for the 10 years anniversary of re-unification of Hong Kong to China. It is a mockery to the recent comments by Pro-China Party Chair, Ma Lik's comment on June 4. The two days hit rates from youtube is two times...
Children’s songs that reflect the times
Children’s songs that reflect the times. A blogger shows how lyrics and rhythms of children’s songs demonstrate the mood of the time period. The examples from the 1970s and 1980s when Korea was in its struggle for democracy are especially revealing [ko].
Cuba: Closure of Venezuelan TV Station
“The Venezuelan freight train toward a castro-style totalitarian dictatorship is gaining momentum at a frightening pace with the closure and confiscation of one of the few remaining independent media voices in that country, RCTV, and where is the mainstream American and International media?” asks Babalu Blog, while El Cafe Cubano...
Block of Youtube: the Moroccan blogosphere react
A petition has been launched by Maghrebism to protest the block of the video-sharing site Youtube by Maroc Telecom (Vivendi International). “We demand that Maroc Telecom and Vivendi Universal immediately stop the current online censorship on YouTube and all other services being censored, which is a violation of the right...
Iran:Ultra Conservative Ayathollah Goes to Waterloo
Ultra conservative Ayatollah Messbah Yazdi is invited to the Waterloo university by the Mennonites.A petition has been launched to protest about this invitation.”We're not against dialogue but the Mennonites[Waterloo University] are naive if they think they can open one with these people,” says Haideh Moghissi, a York University sociologist who...
Syria: Presidential Referendum and Lebanon Clashes
Today, Syria is reelecting president Bashar Assad for a new seven-year term in office. The process is done through a referendum, which means there will be no other challengers. The referendum paper has a green circle that says "Yes" and a gray one that says "No". The result is expected to be 99.xx% in favour of the president - as is the tradition in Syria for the last 37 years. Yazan Badran sums up the reactions of Syrian bloggers here.
