Global Voices · Citizen media stories from 2009 February 19

19 February 2009

Daily archive · 11 posts

Stories from 19 February 2009

Kenya: Much Ado About an Atlas?

Written by Juliana Rotich · Sub-Saharan Africa

Kenyan bloggers are talking about UNEP. First, regarding news of an Atlas that shows Kenya's changing environment, and secondly, the hypocrisy of driving into a UNEP meeting in a gas...

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Palestine: The Story of a Gazan “Martyr”

Written by Ayesha Saldanha · Middle East & North Africa

The death of anyone close to you is painful, but how do you cope with it if that person has actively sought death? Gazan blogger Samaher Al Khazandar has written about her nephew, Mu’min Musa Al Khazandar, who joined the military wing of Hamas, and was determined to die as a martyr while fighting for Palestine.

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Caribbean, USA: Where in the World is Allen Stanford?

Written by Janine Mendes-Franco · North America, Caribbean

It's one thing for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to lay fraud charges against Texas billionaire-cum-Caribbean cricket magnate Allen Stanford - but first, authorities have to find him. As panicky investors flock to Stanford-owned banks from Antigua to South America to try and withdraw their funds, speculation is rife as to where Mr. Stanford might be.

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Brazil: Blogging from riverside communities in the Amazon

Written by Deborah Goldemberg · Latin America

Encouraged by the NGO Saúde e Alegria, youngters from 31 riverside communities in the Amazon are learning the benefits of blogging. Armed with media kits – sound equipment, editorial desks, video equipment and an Internet connection – they have started to show their faces to the world.

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Georgia: Eurovision Controversy

Written by Onnik Krikorian · Eastern & Central Europe, Central Asia & Caucasus

Following its recent war with Russia, Georgia had initially planned to boycott this year's Eurovision Song Contest to be staged in Moscow, but later changed its mind. However, if reversing that decision might have initially seemed an attempt to repair damaged relations, yesterday's national song contest proved otherwise. Eurovision bloggers react.

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Guatemala: President Colom Apologizes for the Bay of Pigs

Written by Renata Avila · Latin America

In preparation for the Bay of Pigs invasion of 1961, the government of Guatemala allowed the CIA to train Cuban exiles on their soil for the operation. Even though the invasion failed, the memory still remains. Nearly 50 years later, the current president Álvaro Colom visited Cuba and took the opportunity to “officially ask Cuba for forgiveness." He also presented former Cuban leader Fidel Castro with the Order of the Quetzal, which is the highest honor given by Guatemala.

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Fiji: Minimum wage increase postponed

Written by John Liebhardt · Oceania

At the beginning of February, Fiji’s workers and trade unions were preparing to receive a roughly 20 percent increase in the country’s minimum wage. Business leaders won a reprieve when Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama postponed the wage increase until July 1.

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Victorian Bushfires stir compassion and conflict

Written by Kevin Rennie · Oceania

The grim toll of the Victorian bushfires now has 201 confirmed deaths, including a volunteer firefighter, and 1834 homes destroyed. There have been moving, controversial, bizarre and even innovative responses in the blogosphere to the tragedy.

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Brunei: Global Expeditions

Written by Senor Pablo · East Asia

Like other citizens around the globe, Brunei is never short of people willing to take the challenge to put the country on the world map. Two sets of expeditions are being carried out.

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Egypt: Ayman Nour Released

Written by Amira Al Hussaini · Middle East & North Africa, North America

Egypt has just released political dissident Ayman Nour, who has spent more than three years in prison. Bloggers welcomed the move, but were left wondering about its motives and timing.

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Updates from 19 February 2009

Bahrain

Bahraini blogger Hussain Yousif suggests that the Bahraini government block its own ministry websites before any others, as he says many of them are out-of-date and of poor quality.

• Ayesha Saldanha

Pakistan

Owais Mughal at All Things Pakistan writes about the water pollution in Phuleli canal in Hyderabad and wants to “raise awareness about pollution in canals taken out from lower Indus i.e. Kotri Barrage.”

• Rezwan

Bangladesh

An Ordinary Citizen points to an important aspect of the media coverage of the proceedings of Bangladesh parliament: “Media is to convey the news of the parliament as expected. Now, media is producing news of itself of matters which should have been discussed in the parliament.” Read the post for details.

• Rezwan

Kenya

Remmy blogs about a survey by the Royal Holloway University of London, which shows that helectronic learning (e-Learning) on the continent of Africa is still at infancy.

• Ndesanjo Macha

Zimbabwe

According to Zimbabwean blogger, Conrad Mwanawashe, Zimbabwean teachers will not return to work because the salary promised by the government is not enough. Teachers have not been reporting for duty since last year.

• Ndesanjo Macha

Trinidad & Tobago

Caribbean Free Radio posts the final installment in the cut + clear Carnival podcast series, as the team visits with photographer Jeffrey Chock to discuss the Carnival experience.

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Bermuda

In anticipation of Bermuda's Budget Day tomorrow, Vexed Bermoothes says: “Government needs to show prudence, while stoking the rapidly eroding economy, while revealing where it’s going to get the cash.”

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Aruba

The Ritz-Carlton hotel chain is apparently in Aruba to stay, causing Lost in Smallness to exclaim: “Does the government realize that this will put extra pressure on our infrastructure? Oh wait. It's an election year. This is just a campaign stunt, not necessarily something to improve the island.”

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Taiwan: When News is Sold to the Chinese Government

First, let us ignore your assertion that at the time only 1% of young Chinese attended university because its not...

hi, how could i find the english version of this video please? thank you :)
Hello Kasnar, I regret to say that those type of programmes are very common all over Brazil, both on local and...
Wow!!. I'm an American and I do not speak Portuguese well if at all. I did find it strange...

Came to find this post after signing the AllOut petition (which already has almost 50k signatures, and needs to grow...
Please sign this if you are pro