Global Voices · Citizen media stories from 2009 May 06

6 May 2009

Daily archive · 8 posts

Stories from 6 May 2009

Iran: Movement of 1000 bloggers supports Mousavi for presidency

Written by Fred Petrossian · Middle East & North Africa

Supporters of two leading reformist presidential candidates, former prime minister Mir Hussein Mousavi and former parliament speaker, Mehdi Karroubi are using the internet, including blogs and Facebook, to beef up their chances of being selected as presidential candidates by the Guardian Council in June's election.

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Tanzania: Dar es Salaam Armoury Explosion Death Toll Rises

Written by J. Nambiza Tungaraza · Sub-Saharan Africa

The death toll from the military depot blast in Dar es Salaam has gone up to 22. Six service personnel and 16 civilians have been confirmed as killed by the military depot blast on Wednesday April 29, 2009, at the Mbagala Armoury, 15 kilometres outside the city centre of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania's largest city with a population of about 3.5 million. J. Nambiza Tungaraza visits Tanzanian Swahili blogs discussing the tragic accident.

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Venezuela: Conflict Between the Media During Earthquake

Written by Laura Vidal · Latin America

The earthquake that shook Venezuela earlier this week brought attention to the role of government and private media for informing the general public. Instead of providing information, the government was criticizing the private stations for "destabilizing the country with alarming news." Meanwhile, alternative media provided up to date information about what people needed to know.

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Bloggers react to NZ Maori Party's proposed trip to Fiji

Written by Michael Hartsell · Oceania

Bloggers are reacting to proposals by members of New Zealand’s Maori Party who wanted a delegation to travel to Fiji to speak with the country's Prime Minister to better understand what he is trying to achieve.

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Kazakhstan: State support and censorship on the Internet

Written by Adil Nurmakov · Central Asia & Caucasus

“As I thought, this year will prove to be a breakthrough for the Kazakhstani Internet”, says izhanov [ru]. The process of creation а start-up projects and interesting web-ideas has already...

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Mexico: Scenes From an Outbreak

Written by Issa Villarreal · Latin America

Almost two weeks after the outbreak of the H1N1 virus, Mexico City was declared in “state of emergency” suspending activities at closed populated spaces, such as schools, workplaces and restaurants, as well as large public events, such as concerts and football matches. Most residents wore protective face masks and their interactions with one another helped paint a unique and devastating landscape of the streets of Mexico.

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China: The fear implied in a real-name internet

Written by Bob Chen · East Asia

In China, the internet has become an important platform for citizens' participation in policy making and criticism of officials. The freedom of the internet is largely guaranteed by the anonymity...

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Japan: Doctor shortage, the medical system in crisis

Written by Scilla Alecci · East Asia

Together with the economic crisis the shortage of doctors (医師不足, ishi busoku in Japanese) is becoming more and more urgent in Japan. As a Fire and Disaster Management Agency survey...

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Updates from 6 May 2009

Georgia

Before news agencies reported that riot police and opposition supporters clashed in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, human rights lawyer Anna Dolidze writes on Resistance Georgia that she fears the ongoing stalemate and protests will lead to bloodshed.

• Onnik Krikorian

Maldives

Abdullah Waheed condemns the vandalizing of historic tombstones in Maldives and reports: “a large number of tombstones in Koagannu were vandalized in the recent past based on a superstition that if one breaks a tombstone one could commit Quran to memory.”

• Rezwan

Nepal

Democracy For Nepal (DFN) weighs in whether an all party government is desirable and possible in Nepal after the resignation of the Prime Minister.

• Rezwan

Sri Lanka

Groundviews highlights a series of videos published by Vikalpa, which interviewed leading civil society activists, politicians and academics to “interrogate the current situation in Sri Lanka, where we are told the war is at its end, and the LTTE defeated.”

• Rezwan

Pakistan

Adil Najam at All Things Pakistan comments about the Obama-Zardari-Karzai summit which will be held tomorrow: “The tragedy of this trio is not just that all three countries - USA, Pakistan, Afghanistan - have failed to do the right thing, it is that none of the three have any idea about what the right thing to do is.”

• Rezwan

Bangladesh

Ashley Wheaton at The Dhaka Diaries comments about the faces of poverty in Bangladesh: “Poverty can be determined not only by your income but by by your access to services, your ability to make decisions for yourself, your level of security, your place in society… It can be very deceiving and it would take a lifetime here to truly understand.”

• Rezwan

Bangladesh

Kotha-Chhilo criticizes Bangladesh government's customs duty policy on imported second hand cars: “The government increases duty on those cars that the middle class people buy. So, you see! Our government, our elites want to make life of the middle class difficult.”

• Rezwan

Martinique

Repeating Islands reports that four people have died as a result of torrential rains and flooding in Martinique.

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Cuba

Diaspora blogger Uncommon Sense learns that the authorities have “cracked down on one of the few ways most Cubans can use to access the Internet.”

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Barbados

The Barbados government has offered to regularize the status of existing illegal immigrants - Bajan Dream Diary “wonders how effective this amnesty will be in tackling Barbados’ illegal immigrant problem”; Barbados Underground also has some concerns.

• Janine Mendes-Franco