Global Voices · Citizen media stories from May 2009

May, 2009

Monthly archive · 180 posts

Stories from May, 2009

19 May 2009

Malawi: Twittering Malawi Elections 2009

Written by Ndesanjo Macha · Sub-Saharan Africa

Seven candidates are running for president in the fourth presidential elections in Malawi, including the incumbent Bingu wa Mutharika for the Democratic Progressive Party and the main opposition figure John Tembo, standing for the opposition coalition. Voters are also choosing their members of parliament. Anyone interested in the elections can follow updates from Malawian micro-bloggers.

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Zambia: Live-Blogging a Groundbreaking HIV Discrimination Case

Written by Ndesanjo Macha · Sub-Saharan Africa

Priti Patel, project lawyer (HIV/Aids) for the Southern Africa Litigation Centre is in Livingstone, Zambia to live-blog a groundbreaking HIV discrimination case in the country.

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Kuwait: Election History: Four Women Win Parliament Seats

Written by Amer Al-Hilal · Middle East & North Africa

Election fever has swept Kuwait, culminating in a historic and momentous event for the nation! Kuwait was expecting at best one or two women to make it to Parliament but we got four (Dr. Aseel Al-Awadi, Dr. Rola Dashti, Dr. Salwa Al-Jassar and Dr. Masouma Mubarak)! Amer Al-Hilal here with an extra-large 'Special Edition Election' post from Kuwait with reactions from the Kuwaiti blogosphere.

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Egypt: President's Grandson Dies

Written by Tarek Amr · Middle East & North Africa

Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak's eldest grandson, Mohammed, has died at a Paris hospital after a brief illness. Bloggers were quick to react to the 13-year-old's death - which was met by silence in the Egyptian official media when the story first broke.

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Ukraine: 65th Anniversary of the Crimean Tatar Deportations

Written by Veronica Khokhlova · Eastern & Central Europe

May 18 marked the 65th anniversary of Sürgün, the 1944 deportations of Crimean Tatars from their homeland in Crimea. J. Otto Pohl writes about the history of the deportations, while Maria Sonevytsky describes the current plight and the attitudes of the Crimean Tatars who have returned to live in Ukraine, and shares her thoughts on the changes that need to take place for the situation to improve.

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Malawi: Listen to Malawi Election Bloggers

Written by Ndesanjo Macha · Sub-Saharan Africa

Malawians are currently voting in the presidential and parliamentary elections. A group of Malawian bloggers were trained by PenPlusBytes, an International Institute of ICT Journalism in collaboration with New Media Institute to monitor and comment on the elections using blogs, twitter and mobile phones. Let's take a look at their blogs, which are hosted on The African Elections Portal. The African Elections Portal provides comprehensive election related information on the various countries in Africa.

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Updates from May, 2009

26 May 2009

Myanmar (Burma)

For conducting an “unjustified trial” against Myanmar opposition leader Daw Aung San Su Kyi, a blogger uploads an article which caricatures the junta leader Than Shwe as “mentally insane.” Suu Kyi is on trial for allegedly violating the terms of her house arrest.

• Mong Palatino

Japan

Kotori Piyopiyo praises the progressiveness of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for posting a video on YouTube and observes with irony that they have turned off the embedding function. The video introduces preventive measures for swine flu.

• Tomomi Sasaki

25 May 2009

Pakistan

Action For A Progressive Pakistan apologizes to Bangladeshis for the atrocities committed by Pakistan army in 1971 and criticizes the Pakistan government: “We find it unconscionable that the Pakistani state has steadfastly refused to acknowledge these atrocities for the past 38 years, leave alone hold those responsible for them accountable as suggested by its own Chief Justice in the State commissioned inquiry.”

• Rezwan

Nepal

Neil’s Nepal posts an article by Bishnu Pathak, PhD which discusses the role of India in the recent political changes in Nepal.

• Rezwan

India

Scores of people were killed and many injured in India and Bangladesh as cyclone Aila made a downfall in the region earlier today. Sukanya at Notes from wherever I happen to be… writes from Kolkata: “trapped as we were at work…while Aila created havoc. [..] Uprooted posts, torn wires and hoardings by the wayside and a marked absence of public buses and autos…we were the lucky ones. Many weren't so.”

• Rezwan

India

Anuradha Parekh at The Better India writes about the struggles of the poverty ridden Sahariya tribe in Madhya Pradesh, India. A local NGO called TARA (Technology and Action for Rural Advancement) came to their rescue by teaching them how to make handmade papers and that has changed the lives of these Sahariya women.

• Rezwan

Lebanon

The Lebanese adventurer, Maxime Chaya, whose exploits include climbing Mount Everest, reaching the South and North poles to plant the Lebanese flag, blogs about his quests and posts beautiful photos on his live blog The Three Poles.

• Moussa Bashir