Global Voices · Citizen media stories from July 2009

July, 2009

Monthly archive · 168 posts

Stories from July, 2009

17 July 2009

Philippines: An Internet-Savvy Grandmother

Written by Karlo Mikhail Mongaya · East Asia

“Lola Techie” is very popular in the Philippines these days. “Lola” means grandmother in the Filipino language. “Lola Techie” is the central figure in a Philippine telecommunication company’s marketing campaign which plays on the concept of an internet-savvy grandmother.

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Fiji finds foreign friends?

Written by Michael Hartsell · Oceania

Leaders of Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands will lobby the 15-member Pacific Islands Forum to consider lifting Fiji’s suspension to re-start dialogue with the country to provide its military backed government time to complete reforms.

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Why did Thailand’s former PM travel to Fiji?

Written by Michael Hartsell · East Asia, Oceania

Bloggers are debating the significance of the recent trip of Thailand’s ousted Prime Minister to Fiji and Tonga. Fiji and Thailand have no extradition treaties, fueling speculation that the former Thai leader traveled to the Pacific looking for asylum.

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Bombings kill nine in Indonesia

Written by Carolina Rumuat · East Asia

Recently re-elected Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said that the blasts were initiated by those who wish to see a post presidential election chaos, while Vice President Jusuf Kalla blamed the negligence of police and intelligence agencies

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Indonesia: Bomb Explosions at Kuningan, Jakarta

Written by Marisa Duma · East Asia

Two explosions hit the Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott hotels in Mega Kuningan, Jakarta around 7:40 AM local time. Local social media users broke the story to the world, especially those among today's morning commuters.

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China: When a gang rape scandal turns into state secrets…

Written by Oiwan Lam · East Asia

Yesterday (July 16) in early morning, twitterer amoiist sent out a mobile message to twitter saying: “I have been arrested by Mawei police, SOS.” And the second message is: “Pls...

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16 July 2009

Egyptian Women and a Fresh Outlook on Divorce

Written by Marwa Rakha · Middle East & North Africa

Divorce has always been a stigma in the Egyptian society. Today, the winds of change are blowing this away. In this post, Marwa Rakha follows conversations on Egyptian blogs which show what is being done to right a wrong situation.

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Brazil: Plaintiffs try to silence one of the country's leading journalists

Written by Paula Góes · Latin America

Lúcio Flávio Pinto, a prized independent Brazilian journalist has been ordered by a court to pay US$15,000 approximately in damages to a powerful regional media group in a civil libel suit: a real David and Goliath battle. The blogosphere campaigns to help Pinto cover the bill and to promote awareness of yet another case of harassment against independent journalists and bloggers.

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Iran: Protests prompt emergence of underground Internet newspapers

Written by Fred Petrossian · Middle East & North Africa

The recent emergence of internet newspapers in Iran is evidence of the will of Iranian citizens and opposition forces to continue to communicate even as the Islamic Republic intensifies censorship,...

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Iran: Armenian bloggers on plane crash

Written by Artur Papyan · Middle East & North Africa, Central Asia & Caucasus

When a regular flight en route from Tehran to Yerevan crashed after takeoff yesterday, killing all 168 on board, many in Armenia and its Diaspora were distressed, and not least since there were 40 ethnic Armenians among the dead.

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Updates from July, 2009

27 July 2009

Russia

Sean's Russia Blog writes about “the protest against Stalin haters worldwide,” launched by some of Russia's communists.

• Veronica Khokhlova

Ukraine

Ukrainiana comments on the death of another MP's son, caused by reckless driving: “Had he killed somebody else with his car, he would’ve most likely gotten away with it.”

• Veronica Khokhlova

Peru

Barbara Drake, an ex-pat from the United States, who writes at the blog An American in Lima posts about the risks a dog faces by simply the fact of living in the Peruvian capital city. Her post is titled The Sport of Dog Poisoning in Peru and there she tells us about her own experience with her pet being poisoned after playing in a public garden.

• Juan Arellano

Syria

Kano, of Syrian Foodie in London, shares with us the recipe of how to make Mutabal - an appetizer made of grilled aubergine, tahini and yogurt, and found “on every table in every Syrian restaurant.”

• Amira Al Hussaini

Syria

At KABOBfest, Jillian discusses the US lifting of “two bits of its sanctions on Syria.” “The lifting of the IT ban seems, to me, to be low-hanging fruit, the simplest way to please (or appease) the public while getting rid of a relatively useless rule that wasn’t doing much good anyway, given the ease and proliferation of people downloading software while out of the country, or sharing it with one another on USB keys and CDs,” she notes.

• Amira Al Hussaini

Morocco

Moroccan blog The View from Fez catches up with Gail Leonard whose culinary adventure in the medina (city) leaves you hungry.

• Amira Al Hussaini

Saudi Arabia

A Lebanese television show is in danger of being taken off the air “after a Saudi man participated in the show and spilled out all his romantic escapades, which are all out of wedlock,” reports Waleg. The Saudi man is also being threatened with jail.

• Amira Al Hussaini

Syria

“The US is removing some of its sanctions on Syria, just months after the embargo was controversially renewed. Syria’s Ambassador to Washington, Imad Moustapha, says the block on computer equipment and internet downloads is being lifted,” reports Syria News Wire.

• Amira Al Hussaini