Global Voices · Citizen media stories from 2010 January 18

18 January 2010

Daily archive · 12 posts

Stories from 18 January 2010

Tunisia: Bloggers Against Student Imprisonment

Written by Lina Ben Mhenni · Middle East & North Africa

The recent trials of a group of Tunisian students and their sentencing to prison terms ranging from six months of three years after organizing a sit-in in a university accommodation to claim the right of girl students in housing prompted bloggers to launch a support campaign calling for their freedom, writes Lina Ben Mhenni.

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Syria: Journalist Maen Akel Still Detained

Written by Anas Qtiesh · Middle East & North Africa

Maen Akel, a Syrian journalist, was arrested on November 11, 2009, by the Syrian Intelligence Department (State Security) in Damascus. Within 48 hours of his arrest he was also dismissed from his work at Al-Thawra, a state owned newspaper. The reason for his arrest remains unknown.

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MENA: Does Rain Bring Happiness or Misery?

Written by Eman AbdElRahman · Middle East & North Africa

Many bloggers and Twitter users from Egypt and different parts in MENA region reported rain and some dusty storms today. Depending on their circumstances, some welcomed the drops of rain with joy while others braced themselves for the storms, flooding and heartbreak.

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Haiti: Updates from outside Port-au-Prince

Written by Nicholas Laughlin · Caribbean

Six days after the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti, charity workers and others continue to use online media to provide news of the situation outside Port-au-Prince, the capital.

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Brazil: Viewing the Haitian earthquake from without and within

Written by Diego Casaes · Caribbean, Latin America

The Brazilian blogosphere is in uproar after comments made by the Haitian consul in Brazil, George Samuel Antoine. Bloggers reflect on a lack of humanity, the failures of diplomacy and the peacekeeping mission, and how to help Haiti from afar.

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Chile: Sebastian Piñera is the Next President

Written by Silvia Viñas · Latin America

Sebastián Piñera was elected on January 17 as the first right-leaning president in Chile after 20 years of left leaning rule. For many in Chile, these elections demonstrated the country's strength as a transparent and healthy democracy.

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Haiti: Online Maps Shift from Charting Damage to Targeting Aid

Written by Marc Herman · North America, Caribbean

Marc Herman takes a closer look at some maps that humanitarian aid responders are using to communicate the evolving situation in Haiti’s earthquake zone. Nearly a week after the disaster -- and aftershocks equal to major temblors -- the maps and satellite imagery are proving some of the most reliable information available.

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Canada: Aboriginal Youth Suicides Hit Crisis Rate

Written by Juhie Bhatia · North America

Suicide rates have declined in Canada but not in Aboriginal communities, particularly among the youth. Suicide among Aboriginal youth continues to occur at alarming rates, leading to crisis-like situations in some communities

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Graffiti and Urban Art: Voices from Latin American Streets II

Written by Issa Villarreal · Latin America

Graffiti and urban art on the streets of Latin America is celebrated on the Internet by artists and fans alike. This is the second in a 3-part series on this movement across the region.

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Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood Elects New Head

Written by Tarek Amr · Middle East & North Africa

The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt has elected a new leader - Mr Muhammad Bedei. Egyptian bloggers reaction to the new appointment in this post.

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Updates from 18 January 2010

Russia

Russian cybersquatter company “Landmark VIP Service” will have to pay $300,000 penalties for illegally taking domain Forbes.ru, forbesrussia.ru reports [RUS] . It is the largest fine for cybersquatting in the history of RuNet.

• Alexey Sidorenko

Sri Lanka

Indrajit Samarajiva visited war ravaged Jaffna recently and writes about his impressions of the capital city of the Northern Province in Sri Lanka.

• Rezwan

Nepal

Alisha at Pour Les Femmes writes how Saraswati Puja (Basanta Panchami) is celebrated in Nepal.

• Rezwan

Pakistan

Teeth Maestro pays tribute to the Graffiti activist Asim Butt (1978-2010) who was renowned for his graffiti used in activism.

• Rezwan

United Kingdom

Sharpe's Opinion reacts sarcastically to the news of the first arrest in the United Kingdom over a Twitter joke: “Round of applause of the police there. Keeping us safe from those dangerous terrorists who go round advertising their intentions on public social networking websites.”

• Paula Góes

Armenia

Unzippedblog tweets that the Armenian prime minister, Tigran Sargsyan, has set up his own blog [AM].

• Onnik Krikorian

Kenya

Brenda writes about free Kiswahili synthetic voice for Freedom Fone, a project of Kubatana in Zimbabwe: “In recognition of the competitive mobile phone tariffs prevailing in east Africa and the willingness of organisations there to experiment with information on demand voice services, we will create our first localisation of the Freedom Fone GUI for Kiswahili in February 2010.”

• Ndesanjo Macha

Japan

In a post titled ‘Media Shifts Make Japan A Harder Read‘, the Shisaku blog describes the changes in the way major news outlets have been reporting news since the establishment of the new administration and why “the world is relying more and more on unfiltered retransmission what Japanese media outlets are producing”.

• Tomomi Sasaki