Global Voices · Citizen media stories from February 2010

February, 2010

Monthly archive · 157 posts

Stories from February, 2010

20 February 2010

Coup in Niger: Bloggers sigh in relief at the ousting of President Tandja

Written by Elia Varela Serra · Sub-Saharan Africa

On Thursday, February 18th a coup d'état took place in Niger, in which President Mamadou Tandja was captured after a gun battle in the capital. A few months ago Tandja illegally changed the constitution to allow him a third term in what was generally considered a mass fraud referendum. Bloggers react to these latest developments.

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Croatia: A New President, A New Path

Written by Miquel Hudin · Eastern & Central Europe

On Friday of last week, Ivo Josipović took office as Croatia's third president, replacing outgoing two-term president, Stjepan Mesić, who was the head of Croatia for a decade.

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Colombia: The Closure of Cambio Magazine

Written by Lully Posada · Latin America

The Colombian magazine Cambio, known for its investigative reporting, was recently closed by its owners, who say it was an economic decision. However, journalists say that it was a politically motivated decision.

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Congo: The Coltan Conflict is in Our Hands (and Cellphones)

Written by Juliana Rincón Parra · Sub-Saharan Africa

Coltan, columbo-tantalite, is a mineral used to make resistors in our cellphones, video games, computers and home electronics. Like blood diamonds, its mining has not only caused ecological damage, human rights abuses, but some say is also fueling the conflict in the Congo.

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19 February 2010

Iran: Cyber Islamic Militarism on the March

Written by Fred Petrossian · Middle East & North Africa

The internet is usually touted as a space for dialogue and peaceful exchange, but in the case of Iran, the political conflict has also morphed into new forms of online "warfare" where the most powerful weapons are those that silence free speech.

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Africa: Hidden Thoughts & Emotions on Love among African Bloggers

Written by Njeri Wangari · Sub-Saharan Africa

14th February, better known as Valentine’s day, the love mood was not only felt on the streets of Nairobi by the many red flowers, ladies dressed in all manner of red clothes, and offers in every shop.

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Updates from February, 2010

24 February 2010

Haiti

“The problem is not lack of food. It's lack of money. Put people to work. Pay them enough to support the local economy. Pay them enough to eat good local food”: Chronicles of an Unplanned Return writes an uplifting post about “beauty, lightness, and good things” in Haiti.

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Russia

The prosecutor's office of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, Siberian region where most of Russia's oil comes from, filed a suit against a local Internet provider that refused to block “extremist” Web site, Regnum reported. However, there's no federal law that requires providers to block the sites.

• Alexey Sidorenko

Egypt

Supporters in Washington DC held a rally in support of jailed Egyptian blogger Kareem Amer. Kareem has been in prison for three years as part of a four year sentence for insulting Islam and Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.

• Amira Al Hussaini

Armenia

Orxanbey posts a video on YouTube of what is described as an Azeri guy and and an Armenian girl dancing to the Lezginka (national dance popular in the North Caucasus), location unknown. Wearing the national flags of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Because of the still unresolved conflict between the two countries over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh, not all comments [RU] are positive, but some are.

• Onnik Krikorian