Global Voices · Citizen media stories from April 2010

April, 2010

Monthly archive · 147 posts

Stories from April, 2010

10 April 2010

United Kingdom: Iraqi LGBT group leader Ali Hili refused priority for ayslum application

Written by Judith Townend · United Kingdom

Ali Hili, leader of an Iraqi lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) group has been waiting for an asnwer to his application for asylum in the United Kingdom for three years. While his case is being reviewed, Hali cannot travel abroad to raise awareness about the plight of the LGBT community back home.

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16 Years Later, the Rwandan Genocide Remembered

Written by Lova Rakotomalala · Sub-Saharan Africa, North America

On April 7th, Rwanda commemorated the 16th anniversary of the genocide that took the lives of as many as 800,000 people and traumatized a whole region to this day. The genocide is commemorated to keep the memory of the victims alive and honor them but also to help the country move forward in the spirit of unity and reconciliation.

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Cast your vote for the “Best of the Blogs”

Written by Diego Casaes · Western Europe

Online voting has begun for the Best of the Blogs Awards from Deutsche Welle, one of the most prestigious international blog competitions with nominated blogs in eleven different languages. You can vote for your favorites until April 14, 2010.

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Russia: Bloggers Discuss Andrzej Wajda's “Katyń” Movie

Written by Alexey Sidorenko · Eastern & Central Europe

For the first time in Russian history, Andrzej Wajda's “Katyń” (2007) has been aired on Russian public television channel “Kultura” -- thus leading to online discussions on Stalin regime, historical truth, humanism and Russian-Poland relations.

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China: The brief lives of Chinese buildings

Written by Don Weinland · East Asia

At a construction and energy conservation conference that opened March 29 in Beijing, a Ministry of Housing and Construction official revealed that construction in China only has a 25–30 year lifespan.

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Poland: President Kaczyński is Killed in Plane Crash in Russia - Initial Reactions

Written by Sylwia Presley · Eastern & Central Europe

Sylwia Presley reports on the initial reactions of the Polish social media users to the shocking news of the plane crash, which killed the Polish president and many other top officials in Western Russia this morning.

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Updates from April, 2010

23 April 2010

Cameroon

You've probably heard the song, and Chief Boima of WFMU's Beware of the Blog in New Jersey decided to track down the origins of the “Waka Waka” song, which is the 2010 FIFA World Cup Anthem to be sung by Shakira in South Africa. Check out his post to see the many different versions that have made this Cameroonian song universal.

• Juliana Rincón Parra

India

Rohit Bhargava at Influential Marketing Blog writes about The Rickshaw Challenge, which is “a series of road races where participants can choose their own rickshaws and race across parts of India”. You can read live updates from the teams on the race blog.

• Rezwan

Russia

Leopolis comments - here and here - on the gas/Black Sea Fleet lease extension deal signed by the Russian and Ukrainian presidents on April 21.

• Veronica Khokhlova

Poland

Steve Bandera of Kyiv Scoop writes about Andrzej Wajda’s 2007 film Katyń, which has been shown twice in Russia in the past few weeks (reactions from the Russian blogosphere are here) - and comments that the truth about the massacre is “only coming out now in the former Soviet Union and it’s like pulling teeth. It takes crashing planes and dying presidents. But it’s going to take a lot more than showing a movie on Russian State TV.”

• Veronica Khokhlova