Global Voices · Citizen media stories from May 2010

May, 2010

Monthly archive · 197 posts

Stories from May, 2010

21 May 2010

Thailand: Blog reactions to Bangkok violence

Bangkok is now under full government control after government troops successfully removed the Red Shirt protest barricades in the city. Here are several blog reactions from Bangkok about the raging political crisis in the country

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20 May 2010

Uruguay: First Woman Elected as Intendant of Montevideo

Written by Silvia Viñas · Latin America

Ana Olivera, a member of the Uruguayan Communist Party was elected Municipal Intendant of Montevideo. Her candidacy and the politics and history behind it gave social media users and bloggers a lot to talk about.

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Nigeria: A debate on pedophilia, Sharia law, and the ‘two' Nigerias

Written by Eremipagamo Amabebe · Sub-Saharan Africa

The headline is tabloid-esque: "Nigerian senator marries 13-year-old girl". It refers to 49-year-old Ahmad Sani Yerima, whose marriage a few weeks ago has drawn criticism from around the country, playing into the divide between the Muslim north and Christian south of Nigeria.

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Malawi: The world reacts after sentencing of gay couple

Written by Haute Haiku · Sub-Saharan Africa

A day after the world marked International Day against Homophobia, a court in Malawi sentenced Malawi gay couple to jail for fourteen years.

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Madagascar: Violence Erupts Between Army and Dissident Police Unit

Written by Lova Rakotomalala · Sub-Saharan Africa

On May, 20th 2010, sustained gun battles between rival armed forces lasted for an hour in the capital city of Madagascar, Antananarivo. The ongoing political crisis has once again erupted...

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Technology for Transparency Review, Part V

Written by David Sasaki · Technology for Transparency Network

Representative democracy, while necessary, takes citizens away from the decision making process. While traditional media tend to focus on individuals more than issues, a new generation of websites are combining parliamentary information with social media tools to give citizens more information about the profile and activities of their representatives, and to become more active in the legislative process.

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Updates from May, 2010

25 May 2010

Trinidad & Tobago

“Indian Arrival Day, celebrated on 30th May, commemorates the arrival of the first Indian Indentured labourers from India to Trinidad, in May 1845, on the ship Fatel Razack”: TriniGourmet.com will be commemorating the occasion with a few tasty Indian dishes.

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Zimbabwe

Sokari writes about the arrest of two employees of Gay and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) by officers from the Central Intelligent Department.

• Ndesanjo Macha

South Africa

Phillip comments on the launch of Africa Progress Report 2010: “If only the Africa Progress Report 2010 could be called a retrogressive report on Africa…that way, African leaders will not be lulled into thinking they are making any significant progress. They’d rather wake up from their centuries of slumber.”

• Ndesanjo Macha

South Africa

South African blogger Zamo Nkatshu writes a post in celebration of Africa Day: “This year’s theme focuses on building and maintaining peace in Africa through sport. So let us then celebrate and rally behind the six African teams (The Six Pack) which will represent the continent during the World Cup.”

• Ndesanjo Macha

Togo

“More than 6.175 grams of gold: that’s what it weighs, the prize that the African jujus are aiming to claim this summer in South Africa. Africa has a reputation for being the continent where black magic is an inseparable part of sport, certainly where the sport of sports is concerned,” writes Espera of Twenty Ten.

• Ndesanjo Macha

Russia

Five hosting providers that allegedly control more than 25 percent of the Russian hosting market plan to sign a charter against ‘illegal content', Vedomosti newspaper reported [RUS]. The charter implies more active involvement of hosting providers in filtering and blocking child porn, materials that break copyright or ignite hatred as well as sites considered ‘extremist'.

• Alexey Sidorenko

Cote d'Ivoire

Miquel announces funding for African-focused blogging platform, Maneno: “We are very pleased to announced that the Salesforce.com Foundation has agreed to help fund a portion of the general operating costs of Maneno for the next year.”

• Ndesanjo Macha