Global Voices · Citizen media stories from 2010 June 14

14 June 2010

Daily archive · 12 posts

Stories from 14 June 2010

Greece: World Cup-Mania Provides Respite from Financial Crisis

Written by Asteris Masouras · Western Europe

Despite the dire financial crisis unfolding in Greece, many Greeks have taken to the 'social media World Cup' with gusto - perhaps hoping for a repeat of the amazing and uplifting victory in the Euro 2004 championship.

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Algeria: Disappointment and Anger After the Defeat against Slovenia

Written by Mohamed Benderouiche · Middle East & North Africa, Eastern & Central Europe

After a 24 years long wait, Algerians have focused their attentions on the world cup, hoping to escape the grind of their daily lives. The disappointment was all the more profound after the defeat of their team against Slovenia.

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Kyrgyzstan: Provocateurs seen behind ethnic clashes

Written by Adil Nurmakov · Central Asia & Caucasus

Clashes between the ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbek population in the southern Kyrgyzstan have developed into large-scale violence. After three nights of shooting in the isolated conflict zone - the population still has limited access to telephony, electricity and food.

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Ghana: Bloggers celebrate Ghana's victory over Serbia

Written by Ndesanjo Macha · Sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern & Central Europe

The Ghana national football team, the Black Stars, became the first African team on Sunday win a match at the 2010 FIFA World Cup after beating Serbia. Ghanaian bloggers are celebrating this historic win.

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Peru: Cyber-Activism in Chimbote

Written by Juan Arellano · Translated by Silvia Viñas · Latin America

Chimbote is a city and fishing port located to the north of Lima, where the use of internet is expanding. Recently, internet has become a way to call for and participate in protests both virtually and in person. An example of this was seen recently when citizens of Chimbote decided to protest on the poor state of the roads.

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South Korea: Understanding the Oil Spill From Painful Experience

Written by Lee Yoo Eun · East Asia, North America

As the BP oil spill disaster in the United States is reported in South Korea, numerous Korean bloggers, for whom painful memories of the deadliest oil spill in Korean history...

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Singapore: Swiss national charged over train vandalism

Written by Shawn Lim · East Asia

A Swiss national was charged with vandalism after he was accused of spray-painting a graffiti on one of the trains of Singapore Mass Rapid Transit. Vandalism in Singapore is punishable by up to 3 years in detention plus 3-8 strokes of the cane. Bloggers are displeased over the security breach.

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Australians Reflect on Obama's Presidency So Far

Written by Kevin Rennie · Oceania, North America

U.S. President Barack Obama has cancelled a trip to Australia for the second time this year, because of the oil spill crisis. Last time the reason was health care legislation. In his absence bloggers have been assessing his role and his performance as President

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South Africa: The Vuvuzela World Cup Debate

Written by Eduardo Avila · Sub-Saharan Africa

Days into the 2010 World Cup, the vuvuzela debate continues by those criticizing and defending the use of the instrument at games, as well as those who make light of those who complain.

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Iran: Repressed at home, Iranians protest worldwide

Written by Fred Petrossian · Middle East & North Africa

While several witnesses in Tehran said that scattered clashes erupted between Iran's security forces and demonstrators marking the first anniversary of a contested presidential election on 12 June, protests also occurred in many different cities of the world.

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Updates from 14 June 2010

Pakistan

Raza Rumi at Pak Tea House criticizes the lack of public consultation in the budgetary processes in Pakistan.

• Rezwan

India

Alexandra at India Climate Solutions writes about the EcoFestival 2010 which took place in New Delhi recently. The festival is aimed at “creating greater awareness, interest and actions to mitigate climate change”, informs Kriti, the organizer team.

• Rezwan

Guyana

“Any list of Caribbean classics ultimately has to be the responsibility of Caribbean people wherever we are. And we’re not only responsible for creating a canon, but also for passing it on…”: Guyanese diaspora Charmaine Valere weighs in on Geoffrey Philp's question as to what constitutes a Caribbean literary classic.

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Haiti

The Haitian Blogger suggests that “Haiti's calamity is a windfall for everyone, except Haitians living in Haiti in the camps.”

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Russia

Igor Schegolev, Russian minister of Communications, announced [RUS] today that country's largest, state-controlled, access provider “Svyazinvest“ [ENG] will launch a subsidized Internet access plan. Users of the new “Social” plan will be able to access few “socially important” websites for lower price (at reduced speed, though). Few days earlier, “Social Plug“, a parallel state project offering access to limited number of websites in every home, had been approved [RUS].

• Gregory Asmolov

Trinidad & Tobago

KnowTnT.com applauds the new Finance Minister's initiative “to design a ‘dialogue process' for all stakeholders to voice their opinions on the Republic’s budget”, saying: “He leads a process (if genuine) of true participatory/contributory governance.”

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Cuba

Generation Y says that the Granma newspaper's “Letters to the Editor” section “has created the false impression that criticism is admissible and one can speak with ‘no holds barred'.”

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Brazil

During the first day of the World Cup, a group of 12 urban artists painted a wall of 240 m2 in the city of Rio de Janeiro featuring what they believe to be the Brazilian soccer dream team. The result may be seen at the event's blog “Grafite Futebol Arte” [Graffiti Soccer Art].

• Debora Baldelli