Global Voices · Citizen media stories from February 2011

February, 2011

Monthly archive · 342 posts

Featured stories from February 2011

Iran: A Blogger Who Prayed to See Protesters Beaten

Bahrain: Protests Block National Assembly Building

Australia: ‘Tea Party' Style Campaign Against Carbon Tax

If the Oz blogosphere is any indication, the next Australian Federal election will be a referendum on a proposed climate tax. And the issue has already become nasty and personal. GV author Kevin Rennie gathers online reactions to this controversial measure.

read »

Oman: Protests Continue in Sohar 28 February 2011
Ukraine: Choosing to Leave 28 February 2011
France: Demonstration in Paris Against Gabon Dictatorship 28 February 2011
Libya: “The only thing we want is our freedom” (Audio) 28 February 2011
Mexico: Kidnapping Case Affects Diplomatic Relations with France 27 February 2011

Stories from February, 2011

28 February 2011

Peru: Ex-Minister Asked US Embassy to Help Contain Opponent's Presidential Campaign

Written by Juan Arellano · Translated by Marco Veliz · Latin America

On February 19th, Spanish newspaper El Pais released a cable stating that "Fernando Rospigliosi, former Minister of the Interior in the government of Alejandro Toledo, asked the assistance of the United States Embassy to carry a campaign against Ollanta Humala." Peruvian bloggers and Twitter users quickly reacted to the cable that rocked the local political environment during an election year.

· read »

Macedonia: Musings on the Early Elections

Written by Filip Stojanovski · Eastern & Central Europe

The Macedonian public is furiously discussing the justification and timing of the upcoming early elections.

· 4

· read »

Argentina: Hackathons and Budget Transparency in Bahía Blanca

Written by Renata Avila · Latin America

As we have witnessed in the last month, there are moments in civic life that drive citizens to change and challenge institutions, to create solutions and to express their concerns...

· 1

· read »

Zambia: Minister Uses Facebook to Announce Government Policies

Written by Gershom Ndhlovu · Sub-Saharan Africa

Zambia’s education minister Dora Siliya who is also ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) spokesperson, has in the last few months used Facebook to make important government policy announcements as well as party matters.

· 4

· read »

World: And the Best Actor Award Goes to Gaddafi!

Written by Amira Al Hussaini · Middle East & North Africa

Colin Firth may have won the Oscar for Best Actor, but it was Libyan dictator Colonel Muammar Al Gaddafi who got the most mentions. Depending on where you are, tweeps...

· read »

27 February 2011

Philippines: Village Ordinance Requires Prescriptions for Condoms

Written by Julius Rocas · East Asia

Ayala Alabang briefly became a global twitter trending topic this week. It is one of the richest villages in the Philippines which recently made headline news for passing an ordinance requiring medical prescriptions for the buying of condoms.

· 6

· read »

Cambodia: Who Ordered the Blocking of Opposition Websites?

Written by Mong Palatino · East Asia

Since January, certain anti-government websites have been inaccessible in Cambodia. Service providers blame it on technical issues while the government claims it does not promote censorship. But media groups leaked a government letter asking companies to block critical websites.

· 1

· read »

Libya: Fear and Chaos at Tripoli Airport

Written by Sasa Milosevic · Middle East & North Africa

Fear, chaos, hysteria and despair - all these words have been used to describe Libyan capital Tripoli's airport over the past few days. Since uprisings began against the country's leader Colonel Muammar Al Gaddafi on the night of February 16, 2011 (#Feb17), Libya has been in a state of uncertainty.

· read »

Tunisia: Prime Minister Resigns Following a Bloody Saturday

Written by Afef Abrougui · Middle East & North Africa

Interim government Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannoushi has stepped down following a bloody Saturday in the capital Tunis. The clashes that started on Friday night in Habib Bourguiba Avenue, between security forces and protesters led to the death of three persons.

· 1

· read »

Côte d’Ivoire: Twitter Campaign for Anderson Cooper’s Attention

Written by Anna Gueye · Translated by Anna Gueye · Middle East & North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa

Global Voices author Anna Gueye was instrumental in a recent campaign to persuade influential CNN reporter Anderson Cooper to pay as much attention to protests in African countries such as Gabon and Côte d’Ivoire, as he has to Tunisia, Egypt and other Arab world uprisings.

· 2

· read »

Updates from February, 2011

28 February 2011

Pakistan

Adil Najam at All Things Pakistan reports about the practice of dog fight sport near the village of Lora in Abbottabad District, which is cruel and horrific.

• Rezwan

Maldives

Hassan Ziyau asks whether abolishing the Government Bond system in Maldives would be a wise decision.

• Rezwan

Macedonia

Natalija Trajchevska presented a review of online advertising market in Macedonia [MKD] during 2010 on the e-Marketing blog. Most of the money went to entertainment content providers.

• Filip Stojanovski

Macedonia

Partikopolis‘ photos document vandalism against monuments [MKD] in Strumica: “…if this was a multi-ethnic community, then the ‘others' would be blamed. Since it is not - nobody cares…”

• Filip Stojanovski

Uruguay

Erwin C. reports: “Political support has reportedly been growing in favor of decriminalizing the use of marijuana. Legislator Sebastián Sabini told the local press that he would introduce a bill this week that would allow individuals to legally have 25 grams of marijuana for personal use.”

• Silvia Viñas

Honduras

“La Gringa” blogs about a strike led by teachers and taxi drivers in La Ceiba on February 21. “This was the third national strike of the school year, which only began on Monday, February 14,” she writes.

• Silvia Viñas

Mexico

Catherine from Small Fish in the Big Taco shares colour coded images of “a very sleepy town in the state of Veracruz….namely Tlacotalpan.” She calls Tlacotalpan, “the most colourful place in the globe!!”

• Silvia Viñas

France

Atlantico.fr, a new right-leaning website in French modeled on several American web successes (including The Atlantic and Politico) is quickly earning notoriety in France in expectation of what role it may play in upcoming national elections.

• Solana Larsen

Philippines

Tonyo Cruz from the Philippines gathers online reactions to the proposal of a government agency to require the registration of laptops to prevent cybercrimes.

• Mong Palatino

Haiti

“The earthquake did not kill people. Bad buildings killed people. Lack of medical care killed people. Lack of infrastructure killed people. Lack of caring government officials kill[s] people”: Dying in Haiti is convinced that “most Haitian suffering is not necessary and is preventable in the first place.”

• Janine Mendes-Franco