Global Voices · Citizen media stories from February 2011

February, 2011

Monthly archive · 350 posts

Stories from February, 2011

10 February 2011

Egypt: A List of Demands from Tahrir Square

Written by Amira Al Hussaini · Middle East & North Africa

A list of demands from the protesters at Tahrir Square is being circulated online today, the 17th day of massive demonstrations across Egypt calling for the overthrow of the Mubarak regime. The first item calls for the resignation of president Hosni Mubarak.

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Egypt: Children, Fish and Cats Ask Mubarak to Leave

Written by Amira Al Hussaini · Middle East & North Africa, North America

Children, fish and even cats, have joined millions of Egyptians in their call for an end to the Mubarak regime.

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9 February 2011

Egypt: Strike! Strike! Strike!

Written by Amira Al Hussaini · Middle East & North Africa

Hundreds of thousands of workers have gone on strike across Egypt today, and more are threatening to join the action tomorrow. Reports of strikes started making their way online yesterday, and netizens are now calling for a nationwide general strike, in solidarity with pro-democracy protests, now on their 16th day.

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Mexico: Social Media Reacts After Influential Journalist Carmen Aristegui is Fired

Written by Ernesto Priego · Latin America

Mexican Twitter users have been very active debating the news that influential anchorwoman Carmen Aristegui was dismissed from her MVS Noticias radio show 72 hours after she asked on air if President Felipe Calderón should "give a clear, pristine, formal answer" to whether he suffered from a drinking problem.

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Egypt: Away from the Press, Netizens Report a Massacre in Kharga

Written by Amira Al Hussaini · Middle East & North Africa

With all eyes on Tahrir Square, the epicentre for pro-democracy protests now on their 16th day, a tragedy has been unfolding in Kharga, Al Wadi el Gedid, away from the prying eyes of the Press and international observers. Reports of protests being brutally put down by the security forces using live ammunition and excessive tear gas, and government-paid thugs released from prison to terrorise people and destroy property, are making the rounds online, as information slowly seeps from Kharga.

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Sudan: Southern Sudan becomes Africa's newest nation

Written by Ndesanjo Macha · Sub-Saharan Africa

Southern Sudan has officially become Africa's newest nation after Southern Sudanese voted for secession from the north. Official referendum figures released on Monday showed that 98.83 per cent of voters from the south chose to secede from the north. This is a roundup of reaction to referendum results.

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Updates from February, 2011

15 February 2011

Puerto Rico (U.S.)

Repeating Islands reports that a new interim president has been selected for the University of Puerto Rico.

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Trinidad & Tobago

“Trinidad is head and a lot of people are dead because of it”: B.C. Pires explains.

• Janine Mendes-Franco

North Korea

In the New Media Revolution and U.S. Global Engagement conference, Professor
Andrei Lankov, a Russian specialist in Korean studies said that North Korea has about 100 IP addresses for the whole country (plus intranet). He also commented that North Korea has managed to be more Stalinist than Stalin himself in controlling information.

• Lee Yoo Eun

Bahrain

Saudi Twitter user @Al Ahlawy29 posts a series of photos (WARNING: graphic images) showing the second protester to die in Bahrain, prefaced with the text (ar): “And the second martyr falls. The martyr is Fadhel Salman Al Matrook, 32 years old. He was martyred while taking part in the funeral of [first] martyr Ali Abdul Hadi Mushaima, near the Salmaniya Medical Complex, after he was shot by a bird shot gun at close range.” The images were taken from Al Wattani, an online forum that is blocked in Bahrain.

• Georgia Popplewell

Argentina

Juan Arellano spoke to Soraya Sacaan [es] and Juan José Retamal [es] of OCD Iberoamérica [es], a Chilean initiative whose mission is to “contribute to knowledge of digital communications in the private sector, academia and government to promote and understand its scope and application in society.” Juan added both videos to a post about OCD for Periodismo Ciudadano [es].

• Silvia Viñas

International Relations

At East Asia Forum, Justin Li discussed the Sinophobia in Mongolia caused by high dependence on China for trade and investment. In another article on the Forum, Julian Dierkes questioned Li's claims, and highlighted that significant shift in Mongolia's ‘third neighbour' policy is possible. In a separate but related article in Asia Pacific Memo, Dierkes discussed how changes in Mongolia's political party landscape will affect populist tendencies and public discussion on national policies in Mongolia.

• Andy Yee

Ecuador

“The eighteen-year lawsuit against Chevron came to a climax when a judge ruled that Texaco (now owned by Chevron) was liable environmental damages in the Ecuadorian rainforest. The court decreed that the oil company pay a reported $8.6 billion fine and apologize publicly or risk doubling the damages figure,” reports Erwin in The Latinamericanist.

• Silvia Viñas