Global Voices · Citizen media stories from March 2011

March, 2011

Monthly archive · 316 posts

Stories from March, 2011

19 March 2011

Libya: Air Strikes on Libya Begin

Written by Amira Al Hussaini · Middle East & North Africa

Air strikes on Libya, aimed at crippling Muammar Gaddafi's air defenses, just started, receiving mixed reactions from people around the world. A coalition made up of the US, France, Italy, Canada and the US have been formed for the offensive to uproot Gaddafi, whose people have called for his ousting since popular uprisings started in the country on February 16.

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Georgia: Journalists Dismissed Because of Facebook Hate Speech

Written by Mirian Jugheli · Central Asia & Caucasus

On 18 March 2011, the Georgian Public Broadcaster dismissed two of its journalists, Giorgi Tukhareli and Giorgi Gabrichidze, because of offensive comments they made on Facebook against homosexuals as and the Vatican as well as the Catholic Church.

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Pakistan: Citizens In Action After Minority Minister's Assassination

Written by Sana Saleem · South Asia

On the 2nd of March, an unknown gunmen shot and killed Pakistan's Federal Minister For Minorities Shahbaz Bhatti. He was assassinated for their stance on the blasphemy law. A letter writing campaign initiated by a blogger to protest this received responses from over 15,000 people from different walks of life.

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Bulgaria: Offering Shelter to Japanese Earthquake Victims

Written by Ruslan Trad · East Asia, Eastern & Central Europe

The earthquake in Japan has become a tragedy for the entire world. This is evident from the willingness of people from different countries and continents to help the victims of the quake, which took the lives of thousands of people. Ruslan Trad reports on the Bulgarian online initiative.

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Libya: Mourning Mohammed Nabbous

Written by John Liebhardt · Middle East & North Africa

Mohammed Nabbous, founder of Libya's AlHurra TV, died while reporting from a firefight in Benghazi. Known as "Mo" to his many fans, he brought the brutal repression of Muammar Al Gaddafi's forces home to viewers and journalists from the Middle East and around the world. He leaves behind a wife and an unborn child.

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Azerbaijan: “Great People's Day” Protest Criticism Answered

Written by Leyla Najafli · Central Asia & Caucasus

Following a youth protest held in Baku, the Azerbaijani capital, on 11th March, some bloggers have been critical of those responsible for organizing the action via Facebook. As a result, one of those organizers answers such criticism on a new blog.

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Updates from March, 2011

25 March 2011

Bahamas

Weblog Bahamas‘ Rick Lowe says that the government's privatization of the public phone company “deserves a hip, hip, hooray!”

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Barbados

Barbados Free Press is livid about an incident in which a Jamaican traveler was subjected to a cavity search and then deported, saying: “Even if [the visitor] was suspected and then deported for good reason such as gang affiliation or crimes committed in Jamaica, she deserves to be treated with human dignity.”

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Bermuda

politics.bm is fascinated by the fact that “the PLP realizes that the PLP's policies have been bad for Bermuda” and wonders about the resulting challenges and opportunities.

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Uganda

Mixed news is coming from Uganda on the Anti-Homosexuality Bill [AHB]: “On the one hand its been said the Bill is dead and on the other it will still be debated in Parliament.”

• Ndesanjo Macha

Kenya

Vote for me: “I have been nominated for The Deutsche Welle International Best Of Blogs Awards. Deutsche Welle is Germany's international broadcaster. As they say on their website : The Deutsche Welle International Blog Awards - The BOBs - honors websites in 11 languages that champion the open exchange of ideas and freedom of expression… Too much for freedom pf expression.”

• Ndesanjo Macha

Ethiopia

Meet the First Lady of Ethiopian music: “Today, 78-year-old and in frail health, Asnaketch Worku remains a living music legend, undoubtedly one of the most important singers in the history of Ethiopian music.”

• Ndesanjo Macha

Cameroon

Ingenieris.net [fr], a Cameroonian information website focused on ICT news, announced [fr] on March 24, 2011, that the Cameroonian government intends to request Internet Service Providers (ISP) in the country to register the IP (Internet Protocol) addresses of their users. G. Izane, the author of the article, explains that the same type of registration has also been done with mobile phone users in order to prevent public order troubles [fr]. This news follows the ten day government ban of the SMS-to-Tweet service provided by MTN Cameroon, which was restored on March 8, 2011.