Global Voices · Citizen media stories from 2011 June 10

10 June 2011

Daily archive · 9 posts

Stories from 10 June 2011

Kuwait: Shia Twitter User Arrested

Written by Mona Kareem · Middle East & North Africa

Kuwaiti Nasser Abul, a young Shia man, has been arrested, allegedly for his posting on micro-blogging site Twitter. This is the first time a Twitter user is held for tweets in the country. The arrest has created a furour on Twitter, where many called for his release.

· 4

· read »

Venezuela: Debates on Laws and Identities

Written by Laura Vidal · Translated by Marianna Breytman · Latin America

May, the month of "Afro-Venezuelan" culture, ended this year with a new law against racial discrimination and a proposal to create a ministry for African descent. The news shot up largely in the Venezuelan blogosphere, as some shared opinions regarding one of the most complex and confusing aspects of the country: identity.

· read »

Sri Lanka: Protests In Katunayake Free Trade Zone

Written by Rezwan · South Asia

Earlier this month clashes at the Katunayake Free Trade Zone (FTZ) in Sri Lanka between protesting workers and police claimed the life of an young worker and injured many workers and policemen. The following protests of citizens against the killing send a strong signal to the Sri Lankan government.

· 1

· read »

North Korea Threatens to Disclose Recordings of Talks with South

Written by Lee Yoo Eun · East Asia

In an apparent act of blackmail, North Korea threatened South Korea on Thursday that they would release secret audio recordings from Inter-Korean talks reportedly held on May 9, 2011. The secret meeting, initiated by the South, was meant to lead to an agreement on talks for how to move forward after two deadly attacks on South Korea in 2010.

· read »

Peru: Aymara Indigenous People Announce Resumption of Protests in Puno

Written by Isabel Guerra · Translated by Louella Mahabir · Latin America

After a temporary truce to allow for presidential elections to take place in the Puno region, the Aymara Indians in said region have announced that they will resume their strike indefinitely, with which they demand the cancellation of all mining concessions in Puno.

· 1

· read »

Cuba: Released Journalists Offer Their Testimonies

Written by Firuzeh Shokooh Valle · Latin America

As part of the Committee to Protect Journalists series "After the Black Spring: Cuban Stories of Prison and Freedom," Cuban journalist Omar Ruiz Hernández, who was recently released from jail and exiled to Spain, tells his story.

· read »

Kazakhstan: Setting Up Borders Online

Written by Sergey Park · Translated by Adil Nurmakov · Central Asia & Caucasus

Earlier this week Kazakhstani internet users began to observe a curious phenomenon. Google.kz now redirects to the main Google.com website with a Kazakh language interface.

· 2

· read »

Cambodia: Women Entrepreneurs and Social Media

Written by Sopheap Chak · East Asia

Women entrepreneurs in Cambodia gathered last week to discuss the role of social media, particularly Facebook, in expanding their businesses. Sopheap Chak highlights the important points raised during the meeting

· 3

· read »

Colombia: Robbery at Andean Parliament Headquarters

Written by Cati Restrepo · Translated by Silvia Viñas · Latin America

On June 7, members of the Andean Parliament were robbed at the organization’s headquarters in Bogotá, Colombia. On Twitter netizens posted their opinions, mostly rejecting what had happened, with the hashtag #Parlamentoandino.

· read »

Updates from 10 June 2011

Bangladesh

Dutch journalist and blogger Dheera Sujan recently visited Bangladesh and was surprised with the positive energy of the Bangladeshis. She comments: “I witnessed there was that hunger to improve, to learn, to better oneself that is simply not as palpable in this part of the world as it is in Asia.”

• Rezwan

Nepal

Nepal Blogs refutes the negative news on religious freedom in Nepal and comments: “It is unfair, [..] to chastise an entire nation because of few intolerant idiots.”

• Rezwan

Haiti

Haiti Grassroots Watch writes a series of posts about the country's reconstruction efforts, here and here.

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Cuba

“I have no desire to write. I scold myself. Since I learned that Coco Fariñas is on a hunger strike I have been floating above the city”: Octavo Cerco has been feeling like she's “floating in nothingness”.

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Trinidad & Tobago

TECHTT confirms that “bmobile will be launching the iPhone 4 next week” and says that “one of the features that caught [his] attention was the retina display.”

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Jamaica

“If this was the dress rehearsal for flooding, later-on in the year, when we are pelted with rain from storms and hurricanes, later in the hurricane season, then we've failed”: Girl With a Purpose blogs about the country's recent bout of bad weather.

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Cuba

Diaspora bloggers chronicle the arrival of Reina Luisa Tamayo (mother of the late Cuban dissident Orlando Zapata Tamayo) in the United States.

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Bermuda

“The Bermuda Parliament looks busy. But truth is, in my opinion, it’s not very productive”: Vexed Bermoothes thinks one of its priorities should be passing anti-corruption legislation.

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Bahamas

BLOGWORLD responds to an article which suggests that there are plans afoot to allow foreigners the right to vote in Bahamian Parliamentary Elections: “It’s not that I’m against the ideas of non-citizens voting in elections. But in this country, where non-citizens have more rights and privileges than Bahamians in almost every other way, I find the idea insulting.”

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Nicaragua

Ronald Hill blogs [es] about a march for “dignity and hope” that took place on June 8 in Bluefields, Nicaragua. Protesters raised their voices against organized crime and drug trafficking, and demanded greater security.

• Silvia Viñas