Global Voices · Citizen media stories from October 2011

October, 2011

Monthly archive · 215 posts

Stories from October, 2011

6 October 2011

Jordan: Prince Hassan Joins Twitter!

Written by Ali Alhasani · Middle East & North Africa

Jordan's Prince Hassan has joined Twitter, much to the delight of many Jordanian tweeps. Ali Alhasani takes a closer look at their reactions.

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Colombia: First National Evacuation Simulation

Written by Cati Restrepo · Translated by Marianna Breytman · Latin America

Fourteen Colombian cities participated in an exercise of simulating a national evacuation on October 5. The idea was to simulate an emergency (an earthquake) and build awareness of the steps people should assume in the event of an actual emergency.

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Bahrain: Dr Ghassan Dhaif Tweets His Jail Experience

Written by Mona Kareem · Middle East & North Africa

A Bahraini doctor is one of 20 sentenced doctors who have taken to Twitter to tell the world their story with imprisonment, torture and harassment in their own words. Mona Kareem brings us the story of Dr Ghassan Dhaif, sentenced to 15 years in prison, in this post. Bahrain has now ordered their re-trial in a civilian court.

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Palestine: Blogger Rasha Hilwi Not Welcome in Tunisia

Written by Ayesha Saldanha · Middle East & North Africa

Rasha Hilwi, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, is a well-known journalist and blogger and was among the Palestinian bloggers refused visas to Tunisia in order to attend the 3rd Arab Bloggers Meeting. Here, Global Voices interviews Rasha.

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Tunisia: Arab Bloggers Discuss the Situation in Syria

Written by Jillian C. York · Middle East & North Africa

At the Third Arab Bloggers Meeting in Tunis this week, Syria has been on the minds and lips of many participants. Speakers from Syria are quoted in this piece highlighting several sessions focused on the country.

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China: The Runaway Bosses of Wenzhou City

Written by Oiwan Lam · East Asia

More than 26 entrepreneurs from China's industrial city of Wenzhou have fled the country after being unable to pay debts illegally lent to them by government officials. The city's officials are pleading with the central government for help, but Chinese netizens are not sympathetic to the Wenzhou bosses.

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Arab World: RIP Steve Jobs

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

The Arab world is mourning the death of Steve Jobs, Apple's visionary leader. Tributes are pouring in via social media as netizens wake up to the news.

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5 October 2011

Bahrain: 15 Year Jail Sentences for Medics Who Treated Protesters

Written by Mona Kareem · Middle East & North Africa

Bahrain has sentenced several doctors to 5-15 years in prison, accusing them of a range of crimes including stockpiling weapons at the country's main hospital - charges the doctors and international organisations say are fabricated.

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Brazil: Mobilization on Twitter Takes Down Pedophile Blog

Written by Paula Góes · Translated by Sara Moreira · Latin America

Following wide mobilization in social media, Brazilian netizens managed to take down a pedophile blog in a matter of hours after the first alert was made on Twitter, on the morning of Monday, October 3.

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Myanmar: President Suspends Dam Project

Written by Chan Myae Khine · East Asia

The Myanmar government surprised everybody when it ordered the cancellation of a controversial dam project in response to the protests and public petition of villagers and civil society groups. Global Voices Author mydaydream translates Burmese news reports and online reactions on the suspension of the project

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Updates from October, 2011

20 October 2011

Cameroon

An open letter to the President of Cameroon from opposition presidential candidate Ayah Paul Abine: “Mr. President, You would have known by now that of the seven candidates who signed the Yaounde Declaration demanding the cancellation of the recent presidential election, four are Anglophones and three are from the West Region.”

• Ndesanjo Macha

Uganda

Lord's Resistance Army survivor in Uganda bears witness: “Evelyn Apoko survived the Lords Resistance Army [LRA]. Here she responds to those who are stupidly misinformed and who have criticised President Obama’s decision to deploy 100 US troops to try to end the LRA’s war and capture Joseph Kony.”

• Ndesanjo Macha

Ghana

A female blogger was assaulted in Accra this morning: “This morning, at about 7.38 am, I was physically assaulted in my car, on the Mallam-Weija Highway by a man of about mid-thirties, about 5′11 tall, toughly built … dressed in balck office shirt and tucked into black denim trousers, black belt, black office shoes, holding a black briefcase.”

• Ndesanjo Macha

Cameroon

Robert Jackson, the United States (US) Ambassador in Cameroon, stated in a declaration made public by AFP [fr] that US observers of the October 9, 2011, presidential election noted “irregularities at every level” of the electoral process, and “technical difficulties by Elecam [Cameroonian Electoral Commission] in its management of the election”. This follows the decision by the Cameroonian Constitutionnal Court [fr] to dismiss an appeal by opposition candidates to annul the election.

• Julie Owono

Saudi Arabia

Two Saudi men were arrested last Sunday October 16th in what seems to be a reaction to a video posted on their YouTube channel showing poverty in Riyadh. Through microblogging platforms, people have shown their support for the two videographers. A subtitled version of the video can be viewed here. (via BoingBoing)

• Juliana Rincón Parra

China

Some elementary schools in China force children who under-perform to wear a green scarf. (via Ministry of Tofu)

• Oiwan Lam

North Korea

North Korean Economy Watch blog posted about North Koreans working under miserable conditions in Mongolia. Hundred of North Koreans were placed across Mongolia to help the country to meet its financial targets.

• Lee Yoo Eun

19 October 2011