Global Voices · Citizen media stories from October 2011

October, 2011

Monthly archive · 215 posts

Stories from October, 2011

20 October 2011

Chile: Transsexuals Demand a Place in Postponed Anti-Discrimination Law

Written by Katie Manning · Latin America

An anti-discrimination law is up for vote in Chile. It would ban any prejudice based on race, age, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and more. Although it offers new protection to often-marginalized groups, transsexuals didn’t make the cut. Now, they're demanding inclusion.

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Libya: The Truth About Gaddafi's Death

Written by Amira Al Hussaini · Middle East & North Africa

Libya has broken out in celebration after Gaddafi's stronghold Sirte fell and the man himself was either captured and killed or killed and captured. On Twitter, journalists and pundits have tried to reconstruct his death circumstances.

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Libya: Celebrations as Gaddafi Confirmed Dead

Written by Amira Al Hussaini · Middle East & North Africa

Libyan dictator Muammar Al Gaddafi is finally dead. After hundreds of thousands of tweets and guess work between news of him being captured, wounded, killed, or all three together, we finally have a confirmation from the Libyan ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) that he really is dead.

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France: Blue Fingers and Tears of Joy as Tunisian Diaspora Vote

Written by Claire Ulrich · Middle East & North Africa

Tunisians living in France went to the polls today, ahead of the October 23 election in their country. Voters are voting freely and democratically for the first time in 50 years - just nine months after the first of the Arab revolutions - and are showing off their inked-stained blue fingers with pride.

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Libya: Unconfirmed News of Gaddafi's Capture

Written by Amira Al Hussaini · Middle East & North Africa

Happy news has been coming out of Libya in the last few minutes, leaving Libyan and Arab tweeps rejoicing, albeit with caution, at the new developments. Rumour has it that Libyan dictator Muammar Al Gaddafi has been captured. Here are the first reactions.

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Cameroon: Biya Tipped to Win After Temporary Results Are Leaked

Written by Julie Owono · Sub-Saharan Africa

Weekly newspaper Le Messager has published a leak of Cameroon's temporary presidential election results in an article, which tips current incumbent Paul Biya to win. Julie Owono reports on netizens' reactions and the fear of post-election violence.

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Israel: Joy and Anger Continue Over Shalit Deal

Written by Elizabeth Tsurkov · Middle East & North Africa

Gilad Shalit's return has been one of the biggest events in recent Israeli history. The Israeli soldier was released from Hamas captivity after being held for 1,941 days, in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners. Here are more reactions from the Hebrew blogosphere.

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Videos: Central America Under Water

Written by Juliana Rincón Parra · Latin America

The tropical depression 12-E over Central America has brought torrential downpours and rains for days on end, causing flooding, closing roads and highways and displacing people. This post shows the effects of the rainfall through several Central American countries.

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19 October 2011

Trinidad & Tobago: Project Runway’s Social Media Queen

Written by Karel McIntosh · Caribbean

The season finale for Lifetime network's hit reality show, Project Runway, is almost here and Trinidad and Tobago’s Anya Ayoung-Chee, a designer who has made it into the top five, has a shot at winning this season's coveted prize. Caribbean netizens rally around her.

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Indonesia: Yogyakarta Royal Wedding

Written by Carolina Rumuat · East Asia

The Yogyakarta sultanate in Indonesia is celebrating the Royal Wedding of Princess Bendara and Prince Yuda. The happy event was live streamed through microblogs and other social media platforms for the entire world to see.

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Updates from October, 2011

26 October 2011

Guatemala

Photojournalist James Rodríguez has published a photo essay on the conflict around the Canadian-owned Marlin gold mine. He highlights the bravery and persistence of anti-mining activist Diodora Hernandez, who “was shot point-blank on the right eye outside her home in the small community of San José Nueva Esperanza – only a few meters from a fence that delimits Goldcorp’s Marlin Mine.”

• Silvia Viñas

Iran

According to several web sites and blogs, Iranian blogger Hossein Ronaghi Malki, lost a kidney due to deliberate medical neglect in prison. The blogger is serving a 15 year prison sentence.

• Fred Petrossian

Russia

Vasiliy (@sosigusyan [ru]), military conscript and the author of “the Barracks Blog,” a Twitter-account telling about the life in the army (see transcripts of his tweets here [ru] and here [ru]) had been de-anonymized by the military authorities. The content of the micro-blog had been deleted and someone else started to write there, RealArmy.org claims [ru]. The website also says they can't contact Vasiliy and suspect the blogger might be threatened by his leadership.

• Alexey Sidorenko

Russia

politicprank.ru, website dedicated to the phone pranks with politicians has launched on October 26, 2011. The first prank [ru] has been conducted allegedly with the head of the security of Vladimir Putin. Authenticity of the recording, however, is not proved yet.

• Alexey Sidorenko

Mauritius

Christophe Cassiau-Haurie writes about the sucess story of Tikoulou, a collection of books for children published in Mauritius, which has captivated 4 to 9-year old Mauritian children since 1998. Tikoulou has now become a best seller of Francophone children’s literature.

• Claire Ulrich

Guinea

Guinean blogger @limsow who recently moved to Paris for an internship, describes [fr] a less-hostile capital than expected on Guinée Plurielle: “I already know how to take the RER (the C line) to go down to Vitry Sur Seine or to get to Avenue du Président Kennedy, in the 16th arrondissement. I am also familiar with the metro now, after many: “Please, is this the line that goes to X?”. Contrary to what people have told me, my questions are so far always answered, and with a smile.”

• Abdoulaye Bah

Russia

Private mailbox allegedly belonging to Alexey Navalny, famous anti-corruption blogger, has been hacked and published at navalnymail.kz by an attacker nicknamed onenavnav [ru]. Navalny hasn't confirmed the authenticity of the leaked e-mails yet. Observers suggest that the leak might be connected to the plan of Navalny's discreditation.

• Alexey Sidorenko

Syria

Prominent Syrian blogger and activist Hussein Gharir, has been missing since yesterday and is presumed to have been arrested by Syrian authorities. A #FreeHussein campaign has been launched on Twitter and Facebook, and a statement [AR] has been issued in the name of Syrian bloggers calling for his release.

• Yazan Badran

Angola

Brazilian lawyer and researcher Vanessa Bueno, based in Portugal, launched the blog O Direito Sem Fronteiras (Law Without Borders) [pt] where she gives tips and writes reviews about legal issues, especially for migrants between Portugal, Brazil and Angola. She has also created a group on Facebook aiming to promote debate.

• Sara Moreira