Global Voices · Citizen media stories from 2012 February 03

3 February 2012

Daily archive · 8 posts

Stories from 3 February 2012

Bahrain: Celebration and Criticism Greet “Manama, Capital of Arab Culture 2012″

Written by Ayesha Saldanha · Middle East & North Africa

February 2 saw the official launch of Manama, Capital of Arab Culture 2012, which has been both welcomed and criticised by Bahrain's netizens. As the celebration was taking place, opposition protests were broken up elsewhere in the capital.

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Israel: The Lie, the Truth and the Meme (of the Soldier and the Girl)

Written by Carmel L. Vaisman · Middle East & North Africa

A photograph of a street performance in Bahrain went viral, after it was alleged it depicted an Israeli soldier stepping on an Arab girl. In this age of media manipulation and virility, some Israelis decided the best response to a viral lie is a humorous meme, writes Carmel L. Vaisman.

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Kuwait: Parliamentary Election Marred by Violence

Written by Mona Kareem · Middle East & North Africa

Incidents of violence have marked Kuwait's parliamentary elections. One candidate, Mohammed Al-Juwaihel, became the target of angry tribespeople after making discriminatory remarks and his election tent hub was burnt down. Mona Kareem provides a multimedia report.

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Brazil: Pinheirinho Videos ‘Cover-Up' Leads Activist to Hunger Strike

Written by Raphael Tsavkko Garcia · Translated by Raphael Tsavkko Garcia · Latin America

The violent eviction of thousands of poor residents from their homes in Pinheirinho, Brazil, has been documented by activists. One of them, Pedro Rios Leão, is on hunger strike in protest against the alleged concealment of the severity of the "massacre" by the mainstream media.

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Côte d'Ivoire: Hackers Threaten Intelligence Agency Upon Arrest of Journalist

Written by Julie Owono · Sub-Saharan Africa

Managing editor of newspaper Le Patriote, Charles Sanga, was arrested by the Ivorian intelligence agency, DTS, following a controversial story about the constitutional court of Côte d'Ivoire. The next day, anonymous hackers threatened to leak confidential documents of the agency if he was not released.

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Kyrgyzstan: “Putin Is a Complex Bio-Robot”

Written by Chris Rickleton · Central Asia & Caucasus

Ex-presidential candidate Arstanbek Abdylaev, scourge of the Kyrgyz Internet, has struck again. In a recent press conference he disclosed his world conspiracy theories, including a claim that Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, is a “complex bio-robot.”

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Senegal: A Week of Living Dangerously

Written by Marc-Andre Boisvert · Translated by Negarra Akili Kudumu · Sub-Saharan Africa

On January 31 in Senegal, the opposition came out in the streets to protest against a third term for incumbent President Abdoulaye Wade and other decisions taken by the country's Constitutional Council, resulting in violence and vitriol both offline and online.

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China: A Death Sentence to Hide Government Corruption?

Written by Oiwan Lam · East Asia

Wu Ying, named China's sixth richest woman in 2006, has lost her appeal against her death sentence at the Zhejiang Higher People's Court. The 30-year old was first arrested in March 2007, charged with illegal fund raising. Oiwan Lam reports.

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Updates from 3 February 2012

Cuba

Pedazos de la Isla posts a video of dissidents protesting the death of political prisoner Wilman Villar Mendoza in a neighborhood of Guantanamo.

• Janine Mendes-Franco

St. Vincent & the Grenadines

“Sometimes I have scant respect for Vincentians in the diaspora. They appear to be extremely critical of everything Vincentian, know what's best for us but provide little beyond chatter”: Abeni has found a notable exception to the rule.

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Cuba

“For the 19th time Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez has been denied an exit visa in order to travel abroad”: Havana Times reports.

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Trinidad & Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago News Blog reports that the school principal accused of “placing the head of two students in a toilet bowl at her school and flushing it” has been charged; Plain Talk comments on “the depravity required” to commit such an act: “Flush it to make a point, to send a message, humble and humiliate at one time, and bring everything and everyone back into the order according to brute force…how can this little country take much more?”

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Guyana

Barbados Underground has been “following closely what is happening to the man we have dubbed the ‘Fearless Journalist’ Professor Freddie Kissoon,” adding: “The silence of regional media and governments is unacceptable on this matter.”

• Janine Mendes-Franco

Egypt

Greek blogger Asteris Masouras compiles a Storify round up of reactions and coverage following Wednesday's deadly Port Said clashes, which left more than 70 people dead in Egypt.

• Amira Al Hussaini

Sri Lanka

Freedom Of Expression In SriLanka reports that six websites including Ravaya News have recently been blocked within Sri Lanka.

• Rezwan

Japan

North Korea Tech blog wrote about two Japanese people who were indicted for exporting personal computers to North Korea, thereby violating the Japanese government’s trade sanctions.

• Lee Yoo Eun

Pakistan

Salman Latif informs that an initiative has been taken by eminent journalists and media personnel to agree to a set of self regulatory guidelines for TV channels in Pakistan. Salman asserts that a similar measure should also be taken for the social media.

• Rezwan

Venezuela

The blog El Ultimatum Hiperboreo [es] shares some thoughts on the western culture of consumption in Venezuela as seen through the advertising that seems to fill the pages of one of the most important Sunday magazines in the country.

• Laura Vidal