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Sudan: President Announces North Will Be Ruled By Islamic Law If South Separates · Global Voices
SudaneseDrima

This post is part of our special coverage South Sudan Referendum 2011.
As the referendum on whether or not Southern Sudan will separate approaches, a few Sudanese bloggers have been busy commenting on the future prospects of their country.
Recent comments made by the Sudanese President, Omar Hassan Al-Bashir, about the implementation of Islamic Law in North Sudan if the South separates have sparked controversy:
A group of radical Muslim clerics on Friday overtly faulted the Sudanese government for accepting south Sudan’s referendum on independence, and demanded imposition of Islamic Shar’iah law in the entire country whether citizens of the mainly Christian region of south Sudan like it or not.
South Sudan, whose population mostly follows Christianity or traditional beliefs, is bound for secession from the Muslim-ruled north in a referendum vote due in January 2011, a plebiscite stipulated by the 2005’s Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which in 2005 ended nearly half a century of intermittent civil war between north and south Sudan.
Under the CPA, north Sudan maintained Islamic laws whereas the south was given extensive autonomy under a secular government led by the former southern rebels Sudan People’s Liberation Movement [SPLM].
The legitimate League of Muslim Preachers and Clerics (LLMPC), a group of radical clerics existing in parallel to the official clerical body known as the Association of Muslim Scholars, marched in protest on Friday, 24 December, and held a press conference in which the group’s leaders declared rejection to south Sudan’s referendum on independence and called on the government to implement Shari’ah law in full.
Yousif Magdi, a Sudanese Coptic Christian blogger had this to say about Al-Bashir's announcement:
Over at The Sudanese Thinker, Drima blogged about a video of a young Sudanese girl getting flogged and voiced his support for a secular state in Sudan after expaining some of the nuances of Islamic law. The video of the flogging triggered outrage amongst Sudanese in Sudan and overseas.
Punishments such as flogging should be abolished completely:
What we should be outraged about is not how this punishment should have been applied “properly,” but instead, we should be outraged that such punishments continue to exist at all. Flogging should be abolished completely, and we should stop shying away from criticizing troubling aspects of all organized religions.
Yes, there are things about Sharia—dietary laws, the amount of money you should pay for charity, rules that eliminate the practice of usury—that in many ways are actually good and beneficial when we willingly apply them in our lifestyles, and they are not imposed on us.
However, deeply troubling punishments such as stonings, beheadings, and lashings are not good, not humane, and not fit for modern times, and we need to have a frank conversation about that. But when is it going to happen on a large scale? When? If anything, that conversation needs to happen now.
Muhanned, a Sudanese blogger in Khartoum, shares his thoughts on the video and tells a story about how he was once wrongly arrested by abusive policemen in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum:
The police media said that the girl that appear in video is lesbian ! ,  if she was in Islam she should punished by 40 hits using used whip and  medium force ( not strong to kill and not weak ).
and the executioner  should not raise his hand until his underarm can be shown . But in this  video the police men exceeds the limits of Islam..
Maybe I don't know what really she did but I just want to tell you about what the police men did with me ..
One  day I was walking between the Nile street and the Friendship Hall –  main building of conferences- while I was walking a police car stopped  near me and the policemen start hitting the people to make them go away  from their places.. I just asked the lieutenant “What is going on?” but  he ordered his soldiers to put me inside police car .. The soldier hit  me by a stave and put me inside car..
When we went to police station –  Almogran police station “alnezam alaam”  – lieutenant pushed me into  investigations room and start writing the accusations which is :
1- Intercepting the policemen while they was doing their job!!!!
2-Cursing and slanging  using dirty words.!!!!
3- Hooliganism and incitement of the masses…
4- Reduce the prestige of the policemen…
5- Resisting arrest!!!
All  of these because I said “What is going on!!!” , after that they  searching on my mobile phone for sex videos and do the same with my  laptop !!!
There was another lieutenant started  shouting on me face and ordered me to sit on the ground when I refused  he said “You are no respected man and your curiosity got you to police  station…
Then I asked them to make a phone call to my family – Just  to tell them where  I am – but they refuse then I asked them to call my  lawyer but they also refuse . Finally the major told them to let me go  after 2 hours in station …
So until when we will still keeping silent while there is abuse of authority????
Regarding the referendum itself, Southern Sudanese blogger, Black Kush, discusses the subject noting that Khartoum is panicking:
The referendum for South Sudan independence is fast approaching and  Khartoum is panicking. It is currently using all it has to either stop  the plebiscite or disrupt it.
The recent complain at the  Constitutional court is one of them. Saying that the referendum register  should have been done before three months as per CPA and therefor the  referendum is illegal is flawed. NCP is trying one of its last arsenals.  The whole CPA was delayed tactically by the NCP. Going by that  reasonging, even the census was illegal, the election was illegal and  many others. There was no parliamentary debate to amend the dates, which  was not necessary as per the CPA because it gave the Presidency to  decide the most appropriate time. These challenges will fail.
In another post, he analyses propaganda tactics by the government in Khartoum:
All signs are that the NCP is panicking ahead of the referendum for South Sudan secession in January. The various statements coming from the NCP is a clear sign that they have failed to convince the South about unity and are now using blame tactics to deflect the blame for the upcoming secession of the South.
The following were some of the points and events:
1. Bombing south Sudan territory twice
2. Claiming that South Sudan is supporting the JEM rebels in Darfur
3. Claiming that the SPLM is preparing to topple the government in Khartoum
The claims are as baseless and ridiculous as the people who uttered them. I leave the first two to you but claiming that the SPLM want to attack the north and topple the government is more that ridiculous, but utterly bizarre.
The goal of the struggle of the people of South Sudan, notes John Akec, is to live in their own country as free citizens:
Those who know the history of the struggle of the people of South Sudan will recall how hundreds of combatants needlessly lost their lives when fight broke out in 1983 in Bilpham in Ethiopia between the forces of “separation” and forces of “unity” in the SPLM and Anya Nya II, as we were told later. Looking back in retrospect, it should be abundantly clear that the bloody confrontation was really a power struggle dressed up in form of differences over goals and strategies.
So what is the goal of the struggle of people of South Sudan? The goal was and still is for South Sudanese to live in their own country as free citizens with equal rights and dignity as the rest of Sudanese…
Put in another way, the goal is to have a country where no one is discriminated against on the basis of religion, tribe, ethnicity, or social standing. The goal, in the words of Dr. John Garang, is to have Sudan “where no body is above me, and I am above nobody.” And if I must borrow the Afro-American expression, it is basically a Sudan “where nobody is gona carry nobody!”
Give me such a Sudan, and I will see no reason to wage war on anyone nor do I see need for seeking to break away. This is not to say we have attained such a Sudan of equality.
Nesrine Malik , blogging at Comment is Free, manages to shed more light on the mood in Khartoum.
There is also a residual bitterness and dented pride. War has  crippled the country for so long only to end in a relinquishment of the  regions most wealthy in natural resources. Ironically, there is a view  that the National Congress party (NCP), even though it is desperate to  avoid secession, made a tactical error in its eagerness to sign the comprehensive peace agreement without establishing a strategic plan to avoid separation. Those in the  north who actively support separation – the likes of the Al-Intibaha contingent – get no thanks from southerners for their attitude appears to be one of racist good riddance.
But  the overall result is that there is no real current of opinion against  separation but bubbling resentment and uncertainty, exacerbated by an  administration that seems just as clueless. I cannot help but feel that  the tables have turned. The south now enjoys the virtue of the victim.
As  a people, the northerners are worried, not about the split but about  their own day of reckoning when they will no longer not be able to use  the south, the war, or western designs in the region as a pretext.
This post is part of our special coverage South Sudan Referendum 2011.

author: SudaneseDrima


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USA: Indigenous Youth Media Project Recovers History · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

For a Navajo community, video has become a way to connect youth with their ancestors and the history of their people through the story of the Yellow Woman.
Camille Manybeads Tso during the production
Waves of Change tells us about Rachel Tso, who through her work with Outta Your Backpack Media has trained indigenous youth in movie making and media distribution.  In this particular example, it led to Camille Manybeads Tso producing the story of her great grandmother and making the award winning youth film: In the Footsteps of Yellow Woman.
The process of making the movie has been documented by Rachel on 2 videos showing the different steps taken to make this place based media assignment that is also her thesis.
Outta Your Backpack Media helps indigenous youth to produce and distribute media relevant to their interests and reflecting their concerns and their voices. You can watch more of their videos on the Outta Your Backpack YouTube channel.

source: news-globalvoices

license: Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Africa: West Africa’s First Commercial Data Center Launching in 2011 · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

A company simply identifying itself as West Africa Data Centres is taken the bold step to launch the first commercial large-scale data centre, in West Africa, David Ajao reports.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Bahamas: Patience for Junkanoo  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“During the Christmas and New Year period, little else animates Bahamians than showing vociferously where there hearts are in support for the groups that grace the annual street parades”: Grasshopper Eyes The Potomac blogs about Junkanoo.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Bolivia: Government Ends Fuel Subsidies, Protests Expected · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

The day after the Christmas holiday, Bolivian Vice-President Álvaro García Linera announced that the government would end state subsidies on gasoline and diesel. The main reason for the measure, García Linera explained during a television address on the morning of the 26th of December, was that the $380 million that the government spent toward the subsidies had illegally benefited individuals involved with selling the contraband fuel to neighboring countries where the price was much higher. To prevent public funds from being used in this manner, the price of gasoline increased by 73% and the price of diesel increased by 83%
As expected, the announcement caused much concern in the Bolivian population because of the uncertainty of what effect the increase would have on the cost of living. Hours after the announcement, long lines could be observed at some gas stations with drivers hoping to fill up before the price hike took effect. Drivers like Santiago Terceros (@sterceros) made some calculations that his monthly expense for gasoline would increase by US$80 [es].
Long lines to enter gas station in Santa Cruz on Sunday, December 26. Photo by Jessica Olivares and used with permission.
But it is the higher expenses for heavy transport that will affect the cost of daily goods, as Terceros rhetorically asks, “What things do not need to be transported?” [es]. The day following the Sunday announcement, Twitter users began to report on some of the price increases of goods and services around the country. For example, Jorge Bueno (@jj_creativos) reported on an increase in the price of cement, bread, and his daily lunch in the city of La Paz.  Jorge Marco Zárate (@jmarcozarate) even noticed employees of his local supermarket in Santa Cruz changing the prices on the products on the shelves.
It is also the cost of public transportation that concerns many daily users of this form of transit. Many of the public transport syndicates met on Monday, December 27th to determine whether they would enter into a general strike or raise fares for the passengers. Reyqui of the blog Bolivia Informe [es] provides an overview of the price increases to take effect in the four largest Bolivian cities. The price will increase between 66%-100% in the cities of La Paz, El Alto, Santa Cruz, and Cochabamba.
The availability of public transportation on the day following the announcement was irregular, as many bus drivers waited to see what the syndicate leaders would decide. As a result, the Bolivian Armed Forces helped to provide free transportation to some passengers. Tonny López (@tonnylp) took this Twitpic of one of these military transport vehicles in the city of El Alto.
The measure has been called the “gasolinazo” by the media and has been a popular hashtag [es] used by Bolivian Twitter users. The suffix “-azo” added to the end of the word gasolina (gasoline) conveys the act of a “strike or blow,” and reflects the feeling that the raise in prices is a blow to the cost of living.
Some wonder whether such a price increase was the first option, especially since those involved with contraband were the main culprits. The digital magazine La Mala Palabra tweets [es] that the Armed Forces should have been called in to tackle the contraband. Better control at the border may have been a way to prevent subsidized fuel from being sold in neighboring countries.
García Linera made the announcement in his function as acting President, since President Evo Morales was in Venezuela delivering aid to flood victims. However, some thought that it was no coincidence why the Vice-President made the unpopular announcement. Ivan Terceros (@ivntres) wrote:
Por que Evo no anunció el #gasolinazo ?? fácil, la imagen del Presidente no puede caer…
It was also the timing of the December 26th announcement [es] that Juan Carlos Véliz (@jcvelizmorejon) found to be telling:
El Gobierno lanzó el gasolinazo en un momento en que la población está adormilada por las fiestas de fin de año.
Some agree that the subsidies were unsustainable for the Bolivian economy including economist Carlos Gustavo Machicado of the blog Guccio's [es], who applauds the new measure:
Y si bien yo soy bastante crítico de lo que hace el gobierno, esta vez debo admitir que fue una medida buena, donde triunfo el mercado y aplastó una vez más esos discursos de patriotismo barato. Ciertamente no hay nada como el poder de los precios y de la libertad económica para frenar el contrabando y la especulación y lo que esta medida hará es justamente ordenar el sistema de precios y proveer la información correcta que los agentes necesitan
[…]
Muchas cosas pueden pasar y las magnitudes dependerán de las expectativas, entre ellas esta: Presiones salariales, ajuste de todo el sistema de precios, depreciación de la moneda nacional, entre otros. En todo caso lo importante es no alarmarse, esto es algo que tenía que suceder y mejor que sucedió ahora.
I normally have been a critic of what the government does, but this time, I must admit that it was a good measure, where the market triumphs and crushes the rhetoric of cheap patriotism. Certainly there is nothing like the power of the prices and the economic freedom to halt contraband and price speculation and what this measure will do is fairly order the price system and provide the correct information that the agents need
[…]
Many things can happen and the magnitude depends on the expectations, among these: salary pressures, adjustment of the entire system of prices, depreciation of the national currency, among others. In any case, what is important is not to be alarmed, this is something that needed to happen and it is best that it happened now.
In his blog, former Minister of Hydrocarbons Mauricio Medinaceli compares the 2010 price increase with similar increases in recent history [es]:
Efectivamente, revisando las estadísticas de los últimos 20 años lo que sucedió el día domingo 26 de diciembre del año 2010 es históricamente notorio. Como se observa, los valores históricos se situaban entre el 8% y 35%, lo que vivimos ahora es un ajuste del 73%… sí, 73%.
Mabel Lafuente Azad (@la_mabel) writes that such an increase was “necessary,” [es], but she adds that “once again the people with low incomes will be the ones who sacrifice the most.” And that is what many of the protests say that the ordinary citizen will the one most affected. While some citizens have announced plans for citizen street protests, blogger Mario Durán, who has been following the developments on his blog Palabras Libres [es] found it odd that some social movements had not reacted to the price increase. He wonders whether their silence could be explained because they feel like “this government is ‘their’ government.” However, later in the day, Durán noted that organizations like the Departmental Worker's Center (COD for its initials in Spanish) and the Federation of Neighborhood Organizations in the City of El Alto (FEJUVE for its initials in Spanish) came out in opposition to the decree [es]. Social movements like these have traditionally been strong allies of Morales and his administration.
Even though there are plans for an increase in wages for public sector workers in February 2011 [es], there are some employees who do not have a promised raise. Alhen Wiki (@alhen_) writes about those who may be left behind:
Felices los del transporte pueden doblar sus precios. A mi quién me dobla el sueldo?

author: Eduardo Avila


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Cambodia: Jailed for printing an article from the internet · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

vutha doubts if there is freedom of expression in Cambodia after a UN staff member was sentenced to 6 months in prison for printing an article from a website and sharing it to his co-workers.

author: Mong Palatino


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Cambodia: Phnom Penh Postal Codes · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Kounila Keo from Cambodia publishes the postal codes in Phnom Penh City.


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Cambodia: Top 10 events of 2010 · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Natasha Robertson lists the Top 10 events of 2010 in Cambodia. At the top of the list is the tragedy during the Water Festival.


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Chile: Students from Citizen Journalism Project “Young Reporters” Talk About Their Work · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

A group of school-age citizen journalists who create content for Jóvenes Reporteros [es] (Young Reporters) describe their work in a video for the site Periodismo Ciudadano [es] (Citizen Journalism).

author: Silvia Viñas


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Costa Rica: Reading Newspaper While Driving a Bus · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

Hell in Costa Rica [es] blog has shared a citizen video where a bus driver working for a public transportation company which recently got in trouble for running over a mother and her daughter is seen reading the newspaper while driving.


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Cuba: Cables Reveal Government Sees Bloggers as “Most Serious Challenge” · Global Voices
Ellery Roberts Biddle

Like Venezuela, Mexico, and Brazil, Cuba was one of the Latin American countries most frequently referenced in the trove of diplomatic cables recently released by WikiLeaks. Cables confirmed much of what is already known about the diplomatic impasse that has stifled relations between Cuba and the USA for over fifty years. But they also revealed the Cuban government’s deep concern about the political impact of independent bloggers on the island.
Cables sent from the US Interest Section [1] (USINT) in Havana in 2009 (the most explicit of which can be found at El País) indicate that, in the eyes of USINT, the Cuban government does not see the traditional dissident community as a serious threat to political stability on the island, and that the movement has limited resonance within the general population.
An April 15 cable described the dissident movement in Cuba as, “as old and as out of touch with the lives of ordinary Cubans as the regime itself.” The dissidents mentioned here include leaders and groups such as Oswaldo Payá and Agenda para la Transición, who represent part of the island’s small, decades-old dissident community that receives considerable support from USINT and struggles to evade repression by the Cuban government.
On April 15, 2009, Jonathan Farrar of USINT wrote:
…we see very little evidence that the mainline dissident organizations have much resonance among ordinary Cubans. Informal polls we have carried out among visa and refugee applicants have shown virtually no awareness of dissident personalities or agendas.
Given that USINT surveyed visa and refugee applicants, a group that opposes the Raúl Castro government in greater proportions than the general population, this information should be particularly disconcerting to dissident leaders. Ironically, Farrar also wrote that “…dissidents have, and will continue to perform, a key role in acting as the conscience of Cuba and deserve our support in that role.” He did not elaborate on how these groups could represent the “conscience of Cuba” if they were, as mentioned earlier, “out of touch with the lives of ordinary Cubans.”
A cable sent on December 20, 2009 indicated that the Cuban government sees bloggers as “its most serious challenge” within the realm of civil society.
Another cable also described “[y]ounger individuals, including bloggers, musicians, and performing and plastic artists” as being “much better [than traditional dissidents] at taking “rebellious” stands with greater popular appeal.”
The December 2009 cable read:
The bloggers’ mushrooming international popularity and their ability to stay one tech-step ahead of the authorities are causing serious headaches in the regime. The attention that the United States bestowed on XXXXXXXXXXXX, first by publicly complaining when she was detained and roughed up and later by having the President respond to her questions, further fanned the fears that the blogger problem had gotten out of control.
The name redacted here unquestionably belongs to renowned Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez, who was abducted and beaten in November of 2009 and conducted an email interview with US President Barack Obama shortly thereafter. In September of 2009, a USINT cable described a meeting between Sánchez and US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Bisa Williams in Havana, in which Sánchez told Williams that “[a]n improvement in relations with the United States is absolutely necessary for democracy to emerge [in Cuba.]”
Collectively, these and other cables suggest that for USINT, certain bloggers may come to represent a “next generation” of government critics and activists that the US government will likely seek to support, if it is not doing so already.
Rogelio M. Díaz at Bubusopía [es] wrote that he was glad that the US had recognized that Cuba’s future lies in the hands of Cuban youth, and not that of the “old guard” dissident community.
[Es] cierto que no nos sentimos para nada identificados con los fósiles de la contrarrevolución, los que venden al país por treinta monedas… [mientras] siguen apoyando el bloqueo…
But he was wary of the cables’ inference that bloggers could somehow replace, or serve the same purpose (however futile) as, traditional dissidents.
Jóvenes como yo, entonces, preferimos como ídolos…aquellos que…repelieron la vileza mercenaria con las armas en la mano…[y] continuaron trabajando y luchando con sus manos, su intelecto y su amor por construir un futuro mejor…
It is important to understand  that these cables refer only to bloggers who are critical of the Castro government; the island’s very small independent blogging community represents a wide range of political positions, many of which support Cuban socialism and hope for positive change that will face challenges and strengthen the system as it stands. Blogs like Bubusopía represent an important part of this community. If they are truly interested in understanding the “conscience of Cuba,” it would behoove USINT officials to read all of these blogs in earnest, and to incorporate the significant diversity of opinions that they represent into their diplomatic discussions.
[2]: Díaz's mention of “mercenary turpitude” refers to forces of capitalism.

author: Ellery Roberts Biddle


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Ethiopia: History of Oromo People · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Learn the history of Oromo people from Ethiopia Tribe blog: “The Oromo are a native African ethnic group found in Ethiopia and to a smaller extent in Kenya. They are the largest single ethnic group in Ethiopia, at 32.1% of the population according to the 1994 census, and today numbering around 40 million.”


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Ethiopia: Run Across Ethiopia aims to raise $100,000 for education · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

The Run Across Ethiopia , a project of On the Ground (OTG), a US-based non-profit organization, aims to raise $100,000 for Ethiopian education projects, including the construction of schools in other coffee-growing communities.


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Ghana: Reflections on Christmas in Accra · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Fiona reflects on Christmas in Accra, Ghana: “Pink plastic Christmas trees on sale by the side of the road. Inflatable Santas on sale by the side of the road. Flashing Santa hats on sale by the side of the road. Pictures of Jesus, hair clippers, rat poison, socks, kites, ‘white people movies’ (including Harry Porter sic 7 ) and watches for sale on the side of the road.”


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Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago: Earthquake  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

YardFlex.com reports on an earthquake in Trinidad and Tobago.


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Japan: A year of blogs · Global Voices
Scilla Alecci

As the character 暑 (sho) meaning ‘hot or heat’ was chosen to represent the year 2010 at the annual ceremony  [en] in Kyoto, let's see a selection of “hot topics” that Global Voices covered this year.
Japan's highest mountain, Mount Fuji forms a silhouette behind the Shinjuku business district. Tokyo, Japan. Photo by Nipponnews, © Demotix 14/01/2010.
Earthquake Memories
Just when Japan remembered the fifteenth anniversary of the violent Hanshin earthquake that in 1995 destroyed the areas around Osaka and Kobe killing thousands of people, a similar tragedy hit Haiti.
While 100 students from different countries at the International University of Japan (IUJ), in Niigata Prefecture, expressed their solidarity lighting candle of hope for Haitians, some Japanese bloggers commented on the role of Japan in supporting the hit country and criticized their country's lack of response.
Environmental posers
Never in the world fish species like bluefin tuna, whales and dolphins would have thought to be under the world’s attention like this year. When a ban on the Atlantic Blue-fin Tuna was rejected, Japanese experts reacted against biased media also remarking the importance of sustainable fishing.
After the tuna debate, a more inflamed one on whaling came out when anti-whaling activists hit a Japanese whaler and the New Zealander captain was arrested. Despite a weak rise of nationalistic sentiment, Japanese bloggers questioned the method adopted to protest and said whaling should be regulated.
Not so diplomatic were some groups of right-wing activists, when they threatened theaters who were supposed to screen The Cove, the award-winning documentary on the slaughter of dolphins in Taiji. Intellectuals, journalists and bloggers rose their voices to advocate freedom of expression and the right of people to watch the movie.
Very far from the turmoils in the main islands, the beautiful and tiny Ogasawara Islands submitted as candidates as UNESCO natural world heritage site.
New Media vs Old Media
In 2010, traditional Japanese media, that to many seem now obsolete and of power, have been challenged in many ways and the changes will likely be seen in the coming year as well.
Twitter was at the center of attention, as its 140 character-long-messages were used by important people like former prime minister and were considered an important tool to create a social network and possibly to help prevent suicides.
Although some examples of citizen journalism like Jan Jan had to face reality and close shop, and traditional papers like Nikkei carried out a conservative strategy banning links to its website, new frontiers of journalism showed up, when tech-savvy freelancers began to break down the monopoly in information.
The year then concluded with new ideas and projects: those presented at the annual startup event WISH 2010, and those proposed by Chinese blogger and media activist Michael Anti, who suggested ideas to facilitate understanding between Japan and China.
Employment and Corporate Culture
As Japan bears an ongoing job market slump, which is intertwined with the crumbling of the employment system, roiling emotions and perspectives were captured through a series of articles including coverage of a rare demonstration parade by college students, sage advice from an industry analyst, and buoyant observations about a new breed of NEET. The longstanding corporate culture of Japan Inc continues to be an oft discussed topic in the Japanese blogosphere, such as the rite of passing of becoming a “social being“, alcohol as social lubrication, and the difficulty of taking time off.
Political Ups & Downs
This year, Japanese politics presented a few unexpected turns of events.
As soon as January, the new government elected last fall started to totter when PM Hatoyama hinted at taking back its promises to relocate the US bases outside the Okinawa prefecture: which made clear how the local population lived the problem very differently from those living in the main island, far from the bases.
When the deadline came, in May, the government announced that the relocation project had been annulled and frustrated Okinawa people made their voice heard.
Almost immediately after, the government fell and a new prime minister was elected, letting many voters confused.
Amidst political instability and a looming recession, this summer Japan was officially surpassed by China as the second largest economy in the world. The Japanese people, however, weren’t particularly surprised and kept having faith in their country’s potential.
Last fall was then characterized by international relations on a razor edge, to which Japanese bloggers and their neighbours reacted swiftly.  First came the clash between a Chinese fishing boat and a Japanese coastguard by some disputed islands, which ignited a virtual debate between two prominent bloggers, from China and Japan, respectively.
Then came North Korean attack on a South Korean island: the Japanese netizens reflected on the incident and expressed their anxieties.
Society and Culture
The changing values of an increasingly inward-looking society manifested in different ways – bigger trends such as decline of students studying overseas, or individual articles, as a blogger contemplated over slow suicide in an ageing society and another pondered over morals in the context of climbing Mount Fuji.
The historical took a contemporary turn, as a traditional bathing house became the setting of a popular manga, the country went wild over the samurai Ryoma Sakamoto, and the art of monozukuri (“making things”) met DYI and technology. Heritage also perseveres as the Kabuki Theater in Ginza is being rebuilt again and the  old capital of Nara greets its 1300th anniversary. And of course, the world celebrated the 30th anniversary of Pacman thanks to Google!

author: Scilla Alecci


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Lebanon: Not equal in life and in death · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

“Even after death, the Lebanese laws do not consider people equal…” states Rita Chemaly.

author: Moussa Bashir


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Lebanon: Year’s Review of the Lebanese Blogosphere · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

Liliane, at Lebanon Aggregator, rounds up 2010 with facts and figures about the Lebanese Blogosphere. They include new blogs, the range of subjects covered, who turned their blogs into books, activities that bloggers participated in and much more.


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Pakistan: Karachi International Book Fair · Global Voices
Rezwan

Cafe Pyala offers an alternative tour of the 6th Karachi International Book Fair.

author: Rezwan


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Pakistan: Solidarity Day For Peace · Global Voices
Rezwan

Teeth Maestro informs that “rallies for peace will be held on 1 Jan 2011 in over 100 locations across Pakistan in solidarity with those suffering violence and repression.”


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Russia: Author of Wildfires Internet Meme is Prosecuted by Police · Global Voices
Gregory Asmolov

A blogget top-lap, an author of a famous blog post [ENG] demanding “rynda” from Vladimir Putin and criticizing the state's response to Russian wildfires closed his blog [ENG] and disappeared. In the last posts, he wrote [RUS] that Russian police conducted a search at his home, took his computer and also questioned his mother. According to Russian media [RUS], the prosecution was motivated by a post where the blogger called to hang prime minister Putin and his family.

author: Gregory Asmolov


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Russia: Regional Minister Hired Through Internet · Global Voices
Gregory Asmolov

A new minister for information technologies of Russia's Ulyanovsk region has been found through Internet [RUS]. Elena Balashova, 35,  was one of 2,563 people who submitted their online applications for the position. The candidates used Livejournal to share their professional plan and were interviewed via Skype.


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South Korea: Court Rules In Favor of Free Internet Speech · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

South Korea’s Constitutional Court has ruled that a law that bans the spreading of false information online is unconstitutional in a petition filed by a famous online blogger ‘Minerva’, who was indicted for causing disruptions in markets with his false reports. Twitterers, such as @jasmin4243[ko], bloggers, and civic groups have welcomed the ruling.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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Sri Lanka: Development, Not Aid · Global Voices
Rezwan

Indi.ca discusses the importance of development assistance rather than aid as a system for lifting Sri Lankan citizens out of poverty.


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Sudan: Land Grabbing in Sudan · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Henry's data visualization of land grabbing in Sudan: “I read an article this morning about “land grabbing” in Africa by foreign countries.  When I read the amount of land being acquired by foreign investors in Sudan, I thought to my self, “that is horrible”.  Then I took a closer look at the numbers.  It really doesn’t seem to be that much.”


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Tanzania: Dar Es Salaam in Photos · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Photos of streets of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania by Tanzanian photo blogger Othaman Michuzi [SW].


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Trinidad & Tobago: Types to Stay Far From  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Outlish recommends 5 types of people to let go of in the coming year.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Year in Review  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Afra Raymond reviews the critical events of the last year, saying: “The Code of Silence must be broken if we are to progress.”


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U.S.A.: Liveblogging in the Middle of New York Storm · Global Voices
Gregory Asmolov

A Russian Livejournal blogger Etotam can't reach his home for two days due to snow storm in New York. He is liveblogging and posting pictures [RUS] from his car in the middle of a street (check out more than ten blog posts).


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Uganda: On 10 Most Influential Persons in Uganda · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

David Bahati, a Member of Parliament in Uganda who presented the Anti- Homosexual Bill, which would classify “aggravated homosexuality” as a capital offence is one of The Ten Most Influential Persons in Uganda in 2010.


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Wikileaks, Thaileaks, Indoleaks, Pinoyleaks · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

There are Wikileaks clones in Southeast Asia: Thaileaks from Thailand, Indoleaks from Indonesia and PinoyLeaks from the Philippines. These websites were established/revived this month to support the work started by Wikileaks and to expose secret government documents in their respective countries.
Thaileaks ‘resurrected’ Wikileaks in Thailand after the latter was blocked by the government
For unknown reasons the Thai Government has closed access to the Wikileaks website. This means that Thai internauts and webizens are not allowed to take part in the current netbased movement of freedom. This is not acceptable, anywhere in the world. Therefore we make all Thai-related content from the Wikileaks website available for direct download.
Please note – This is not about disrespecting the Thai State or the Royal family. It is about making a statement for the freedom of information.
thaicables has published Wikileaks documents related to Thailand
With the release of approximately 3000 cables originating from the US Embassy in Bangkok which have been sent mostly from 2005 until February 2010 it is just a question of time before MICT will block the access to Wikileaks published cables
We do not believe in censorship and think that everyone in Thailand should get access to any information available on the internet, which also includes Wikileaks. This is the reason for this blog.
Indoleaks was launched on December 10 during the Human Rights Day celebration. Its tag line “Sebab informasi adalah hak asasi” translates into “Because information is a human right.”
After two days of operation, Indoleaks reported that more than 100,000 documents have been downloaded already by visitors of the website. It hit a million visits after one week.
So far, it has published government documents about the murder of activist Munir, the Sidoarjo mudflow and a transcribed conversation between Indonesian and U.S. leaders regarding Indonesia’s policy on East Timor before the December 1975 invasion.
Uppercaise blogs about the trust of Indoleaks:
It calls on the Indonesian public to submit original documents without the opinions of the sender, to be published anonymously. It promised not to publish bank account details, media histories and other personal details.
He also wrote about the website’s flaws
Unfortunately, Indoleaks has a slightly amateurish feel to it, with documents being published at public sites such as Google Docs, and the site owners using a Gmail address, thus raising concerns about the security of the documents published, and the protection afforded to anonymous communications.
For the moment, the site does not seem to use encrypted communications nor does it provide visitors with any advice on Internet anonymity or secure means of protecting their identities when browsing or when submitting documents.
PinoyLeaks will start to publish ‘leaks’ on corruption cases in the Philippines on February 1, 2011.
PinoyLeaks is a non-profit organization dedicated to exposing corruption in the Philippine national and local governments, by means of channelling evidence to the blogosphere. We have a secure and safe system for whistleblowers to submit information anonymously.
PinoyLeaks is similar to Wikileaks, except the mission is specifically focused on exposing corruption only, the scope is limited to the Philippines, and PinoyLeaks works with bloggers instead of traditional media. It is up to the bloggers whether to spread news about a leak.
It clarifies that it has no ties with Wikileaks
We would like to emphasize that while we are riding in Wikileaks’ slipstream, we have no ties, official or unofficial, with Wikileaks.
Please help PinoyLeaks play in a role in transforming the Philippines from a corrupt and impoverished third-world country into a modern nation-state.


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Nigeria: Controversy Over the Sale of Stolen Benin Mask · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Sotheby’s, in its sales promotion for February 17, 2011, announced sales of six pieces of Benin origin, including the mask of Queen Idia – the first Queen Mother of Benin Empire. Sotheby's is one of world's oldest auction house.
After bloggers and online activists using social media sites protested against the sale, Sotheby's decided to cancel the sale.
Nigeria Liberty Forum set up an online petition and a Facebook page in an effort to put a stop to the auction of a 16th century Benin mask stolen during the invasion of the Benin people by the British. Nigeria Liberty Forum is a UK based Nigerian pro-democracy group of sympathisers and volunteers who share a passion for grassroots political engagement and participation.
Another online petition has been created by MyWeku to build on the stop the sell of 16th Century Benin Mask petition because “the wider issue of selling, exhibiting and dealing in looted stolen African artefacts remains largely unresolved.”
Members of the British Expeditionary Force posing with looted art from the palace of the Benin King, Nigeria. Photo Source: Myweku.com
Art historian Professor Sylvester Okwunodu Ogbechie was shocked after hearing about the proposed auction of stolen Benin Artworks:
I read the announcement of the sale and was struck by its brazenness. Sotheby's is trafficking in stolen goods and it is doing so without any concern for the fact of its brazen criminality. It is clear that the Benin artworks are a contested collection of cultural artifacts. The history of their plunder from Benin is not in doubt, and the Benin Kingdom has never at any time given up its claim to these artworks. There has been significant amount of words written about the history of the British plunder of Benin and why the artworks should be repatriated. How is it then that despite the constant requests for the repatriation of these artworks and their clear identification as stolen goods, they continue to be sold by firms such as Sotheby’s without any hesitation?
How can the descendants of Sir Henry Gallway, who participated in the looting of Benin city in 1897 have legal ownership of stolen goods?:
The legal issue here is quite simple: is it ever possible to have legal ownership of a stolen good? In other words, if an artwork or piece of property is clearly identified as a stolen item, can anyone other than the known owner of that stolen item ever have a valid legal claim to it? Western institutions that hold African cultural patrimony seem to believe they can legally own stolen goods and so far haven't shown any willingness to examine their shameful actions in this regard…
ll the Benin objects identified in the proposed sale are clearly identified as belonging to Benin kings who did not cede their title to the artworks to anyone (the coerced abdication of the Benin throne enforced by the invading British would be illegal in any court today: in 1991, the USA went to war to prevent Iraq from annexing Kuwait based on such principles). There is also no doubt that all Benin artworks in any museum of institution in the world belongs to His Highness, Oba Erediauwa, great grandson of Oba Ovonramwen and the reigning kind of Benin.
Deadria responded to his post arguing that the bronzes were proceeds from slave trade, which undermines Benin's high moral ground:
Don't forget, these bronzes were usually made with metal (manillas) that the Portugese used as currency to buy slaves from Benin. This does not make it right for the Gallway heirs to profit from the sale of the stolen cultural artifacts, but it does undermine Benin's moral high road.
How will Benin use the bronzes to atone for the fact that the bronzes are, literally, blood money? Will they loan them to Diasporan museums gratis? or invite African diasporans to Benin (gratis) to teach them the Benin bronzing method? Something like this would give Benin/Nigeria more strength, politically and spiritually, in their demand.
Anonymous responded to Deadria's “moral high ground” argument saying,
Deadria, you are right that some of the bronze used to make these works are at least proceeds from slave trading. However, while it may undermine Benin moral high ground, it does not undercut it. Using the same logic, Britain should cede all the lands and resources it acquired through slave trading and colonial conquest. The USA should give up the country to Native Americans and relocate everyone back to their countries of origin. The issue is that the bronzes were part of the National wealth of the Benin people.
MyWeku posted short videos give a sense of the history of Benin Bronzes and published a note from Sylvester Okwunodu Ogbechie to H-AfrArts Network:
In this note Prof. Sylvester Okwunodu Ogbechie asks some of the difficult questions that will invariably shape debate on this subject and ponts us to a couple of information sources that one could pick up a thing or two about stolen African artefacts.
Following the canceling of the sale, he wrote another post entitled, “Give Me What is Mine (apologies Burning Spear)” [Jamaican Reggae star, Burning Spear, has a song by the same title]:
Oba Erediauwa has formally demanded that Western museums and collectors return the Benin bronzes. I have written about these demands at length on this blog and have even started an academic journal –Critical Interventions—specifically to engage the issue: the journal inaugurated a formal discourse on the aesthetics, politics and economics of African cultural patrimony as it affects African ownership of the intellectual property rights of its indigenous systems of knowledge and cultural practices. Interestingly enough, the current issue of the journal is in production on the subject of “Who Owns African Cultural Patrimony”
Benin masks are not “an amorphous product of African art”:
They are private property, bought by and paid for by the Benin kings through massive expenditure of national treasure, and constitute the wealth of the kingdom. These bronzes were commissioned for specific historical events, the artists who produced them were paid for their work, and the artworks were used in very prescribed manner and also as a store of value. The looting and dispersal of the Benin bronzes deprived the Benin king of his private property and deprives his descendants of equity in this stolen property.
Katrin Schulze reproduces online debates taking place about the ownership of artefacts produced in and by Africans and removed during the colonial period:
…the majority of comments I have read there and elsewhere strongly supported the campaign to reclaim these artefacts for the Kingdom of Benin and/or Nigeria.
On a different note, Soifer Alexander, among others, problematised the social relations that defined the artefact’s production.
If all or part of creating an artefact was slave labor, do we assign the ownership to slave owners and thus condone slavery?
With particular regard to Benin, Ogundiran refutes the notion that Benin’s wealth was founded upon slave trade or slave labour:
Benin contributed the least to the Atlantic slavery in the entire West African Atlantic seaboard despite the facts that with its powers and military might it cold have become the main mart for eslaved captives. Its lukewarm attitude towards human trafficking was unprofitable to its European trading partners … The artists of Benin were not enslaved. They worked for the king and for other elites, and they were compensated for their brilliant works. Yes, there were slaves and other socially marginalised people in Benin but Benin was never a slave based society …
Following Sotheby's’ decision to cancel the sale, what is next?:
As one of the campaigners involved in puting pressure on Sotheby’s into cancelling the planned sale of the 16th century Queen Idia Mask from Benin asked after the news broke…..WHAT NEXT? A small and significant battle has been won no doubt, however, the wider issue of stolen pieces of African artifacts still remain unresolved.
There are a plethora of ideas and opinions out there and in the next few days, weeks and months we shall aim to add to this post by bringing you the comments of thought leaders engaged in the campaign to find appropriate answers and a sustainable solution to Africa’s stolen cultural heritage.
Your thoughts are just as invaluable in shaping a way forward. Add them to the comments section below.


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Bahamas: Junkanoo colours · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

Bahamaboy posts images of Junkanoo — the traditional year-end masquerade celebrated in Nassau and other parts of the Bahamas — at Flickr.

author: Nicholas Laughlin


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Barbados: abolish income tax? · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

The Bajan Reporter covers a recent panel discussion on abolishing the income tax in Barbados.


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Bermuda: bird’s eye view · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

FreshieBlog posts high-resolution aerial photographs of Bermuda from 1940 and 1973, “a valuable tool for seeing how Bermuda has developed over the past 70 years.”


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Caribbean: environmantal atlas · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

Repeating Islands links to a new Latin America and the Caribbean Atlas of our Changing Environment, published by the United Nations Environment Programme, which “uses over 200 images to highlight the region’s diverse ecosystems.”


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China, Congo and Japan: Soccer politics · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Ministry of Tofu translates Chinese netizens’ reactions over a recent soccer fans riot in Congo. The African soccer fans had mistaken the Japanese referee as Chinese and smashed Chinese-own stores to avenge the partial rule in the football field.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Cuba: cheaper remittances · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

The Cuban Triangle explains how the removal of a government surcharge makes remittances “cheaper”.


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Latin America: 2010 in Review · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

In 2010 a major earthquake hit Chile, several new heads of state took office, former Argentinean president Nestor Kirchner unexpectedly passed away, the Nobel Prize in Literature was given to Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa, and Global Voices held its Summit in Santiago, Chile. Let's review these and some of the other stories our Latin American team covered during this year from a citizen media perspective.
Natural Disasters
The region was severely hit by natural disasters this year. In January, Juan Arellano reported on mudslides in Cusco, Peru which left almost 2,000 tourists stranded, and Juliana Rincón gathered citizen videos calling for aid.
Post-earthquake destruction in Chillán, Chile on February 27 – photo by Felipe Ovalle on Flickr, used under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic Creative Commons license
On February 27, Eduardo Avila began covering the earthquake that hit Chile, reporting that,
At 3:34 a.m. local time, an earthquake with a magnitude of 8.8 struck off the coast of the Maule region in Chile. The earthquake was felt in the capital city of Santiago located 325km from the epicenter.
A Special Coverage Page was created to gather citizen reports and featured Global Voices stories, like Felipe Cordero's post on the social inequalities revealed by the earthquake and Silvia Viñas’ report on the indigenous Mapuche community affected by the earthquake.
In May, Guatemala was severely affected by an increase in the activity of the Pacaya Volcano and the strong rains from tropical storm Agatha. Heavy rainfall also affected Mexico, causing flooding in the states of Veracruz and Tabasco in September. In November, tropical storm Thomas hit Costa Rica.
The winter in Colombia has been particularly difficult this year. Author Catalina Restrepo wrote about floods in the northeastern Chocó department, and later gave us a glimpse of Colombian solidarity with a post on a “Twitterathon” [es] to gather supplies for the victims of this year's harsh winter.
Venezuela was also hit by heavy rains, flooding and landslides at the end of the year. Relief efforts became a political issue –as several bloggers reported– with the passing of an Enabling Law that grants President Hugo Chavez special powers until June 2012.
Politics, International Relations and Conflict
Politics are always a hot topic in the region, and this year was not an exception.
The year began with right-leaning candidate Sebastián Piñera winning the Chilean presidential election after 20 years of center-left ruling by the coalition party Concertación de Partidos por la Democracia. His first months in the presidency were marked by events such as a hunger strike by the indigenous Mapuche over an Anti-Terror Law, and the rescue of 33 trapped miners in the north of Chile.
In Uruguay, José Mujica continued the left-leaning rule of the Frente Amplio (Broad Front) coalition as he took office on March 1st.
Right-wing candidate Juan Manuel Santos was elected to succeed president Álvaro Uribe in Colombia. Author Julián Ortega thoroughly covered the May 30 elections as seen on citizen media –and specifically through Twitter– and later reported on the reactions to the election results on Twitter and the Colombian blogosphere.
"Simple things with meaning: physical proof of having participated in the Parliamentary Elections 2010, against the backdrop of the Venezuelan flag because it’s about more than just political parties, I did it and will keeping doing it for my country” Image taken from Flickr user, @Ivanchild. Image used under Creative Common License for non-commercial use.
On September 26 Venezuelans voted to renew the National Assembly, the country's unicameral legislative branch. Juliana Rincón showed us how web videos were used to encourage citizens to vote, while Patricia Acosta reported on the online activism that took place during the campaign through Twitter. Patricia later showcased blogger's analysis and opinions of the election results.
A few days after Venezuelans voted to renew the National Assembly, on September 30 a police strike in Ecuador caused chaos and confusion as Ecuadorians tried to make sense of the day's events. Global Voices created a Special Coverage page which includes several articles by authors Paulina Aguilera and Milton Ramirez.
Another unexpected event took place in Argentina, when former president Nestor Kirchner died from a heart attack in October.
In Central America, a conflict between Costa Rica and Nicaragua broke out over the dredging of the San Juan River, which rekindled an ongoing border dispute between the countries. Costa Rican author Roy Rojas began the discussion with a post on reactions from the Costa Rican blogosphere, and Nicaraguan author Rodrigo Peñalba continued our coverage with a two-part post (see part II here) on the conflict.
Further north, migrants traveling through Mexico into the United States made news around the world this year, when 72 bodies of migrants from several Latin American countries were found on August 23.
In Mexico, drug-related violence was discussed on citizen media throughout the year. For example, Juliana Rincón wrote:
Mexican   bloggers debate whether citizen videos and pictures showing  graphic   violent crimes are an answer to what some say is the mass  media's   resistance to cover drug trafficking related violence or if it  is just   another way to spread fear and terror.
Also in Mexico, the United Nations Climate Change Conference-COP 16 took place in Cancun from November 29 to December 10. Mexican author Andrea Arzaba tracked climate negotiations as a representative for the Adopt a Negotiator Project. Andrea wrote about the work of other trackers and their conclusions after the conference.
Culture
The region's rich culture was also featured on Global Voices this year. Mexican writer Issa Villarreal put together a 3-part series on graffiti and urban art in Latin America. Later in the year, Venezuelan author Laura Vidal introduced us to the world of comics in Venezuela and their presence on the web.
Mario Vargas Llosa at the Cervantes Institute in New York on October 7, 2010, after the announcement that he had received the Nobel Prize in Literature. Image by Flickr user Globovision, under an Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic Creative Commons license.
In Chile, Isabel Allende was awarded the National Prize for Literature, a prize some thought was overdue and others criticized. But the biggest news for Latin American literature this year was the Nobel Prize in Literature, as Peruvian author Gabriela García Calderón wrote :
On Thursday October 7, Peruvians woke up to what has been called the “News of the Year”: Mario Vargas Llosa was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature by the Swedish Academy.
Silvia Viñas later reported on the response to the prize throughout Latin America and Juan Arellano wrote about the author's relationship with Peru.
2010 was certainly an eventful year for Latin America. Bloggers in the region provided a unique perspective on many events that made headlines around the world and also opened our eyes to issues that got very little media attention. At Global Voices, the Latin American team will continue gathering the voices of the Latin American blogosphere in 2011.


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Malaysia-Indonesia Soccer Match Turns Into War of Words · Global Voices
Jerrenn Lam

Photo from twitpic page of NikeMY
Recently, the Malaysian soccer team had reason to cheer when it reached the finals of the Asean Football Federation Suzuki Cup for the first time in 14 years by beating defending champion Vietnam, and beat Indonesia 3-0 in the first leg of the final that was played at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium.
However, Indonesian fans complained that Malaysian fans had distracted the Indonesian players by pointing laser lights at them, and showed their dissatisfaction through Twitter. Two hashtags made it into the worldwide trending topics, ‘Hate Malaysia’ and ‘#loveindonesia’.
Yopy Rinaldi blogged that the win by Malaysia was not special, as they had cheated when the referee did not take action against fans who used the laser light to distract the Indonesian goalkeeper.
The defeat in the match Indonesia vs Malaysia aff suzuki cup is not an embarrassing defeat.
malaysia cheating fans who do not support towards this match, and the referee did not seem wise here at malaysia violations, resulting in the fall of Indonesia in this aff suzuki cup match.
However, jasonmumbles tweeted that ‘We, Malaysians, are ashamed of the laser incident but you can't say we cheat because we only scored AFTER the incident’.
While many took to Twitter to protest Malaysia's alleged cheating, some tried to reason that such an incident is no cause for harsh words.
PrinceofPopJB tweeted ‘Asians were #Family right ?? if we are #Family STOP HATIN’ EACH OTHER . STOP HATE MALAYSIA just #LoveMalaysia and #LoveIndonesia :)’
Apmaaaar also tweeted that the reaction from many Indonesians was uncalled for.
‘We LOVE INDONESIA, we PROUD OF INDONESIA, but we dont need to HATE MALAYSIA. Stop blaming and walk on!!’
The second leg of the final will be played at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta on the 29 of December, and Indonesia needs to score at least four goals to win the title.
Pictures of the final was also shared by Wakarimasenlol, and the highlights of the match can be found on YouTube.

author: Jerrenn Lam


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Russia: Informal Medvedev Election Trailer Realeased Online  · Global Voices
Dmitry Davidov

An anonymous user created a short à  la Guitar Hero video trailer jokingly presenting Dmitry Medvedev as “President Hero 2012.” The video draws attention to the upcoming 2012 presidential elections in Russia.

author: Dmitry Davidov


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Zambia: Tina Banda, The Facebook Agony Aunt · Global Voices
Gershom Ndhlovu

To many people Facebook is a tool to announce what they are doing or what they have done, yet to some Zambians, it is being used as ‘Agony Aunt’ from which they are seeking advice on many social problems affecting them.
Facebook seems to have filled up the vacuum that Zambians newspapers have failed to fill up. For starters, Zambian newspapers do not have the luxury of space to provide such a service as most of them only go up to 12 pages comprising both editorial and advertising content.
Editorially, the pages are divided into two to three news pages, a business page, a foreign page and a features page, which also carries the editorial and letters columns and one or two features, and a sports page. The rest of the space is dedicated to advertising which means that people seeking advice on personal matters such as marriage cannot be accommodated.
A social work graduate from the University of Zambia, Tina Banda, started a Facebook page called Real Life and Hot Issues Discussion Forum with Tina Banda on which a number of topics are posted everyday and responses given by other Facebook users.
The objective of the Real Life and Hot Issues Discussions is:
Our Ultimatum objective is to shape people’s lives positively and to become the world’s most effective BLOG in educating the public on Real Life issues.
The group focuses on:
OUR focus will be on INFIDELITY,MOTIVATION,JESUS & THE BIBLE TEACHINGS, POLITICS,FINANCE,SOCIAL -ECONOMICAL ISSUES,MARRIAGE /RELATIONSHIPS AND SEX, YOUTH PROBLEMS,EDUCATION,ENTERTAINMENT,CURRENT & HISTORICAL EVENTS,GLOBALISATION,BUSSINESS,TECHNOLOGY,LEGAL ISSUES,ECOLOGICAL ISSUES,FASHION,GOSSIP,CLIMATE CHANGE AND LOVE.We have chosen to come up with the afore mentioned categories as there has been various news on the same issues all over the world…..
A typical contribution goes like this:
Some men are fond of having a permanent girlfriend besides (the) wife. Some just decide to marry as many wives as they want (Due to GREEDY/SELFISH). Must polygamy be encouraged? Can a man genuinely love 2 women the same way? How fair is it to us WOMEN? READ STORY BELOW AND ADVISE Maturely.
Tina i need help very much. Am 33yrs old woman with three kids that i love so very much, i have been married for seven yrs now, and its been a sad stiuation that when my husband was transfered to mufulira he completly changed, he no loger sl…eeps at home, he has inpregnanted his workmet and now he has even shifted to her house and they are staying together, he realy visits his children and now the children are asking me wether i chessed there dad, the whole family have tried and have failed to convince him, he keeps on saying that i love them both and yet i cant see that love for me in him, non of his family members are happy abt this and they had a kitchen party and all his family members did not even attend it, i love this man i miss everything abt him, he pays rent for us and gives us his ration money but not as he used to give out, but i miss having that sweet thing in bed you know, i stay with his brother and i should comfess that i have stated going out with a diferent guy in the hood, and his young brother is suspecting that and he is in support but i feel guilt cause i have never done it before, please help what should i do? go on cheating on him or just relax until he comes back into his senses?
Please help me am dieing with this!!![sick].
A typical response from users goes like this:
Mwenda Sitali says:
You have bn brilliant so far but you ar now messing up yourself.i know its difficult and your ar missing your chocolates in bed.The best thing to do ask your husband to free u up(divorce) so that you can go and look for chocolates elsewhere with a free mind.Your husband is not being fair with u.He is getting his chocolates and you aint getting anything(selfish zambian men)Thats mental torture since you also have a nice taste for chocolates.merry xmas bt no chocs for you.lo[sic]
Meza Mphande says:
Dear Lady: Yours is a familiar case that has happened to many women out there in marriages.It unfortunately has been a trend and other people have come to allude to the conclusion that this happens at some stage in marriage life.But my advi…se is that DO NOT go on with this relationship with this man you are seeing now as you are now doing the very THING you are fighting against your husband.Correctly,so he is very wrong in his actions, regardless of what his side of the story could be becoz marriage is a high institution and there exists channels to solve marital problems that could be of a personal nature between the two of you. Remember,despite all this,you are still legal husband & Wife as you have not divorced.So for now,with all this turmoil, you will continue to devote to your husband.Remain faithful to yourself and him.
If you feel the betrayal is unbearable and cant continue living with him,then you can seek divorce in the courts and set yourself free to start another relationship, and be respected.From your letter, you still love him despite all this, so remain faithful for now, until when you decide to take the step i have put above.
Another topic on the discussion board is about lobola (bride price):
Should lobola correspond to the amount of investment that parents spent on the woman?
Pkapanya Kapanya says:
Nice one Tina! I dont think so. The man marrying is also worth quite something in terms of investment from his family. Id say it should just be enuf to try and compensate for the wman not being home close at hand to help her family freely unlike when she is with the husband and her key responsibilities shift to the man's family. However, i would want mine to be just enuf for me to be able to return incase thngs dnt work out or am not kept well. lol!
Victor Chanda says lobola is not a price for a commodity:
Tina, lobola is not compensation neither is it a price for a commodity. It is a TOKEN of appreciation to the woman's family on how well groomed she is. undersevedly this commercialisation is a misinterpretation of the basis on which this was founded. We are talking of a human being not cattle, to be paid by the highest bidder… Over the years a lot of distortion on this have evolved including the women putting their own price tags. A woman can be formally educated but that does not make her a good wife there a lot of attributes which make a woman a good wife.
The latest topic at the time of writing this post is about a man who had to forge a marriage certificate to register his son as dependant at work and now he wants to marry. The man says:
The certificate bears no signature only our names and name of marrying officer and the witness plus church date stump. A layer said he can challenge her in court but still i will be charged with forgery which in this case i may end up in jail and my employers cant tolerate it, this i know. This will cost me more than i can bear. I offered a lumpsome to make her keep quite but she refused saying all she want is me taking her as my wife thus threatening my fiancee. I forged it coz i loved her but not for a wife coz she isnt a marriage type. We agreed that child maitainance is the allowance she gets which is more than k2.7m per month. Plz what more can a man do to an ex
Asked what motivated 27 year-old Tina, a sales and marketing executive of a Zambian-based Kenyan company, to start Real life & Hot Issues?
She said she was motivated to start the Facebook version of Agony Aunt because of her passion to assist humanity in stressful social situations and occurrences:
I have always wanted to play a role in shaping peoples’ lives, laying [sic] information and enhancing decision making skills in people, motivate the low spirited/hopeless people in society and learn more on cultural diversity and how people from different countries share their perceptions/cultural values and traditions.
I also do not like seeing people go through emotional stress/suffering due to social problems because I have seen how we women are vulnerable in most situations and we fail to open up even to friends or relatives. I always thought bringing out hot issues of the voiceless women/men will always help one or two people on social networks like Facebook and now I get a lot of mails in my Facebook inbox just to have them posted on the Real Life wall so they can get various responses and experiences from other people.
“It is for the above reasons that I developed a passion to talk about real life issues that people got through and other hot issues of humanity affecting society.
Tina Banda, The Zambian Facebook Agony Aunt
Tina, who lists herself as a sex therapist, motivation and general counsellor, has a group of people who specialise in, among other things, marriage counselling, HIV/AIDS counselling and political analysts assisting her to manage the Real Life Facebook account. The response to Real Life has been overwhelming:
Sometimes it may take time but we do even follow up on our clients and ask how they are faring. We don’t give up until they regain their full self-esteem/self-worthy. Most of the social problems people present to us, we have qualified counsellors who counsel them further and ensure they are satisfied with our advice. Some other readers appreciate the information they get from certain topics that affect humanity and write to us to appreciate the good discussions that we come about with and how it benefits them in their personal development.
She admitted that there were detractors who posted insulting responses but brushed them aside saying: “We are aware that on social networks, detractors are always there but we do not move away from our vision.”
One of Real Life policies says that “We do not aim at engaging in any battle over religious or classified developments. We do not speak malice, we are laying opinion. Thus on our board, we have the right to scrutinise all comments, profiles and groups if it is in line with our policy, and if not we reserve the right to keep/delete any post on the wall status let alone any membership.’’
Tina’s group also understands different reactions of people and how provocative some issues become on their forum. They delete insulting comments but still follow up the individuals who post the offensive comments, ensuring that they know them better, why they reacted the way they did as well as impart good morals/behaviour in them and encourage them to touch one soul out there in whatever they do.
“We also want to help such people on how to deal with anger management,” Tina said.
Tina said Real Life and Hot Issues is an open group meaning it is open to all Facebook users. She hopes the group will attract 50,000 members in 2011 with the belief that the more members they have, the more lives they shape and sensitize on many issues affecting us all. At the time of writing, the forum had 4,342 members.
Real Life and Hot Issues, according to Tina, is a team of eight members of different professionals.
There are eight admin members who are always there to work as a team in attending to people’s problems because we feel we have the solution and that is the knowledge on how to handle hard issues that befall us in life. We also have officers on the group wall that ensure we give professional advice on various topics.
One would suppose that if Tina's forum did not provide the answers people seek to their problems, they would not be writing to her.

author: Gershom Ndhlovu


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Afghanistan: Afghan Radio Wars · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Sanjar writes about continuing war between the insurgents and the Afghan government – both on the battlefields and on the information field – and says that Taliban-sponsored radio stations seemingly get wider audience due to better technical accessibility.

author: Adil Nurmakov


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Afghanistan: UN Secretary General outlines worsening security situation · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

A report to the UN Security Council by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, covering the period since mid-September paints yet another grim picture of the political and military situation in Afghanistan, Nick Fielding says in his fresh review.


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Africa: 15 African Breakout Artists of the Year · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Ladybrille's 15 African breakout artists of the year: “2010 has been a terrific year for African music and its music industry. As a quick recap, the first World Cup held on African soil put African music center stage in the homes of millions…”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Africa: Formal education is not advancing Africa · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Nana argues that formal education is not advancing Africa: “Let’s admit it – formal education in Ghana and much of Africa is structured to teach young people to read and write, no more.”


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Africa: Looted African artefacts belong to Africans · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Sign an online petition that has been created to build on a recent petition to stop an auction house, Sotheby’s from selling a 16th Century Benin Mask.


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Africa: MDGTagger available in Swahili · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

MDGTagger, a simple tool to help people track Millennium Development Goals is now available in Swahili: “After quite a bit of searching we found an ‘official’ translation of the the Millennium Development Goals translated into Kiswahilli here. So we now have the MDGTagger available to Swahili speakers!”


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Algeria: What is Happening in Tunisia?  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Algerian-American The Moor Next Door comments on the protests taking place in Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia.  “Police have attempted to block media coverage of the riots (and that the rioting is isolated and being exaggerated by the opposition), but bloggers and activists have posted pictures and video of the disturbances on the Internet,” he writes.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Algeria: Wikileaks and Israel  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Khaled Mimoune, from Algeria, tweets (Ar): “Isn't it fishy that there are no Wikileaks documents exposing Israel's scandals?”


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Cameroon Becomes Tourism Destination · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Cameroon has officially become a tourism destination: “The country registered more than 500,000 tourists in 2010, a figure required by international norms to become a tourism destination.”


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Ghana: Who cares about District Assembly Elections? · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Who cares about District Assembly Elections in Ghana?: “So is anyone worried about the District Assemble Elections??? Because no one seems to care and still government preaches that it allocates monies for development projects at that level. The public toilets remain same in Osu, a cosmopolitan suburb of Accra.”


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Kazakhstan: Echo of the OSCE Summit · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Since mid-2000s Kazakhstan was craving to head the Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe, OSCE, the largest international pro-democracy organization on the continent. The bid was criticized by some member countries because of the Kazakhstan’s poor human rights record. Eventually the chairmanship was granted in result of a set of reasons that included a geopolitical bargaining, a pressure from the post-Soviet states, and a series of the West’s energy and security considerations.
The Kazakh authorities were viewing the chairmanship mostly as a high-profile instrument to improve its image on the international arena. And the OSCE Summit, a conference of the leaders of the OSCE participating states, was meant to become the wreath of the Kazakh chairmanship and a chance to boast the country’s new capital city of Astana. It finally took place in early December. The preparations were stunning:
“It is not recommended for the Astana residents to stop being sick for the period of the summit. Hospitals will be cleared to serve the OSCE Summit participants […] Most of the city dwellers are shocked by the official initiative of introducing a sickness limit”, zhuldyz writes [ru].
The Astanians residing close to the venue and major roads were even prohibited from smoking on their balconies – a ban that stirred a massive satire campaign titled “Be a man, get a smoke” [ru].
Slavasay was keeping a close eye on the summit from within the event’s corridors [ru]:
The summit will definitely justify the Kazakh government’s expectations […] with the picture-taking ceremony at the center of the whole event.
He later commented on the welcoming speech by the Kazakh Secretary of State, who started his presentation with congratulations to the incumbent president of Kazakhstan on 19th anniversary of his election as the president. “I found such an opening remark to the meeting of the leaders of countries – that are meant to be democratic – pretty original”, he said [ru].
Slavasay was also among those who criticized the summit’s excessively obtrusive and overly exalted coverage of the summit in Kazakh media. All news programs were overwhelmed with summit reports. On the first day of the event, all state-owned and private TV channels held a many-hour live broadcast of the summit sessions.  Megakhuimyak reacts [ru]:
“I watch it and I cannot understand why they [media] are discussing some invented reality, while the country is going in a totally different direction? I guess the same was in Russia back in 1915”
“Judging by the current scope of coverage, the OSCE Summit will remain in the local broadcast and print news for at least half a year”, alramin adds. Kazakhstan President Nazarbayev has already stated that the summit became “a triumph of the Kazakhstani people”.
Slavasay’s conclusion is as follows [ru]:
The summit will definitely go down in history, but only as the most useless for all 35 years of the OSCE’s history. The Astana Declaration doesn’t differ from any other documents adopted at any annual Ministerial Councils.


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Kazakhstan: President For Life, Or At Least Until 2020 · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

KZBlog writes about a movement to keep N. Nazarbayev as President until 2020 that is underway currently in Kazakhstan.


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Kenya:  Internet and mobile to be the future of stock trading · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

The future of stock trading in Kenya is going to be via the Internet and mobile phone applications: “Kenyans are fast with technology and moved en masse to leapfrog the rest of the world and adopt new technology for mobile money transfers.”


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Kyrgyzstan: Still An Island of Democracy? · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

According to the recent report of the Economist Intelligence Unit, Kyrgyzstan seems to remain an “island of democracy” in Central Asia, murzaki informs.


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Lebanon: Stop Honking · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Lebanese drivers are renowned for ‘honking.’ Cal Perry tweets: “Dear #Beirut … honk more. Seriously … lay on that car horn more. I can't hear you.”


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Maldives: The Tsunami Monument  · Global Voices
Rezwan

Photoblog //Sub/Corpus Photos posts a picture of “the Tsunami Monument, perhaps one the most photographed structure in Malé, built in memory of the Maldivians who lost their lives in the Indian Ocean Tsunami, December 26th, 2004″.


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Nigeria: The Nigerian “eating” class · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye  blogs about the Nigerian “eating” class: “I wanted to make money fast and live big. As I saw on television and newspapers these mostly thirty-something olds and early or mid-forty emergency billionaires who I was so certain I was more intelligent and more hardworking…”


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Nigeria: The New Face Of The Niger Delta Insurgency Speaks To SaharaReporters · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Sahara Reporters speak to “General” John Togo, the leader of a newly created militant group known as the Niger Delta Liberation Force (NDLF).


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Pakistan: Recognition For BRAC Bangladesh · Global Voices
Rezwan

Bangladeshi non-profit BRAC's humanitarian efforts in Pakistan received recognition in the form of an award and a public display of appreciation by the people of Mohibanda village in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.


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Saudi Arabia: The Kingdom in One Sentence  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

From Saudi Arabia, Mustafa Hussain tweets (Ar): “Unemployment, corruption, tribalism, weak education curricula, state-owned media, full prisons, bad government services, oil which is not its own – all this and more in Saudi Arabia.”


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Somalia: How do you solve a problem like Somalia?  · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Daniel Kalinaki discusses ways to solve a problem like Somalia in global politics: “Somalia is not a new conflict; the country ‘failed’ in 1991 and has since then been a collection of tribes and clans struggling to control the territory and the people.”


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South Asia: Looking Back at the Citizen Media Storylines in 2010 · Global Voices
Rezwan

You cannot leave the South Asia region out of the picture as with nearly twenty three percent of the world's population, events in this region apply an enormous impact on the international system. Global Voices covered some of these events from a citizen media perspective. Let us review the popular posts of 2010 from this region.
Freedom Of Expression and Censorship:
The Pakistani blogosphere entered into a huge debate on the creation of a Facebook page calling for creation of cartoons of prophet Mohammad on May 20. The situation got worse when a Lahore high-court slammed a ban of the entire Facebook domain and the netizens protested against the blanket ban. The government changed this decision later and promised to monitor popular websites including Google, Youtube, Facebook, Hotmail which could be posting blasphemous content objectionable to Muslims.
At the same time Bangladesh also temporarily banned Facebook. The official statement mentioned that the site had been blocked for hosting anti-religious and pornographic contents. But some bloggers felt that the ban was imposed mainly because obscene caricatures of the Prime Minister and the leader of the opposition (both female) were being shared by some users.
Human Rights:
In India there had been eight murders and 20 serious attacks on RTI activists in the past year. Amit Jethwa, a prominent environmentalist and Right to Information (RTI) activist, was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen in July after he had filed a public interest litigation in the Gujarat High Court naming a member of parliament.
India's cyber law has been subjected to controversy because of its misuse. A government employee from Kerala got arrested for forwarding an email joke about the election debacle of the ruling party to a few friends.
Beating two boys in front of police and an enthusiastic crowd. Screenshot from YouTube Video
Pakistanis were in shock as the news and a video of the brutal mob-lynching of two teenage brothers were aired in local media on 22nd of August, 2010. The gang rape of a trainee nurse at the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) also triggered widespread protests.
The Blasphemy law in Pakistan had been criticized and questioned by human rights activists because it had more often been used as a tool to spread violence and incite fear specifically among the minorities. An example of this manipulation of the law is the case of Aasia bibi, a Christian woman who was sentenced to death on the charges of Blasphemy.
In Sri Lanka, Sarath Fonseka, the opposition candidate who was competing with the incumbent President Mahinda Rajapaksa in the 6th Presidential Election had been arrested by the military police and was jailed later.
After many protests the Bangladeshi ready-made garments workers secured a significant hike in the minimum wages.
Terrorism:
Image courtesy http://twitpic.com/photos/abhi_bol
After the 2008 Mumbai attacks, India encountered a major terrorist attack in February, 2010 when a bomb blast at a restaurant popular with tourists in India's western city of Pune, Maharashtra killed 9 people and left 57 people injured.
Meanwhile Pakistan had been rocked by many suicide bombs and terrorist attacks in 2010.
However one positive thing we found that many of the Pakistani bloggers rejected this religious hatred.
Disasters:
Floods in Pakistan, Ausgust 2, 2010. Image by Flickr user Globovisión. CC BY-NC
2010 was particularly a bad year for Pakistan in terms of disasters. Pakistan faced its worst flood in the past 80 years, as in July-August 2010 heavy monsoon rains have caused severe flooding on the Indus river plains, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, lower Punjab and parts of Balochistan. The floods have claimed more than 2000 lives and about 20 million people, one-tenth of the Pakistan population, have suffered and most of them became homeless. The government response to tackle the situation was widely criticized.
On the contrary, it was heartening to see that common people, especially many youths of Pakistan travelled to the affected areas to help the victims. And more so Pakistani netizens were in forefront as they made their actions visible though live blogs Twitter, images and videos. Several Global Voices authors based in Pakistan including Awab Alvi, Faisal Kapadia, Sana Saleem and Salman Latif reported from the ground.
View of #Islamabad crash site from rooftop. Image from Twitpic by Rezhasan
In July Pakistan suffered its worst ever air disaster when a flight from Karachi of a private airliner crashed into the Margalla Hills in Islamabad, killing 152 people. In May an Air-India Express plane arriving from Dubai had crashed in Mangalore, south India, killing most of the people on board and netizens were outraged by the fact that the short runway was too dangerous for larger planes.
India had its share of oil spill disaster as in August a container carrier collided with another marine vessel close to Mumbai shore causing a huge oil spill, which threatened the flora and fauna of the nearby beaches.
Politics:
2010 was a turbulent year for Nepal in the political arena. In February pro monarchy groups demanding restoration of constitutional monarchy forced its capital to shut down. By May the maoists, who has a strong position in the parliament, launched a nation wide indefinite protest demanding that the incumbent government be dissolved. The government succumbed to the pressure and the Prime Minister Madhab Kumar Nepal resigned on the 30th of June, 2010. Nepal plunged into a leadership vacuum as five rounds of election in parliament failed to produce a clear winner as the new Prime Minister in August. There was no end of this political stalemate in sight till the end of the year.
Mohamed Nasheed, President of Maldives. Image courtesy Presidency of Maldives Photostream, CC BY
In June the whole Cabinet of the government of the Maldives submitted their resignation to President Mohamed Nasheed, on the grounds that their work was severely restricted by an opposition-led Parliament. Bloggers provided logical opinions on how to solve this crisis.
After three years of respite Hartal, a South Asian form of strike action, came back in Bangladesh as the opposition alliance took the streets to to press for its 11-point demand to the government.
Protests in Kashmir turned violent since June  after the security forces killed a number of youths. When the Jammu and Kashmir Government banned the SMS service to stop the flow of information and rumors, many news outlets used Facebook to reach netizens. The Indian blogosphere discussed about scopes for reconciliation and peace.
The incumbent President of Sri Lanka Mahinda Rajapaksa pre-poned the presidential election scheduled in 2011 presumably to harness his immense popularity after defeating the Tamil Tigers last year. With the  opposittion candidate Sarath Fonseka behind bars and amidst low turn out, the victory of Rajapaksa was predictable.
Sports:
Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi, a venue for the Commonwealth Games 2010 in Delhi. Image by Flickr user seaview99. CC BY-NC-SA
This year India hosted the Commonwealth Games for the first time and its plan to showcase its new status as a global power was marred by criticism and controversy. In the end India successfully completed the games.
Bhutanese women created the stirrings of their first feminist movement of sorts when they took on a traditionally male dominated sport Khuru (game of darts).
2010 was an eventful year for the South Asia region. Please stay tuned in 2011 for the stories seen through the eyes of the netizens. If you would like to contribute to widen our coverage across different language blogospheres in this region please contact us.


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Sri Lanka: The Story Of The Wife Of An Army Personnel · Global Voices
Rezwan

Cerno from Sri Lanka posts an inspiring story of the wife of an army sergeant who was delighted to see her husband coming home intact after the war.


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Taiwan: Concerns about press freedom · Global Voices
David Reid

Media freedom has come into the spotlight in Taiwan recently. Michael Turton has a good summary of the issues. A Taipei Times reporter writes about how the proposed changes to the child welfare law would affect her work.

author: David Reid


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Tunisia: The Cry of Protestors Echoes Around the World  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

This post is part of our special coverage of Tunisia Revolution 2011.
The cries of Tunisians, protesting against corruption and joblessness for the past two weeks, is gathering momentum on the World Wide Web. Netizens from around the world are rallying behind them and echoing their calls.
It all started when an unemployed man set himself on fire in protest against his unemployment in Sidi Bouzid. According to the Los Angeles Times:
The death triggered violent clashes between young demonstrators and
police forces that resulted in the death of an 18-year-old after
National Guard members opened fire on angry protesters in a nearby town
two days later.
Further marches and protests later spread to the capital and the cities of Sfax, Sousse and Meknassi.
From India, Anja Kovacs hits the nail on the head. She tweets:
Tunisia's seen a genuine revolt over last few weeks, but outside of Middle East, it's hardly reported. Why? http://bit.ly/he2Let #sidibouzid
She adds:
To know more abt what is happening in #Tunisia & get continuous updates, good people to follow are @ifikra , @weddady, @nawaat #sidibouzid
Egyptian Wael Nofal poses a similar question in this tweet:
@stephenfry Are you following what's going on in #SidiBouZid #Tunisia ؟It's odd why western media turned face away, unlike #Iran last year
And DanersB, who splits her time between Beirut, Dubai and Montreal, notes:
Ever the optimist! @dr_davidson: Heavyhandedness from #Tunisia ‘s despot, #BenAli, may well set the tone for the #Arab world's next decade
From the US, HarvardDr brings up yet another reference to Iran – this time referring to the end of the Shah's era. He writes (Ar):
From Washington DC, Priyanka Joseph is stunned by the wall of silence. She writes:
Someone's channeling Kundera. Shit's going down in #Tunisia, not a word of it on the news here (no surprise) nor on TTrends/my timeline.
Anne Eksten, from Denmark, notes:
Government #Tunisia respond to peaceful protest by Live Ammunition, Security Siege, Violence http://goo.gl/rnL0p /@Elicoopter_mid @RamyRaoof
And from the Netherlands, Mark adds:
“We are unhappy with the policies in Tunisia, we are unhappy with everything – it is not just unemployment.” #tunisia
Egyptian writer Mona Eltahawy urges her colleagues in the media to make a stand:
Friends, esp those with media connections, please tweet and RT #Tunisia and #SidiBouzid. Let's stand with Tunisians fighting oppression.
And Hisham Kassem, also from Egypt, is baffled:
Meanwhile, from Portnoy, from Taiwan, is left wondering:
For more tweets on Tunisia, check the hashtags #Tunisia and #sidibouzid
This post is part of our special coverage of Tunisia Revolution 2011.


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Turkmenistan: New Muslims sewing the threads · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Islam is on the rise among Turkmenistan’s young and the government has been responding with more Soviet-style oppression. But how long can this situation last? neweurasia’s Annasoltan interviews Forum 18’s John Kinahan for his perspective.


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Uganda: Why I am not my tribe · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

UgandanInsoniac explains why she is not her tribe: “They say I am trying to be a mzungu by asserting that I have no tribe.  They accuse me of denying my heritage and have called me pretentious, arrogant and stupid.  Some have even gone as far as to say I am a shame to my father’s good name.”


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Ukrainian Blogosphere 2010: Still Enough Room for Everyone · Global Voices
Tetyana Bohdanova

To mark the end of 2010, Blogoreader.org.ua, an analytical website created to follow the developments on the Ukrainian Internet, has published its annual overview of the Ukrainian blogosphere. Below is a translation of the author’s major findings [UKR]:
Blogosphere
[…] The Ukrainian blogosphere remains the only Cyrillic blogosphere that is still growing. However, sooner or later this must stop, and the growth will be slowing down gradually. When this process would stop is yet unknown, as the penetration of Internet in our country is rather low. That is why the potential for growth remains.
This year the Ukrainian blogosphere has not obtained strong media resources able to beat other sites with their popularity. For example, in every key topic area it is impossible to name 2-3 indisputable leaders. The objective resources for identifying such leaders are absent as well – in Ukraine, the market of specialized services for bloggers remains weak. Most [Internet] services that remained open by the end of this year had been created mostly due to the enthusiasm of their authors.
Microblogs
Twitter remains among the key trends of the outgoing year. If in 2009 the growth rate of the number of its users constituted “only” 200%, in 2010 it jumped to 400%. […]
During the last year Twitter gradually turned from a blog replacement into a social media instrument. If earlier speculations about it becoming the “killer” of blogs and a great attainment of lazy people who do not want to write anything longer than 140 symbols were common, now such talk is unheard of. Every blogger may have a Twitter [account], but use it not to the detriment of his/her blog, but, on the contrary, as an additional source for [attracting] traffic.
Social networks
Together with a turbulent growth of Facebook in Ukraine (this month, the millionth Ukrainian is expected to register), Vkontakte [Russian social network service] began to “awaken.” […]
Just as Twitter, Facebook and Vkontakte stopped being lookalike “boards” with your photo and a short bio. Due to handy widgets and instruments, integrating social networks into one’s website became an easy task even for beginners, and the amount of “likes” (re-tweets, […], etc.) – turned into a real indicator of the website’s popularity.
[…]
The state and blogs
Ukrainian authorities continue a policy based on little or no understanding of new media. So far state officials have not realized that attempts at manual regulation of new media would not help, but rather push the situation to the critical point. This is especially clearly demonstrated by this year’s interrogations of famous blogger Olena Bilozerska and summoning Oleh Shynkarenko [an LJ user and journalist] to SBU (the Ukrainian state security service). Both situations were publicized widely in the blogosphere and social media, after which law enforcement authorities were forced to justify the legality of their actions.
Open space
The Ukrainian blogosphere remains nearly empty. By this I mean that quite a few interesting niches are still vacant. Although it seems that there are many blogs about tourism or photography in Ukraine, could you name at least one that holds indisputable leadership in its field? Unfortunately, in 90% of topic areas you would not find one. On the other hand this opens appealing perspectives to those who are experts in their fields and would like to reach even higher level of professionalism by becoming bloggers. […]
Other facts about the Ukrainian blogosphere
Yandex, a popular Russian search engine, provided the following statistics about the age of Ukrainian bloggers and the number of blogs:
Age (included are only those who indicated age in their profiles):
Below 15 y.o. – 10%
16-20 y.o. – 32%
21-25 y.o. – 25%
26-30 y.o. – 16%
31-35 y.o. – 9%
36-40 y.o. – 6%
41-45 y.o. – 1%
Over 45 y.o. – 1%
The youngest of the Ukrainian bloggers who indicated their age is a 9-year-old, the oldest is 75 years old.
Number of blogs and microblogs
The number of Ukrainian blogs has grown from 500,000 (in 2009) to 700,000. In general, Yandex knows of 20 million Cyrillic blogs.
120,000 Ukrainian blogs are active (in comparison with 75,000 in 2009). In general, it is a unique case: in RuNet the number of active blogs declines, while in Ukraine it has grown (from 15% to 17%).
The Ukrainian blogosphere has grown by 40% in 2010.
According to the Yandex data, there are 80,000 Ukrainian Twitter accounts. To compare, the neighboring Belarus has only 18,000 accounts. In general, Yandex knows of 460,000 Cyrillic accounts on Twitter.
Out of 80,000 Twitter users, 23% (or 29%) occasionally tweet in Ukrainian; 10,000 (12.5%) users tweet exclusively in Ukrainian.
Conclusion
The situation in the Ukrainian blogosphere has been summarized [UKR] well by Serhiy Pishkhovtsiy, the author of Blogoreader.org.ua:
Regardless of the fact that the Ukrainian blogosphere is several years old, in 2010 it remains open to everyone willing to join. It is enough to select the right topic, work hard on one’s popularity and move confidently towards achieving the goal. And that is what I wish to all of you :).

author: Tetyana Bohdanova


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Azerbaijan: Emin Milli’s Reading list · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

In a note posted on Facebook, imprisoned and recently freed video blogging youth activist Emin Milli lists the books he read while in jail in Azerbaijan. Not surprisingly, the books mostly deal with a common theme — freedom and democracy.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Barbados: top stories for 2010 · Global Voices
Nicholas Laughlin

What were the top Barbados news stories in 2010? Barbados Free Press shares their list, and asks readers to vote.


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Belarus: More Commentary on Dec. 19 · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Commentary on the implications of the post-election events in Belarus – at OpenDemocracy.net, here and here.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Bolivia: Photos and Video of Protest Over Rise in Cost of Fuel · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Angel Caido [es] shares photos and a video of the protests that took place on December 30 in Bolivia over the rise in the cost of fuel.

author: Silvia Viñas