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East Timor: President Rejects Woman Defense Minister · Global Voices
Janet Gunter

On Monday, Tempo Semanal newspaper leaked the proposed cabinet of the new coalition government in East Timor, which included Maria Domingas Alves (known as Mikato) as Minister of Defense and Security, the highest civilian position presiding over the armed forces.
Fundasaun Mahein and news sources reported Tuesday that new President Taur Matan Ruak, himself long-time leader of the guerrilla resistance and then the independent nation's armed forces, has shown his objection to the nomination. Behind the scenes, it appears, negotiations led to the naming of Cirilo Jose Christopher in her place.
Mikato is one of East Timor's highest-profile women in politics, having presided over the Ministry of Solidarity and Social Services, during an extended crisis of internal displacement, the launch of an old-age pension and aid to veterans.
Image courtesy of Rede Feto
The day after these reports, Rede Feto women's network stated [tet] in a press conference that the President's suggestion that Mikato was not right for the job
Tamba ne’e ami husi movimentu feto Timor Leste hato’o deskontentimentu ba liafuan refere nebe hatu’un dignidade feto Timor leste, nomos ignora Feto sira nia kapasidade nebe hatudu ona liu husi desempenhamentu nebe halao ona durante tinan 5 hodi fo’o susesu maka’as ba governasaun AMP I
The Women's Group of Parliament spokeswoman told the media [tet] that this episode “kills the spirit of participation among women”.
University of Timor Leste professor Matias Guilherme was interviewed by Timor Post on the issue (published [tet] on Timor Lorosae Nação blog)
Nia informa, agora ne’e presiza maka kapasidade da lideransa, la presiza nia tenki mai husi militar, Background militar maibe nia labele jere ou administra instituisaun Defesa no seguransa, ida ne’e mos sai kestaun bot ida.
Blog Forum Haksesuk explains [tet] that Mikato refused a subsequent offer to go back to her same ministerial post from last government, because she was “offended”, concluding that this “soap opera” lead to her “sacrifice.”
Founding the nation
Since the days of Muki Bonaparte, a founding member of East Timor's major party proposing independence, women have played a visible role in politics and national life. Rede Feto writes [tet]
Partidu Politiku rasik loke sira nia odomatan atu feto sira bele involve no organiza sira nia atividade. Organizasaun OPMT (Organizasaun Popular das Mulheres de Timor) hanesan organizasaun feto ida ne’ebe hahu sira nia atividade iha fulan Agostu 1975. […] Comite Central Fretelin (CCF) mos fo fiar ba feto ida hanaran Rosa Bonaparte Soares/Muky atu bele lidera organizasaun ida nee.
Even after her martyrdom on Dili's docks with Isabel Bareto Lobato and Silvina Namuk on the Indonesian invasion in 1975, women continued to play an important role in East Timor's resistance, in all of its forms armed, clandestine and diplomatic. Clandestine activist women like Maria Goreti paid the ultimate price. Other women like Mana Bisoi (Pt) fought in the armed resistance and continue to represent women in public life.
An East Timorese woman holds up her stained finger after voting. Photo by United Nations Photo (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Australian researcher Sarah Niner wrote earlier this year on her blog
The women who fought accepted that the struggle for women’s rights was not possible during the fight for independence. However, the struggle for independence created a pool of highly skilled and motivated women who no longer accepted the status quo and today work toward equity for women.
Since independence
In governments since independence, women have held key ministries, such as the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Justice. East Timor's constituent assembly and first governments had relatively high levels of representation of women, with near 30% of parliament as women in the last parliament. This parliament has even more, with 35% women, according to the blog Forum Feto Global.
But are numbers indicative of real representation? Susan Marx wrote prior to Timorese elections this year on Asia Foundation's blog
[…] Timorese women are questioning the practicalities of participating within a historically patriarchal society. What was interesting in our research was that many of the women currently active in politics were adamant in demanding more meaningful participation. They cite the lack of women in leadership roles and decision-making positions as evidence that political parties use women’s participation only in an attempt to placate critics and to satisfy the quota requirements. Other potential candidates cited the lack of regard for women’s views within the political fray as one of the main deterrents from becoming involved themselves.
The controversy over Mikato certainly raises the question of whether Timorese male leaders perceive certain roles to be male-only in nature. Niner asserted  in March
[…] ongoing conflict, and an aggressive political culture, favours a type of strong, militarised masculinity that marginalises women, placing them in less visible ‘traditional’ roles, and has a negative effect on their status and political participation.
Facebook user Juvinal Inasio wrote publicly [tet]
La etiku liu hodi diskrimina feto hodi kaer pasta Ministra Defesa………..!!!!!!!!!! Bainhira ulun boot sira elimina Micatohusi kargu ne'e, signifika ita nia ukun nain sira la valoriza feto atu partisipa iha prosesu dezenvolvimentu nasaun…………….Ita nia ukun nain sira mesak b**** ten deit bainhira sira iha kampanha hateten sei promove jeneru……….!!!!!!!! …………..Nune'e feto sira, lalika fiar tan sira……!!!!!!!!!!

author: Janet Gunter


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Egypt: Cairo Blackout · Global Voices
Eman AbdElRahman

This summer is different in Egypt. Repeated power and water cuts have hit different districts every single day over the past few months. And although there wasn't a clear official statement it was commonly understood that the repeated electricity cut was to reduce loads on power stations.
However, today [August 8, 2012] was different. Most of Cairo residents woke up to a major electricity failure that not only affected their houses and offices, but also Cairo's underground metro and the Egyptian Stock Exchange.
Mado shares his story:
He continues:
Mostafa Al Naggar, a former Member of Parliament, says:
Maged Abedo asks:
Hany Hathout exclaims:
@HHathout: Black Out. No electricity all over the city.
Journalist Sarah Carr asks:
@Sarahcarr: Were the electricity cuts in Cairo this widespread and frequent last summer?
And Amr Hassan notes:
@superamr: So much sun. So little electricity. #Cairo
But one resident says the electricity cuts bring much needed peace to Cairo. Patricia Stein comments:
@PsteinND: The moment the electricity cuts in #Cairo its quiet…beautifully quiet. I request longer outages please. Bring people back to reality.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Eman AbdElRahman


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Tajikistan: Female Boxer Fights Odds, Wins Olympic Bronze · Global Voices
Alexander Sodiqov

This post is part of our special coverage London 2012 Olympics.
Mavzuna Chorieva, a 19-year-old athlete from Tajikistan, won a bronze medal in the women's lightweight boxing at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
The fighter who was Tajikistan's flag-bearer at the opening ceremony eliminated the highly ranked Chinese boxer Cheng Dong in a quarterfinal match on August 6, before losing her semi-final against veteran Irish fighter Katie Taylor two days later. The 26-year-old Irish who had previously won four world championships and five European titles consequently took gold.
Chorieva won the Olympic medal against all odds. In Tajikistan, where boxing and other combat sports are mostly denied to women, for many years the fighter had to disguise herself as a boy in order to take part in competitions. Even after Chorieva was allowed to participate in tournaments, she had to box with men because there were simply no female fighters to train with. Moreover, last year the athlete underwent kidney surgery which risked leaving her unable to compete internationally.
Mavzuna Chorieva, Tajik boxer who won a bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Screenshot from BBC video”Tajik female boxer's hopes for Olympic games” uploaded July 10, 2012, by YouTube user Rebecca Leighton.
In Tajikistan, Chorieva has to box with men because there are no female fighters to train with. Screenshot from BBC video”Tajik female boxer's hopes for Olympic games” uploaded July 10, 2012, by YouTube user Rebecca Leighton.
(Watch the pre-Olympics BBC video report about Mavzuna Chorieva, “Tajik female boxer's hopes for Olympic games,” here).
Delight at home
Chorieva's bronze medal has delighted fans in Tajikistan who earlier saw the country's main Olympic medal hopefuls demolished in men's wrestling and judo. After it became clear that Chorieva was guaranteed to bring home a medal, her success has dominated discussion on the Tajik segment of Facebook and on news forums. For most people in Tajikistan, the boxer's bronze does not matter any less than Olympic gold or silver. Moreover, Tajik citizens are confident that the young athlete's victory is just the first major step in her sports career.
Mehrdad Khayrullopur wrote [tj] on Facebook:
Ofarin bar Mavzuna. Inshoalloh dar oyanda sohibi medali tillo ham meshavad. Bo sazovor gashtan bo medali birinji uro tabrik meguyem.
Another Facebook user, Bakhtiyor Faysolloev, added [tj]:
Хайр аз Мавзунахони азиз хеле миннатдорем, ки нагузошт мо хушку холи аз ин Олимпиада баргардем.
Ali Mastov suggested [ru]:
Надо сказать что Мавзуна проиграла не кому нибудь, а 4хкаратному чемпиону мира. Будь жребий по удачнее наша гордость могла бы и выйти в финал. Еще раз мои поздравление Мавзуну и ее тренерам!!!
Tajik musician Olim Shirinov also commented [ru] on Chorieva's success on Facebook:
Эта девочка , без лишних слов, сделала для страны куда больше многих любителей потрепать языком… От всей души поздравляю Мавзуну с прекрасным ввыступлением на Олимпиаде, а всех нас с тем, что у нас есть такие спортсмены!
Shabnam Azizullaeva chimed in [ru]:
Мавзуна по-любому молодец! Ей только 19 и вся карьера впереди!..
More than just a medal
Comments in social media indicate that for many Internet users in Tajikistan, Mavzuna Chorieva's bronze means much more than just an Olympic success. Journalist Salim Aioubzod suggested [tj] on Facebook :
Мавзуна фақат Мавзуна нест, балки яке аз чунин рамзҳои ҳувият ва ваҳдати миллист.
Other netizens view the female boxer's achievement as an indication of broader changes in Tajikistan. For example, Jasur Ahurov suggested on Twitter that Chorieva has “broken major stereotypes about Tajik women…”
Suhrob Kasymov proposed [ru] that the athlete's success is another indication of the crucial role that women play in Tajik society:
Опять женщины тянут всю страну за собой. Вновь таджикские женщины делают все за таджикских мужчин, даже медали теперь выигрывают за  таджикских мужчин…
Muhayyo Nuriddinova wrote [ru] optimistically:
Надеюсь Чориева станет стимулом для других таджичек и ряд чемпионок пополнится в ближайшем будущем. Не важно, победит или нет, она уже нарушила стереотип нашего общества, оказывается таджички способны на многое…
Blogger Harsavor explains [ru] why Chorieva's medal means so much for Tajikistan:
Mедаль Мавзуны особенная именно потому, что ее принесла нашей стране девушка. Да, в Таджикистане со спортом серьезные проблемы, но в женском спорте вообще давно пора кричать “караул”. Стереотипы, культурные ограничения и традиции являются все более серьезным барьером на пути развития женского спорта в стране… Соответсвенно, олимпийский успех Мавзуны способен разрушить имеющиеся в нашем обществе стереотипы относительно занятия девушек спортом, а также послужить отличным примером для остальных девушек, которые хотят заниматься спортом вопреки превалирующему общественному мнению.
However, some netizens believe that it doesn't actually matter that Tajikistan's Olympic medal was won by a girl. For example, Olesya Alena Pashchenko wrote [ru] on Facebook:
Главное, что спорт в стране возрождается. И неважно, кто- мужчина или женщина принес Первую Олимпийскую медаль в копилку Таджикистана. Главное – гимн прозвучал на всех континентах и о моей Родине миллионы людей будут знать теперь как о государстве, в котором есть ТАКИЕ спортсмены!..
Debating women's role
Yet, not everyone agrees that the patriarchal society should give in and allow females to compete in combat sports and martial arts. For instance, Rustam Khotamov left [ru] the following comment on the Asia-Plus news website:
Она же таджичка, мусульманка! Ей бы замуж выйти и детей растить, а не прыгать по рингу как обезьяна и драться с другими женщинами. Позор! Как ее родители только позволили ей заняться боксом?
The comment was quickly disapproved of, with several users criticizing Khotamov for being “backward” and “short-sighted”. This demonstrates that younger, well-educated, and urban-based Tajiks – the group that has Internet access and reads news online – are probably less prejudiced about women's engagement in sports and their social role in general than their older, less educated, and rural-based compatriots.
Overall, the reaction of Internet users in Tajikistan to Chorieva's Olympic bronze has been one of jubilation. Perhaps, the following comment [tj] left on Facebook by Daler Fayzov, best summarizes the Tajikistanis’ view of the female boxer's achievement:
Медали биринчии ту барои мо тилло,тиллоят бриллиант,новобаста аз ин хама,ту аллакай кахрамони,Мавзуна!
This post is part of our special coverage London 2012 Olympics.

author: Alexander Sodiqov


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Kazakhstan: ‘Imported’ Olympic Champions Cause Controversy · Global Voices
Altynai Sydykova

This post is part of our special coverage London 2012 Olympics.
The 2012 Olympic Games in London are already a huge success for Kazakhstan. Its athletes have so far won six gold medals, with four golds taken by the country's weightlifters.
Two golds for Kazakhstan have been claimed by Chinese-born female athletes, Zulfia Chinshanlo and Maiya Maneza. Both athletes are ethnically Dungan, a group that originates from northwestern China, many of whom fled to Central Asia after converting to Islam in the 19th century.
The Olympic success of Kazakhstan's “imported” weightlifters has stirred a lot of controversy in mainstream and social media. Before the Olympics, Kazakh officials were reluctant to acknowledge the Chinese roots of Chinshanlo and Maneza.
Chinshanlo's profile on the London 2012 Olympics website states that she was born in Almaty. As for Maneza, the website says she was born in Bishkek, the capital of neighboring Kyrgyzstan.
Zulfia Chinshanlo surrounded by fans of the Kazakhstan team after claiming a gold medal in weightlifting. Screenshot from video “Chinshanlo delights in Olympic gold’ uploaded July 30, 2012, by YouTube user SNTVonline.
Chinese state media agency Xinhua was the first to claim [zh] that Kazakhstan had changed the names of the two athletes and misinformed the Olympic Committee about their countries of origin.
According to Xinhua, Chinshanlo was born and raised in Yongzhou, Hunan province, under the Chinese name Zhao Changling. Maneza was also reportedly born in China, although there are less details about her background.
Maiya Maneza, another “imported’ athlete who has claimed an Olympic gold for Kazakhstan. Screenshot from video “Maiya Maneza Kazakhstan’ uploaded May 18, 2012, by YouTube user Andre Neka.
Doubts about the weightlifters’ origins emerged after it became clear that neither Chinshanlo nor Meneza could freely converse in Kazakh, the official language in Kazakhstan, or Russian, which serves as a lingua franca in the ethnically diverse country.
Matthew Kupfer of Registan.net was one of the first bloggers to investigate the scandal, writing:
I hoped to find a video of Chinshanlo speaking voluble Russian with no accent. Instead, I found that Chinshanlo’s Russian wasn’t that good and she did, indeed, seem to have a Chinese accent. It wasn’t necessarily proof that she had come from China, but it seemed to suggest that, if she truly was from Kazakhstan, she had grown up speaking only Dungan.
Journalist Richard Orange confirmed Kupfer's linguistic assessment. Writing on Eurasianet.org's Inside the Cocoon blog, he noted:
When photographer Ikuru Kuwajima and I visited Kazakhstan's Olympic weightlifting training camp in July 2011, it was difficult to get much out of Zulfiya Chinshanlo, the 19-year-old weightlifter who on July 29 brought Kazakhstan its second gold at the London games. Neither Chinshanlo, nor her friend Maiya Maneza, could manage more than a few fragments of Russian. And they spoke no Kazakh.
The scandal continued to sizzle in mainstream media. The Chinese Daily suggested that Beijing and Astana had struck a deal back in 2007, under which Kazakhstan was allowed to lease Chinshanlo for five years. So, next year, when the lease ends, the athlete would have to return to China. However, according to BBC, both Chinshanlo and Maneza adopted Kazakhstani citizenship shortly after leaving China.
Amid accusations of foul play, Alexei Kryuchkov, a senior Kazakh sports official, has argued that the two athletes were “underestimated” in China before Kazakh coaches found them and trained for the Olympics. Kryuchkov said [ru]:
А что они [китайцы] их [Чиншанло и Менезу] не воспитывали?.. Кто не давал им готовить их? Они же отпустили их спокойно. Без всяких возражений, когда они уходили. А по истечении шести лет, когда они достигли высоких результатов, начинает кого-то жаба есть.
This sentiment is shared by many Kazakh netizens. Commenting under the above article, an anonymous user wrote[ru]:
Что за претензии? Если так сложилось бы что она не выиграла бы золото, китайцы молча сидели бы кушаю свою лапшу.
On Twitter, Anuar Dossybi basked [ru] in Kazakhstan's multicultural glory:
Манеза, Чиншанло, Винокуров… Так держать, казахи! Эм… Ну или кто-там…
While Aibek Baineshov tweeted [kz] triumphantly:
Бола берсiн, бола берсiн коп мейлi, “Алтын алка” бiзге коптiк етпейдi)!!!
Voicing a rare criticism of the foreign-born athletes, IamAzamat wrote [ru] ironically on Twitter:
Чиншанло такая казахская фамилия.
Another Kazakh Twitter user, Ardabek, responded [ru]:
Это не казахская фамилия, она не казашка! Она китаянка, ее имени придумали тренеры. Манеза тоже, ее имена озночает как мой майонез
Yet, the domestic reaction to Kazakhstan's Olympic medals has mostly been one of pride. Most netizens do not care much about the nationality and previous citizenship of athletes winning medals for Kazakhstan. Moreover, because “importing” Chinese-born athletes has proven so successful, some netizens suggest that the strategy should have been taken up earlier. Kenzhe Adenov wrote [ru] ironically on Twitter:
… После побед Чиншанло и Манезы ..То что Китай на первом месте, не его заслуга, а наша недоработка! )))
This post is part of our special coverage London 2012 Olympics.

author: Altynai Sydykova


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Kenya: ‘Do Milk!’ Campaign Targets Fast Food Generation · Global Voices
Richard Wanjohi

The Kenya Dairy Board and milk processors in the country have decided to launch a nationwide campaign to encourage the consumption of milk. This is in line with changing lifestyle attitudes in the country, which has seen many of the youth abandon healthy eating practices for fast food.
Using the title ‘Do Milk’, the campaign has sparked conversation among the country's bloggers and commentary on social media sites. Here is a link of the advert on YouTube:
In a post titled ‘Badvertising Vol.2 – Five Reasons to Do Milk‘, iCon on the blog Diasporadical took a curious look at the ad campaign:
Some would say they were guided by the insight that everybody loves babies as fun, cute, bundles of joy. I say Evian are cowards. There are large demographics of people(in and out of prison) who would love to see babies in adult clothing doing sexy dances and buying each other drinks and be told to “do milk”. That’s not perverted at all. It’s edgy. It has sex appeal. Milk is sexy. End of story.
Speaking of inspirational, this ad is necessary. The whole idea, as I’m meant to understand, is that it’s a campaign by the Kenya Dairy Products Association to get people to drink more milk. An unofficial Diasporadical survey revealed that when people were asked what came to mind when they heard “Do Milk”, drinking milk came a staggering third (behind ‘boobs’ and ‘bestiality’). This is a crisis. People really need to start drinking milk and not associating the phrase “do milk” with any form of fetishist coitus. Best way to do that: babies. Why? Because research, that’s why. Research that was so indepth and focused it did not uncover a very similar ad. That’s how focused these guys are to get you to drink milk. How noble.
BornReadyEK.blog, which chronicles the activities of a young agricultural farmer, said:
Most farmers will applaud this but the tough job will be how to sustain the consumption amidst changing feeding patterns in and around the region. According to an article appearing The East African title ‘Got Milk? Kenya's Dairy firms in joint publicity campaigns‘ Kenyans remain the highest consumers of milk in the East African region ….this is a fact usually seen in simple practice as tea-making and taking which is easily Kenya's ‘social drink’. In some countries such as Tanzania, black tea or coffee is more common,a trait replicated in countries such as Ethiopia and shattered Somalia.
Another element which the KDB would have ‘milked’ is the sportsmen and women from this country.That they have been able to make their exploits across the world thanks to regular consumption of milk is without a doubt. Maybe someone should even look at patenting and packaging the famous mursik from the Rift Valley region (some sports science researchers have tried to link its consumption to Kenya's prowess on the track but no conclusive findings have been ever been made). Imagine would impact this would have when our world-beaters at the Olympics hold up a gourd/glass of this drink at every public event and aggresively engage in its consumption?
All in all, it is a good start and it is our hope that the renewed interest in milk consumption will not just benefit the milk processors who are more commercially driven but also work to promote a healthy feeding culture in the country and region. It should also benefit the farmers with increased earnings from their labour in dairy farming.
Sci-Afrique blog on a post titled ‘Milk-drinking media campaign in Kenya, is the message accurately framed?‘:
While I’m all for a campaign to get Kenyans to drink more milk, I wonder as to the effectiveness of using an image of toddlers drinking milk (which is what toddlers do anyway) to encourage teenagers/the youth to drink milk because it’s something “cool” to do. Another issue I have with the whole campaign is that it seems to be encouraging the consumption of processed, packaged milk (considering who the sponsors of the campaign are) yet it is well known that in sub-Saharan Africa, the prevalence of lactose intolerance in the adult population is as high as 80%. That being the case, why not instead encourage the consumption of our traditional fermented milk products? After all, studies have shown them to have probiotic properties, and the fermentation of lactose to lactic acid helps to minimize the gastric distress experienced by lactose intolerant persons when they drink fresh milk.
Ifehenia’s Blog also took a controversial turn saying:
I suppose the ‘Do Milk, Stay Young’ campaign hasn’t gone to waste. All that sexual objectification of infants wasn’t in vain. “Sexual objectification?” you ask. Yes, research has shown that a significant number of people, upon hearing the phrase ‘Do Milk’, thought not of milk, that rich, supposedly delicious and life-giving fluid. No, the first thing that came into their mind was bestiality, followed by boobs. Milk was a distant third. I know, even I was shocked to discover that the perverts I knew were actually formidable and surmountable. There are greater forces out there…. I was going to be able to ‘Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth’. Now I suppose I have to rethink my strategy. Osteoporosis will be hard to get when I have been taking a glass of milk every day… because taking that glass makes the sexual objectification of those babies a little less worse.
If the conversation online is anything to go by, this campaign has created some interesting insights into the consumption ( or lack thereof) of milk in Kenya. Let’s see how successful the campaign will be.

author: Richard Wanjohi


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Mauritania: The Day Ould Taya was Toppled  · Global Voices
محمد عبدو

Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya ruled Mauritania for more than 20 years, following a military coup he initiated against his predecessor Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidallah, on December 12, 1984. His reign was one of the most controversial periods of Mauritania's history. It started as a military regime and then turned into a democratic system, in submission to international demand and pressure. His political opponents assert that democracy during his mandate was a mere joke and was marked by electoral fraud and political arrests.
A photo of Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya used from his Facebook Page.
Maaouya's term also witnessed horrible human rights violations, such as the execution of hundreds of black people between 1987 and 1989, in addition to the displacement of thousands of people which left the Mauritanian state with a heavy legacy. During the last years of his rule, he launched a severe campaign of political arrests considered as one of the largest and most diverse in the country's history and which eventually led to a political crisis which persisted until his ousting, in another military coup, on August 3, 2005. Ould Taya was toppled by his head of police force Ely Ould Mohamed Vall , who seized the opportunity of the president being out of the country for the funeral of the Saudi King Fahd Bin Abdel Aziz to carry out the operation, putting an end to longest reign in Mauritania's modern history.
Remembering Ould Taya's ousting, netizens shared some of their memories and impressions. Melika writes [ar]:
She continues:
Khadija adds:
February 25 Movement activist Tah Ould Habib recalls his joy after Ould Taya was toppled:
He adds:
And notes:
Baba Ould Deye also remembers that day very well:
The story goes on:
Then he associates the event with today's military regime:
Haymoudane also has something to say about that day:
He further explains:
And notes:
Abdel Fetah Habib recalls:
And continues:

author: محمد عبدو


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Myanmar: Aung San Suu Kyi as New Parliamentary Committee Head? · Global Voices
Chan Myae Khine

Netizens discuss [my] whether Aung San Suu Kyi could succeed as the head of the Rule of Law and Tranquility Committee in Myanmar's parliament.

author: Chan Myae Khine


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Myanmar: Curfew in Kyaut Taw, Rakhine State · Global Voices
Chan Myae Khine

A curfew has been imposed [my] in Kyaut Taw, Rakhine State, where another riot has occurred between the Rohingya and Rakhine ethnic groups. Myanmar government army troops were sent in to maintain security.


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North Korea: First Lady Spotted With A Luxury, ‘Dior’ Handbag  · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

North Korea’s young first lady was pictured carrying what appears to be a Christian Dior handbag which costs around USD 1,600. While international media lashed hard at the luxury in the midst of food crisis where millions of North Koreans suffer from starvation, one net user in Sina English site raised a rather unique question: whether it is fake.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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Puerto Rico: “Ateorizar” Takes Atheism Online · Global Voices
César Santiago

After discovering that there were virtually no podcasts in Spanish on atheism, Puerto Rican blogger Manolo Matos stepped in to fill the void and created Ateorizar [es], a blog and podcast in which he and other atheists discuss what they perceive as the shortcomings of religion.
At the time of this writing the blog has received almost 150,000 visits, while the podcast, hosted in iVoox, is ranked #41 in its category and #637 out of over 25,600 podcasts.
Manolo kindly agreed to discuss his project with Global Voices.
Global Voices (GV): What is Ateorizar's history and mission?
Manolo Matos (MM): In 2010 I started getting interested in atheism and church and state separation activism and I realized there weren’t any podcasts about atheism in Spanish. There are podcasts, blogs, TV and radio shows for the English speaking community, but I only found one podcast from Spain recorded by the International Federation of Atheists that was not being recorded since 2008. I found a lack of information about atheism, agnosticism, skepticism and related issues and decided to talk to some Twitter friends to see if they were interested in producing the podcast. The name was an idea @Ana_k_ona gave me. It joins the words “ateo” (atheist) and “teorizar” (theorize). We began the podcast with the first episode airing on October 10, 2010 because we thought it would be funny to make a joke on the pseudoscience of numerology (10-10-10).
My personal purpose with the podcast is to vent, because I am living in the middle of the Bible Belt in Kentucky and I really get upset with the role of religion here and how, as Christopher Hitchens once said: “it poisons everything.” But the mission of the podcast is broader than my personal purpose. What we try to do every week is educate people about the separation of church and state, inform about issues around the world related to abuses and terrorism related to religious practices, and to make people aware of the silly things people say or do because of their religious beliefs. We just uploaded the last episode of our second season and we will start our third season next October.
Logo for the Ateorizar podcast.
GV: What has the Internet offered to your project?
MM: Our project could not exist without the Internet. We have a global audience on our blog and also our podcast. Our podcast is downloaded mostly in Europe, North, Central, and South America, but it has been downloaded in unexpected places like Uzbekistan, China and Saudi Arabia. Our blog is mostly about news. Without the Internet we wouldn’t have a global community of listeners and we wouldn’t be able to find out what’s going on in the world as fast as we do today.
GV: What digital social networks do you use?
MM: We try to cover all our bases when it comes to social networks. Ateorizar has a twitter account (@Ateorizar) [es] where we publish, not only our blog and podcasts updates, but also other news, videos, pictures and action alerts. On Facebook we have a fan page [es] and a Facebook group [es] where our listeners can interact with us and each other in real time. We are members of Networked Blogs, iVoox, iTunes and we have a daily newspaper [es] at  paper.li.
GV: Some of the prominent members of the New Atheism movement denounce religion as dangerous and advocate for a proselytizing, militant atheism to counteract it. Where does Ateorizar stand on that?
MM: Ateorizar tries not to proselytize to our listeners. We believe in the freedom of religion and will fight to protect it. For example, we agree with the Supreme Court decision granting Jehovah’s Witnesses the right to access public residential areas in Puerto Rico. We are not against religion per se. We recognize the harm of religious beliefs, mythical thinking and the lack of separation between church and state, but our mission is not to abolish it. We believe the world would be a better place without religion, but we believe everybody is entitled to their beliefs, no matter how far they are from reality. What we do not accept is the encroaching of religion in other aspects of our society. We reject the laws that are based on religion alone.
We believe that circumcision of minors is unacceptable, we believe that the LGBT community should have the same right as everyone else to get married, we believe in the separation of church and state, we believe minors should be protected from faith healing practices and the lack of proper medical care and we believe minors should not be denied a blood transfusion just because the parents decided to believe in ancient bronze age mythology. We also believe that not allowing religiously owned private companies deny their employees of birth control has nothing to do with religious liberty. Not being able to abuse your power has nothing to do with liberty. Everybody’s liberty ends when that liberty restricts someone else’s freedom.
GV: In Puerto Rico 85% of the population is Catholic and the rest mainly protestant. Atheism presents a direct challenge to these belief systems. Do you think that atheist bloggers in Puerto Rico face a tougher than usual challenge in terms of hostility? If so, how do you tackle this problem?
MM: Atheism is not really a challenge to any religious belief. The problem is that religious beliefs are not based in reality and, therefore, when presented with the truth, believers feel threatened. That has nothing to do with atheism itself, but with the unsubstantiated claims and lack of scientific basis. Having said that, we believe bloggers are a community that some areas of society would like to silence, whether it is the religious groups silencing atheist bloggers or political candidates silencing political commentary bloggers.
In Puerto Rico we have the advantage that we have separation of church and state. It is actually clearer in our constitution than in the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. Constitution Establishes in the first amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press…” In the Puerto Rico Constitution, section 3 reads: “No law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. There shall be complete separation of church and state.” I believe this makes it easier to fight the encroachment of religion in government discourse and activities.
GV: Are there other blogs or writers in the Puerto Rican blogosphere advocating atheism, agnosticism and secularism that do you recommend?
MM: At this moment we are unaware of other blogs or podcast about atheism, agnosticism, secularism or skepticism in Puerto Rico. Interestingly, after we started the podcast, many podcasters have started producing podcasts about these subjects in Spanish. Some of our favorite podcasts are: Alerta Religión, Pienso, Luego Dudo, Scientia Futura, Masa Crítica and El Rincón del Irreverente. You can find the links to these podcasts and also blogs by visiting our additional resources page.
GV: What do you think is the state of atheism in Puerto Rico? What do you think is its future?
MM: I believe with the government of Luis Fortuño, there has been more push against the separation of church and state, and therefore more activism from the atheist community. Luis Fortuño  just signed a law recently to create a position in every government agency to be the contact between the agency and religious groups [es]. On the other hand, there have been initiatives like “Dios le debe a Hacienda” (God owes the public treasury) that is against public funds and tax breaks for religious organizations:
I am an optimist, and despite all the efforts made by religious groups to encroach into our lives, I believe we are moving to atheism, or at least to secularism. In places like the United States atheists are the fastest growing community. In Latin America it has grown for the last 30 years and in Puerto Rico too. The more we learn about the universe, the less space there is for unsubstantiated supernatural claims.

author: César Santiago


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Russia: Pro-Kremlin YouTube Sensation Gets Own TV Show · Global Voices
Yulia Lukashina

Sometimes, a 90-second online video can change lives. Svetlana Kuritsyna [ru] was just nineteen last December, when she became an Internet sensation thanks to a laudatory and rambling interview celebrating the political records of Vladimir Putin and United Russia (the nation's ‘party of power’).
A Moskovskie Novosti reporter conducted the impromptu interview, catching Kuritsyna on her way out of the metro, after she had participated in a counter-demonstration against the anti-Kremlin opposition. The YouTube video now has over two million views. Kuritsyna is an accounting student in Ivanovo, home to some of the former USSR's biggest consumer products industries.
Her story, not unlike the sudden promotion of Putin ally and tank-factory worker Igor Kholmanskikh, looks like old good Soviet fairytale. In May, Kholmanskikh was made the presidential envoy to the vast Urals district, months after offering on live television his assistance in the repression of anti-government street protesters.
Meanwhile, in what also appears to be a reward for a public display of loyalty to the Kremlin, one of Russia's biggest TV networks, NTV, recently hired Kuritsyna to star in her own show (which is something of a cross between reality television and a talk show). The program, titled “Luch Sveta” (“A Beam of Light”), even features a play on words involving the twenty-year-old's first name. (The short form of Svetlana is “Sveta,” which is identical to the genitive form of the word for “light.”)
The upward mobility enjoyed by both Kholmanskikh and Kuritsyna embodies a perverse version of what might be called ‘bottom-up democracy.’ Each of their careers have enjoyed rapid advancements, but of course only after very public demonstrations of their devotion to country's elite. In her YouTube debut, Kuritsyn's fiery, however scattered, speech was not without language mistakes, which actually helped establish her as a sincere, if rather foolish, celebrity of the RuNet.
Those same qualities have become a liability, now that Kuritsyn is at the center of a formal television show. Kuritsyna has, in any event, provoked wide discussion online. Belonging to a subsidiary of the pro-Kremlin youth group NASHI, she has at times galvanized various spheres of the Russian Internet. Indeed, many have enjoyed teasing Kuritsyna for her rather innocent-seeming straightforwardness. For instance, journalist and blogger Polina Alexandrova writes [ru]:
Ведь Света, как ребенок, любому может сказать, что король голый. Я так понимаю, на ТВ приличные люди уже давно не работают.
nomina_obscura, a nationalist blogger, has mentioned  [ru] eugenics in reference to the show, and says that people like Sveta should not be allowed to procreate. Another journalist and blogger, eugenyshultz, defends Sveta since she is always positive, never blames the regime, does not envy her more successful colleagues, and so is an example of a “simple folk figure” that simply appreciates life  [ru]:
А видим мы простую девчушку, добрую и наивную. Которая хлопая глазищами с радостью делится частью своего мировозрения с корреспондентом. При этом, хоть ее представления о политике смешны и наивны – они не несут агрессии …
Shultz added that Sveta is a good PR move for NTV. On the other hand blogger mixmaxov says [ru] it is a PR mistake:
И если первую передачу все смотрели смеялись, а в Иваново возмущались, то вторая передача, несомненно вызвала жалость, и несомненно эта жалость перерастет в гнев против НТВ.
Kuritsyna's success with NTV stands out drastically from the career of the far better known, but recently struggling Ksenia Sobchak, who is one of Russia's most famous TV personalities. Sobchak's professional fortunes have taken a turn for the worse, ever since she did the opposite of Kuritsyna by joining the anti-Kremlin opposition. A message NTV and Russia's political establishment might be trying to send by promoting “Luch Sveta” could be an old Soviet adage: “No one is irreplaceable.”

author: Yulia Lukashina


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South Korea: Driving Force and Little-Known Facts Behind its Olympic Success · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

The Korea and the World blog published a detailed analysis on South Korea's good results in the 2012 London Olympics, pointing out Koreans’ strong patriotism as one of the main reasons for success.


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Chad: 5,000 New Refugees Coming From The Central African Republic    · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Victorien Ndakass from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reports that 5,000 new refugees from the Central African Republic have crossed over to Chad [fr] since June. This movement of population is due to the resurgence of the rebel movement lead by Abdoulaye Miskine [fr] in the North of the country.

author: Lova Rakotomalala


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Chile: Doubts Over Origin of Violence at Student Protests · Global Voices
Elizabeth Rivera

Last Wednesday, August 8, 2012, thousands of students tried to march on the Alameda avenue in downtown Santiago in a non-authorized protest. When they intended to start walking to Plaza Los Héroes (Heroes Plaza), Carabineros (Chile's national police) began to shoot water and tear gas at the contingent to prevent them from carrying on. The group decided to retreat to avoid clashes; however, a bunch of hooded thugs reacted by attacking three public transportation buses, bullying users and drivers, throwing stones at the buses, and later setting the buses on fire.
These violent acts caused the government to accuse [es] students of fostering an environment for riots with their protests, while some protesters wondered if the thugs were actually part of a set-up to turn the public's opinion in favor of the approval of the Anti-protest Law or Hinzpeter Law that is currently being discussed in Congress. Also, the accusation made by the University of Chile Student Federation (FECh) stating that the police had fired tear gas at their headquarters on that same day, added to the controversy.
Public transportation bus on fire during the student protest on August 8, 2012. Picture by Mario_Tellez Tellez, copyright Demotix.
Gabriel Boric (@gabrielboric) [es], FECh President, questioned:
@gabrielboric: Creo q quema d micros es #montaje. ¿Q hace una micro vacía en 1/2 d la calle justo mientras se tramita ley Hinzpeter?http://www.sentidoscomunes.cl/diario/2012/08/miles-de-estudiantes-ya-estan-en-plaza-italia-por-el-8deagosto/ …
@gabrielboric: I think that the bus burning is a #montaje (set-up). Isn't it weird that an empty bus happened to be in the middle of the street just as the Hinzpeter law is being discussed? http://www.sentidoscomunes.cl/diario/2012/08/miles-de-estudiantes-ya-estan-en-plaza-italia-por-el-8deagosto/ …
Gonzalo Cid Vega (@gonzalocidv) [es], leader of the Sexual Diversity Movement (MUMS) went further and condemned the actions:
@gonzalocidv: #Yoapoyoalosestudiantes y condeno los montajes, como queman tantos buses en las narices de carabineros..
@gonzalocidv: #Yoapoyoalosestudiantes (I support the students) and condemn the set-ups, how is it that they burn so many buses in the police's face…
On the other hand, Alfonso Henriquez (@alfonsohenri) [es] referred to the Chilean education system as he wrote about the set-up accusations:
@alfonsohenri: #yoapoyoalosestudiantes porque el peor montaje de todos es el injusto sistema educacional chileno.”
@alfonsohenri: #yoapoyoalosestudiantes (I support the students) because the worst set-up of all is the unjust Chilean education system.”
The citizen media site Sentidos Comunes gathered pictures and impressions from netizens at the protest in this photo post where many difficult or doubtful situations were portrayed and later commented on various social networks. The Twitter user Movilízate Chile (Speak Out Chile) also shared this video that shows a police car carrying tires close to a place where clashes were later reported:
TV presenter Karol Jesús Lucero V (@Karol_LuceroV) [es] wrote against the violence echoing what many were commenting on social networks.
@Karol_LuceroV: #YoApoyoalosEstudiantes pero Jamás a los delincuentes encapuchados que empañan el común denominador del movimiento… Basta de Violencia!
@Karol_LuceroV: #YoApoyoalosEstudiantes (I support the students) but never the hooded criminals who tarnish the main essence of the movement… Stop the Violence!
Simón Boric Font (@sboric) [es] supported the disapproval and made the following clear:
@sboric: La violencia no le hace bien al movimiento. La FECh, @gabrielboric y Camila han sido enfáticos en ESO. Condenada 1 y mill veces.
@sboric: Violence does no good to the movement. FECh, @gabrielboric and Camila have been emphatic about IT. Reprehend (violence) 1 and an thousand times.
The official account of the music group Illapu (@illapu) [es] insisted on the cop's responsibility:
@illapu: Sede de la FECH esta sitiada por las FFEE q lanzan bombas lacrimógenas están los dirigentes dentro, si esto no es provocar, que es entonces?
@illapu: FECH headquarters is besieged by FFEE (Special Forces) who are firing tear gas while the leaders are inside, if this is not provoking, what is it then?
To which designer Jacque Torrejón (@jacque_83) [es] replied:
@jacque_83: @illapu quemar micros no es provocar? si hay delincuentes en la confech no hay que sacarlos? PFFFF
@jacque_83: @illapu burning buses is not provoking? if there are criminals inside the confech shouldn't they be pulled out? PFFFF
Meanwhile Interior Minister, Rodrigo Hinzpeter, in a television interview labelled [es] as “ridiculous to say that the burning buses was a set-up” and added “there are a bunch of leaders that at this point look more like political leaders because they've run out of topics in their agenda since all of them have been taken seriously by the Congress”.

author: Elizabeth Rivera


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Colombia Achieves Historic Results in London 2012 · Global Voices
Lully

This post is part of our special coverage London 2012 Olympics.
Update (9 August, 2012): Hours after this post was published, Jackeline Rentería won Colombia's sixth medal at the London 2012 Olympics. Rentería won a bronze medal in wrestling.
In the history of Colombia in the Olympic Games, London 2012 has consolidated itself as the year of the country's best Olympic performance. This delegation has exceeded what was achieved in Munich 1972, where Colombia obtained one silver medal and two bronze, and even Sidney 2000, when Colombia received its only gold medal in weightlifting by Maria Isabel Urrutia.
This time Colombia sent a delegation of more than 100 athletes, in which the women's delegation [es] made up the highest percentage in the Americas (57.8). Up until now the women in the delegation had obtained a bronze medal in judo by the judoka Yuri Alvear and a silver medal in triple jump by the athlete Caterine Ibarguen. [Editor's note: See update above]. The men in the Colombian delegation have met their wining quota with a bronze medal won by Oscar Muñoz [es] in taekwondo, 58 kilos, and two silver medals: one obtained by Rigoberto Uran in road racing, and the other by Óscar Figueroa in weight lifting with an Olympic record of 177 kg.
Óscar Figueroa, silver medal in weightlifting. Photo from Flicker user Peter J Dean, used under Creative Common license (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).
Spirits are high with the hope of a possible gold medal from the cyclist Mariana Pajón, with which Colombia would secure its position between the top 30 on the medal charts and would exceed the experst’ forecasts.
These five medals have inspired excitement among the people, who have shared their joy on the Internet in light of their athletes’ good performance. Social networks have also contributed reports, pictures, and various expressions.
Marisol Ochoa (@marisol8acardon) [es] values the representation of women in sports:
@marisol8acardon: Me enorgullece más que una mujer colombiana gane una medalla en los juegos olímpicos a que gane una corona por su belleza física.
Highlighting the performance of the women in the delegation, María Isabel (@Marita1899) [es] refers herself with pride to her compatriot Caterine Ibarguen:
@Marita1899: Caterine Ibarguen… Ejemplo de vida y ORGULLO COLOMBIANO!!
Meanwhile the journalist Pablo (@pablodenarvaez7) [es] acts as commentator on August 1 in the moment that Yuri Alvear begins her competition:
@pablodenarvaez7: La yudoka colombiana Yuri Alvear ya combate en los JJOO. ¡Atención!
María Nelly Prada (@marianellyprada) [es], meanwhile, values the new medal of the young Oscar Muñoz in taekwondo:
@Maríanellyprada:  La imagen del día en los olímpicos para mi fue la de Oscar Muñoz… medalla de bronce, y sin tanta propaganda.
Highlighting the participation of Oscar Figuera, the use @HEVERTH5 [es] writes:
@HEVERTH5: La constancia vale plata-La medalla al pesista Oscar Figueroa en los olímpicos de Londres
And Paola Posso Vergara (@PAOLAGAGAPOSSO) [es] praises Rigoberto Urán:
@paolagagaposso: ¡Orgullosa de Rigoberto Urán!
Facebook [es] and blogs have dedicated [es] special entries [es] to the medals [es], the athletes [es] and their achievements [es]. But, in spite of so much excitement [es] and enthusiasm, others also make analogies [es] about the difficult realities that the country faces.
Daniel Navia (@Daniel_Navia) [es], wrote the following when Colombia had obtained the cyclist Rigoverto Urán's first silver medal:
@Daniel_Navia: Colombia ya tiene una medalla de plata. Solo nos falta arreglar el sector salud, educativo y político para ser un país viable.
Later, Miller Castañeda D (@millercasta) [es] honored Oscar Figueroa's performance:
@Millercasta: Siempre será mejor una medalla de plata y récord olímpico para Colombia en pesas, a una medalla de oro en corrupción. Grande Figueroa.
This post is part of our special coverage London 2012 Olympics.

author: Lully


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Colombia: Gold for Cyclist Mariana Pajón · Global Voices
Lully

Colombians on Twitter anxiously awaited the performance of BMX cyclist Mariana Pajón. Hashtags like ORO (“gold”), #ÁnimoMariana (“Go Mariana”), or Mariana Pajón became local Trending Topics before and after Pajón won the gold medal. With this achievement, Colombia ratifies the country's historic performance at the this year's Olympics and now ranks number 33 in the current medal count.


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Cuba: Celaya on Payá · Global Voices
Ellery Roberts Biddle

On Sin EVAsion [es], Havana-based Cuban blogger Miriam Celaya comments on the death of rights advocate Oswaldo Payá: “I did not share all of Payá’s points of view, I was even critical at times of…his proposals. I would be again; but I always respected the man who created them… […] [To] feel resentment at this time would profane the memory of this fighter for peace….I would have wanted us to be able to count on him in the democratic future that we will have some day, no longer so far off, because we need leaders of his stature in a nation that is left bereft of values.”

author: Ellery Roberts Biddle


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Cuba: Freedom of Press? · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

Blogger, journalist and Global Voices author Elaine Díaz analyzes [es] the nuances of the different practices and definitions of freedom of press, after being interviewed for the Boston Globe.

author: Firuzeh Shokooh Valle


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Dominican Republic: Changes in the Publishing Industry · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

Writer and blogger Pedro Cabiya analyzes [es] and comments on the transformation of the publishing industry.


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East Timor: Women’s Network Continues Protest · Global Voices
Janet Gunter

Rede Feto (Women's Network) continues to protest the rejection of a woman candidate for Minister of Defense (our coverage), posting photos of women in East Timor's armed resistance on its Facebook profile and a “Declaration of Women Prisoners and Clandestine Fighters” demanding an explanation the rejection.


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Kirani James Delivers on Grenada’s Olympic Dream · Global Voices
Matthew Hunte

On Monday August 6, 2012, Kirani James won the gold medal in the Men's 400 Metres race at the London Olympics with a time of 43.94, making him the first person from Grenada and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States to win an Olympic medal of any kind.
James led a Caribbean sweep of the medals in this event: Luguelin Santos from the Dominican Republic won the silver (44.46) and Lalonde Gordon from Trinidad & Tobago won bronze (44.52).
Broadcaster George Grant saw Kirani's victory as an event which should encourage more Grenadians abroad to give back:
But, Grenadians abroad can help through other means without any fanfare. Dr. Kenrick Lewis is a vivid example. Over the years, Dr. Lewis, a catalyst chemist and famous for his contributions in the development of silicons, has given scholarships to students at primary schools in the Parish of St. John's to attend one of Grenada's secondary schools.
Kirani James, a student at the St. John's Anglican Primary School, won one of Dr. Lewis’ scholarships. That scholarship afforded Kirani the opportunity to attend the Grenada Boys’ Secondary School (GBSS) where he excelled. Well, one can say the rest is history.
Abeni, who lives in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, was thrilled for Kirani and his countrymen:
In 2012, history was to be made when 19 yr old Kirani James of Grenada ran an impressive 43.94 to win gold. I think it is safe to say that not only is the American dominance over but Michael Johnson's record is under threat.
She added:
Grenada, the tiny most southerly of the Windward Islands has always stood out from its neighbours. The Spice isle as it's affectionately called for its production of nutmeg and other spices has long been punching above its weight.
Now Kirani James has given the island its first Olympic medal-gold to boot complementing his 2011 Worlds gold. Additionally, Janelle Redhead has continued Grenada's tremendous run at the Olympics by qualifying for the female 200m semis.
Large up yourselves Grenada, 133 sq miles and 93,000 to the world.
James also received a lot of positive feedback on Facebook for what netizens were calling “one of the most beautiful moments of the Olympics”. Caribbean Beat wrote:
Grenada star Kirani James – after winning his 400m semis – swapped bibs with the heroic, talented double-amputee Oscar Pistorius at the end of the race. We have never been more proud to have such a sportsman on our cover.
The wall post attracted 30 comments, 269 shares and more than 275 likes.
A crowd gathered at Cuthbert Peters Park in Kirani's home village of Gouyave to watch the race on a large screen:
Another crowd gathered in Morne Rouge, St. Georges:
The crowd in Gouyave watched in anticipation:
Once Kirani won, pandemonium ensued:
The celebrations quickly turned into a street party:
Prime Minister of Grenada, Tillman Thomas, addressed the crowd at Gouyave following the medal ceremony:
Today, Kirani James rewrote the history of Grenada with his feet. No longer will Grenada be renowned just for nutmeg, revolution and invasion.
“Kirani City” by Grenadian musician Hollis Mapp aka Mr. Killa:
Video of Kirani's hometown, Gouyave:

author: Matthew Hunte


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Morocco: Students Demand Education Reform  · Global Voices
Hisham Almiraat

In July, a group of Moroccan students launched a Facebook page called “The Union of Moroccan Students to Change the Education System” (French acronym: UECSE). The group is a gathering of young Moroccans whose aim is to “act, and discuss concrete solutions to improve the education system”.
In less than a month, the Facebook page attracted well over 10,000 members and a lot of support on social media.
The momentum seems to have been fueled by news that the government may be planning to toughen the tuition policy at public universities.
The group called [Fr] for a nationwide demonstration on Monday, August 6, 2012, to “encourage civil society and the Moroccan political elite to open a national debate on measures to reform the system.”
The appeal was relayed on social media.
In a video, the group posted on YouTube prior to the protest, students called for radical changes in the education system. “The entire education system needs to be changed,” one student says on camera. “The system needs to be broken down completely and rebuilt from scratch,” says another. A lot of students appearing on the video also denounce what they consider “disincentive measures” imposed by prestigious Grandes Ecoles, in particular high thresholds required to compete in college entrance exams.
On the day of the protest, hundreds of students and their parents responded to the call as documented by pictures and videos posted and shared on the internet.
The following video is from a demonstration in Morocco's largest city, Casablanca (posted by The7Gladiator):
Pictures posted on Flickr by Hassan Ouazzani show a great diversity of slogans denouncing corruption, favoritism, poor infrastructure and tough conditions imposed on undergraduates to enter higher education:
Moroccan students call for a reform of the education system – Picture by Hassan Ouazzani – Used with permission
Moroccan students call for a reform of the education system – Photo used with kindly permission from Hassan Ouazzani
Moroccan students call for reform of the education system – Photo used with kindly permission from Hassan Ouazzani
The demonstrations went on peacefully. The group pledges to organize more sit-ins and roundtables across the country.
On its Tumblr, the UECSE writes:
Young STUDENTS are asking for a good education system they are the MOROCCAN STUDENTS, tired of the current situation they are willing to change their futur(e) and to achieve their dreams, (an) ambitious wave is showing up

author: Hisham Almiraat


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Puerto Rico: Festival of the Hammock · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

Auralís Herrero-Lugo writes about her trip [es] with a group of friends to the town of San Sebastián, Puerto Rico, to go to the famous 32nd Festival of the Hammock, a traditional event where artisans show their amazing craft of making hammocks.


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Puerto Rico: Penal Code and Freedom of Expression · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

On the e-zine 80 grados, lawyer and law scholar Hiram Meléndez analyzes the impact [es] on freedom of expression contained in the amendments to Puerto Rico's Penal Code.


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Puerto Rico: Urban Artists “La Pandilla” · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

El Punto features [es] the amazing urban street art by Alexis Díaz and Juan Fernández from Puerto Rico, AKA “La Pandilla.”


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Should Singapore ‘Import’ Athletes to Win Olympic Medals? · Global Voices
Kirsten Han

This post is part of our special coverage London 2012 Olympics.
After 52 years of “suffering” (according to Straits Times reporter Terence Voon), Singapore has finally got another Olympic medal in an individual sport. Table tennis player Feng Tianwei won a bronze medal at the London 2012 Olympics last week, and finally the Singapore flag was raised over the podium and the national anthem blared throughout the stadium.
Yet back in Singapore, not everyone was celebrating. It was pointed out that Feng Tianwei is not a native Singaporean, but a Chinese-born athlete brought to Singapore under the Foreign Sports Talent Scheme where talented athletes are identified and given citizenship so they can represent Singapore at international sporting events.
A Yahoo! SG online poll found that almost eight in ten of respondents did not feel proud of medals won by foreign talents. Many see the Foreign Sports Talent Scheme as an effort to “buy” medals, rather than earn them through Singapore's own efforts.
@rlychill: Ah feng tian wei……. What would we be without foreign import
@3mozslayer: The awkward moment when the national anthem of china plays and feng tian wei does not know whether to sing it.
Feng Tianwei won a bronze medal in the 2012 London Olympics. Photo from Wikimedia
Lucky Tan criticises the government's policy, saying it reflects a lack of faith in local talent:
When you import sporting talent just to win, you have given up on your own people and it represents the “cannot do” spirit …a confirmation that you  don't believe in your own people and their talents. No surprise to me that the sports association that is most active in importing sporting talent to win is led by a PAP [ruling party] MP….it reflects the faith and confidence they have in our own people.
Some also disapproved of Singapore's Multi-Million Dollar Awards Program, which means that Feng Tianwei will receive S$250,000 for winning the bronze medal.
@ButterJingers: Can you imagine? Feng Tian Wei is gna receive 250k from the nation as well as the medal.
LIFT thinks that people should not blame Feng Tianwei for coming to Singapore:
Now Feng is not a banker, she is a table-tennis player. There are not many people who can employ her – her potential employers are basically countries she can represent, compete for and win medals for. Whilst she is undoubtedly a highly skilled specialist in her field, her employment prospects are very limited compared to say a banker, an engineer or a teacher. By that token, Feng must've looked at the few options opened to her and she picked the best possible option: Singapore.
The Lycan Times says that although Feng Tianwei's achievement is impressive, it is difficult to feel pride because of an emotional disconnect:
Beyond the politics, it was a personal achievement – one that her own hard work has paid off. I wouldn’t deny I would have felt a lot more pride had a local-born Singaporean won. An old primary school classmate and I had a discussion separately on this matter, and one of things that came up during the discussion was that a lot of Singaporeans had no reason to feel pride in her win because they felt Feng does not represent us. He has a good point, and from a certain perspective I agree because I also felt Feng does not represent the Singapore that I grew up in – i.e. the Singapore where we have our emotional attachment as our place of birth. Above that, it is the Singapore that we grow up in it and one we felt grew up together with us. When we feel proud of the person we grow up into, we also feel proud of Singapore. Feng Tianwei, unfortunately, cannot and will never be able to represent that emotional Singapore – the one in our hearts is very different from the one we lived in. She represented a Singapore that we could no longer feel emotionally attached to.
Andrew Loh asks people to think about what makes a “true” Singaporean:
The criticisms flow fast and furious, and they are repeated ad nauseum each time someone who is seen as “not a true Singaporean” wins some accolades. While these sentiments are understandable because of our immigration policy, and others like the Foreign Talent Scheme (under which, incidentally, Feng was brought in), perhaps it would be best if we could move beyond launching diatribes against her and her colleagues, and ask ourselves a deeper, more meaningful question: what, really, makes a Singaporean?
This post is part of our special coverage London 2012 Olympics.

author: Kirsten Han


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Somalia: The Very First Humanitarian “Customer Calling Center” · Global Voices
Rayna St.

In her blog post about the very first humanitarian customer calling center, Anahi Ayala Iacucci describes “a quick and convenient way for Somali beneficiaries to give feedback about projects funded or services provided by the Danish Refugee Council using an SMS feedback system”: “This project has started in September 2011 and since then, “beneficiary SMS feedback has been implemented in 31 towns and villages in the North and East of Somalia…You can discover more about this project on the dedicated blog.”

author: Rayna St.


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South Korea: President’s Unprecedented Visit to Disputed Islands a Smokescreen? · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak made an unprecedented visit to the Dokdo islands, a group of islets which have been at the center of a decades-old territorial dispute between South Korea and Japan. It was not only the very first public visit by a South Korean leader but a highly controversial one which has sparked an international media frenzy.
The initial public response in South Korea was positive and Lee got rare compliments for his bold action, but as time went by, skepticism and suspicion grew stronger on the Korean Twittersphere, with many calling Lee's daring political stunt a smokescreen on other issues.
Angry reactions from Japan, which claims the islands as an integral part of its territory, were expected. But South Korean Twitter users made harsh accusations regarding the motive and effectiveness of Lee's visit on August 10, 2012.
Although a majority of Koreans left comments below related online news article praising Lee and describing his visit as either ‘patriotic’ or ‘bold‘ [ko], many out-spoken Twitter users stressed that it was a political wild card designed to restore Lee's popularity and cover up his and his party's bribery cases before the upcoming presidential election.
Image of Dokdo Islands, Image by 머찐만두 at Naver, Wikipedia Commons (CC BY SA 2.0)
One of South Korea's most influential Twitter users who is also a  journalist Huh Jae-hyun (@welovehani) tweeted [ko] that the visit was actually counter-productive in settling the dispute over the islands:
이명박 대통령의 독도방문. 잘 한건 잘한거라고 칭찬하자고요? 됐습니다. 대통령이 방문하건 말건 독도는 우리땅입니다. 괜한 퍼포먼스로 국제적으로 시끄러워지는 빌미만 제공했습니다. 대신 대통령은 애국자 이미지 득템하셨고.
He also reminded [ko] of what Lee has gained in return:
독도방문으로 엠비가 얻은 것. 한일군사협정 밀실 추진 비판 물타기. 민간인사찰-새누리당 공천뇌물 뉴스 축소. 그러나 독도방문으로 얻은 외교적 실익은 없음. […]
Another popular Twitter user @mindgood expressed worries [ko] that the visit overshadowed other issues:
MB의 독도 방문에 한일 축구 4강전…여기에 일본 각료들 8.15에 야스쿠니 신사 참배 계획…언론들 한일 양국 극단 대립양상 보도로 새누리 공천비리 등 완전 덮힐 듯.
@mettayoon raised similar points [ko]:
독도를 가셔서 새로운 이슈 만들어 공천뇌물사건, 4대강 녹조라떼 건등 대선에서 새누리당에 불리하게 작용하는 의제들을 덮어 주시려고 독도방문을 통한 애국심코스프레를 결심하신 것은 아닌신지 모르겠습니다[…]
He added [ko] that although Lee acted (and indeed made remarks [ko]) as if his motive was purely patriotic and bold enough to disregard Japanese complaints, it was a carefully thought-out political event:
어제 일제히 일본언론에 독도 방문이 보도되었는데 청와대는 사전에 일본에 통보한 적 없다고 부인하네요. 사실이라면 대통령에 대한 일정도 일본에 보안이 안된다는 말인데 큰일이군요. 사전에 통보해 놓고 오리발을 내미는 거면 국민을 기망하는 것이고.
Indeed, several local media revealed [ko] that although the South Korean presidential house stressed that there was no need to notify other countries in advance when visiting its own territory, Japanese media reported that the Japanese government was given prior notice.


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South Korean President Made an Unprecedented Visit to Disputed Dokdo Islands · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

South Korean President, Lee Myung-bak visited Dokdo (or Takeshima in Japanese) islands, sparking international media frenzy. Lee would be the first South Korean leader to visit the disputed islands which both South Korea and Japan have a historical claim to. The Dokdo Times blog wrote a post explaining the context, with bit of media criticism.


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United States: MundoFox, More of the Same? · Global Voices
Robert Valencia

On 13 August 2012 a new TV channel MundoFox [es] will officially begin broadcasting, becoming the fifth channel to join others such as Univisión, Telemundo, Telefutura and Azteca América in transmitting Hispanic content in the United States.  MundoFox is the result of a collaboration between Fox International Channels and the Columbian channel RCN Televisión.  The channel's launch was announced earlier this year on 23 January and its broadcasts will reach 70% of Hispanic homes in the USA.
Through the finalization of its affiliation process with local stations, MundoFox will enter the much desired Hispanic market in the United States, made up of 50 million residents and valued at $3.6 billion.  However, before the launching of this new station, there had been questions regarding the need for another Hispanic television channel.  The main question is whether the channel would improve the quality of Hispanic television broadcasting or whether its launch is solely to serve as a way for the founder of News Corporation and Fox International Channels, Rupert Murdoch, to clean-up his image after the telephone hacking scandal in Great Britain.
Although some experts in the market trust MundoFox to be an alternative in Latin television content, others are not convinced – as shown by the post published in the blog Juan of Words:
I have to say, after reading about the “new” programming MundoFox will be offering, next month,  I’m not really impressed…Eventually, network execs say, the plan is to produce original content straight from Colombia, using RCN’s existing studio and production resources.  That’s probably when we’ll see any real competition from MundoFox.
Some Twitter users dared to suggest a conspiracy against Hispanics, such as Jerry Brant:
@MeetJerryBrant: Fox is coming out with a Spanish Language channel, Mundo Fox. I think this is a plot by Fox to turn immigrants against themselves.
Jenny Andrea blames RCN and their partnership with Fox for the sacking of journalists:
@JenAnAguirre: RCN boasts about the partnership that brought about MundoFox, which some do not know has caused lots of journalists from NTN24 (Nuestra Telenoticias ) [es] to lose their jobs
Meanwhile, other Twitter users are happy to see new content in Spanish, like Verónica Pérez:
@Veronikpm: Fox and RCN Televisión launch Mundo Fox, a channel aimed for the Hispanic community in the US.  Yes, RCN do produce quality.

author: Robert Valencia


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Uruguay: Analyzing How Politicians Use Twitter · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

In his blog Curar Contenidos (“Curating Content”), Manuel Podetti is publishing a series of posts on “Uruguayan Politics and Twitter” [es]. His first two posts look at the most influential political parties [es] and politicians [es] on Twitter.

author: Silvia Viñas


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Zambia: Chinese Mining Boss Allegedly Killed by Striking Workers · Global Voices
Gershom Ndhlovu

It is a story that has reached all corners of the globe from the New York Times to the China Digital Times – the tragic death of a Chinese supervisor at a coal mine in southern Zambia, allegedly at the hands of striking workers demanding the implementation of the minimum wage which the Zambia government had recently announced.
Collum Coal Mine in the Gwembe Valley area of Sinazongwe is not without history. In October 2010, two Chinese supervisors allegedly shot at protesting workers and injured 11 of them. The two supervisors were arrested and charged with appropriate offenses but the matter was discontinued in the courts of law through a nolle prosequi.
Riot survivor explains what happened to Ambassador Zhou. Picture courtesy of zambianwatchdog.com.
The mine has also had problems with government officials in the past. In 2010, then Southern Province Minister Elijah Muchima described the plight of the workers as sad, saying they were subject to slave wages and worked under hazardous conditions and explaining that the workers there earned between Zambian kwacha 57,000 and 500,000 (between US$ 15 and US$ 100) per month.
In 2006, another provincial minister, Alice Simango, openly wept after seeing miners during a tour of the mine emerge semi-naked and barefoot from the tunnel. Simango, who was blocked from entering the mine by the Chinese, later recommended that it be closed to protect human life.
The latest incident, which left a Chinese supervisor dead, elicited a lot of reactions from netizens on various social platforms, ranging from blaming the government for the abrupt manner in which it announced the minimum wage to blaming the Chinese for taking advantage of the workers.
On one of the spin-off stories of the incident on the Zambian Watchdog, commenter rocktree blamed the Chinese:
CHINA DO THE R[IGH]T THING LIKE RESPECTING US HENCE WE WILL RESPECT [YO]U.GIVE THEM PROPER UNIFORM[S] WHEN U EMPLOY THEM, PROVIDE TEA BREAKS IN INTERVAL [breaks]. PAY THEM WH[A]T U AGREED UPON AT THE TIME OF EMPLOYMENT AND PAY THEM ON PAY DAY. WE NEED RESPECT DO NOT THINK TH[A]T WE R [we are] SLAVES. WH[A]T HAPPENED TO THE CHINESE WHO SHOT ZAMB[IANS] 2 Y[EA]RS AGO? B[E] FAIR AND THINK. U R GAINING MO IN Z AND A ZAMB GETS NUTS SHAME ON U
Kwathu had a different view:
Workers in Zambia are over reacting but I dont them, its because of the PF [Patriotic Front] promises. Its not about Chinese, so many Zambian companies are under paying workers and so insulting Chinese as noted by some bloggers is not correct.
Mind you, Zambia benefits from this investments not only through jobs but the taxes that the gvt uses in the development of nation. The Chinese may sound so evil now because they are here and they have already pumped in billion dollars. Where are the betters investors, the Anglo-American left us when we needed them most, but now from distance they are promising better conditions for workers. Let us appreciate the Chinese, what they are doing is good for the country.
The president of the former ruling party, Dr Nevers Mumba, blamed the PF government for the killing:
[M]any Zambians, including the MMD [Movement for Multi-Party Democracy] feel that the PF government has created a very volatile environment between employers and employees.
The government was quick to assure investors that the environment was still conducive but urged workers and employers in the country to embrace dialogue in resolving their differences.
A reader calling himself Taliban commented the government story:
no need to arrest anyone..those chaps [Chinese] are so abusive..lets support our fellow Zambians..viva!!
A reader calling himself Donchi Kubambila wrote:
Dont blame the goverment for this case,the problem is workers didnt listen to honourable shamenda [Minister of Labour].the minster never included unionised workers wen he presented minimum wage.
On Twitter, the issue received a fair share of tweets:
@hofrench: The death of the Chinese manager in #Zambia occurred at the troubled Collum mine, where Chinese fired on Africans 2 yrs ago.
A number of tweets announced the arrest of a miner over the death:
@SolidTrader: AIM ENERGY NEWS Zambia police charge miner over killing of Chinese supervisor http://dlvr.it/1yrBNZ
Leading satirist in Zambia Roy Clarke through his column, Kalaki's Korner, has also weighed in on the controversy by satirizing the whole issue:
Cartoon accompanying the Kalaki's Korner post. Courtesy of kalakikorner.blogspot.co.uk
As the picture on our ancient Supersonic came into fuzzy focus, we were presented with two rows of men, facing each other in sullen confrontation. In the foreground stood a line of soldiers, guns at the ready, and pointing at an opposing line of thin and starving workers, dressed in rags. Behind them was an ugly black entrance to a mine, just big enough to take a small railway line down to the depths of hell. Over the top of entrance was written Colonial Mine.

author: Gershom Ndhlovu


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Argentina Wins its First Gold Medal in London 2012 · Global Voices
Laura Schneider

This post is part of our special coverage London 2012 Olympics.
On Friday, August 10, Argentina celebrated its first gold medal in the London Olympics; Sebastian Crismanich [es], born in the Corrientes province, competed in the 80 kilogram category in Taekwondo, beating Spain's representative Nicolás Garcia Hamme 1-0.
In Argentina, the hashtag #Crismanich [es] became a trending topic, and users expressed their happiness as well as their surprise for this achievement in a sport that is not as popular as other sports, like football. Among several tweets, Nico Fernandez (@nicolinoribas) [es] writes:
@nicolinoribas: Ahora son todos fanáticos del Taekwondo. No rompan las pelotas. Hace 12 horas no sabían ni que competía #Crismanich.  Hipócritas.
@nicolinoribas: Now everyone if a fan of Taekwondo. Yeah right. 12 hours ago no one knew that #Crismanich was competing. Hypocrites.
Similarly, Jose (@vjosesc) [es] blames journalists for the lack of coverage:
@vjosesc: Hace 2 días no sabíamos que #Crismanich tenia posibilidades de ganar una medalla de oro. Falla de los periodistas que cubrieron los #JJOO .
@vjosesc: Two days ago we didn't know that #Crismanich had any chance of winning a gold medal. Journalists who cover the #JJOO [“Olympic games”] failed.
However, most users are expressing their joy over Crismanich's achievement, like Juancho (@kiddo72) [es], Perickles (@peripepe) [es] and Abel Racedo (@AbelRacedo) [es], among others.
Argentinian news agency Telam summarizes [es] this achievement and the history of gold medals for Argentina:
Crismanich, de 25 años, se erigió entonces en el primer medallista olímpico de la Argentina en la disciplina (que empezó a disputarse en Sydney 2000) y además cortó una racha de 64 temporadas en las que un argentino, en manera individual, no conseguía la medalla dorada.
Los boxeadores Pascual Pérez y Rafael Iglesias y el maratonista Delfo Cabrera, también en Londres, pero en 1948, habían sido los anteriores deportistas nacionales, en subir al escalón más alto de la premiación.
Crismanich, 25 years old, emerged as the first gold medalist for Argentina in the discipline (which began to be played in Sydney 2000) and also ended a 64 season streak in which an Argentine, on an individual basis, had not gotten a gold medal.
Boxers Pascual Pérez and Rafael Iglesias, and marathoner Delfo Cabrera, also in London, but in 1948, were the former national athletes to climb to the top of the medal podium.
This post is part of our special coverage London 2012 Olympics.

author: Laura Schneider


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Bangladesh: Ugly and Deadly Billboards in Dhaka · Global Voices
পান্থ রহমান রেজা (Pantha)

Almost 13 million people reside in Dhaka, the Capital of Bangladesh. That is about 28000 people within a square kilometer. Air pollution, water pollution, and massive traffic jams are the usual challenges for them. According to the Environmental Performance Index 2012, conducted by American universities Yale and Columbia, Dhaka is the 31st most polluted city out of 132 cities across the world. There are approximately 250 micrograms of dust in the air of Dhaka city which is five times the average. Besides this pollution, Dhaka's skylines are covered with commercial billboards, which block view of the sky. You will see large billboards of various companies everywhere.
Crippling the visual beauty of one of the most populated cities in the world, these billboards with ads pop up everywhere in the city! Image from Flickr by Ashiful Haque. CC BY.
Inside Dhaka city, the number of large billboards has increased to more than 2500. But only 300 of them have permission [bn] from (Dhaka's) City Corporation. They are placed besides roads, on the front or roof top of buildings and in open spaces. Rules stipulate that the billboards should not be bigger than 600 square feet, which is also not followed. These oversized billboards decrease the beauty of the city and also hinder air flow.
The advertisement -lust of big conglomerates is not only covering the faces of the city and its dwellers, but is also killing people. Recently, two people died in Dhaka's Gulshan area when a billboard was uprooted by a storm. A few pedestrians were also injured in the incident. This type of incident is not rare, other people have died as well. One statistics shows [bn] that 15 people had been killed in Dhaka from billboard related accidents.
Such large billboards are ubiquitous in Dhaka. Image by Sanaul Ahmed. Used with permission.
Sujon was a witness to the billboard accident in Gulshan. He comments [bn] on a blogpost:
গুলশান-১ এ যে দিন বিলবোর্ড ভেঙ্গে পরে …..আমি তার ৫০ গজের মধ্যে ছিলাম……..বড় বাঁচা বেঁচে গেছি সেইদিন….
Kowshik writes about this tragic incident:
ঢাকার রাস্তায় এখন সামরিক মহড়ার মত মরণঘাতী বিলবোর্ড তাক করা থাকে। টহল পুলিশ বা আর্মির ট্যাংক, বন্দুকের ট্রিগারের পেছনে একজন সুস্থ মস্তিস্কের মানব ক্রিয়াশীল থাকে, ফলে হুট করে গুলি বের হবার সম্ভাবনা নাই। কিন্তু প্রতিটি বড় বড় মোড়ে কয়েকশ টন ওজনের লোহালক্কর সমেত বিশাল ভারী বিলবোর্ডগুলো যেভাবে নড়বড়ে ভাবে দন্ডায়মান থাকে- সেগুলোর মানুষ মারতে কারো আদেশের অপেক্ষা করতে হয় না। সামান্য মৌসুমী বায়ুতেই আছড়ে পড়ে চলমান যানবাহন আর পথচারীর উপরে।
Kowshik has expressed [bn] concerns that if these billboards are not removed there will be more deaths.
Recently a Bangladesh Highcourt ordered removal of illegal billboards from the city. But the authorities have yet to implement the order on a large scale. The Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) has started preparing policies for billboards.
A common scene – billboards on buildings in Dhaka. Image from Flickr by Jane Rawson. CC BY-NC-ND

author: পান্থ রহমান রেজা (Pantha)


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Bulgaria: Thousands of Trial Records Go Open · Global Voices
Rayna St.

The Bulgarian section of the Open Knowledge Foundation announced [bg] the release of 580,049 court decisions and 607,656 additional documents, including motives. Although all those are already publicly accessible in the courts and some of them are browsable in a digital format on the Ministry of Justice website, there was a serious need of improving the organization and accessibility of this paper glut. Thus, the data are divided into two parts: raw materials and metadata. All of it [bg] is in turn ready for data mining and more complete analysis.


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Cameroon: Giordano Bruno as an Example of Intellectual Courage · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

In an article entitled “The real map of Africa hidden for 600 years“[fr], Jean-Paul Pougala, an author from Cameroon, writes that: “25 years ago I chose Giordano Bruno, philosopher of the Italian Renaissance, as my mentor. His writings helped me grow intellectually, his courage to completely take responsability for his actions convinced me to dare to go against the tide, to help Africa gain access to a more just future.. “

author: Abdoulaye Bah


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China: Dissident Prosecuted for Leaking Staged Suicide Photo · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Dissident Zhu Chengzhi [zh] has been charged with inciting the subversion of state power for investigating the death of labour activist Li Wangyang while he was in police custody.
Zhu was given a 10-day detention back in June 6, 2012 under the charge of “disrupting social order” after he distributed a photo of  what many say document a ‘staged suicide’ on the Internet. However, the Hunan police decided to use a more serious allegation, inciting subversion of state power, for prosecuting him in July 25. For minor cases (inciting to sedition), the penalty is under 5 year-imprisonment, while for more serious cases (sedition), the penalty can be more than 10 years, such as the case of Nobel peace price winner Liu Xiaobo's 11-year-imprisonment sentence.
Zhu Chengzhi's profile picture on Twitter
Who is Zhu Chengzhi?
A website, Free Chengzhi, has been launched to campaign for Zhu freedom since his first arrest in June. One of the website's contributor, Li Huaping offers more details about Zhu's life:
Zhu Chengzhi, a father figure, a Chinese citizen, was born in Shaoyao City at Hunan Province in 1950. I also know that he is of the same age of Li Wangyang, the late activist and one of China’s longest -serving political prisoners. Both Zhu and Li graduated from No. 4th Middle School of Shaoyang. If you meet Zhu in a street, he is one of the million ordinary elders of China. If you pay attention, you’ll notice this elder possesses wisdom.
Zhu Chengzhi speaks slowly. From the calm words, one can feel how firm his belief is. We chatted the inescapable fear: our land, air and water are all ruled by the only ideology. We agree that encouraging more and more people to overcome the fear is an important task. A most important task is that we should be role models. Through ourselves, we can encourage more people to overcome their fear and break silence. When talking about Li Wangyang’s sister Li Wangling, Zhu clearly stated that “The foremost important task for us is to help Wangling overcome her fear.”
Staged Suicide Evidence
According to Zhu's family, the Hunan government decided to punish him with sedition allegations after he refused to sign a document promising not to pursue investigations into Li's death. The official arrest document[zh] was issued on July 25:
Arrest document of Li Chengzhi. Widely circulated in Facebook.
On Weibo, the human rights lawyer Liu Xiaoyuan comments on Zhu's arrest [zh]:
@刘晓原律师 ￼￼：朱承志只是关注了卲阳李先生之死，并自拍了一个事件视频，这难道就涉嫌＂煽颠＂犯罪了吗？邵阳警方太虚弱，也太恐＂颠＂了吧？用＂煽颠＂来指控，实在是荒唐！
Hong Kong based Weibo user Ai Dangzheng says [zh]:
@艾丹誠：今天心情特別差,除了感冒四天還未痊愈，最憤怒看到朱承志被捕消息，那CCTVB只播劉翔動手術消息，真是擦鞋新聞部,劉翔死咗都不關我事!朱承志你要撐住，這個世界愈來愈少你這類正義之士!看完病,現在去幫學民思潮簽名！
On Twitter, activists are more vocal in expressing their support for Zhu [zh]:
@hesuoge
他为素不相识的人呼喊，他为同学呼喊，其实他是为人性和公义呼喊。他现在正在绞肉机里；我们谁又不是正在进入绞肉机的途中呢？它们妄想用金牌证明自己的合法性，但是他及许许多多人的遭遇，正在表明：这一切是有罪的。请记住并且传播他的名字：朱=承=志！！
@hu_jia
7月25日正是李旺阳被自杀的尾七，在这一天以涉嫌“煽动颠覆国家政权罪”正式逮捕朱承志，只能判定湖南政法委系统和团派的湖南省委书记周强是下了决心挑战公民权利和司法公正。李旺阳案，自此可以合成“李旺阳-朱承志”案了，一脉相承的以煽颠禁民权。
@wlh8964
朱承志62岁了，他不喜欢坐牢，也不会像有些人冷血地说，“为了出名吧～”他不过是不愿撒谎，他不过是不愿放弃自己做人的底线。坐牢，这代价太大了，这是生命的代价！不能为他做什么、不想为他做什么就算了，至少不要冷嘲热讽！
@xiaocao07
我把头像换成了朱承志大哥的，他为拍摄李旺阳之死的视频和照片而被囚禁，他为公民记者的权力付出了最宝贵的代价——自由！

author: Oiwan Lam


text:
Côte d’Ivoire: Debate Rages over University Fees · Global Voices
Kanigui

[All links forward to French sources unless otherwise stated.]
The universities of Côte d'Ivoire are getting ready to re-open their doors on September 3, 2012, bringing to an end long months of closure [en] controversially ordered by the Ivorian president. Joy at this announcement was swiftly replaced by a wave of indignant reactions following the decision of university heads to increase registration fees:
Les étudiants débourseront désormais respectivement 100.000 FCFA par an pour s’inscrire au premier cycle (de la 1ère année à la licence), 200.000 FCFA, pour le Master et 300.000 pour le DEA et le Doctorat.
The following video shows the announcement of the increase in university fees as reported on the RTI [en] television channel:
Ivorian students used to pay 6,000 CFA registration fees. According to the Ivorian authorites, quoted on news website abidjan.net:
Ces montants permettront, en plus de la subvention de l’Etat, d'accroître les capacités financières des universités, en vue de faire face au manque de matériel didactique dont l'absence criante avait obligé par exemple l’UFR des sciences à suspendre les travaux pratiques.
University of Cocody, Abidjan. Photo by Alexenafrique, copyright Demotix (13/10/11).
However, these measures have led to many strong reactions in the media, and on various Ivorian social networks, forums and blogs. Opinions are divided, but student organisations unequivocally reject the measure. The student federation of Côte d'Ivoire, FESCI [en], via its spokesperson General Secretary Mian Augustin, announced that:
Nous considérons toujours les six mille FCFA comme le montant des frais d’inscription.
While Mominé Roland of the General Association of Students of Côte d'Ivoire, AGEECI, is of the opinion that “it is unacceptable”, General Secretary of the National Student Union of Côte d'Ivoire, Kouadio Jean-Baptiste, condemned “a veritable rip off.”
Spokesperson for the students collective for the reopening of public universities, Gbané Aleoussène concluded, “we feel excluded”.
Certain political parties such as the Rally of the Republicans, RDR, party of Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara, have also taken a stand against the new amounts for registration fees:
Sans remettre en cause le principe d’une augmentation, le RDR estime que cette hausse des frais d’inscription est disproportionnée
Discussions have been raging on social networks. A Facebook group has even been created to say no to the registration fees.
Opinions on Twitter were uncompromising, with many, such as JusticeJFK, believing that the fees are too high:
@JusticeJFK: Un Pays Pauvre Très Endetté a des habitants pauvres très endettés. 1.567% d'augmentation de frais d'inscription, c'est trop! #civ2010#ci225
In a similar vein, Kady S tweeted:
@Kadsak: J'ai l'impression que les nouveaux dirigeants de la #civ2010 ignorent tout de la réalité des ivoiriens aujourd'hui. Les gens ne mangent pas!
Meanwhile, teacher Antoine Mian contemplated the consequences of this measure:
@Mianseh: J'ose espérer que les éminent profs qui ont pris cette décision en ont mesuré la dimension sociale, économique, politique et accadémique
On his blog, Bamba Moussa also stated that he believed the registration fees were too high:
J’ose cependant espérer que de tels tarifs comprendront de nombreux services tels que: La bourse ou l’aide financière pour tous les inscrits, une chambre en cité, un abonnement annuel au resto de l’université, une assurance, la carte de bus et j’en passe. A défaut, le titre d’Universités Publiques serait à revoir.
Yet some think the new charges fair, and even necessary for quality teaching as well as revaluation of degrees issued in Côte d'Ivoire. Brahima Bakayoko tweeted:
@fielanord: Avec 100 000 (etudiants) * 150 mille (moyenne) les 15 milliards CFA qui peut leur permettre de s'autofinancer et d'emprunter pour se développer.
For government minister Alain Lobognon, who has a high profile on Twitter, this measure resolves a certain injustice between university students and students of the ‘Grandes écoles’:
@AlainLobogon: Pourquoi avec le même BAC, des étudiants paient rien, quand d'autres sont condamnés par l'Etat de #ci225 à payer cher pour leur formation?
He added:
@AlainLobogon:  @aremsbee Les supports pédagogiques ont un prix à payer. L'Etat les paiera. Les étudiants doivent contribuer pour l'entretien. #ci225
Blogger Nnenna, who claims that the new charges are fair, has even researched university registration fees for Côte d'Ivoire and nearby countries:
@nnenna: Mise à jour: Togo “Finalement les frais annuels varient donc entre 50.000 F et 300.000 F CFA” #civedu #ci225
Nnenna also reported the following information for Benin:
@nnenna Frais d'inscription #Benin: Faculté 15.000 FCFA autres, 226.200 ENEAM 256.200, Informatique de Gestion 306.200 #CIV2010#CI225
However, other people, who do not have such a clear-cut position, are also found on the social networks. Marti sums up this middle of the road position which seems to have many adherents:
Que les droits d'inscription augmentent ok. Mais de manière raisonnable. Et ensuite, bourses/résultats. Mais accès pour tous à l'université #CIV2010
While debate continues to rage both online and offline, the Ivorian government have taken everyone by surprise with a decision leading to:
suspension de la mesure envisagée d`augmentation des frais d`inscription dans les universités publiques, le temps de poursuivre la réflexion

author: Kanigui


text:
Cyprus: Remembering ‘Operation Atilla’ Across Borders · Global Voices
Veroniki Bacharidi-Krikoni

Friday, 20 July 2012, marked the 38th anniversary of Operation Atilla, a Turkish military invasion in response to a coup in Cyprus supported by the 1967 Greek military junta.
The invasion resulted in deaths and missing reports of thousands, massive deportations of Greek Cypriots from the occupied northern part and flow of Turkish Cypriots from south to north. The island has been divided since along the Green Line; in 1983 the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus(TRNC) declared independence, but it is only recognized by Turkey.
Both sides commemorate the anniversary either as a grim day or a celebration day; and every year, sentiments and events are shared through mainstream and social media.
The island of Cyprus, divided, from Wikimedia Commons, original source: CIA World Factbook. Public domain.
In a speech on Thursday night, Greek-Cypriot President Christofias said:
Vindication can only happen with the end of the Turkish occupation and settling, and the reunification of the state and its people. […] If there is partition in Cyprus, this will be a victory of our country’s enemies.
On the northern part, hundreds of Turkish Cypriots gathered to celebrate the day as the “Peace Operation”. Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu said:
Greek Cypriots should “use common sense” and work towards finding a solution. […] Community is running out of patience and steps to take their place in the world will be “taken as needed”. […] If there was no “peace operation”, they would not have their state today.
@Infognomon Politika, a news blog focused on International Relations, Foreign Policy and Defense, dedicated a post [el] about the 1974 obscure events, entitled “Cyprus 1974: Five Myths About the Coup d’ Etat”.
Haberler website published the news for “Peace and Freedom Festival” and Turkish President Gul's statement that:
[…] the Cyprus Peace Operation that occurred July 20, 1974 marked the beginning of Turkish Cypriots governing themselves and Turkey will always support them.
On Twitter, Greek netizens expressed their sadness for the day, with tweets such as the following, by Greek-Cypriot singer Despina Olympiou [el]:
@DenaOlympiou: Ωραία όλα, αλλα σαν σήμερα να μην ξεχνάμε τη θλιβερή επέτειο του νησιού μας. Κύπρος μου δεν σε ξεχνούμε κ ελπίζουμε..
Lampros Konstantaras overreacts citicizing [el] the “invasion” and big popularity of Turkish daily TV series on Greek TV channels contrary to the sad anniversary:
38 χρόνια φέτος που η Κύπρος υποφέρει από την τουρκική εισβολή. Νεκροί, αγνοούμενοι, ξεσπιτωμένοι. Δείτε SILA και ΑSI για να τους τιμάτε
A Few Turkish netizens also commented on the 1974 anniversary with tweets like the following [tr]:
@zeynepgurcanli: Bugun 20 temmuz. Kibris baris harekatinin yildonumu.
There was also a Twitter dispute between some Greek netizens that summarizes perfectly the different thoughts and feelings on the 1974 event [el]:
@potmos: 38 σήμερα από την απελευθέρωση της Β. Κύπρου.
@adiasistos: @potmos Ποια απελευθέρωση ρε κοπρίτη; Εξυπνάδες είναι αυτά; Η Κύπρος είναι Ελληνικιά κ άμα δε γουστάρεις τράβα στη Κούβα! Ζώο!
@arhetypo: @adiasistos @potmos και ποιοι είστε που θ'αποφασίσετε αν η Β.Κύπρος είναι απελευθερομένη η Ελληνική, ρωτήσατε τους Κύπριους;;
@djidjikas: @adiasistos και όμως έχω την αίσθηση ότι τουρκοκύπριοι και ελληνοκύπριοι ζούσαν ειρηνικά σε κοινά χωριά για αιώνες… @potmos
@MrPinkEyesV2: @potmos αν απελευθερωνοταν καλα θα ήταν. Στην καλυτερη άλλαξε νταβατζη

author: Veroniki Bacharidi-Krikoni


text:
Guinea: Statistics on Poverty on the Rise · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

Mamadou Aliou Barry wrote on the Facebook page Voice of the Guinean Youth [fr]: “According to the results of the study on poverty and inequality in Guinea from 1999 to 2012 published [fr] on July 30, 55.2% of Guineans are poor in 2012, as compared to 53% in 2007. What might have caused did this increase ?”


text:
Guyana: Violence in Linden  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Code Red says that “the Caribbean community has been shamefully silent” about police violence in the town of Linden.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco