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Egypt: Mubarak Dies One More Time · Global Voices
Tarek Amr

This post is part of our special coverage Egypt Revolution 2011.
Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak has died at least once every few weeks since the beginning of the Egyptian revolution, which toppled his 32-year reign. Netizens react to the latest speculations regarding his health.
Lubna F. reassured her readers that Mubarak's health status is a recurring news item. She wrote:
@fatanil: Dear foreigners, sensing that many of you are confused. So to clarify, Mubarak is dead/alive-ISH. Happens every few weeks, dont worry.
And Jonathan Moremi once tweeted a schedule for Mubarak's death:
@jonamorem: BREAKING: #Mubarak will die today at 11:57 AM and then again at 4:12 PM. Please show compassion. Next show tomorrow at 7:48 AM and 3:44 PM
However, on June 19, news of Mubarak's death seemed real.

@HaYatElYaMaNi: Breaking: Mubarak died clinically #mubarak
The Egyptian official news agency Middle East News Agency reported the news [Link doesn't open, and the website was reported dead along with Mubarak], and Ahram Online later on wrote, “Hosni Mubarak has been pronounced clinically dead upon his arrival at a military hospital in the upscale neighbourhood of Maadi, according to Egyptian state news agency MENA”.
So it seemed official this time, as Ekram Ibrahim tweeted:
@Ekramibrahim: I think #Mubarak has officially died. #Egypt
But once again, the Egyptian (and foreign journalists) fell pray to Mubarak's death rumors. An hour later, news came that Mubarak was still alive, or may be came back from death as Ms. Entropy  tweeted:
@MsEntropy: #MubarakConspiracy I'll start. #Mubarak is just imitating Jesus in a bid for support from Copts. He will rise again. #CreepingSectarianism
One of Mubarak's parody accounts also tweeted:
@NotMobarak: Bazzinga! You never learn, do you? #Mubarak never dies.
Josh Shahryar shared the ingredients of the potion used to revive Mubarak:
@JShahryar: Anonymous sources told me potion containing Gaddafi's claws, Prince Nayef's fangs and Assad's horns used to revive #Mubarak.
Imran Garda has a different theory about Mubarak's continuous heart attacks.
@ImranGarda: Egyptians are always skeptical about news that mentions #Mubarak's heart. They were never absolutely certain he had one.
With all those wondering how many times Mubarak will continue to live, or die, Bassem Sabry tweeted:
@Bassem_Sabry: While I cannot verify this at all, a popular story claims Mubarak's father lived to 104 years of age, and supposedly died of a car accident.
Nathan Nemo was worried about how many times Mubarak's Wikipedia page should be updated. Melissa Rose suggested Mubarak Zombie to be as cool band's name and Buddhas Hag tweeted:
@BuddhasHag: I don’t believe in love at first sight, I believe in death at first heart attack. But again Mubarak has to prove me wrong.
Not only Wikipedia, but also newspapers were forced to edit their previous stories about his death. NewsDiffs (@newsdiffs), which watches different versions of highly-placed articles on online news sites, published a comparison showing how New York Times’ story was updated when it turned out he was still alive.
News about the life or death of the former president is not the only information that cannot be confirmed in Egypt nowadays. There is also uncertainty about the next president, with both presidential candidates Ahmed Shafiq and Mohammed Morsi claiming they won last week's run off elections.
@the_blacklisted: Shafik and Morsy won and lost the election. Mubarak is alive and dead. The military is and isn't the leader of Egypt. Yet I'm still unhappy.
And finally, in case you are reading this few days later, and wondering whether Mubarak is now alive or dead now, don't worry, there is an application for that.
This post is part of our special coverage Egypt Revolution 2011.

author: Tarek Amr


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Georgia: Bloggers Against Homophobia · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Unzipped: Gay Armenia posts a video by Georgian bloggers against homophobia set to the song F*ck You by Lily Allen. The move comes less than a month after a Gay Pride march in Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, was disrupted by priests and conservative elements in society. The same month a gay-friendly bar in neighboring Armenia was firebombed by Neo-Nazis highlighting the problem with intolerance and homophobia in the South Caucasus.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Greece: New Prime Minister Makes First Official Facebook Comment · Global Voices
Veroniki Bacharidi-Krikoni

Newly elected Antonis Samaras posts his first message [el] as Greek Prime Minister on his official Facebook page, asking for Greek people to “show patriotism and unbreakable national unity and trust”. He also underlined that “with God's help, they will do everything possible to get the country out of crisis the soonest”. Netizens comment on Twitter. Following the results of the Greek General Elections on June 17, 2012, the New Democracy party has formed a coalition government, sworn in on June 20, with PASOK and DIMAR, the third and sixth largest parties by seat counts.

author: Veroniki Bacharidi-Krikoni


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Journeys Through Latin America · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Since August 15, 2011, readers of the Blog de la Ruta (The Route's Blog) [es] have been traveling Latin America through the stories told by bloggers from the website Otramérica. The team behind Otramérica [es], a nonprofit initiative from Human Rights Everywhere, decided to enlist bloggers to tell stories “from the ground” while they traveled through little-known places in Latin America.
The post [es] that kicks off the journey explains that this project has two goals: to “tell” and to “connect”:
Contar las realidades que suelen pasar inadvertidas o que son invisibles para la mayoría de los medios de comunicación industriales; y enredar (en redes) a personas, movimientos y organizaciones en esta tarea de desenredar la vida para entenderla y transformarla.
The blog includes an interactive map where readers can keep up with the journey and click on related stories:
Interactive map routing trip through Latin America
The Guianas
Paco Gómez Nadal [es], a well-known Spanish journalist who has covered Latin America extensively, launched the blog and the journey. He started by introducing readers to The Guianas in several posts [es] before his first stop in Cayenne, French Guiana.
In his next stop, Suriname, Paco writes about the capital city [es] (Paramaribo), the country's problem [es] with gold [es], old and new forms of slavery [es], gay rights [es] (see video, in English, below), and more [es].
The journey was interrupted [es] in September 2011 after a brief stop in Guyana [es]. But a month later journalist Victor Alejandro Mojica picked up the blog with a trip [es] to Honduras and Guatemala.
Honduras and Guatemala
Victor dedicates numerous posts to Honduras’ past [es] and present [es]. He tells several stories of struggles that are rarely covered by mainstream media, like those of the indignados (outraged) [es] of Intibucá, who have been fighting for almost two decades against hydroelectric dams in their area:
Este Honduras ni se escucha, ni se conoce, es invisible al mundo occidental. Y aquí, donde parece que la tierra lo es todo, es donde ocurren las violaciones menos éticas. Porque los recursos naturales, aunque parezcan de ellos, están vendiéndose a capitales sin pudor.
Lo que no saben, o rehúsan saber, es que estos indignados, que se alimentan de café y pan, tienen casi dos décadas de existencia.  Y aunque no siempre ganan, siempre continuan…
This Honduras or is neither heard, nor known, it is invisible to the Western world. And here, where land seems to be everything, is where least ethical violations occur. Because natural resources, even if it seems like they belong to them, are shamelessly being sold to businesses.
What they don't know, or refuse to know, is that these indignados, who feed themselves on coffee and bread, have been outraged for almost two decades. And although they don't always win, they always keep going…
In Guatemala, Victor looks at the legacy of the country's civil war through the perspective of a former guerrillero [es], family members of a missing [es] man, and an indigenous maya-ixil community [es]. He also looks at the issue of femicides [es] in Guatemala, stating that, “There is an ingrained sexism in all sectors of the population that makes hundreds of women die every year.”
Salvador Zúñiga, an "indignado" of Intibucá. Photo by  Victor Alejandro Mojica, used with permission from Otramérica.
The Southern Cone, Bolivia, and Mexico
The blog welcomed a new contributor, Solange González Henott, in early 2012. Solange began her trip through South America's “Southern Cone” (Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay) with a story about an attempted escape by inmates in a Chilean [es] jail.
In Argentina, Solange describes what summer [es] is like in Buenos Aires, and visits a villa (a marginalized urban settlement), where she meets two women who migrated [es] to the Argentine capital from Bolivia and Paraguay.
In Montevideo, Uruguay, Solange introduces readers to Llamadas [es], carnival parades that take place every summer. She also talks to unionized [es] sugarcane workers about their triumphs and struggles. In neighboring Paraguay, Solange writes about “the king of Soy” and the country's “gun culture” [es].
During a stop in Bolivia, Solange blogs about the “cowardly and cruel murder” of two journalists [es] in El Alto. She then describes the Aymara indigenous tradition of “ajtapi” [es], a communal meal.
Paco Gómez Nadal returns to the ‘Blog de la Ruta’ to write about his experience in Mexico [es] during March 2012. There, he blogs about the complexities [es] of violence and death. He also looks at the current state of the Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity [es] and its leader, Javier Sicilia[es].
Ajtapi in El Alto, Bolivia. Photo by Solange González Henott, used with permission from Otramérica.
Latin America's low lands
In May 2012, Pedro González del Campo became to blog's latest contributor, covering Latin America's “low lands” [es], tierras bajas in Spanish: the places that have been most marginalized by the powerful and by history.
During May and June, Pedro has been discovering Paraguay's “low lands” by traveling [es] through [es] the Paraguay River. In one of his stops he meets Martín, a 36-year-old man working in a cattle ranch in the Paraguayan Chaco. The ranch is owned by a Brazilian man who is in the business of large-scale farming in Brazil. Pedro explains that ranching is taking a toll on the Chaco's nature and its inhabitants:
El Chaco es una ecoregión extensa que alberga hasta 3 ecosistemas diferentes y en el que viven de manera tradicional muchas personas que ven cómo la ganadería acaba con su medio, en el cual se sienten integrados como seres que habitan este planeta. Si nadie lo remedia, su destino es la desaparición y la pérdida de biodiversidad y biomasa que hará de este planeta un lugar menos habitable, además de la escandalosa degradación a nivel social que esto implica para sus pobladores.
Almost a year after the start of this journey, Pedro's trip through Latin America's “low lands” has just begun. Blog de la Ruta provides a glimpse into the continent's varied and complex reality. You can keep up with the journey and read previous entries in the Otramérica website [es].
Sharpening a saw to build a house in a ranch in the Chaco. Photo by Pedro González del Campo, used with permission from Otramérica.

author: Silvia Viñas


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Kuwait: Unconstitutionally Elected Parliament · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Kuwaiti blogger Mona Kareem discusses the latest political developments after the Constitutional Court ruled the parliament was elected unconstitutionally. “So is the court acting political? This can only be fully read in relevance to the steps that will be taken by authorities in the coming days. If authorities re-dissolve and call for elections, then we need to observe what games the government would like to play next, if any,” she writes.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Lebanon: Complete Blackout · Global Voices
Layal Al Khatib

Two of the major power plants, Zahrani and Deir-Ammar, in Lebanon suffered from “unknown” technical difficulties on Monday 18 June, 2012, which plunged most of the country into complete darkness. Lebanon already suffers from a severe shortage where it barely generates half of its daily consumption.
In protest, citizens from various areas blocked main roads. Netizens as well expressed their anger (and sometimes sarcasm) towards the situation they called #DarkLebanon. Below are some of the reactions:
Many Twitter users expressed their frustration with the situation [ar]:
@daywood:الشعب لا يريد بواخر لتوليد الطاقة الكهربائية بل ينتظر بواخر تحمله خارج #لبنان #DarkLebanon #LebanonOnFire
@3antar: #DarkLebanon!!! This is NOT a life!
@dimamasri: #darklebanon it went from being #lebanon to LebanOFF
@MahdiBerjaoui: I think Lebanon is literally a failed state. Electricity Off #Lebanon #DarkLebanon
@walidfreiha: Everyone traveling to #Lebanon this summer: Make sure you pack lots of candles, matches, batteries and flashlights. #DarkLebanon #لبنان
Khadija sympathized with high school seniors, who are taking their finals this month [ar]:
@khadijaomari:مع احترامي للجميع الا اني اكاد اجزم ان طلاب الشهادات الرسمية هم اكثر المتضررين من قطع الكهرباء #darklebanon #bac2
Many Twitter users blamed the Minister of Energy Gebran Bassil [ar]:
@marxist92: ويل لأمة كان جبرانها خليل وأصبح باسيل #DarkLebanon @GEBRAN_BASSIL
@Marxist92 was referring to Gebran Khalil – a very well known and respected Lebanese writer.
@khadijaomari:ما اضرب من باسيل الا مافيات المولدات…العمى بياخدوا اكثر من الدولة ويادوب تجي الكهربا لان “المازوت غالي” #tfehhh #darklebanon
Abir blamed all of the politicians for the power fail [ar]:
@AbirGhattas: هي مش واقفة بس على جبران باسيل. الكل عم بعرقل، يعني بدكن تشوفو الكهربا متل شي وحدة فاتحة اجريها و الكل محروم و مهييج. #DarkLebanon #Lebanon
Some netizens still managed to find a bright side in this blackout:
@eltooks: On the bright side of #DarkLebanon I've recorded the fast Internet speed yet at my place! #مصائبقومعندقومفوائد
@walidfreiha: Lebanon is such a romantic country Every1 is spendin the night either under the moonlight or by the candlelight #DarkLebanon
The very popular Facebook Page “Lebanese Memes” published some funny memes about the situation. Here are two of them:
Free Internet. No electricity. Source: Lebanese Meme page on Facebook
You didn't have to cut us off. Another meme shared by the Lebanese Meme page on Facebook
The technical difficulties are reportedly resolved, bringing the country back to the existing severe shortage. Stay tuned to the hashtag #DarkLebanon for more updates and reactions. You can also check the initiative Nawwartuna[ar](a Lebanese slang for “welcome” which literally means: “You've lightened us up”) for updates.

author: Layal Al Khatib


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Myanmar: Burmese Proverbs · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Fifty Viss created a Tumblr account called Zagabon, to collect and publish Burmese proverbs and sayings, along with English translations and context if necessary

author: Mong Palatino


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Pakistan: Video Leak Sends Shock Waves Across The Country · Global Voices
Sana Saleem

When it rains it pours, most aptly sums up the situation in Pakistan at the moment. A leaked video showing popular anchorpersons Mehar Bokhari and Mubashar Lucman involved in a set-up interview has sent shock waves across the media industry and the people. The leak comes while the country is embroiled in huge court cases from the Chief Justice's son to the Head of intelligence agencies, the leak brings to light important questions about integrity of journalism in Pakistan and the involvement of strategic players in influencing it.
In the video it's evident how the two anchorpersons are plotting questions during the break. The guest, Malik Riaz, a property tycoon who has filed a corruption case against the Chief Justice's son, is being consulted and prepared for questions throughout the breaks in the program. One of the anchorperson, Mubashar Lucman, is continuously seen receiving calls and texts instructing him to ask specific questions and frame the argument in a certain manner. At one point, Mr. Lucman receives a call from Prime Minister's son, who is currently being tried for a drug case, and explicitly asks him if he thinks the program is going in the right direction before handing the phone to the guest Malik Riaz.
Screenshot from the leaked video
The leaked video was first uploaded to Youtube and then picked up by mainstream media channels, hence the initial reactions were seen on social media even before the story was reported:
Social Media is #voice of People now , Electronic Media is Voice of Mafias #anchorgate #mediagate” Well said!
— khurram shamsi (@khurram_shamsi) June 16, 2012
corruption, corruption & corruption; it is time for media to analyse themselves as well as judiciary too. #mediagate — Zahid Buneray (@ZahidBuneray) June 17, 2012
Having been universally abused & vilified by almost all anchors, I'm just smiling at the circus :) #Pakistan #Anchorgate — Husain Haqqani (@husainhaqqani) June 14, 2012
#MediaGate this was definately not the first planted interview in our media history Y z it that only this off the record tape got released — Haroon Nasir (@haroon_nasir1) June 18, 2012
For those clapping on #anchorgate, pls remember what happened after 3 anchors incited violence and murder? NOTHING. Not much has changed! — Raza Rumi (@Razarumi) June 14, 2012
Mehr bokhari and mubashir lucman back to duniya channels. Is the media new God that is unaccountable? #mediagate #anchorgate #mubasharlucman — Rasikh Mashhadi (@rasikh) June 18, 2012
TV channels are playing with public sentiment & opinion and their untamed freedom is extremely damaging for #Pakistan #Media #AnchorGate — Salman Hamid (@salman_hamid) June 16, 2012
I hate these people for destroying my profession: Malik Riaz, Mehar Bokhari and Lucman http://youtu.be/9dTO76GIlaw – courtesy @WajSKhan — Gibran Peshimam (@gibranp) June 14, 2012
Big pindora Box Malik Riaz exposed in a plotted programme on dunya TV with Mubashir Luqman. And Mehar Bokhari Its all available on YouTube — Nauman Bajwa (@naumanbajwa) June 14, 2012
The blog Cafe Pyala dissected the leaked interview highlighting corruption in media in Pakistan:
So, basically we find out the following things: 1. This was a total set-up of an interview, with planted questions. 2. Malik Riaz is not only told the questions before-hand, he is fed some of the answers too and prompted by the intrepid interviewers to say things he might have forgot to mention. 3. The Prime Minister's son Abdul Qadir Gilani is in the know and involved, as are the Sharif brothers in a slightly different way. 4. There are instructions from Dunya TV management ‘not to interrupt’ Malik Riaz, even if it means going over time. Obviously, Dunya TV is more beholden to him than anyone could have guessed. 5. There actually were plenty of ego-clashes between the Bokhari and Lucman [..]
Within a few hours of the video leak, TV Channel Dunya and the the anchorpersons tried to get the video off the internet citing copyright violations. Within minutes the videos were downloaded incase they are removed. Netizens also moved a petition calling to protect ‘whistleblowers’ within the media.
Please read & sign the petition 2 protect whistleblowers. They're invaluable 2 accountability process chn.ge/LKw18V @kalsoom82 — Ayesha Tammy Haq (@tammyhaq) June 16, 2012
Important petition against dishonest journalism in #Pakistan –sign and spread the word via @beenasarwar: chn.ge/LopjDX — Saleem H. Ali (@saleem_ali) June 15, 2012
‘Anchorgate’: Criminal case lodged against Dunya TV whistleblowers tribune.com.pk/story/394490/a… -(The whistle-blowers MUST be protected!) #Pakistan — Mamur Mustapha (@mamur) June 16, 2012
But all is not hopeless in the media industry in Pakistan, shortly after the leak video was released, popular anchor Naseem Zehra resigned from the channel garnering support and respect from fellow journalists.
Well done @nasimzehra – an anchor with a conscience — Omar Waraich (@OmarWaraich) June 15, 2012
. @cpyalaNasim Zehra confirmed to me that she is in fact resigning from Dunya in light of the Lucman-Bokhari fiasco
— Ali Dayan Hasan (@AliDayan) June 15, 2012
With @NasimZehra‘s resignation, DunyaTV has lost the most credible voice they had.
— beena sarwar (@beenasarwar) June 15, 2012
@beenasarwar That's very sad. Nasim Zehra is one of the most credible journalist we have. Mehr Bukhari should resign @NasimZehra — Maham Ali (@Mahamali05) June 15, 2012
Dunya Channels management has been actively engaged in a PR campaign for damage control which has resulted in harsher criticism.
Watching #Dunya news right now is possibly the most painful thing I could do to myself. Wow–terrible PR control attempt. #Mediagate
— Sana Saeed (@SanaSaeed) June 16, 2012
So dunya news is now trying to rectify its image. All programming angled towards that agenda. This is sad journalism. # anchorgate #DunyaTV
— asadfaruqi (@asadfaruqi) June 15, 2012
I suppose if the US had not become such a police state, Fox news would spiral into a Geo or Dunya!
— Sher Ali (@sherakhan46) June 19, 2012
A legal case has also been pursued in the High Court seeking to ban the anchorpersons, but the question remains is banning the solution?  For now it seems that the channel will not be firing the journalists, however netizens as well as mainstream media reporters are now raising questions triggering a debate on the credibility of the journalists in Pakistan and factors that influence unbiased reporting. Whether this debate would lead to mediapersons to put their house in order, remains to be seen.

author: Sana Saleem


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Somalia: Deep Divisions Over New Constitution · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Somalia has not had a central government controlling the entire country since the fall of Muhammad Siad Barre in 1991. The Transitional Federal Government (TFG) is the internationally recognized government of the Republic of Somalia.
After political discussions in Ethiopian, leaders of various Somali parties agreed to political steps to end the transitional period and elect a new president. One of the steps outlined in a detailed timetable is the drafting of a new constitution.
Technical Revision Committee for the new constitution participated in a 4-day working session in Nairobi:
Military portrait of Major General Mohamed Siad Barre, Somalia's longest-serving President. Source: U.S. Library of Congress (Public Domain)
A four-day working session with the Signatories’ Technical Revision Committee has been concluded in Nairobi. The working session is a follow up to the recent Addis Signatories’ meeting were most of the constitutional issues were agreed and some of the provisions – prepared by the Independent Federal Constitution Commission – have been amended after congenial political negotiations between the signatories of the Roadmap to end the transition, which was adopted in Mogadishu last September. The technical Revision Committee’s mandate as per Addis Ababa’s Communiqué is to complete the constitutional process.
The Minister of Constitutional Affairs who convened the meeting explained to the participants and the media that “that road towards ending of the transition is getting closer and closer by the day, and we need to collectively work towards delivering a constitution that Somalia deserves and which serves its people.
Members of the Technical Revision Committee in Nairobi. Photo courtesy of http://horn.so/
Mahad Abdalle Awad, Deputy-Minister Ministry of Planning International Cooperation in Somalia, is optimistic that the country will soon have a new constitution:
Fearmongers use scare tactics to influence public opinion to impede change and progress by disseminating false information about the draft constitution and the planned Constituent Assembly meeting. Naysayers, natural skeptics and cynical people among us, habitually express negativity about the accomplishment of others and are pessimistic about change. Dale Carnegie’s famous quote fittingly describes the nature of Naysayers when he wrote “Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain, and most fools do.”
These Naysayers often spread blatant lies to oppose anything other people do. In the case of the Constituent Assembly, they assert that the constitution can only be approved by popular referendum, disregarding discernible historical fact that the Somali Republic itself was founded by the 1960 Constitution, approved by Constituent Assembly of only 110 delegates, and a process that took only 29 days, whereby public referendum was held 21st of July 1961, after more than one year.
However, Mohamed Ali Hassan, Chairman of the Somali-American Peace Council and Manuela Melandri, PhD candidate at University College London, note that most Somalis look at the draft constitution with deep skepticism:
The optimism of the international community is not shared by Somalis themselves, who instead look with deep skepticism at a document that they perceive as externally-imposed, faulty and fundamentally undemocratic.
To understand this dynamic, one should start by questioning the facts. What is wrong with the new Somali Constitution and why has the adoption of this document been met with resistance by educated Somalis, religious figures, secularists, former Somali Prime Ministers, women, scholars and by Somali Diaspora organizations?
First, there are issues concerning the content of the Constitution and the substance of its provisions.
Above all, the question of federalism remains deeply divisive. Views can be found both in support of and against Somalia adopting a federal structure.
Somali President Sharif Sheikh in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, during the 12th African Union Summit Feb. 2, 2009. Source: U.S. federal government (Public Domain
But one Somali argue that the new constitution can be improved in the future. Somalis do not have time to wait for a a perfect constitution:
Whether we like it or not, when we see images of the Somali people around the world and we compare our own situation (at least, those in the Diaspora that live in peace), do we feel that those brothers and sisters need a constitution that works for them now since they are dealing with horrible situations? Think about this: maxay ku gaaraan mustaqbalka?
You have to know that I did not write those news articles mentioned above, Iam not part of the group that put together of the new constitution and I am not here to justify whether the new constitution is good, bad or ugly. All I want to remind you is that: those that are in need may not have time to wait a new perfect and pretty constitution; they need one that works for them for the time being. More importantly, I am not here to oppose anyone’s idea – I am just expressing my own views as anyone else. However, the best solution that I see, at least in my opinion, let us commence discussing how to improve the new constitutions in the future.
Mohamud Uluso considers the draft constitution “a hurried job, with the latest version available only in Somali language while various outdated or fake versions are circulating on the web”:
It appears that the UN-wise roadmap for Somalia is nothing but part of a plan of perfidy to keep Somalia and the Somalis in turmoil. Instead of liberating the true Somalis, who need and want to continue living in and developing their own country and their communities inside Somalia, the planned constitution appears as the manifestation of the shackles of foreign as well as internal oppression of the indigenous Somali people in perpetuity.
—
Most Somalis and their scholars doubt that it is the right time to engage in the process of forming a new constitution during an era of civil strife and turmoil in Somalia and wonder why millions of dollars have been spent by the players from the so-called international community to re-invent the wheel, while the existing Somali constitution could just be amended if any real need would be given and legally as well as representatively expressed – reflecting the true and free will of the Somali people.
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According to insiders FGM [Transitional Federal Government] is now permitted by the newly proposed Somali constitution, which will be presented for adoption to selected “traditional leaders”. A typical scheme how the UN and their stooges want to get it their way – or the way their master wants it.
Abduallhi Jamaa analyses various arguments about the draft constitution appearing online, vernacular radios and in village meetings and cafes:
Analysts say the proposed law is seemingly a milestone, but one that may fracture Somalia further into autonomous and semi-autonomous regions as well as ministates.
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“There is absolute confusion. There wasn’t any civic education to put across the letter and spirit of the proposed laws and this means that most people are not comfortable with the contents, many more have not heard about the whole process,” he [Hassan Sheikh, the leader of the Party of Peace and Development] told Somalia Report.
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Amongst the contentious issues include the proposed model of government, the controversial issue of natural resources and the religious influence. Some players argue that the language of the draft is not understandable, an issue that can lead to various kinds of misinterpretation.
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“The issue isn't just about the dispute over the contents. It is related to an absence of public representation. I do not wish to be part of a constituent assembly that does not represent Somalia’s vision and mission,” said traditional elder Mohamed Hersi.
Google Ideas developed a pilot project with the Somali service, Africa Division of Voice of America (VOA) to help Somalis register their opinions with just a few clicks. The poll shows, among other things, that Somalis want a Somalia based on the civil and criminal codes of Sharia, a strong central government and are divided over the inclusion of women in government.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Thailand: Prospects of Judicial Coup · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Bangkok Pundit discusses the prospect of a judicial coup in Thailand


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Thailand: Reconciliation Bills · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Aim Sinpeng links to an unofficial translation of the four versions of the important articles of the proposed reconciliation bills which are being tackled now in the Thailand parliament.


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Tunisia: Salafis Run Amok over ‘Blasphemous’ Art Works · Global Voices
Ahmed Medien

A group of Salafists attacked an art exhibition, Le Printemps des Arts, in La Marsa, (north suburb of Tunis) destroying some of the art works deemed blasphemous to Islam. The small, yet grave incident, soon grew in proportion when hundreds of Salafists – or thugs – attacked a police station in La Marsa, burnt a tribunal in Sidi Hussein (south of Tunis) and stopped police and firefighters from intervening. Clashes with police were reported in two neighborhoods throughout metropolitan Tunis and coastal city Sousse.
The aftermath led to a curfew, starting from Monday, June 12th, after the escalation of violence, in Metropolitan Tunis, Sousse, Monastir, Tabarka, and in other inland regions, including Gabes and Ben Guerdane.
An Interior Ministry official was quoted by the media as saying 162 people had been detained and 65 members of the security forces wounded in the incident.
Since a photography exhibition started such unprecedented hatred and upheaval in the country, the course of the events will be reported in photographs as well. Dozens of pictures were shared among Tunisian citizens who couldn't hide their astonishment – or perhaps amusement – regarding this strange incident.
The controversial photos
Netizens shared the photographs, deemed both blasphemous and insulting to Muslims in Tunisia, on social networks. Their exhibition permitted some hardline Islamists to call for the murder of the young artists who created them. Another fatwa (religious edict) was also issued to murder prominent politicians.
The Aftermath
Tunisian blogger Lina Ben Mhenni captured the damages created by the Salafi riot on two police stations in La Marsa and Carthage Byrsa.
The government condoned the allegations against the artists, fueling more tension and division among the Tunisian society. The minister of culture reiterated that there were indeed art works, offensive to Islam, and criticized the artists “lack of knowledge” and “amateurishness”. He publicly undermined the meaningfulness and beauty of the photos at the exhibitions. Meanwhile, calls for more protests and violence did not stop.
Netizen Reaction
The government's reaction triggered the outcry of Tunisian netizens who preferred to express themselves with caricatures and photos.
Willis Fromtunis, shared caricatures to stress the irony of the situation:
The irony in these two lines is while artists – or writers – accused of blasphemy in the Muslim world are often tried under charges such as disturbing public order, it is usually other people who cause this trouble to the public order and who go unpunished.
Other citizens couldn't hide their frustration with the government, the current situation, and the increasing Salafi phenomena.
Photo courtesy to Caroline Law
Photo courtesy to the Facebook page “United Pages for Gossip.”
Photo courtesy Ghaith Jelassi
The image is in reference to the French show, have you ever seen..?.
Photo courtesy to the Facebook page Flask.
Photo courtesy to the Facebook page VTV Villains TV
Reconciliation
The tension escalated over a couple of days, until netizens spreadheaded a new message of reconciliation entitled “There aren't two Tunisias.”
A new flash mob has reappeared in social media. The flash mob was originally made some months before by two Tunisian civil society associations, Engagement Citoyens and ACTIF.
Il n'y a pas "deux" Tunisie (flash mob) by mirelle67
The video exists in both French and Arabic.
Other photos have appeared to reunite Tunisians, those who are religious and those who aren't.
The curfew was lifted on Friday, June 15th, and the situation is now under control.

author: Ahmed Medien


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Twitterjaya: Aiming to be Malaysia’s Twitter Account · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The @twt_malaysia twitter account was set-up to curate tweets about Malaysia. A new curator is chosen every Monday


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Bahrain: Opposition Leader Injured in Protest · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahrain riot police fired at a protest, injuring opposition Al Wefaq Society head Shaikh Ali Salman. Online, this video of the attack is being circulated. The society's Twitter account tweeted [ar] saying the politician was injured, along with another young man, who was hit by a sound grenade fired at close range to his head. Protests started in Bahrain on February 14, 2011.


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Bolivia: Police Mutiny Over Higher Wages · Global Voices
Pablo Andres Rivero

Tension escalated today, Friday, June 22, in Bolivia as more than 4 thousand low-ranked police units joined a mutiny that began the day before demanding higher wages. Netizens are reporting from different Bolivian cities on Twitter under the hashtag #MotínPolicial [es].

author: Pablo Andres Rivero


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Brazil: Is There A Clear Foreign Policy for the Middle East and Africa?  · Global Voices
Richard de Araújo

The twenty-first century has brought important changes to the balance of power which had been in place until then, with obvious ramifications for the international economy and politics. In this context, Brazil has come to dispute its influence in recent years in two regions which were formerly dominated by the central countries: the Middle East and Africa.
The current Brazilian foreign policy in the Middle East
The Middle East attracts global attention for two primary reasons: oil, and its geographical position. The former ensures energy for the production of all that we consume, while the latter represents a natural bridge which has connected Europe, Asia and Africa since time immemorial. In this respect, the Brazilian ambassador Hadil da Rocha Vianna, in the preface of the Ministry of Foreign Relations (MRE) publication “Prospects for a policy of commercial promotion in the Middle East” in 2011, said the following [pt]:
[…] o Governo brasileiro está convencido de que o incremento da parceria com diferentes regiões do planeta deverá assumir caráter central em sua diplomacia comercial, contexto em que a relevância do Oriente Médio é evidenciada.
Visit of the President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Brazil, 2009. Photo from the Ministry of Foreign Relations in Brazil (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
In fact, it was “commercial diplomacy” which prompted the visits of the ex-President Lula to the region in the first year of his mandate as well as the organisation of the first South America-Arab Countries (ASPA) summit meeting in Brazil in 2005. Since then, Brazilian exports to the Middle East have more than quadrupled, rising from US$ 2.3 billion to US$ 10.5 billion, turning the trade balance for the first time in favour of Brazil.
The increase in trading also favoured the Brazilian initiative to try to involve itself in discussions on the peace process in the Middle East, which included the proposal of an agreement to avoid greater sanctions on Iran – as a result of the continuation of its nuclear programme – and the mediation of the Israel-Palestine conflict, both in 2010. According to the MRE, the country had sufficient credentials for this as it is relatively self-sufficient in oil and has no great national security concerns in the region, nor does it have any colonial baggage in the Middle East, factors which would give Brazil the status of a “neutral power”.
As was later seen, Brazil's pretensions did not get much further, due in part to the inexperience of its diplomats with the religious and ideological complexities of the peoples who live in the region, but also due to Brazil's inability to back up the diplomatic decisions taken with guarantees, that is, to apply sanctions to countries which did not respect the agreements.
The South Atlantic and its relations with Africa
The same principle of South-South relations applied by Brazil to the Middle East was also applied to Africa. The ex-President Lula spoke of a “historical divide” between the country and the African continent, by which he was almost certainly referring to the slave trade led by Brazilians. In a text published [pt] on the page “Racismo Ambiental” (Environmental Racism), the writers Luiz Fabbri and Matilde Ribeiro discuss the legacy of this divide in contemporary Brazilian society:
Com efeito, foram traficantes brasileiros, em associação com grandes latifundiários, ou seja, as elites econômicas imperiais, que tomaram as rédeas do tráfico para o Brasil. Embora o país tenha evoluído desde então, os herdeiros dessas elites, e em alguns casos inclusive seus descendentes diretos, continuam tendo um enorme peso na vida política e na economia do país.
Africa Brazil. Photo by Rafael Alvez on Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
In this way, Brazil wishes to repay its historical debt through cooperation agreements involving agriculture, tropical medicine, technical training, energy and social protection. At the same time, Brazilian multinationals and non-governmental organisations have come to include Africa in their plans, making the emerging Brazil coincide with a new Africa.
There are good reasons for this interest. In the last decade, Africa has shown itself to be resistent to economic crises and many countries display strong growth, which explains the investment of Brazilian groups primarily in infrastructure and cooperation on institutional capacity-building.
From trade to politics
Brazil is the only country in Latin America with a foreign policy specifically targeted towards the Middle East and Africa. However, what is striking is that this policy is based on relations of a commercial nature. It was thus for both the Iranian issue and later for the conflict between Arabs and Israelis.
As was seen a short time later, the proposal for the Iranian issue was toppled at the United Nations Security Council and the attempt to mediate between Israelis and Palestinians was practically ignored. On this matter, the Garden Blog expresses [pt] a scathing critique of the Brazilian diplomatic strategy for the Middle East and warns:
A realidade não demorou a lançar um tijolo na nossa testa. Quando se trata de grana e território, países não perdem tempo com licores e charutos. O que importa são definições: amigo ou inimigo, contra ou a favor, sérvio ou bósnio, judeu ou muçulmano. […] Se existe uma região do globo onde os perigos são catastróficos e as recompensas meramente simbólicas, é esta.
President Dilma Rousseff with the Ambassador of Guinea-Bissau, Eugénia Pereira Saldanha Araújo, 2011. Photo Germano Corrêa/MRE on Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
But what does the Brazilian strategy for international engagement consist of? Since the re-democratisation of Brazil in the 1980s, a recurring item on its external agenda has been the demand for reform of the international political and economic order and the Middle East and Africa show themselves to be useful platforms for these ambitions.
But it is in the political arena in which a difference in treatment of the two regions can be observed: while Brazil positioned itself at the UN in defence of dialogue in the Iraninan case, the same thing did not occur when the recent coup d'etat in Guinea-Bissau took place. The country's endeavour seemed to be driven by the visibility offered by each issue, and in this case, the Middle East was unbeatable. What does not seem clear to the Brazilians is that – maintaining the ambition to be an emerging power – sooner or later they will have to take sides and even involve themselves militarily to defend the interests of their corporations and, in the end, economic investment will demand that their politicians take a position.

author: Richard de Araújo


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China: Space Missions or Social Development? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

On June 16, 2012, China successfully launched the Shenzhou-9 capsule, the country's fourth manned space mission. In order to celebrate this national feat, Chinese portal website Sina Weibo, has invited netizens to “write letters to the Shenzhou 9 capsule”. However, some have taken this opportunity to criticize excessive spending on a space mission, while the country is neglecting its basic social needs.
Artist Ah Ping's cartoon on the subject has been shared widely on Sina Weibo. As explained by the China Media Project, the cartoon shows:
Artist Ah Ping's cartoon
a bedraggled teacher in a clearly dilapidated rural school excitedly explains to his students that the successful launch of Shenzhou-9 is a victory for China, even as the students’ own condition tells the story of another China left behind. The teacher holds up a copy of People’s Daily and says: “With the successful launch of Shenzhou-9, our mother country’s space endeavors have taken a giant leap forward. I’d like all of you students to write a commentary about this!”
The sentiment of the cartoon is echoed by many netizens who have pointed out that the space mission is far easier than solving social problems in China [zh]:
@我朝有点威武￼：神九发射再次证明，解决贫困失学儿童问题，全民医保养老等有关民生的大事比登天还难
＠tweetypie: #给神九写封信#上天之后请问还逼人堕胎不？请问酸奶还用皮鞋做不？请问牛奶能放心喝了不？请问孩子们有校车坐了不？请问吃喝还公款不？请问城管还打人不？如果答案是“不”，那么，上个屁的天呀！为百姓做点实事真的有这么难么？？？
@坐在村口的小妖￼：#给神九写封信# 校车不安全，动车不安全，骑个自行车也不安全，赶紧量产了神舟吧，以后就都安全了
The news about the launch of the Shenzhou-9 capsule coincided with Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's delivery of her Nobel Peace Prize speech in Oslo, Norway. On Twitter, most information activists believed that national glory should be built upon people's rights rather than space missions. Dissident blogger Wen Yunchao points out [zh]:
@wenyunchao: 混微博的，为神九上天激动；混推特的，为昂山素季感动；这就是区别。
Tibetan dissent writer Degewa also raises her political concerns by retweeting a Tibetan microblog [zh]:
@degewa: 转藏人微博：神九上天告诉我们，藏人去拉萨的路比登天还难。

author: Oiwan Lam


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Debate Over South Korea Forcing Blizzard to Give Diablo III Refunds  · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

South Korea’s Fair Trade commission raided online game maker Blizzard’s headquarters in Seoul after receiving complaints about the availability of Diablo 3. It has started a debate in a game community website Massively about Blizzard's decision to offer affected users a full refund, but with a few conditions attached.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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Egypt: The Old Man of Tahrir  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptian blogger Zeinobia shares a snippet on the old man of Tahrir. Check out his story here. “I know that in time of Shafik as a president , that old man will be arrested and sent to some mental asylum for believing in mythical thing as #Jan25,” she writes.


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Egypt: Two Camps, One Caricature  · Global Voices
طارق عمرو

I have found no better summary of the current intriguing and backstabbing between the religious establishment on one side and their secularist counterparts on the other than this caricature, distributed first by the Islamists over Facebook, then altered by the other side to show their point of view.
The Islamists’ point of view
The text in the top panel says: “The military are liars” “The revolutionaries are thugs…the martyrs killed themselves…the police are innocent…it was us who protected the revolution…there are no snipers…there are no bullets…”
The text in second panel says: “The military tell the truth” “His mother is American!”
In this cartoon, the Islamists accuse the secularists of never believing anything that the military says but of accepting without question the military backed electoral commission's decision to reject the presidential nomination of the Salafi candidate Hazem Salah Abu Ismail on the grounds that his mother was American.
Many of Abu Ismail's supporters continue to stubbornly oppose the commission's decision while other people's opinions vary widely. Some consider what happened to have been a conspiracy, some are suspicious of certain aspects of the commission's decision, some agree with the commission's findings but want to see Abu Ismail pardoned all the same, and some have disassociated themselves from him as they no longer consider him to be a true Salafi.
The secularists’ point of view
The text in first panel says: “The military tell the truth”    “The revolutionaries are thugs…the martyrs killed themselves…the police are innocent…it was us who protected the revolution…there are no snipers…there are no bullets…”
The text in second panel reads: “The military are liars”    “His mother is American!”
The secularists on the other hand altered the cartoon to reflect their view of the Islamists and their perception that many of them made excuses for the military in the period after the revolution and only rebelled against them after Abu Ismail's disqualification.
It is interesting that both sides consider themselves to have made the greatest sacrifices and to be struggling against the military, and that they both accuse each other of colluding with the authorities and giving up on the revolution. This is particularly interesting as it follows a rise in tensions between the military and the Muslim Brotherhood as previously tensions had been only been seen between the military and the secular revolutionary forces.

author: طارق عمرو


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El Salvador: Has the gang truce worked? · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Mike from Central American Politics looks at the results of the first 100 days of the “peace treaty” between the MS-13 and 18th Street gangs: “As a result of the truce, the country's homicide rate has dropped from approximately 13 per day down to around five. At the same time, it's not clear that other forms of crimes have changed much with conflict reports about increases in kidnappings, extortion, and disappearances.”


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Greece: Immigrant Knifed on Election Night · Global Voices
Asteris Masouras

Violence against immigrants has been steadily mounting in Athens since last year's spate of attacks, especially before the recent elections which saw the extreme right Chrysi Avgi (Golden Dawn) party gaining 18 seats in parliament. A video surreptitiously filmed in an Athens subway station on election night, June 17, and captioned in English, fleetingly shows the knifing of an immigrant by what was reportedly a Chrysi Avgi youth member. Twenty five suspects detained over the incident have been released; two of the party's MPs arrested over an earlier attack, have also been released.

author: Asteris Masouras


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Kuwait: Facebook Contest to Promote Child Safety  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

A mall in Kuwait is holding a Facebook contest to promote child safety in cars. Mark blogs about the initiative here.


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Kuwait: Factory Fire · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Blogger Mathai from Kuwait writes about a summer fires he saw in an industrial area. He shares a photograph.


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Morocco: Kissing the King’s Hands · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Moroccan Jamal Elabiad shares his views on the custom of kissing the King's hands.


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Nagorno Karabakh: Opposition Presidential Candidate Interviewed · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

CivilNet posts a video interview with Vitali Balasanyan [AM/EN], a former military commander and candidate running against the incumbent and defacto president of the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh in an election scheduled for 19 July. Although the vote is not recognized by the international community as legitimate, in another interview the Carnegie Endownment for International Peace's Thomas de Waal says the outcome of the election is anyway predictable [EN/AM]. Both also refer to the long-running conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the breakaway territory.


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Paraguay: President Fernando Lugo is Removed from Office · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

As we reported earlier, the Paraguayan Senate voted to impeach President Fernando Lugo after a hasty trial. The Paraguayan Congress had voted in favor of opening an impeachment trial triggered by his handling of a land dispute between police and campesinos (“farmers”), which left 17 people dead (seven policemen and ten farmers).
A Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) delegation traveled to Paraguay to meet with the government and the opposition who pushed the impeachment trial. UNASUR had warned of a “camouflaged coup” and of the consequences that the President’s impeachment could bring to the country.
Today the Senate, which is controlled by the opposition, voted 39 to 4 that Fernando Lugo is guilty of poorly performing his duties, as reported by Paraguayan newspaper ABC [es]. Moments later, Fernando Lugo said he accepted the impeachment.
Protests immediately broke out outside Congress, denouncing this procedure as a coup d’état. Several Twitter users reported clashes [es] and police repression [es].
Netizens have been actively reacting to today’s developments.
Estela Nuñez Acosta (@Jesudi) [es] quotes the phrase repeated by legislators who voted in favor of the impeachment, and adds:
“Por la condena”.. todavía no puedo creer que algunos denunciados por corruptos y más pronuncien esta frase. #JuicioPolitico
Meanwhile, Alfredo Morinigo (@alfmorinigo) [es] tweets:
#Lugo se merecía el #JuicioPolitico Pero a tan solo 9 meses de la culminación de su mandato no veo la necesidad se hacer esto.
Regarding the trail, Sergio Lahaye (@SergioLahaye) [es] tweeted from the capital, Asunción:
Maybe I don't get it, but so far I have seen no proof that #Lugo is guilty of any of these charges. Just politicians shouting that he is.
While Lara Tomassi (@laratomassi) [es] says:
Se pusieron todos de acuerdo.. Tanto les costaba cuando trataban temas de salud, educación, transporte publico y demás precariedades?
Santiago Escobar (@santesgon) [es] laments what this political crisis means for Paraguay:
Destituyeron a #Lugo, estamos en boca de todos, tenemos riesgo de salir del Mercosur y Unasur. Pueden cerrar las fronteras#DesastreNacional
While analysts and part of the citizenry denounced a coup, others, like journalist Santiago González (@SanTula) [es] argued in favor of the constitutionality of the impeachment process:
El juicio politico es una via constitucional de destitución del presidente. Nuestra constitución es superior a tratados internacionales.
Fernando Lugo’s Vice-President, Federico Franco, will serve as the new President of Paraguay, and Myrian Jara (@My_Jara) [es] argues that the process would’ve been different if Fernando Lugo had conceded his presidency to his Vice-President:
Desde un principio Federico Franco debia haber tomando el mando y Lugo haberle cedido su lugar y de ese modo esto no iba estar pasando.
But others, like Fabiana Silva (@fabisilvarojas) [es] reacted differently to Federico Franco’s new role and his speech on Friday:
Todo eso va a hacer en 9 meses? Discurso fuera de la realidad temporal. Por favor dejá de robar #Franco. Mi presidente no sos, no te elegí.
Federico Franco would serve until 2013, the end of Fernando Lugo’s presidential term. You can read more reports and reactions on Twitter under the hasthags #Lugo, #juiciopolítico (”political trial”), #apoyoaLugo (“I support Lugo”), and #Paraguay.


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Paraguay: President Fernando Lugo Faces Impeachment · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Latin America News Dispatch reports that today, Friday, June 22, “the Paraguayan Senate will decide whether Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo should be impeached for his handling of a violent land conflict that left at least 17 people dead.” Lugo is currently a worldwide trending topic on Twitter.


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Paraguayan Senate Ousts President Lugo · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

On Friday, June 22, the Paraguayan Senate voted in favor of removing President Fernando Lugo from office. Lawmakers brought President Lugo to an impeachment trial after 17 people died in a land dispute last week. Netizens followed the trial throughout the day, posting their impressions and reactions on Twitter using the hashtags #Lugo and #juiciopolítico (“political trial”). Others also used #apoyoaLugo (“I support Lugo”) to show their support for the President.


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Sharing Photos of the Afghanistan You Never See · Global Voices
Omid Bidar

The decades of war and terrorism have placed Afghanistan among the world's most dangerous countries. Despite the progress made by the country since the ousting of the Taliban in 2001, most media writing about Afghanistan focus stubbornly on negative issues such as bomb blasts, suicide attacks, and casualties. Reports in such media feature terrifying pictures that lead most people to never want to visit the war-torn but very beautiful country.
This is why the work of Antony Loveless, a freelance British journalist and photographer, makes so much difference. Since March 2012, Loveless has been posting photos from his trips to Afghanistan on Twitter, using the hashtag he invented, #TheAfghanistanYouNeverSee.
Speaking to Global Voices about the hashtag, Loveless said:
I have a portfolio of over 2,000 images shot on three trips to Afghanistan in recent years and to keep track of them, I conceived of the rather unwieldy hashtag [#TheAfghanistanYouNeverSee].
The Girl in the Lake. Taking a dip to stay cool under the unforgiving midday sun. Image by Antony Loveless, used with permission.
Afghanistan's 'green zone', a stretch of fertile, cultivated ground along the Helmand River Valley. Image by Antony Loveless, used with permission.
The stunning beauty of Kajaki Lake in southern Afghanistan, seen from a Royal Air Force Chinook. Image by Antony Loveless, used with permission.
Loveless’ hashtag was picked up by the Royal Air Force (RAF) Sergeant Alex Ford, who spent six months in 2011 in Afghanistan's Hilmand Province.
Sharing his views about the hashtag, Ford writes in Warfare Magazine:
We have been involved in Afghanistan for almost 11 years now, and it has become commonplace to see images of the war back here. But generally those images tend to be more about the negative side of the conflict there. Pictures of flag-draped coffins driving through Wootton Bassett or out of Brize Norton… a picture of a soldier smiling, but the caption underneath giving the date he died. Sadly, the majority of the British population that supports the lads and lasses on the ground have no real insight into the story of the war out there; the story that is Afghanistan.
Local children ready to chat to Paras leaving the Helicopter Landing Site. Image by Alex Ford, used with permission.
Afghan kids with UNICEF-donated books and pens in a classroom. Image by Alex Ford, used with permission.
The hashtag has become a popular photo tag for those who travel to Afghanistan to share the images that people outside of the country rarely see in conventional media.
An Afghan child seems ready to be on camera. Image by Steve Blake, used with permission.
Lately, Iqbal Ahmad Oruzgani, a photographer from Afghanistan has also begun posting photos under the hashtag to show Afghanistan from a different perspective.
Collective wedding organized for tens of couples in Daikundi, central Afghanistan. Collective weddings have becoming very popular in the country because they help lessen the cost of wedding for each  individual family. Image by Iqbal Ahmad Oruzgani, used with permission.
Young Afghan girls reading a school book in front of a closed shop. Image by Iqbal Ahmad Oruzgani, used with permission.
Winter in Behsud District of Maidan Wardak Province. Image by Iqbal Ahmad Oruzgani, used with permission.
Every photo shared under this hashtag is retweeted by hundreds of Twitter users, giving the photographers a very wide audience.
Speaking to Global Voices, Antony Loveless says:
Countless tweeters have said it’s the best use of a hashtag on twitter, ever, and I am currently in talks to produce a book based on the hashtag after countless people expressed an interest in buying one.

author: Omid Bidar


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South Korea: Taxi Drivers’ Mass Strike  · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

Net user GI Drop wrote about recent taxi drivers’ mass strike in South Korea. And many comments followed the post in the ROK Drop blog.


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Spain: No to Eurovegas in Barcelona Gathers Momentum Online · Global Voices
Joan Antoni Guerrero Vall

El magnat Sheldon Adelson. Font: Euronews
As more details arrive about the possible arrival of the Eurovegas mega project in Barcelona promoted by the American magnate Sheldon Adelson we are also witnessing an increase in people opposed to the initiative that is being felt strongly in social networks. After the president of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Artur Mas, indicated [cat] that a project like Eurovegas and the commitment towards knowledge to develop the economy of the country are compatible, and this in turn has produced a lot of criticism online.
The media have spread the opposition to the project and jointly expressed their feeling about the project in a meeting at the Col·legi d’Arquitectes de Catalunya (COAC) together with different organisations of architects and urban planners who have issued a statement [cat]:
En espera de més informació per part del Govern de la Generalitat de Catalunya sobre el projecte denominat Eurovegas, les tres organitzacions professionals catalanes d’urbanistes i disciplines territorials volem expressar mitjançant aquest document conjunt, en primer lloc la nostra perplexitat sobre el procediment seguit fins ara en aquest tema; en segon lloc, manifestar la nostra defensa de la legitimitat de l’ordenament jurídic i el planejament territorial i urbanístic vigent; i finalment, donar un toc d’alerta sobre el valor de precedent que aquest procediment d’excepcionalitat suposaria en el tractament de les singularitats en l’ordenació del territori i que fins ara, amb aquest abast i escala, resulta inèdit a Catalunya.
While waiting for further information from the Government of Catalonia about the Eurovegas project the three Catalan professional organisations of urban and regional planners wish to express through this document three important issues. The first is the perplexity about the procedures so far regarding this issue and secondly, they want to express the defense of the legitimacy of the legal system and the existing regional and urban planning. And finally to alert the people about the precedent value of this procedure that would exceptional in dealing with singularities in the planning system and that until now in terms of scope and scale is unprecedented in Catalonia.
Criticism has not only come from the urban planners, the church have laso voiced their opposition. The Diocese of Sant Feliu de Llobregat issued a statement [cat] against the Eurovegas project, given the fact that if the project comes to Catalonia it would be on land in the region of the Baix Llobregat area.
L’objecció més greu que posem a aquest projecte és el preu humà que exigeix per a obtenir un hipotètic benefici econòmic. El preu humà, la pèrdua de qualitat humana que suposaria, seria real i profunda, encara que romangui amagada al costat del miratge d’un possible benefici.
The most serious objection to the Project is the human price involved that is required to achieve a hypothetical financial benefit. The human price and the loss of human qualities that this involves would be very real and profound, although this remains hidden next to the mirage of possible benefits.
Meanwhile the deputy mayor of Sant Joan Despí, Elena Embuena, published her opposition [cat] to the project in her blog and she said there have been many lies regarding the initiative:
Primer deien que serien 260.ooo i quan s’ha comprovat que, com a màxim seran 15.000 i en 5 anys, la cosa ja no és tan atractiva. No cal dir que són treballs de poca qualitat, ja que el mateix Adelson ha dit que els dirigents els porta ell d’Amèrica ja preparats.
Firstly they spoke about 260,000 jobs and when this number was checked it was discovered that there would be at the most 15,000 jobs [cat] in a period of five years, making it a lot less attractive. And needless to say these are poor quality jobs, as Adelson himself has already pointed out.
The reaction from Catalans on Twitter has been anything but favourable. Below we have a sample of opinions, but as you will see most are against the project:
@miqueldroid La gent aturada no dóna l’abast Per seguir les solucions i propostes alternatives de feina que proposen els de aturem #Eurovegas
@miqueldroid La gent aturada no dóna l’abast Per seguir les solucions i propostes alternatives de feina que proposen els de aturem #Eurovegas
@maxmudu Questions about Eurovegas http://www.bisbatsantfeliu.cat/noticia.php?id=148 A lucid and prophetic view from the Bishop of St. Feliu. Thanks!
@maxmudu Questions about Eurovegas http://www.bisbatsantfeliu.cat/noticia.php?id=148 #BisbatSantFeliu. A lucid and prophetic view from the Bishop of St. Feliu. Thanks!
@urian1983 Per parlar despectivament del Eurovegas la excusa del meu pare es dir que hi ha darrera un Jueu. Només veu TV3, aixo ho diu tot.
@urian1983 To speak badly of Eurovegas, my father’s excuse is that there is always a Jewish person involved. You only have to watch TV3, that says it all.
@AturemEurovegas Una de les accions que hem decidit pel proper dilluns 25 (visita d'Adelson): cacerolada davant la seu de CiU a Barcelona a les 19h! RT!
@AturemEurovegas One of tha actions planned for next Monday the 25(Adelson’s visit): “cacerolada” in front of the CiU headquarters in Barcelona at 7pm! RT!
In addition to the protests against the project witnessed on Twitter, signatures are also being collected on the Avaaz website [es] to argue against the construction of the mega project in the Llobregat delta.

author: Joan Antoni Guerrero Vall


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Sudan: Netizens Verify Internet Blackout Rumours  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Netizens are watching Sudan closely, following rumours that the Sudanese authorities intend to cut off the Internet – a chilling reminder of Egypt's attempt to silence activists and contain the January 25 revolution when it pulled the plug off the www on January 27.
On Twitter, Jordanian Ali Alhasani reports:
@_AHA: BREAKING: Reports that Internet has been CUT in #Sudan. If true then god be with them because we won't know anything! #SudanRevolts
Four hours ago, Egyptian journalist Salma Elwardany, who is reporting from Khartoum, tweeted:
@S_Elwardany: news that sudan govt might cut off internet #Sudanrevolts
In preparation for the anticipated blackout, a Speak to Tweet service has been set up. Rodrigo Davies tweets about it:
@rodrigodavis: Dear #Sudan, in case #Bashir cuts off the internet, Speak to Tweet using +16504194196 or +390662207294 #SudanRevolts #السودان_ينتفض
Netizens quickly compare notes on who is available online, in Sudan.
Sara Elhassan writes:
@BSonblast: @SudaneseThinker @Usiful_ME is in Sudan and he's still tweeting.
and Israeli Elizabeth Tsurkov adds:
@Elizrael: @JustAmira @SudaneseThinker seeing way too many people tweeting from Sudan for it to be true… See @elizrael/sudanpeeps
Protests broke out at Khartoum University on June 17, when hundreds of students denounced the government’s planned austerity measures. The protests were met with police brutality and arrests, fueling more anger and protests the following days.
CNN's Ben Wedeman comments:
@bencnn: If #Egypt weren't such a 24/7 news tsunami #Sudan might be getting more attention. Sudan has a rich history of rebellion and revolution.
Arab Revolution adds:
@ArabRevolution: Watching #SudanRevolts videos reminds me of how #Yemen started. Tens in the street, but very passionate. All out revolution within weeks.
And the lack of news in mainstream media of what is happening in Sudan is annoying activists. Egyptian blogger Wael Abbas asks [ar]:
Al Jazeera, which provided blanket live coverage of the Egyptian revolution from its epi-centre in Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo, has been credited with ‘exporting’ the revolution spark to the living rooms of homes across the Arab world.


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#SudanRevolts in Wake of Austerity Anger · Global Voices
Maha El-Sanosi

Student protests took place at the University of Khartoum denouncing the government’s planned austerity measures on June 17, 2012. The hundreds of students who were gathered at the university’s main gate were met with heavy police brutality; tear gas was fired and batons were used to suppress the protesters. Later that night police forces raided the female dormitories for the second time in two days to contain protests by female students against high prices.
The following day, on June 18, more protests broke out at the University of Khartoum only to be met with more police brutality. The students were chanting the all too familiar “The people want the fall of the regime.” The crackdown that followed saw several students arrested and injured.
The protests at the main university campus prompted more protests in other campuses, including the Education College in Omdurman and the Agriculture College in Khartoum North. The protesters were cordoned off by police and security forces, and several arrests were made.
On the first day of protests, a speech by president Omar Al-Bashir discussing the government’s austerity plans failed to pacify the angry protesters. The plan included a reduction in fuel subsidies – which has a direct effect on the prices of basic commodities – and significant cuts to government spending. The plans to reduce oil subsidies is aimed at reducing a US$2.5 billion budget deficit after the loss of oil revenues due to the secession of South Sudan in July last year.
Bloomberg’s Sudan correspondent, Salma El Wardany, tweeted:
@s_elwardany: The main reason behind today's #KhartoumUniv protest: Sudan Raises Transport Costs 35% Amid Plan to Cut Fuel Subsidy.
The removal of fuel subsidies will result in a further increase in inflation, already at 30%.
Sudan’s opposition National Consensus Forces promised to launch mass protests against the government’s planned austerity measures but were nowhere to be seen during the two days of protests in the capital.
Sherehan Abdulmutti shares this photograph of protesters on the streets of Khartoum on Twitter
The online Sudanese community tweeted pictures of protestors being met with heavy police bombardment in the university protest and other protests in the streets of Khartoum.
Mohammed Ahmed showed his frustration at the lack of coverage of the events that took place in Khartoum by tweeting:
“u better be kiddin me … Only 2 min of the truth …. Alarabia tv”.
To their desperation, the Sudanese community on Twitter welcomed Al Jazeera’s – and their social media show, The Stream – intentions of covering the protests with open arms and jubilation.
Amru tweeted:
@Shamarat @Sally__Osama @Usiful_ME @ajarabic @ajenglish @ajstream @St_Abdul  Finally some coverage pic.twitter.com/sD64IDsU,
while tagging several media outlets in a desperate attempt to attract attention to the issues on the ground.
Muhammed Hamadain praised Al Jazeera’s The Stream for the late, yet necessary coverage of the protests in Khartoum, saying:
@AJStream you are late but good that we could make u catch up with #السودان_ينتفض #SudanRevolts
Girifna, a non violent movement targeted by government security forces in the past year with many of its members detained for several months, has called for a general protest on 30 June, the 23rd anniversary of the National Congress Party’s (NCP) reign. Girifna’s official Twitter account tweeted:
@girifna calls on all citizens of #Sudan to take to the streets on #June30 & celebrate the final anniversary of NCP's reign #SudanRevolts.
Sudanese online activists and concerned citizens alike are surprised at the late arrival, or lack, of an Arab Spring in Sudan.  Hafez optimistically tags the current protests in Khartoum Sudan’s Arab Spring:
so Sudan is almost 1.5 years late entering its Arab spring, so let's say hello to it #arabspring.
Twitter users from the Egyptian community showed their solidarity and expressed that the time for a revolution in Sudan is now; where this Twitter user noted:
@maysarathustra: Girifna must be aware that time for revolution is NOW, mobilize all people of Sudan to march the streets for revolution#SudanRevolts #Sudan
Shayma Idris, a Sudanese on Twitter, said:
@AJStream  @girifna  @MimzicalMimz third day and we are moving forward to our aim..soon every st. will be FREE from NCP poison.
There seems to be a common sense of optimism that the recent protests in Khartoum will evolve into an all out revolution. The only concern seems to be the lack of professional coverage of the protests. The Sudanese online community believe that media coverage was an integral part of the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia, and are therefore demanding the same for Sudan. With prices of basic commodities on a high, and the removal of fuel subsidies, a revolution is not far-fetched.

author: Maha El-Sanosi


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Tajikistan: The Lost Meaning of National Reconciliation Day · Global Voices
Alexander Sodiqov

June 27 is celebrated in Tajikistan as National Reconciliation Day commemorating the signing of the peace accords that put an end to the civil war in the country. Journalist Olga Tutubalina writes [ru] in her blog that the holiday has lost its meaning: “Our ruling clique has not reconciled with its former adversaries, and there is no unity left within its own ranks”.

author: Alexander Sodiqov


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Belarus: Views From the Ground · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

In his June 20 text for The Jamestown Foundation's Eurasia Daily Monitor, Grigory Ioffe discussed the prevalence of Russocentric tendencies in the cultural, political and economic sectors in Belarus, and, on the other hand, the country's relative lack of isolation from the West, concluding, among other things, that “the cliché-ridden thinking [was] inadequate for understanding Belarus.”
Below are some relevant statistics from Ioffe's article:
[…] According to Demoscope, a Russian demographic portal, about half of all Belarusians have relatives in Russia and one-third of them have close friends there. Only 17.5 percent of Belarusians have never been to Russia, while 51.6 percent have been to Russia multiple times […].
[…]
According to the European Commission for Home Affairs, in 2011, for the second year in a row, Belarus was the world leader in terms of the number of acquired Schengen visas per 1,000 residents. In 2011, Belarusian citizens received 580,000 C-type (qualifying for up to 90 days of stay) Schengen visas (a significant number for a country with a population of less than 10 million) – 150,000 more than in 2010. For comparison, citizens of China (with a population of 1.3 billion) received about one million Schengen visas, whereas citizens of Turkey, a country seven times more populous than Belarus, received only 592,000 visas. With 61 Schengen visas per 1,000 residents, Belarus is far ahead of Russia (36 visas), Ukraine (24 visas) and Georgia (13 visas). Even in absolute, not relative, terms Belarus is the world’s fifth highest recipient of Schengen visas. This is despite the fact that Belarusians pay 60 euros for their Schengen visa – much more than citizens of other post-Soviet countries who pay only 35 euros […]. […]
And here is a selection of some “views from the ground” – recent posts by Belarusian bloggers about the situation in the country and what it is like for ordinary people to live there.
Minsk-based LJ user vandrauniczy loves to travel [ru] and is upset [ru] that there are too many negative stereotypes about his country, blaming it not only on the current regime, but also on some of the exiled representatives of the Belarusian opposition:
[…] 9.5 million people live in the country, and they want to have world stars [come to Belarus], and they want to have all sorts of world brands enter their market, instead of having to travel abroad for that, but these fighters [EU-based members of the opposition] do not understand this, as they have all of it right in front of them in the foreign lands. I totally cannot grasp how such methods would affect the political problem. I do understand, for example, calls not to do business with companies close to [President Alyaksandr Lukashenka], not to invest money in these companies. But it appears as if the goal is to isolate the country as much as possible – that is, if there's no way to get rid of the dictator, let's do everything so that those who do have an opportunity leave for good, and only [the most unworthy ones] remain. Take those calls to refuse to hold concerts [in Belarus]: the thinking is that the people would be deprived of the much-needed entertainment, they'd hate [Lukashenka] for that and would learn that such entertainment is only possible after the [political] changes have occurred. Personally, I feel nothing but rejection and aggression towards these “bright minds” because of their stance.
[…]
I am categorically against isolation of any country in general, and especially of my native country. For example, the lack of tourists [in Belarus] has nothing to do with the lack of places of interest – it is due to the horrible image of the country that has been created in the long 18 years of [Lukashenka's] rule (the lack of investments has the same explanation, but ordinary citizens do not feel the consequences as much). It is actually really clean here and even when I'm walking around the city at 2 AM, I've never faced danger from packs of stray dogs or groups of thugs. There are problems with service. But the main stereotype [that Belarus is a place] “where they can throw us in jail just because we are foreigners” has no justification whatsoever. […]
LJ user rastaev writes [ru] about those who consider emigration to the West a better option than staying in Belarus – if not for themselves, then definitely for their children:
My old friend – once a successful businessman, who [had problems with the authorities], had his business taken away from him unlawfully, and even though he managed to keep his honor, [the ordeal drained him psychologically] […]. He is not participating in any [political activities], isn't going to rallies, isn't trying to prove more than he has proved already.
He's just raising his daughter. A beautiful and bright daughter.
He's hiring foreign language tutors for her, music and drawing teachers, is trying to teach her the basics of programming. In general, he's doing everything so that she could enter adult life as a diversely educated person.
What's so special about it? Many parents do the same. But there's one important little aspect in his educational approach: the words “motherland” and “patriotism” are banned in my friend's house.
My friend is preparing his daughter for a life outside this country. And the daughter knows about it. And she knows why. And since she's a smart kid, she doesn't object.
“In this country, my life has been [wasted], and I don't want my daughter to follow in my steps,” my friend tells me, and I can't argue with him.
[…]
It is sickening here. Unbearably sickening. No matter where you look. […]
It's sickening to watch how boorishness, ignorance and impunity flourish, how the basic human rights are violated, how innocent people are being thrown in jail and how this gets sealed with the “just” court decisions.
[…]
Sickening to understand that it's impossible to change anything, because a person capable of thinking and sympathizing is deprived of a possibility to influence anything here.
When people wish to express pride for a place they live in, they say “in our country.” When they want to emphasize their contempt, they say “in this country.” […]
The country isn't to blame, of course. Like the majority of us, it is a victim, too.
[…]
It is not scary to find oneself in a foreign land in the age of fast internet and comfortable airplanes. What's scary is when your native land turns foreign. When the only way to stay in your motherland is to carry it inside you underneath the distant skies of the strange shores.
LJ user head-of-babulka writes [ru] about those who remain in Belarus, coping with reality by ignoring its ugly aspects, tolerating the regime, refusing to get involved in politics, seemingly unaware that eventually they'll have to face the consequences of the long-term destructive actions of the current regime:
[…] But collision with reality will take place sooner or later. The only question is what conclusions a person who'll hit his forehead on it would draw. Will he be able to see his own guilt behind the dirty floors of small-town hospitals, where severely ill people lie in the hallways, post-stroke patients for whom there's not enough space in hospital rooms, and the medical staff, detached and uncaring? When he sends his kids to schools that used to give excellent knowledge just 15 years ago, will he be able to see how rotten they've become, the degradation and opportunism that have replaced the joy and initiative of the teacher's profession? What will he decide when he notices that [schools are] fully staffed with people who do not give a crap about children's education and, naturally, about their future? Will he be able to notice the link between what he sees and the 20 years of the lack of alternative and the complete annihilation of competition of ideas?
Common sense tells me that no, he won't be able to see it. But I would very much want to believe that this person isn't blind, that he is just living with his eyes shut.
In a comment [be] to this post, LJ user genevien explained his decision not to leave Belarus:
[…] Because for me to stay is also one of the methods to influence the situation, to not detach myself from it.
On his blog, he posted [be] a user-created video for the song “Hray” (“Play”) by the Belarusian band Lyapis Trubetskoy, which is banned in Belarus. The video includes footage of the post-election clashes that took place in Minsk in December 2010, and the blogger posted it on the first anniversary of these events because he considers this song “an anthem for the past year [2010] and this year [2011].” (A similar video for this song, also using the December 2010 footage, was created [be] by LJ user manivid, who has also translated the song's lyrics into English.)

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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China: NGOs Struggle Under the ‘Big Government’  · Global Voices
Gloria Wong

Cui Yongyuan, a well-known China Central Television presenter, recently berated [zh] education officials in the Hunan Province, after they expressed their indifference to helping a rural teacher training project. On Sina Weibo, a Chinese microblogging website, Cui wrote that official correspondence from the Hunan education authority stated [zh] that “[we] do not oppose, support or [plan to] participate in the Rural Teacher Project.”
The program, which aims to select hundreds of rural teachers from Hunan for training, is funded by a private charity run by Cui. In response to these ‘three no’s’, Cui followed with his own furious response, “No effort, no principle, no face!” The entire account was republished on NDdaily [zh].
Big government
Image of Cui's Weibo post that sparked debate.
China has long been perceived as having a ‘big government’ and ‘small society’ but many citizens desire change. Most non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and charities in China are in their infancy and often have to seek government support to get work done.
But according to the 2011 China Charity Donation Report published on people.com.cn [zh], in 2010 more than 58.3% of private donations were channelled back to government or government-controlled charities, and only 1.3% trickled down to grassroots social welfare NGOs.
58.3 percent of private donations were channelled directly or indirectly to the Chinese government in 2010. Image source Digital Zhongguancun.
NGOs struggle
Cui's response quickly turned into a national debate over the relationship between the government and NGOs in China. Some criticized the Hunan authority for not supporting civic efforts while others disagreed with Cui Yongyuan's views.
The University of Hong Kong's China Media Project translated Chinese media researcher Yan Lieshan's opinion on this issue. Yan, who also has experience organizing rural education programs in China, believes that because the education sector is state-controlled, it is impossible to carry out any education-related project without government support [zh]:
没有湖南省教育主管部门的同意，也根本不可能进行。如果“越过”省教育厅，直接找“下边的”市县教育部门，“下边的”教育官员会为难；如果没有教育主管部门的同意，极少有校长敢“擅自”同意他的教师进京。什么叫“不反对”？人家免费帮助培训你辖区的教师，你有什么理由反对？说得倒好像他本来有权力反对，现在宽宏大量“不反对”，小崔们应该谢恩似的， 人家做好事，你凭什么“不支持”？
A question of independence?
In the Chinese daily newspaper Southern metropolis [zh], influential investigative reporter Guo Yukuan (郭宇宽) expressed a different opinion:
NGO是非政府组织，天然就和政府有一定距离，正是因为政府工作有其自身逻辑，NGO独立的探索才有其特别的意义。特别是乡村教师的培训，如果是教育厅牵头组织的，那一定是官方色彩非常浓厚的，民间的探索完全可以是个性化的。
Current affairs commentator Wei Yingjie (魏英杰), echoed Guo's views [zh], emphasizing that NGOs should be an independent sector:
但要搞清楚的是，政府该如何支持民间公益。政府对民间公益活动，自然应持欢迎态度，并提供各种便利。在一些情况下，政府出资购买民间公益组织的社会服务，也不失为弥补政府职能欠缺的一种办法。但是让政府部门发公文，要求下属部门配合民间公益活动，或者直接参与其中，扮演民间公益组织的角色，这肯定不是合理途径。这样做，政府职能与民间公益只会重叠一起，使得民间公益变得面孔暧昧。其结果是，民间公益组织要么变成官方慈善机构，要么沦为政府部门的应声虫。

author: Gloria Wong


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Egypt: The Beer and the State · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptian blogger Amr Gharbeia tweets:”#Egypt invented beer & the state. Either the state came first so we made beer to forget, or beer was so good we didn't see the state coming.”

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Greece: Flash Opera in Metro Station · Global Voices
Veroniki Bacharidi-Krikoni

To honor European Music Day on June 21, the Greek National Opera organized a small flash concert in Syntagma metro station in Athens, in front of hundreds of surprised passengers, young and old, who enjoyed arias from The Barber of Seville and Faust, as well as the Libiamo duet with chorus from La Traviata. Netizens praised this happy incident on Twitter [el]. You can watch the videos here, here and here.

author: Veroniki Bacharidi-Krikoni


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Guyana: Race Relations  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“In the past decade or so this demonic cancer of contemporary Guyana has been intensifying with systematic, contumelious frequency. We, as a nation, have not failed to take notice but we ignore it”: Imran Khan blogs about racism.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Hong Kong: Leading English Newspaper Turns Red? · Global Voices
Ronald Yick

A series of recently leaked email exchanges between the chief editor and sub-editor of a leading English newspaper in Hong Kong, regarding the coverage of mainland Chinese political activist Li Wangyang's staged suicide, has highlighted a deteriorating state of press freedom.
Frustrated over the curtailing of the Li Wangyang story from a 400-word news feature to a 100-word news brief on June 7, 2012, while other local and international news organizations headlined the news, Alex Price, a senior sub-editor for the South China Morning Post (SCMP) wrote an email to Chief Editor Wang Xiangwei, asking for an explanation.
Instead of a professional exchange of opinion, Price found Xiangwei's reply threatening.
The SCMP news brief that sparked controversy. Image source: inmediahk
Leaked emails
The emails were first leaked among SCMP's reporters and editors and made their way to mainstream and citizen media by June 18.
Inmediahk.net [zh, en] translated and reposted the emails, as follows.
On June 7:
Alex Price: Hi Xiangwei … A lot of people are wondering why we nibbed the Li Wangyang story last night. It does seem rather odd. Any chance you can shed some light on the matter?
Wang: I made that decision.
Alex Price: Any chance you say why? It’s just that to the outside world it looks an awful lot like self-censorship…
Cheers
Wang: I don't have to explain to you anything. I made the decision and I stand by it. If you don't like it, you know what to do.
On June 11:
Alex Price: I am concerned by the intimidatory nature of your reply. A very strange editorial decision was made and everyone is wondering why. Many other news organisations splashed with the Li Wangyang story yet we reduced it to a brief. In such circumstances it is quite reasonable to ask the editor why the decision was made. Of course he may decline to say why; there could be any number of reasons, and he may well want to keep them to himself. But if the question was polite and reasonable than [sic] I see no reason why the response should not be equally polite and reasonable. As it stands, I am concerned. I am now worried that anyone who wishes to raise issue with an editorial decision – no matter how much that decision appears to go against good journalism – will be told to shut up or leave. I am further concerned that my justifiable concern on this matter as a journalist may lead to the termination of my employment.
I look forward to a chat where you can put my mind at rest.
Cheers.
Wang: I don't think my answer is anyway intimidatory and I don't know why you have formed your opinion.
Alex Price: Xiangwei; A good man died for his cause and we turned it from a story into a brief. The rest of Hong Kong splashed on it. Your staff are understandably concerned by this. News is printing what someone else does not want printed. Everything else is public relations. Please explain the decision to reduce the suspicious death of Li Wangyang to a brief. I need to be able to explain it to my friends who are asking why we did it. I'm sorry but your reply of “it is my decision, if you don't like it you know what to do” is not enough in such a situation. Frankly it seems to be saying “shut up or go”. The SCMP has subsequently splashed on Li Wangyang, had a focus page devoted to the matter, plus editorials, two columns by yourself and other stories. Yet on the day it counted we reduced the story to a nib.
Journalistic ethics are at stake. The credibility of the South China Morning Post is at stake. Your staff – and readers – deserve an answer.
I look forward to hearing it.
Cheers.
Accusations of self-censorship
Protester holding banner stating [zh] “Demand Wang to apologize; Shame on SCMP.” Image source: inmediahk.net
Wang has denied that he downplayed the news in his letter to SCMP staff on June 20, but concerned citizens believe that SCMP is guilty of self-censorship.
The self-censorship problem in Hong Kong's mainstream press has widely been acknowledged and studied [pdf].
On June 21, two political groups, the League of Social Democrats and Democratic Party protested outside SCMP's office, burning their newspapers.
SCMP tainted by red?
The undercurrent of the scandal is related to Wang Xiangwei's close ties with China. Wang's promotion to SCMP's chief editor was widely reported to be tainted with a mysterious “red” color. According to a commentary from Asia Sentinel:
Preceding the naming of its first mainland editor, Wang Xiangwei, the South China Morning Post's 33-year old chief executive officer Kuok Hui-kwong, daughter of tycoon Robert Kuok, was granted a rare one-on-one audience in Beijing with Wang Guangya, the director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office. That has sent a chill through Hong Kong’s media watchers. Apple Daily, the feisty and fiercely independent local Chinese newspaper declared that SCMP has “gone red.”
A graduate of the China Academy of Social Sciences's  journalism school and the Beijing Foreign Studies University, Wang has 20 years experience working in the media. He joined SCMP in 1996 as a China business reporter, and was later promoted to China editor in 2000 and deputy editor in 2007.

author: Ronald Yick


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Hungary: New Freedom of Information Tool · Global Voices
Atlatszo.hu

Vastagbőr blog [hu] is promoting the use of atlatszo.hu's new website KiMitTud [‘WhoKnowsWhat’], which allows users to send freedom of information requests to any institutions responsible for spending public funds in Hungary. Vastagbőr wrote: “Those who have ever asked themselves these questions, ‘I wonder how much this cost?’ or ‘Who has been contracted to do this?’ should not wait but try to find out the answers themselves!” KiMitTud runs on Alaveteli.org’s engine and follows the examples of the UK-based WhatDoTheyKnow and AskTheEU, which is promoting transparency in the EU.


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Pakistan: Puns and Pokes at New Prime Minister · Global Voices
Sahar Habib Ghazi

Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, a politician from the PPP, Pakistan’s ruling party, was sworn in as Pakistan’s 25th Prime Minister late on Friday 22 June, 2012.
His oath followed a parliamentary vote held a few hours earlier, where he won 211 votes. His contender, Mehtab Abbasi from the PML-N, an opposition party, received 89 votes.
Social media has been abuzz with puns and pokes ever since Ashraf was put forward as a potential candidate on Wednesday 20 June.
Ashraf, a PPP party loyalist and a good friend of the country's current President Asif Ali Zardari, was previously in charge of Pakistan’s widely unpopular Water and Power Ministry.
Abbas Nasir, a veteran Pakistani journalist tweeted:
@abbasnasir59: Sorry PPP. Even if you only want to punish him via the impending disqualification for the loadshedding mess. Not Raja.
Raja Pervez Ashraf's first address as Prime Minister to the National Assembly. Image source Demotix.
Pakistan has been suffering a grave power crisis. Forced power outages or ‘load-shedding’ has been in place ever since the current ruling party came into power in 2008. Controversial Rental Power Projects, which were supposed to meet Pakistan’s growing energy needs, have been at the center of the crisis and were recently banned by Pakistan's Supreme Court.
Playing off these projects, many Pakistanis started referring to the new prime minister as ‘Raja Rental’ on Twitter:
@Mahamali05: Raja Rental takes oath as the new Prime (crime?) Minister of Pakistan
@shakirhusain: Hamid Mir showing clips of Raja Rental from 2008 where he says that in 2009 load shedding will be eradicated.
@irfanam: @shakirhusain he was right actually as previously it was light going for a while now its coming for a while
@tammyhaq: Yes he knows how to keep us in the dark “@jhaque_: I think Raja Pervez Ashraf is a fitting PM for #Pakistan”
Forced outages last up to 18 hours a day in some urban areas and up to 22 hours in some rural areas. With temperatures soaring at 115F in parts of Pakistan, the power crisis has become the biggest woe for most Pakistanis.
But the PPP's chairman – President Asif Ali Zardari – had few choices of candidates to put forward for the post, after the former Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani was disqualified by the crusading Chief Justice of Pakistan earlier this week.
@khalidkhan787: #PityTheNation which elects new PM #RajaRental but the strings controlled behind the scene by President Zardari
Gilani was disqualified for refusing to send a letter to the Swiss government requesting that they comply with Supreme Court orders to re-open graft cases against President Zardari. The 2013 elections are around the corner and Gilani only had a few more months in office. If he was not dismissed, he would have been the only democratically elected prime minister in Pakistan's history to complete a full term.
President Zardari first nominated Makhdoom Shahabuddin, another controversial PPP politician for the post. But as soon as he filed his nomination papers, an arrest warrant was issued in his name. Shahabuddin, a former Health Minister, is at the center of a pharmaceutical scam investigation in Pakistan.
Many believe that the Supreme Court will soon disqualify Ashraf  as well, after he refuses to comply with court orders, sparking another round of clashes between the country’s activist judiciary and this fragile civilian government. Islamabad-based journalist Omar Waraich, who writes for the Independent and Time, tweeted:
@OmarWaraich: When does the lease on Raja Rental's premiership run out?
Other commenters said:
@shahidsaeed: Everyone giving Raja 9-15-30 days, might be realistic based on your opinion on circumstances, but everyone gave Zardari 30-60-90 days too !!
@majorlyprofound:Pakistan has a rich tradition of democracy with many many Prime Ministers having served the country. Might be the first to reach 100.
Pakistan has had a rough democratic history. It has been under military rule for half its existence. In 64 years, the country has had 4 military rulers and 25 prime ministers, many of whom were dismissed following accusations of corruption.
While the military has often been accused of interfering in democratic processes in Pakistan, this time it seems to be an activist judiciary. Mohammad Hanif, a well-known Pakistani journalist and author, writes in the Guardian:
The military, indeed, sulking after a series of humiliations at home and abroad, is watching from the sidelines. Some would say it's even gloating at the prospect of civilian institutions cutting each other down to size, traditionally its job. There was a time in Pakistan when people joked: why hire a lawyer when you can buy a judge? Now you can't buy them because they are too busy shopping for a place in history.’

author: Sahar Habib Ghazi