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Bermuda: 2010 Census · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Response to the government's 2010 census has been poor, and it's no wonder, according to Vexed Bermoothes: “Simply put:  many people do not trust our Government to have this much detail of their lives in one place.”


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Botswana: White Baboons of Botswana · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

A photo of white baboons of Botswana: “Where I use to work in Botswana, down south in the Tuli Block, we did some work monitoring the baboons troops that roosted in the area. One baboon was bright white, with a dark face, hands, feet and tail. We appropriately named him Snowball!”

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Brazil: Net Neutrality or Diversity in Jeopardy · Global Voices
Manuela Tenreiro

Blogger Paulo Teixeira writes about the history and value of net neutrality while opposing to  Google-Verizon's “jeopardy deal”. He explains how Internet as we know it promotes creativity and  cultural diversity, and calls readers to become  active on defeating the increased power of big corporations.

author: Manuela Tenreiro


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Brazil: Transparent Copyright Legal Consultation · Global Voices
Manuela Tenreiro

The deadline for submission of proposals and suggestions [pt] by Brazilian citizens concerning the reform of copyright law ended on August 31st. The online public consultation was hacked in a blog for transparency [pt] which illustrates the results.


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Chile: Police Reportedly Use Rubber Bullets in Student Protest · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Natalia Muñoz reports [es] that during a peaceful student protest in the University of Chile, police used tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets. Students from the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism have been on strike since last Thursday, protesting against “the privatization agenda of the Ministry of Education.”

author: Silvia Viñas


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China: A Lesson in Dishonesty · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

PH translated a tweet about a class headmaster's tactics in identifying the source of dissenting opinions in the classroom.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: Tale of a murdered microblog  · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

David Bandurski from CMP translated Wu Danhong's account of the senseless murder of his sina microblog. Wu is an assistant professor at China University of Political Science and Law.


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Costa Rica: Promoting Tourism Through Social Media · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

In the blog Fusil de Chispas, Cristian Cambronero writes [es] about the use of social media by the Costa Rica Tourism Board. The board is using Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to promote the brand “Visit Costa Rica” and increase tourism in the country.


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Cuba: Internet Access · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Luis Felipe Rojas “can’t help but wonder about how, in the 21st century, an island that is so close to the country which exhibits the greatest digital advancement, can be traveling in the opposite direction.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Does Fiji’s media decree affect organization websites?   · Global Voices
Michael Hartsell

At the end of July, blogger Jonathan from Oceanic: User experiences from the South Pacific, discovered that bloggers and website administrators are effected by Fiji's new media laws compelling media outlets to register with the government.

author: Michael Hartsell


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Dominica: Miracle Lake  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Dominica Weekly highlights “a real beauty spot” on the island that is “barely 13 years old.”


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Iran: Internet connection was interrupted · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Several bloggers such as Andishe Sabz and news sites reported  [fa] that the internet connection in Iran was interrupted on Thursday as Iranian regime fears the demonstration in “Quds Day”. Iranina bloggers also reported that access to Gmail and Yahoo messanger became very difficult.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran: Opposition leader under attack · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Basij forces and pro government elements attacked Mehdi Karroubi‘s house in last two days. Karroubi,a reformist leader, has been a critical voice against Iranian government. Watch the film here.


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Jamaica, U.S.A.: Worrisome  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Jamaican diaspora blogger Geoffrey Philp is beginning to worry about the U.S.A.


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Japan: What’s wrong with being a bookshop browser? · Global Voices
Scilla Alecci

Twitter users debate [ja] on tachiyomi, the (very common) habit of standing and reading books or magazines in shops without necessarily buying them.

author: Scilla Alecci


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Mozambique: Violent Unrest, Frustration in Maputo · Global Voices
Janet Gunter

The capital of Mozambique, Maputo, woke to uncertainty this morning, after yesterday's rioting resulted in a number of deaths. (The numbers reported by mainstream media vary between 4 and 10). Disturbing photos of one of the school children shot dead yesterday were posted on Facebook by newspaper A Verdade [The Truth, pt].
The site continues to be an excellent online source of information. Its “Citizen Reporter” site, using the Ushahidi crowdsourcing platform to receive SMS reports, has registered new incidents on what it is calling “Day 2″, including reports from the town Chokwé, north of the Capital.
Other newspapers and some alternative media were apparently out of circulation today, as Carlos Serra [pt] observes
Problemas com dois jornais: “Savana” e “Canal de Moçambique”, o primeiro a braços com falta de papel e dificuldades em fazer circular os camiões, o segundo impresso mas sem que seja possível transportá-lo e vendê-lo, acrescendo que poucos compradores há hoje na cidade e o seu portal está temporariamente inoperacional.
Used with CC license by Flickr user sharonpe
Early Thursday morning, residents like Sharon Peters, reported virtually no car traffic and little foot traffic on the streets of Maputo. She posted photos of empty streets from her rooftop.
It appears military patrolled the streets overnight, and police attempted to keep open major roads in the morning, but residents are reporting flare ups in the outlying poorer neighborhoods of Maputo. And there are reports of sporadic shooting from Twitter, like from freelancer Natstasya Tay
Out in Mafalala tyres are burning again. Gunshots this morning, heavy police presence. Ambulance sirens going crazy.
In the meantime, Amnesty International has issued a statement calling on the police to only use live ammunition in defense of human life.
Today, Maputo residents were waiting for another address by President Armando Guebuza. Many were not satisfied with the speech he read on television yesterday, such as @BeBe_da_DLimpo who yesterday wrote that “the President isn't understanding how serious the matter is” and @itzDenisse who criticizes the lack of spontaneity in his speech [pt]. Her appeal for #ResignMrPresident is being shouted on the streets, as Moçambique para Todos blog [Mozambique for All, pt] reports.
Editor Jeremias Langa boldly stated his view in his O País newspaper, reproduced on Reflectindo Sobre Moçambique blog [Reflecting on Mozambique, pt]
O Chefe de Estado é o farol orientador de um país, nos bons e nos maus momentos. É ele a voz apaziguadora e tranquilizadora das tensões sociais. Ontem, não o foi. Não soube sê-lo. Porque veio tarde demais a sua mensagem. Tudo porque, ontem, o nosso Presidente, no auge da crise, reuniu o partido no lugar do seu governo. Ou seja, mostrou que confia mais no partido que no próprio governo que lidera, quando se trata de encontrar soluções para o país.
Bloggers are still working to digest and fully analyze the causes of the riots, which were triggered by increases in the cost of living. One thing is clear: it has caused a profound questioning of the country's political, social and economic situation.
On one hand the country is considered by many as a model for development in Africa. On the other hand, Mozambique has been living a sharp currency devaluation, which together with a policy that favors imports rather than the growth of the local economy, leads to huge social problems. As Vera comments [pt]:
Moçambique à semelhança de outros países de Áfica tem pessoas que vivem numa pobreza extrema e o comércio, indústria,exportações,importações estão nas mãos de uma elite ligada aos meios políticos, aos grandes senhores.
Moçambique importa quase tudo o que consome da África do Sul e isso faz pensar… que um país outrora próspero em alimentos, fruta, hoje não tenha nada.
Não tem porque as gerações que ficaram não sabem ou não podem cultivar a terra… porque a instabilidade e os roubos não lhes asseguram a colheita do que plantarem… não convêm aos grandes senhores que a população encontre formas de sobrevivência que não passem por eles.
Moçambique é um mundo de oportunidades… sim, mas de risco máximo da própria vida. Onde existem as oportunidades é aí mesmo que elas “findam” porque a vida de quem quer fazer alguma coisa fica comprometida pela insegurança.
É claro que a fome, a miséria geram a revolta. Estão em jogo as regras mais elementares de sobrevivência humana.
As night falls, uncertainty remains in Maputo, as Bibiana Gomes writes in her blog [pt]
Escrevo este texto dia 2 de setembro, às 17horas aproximadamente…e acabo de ouvir mais tiros. Ainda não acabou, nem é possível prever quando ou como vai acabar.  Talvez os tiros cessem, os focos de incêndios se apaguem, mas em um país onde o espírito da guerra ainda paira, infelizmente, parece que a violência é uma tentativa de ser ouvido, de clamar por liberdade. (…)
Espera-se que até amanhã, Maputo volte a normalidade, pelo menos aparentemente. Mas depois das manifestações, temos uma pista do que se passa na mente do povo, do grito reprimido e do potencial de mobilização dessa sociedade.

author: Janet Gunter


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Mozambique: When people don’t have bread to eat · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Following reports of riots and burning tyres and looting shops in protest of the rising bread price in Mozambique, Administrator of Development Talks blog says: “If people do not have bread to eat, something is seriously wrong in a country.”


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Nepal: Media Advocating For Monarchy? · Global Voices
Rezwan

Pradeep Kumar Singh questions whether the Nepali Media is trying to restore monarchy in the country.

author: Rezwan


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Nigeria: Interesting church names  · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Jeremy posts photos of interesting church names in Nigeria such as LABARATORY CHURCH OF GOD and RUN FOR YOUR LIFE INT. CHAPEL


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Pakistan: Another Attack On The Shiites  · Global Voices
Rezwan

Hina Safdar at Chowrangi reports that  “yesterday evening just after iftar three blasts ripped through the Yaum-e-Ali (RA) procession in Lahore.” Around 30 people died and 200 were wounded.


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Peru: Celebrating 20 years of ‘Nubeluz’ · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón

Peruvians who were children in the early 1990s may remember the very popular TV show Nubeluz. In those years, Peru was going through very hard times: terrorism attacks made the news frequently, the population was used to constant blackouts and, on top of that, hyperinflation made life even harder.
In that context, Saturday and Sunday mornings were lightened up with an unprecedented concept for Peruvian TV. Nubeluz was based on three basic features: 1) it was not supposed to be a TV show but a children's party (the word “program” was forbidden); 2) the party was held on a magic cloud that went from one place to another commanded by Glufo, who had two female friends named “dalinas” (glufic language) and; 3) all the games had to involve cloud elements.
In Spanish, “nube” means cloud. So, literally, the show's name could be translated as ‘light cloud’.
This week, Nubeluz is celebrating its 20th anniversary, and some bloggers reacted to the occasion. A page on Facebook [es] dedicated to the show is also celebrating the anniversary.
From Todo pasado (no) fue mejor [es], blogger Sandro Escandón sums up [es] the context under which children watched the show in Peru:
[…] mientras nuestros padres (los mios y los de los de mi generacion) se debatian entre las colas,la hiperinflacion y el terrorismo sanguinario, la mayoria de nosotros,los niñas y niños de mi generacion, nos sumerguiamos en esa nube,cual burbuja de cristal contra el horrible presente y la realidad nacional que muchos desconociamos en su exacta magnitud, 5 horas-de 8 am a 1 pm- en ese mundo magico llamado “el mundo glufico” o “Nubeluz” en el que el capitan Glufo nos trajo a las dalinas,las cindelas y los golmodis un 9 de septiembre de 1990.
Blogger Jhon Núñez Sandman, from the blog Diario de un soltero [es] in his post “Yo fui nubecino” (I was a nubecino) shares how he felt when his father told him he had tickets to see Nubeluz live:
Año 1993, aquella infancia espectacular que nunca volverá, que se llevo lo mejor de mi niñez y me dejo los mas hermosos recuerdos.
[…]
Mi padre, una mañana llego y me dijo que tenia pases para ir a ‘Nubeluz’, salte tanto que no me lo creía, cuide las entradas como oro, las puse debajo del colchón, para que los traviesos de mis hermanos no las tocaran.
Year 1993, that spectacular childhood that will never come back, that took away the best of my early years and left me the most beautiful memories.[…]
My father, came one morning and told me he had tickets to go to ‘Nubeluz’, I jumped so much, I couldn't believe it, I took care of the tickets as if they were golden, put them under my mattress, so my naughty brothers wouldn't mess around with them.
Nubeluz included a whole set of new words [es]. According to this “glufic” vocabulary, “nubecino” was the child at the TV studio and “nubetor” was the one who saw the show from home.
Children at Nubeluz show in 1990s. Image from Flickr user medea_material used under an Attribution 2.0 Generic Creative Commons license
There were lots of songs with messages for children and their parents. Maybe the most remembered is ‘Papi, deja de fumar’ (Daddy, stop smoking), that recommended [es]:
Papi, papi, papi, deja de fumar
Cuando me das un beso no puedo respira
Deja ese cigarro si me quieres de verda
No ves que a mí también me hace mal ¡basta ya!
The blog Ser peruano [es] posts pictures of the reunion of the cast and production crew, and shares some feelings from the cast:
Recordaron los miedos que enfrentaban en cada gira fuera del país ” En el estudio nos enfrentabamos a una cámara, pero cuando salíamos fuera, en las grandes presentaciones, en donde nos esperaban miles de personas, nos daba un poco de miedo, en realidad salíamos casi aterradas. Nos dábamos cuenta recién el éxito que tenía el programa y las miles de personas que lo seguían.”
But all the fun started to end when gray clouds entered this magic world. Mónica Santa María, known as the ‘dalina chiquita’ (little dalina) committed suicide in March 1994. Her character was replaced with other girls who, along with Almendra Gomelsky, the other dalina, did their best to carry on with all the fun.
The magic world of Nubeluz ended in 1996, but those who were children back in the 1990s may still hear “grántico, palmani, zum”, (similar to “ready, set, go!” in glufic language) when the fun is about to start.

author: Gabriela García Calderón


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Philippines: “Merry Christmas” is top twitter topic · Global Voices
Karlo Mongaya

It's just the beginning of September but already “Merry Christmas” and other Yuletide season-related comments are becoming the top twitter trend today. Many around around the world are wondering about the early Twitter Christmas greetings:
jracineui: The President just announced the end to combat operations in Iraq, yet Jessica Alba and ‘Merry Christmas’ are top trends…
Brian_GriffinFG: Twitter: The only place where people celebrate Christmas in August. Merry Christmas everyone.
Lord_Voldemort7: #somewhereintheworld confused people are tweeting Merry Christmas. It'll be a gift if I even let them live until Christmas.
BiebersBusiness: You know the world's gone crazy when Merry Christmas and Sydney Dalton are TT's.
Filipino tweeps explains this in relation to the world's longest Christmas season in the Philippines:
markdariel: 115 days to go before Christmas day here in the Philippines! :)) Merry Christmas to all. Feel the cold breeze of air these “Ber” months! :))
BlauEarth: Merry Christmas☺ September na pala. In the Philippines, it's the start of d Christmas season. I bet you Escueta started playin’ Jingle Bells
briankingkong: The world's astounded that Merry Christmas is trending. What they should know is that September's start of Christmas in the Philippines. :))
aaselma: I guess Filipinos are behind the numero uno trending topic “Merry Christmas” because in the Philippines, Christmas begins in September. :)
GVO Author Tonyo Cruz explains this in more detail:
Yes, folks, the world's longest Christmas has officially started in the Philippines today, Sept. 1, and we Filipinos expect radio stations to begin playing Christmas carols, and the malls to be donned with Christmas decorations. We would be remiss as Twitter users if we Filipinos would not spread Christmas cheer throughout Twitter also starting today.
Why the extraordinarily long Christmas? Nothing fancy about the reason, except that we equate Christmas to the arrival of the “-ber” months, the months that end with (-ber), which used to herald cold weather (brrr…).
There will be a brief pause to our Christmas celebration, when the nation marks Undas on Nov. 1. But Christmas festivities are expected to resume the next day.
Philippine Christmas goes on high gear starting on Dec. 16 when Catholics start a “novena” of special masses (Misa de Gallo) every day at 3am. On Christmas Eve, there's the Misa de Aguinaldo at around midnight.
With the long “preparation”, no wonder Christmas Day is the most anticipated, most joyous day in this land of feasts. No feast could rival Christmas in the hearts and minds of Filipinos.

author: Karlo Mongaya


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Restoring Fiji’s mangroves · Global Voices
Michael Hartsell

The blog Fiji Shark Diving explains how the group created the project Mangroves for Fiji, which will offset their carbon footprint and help restore the country's disappearing mangroves, protecting  land from soil erosion, serving as fish nurseries and creating a great carbon sink.


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Russia: Beslan 6 Years On · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Marina Litvinovich (LJ user abstract2001) reports (RUS) from Beslan on the sixth anniversary of the 2004 school hostage crisis, posting photos of the school building back in 2004 and now, and of the commemoration held there in the evening of Sept. 1. “The town is also empty,” she writes. “School year doesn't start until Sept. 6.”

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Russia: Blogger Exposes Putin’s Numerous Law Violations · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

Blogger ibigdan mentions [RUS] at least 4 public law violations conducted by Vladimir Putin within 2 months, including his famous putting out the fire while co-piloting a plane [EN], and Lada Kalina [EN] trip.

author: Alexey Sidorenko


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Russia: Bloggers Help to De-anonymize Violent Policemen · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

Active campaign raised by the bloggers outraged by a brutal policemen who  assaulted a protester [RUS] led to the results. First, bloggers found out policeman's identity, then the criminal case had been started. Finally the policeman came by himself to the Prosecutor's office to witness on the case, corrupcia.net reported [RUS].


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Russia: “Six Years Without the Children” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Two more posts from Beslan – here and here (RUS) – by Marina Litvinovich (LJ user abstract2001): “Six years without the children… Six years without the truth…”


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South Africa: Secrecy legislation is sickening · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Reactions to the proposed media tribunal bill in South Africa: “The government’s proposed secrecy legislation was a “sickening” throwback to the apartheid era, writer André Brink said on Tuesday 31 August 2010.”


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South Korea: Bloggers Chase After Fat Doughnut Burger · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

The Doughnut Hamburger that comes with a glazed donut in place of the bun and chocolate covered bacons, landed South Korea with a new nickname “폭탄버거”(:Bomb Burger as in 1,000 calorie bomb). Not a few curious bloggers have already posted reviews[kr]; some disappointed at the burger’s reduced size to 1/3 of the original.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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South Korea: Live Weather Report Via Twitter During Typhoon · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

Twitter has scored again in South Korea with a live weather report during a typhoon that pounded Korean Peninsula today. The typhoon Kompasu battered the country immediately prior to and during rush hour — shattering glass, uprooting trees, tearing down walls and even destroying a stadium. People have tweeted to notify others which routes are not blocked by trees and flying signboards and have (re)tweeted recent updates and uploaded photos of chaotic scenes.
Typhoon Kompasu (compass, in Japanese) was in the  Seoul metropolitan area for only five hours, but it hit hard enough to cause the devastating scenes pictured below. The strongest tropical storm to hit the area in 15 years, has paralyzed metro operations, caused massive power outages, and forced airlines to cancel or divert. As the typhoon reached its maximum strength at around 5 to 6 am local time, tens of thousands of commuters encountered its destructive power on their way to work. These photos were tweeted by citizen journalists to show others what the storm has done around their location and give tips on road conditions.
@demoon84: 종합운동장 펜스도 태풍 앞엔 어쩔 수 없네여 http://twitpic.com/2kclkp
@demoon 84: 길거리는 아수라장입니다… 태풍 정말 무섭네여
@runintosky: 맞은편 아파트 창문이랑 난간이 다 떨어졌어요..
@tomato 1981 : 홈플러스 간판 떨어졌어요.
@drumboy83: 압구정 갤러리아 앞 상황입니다 참고하세요 http://twipl.net/AklW
Many shared tips on traffic conditions;
@taiji410: #gangnam_ 은마파출소에서 휘문고올라가는 언덕 우측 가로등이 쓰러져있었는데… 아까 6시30분쯤… 도로 절반을 막아서 중앙선 넘어 올라갔네요~ 흐아~ 지금은치웠을래나… http://yfrog.com/3dn1qjj
@TheAPLLL: 7호선도 청담대교 건널때 서행하느라 모든 역에서 1분씩 정차하네요…
@cocmoon: RT @Twit_Korea: 강풍에 아파트 베란다 유리창이 깨지고 있습니다. 신문지에 물을 적셔서 유리창에 붙이면 깨짐이 방지된다네요. -재난대책본부 #태풍_ 곤파스 http://twitpic.com/2kcl4c
With almost all above-ground sections of the city's subway lines out of service, commuters have undergone the worst transportation disaster in years, but Twitter has made it more manageable for some.


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Sri Lanka: Mass Animal Slaughter Shows Cruelty On Animals In Public · Global Voices
Rezwan

Natalie Soysa at In the Lost Queen's Eyes reports that the slaughter of 300 goats and a countless number of chickens as a sacrifice to Hindu Goddess Kali was carried out in Chilaw, Sri Lanka, amidst protest from animal rights activists. The activists bore witness to the cruel method of the sacrifice, which was done in public.


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U.S.V.I.: Now for Gaston?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Live De Life is concerned about “Tropical Storm Gaston, soon to be Hurricane Gaston.”


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Venezuela: Ten Commandments for Caracas · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Caracas, Ciudad de la Furia (Caracas, City of Fury) is a blog dedicated to the city of Caracas. Its blogger, Mirelis Morales Tovar, recently came up [es] with ten commandments for Caracas.


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Africa: Doing business with a cell phone · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

This is how Africans are doing business with cell phones: “In cities across Africa, being an entrepreneur requires no office, business card or investors. All it takes is a cell phone…”


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Africa: That African Girl · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

THAT AFRICAN GIRL: LEARNING TO LIVE BETWEEN WORLDS  is a blog written by African women about their childhood.


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Azerbaijan: World’s highest flag hits a snag · Global Voices
Aygun Janmammadova

Aaron in Azerbaijan [EN] posts photographs of the world's tallest flag pole newly erected in the center of Baku, the capital of the oil-rich republic. However, d'Effektiv blog [AZ] reflects on the fuss around the record-breaking construction unveiled two days ago ahead of an official visit by the Russian president and says that when the flag was at half-mast it was tragically torn and damaged by strong wind. Posting a video of the damaged flag, the blog then goes on to sarcastically note that a replacement flag apparently also met the same fate. Əqrəb [AZ] also has coverage including photos.

author: Aygun Janmammadova


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Bermuda: Economic Reality  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Politics.bm says that “with…the construction industry in a big slow down [and] unemployment up to about 5%, the reality of the PLP's economy is really starting to bite.


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Cambodia: Interview with an anonymous blogger · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Tharum Bun interviews the blog author of ‘Details are Sketchy’ who has been blogging about Cambodia for many years. The interview reveals some information about the Cambodian blogosphere

author: Mong Palatino


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Caribbean, U.K.: Notting Hill 2010 · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The Caribbean Review of Books takes a look at this year's Notting Hill Carnival celebrations.


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Chile: Isabel Allende Wins Chilean National Prize for Literature · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

On Thursday it was announced that, after much criticism, Isabel Allende was the winner of the 2010 Chilean National Prize for Literature. Julio Suarez Anturi thinks [es] that the criticism she receives from other writers and intellectuals who think she did not deserve the price is born of envy.


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Colombia: Children’s Literature Author Jairo Aníbal Niño Dies · Global Voices
Cati Restrepo

Last Monday, Jairo Anibal Niño, one of the most-loved children's literature authors in Colombia, passed away. The author left behind work that was characterized by the simplicity of his writing and by a style that captivated children and adults, as Luisa Margarita Henao and Felipe Contreras explained [es] in the blog Biblioteca Octavio Arizmendi Posada:
Jairo Aníbal Niño encontró su vocación a través de la mirada inocente y curiosa de los niños de todas las edades. Supo plasmar esas inquietudes, sentimientos y frustraciones que todos tuvimos a los 10 años y que con el pasar de la vida, de algún modo siguen.
Santa bárbara Prensa recorded [es] the news saying that:
Con una desagradable noticia despertó el país entero ante la terrible noticia de la muerte del escritor Jairo Aníbal Niño en la madrugada del pasado lunes en un hospital de Bogotá en el que había sido internado luego de perder una batalla contra el cáncer de próstata que venía padeciendo, según informaron los medios de prensa y familiares cercanos.
Drawing of Jairo Anibal Niño by Johnny Julián González, used with his permission.
On Twitter [es], during the past week users who followed his writing posted their reactions to his death. A Mario Carvajal (@astromario) was surprised by the news while Catalina Franco (@catalinafrancor) thinks that now only a few good authors are still alive:
Siento que cada vez quedan menos de esos grandes nombres de las letras,aunque quedarán para siempre. Ahora ya tampoco está #JairoAnibal Niño
Carito Suárez (@caritosuarezm) linked to the article “El sueño de un poeta,” (The Dream of a Poet) and Fabián Mendoza (@fabianmendoza1) shared a cartoon of the author's face:
Adios a Jairo Anibal niño y un aplauso por todo su legado! http://twitpic.com/2jpl87
Likewise, Mauricio Duque A. (@elpalabrista) linked to a podcast with the piece, “La boda de Estebana Hidalgo y Valentín Alcázares” (The Wedding of Estebana Hidalgo and Valentín Alcázares):
Jairo Aníbal tuvo su espacio en Lecturas de tabaquería. no será la única vez http://tinyurl.com/2bp3z6l cc @lect_tabaqueria
Through Twitter some also expressed nostalgia about the loss of Jairo Aníbal Niño, like these users:
Ana Vallejo (@anavallejoc):
Ay no, Jairo Anibal Niño me trae muchos recuerdos. Pero en la vida la murete es lo unico seguro. #RIP
Juliana Londoño (@julilondono):
El mejor homenaje para #JairoAnibal es volver a ser niños… me aceptan la invitación?
Andrés Gómez (@andresgomezv):
Extrañare a Jairo Anibal un gran hombre, pero sobre todo un gran Niño!
Adicta Digital (@CataG):
Tengo un libro de Jairo Anibal Niño q me firmó en una feria así: “Para mi gatuna amiga Cata de su felino amigo”.. :'(
Other tweets served as a reminder of the author's writing:
Carito Suárez (@caritosuarezm):
¿Qué dijo el pájaro cuando vio al avión? – El pájaro dijo: – ¡Qué alegría! Volvieron los dinosaurios Jairo Aníbal Niño http://bit.ly/9jNzSP
Samuel (@bogotal):
…Yo no tenía dinero para comprarte algo lujoso. Yo simplemente quise regalarte un bosque. #JairoAnibal
RosaCris (@rosacris):
“Cedo habitación con vista al mar de mi corazón” #JairoAnibal – Cuentas del collar de los cuentos
Ángela Rodríguez (@tata_colombia):
” ¿Qué es el silencio? El silencio son seis cuerdas sin guitarra” #JairoAnibal
Finally, in Vive.In a forum was created where visitors can answer the question: “What is your favorite story by Jairo Aníbal Niño [es]?; several users have already recorded their response.

author: Cati Restrepo


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Cuba: Press Freedom Hero · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

El Yuma and Along the Malecon celebrate the news that Yoani Sanchez has been named “the 60th and final World Press Freedom Hero by the International Press Institute.”


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Does Egypt love Egyptians? · Global Voices
Eman AbdElRahman

Throughout my daily blog reads, I've noticed an obvious tone between young Egyptians, many of whom are questioning whether or not they love Egypt, and whether or not Egypt loves them back.
As an Egyptian young woman myself, I like to say that this may be understandable after the daily series of crises we hear of one day after the other, however, throughout history – I don't think the feeling of frustration, disappointment and suffocation has ever stuck youth as much as it does during this particular era. And sadly, the gap between dreams and reality is widening, and consequently deepening the feeling of loss, and hate for the country.
Tigress, an Egyptian female blogger, wrote a post entitled “I no longer love Egypt” [Ar]:
She continued her post going to the extreme claiming that the only solution is a bigger disaster to happen:
She ended her post with a confession that she no longer loves Egypt:
Egyptoz, an Egyptian male blogger, has been working in Europe for a year and just came to Cairo for a two-day visit. He wrote another post [Ar] about his feelings upon his return, and the cultural shock he faced:
Photo by Daveness_98 under CC, for traffic over bridge of 6th October in Cairo.
Aliaa, an Egyptian female doing her university studies in Beirut, questioned “Does Egypt Love ME is the question?” :
I still love Egypt but I am just angry at what it has become, you can be angry at the people you love but you can never hate them.
She quoted a line from a poem by Tamim Al Barghouti, a young Palestinian/Egyptian poet, entitled “They asked if I love Egypt”. El Barghouti wrote this poem upon his departure from Egypt for 20 days – after taking part in a demonstrations against the American invasion to Iraq saying:
Aliaa then clarified her feelings saying:
My country and its citizens treat themselves as second level humans […]. So do I love Egypt? I asked myself that before and now I am asking myself again, well my answer is: Does Egypt LOVE ME?
In the comments section to Alyaa's post, Hicham relates the problem to Egyptians and not Egypt:
I think about relating our problems in terms of Egyptians not Egypt. Our country in terms of many things is to be loved but what Egyptians do since many decades is what to be questioned.
Also Serag, a Libyan citizen who has lived in Egypt for a long period of time, wrote a “post” describing his feelings towards a place he once thought as his home after a short visit:
Does a place grow old ?! this is one of the questions that have kept me awake in the hot and humid nights during my last visit to Egypt. Between Alexandria and Cairo I was trying to find my own Egypt and I have failed. To be out of your place is to be in exile but is there a word of being out of your home.
[…]
I might have had a home in Egypt once but now all I have is hotel room.
On a puzzlingly unfortunate but positive note, Mermaid wrote a deep post entitled “Oh Egypt, the bitter honey” [Ar] after her day visit out of Cairo heading Alexandria. In it, she explains her different daily experience in Egypt. One of the beautiful and sincere moments she mentions happened to her last Ramadan:
She also mentioned another nice incident for a man who helped her find her directions downtown, yet then commented on the other daily misfortunes saying:
Photo by jay galvin under CC, for workers waiting to break Ramadan fast at 6PM before they return home, under the freeway entrance ramp. Food sponsored by the local wealthy person.
She further described:
الناس ديه كلها من نفس البلد.. نفس البلد الحلوة.. القذرة. البلد اللي لسة بتدي خير… وبتاخد عمر وشباب ولادها. […] البلد الزحمة الملوثة… واللي الصبح بدري بتبقى أجمل مكان ممكن الواحد يمشي فيه. البلد الدوشة.. اللي ساعة المغرب في رمضان الأذان بيبقى مالي الشوارع الفاضية المسالمة. البلد اللي بتخلف ناس بتاكل حق ناس… وناس سايبة فطارها في رمضان ونازلة تدي بلح ومية وتمر هندي للناس اللي في الشارع اللي مالحقتش الفطار في بيتهم.
بادعي ربنا إن كرهي مايخلنيش عامية عن الحاجات الحلوة اللي فيها.
Whether it is a general feeling or only shared by some individuals, many agree that today's Egypt is not the Egypt that Egyptians read about in their history books, or heard national songs about on the  radio and television.

author: Eman AbdElRahman


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Fiji: How committed is government to 2014 elections?  · Global Voices
Michael Hartsell

A reader to the blog Fiji: The Way it Was, Is and Can Be, offers suggestions to increase the military government's commitment to elections in 2014 and thinks there is not a proper dialogue on the future of the country because media censorship remains in place.


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Fiji: New protections for anti-government bloggers?  · Global Voices
Michael Hartsell

Cafe Pacific's David Robie explains how Reporters Sans Frontières new tool could help Fiji's anti-government bloggers (among others) by creating a high-speed anonymous network and providing a website to host forbidden material.


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Filipinos join HK people’s grief and protest · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Filipino workers in Hong Kong joined a rally of Hong Kong citizens who are demanding justice for the slain hostage victims in Manila. Nine HK tourists were killed when an ex-policeman in the Philippines hijacked a tourist bus last week.


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Ghana: Do You Know Kube-ology? · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Welcome to kube-ology 101: “Kube-ology is the study of kube (coconut) and kube-ology 101 is a series of kube lessons…In this course, I will bring you mini-lessons that I learn about kube in my bid to become a kube-meister…”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Ghana: TEDxAccra takes place September 20, 2010 · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

MightyAfrican announces TEDxAccra: “Before BarCamp Accra happens on October 2, you should attend TEDxAccra as well. It is one of the TEDxChange events which are happening all over the world on September 20, 2001.”


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Haiti: Remember to be Kind  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

As Haiti struggles in the aftermath of the January 12 earthquake, The Livesay Weblog reminds us of the power of kindness.


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Has Rupert Murdoch declared war on Fiji?  · Global Voices
Michael Hartsell

The four-year battle between the Fiji Times and Fiji's military government will soon come to a head as new media laws will force the sale of the 141-year-old paper that is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Limited.
The Media Industry Development Decree, passed in late June, stipulates that 90 percent of ownership of Fiji's media companies must be made up of Fiji citizens. While Rupert Murdoch declared US citizenship in the mid-1980s to get around foreign media ownership rules in that country, there has been no talk of the Australian-born media mogul becoming a Fiji citizen.
Thursday, August 26 marked the deadline interested parties could make bids to purchase the Fiji Times.  This comes at the height of a months-long war-of-words between various Australian publications — mostly owned by Murdoch's companies — and Fiji's government. “News Limited, which owns the Fiji Times, continues to wage a hostile media campaign against Fiji, this time directly targeting the nation’s tourism industry and economy,” Fiji's Permanent Secretary for information, Sharon Smith-Johns told Radio Australia's Pacific Beat program.
Smith-Johns specifically referred to an article by former Fiji Times Editor-in-Chief Rory Gibson writing in the Murdoch-owned Brisbane Courier-Mail, comparing Fiji's present government to a “military dictatorship little better than any apartheid regime operating in South Africa's dark ages.”
Smith-Johns wondered aloud if the Australian government was behind some of the bad publicity Fiji's government has received.
Questions have been asked here, is the Australian Government behind it? The Australian Government has turned around and said that it will not penalise Fiji, but obviously now News Limited certainly is. It's attacking our economy and it's attacking our tourists. It's a concerted campaign. It's not just one story, it's several stories that have been run in quite a few different papers.
Bloggers who cover Fiji (and their commentors) wonder whether Fiji's military government will weather the poor public relations storm by forcing the sale of such a well known newspaper.
A comment from FRE in the Fiji Today blog.
Imagine the adverse publicity that will occur if the dictatorship actually does force the Fiji Times to close. There would be headlines in all the newspapers in both Australia and New Zealand. The credibility of the dictatorship would be severely damaged.
Can the dictatorship actually afford that damage? Is the dictatorship so blind as to be unaware of the consequences?
The battle between government and media behemoth also spurs a debate on the often inflamed coverage of Fiji in the mainstream press around the Pacific. The Fiji Democracy Now Blog complains that Smith-John's words are also inflamatory.
But we cannot let the latest public pronouncement get away, which  asks us to believe that, somehow, Rupert Murdoch’s vast media empire, News Ltd, has become a “tool” of the Australian Government.  The mouthpiece states: “It begs the question that most in Fiji are asking. Is the Australian Government using News Limited as a tool to punish Fiji and cripple our economy?” Wow!  Has anyone told Rupert that his multi-billion dollar company is actually the PR lackey of the Aussie government?
A commenter to the blog Fiji: The Way It Was, Is and Can Be defends Smith-Johns, but points out that objective reporting and Fiji's future is more important than the current tussle.
[Smith-Johns is] saying the articles are deeply biased and could impact negatively on tourism which employs many thousands of Fiji citizens.
One looks to the mainstream media for information, balance and objectivity but with almost all News Ltd articles (and indeed most other foreign media reports) on Fiji, this has generally not been the case. Rory's piece is hyperbole, not journalism as I know it.
This is not about whether you or I support or oppose the 2006; it's about trying to understand the situation and help it move forward for the benefit of all Fiji citizens.


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Iran: Pro regime forces attacked a mosque · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Pro regime forces attacked Ghoba mosque in Shiraz while a pro reformist religious leader delivered a speech and prayed. Here are the photos in Behdabra blog.


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Maldives: Predicting the Next Presidential Elections  · Global Voices
Rezwan

Mohamed Naahii predicts about Maldives’ next presidential elections.


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Mexico: Controversy Over Cartoon of Flag With Gunned-Down Eagle · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Tienes un Recado [es] discusses the controversy over a cartoon by David Cagle, which shows the Mexican flag with a gunned-down eagle. The blogger asks her readers if they feel offended by the cartoon.

author: Silvia Viñas


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Mozambique: Violence and Shooting spreads to Chimboio · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

Citizens reported violent demonstrations in Chimboio, in the centre of Mozambique, on the third day of the unrest. Blogger Carlos Serra questions what journalists mean when they say that the situation in now “calm”, after six people having been shot. [all links in pt]

author: Sara Moreira


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Old Borneo Map · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The Daily Brunei Resources uploads an old Borneo island map where boundaries between Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei have not yet been clearly defined.


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Pakistan: Blame The Machinery Itself · Global Voices
Rezwan

Three Pakistani cricket players accused of spot-fixing scandals have been suspended by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and many Pakistanis are blaming the said cricketers for bringing disrepute to Pakistan. Salman Latif opines that Pakistanis should stop blaming the products of a corrupt machinery, but blame the machinery itself.


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South Africa: Proposed Protection of Information Bill – Apartheid Era Politics? · Global Voices
Prisha Bhoola

South African journalists are no strangers to the concept of censorship. During the days of apartheid, the government of the day used censorship as a tool to limit the truth about its policies and therefore effectively promote its own agenda. With the dawn of democracy came a constitution for a new South Africa which stated plainly, “Everyone has the right of access to any information held by the state. And any information that is held by another person and that is required for the exercise or protection of any rights.” Journalists in the new South Africa celebrated their new found freedom of speech.
Now, 16 years later, these much lauded freedoms are once again being threatened. The South African parliament is currently debating a “Protection of Information” Bill. This bill proposes to impose restrictions on access to government information and violators of the law would be punished with up to 25 years in prison. The bill would also set rules for those who reveal state secrets and leave it up to politicians to decide what should be defined as a secret.
In additional to the Protection of Information Bill is a proposal by the ruling African National Congress to set up The Media Appeals Tribunal which would be staffed with politicians. Some ANC politicians have proposed that the tribunal have the authority to impose jail time for journalists who go too far in reporting scandals.
CBS News asked Anton Harber, a former newspaper editor about these developments:
The implications are that there's a clampdown on the extraordinary freedom of expression we've had in this country since 1994. There's fear of giving that kind of power to parliament and to politicians to oversee media conduct.
South Africa’s top authors,including those who were banned under the apartheid regime, issued a joint statement against the proposed legislation saying,
denial of freedom of expression makes a mockery of the profession of journalism.
Fred Hatman goes further,
Whether you think that the South African media are doing a good job of reporting to us the facts of whether our country is being properly governed or not, a government that doesn’t hold itself properly accountable wanting to hold what should be an independent press accountable is just rotten. And, in my book, unconstitutional.
Peirre de Vos also questions whether the Media Appeals Tribunal would be constitutional. He concludes by stating,
there is very little that the proposed MAP could legally and constitutionally do that the existing Press Ombudsman or the courts cannot already do. This suggests that the members of Parliament will waste lots and lots of their time – time perhaps better spent attending to the concerns of constituents about potholes, trigger happy policeman, lack of toilets and running water and dysfunctional schools. The legislature will thus either pass a law creating a MAP that will not change anything, or it will pass a law creating a MAP that would be unconstitutional and therefore would be declared invalid by our courts.
Ayanda Kota, chairperson of the Unemployed People's Movement says the proposed bill will make even more impossible to expose corruption:
Had it not been for the Constitutional right of access to information, we would not have uncovered that the Zuma regime spent R1.5 billion of taxpayers money on luxuries. Some of the expenditure includes Lindiwe Sisulu’s purchase of a R7million Mercedes – Benz vehicle. Siphiwe Nyanda who spent R515 000 dining with girlfriends and boyfriends at different five star luxurious hotels. We would not have uncovered that Jacob Zuma’s son, Duduzane Zuma is heading for his first billion while Kgalema Montlante’s lover is also going for her first billion. Reporting on such issues will become even more impossible of a statutory Media Appeals Tribunal is set up.
Members of the South African National Editors Forum also responded to the proposed bill by forming a Coalition for Free Speech to
champion a collective drive by media, big business and civil society to amplify the importance of free speech as a pillar of our democracy and not just a matter which concerns media.
Now let’s look at the flip side of the coin. South Africa's former president Thabo Mbeki once said,
We in Africa can and do benefit from criticism, but we do ask that it should be based on accurate information and should be properly contextualized.
Some would argue South Africa’s media has also not come to the party in reporting news accurately and fairly. As the First Post  reports,
Poor training and inexperience are endemic and clearly compromise standards in newsrooms. Unsubstantiated allegations and unchecked information substitute for facts in stories too often – as has been acknowledged by editors themselves.
Siyabonga Ntshingila says the South African media is its own worst enemy.
Pick up any newspaper and read their reporting on the issue. It’s all doomsday hysteria about the ANC looking to transport every journo in the country into Robben Island blindfolded and in shackles. Cheap, alarmist and misinformative.
He goes on to say,
It is very hard to argue against the tribunal when one views the current laissez-faire approach to fact-checking and ethics in (mostly) print media. In fact only the (very important) principle that the government should never be allowed to dictate terms to the press is about the only one that has been raised against the tribunal.
It remains to be seen whether the Protection of Information Bill will be passed and signed into law. Certainly, this chapter in South Africa’s history is one that will test the strength of her constitution and the resilience of her people. I shall leave you with Zapiro’s opinion on the matter:

author: Prisha Bhoola


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Sri Lanka: The Removal Of Two Term Limit Of The President · Global Voices
Rezwan

Groundviews debates the recent proposal of the Sri Lankan President to make changes to the constitution via an urgent bill titled “The 18th Amendment”, which seeks to remove the two term limit of the President.


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Trinidad & Tobago: CIB Insight · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Afra Raymond, in his ongoing examination of the CL Financial failure, says that CLICO Investment Bank is “a very interesting part of the saga, because even prior to the collapse of the CL Financial group there was a widely-held view that CLICO and CIB were parts of the group which were responsible for raising finance for their ambitious plans.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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U.S.V.I.: After Earl · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

News of St. John confirms the island is getting back to normal post-Hurricane Earl.


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USA: My Faith My Voice collaborative video project · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

American Muslim groups are using online video in a collaborative project to try and explain what Islam is about in an attempt to defuse the rise of anti Islam racism and fear spurned by a community center to be built near Ground Zero in New York City. Via.

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Vietnam: Samsung’s inaccurate ad  · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

A Vietnam-based blogger criticizes a Samsung ad for its inaccurate depiction of a “typical Vietnamese home.”


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Zimbabwe: Art Threatens Mugabe · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Art threatens Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe: “The artist, Owen Maseko, is currently challenging Mugabe’s ban on his exhibition depicting Gukurahundi, the 1980s Matabeleland massacres.”


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Africa: Homophobe Tourism · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Africa needs a new category of tourism: Homophobe Tourism. “Come to Uganda, watch Martin Ssempa talk about “poo-poo!” Come to Nigeria, watch the legislature restrict touching! Come to Malawi, watch the judge sentence the gay and the transgender!”


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Belarus: Charter97.org’s Editor Found Dead · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Aleh Byabenin, a Belarusian journalist, founder and editor of the leading oppositional website Charter97.org, was found dead Friday. He was 36 years old. This short Charter97 item announcing his death already has 193 comments, mainly with words of condolence.


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Brazil: Primetime Prejudice Against Atheists Triggers Mass Response · Global Voices
Raphael Tsavkko Garcia

On July 27th, José Luiz Datena [pt], a famous Brazilian TV host who runs a show called Brasil Urgente on national television, “delivered a speech of deep prejudice and bigotry against atheists, against those who ‘do not have God in their hearts'”, according to Robson Fernando, from blog Arauto da Consciência [Herald of Consciousness, pt].
Photo shared by Flickr user Juliano Marques under a CC license ( Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic)
Blog Ateus do Brasil [Atheists from Brazil, pt] explains what triggered the discussion:
Ele criou uma enquete no seu programa para as pessoas responderem se acreditavam em Deus ou não. Quando viu que muita gente tava votando “não”, ele abriu o berreiro.
“Como nós temos mais de mil ateus? Aposto que muitos desses estão ligando da cadeia.”
“Ateus são pessoas sem limites, por isso matam, cometem essas  atrocidades. Pois elas acham que são seu próprio Deus.”
“É só perguntar  para esses bandidos que cometem essas barbaridades pra ver que eles não  acreditam em Deus.”
Disse que só quem não acredita em Deus é capaz de cometer crimes. Disse que ateus são “pessoas do mal”, “bandidos”, “estupradores”, “assassinos”. Disse que a culpa da violência e da corrupção do nosso país é dos ateus.
“Quem é ateu pode desligar a televisão, ou mudar de canal pois eu não faço questão nenhuma de que assistam o meu programa.”
Além disso ele disse que respeita todo mundo, mas se tem uma coisa que ele não gosta é “gente que não acredita em Deus porque não pode ser uma pessoa boa”.
He created a poll on his program for people to respond whether they believed in God or not. When he saw that a lot of us were voting “no”, he began to roar.
“How come we have over a thousand atheists? I bet that many of these are calling from jail. “
“Atheists are people without boundaries, that's why they kill, commit such atrocities. Because they think they are their own God. “
“Just ask criminals who commit such atrocities to see that they do not believe in God.”
He said only those who do not believe in God are capable of committing crimes. He said that atheists are “evil people”, “bandits,” “rapists,” “murderers.” He said the atheists are to be blamed for our country's violence and corruption.
“Those who are atheists can turn off their TV or change channels because I do not care if any [of you] are watching my program.”
In addition, he said he respects everyone, but if there's one thing he dislikes it is “people who do not believe in God because they cannot be good people.”
Such angry comments on atheists triggered a furious reaction [en] from bloggers and Atheist organizations [pt], such as the ATEA, that called on all netizens to contact the TV station that runs Datena's show to complain, and also called for a protest on Twitter:
A emissora tem uma página de comunicação com os telespectadores. No momento, o envio de mensagens para o Brasil Urgente está desabilitado, mas uma alternativa é dirigir suas reclamações aos programas de jornalismo. Pode-se ainda utilizar sites como o reclameaqui, o Twitter [Twibbon] ou o Tag #CalaBocaDatena, também do Twitter. Em breve, daremos notícia sobre a série de ações judiciais a que daremos início.
Paulo Lopes, on his blog, adds [pt] that the Atheist organization ATEA (Brazilian Association of Atheists and Agnostics) asked for a right to reply and, at the same time, that Datena exploited the situation to attract more attention and viewers. For the blogger, they are both taking the issue a bit too far:
A associação atribui ao episódio uma importância que ele não tem. “Esta  causa é importante e pode significar um grande salto em nossa luta por  reconhecimento”, exagera.
Datena tem aproveitado a reação dos ateus para exercitar o seu  destempero verbal. No dia 17 deste mês, de olho no Ibope, ele disse que  deseja que os ateus se “lasquem”. Dúbio, reafirmou que “quem não  acredita em Deus geralmente não tem limites” e em seguida falou que  nunca meteu “o pau em quem não acredita em Deus”.
The association [ATEA] has attributed to the episode an importance that it does not deserve. They play up: “This is an important cause that might mean a great leap in our struggle for recognition”.
Datena has taken advantage of the atheists’ responses to exercise his verbal distemper. On the 17th of this month [August], with an eye toward the Ibope [Brazilian Institute of Public Opinion and Statistics] stats, he said that he hopes atheists “screw themselves”. Caught in two minds, he reaffirmed that “whoever does not believe in God generally has no boundaries” but then said he has never “criticized severely those who do not believe in God.”
Photo by Flickr user Swperman shared under a CC license ( Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic)
On the 17th August, Datena commented live on his show on the ATEA's   request, once more insulting Atheists. In response to this the blog Bule Voador   commented that he needed “someone to teach him logic, please” [pt].  Bule Voador [Flying Teapot, pt] blog also posted excerpts from the Brazilian legal code, and tips from a lawyer, in order to help netizens to open lawsuits against the host. A transcription of Datena's hate speech can be found here [pt] and some more angry reactions can be found at the blogs No Lado Escuro da Lua [On the Dark Side of the Moon, pt] and Lindo Dia Feio [Beautiful Ugly Day, pt].
Video responses
The audience found an equivalent way to react to the display of prejudice on primetime TV. The blog Sedentário e Hiperativo [Sedentary and Hyperactive, pt] posted a video of Pablo Villaça, editor of the website Cinema em Cena, criticizing Datena's attitude and offensive comments on Atheists. Robson Fernando also posted a series of YouTube video responses with netizens criticizing Datena that can be found here, here and here.
YouTube user DanielFragaBR's presents a video advising Atheist individuals who feel offended by the hate speech on how to sue Datena. Back in June, well before the controversy, the video-blogger had already noted that:
Ser ateu no Brasil é como ser católico no inferno

author: Raphael Tsavkko Garcia


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Chile: First Country to Legislate Net Neutrality · Global Voices
Claudio Ruiz

After nearly three years of discussions, Chile approved the commonly named Net Neutrality Law [es], which includes the addition of three articles to the General Law of Telecommunications.
The reform implies, among other things, that Internet Service Providers will not be able to arbitrarily block, interfere, discriminate, hinder or restrict content, applications or legal services that users perform on their networks. Additionally, the reform establishes the obligation to make information about connection plans transparent and allow the possibility to request parental controls at the expense of the applicant. The establishment of this legal guarantee has been seen as a great triumph for the principle of net neutrality and Chile has been highlighted as the first country to establish this principle by law.
One of the most important elements of this new law is that its initiative was promoted by a group of citizens organized through the Neutralidad Sí [es] community, who convinced representatives from Congress about the importance of having a law like this which guarantees rights of the users. Earlier, this group of users worked hard to show that important Internet Service Providers were performing acts contrary to the principle of neutrality, like blocking ports that allow the exchange of P2P files [es].
Felipe Morandé, Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications, said that [es], “It is a concrete step toward having greater transparency in the broadband market, stimulating competition for quality of service, which is the pillar of our public policy in telecommunications,” and he pointed out that the law, “places our country at the forefront in the world in terms of net neutrality. It shows that there is the political will in Chile to modernize the regulation of telecommunications and empower consumers. That is the path that we are following for the benefit of the citizens.”
The initiative has been generally well received by the public, as in ChileGeek for example, where Diego Narvaez mentions [es] four reasons why this is good legislation, pointing out that,
con este proyecto la legislación se pone a la vanguardia respecto a otros países como EEUU y comunidad Europea, en donde la neutralidad de la red no se encuentra legislada por el fuerte lobby que efectúan las empresas de telecomunicaciones y proveedoras de acceso.
But not everyone agrees. Although legislating on such an important matter seems like positive news, there are doubts about the real reach of the recently approved law. In Blawger, a blog specializing on legal matters, Miguel Morachimo says that [es],
El proyecto ha sido denominado de “neutralidad de red” pero en verdad  señala obligaciones diversas para los ISPs y las empresas de  telecomunicaciones que les provean de servicios, entre las cuales está  la de no discriminación arbitraria en la capa de aplicaciones, servicios  o contenidos legales con efectos anticompetitivos. Sin embargo, la no discriminación es una obligación que ya está presente en la regulación sectorial chilena
Siminalry, NGO Derechos Digitales (Digital Rights), a Chilean non-governmental organization which defends online rights, also raised doubts about the law [es], stating that,
La  consagración legal de la neutralidad no es absoluta, sino que se   configura como un derecho de los usuarios sujeto a límites importantes.   Por una parte, al establecer la ley que los prestadores de Internet “No   podrán arbitrariamente  bloquear, interferir, discriminar, entorpecer  ni restringir” el derecho  a usar contenidos y redes (Art. 24 H a), deja  abierta la posibilidad de  intervención en la medida en que ésta no  sera arbitraria.
Junto  con lo anterior, la neutralidad es garantizada como un derecho a   utilizar contenidos o servicios y realizar actividades de carácter  legal a través de Internet sin dicha intervención discriminatoria. En  consecuencia, un uso ilegal  autorizaría al proveedor de conexión a  ejercer medidas contrarias al  principio de neutralidad.
The legal consecration of neutrality is not absolute, but rather it is configured as a right of the users subject to significant limits. On the one hand, by establishing the law that Internet providers “Can not arbitrarily block, interfere, discriminate, hinder or restrict” the right to use contents and networks (Art. 24 H a), it leaves open the possibility of intervention as long as it is not arbitrary.
Along with this, neutrality is guaranteed as a right to use contents and services and perform activities of a legal character through the Internet without such discriminatory intervention. Therefore, illegal use would allow the connection provider to pursue measures contrary to the principle of neutrality.
In short, the law is perceived as an interesting project in its intentions but unpredictable in its effects and scope. Many of its voids will be filled by a regulation that will be published in ninety days, but its content will not be part of public debate like the text of the law was. At the same time, it is interesting to note that the citizen organization, before the political initiative, is the group trying to face the challenges imposed by the digital world.

author: Claudio Ruiz


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China: Tax case against Xu Zhiyong dismissed · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Chinese Law Prof Blog translated a brief post by Xu Zhiyong on the dismissal of the tax evasion charge against Gongmeng Company – an institution for advocating citizen rights.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Egypt: Wanna be a Bride; From Blog to TV · Global Voices
Tarek Amr

Ghada Abdel Aal's book, Wanna be a Bride.
More than two years ago,  Global Voices Online ran an article about Egyptian blogs which were published into books. Now one of those books was turned into a television series that is currently being aired during the holy month of Ramadan.
The Blog, Book, and TV Series
Ayza Atgawez – Wanna be a Bride – is the name of the blog [Ar], the book [Ar], and also the new  television series. It is made up of humorous short stories about a girl's endless quest to find a suitable husband.
And here is how the blogger/writer Ghada Abdel Aaal summarizes her series of blogs:
A Two-Way Ticket from Social Media to Mainstream Media
As you can see it started in a blog and then found its way to mainstream media. And now it's taking the other way back to social media. The young Tunisian actress – Hend Sabry – who is playing the main character in the series decided to communicate with her fans via Twitter and asked them for their feedback about her role and the series as a whole.
Ayza Atgawez starring the actress Hend Sabry
And the Egyptian and Arab tweeps started sending their feedback using the mentioned hashtag.
@_Nouna_: 7l2t #3ayzaAtgawez kant 7lewa awe today w really happens.. e3lnat el gawaz ba2t keteeeeeeeer awe
As you can see, some feedback was positive, some was negative, and other comments made Hend realize that social media is a double-edged weapon:
The Series Aftermath
Away from the series itself, the topic of the blog/book/series made Yasmine El-Mehairy write a series of blog post – there are eight of them so far – on her own blog under the title, “Sorry, but I don't want to get married“:
Another user on Twitter revealed two of her worst nightmares that have come true.
And finally another user on Twitter wondered if marriage is really the final destination, or there is still one more station in their live journey:
@Mazloum: Tab el mafrood ba3d #3ayzaAtgawez yenzelo Ramadan el gayy bel sequel: #3ayzaAttalla2

author: Tarek Amr


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India: Mob Mentality Here And There · Global Voices
Rezwan

A retired army officer was recently mob lynched to death in west Bengal state of India because he slapped a woman. Bellicose Bengali compares this incident with the recent mob incident in Waziristan, Pakistan.

author: Rezwan


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Kenya: David vs. Goliath and Goliath · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Mzalendo Contributor describes Kenya 2012 election as “David vs. Goliath and Goliath: “Voters in Kenya can be forgiven for feeling like a captive audience, watching a play whose script we cannot follow, directed by forces we cannot understand, performed by actors who fall in and out of place…”


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Kenya: Emergency: Pre-Independence Miniseries · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Bobby reviews Emergency, a miniseries written and illustrated by Chief Nyamweya based on pre-independence Kenya as seen through the eyes Chege Karobia and Kim (Dedan Kimathi).


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Middle East: Arab Attitudes on Freeing Gilad Shalit · Global Voices
Gabriel Nada

Last Saturday, August 28th, Gilad Shalit turned 24 – his fifth birthday in captivity since June 25th, 2006. Each year there are renewed calls for his release. This year has been no different, with French president Nicolas Sarkozy writing a letter to Shalit's parents and Britain calling his detention “unjustifiable”.
What, however, are the attitudes of Arabs bloggers towards the question of Gilad Shalit? Posts reveal a different perception. While these attitudes cannot be said to represent all Arabs, they are the points of view from posts written recently.
Circumstances of Capture
Since his capture from a tank on patrol in Kerem Shalom, near the Amitai base bordering Gaza, efforts have played up his youth to focus on him as a boy with parents instead of a soldier on active duty.
However, according to Palestinian blog kolonagaza7, Shalit is:
لأنه عسكري مقاتل، وأُسر من ارض المعركة داخل دبابته، وهو يقتل ويدمر ويطلق الرصاص والقذائف على المدنيين الأمنيين
Kolonagaza7 continues:
في 28 من أغسطس تمر علينا ذكرى مرور 24 عاماً على ميلاد “جلعاد شاليط” والمسكين لا يزال منذ أربعة سنوات في الأسر تحت قانون “مقاتل غير شرعي” هذا القانون الذي ابتكرته دولة الاحتلال لتضمن بقاء أسرانا في السجون دون محاكمة ولفترات مفتوحة.
This refers to Israel's creation in 2002 of The Internment of Unlawful Combatants Law.
The Exchange Rate
A key issue has been the release of imprisoned Palestinians. Originally, Hamas called for the release of all under-18 and female prisoners in return for Shalit. Later, an additional 1,000 prisoners were added. The number of Palestinians in Israeli prisons is over 10,000 – many are minors, as My Intifada points out:
وقلت لهم الا تعلمون ان أصغر أسير في العالم هو يوسف الزق الموجود في سجونكم، فردت إحداهن أن الفلسطينيين إختطفوا جلعاد شاليط، فقلت لها لدينا (11 الف) جلعاد شاليط في سجونكم، افرجوا عنهم ليفرج عن شاليط.
Resentment of the Reaction
There is also resentment of Israel's reaction, a campaign that killed hundreds of Gazan civilians in retaliation, expressed by Mohamed Shahata (محمد شحاتة):
قتلت إسرائيل بسبب “جلعادها”  مئات الفلسطينيين .. هدمت غزة على من فيها .. وضربت الفلسطينيين بالقنابل المحرمة دولياً ..ولما فشلت في الوصول إلى أسيرها المحتجز دفعت فرنسا وألمانيا وأمريكا ومصر بعدتهم وعتادهم ومخابراتهم في سبيل إنقاذ جنديها المأسور جلعاد شاليط.
Internal Anger in Israel
Another facet is the anger from the Shalit family towards the government of Israel and Netanyahu. On the 10th of this month, a group of 36 soldiers signed a letter accusing Netanyahu of failing to secure Shalit's release. The signatories include two brigadier generals and two colonels. In March of 2009 a poll indicated as many as 69 per cent of Israelis supported a deal to free Shalit. Awareness of this internal conflict is commented on by Yafa on the Move – Occupied Palestine (بحرك يافا – فلسطين المحتلة):
عائلة الجندي الإسرائيلي الأسير “جلعاد شاليط”  ستحيي هذه المناسبة في تظاهره احتجاجية أمام منزل رئيس حكومة الاحتلال الإسرائيلي
Distraction from the issues
Others see the case used as a way of distracting international attention away from other issues, such as the recent “Freedom Flotilla”, notes hakika:
تم تجهيز مجموعة من السفن الإسرائيلية [بعد أحداث أسطول الحرية] للانطلاق من ميناء “هرتسليا” إلى المياه الإقليمية قبالة شواطئ غزة، تحمل صورًا للجندي الإسرائيلي جلعاد شاليط
Questions on Priorities
Some wonder if holding onto this bargaining chip is worth the cost. Gilgamesh (جلجامش) writes:
نعود قليلا إلى الوراء والى مدة عام تحديدا عندما شنت إسرائيل حربها الضروس والدموية بحق أهالي القطاع وكان احتجاز الأسير شاليط من أهم الأسباب التي دفعت الكيان الى معاقبة أهالي القطاع وحماس بالنار والخراب لكننا فوجئنا ان حماية الأسير حينها كانت اهم ما يشغل بال الحركة التي كانت تعلن ان شاليط نقل الى مناطق آمنة وهو بخير من دون ان يرف جفن الحمساوين ألما او قلقا على الأبرياء الذين سقطوا جراء هذه المحاولة
Both Sides Disingenuous?
Comment on the unwillingness to deal comes from The Other Door (الباب الاخر) who writes:
طبعا كل هذا لأن الطرفين, الاسرائيلي والحمساوي غير معنيين بصفقة ! اسرائيل بحكوماتها لا تريد ان تعقد صفقة كل ما يتذكر منها الناخب الاسرائيلي انه تم تحرير اسرى فلسطينيين, قتلوا اسرئيليين . وحماس ايضا الا تريد ان تعقد صفقة تخسر فيها الورقة الرابحة, والتي حصلت عليها بجهد جهيد وتحافظ عليها بكفوف الراحة فجلعاد شاليط اغلى عنصر في حماس وهي بدورها لن تتنازل عنه, على الاقل ليس مقابل الف اسير وان كان بضمنهم اسرى v.i. p

author: Gabriel Nada


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Mozambique: Realtime results for Maputo · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Check out Twitter realtime results regarding the crisis in Maputo, Mozambique.


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Nigeria: Online Nigerian Literary Magazine · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Sokari writes about Saraba, an online literary magazine created and published by Emmanuel Iduma and Damilola Ajayi, two Nigerian students of the University of Ife.


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Russia: Beslan School Siege Survivor’s Account · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The first anniversary of the Beslan tragedy, 2005. Photo by Natasha Mozgovaya
Agunda Vataeva (LJ user agunya) was a 13-year-old girl about to begin her ninth-grade studies on Sept. 1, 2004, the day when she, her mother and more than 1,100 others were taken hostage at School #1 in the North Ossetian town of Beslan. She survived the three-day siege. Her mother, a teacher, didn't. Of the 334 hostages who lost their lives six years ago, 186 were children.
Agunda is a 19-year-old college student now. In the past three days, she has posted three installments of her recollections (RUS) of Sept. 1-3, 2004, on her LiveJournal and Radio Echo of Moscow blogs.
She writes this in the introduction to her first post:
While at the hospital, right after I got a notebook [computer], I began writing down what I remembered of those three days that I spent as a hostage. Six years later, I'd like to publish the notes I was writing then, [when the memories were still fresh]. […]
On the Echo of Moscow blog, this Sept. 1 entry has been viewed 7,554 times and has generated 55 comments so far.
Agunda begins her account with the description of a festive yet ordinary morning, warm and very sunny, her walk to school with her mother, the final preparations for the welcoming of the new school year, and her casual chat with friends – which was suddenly interrupted by shooting:
[…] I turned around and saw three boys running towards the exit, and behind them a man in fatigues and with a thick black beard. He was running after the boys and shooting in the air. I thought: “Someone is making a bad joke, must be a prank or perhaps yet another drill.” These thoughts vanished as soon as the shooting started from all sides and they started pushing us towards the boiler house. We were all huddled together. Trampled flowers, shoes and bags were strewn on the asphalt. […]
Agunda and a couple of her close friends found themselves trapped in the school gym, together with hundreds of other hostages:
[…] People were panicking, we were hysterical. To quiet us down, They got one man up and threatened to kill him if we didn't fall silent. We were trying, but the fear and the panic prevailed. A gunshot was heard. They killed him… this is when the silence set in, dead silence, literally. Only the children's crying and screaming interrupted it. […]
Soon enough Agunda's mother was allowed to join her daughter:
[…] We immediately started asking her what would happen, whether they would let us go or not. […] Mama was talking very calmly, saying that everything would be fine, that we would be rescued. But as I looked at her, I knew that even Mama didn't know how it would all end, she was just calming us down, as her students, as kids. Kids – we were nothing but the scared kids then. […] In a situation like that, even the most mature ADULTS were turning into cranky kids. […]
Some more details from Day 1 of the siege:
[…] A gunman walked by, then stopped abruptly, […] looked at Madina [Agunda's friend] and got very angry. He threw some jacket to her with these words: “Cover your shame!” She had bare knees, and, frightened, she covered herself right away. I felt a little bit better after this. “At least, they aren't going to rape us,” I thought.
[…]
Time went by very slowly. It was hot, terribly hot. We took off all the clothes we could take off without looking indecent. There was little space, we sat on a bench. […]
[…]
[…] It was around 8 PM when it started raining […]. We sat by the broken windows and were catching raindrops with our mouths – this is how thirsty we were. Mama kept covering me and the girls with her jacket, but I kept getting out to get some rain. I felt so good – I think it's the best memory from that hell. […]
Closer to lunchtime, by the way, They tried setting up a TV in the gym (to entertain the hostages with newscasts, obviously), but [it didn't work]. They told us that, according to the TV reports, there were 354 hostages. We felt […] outraged. […]
[…]
Throughout the night, we took turns sleeping in couples for an hour. While Madina and I sat on the bench, Mama and Zarina slept on the floor. An hour passed, and we'd switch. […]
In the Sept. 2 entry (9,626 views, 92 comments on the Echo of Moscow blog), Agunda writes, among other things, about the hostage-takers’ phone conversations, their demands (which included withdrawal of the Russian troops from the neighboring Chechnya and recognition of its independence), the visit of Ruslan Aushev, ex-president of the neighboring Ingushetia, and the resulting release of “11 nursing women and all 15 baby children” – an event that revived Agunda's hopes.
The account of Day 3 of the siege was the hardest for Agunda to write about – and is the hardest one to read:
[…] It was the day I remember best, and for too long these memories were causing me pain, keeping me from writing them down. […]
As of now, this Sept. 3 entry has been viewed 16,185 times and has 178 comments on the Echo of Moscow blog (and these numbers continue to grow).
Agunda describes her own and other hostages’ exhaustion, thirst and despair:
[…] All this time, Zarina's cousin, a first-grader, was with her, and she was very worried about him. On the third day, he was extremely weak and kept asking for water. Somewhere, she got some urine, in some broken cheap box, and she was giving it to him in small portions, wiping his and her own face with it. I couldn't overcome my squeamishness, or perhaps my thirst wasn't bad enough to drink this. […]
Around 1 PM, Agunda writes, the hostage-takers announced that the Russian troops would withdraw from Chechnya and, if that information were true, they would start releasing the hostages soon:
[…] This was when I felt like crying for the first time in these three days, because there was some hope now that we would get out of there. And then… I just lost consciousness, and when I came to, the roof was burning over me, everything was falling, people were lying all around. The first thing I saw when I got up was a burning and burnt corpse of one of the terrorists, […]. They started yelling that the ones who were alive should get up and get out of the gym into the hallway. I don't know why, but Mama and I got up and walked off. […] By the door, I saw something that I still think about when I think about the terrorist act… I saw the body of a little, skinny girl, and when I looked above her neck, I realized that I just didn't see the upper part of her skull […]. It was the most horrifying moment, and it was then, I guess, that I realized that this was all happening for real. […]
The next few minutes brought another explosion, and more carnage and horror. Agunda was severely injured, but she was still capable of moving. Her mother wasn't:
[…] Mama was lying nearby. “My leg,” she said. “Leave.” I'll never be able to forgive myself for having obeyed her, for turning around and leaving. I don't know what it was. Where this betrayal came from.
I crawled to the broken window on all fours. There were some stoves by the window, and I reached the window sill. On one of these stoves lay two corpses of undressed, emaciated boys. They looked like brothers. Their eyes… […]
I was one movement away from the street when my leg slipped into some hole. I could barely feel the leg at that point, couldn't find it, kept dragging it, but nothing came out of it. Our local militia and the soldiers were already waiting for me down below. They were yelling to me: “Come on, the golden one, come on, little sun!” But I couldn't. This feeling of weakness and hopelessness made me cry. For the first time in three days I was crying. But then I somehow pulled myself together and managed to free the leg. […]
Agunda goes on writing about how she was taken to the hospital, how she learned about her mother's death. She writes about her friends and teachers who did not survive. She writes about living with the pain:
[…] People are still dying because of the consequences of the terrorist act. People are still reliving these events over and over again. I haven't told you even half of it, I guess. Memory is an amazing thing: one tries to forget everything that's bad, horrible, painful.
[…] I'm telling you my story. All that happened, happened in my dear school, with the people I love, and I think I have the right to tell you about my pain. What I used to call life back then was taken away from me. […]
The people of Beslan are trying to let the truth be known. We aren't too good at it. The investigation has been going on for six years already, but it hasn't moved a bit. All the questions that we had then, remain today. […]
Many bloggers have linked to and quoted from Agunda's posts in the past few days. Many people have written to let her know that they remember what happened six years ago and that they feel her pain and the pain of other survivors. According to some bloggers (RUS), however, neither President Dmitry Medvedev, nor PM Vladimir Putin, has issued any statements regarding the sixth anniversary of the Beslan tragedy. And on Sept. 1, one of Agunda's readers left this short comment (RUS) on her Echo of Moscow blog:
Will Putin's daughters read this?
The first anniversary of the Beslan tragedy, 2005. Photo by Natasha Mozgovaya
Earlier GV posts on Beslan are here.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Saudi Arabia: Call for Obama to Free Humeidan Al-Turki · Global Voices
Haifa Alrasheed

The Saudi nation has just released a campaign addressed to US President Barack Obama, asking him to release the Saudi prisoner Humeidan Al-Turki. Al Turki, a PhD student in Colorado, was sentenced to 28 years to life in prison for abusing his maid.
The campaign calling for his release started when famous youth advocate Najeeb Alzamil  wrote in an article published a year ago: “Facebook users.. A message to Obama: Release Humaidan.” (Ar) The Facebook campaign attracted more than 18,000 fans. A short clip written directed by Almuhannad Alkadam  has been viewed by more than 200,000 in just two days. The short clip features well known Saudi figures, religious and secular ones. It also features Alturki’s daughter, Ruba, speaking about growing up without a father. The message has gone viral within the society and the clip has been posted by Saudis in all types of social networking pages: Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr. From the campaign’s Facebook wall  Noonh Mohmmed writes:
Aseer Almahba  praised the campaign and hoped it reaches the American president:
Moreover, the clip and news of the campaign made it to the local newspapers, as well as internationally, such as CNN's iReport.
On Facebook, the fans are trying to reach as many Americans as possible by contacting the US’ pages and encouraging them to spread the word.
According to Swaier Nwaier, Okhlahoma did send its fans a link to the clip:
However, not all Saudis were satisfied with the clip and those featured in it. From the campaign's page on Facebook, Abdularahna Aljaser shares his opinion on the appearance of a Shia figure, Alsaffar:
And from Twitter, SaudiLawyer had something to say about the short clip:

author: Haifa Alrasheed


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South Korea:Public Enraged At Minister’s Rigging Of The Hiring Process · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

South Korean Foreign Minister, Yu Myung-hwan resigned over a controversial hiring of his daughter for a mid-level post at his own foreign ministry. Bloggers are having heated discussions, mostly harsh criticisms on officials’ nepotism. South Korea's Donga Ilbo has more on this.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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Zimbabwe/South Africa: Mugabe in chicken to change song · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is the subject of a new music video, Chicken to change, by South African Afro-pop sensation group FRESHLYGROUND and the internet satirical show ZA NEWS.


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Africa: Maker Faire Africa 2010: Roundup · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Videos from Maker Faire Africa 2010:  “The following videos provides impressions of the Maker Faire and gives some Makers the chance to present their projects.”


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Africa: Where are the bikes at Maker Faire Africa 2010? · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Tom's dream about Maker Faire Africa 2011: “I have a little dream that we could use the Maker Faire Africa gathering in 2011 or 2012 as a place to bring together the African grassroots bicycle sector.”


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Azerbaijan: I want my children and your children together… · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

vhsoy posts a video of imprisoned video blogging Azerbaijani youth activist Emin Milli speaking at a forum in the House of Commons in 2008. Emin Milli was detained in July the following year, along with fellow activist Adnan Hajizade, before being sentenced to 2.5 in prison that November on what many believe to be trumped up charges of “hooliganism.” Amnesty International has declared both men to be prisoners of conscience and supporters have started up a new petition to urge U.S. President Barack Obama to call for their release when he meets his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, at the UN General Assembly this month.

author: Onnik Krikorian


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Bosnia: Puppy drowning Video Girl Caught by Police · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

Bosnian police have found the girl who appeared on YouTube video throwing puppies to a river,  thanks to animal protection organization's tips and online citizens who helped pinpoint location and identity of the young girl from video footage.


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Cambodia: Countdown to BarCamp Phnom Penh 2010 · Global Voices
Sopheap Chak

The 2010 BarCamp Phnom Penh, which will take place on September 25 and 26, is expected to gather around 1,000 IT enthusiasts. In its official press release, one of the organizers of the “unconference meeting” identified the objectives of the event:
“The idea is to bring the like-minded people together to witness the greatness of the BarCamp. It is the time when people are free to share and at the same time, being shared. You cannot tell how much you improve after participating in such event but I can tell that if you truly follow its rules, you will find the excitement of the event. And the rule is simple: participate.”
Samsokrith continues by explaining how the BarCamp is structured:
How the BarCamp works is relatively easy. If you have a topic, and you  want to present or discuss about it, post that topic on the presentation  slot on the board and then you’ll be given a room and time to do your  presentation or discussion with the participants.”
This 2010 BarCamp Phnom Penh is the third BarCamp event in Cambodia since 2008. In the past years, bloggers, non profit groups and the business community provided enormous support and dynamic participation which made the previous BarCamps successful. Vutha Morn, one of the IT-related meetup fans, appeals to his blog readers not to miss such an exciting gathering:
“I never missed the two previous BarCamp Phnom Penh held in 2008 and 2009. I really earned more knowledge about IT. This third event, I will join it too. How about you? Do not miss this special event.”
In the same BarCamp's press release, Samrith continues to highlight the high expectations for this year's event with the hope of attracting a “bigger number of participants and to help them to see more of the beauty of BarCamp concept, and altogether, participate in a dynamic discussion of the national and regional technological evolution we are undergoing, where technology is a fast growing part of our daily life.”
Such statement reflects the current state of internet accessibility in Cambodia. Though the internet penetration rate in Cambodia is still limited with 9.8% in 2009, this figure is expected to improve with the projected expansion of more internet service providers. New tools are also available such as the use of mobile phones or mobile internet modems which allow netizens to easily access the internet anywhere with prepaid cards.
Moreover, the BarCamp is a good example of an event where regular people share their expertise about fascinating subjects in a laid back environment. This is the observation of Preetam Rai, the former South East Asian editor for Global Voices Online and one of the prominent bloggers in Asia. Here is Preetam's views on the impact of the BarCamp model:
“Slowly and subtly, a learning revolution is taking place across Asia. One force behind this revolution is the event known as BarCamp. A BarCamp is open, free and has no ﬁxed schedule or speakers. Barcamps borrow or steal venues, use social networks for publicity, and depend on participants to make the event successful.”
He also applauded the big number of participants in the First BarCamp in Myanmar which was attended by more than 2,000 people from all over the country. The BarCamp also promotes cross-culture tolerance and Preetam cites the Cambodian BarCamp experience:
“In the most recent Cambodian BarCamp, Khmer and Thai attendees ignored a then-simmering border temple dispute in order to focus on developing tech ideas for non-proﬁts.
Whether or not this year's BarCamp event in Cambodia will meet its goals of promoting learning and cultural tolerance through the information revolution, please join the countdown today and participate in the event.

author: Sopheap Chak


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Cyber-Event Organized by Biblioredes Takes over Twitter · Global Voices
Felipe Cordero

On August 10, 2010, a group of people linked to libraries in Chile successfully held a 1-hour cyber-event for the Spanish-speaking world. The event was held on Twitter, aiming to raise the profile of libraries as institutions of learning in a digital world. More than 9,000 people participated in the initiative [es].
The event was led by BiblioRedes [es], a program of the Chilean Libraries, Archives, and Museums Bureau that attempts to [es] ¨transform persons into agents of cultural and social development through Public Libraries and cyberspace, and in that way, overcome isolation thanks to the Internet and new digital technologies.”
Jaime Quilán Public Library (Municipality of Pudahuel, Santiago, Chile). Photo by Flickr user fbar, used under an Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic license by Creative Commons.
As stated by BiblioRedes [es], the goal of the event was to:
Promover a las Bibliotecas como espacios que contribuyen a garantizar el  acceso democrático a la información, el conocimiento, la recreación y  la cultura, todo ello a través de una de las mayores redes sociales del  mundo: Twitter […] La idea consiste en conversar de las Bibliotecas usando el hashtag  #biblioteca, hasta posicionarlo entre los “trending topics” (temas del  momento) en Twitter.
In the blog Cadaundas [es], Enzo Abbagliati, one of the organizers, added [es]:
Y para ello, nada mejor que llenar Twitter de recomendaciones de libros,  de sitios web interesantes o de actividades que ocurren en las  bibliotecas. Pero también recordar novelas, películas e historias  curiosas  que hayan ocurrido en una biblioteca. Además de personajes  históricos y blogs de amantes de las bibliotecas.
As encouraged by Biblioredes and Mr.Abbagliati, participants shared links and information. For instance, Mónica Hidalgo (@skiken) recommended books [es]:
La triología d Santiago Posteguillo sobre Publio Cornelio Escipion Africanus, Las legiones Malditas y la Traición d Roma #Biblioteca
Similarly, Igor P.L. (@uneletras) said [es]:
Recomendando un libro, que me gusto mucho EL CURIOSO INCIDENTE DEL PERRO A MEDIANOCHE de Mark Haddon #biblioteca
In addition, Contenidos Locales [es] (Local Contents), a “community of people that shares, talks about, and creates digital content about Chile [es],” invited people [es] to visit a library in the town of Camarones in northern Chile.
The event was not limited to Chile and it involved people elsewhere in the Spanish-speaking world. In the blog Myrna Lee, la biblotecaria…[es] (Myrna Lee, the librarian…), blogger and librarian from Puerto Rico Myrna Lee described what the event meant to her [es]:
En estas noches, he tenido pláticas intensas por medio del Twitteo,   desde problemáticas sociales, temas picosos y películas no recomendadas.  Ahh recordando el evento #biblioteca, desde ese día se re-generó mi adicción! El evento #biblioteca me abrió las puertas a América Latina, y España…  para mi, algo maravilloso. Recuerden, vivo en un país donde miramos al  norte y yo estoy aprendiendo a mirar al Sur del Planeta […] Voy conociendo, gente interesante,  bibliotecarios 2.0 y más, comprometidos con esta vocación que a todos  nos marca, que a todos nos seduce!
After the event, Biblioredes informed [es] about the scope of the event:
El evento virtual en el que además de Chile participaron países como  México, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Perú, Venezuela, Argentina, Brasil,  Portugal y España (país que alcanzó el número uno con el hashtag), fue  una acción de marketing social en Internet por una institución, la  Biblioteca, que lleva 4.000 años atendiendo a sus comunidades.
Finally, Mauricio Fino, author of the blog MaoLibrarian [es], reflected on the results of the event [es]:
Gracias a wthashtag.com y Twirus seguimos con alegria cómo #biblioteca llegaba a los Trending Topic Hispano de Twitter gracias a 9,798 tweets, 1,576  colaboradores (equivalentes a 1,399.7   tweets por día) durante los últimos 7 días, es decir que no sabemos  con precisión (o por lo menos yo) cuántas personas participaron durante  la hora programada.
Thanks to wthashtag.com and Twirus [we] followed with joy how #biblioteca became a Hispanic Trending Topic on Twitter thanks to 9,798 tweets, 1.576 collaborators (equivalent to 1,399.7 tweets per day) during the last 7 days[. This] means that we (or at least myself) don't know precisely how many people participated during the scheduled hour.
Furthermore, we can also find that 42.2% were retweets (I think this is a high figure), 60.6% were mentions, 16.3% had multiple hashthags and 27.2% came from the “Top 10″ (that is to say, a little more than a quarter of the achievement was due to 10 persons?). If we look [at the Top 10] in detail, we will see 4 of the 8 organizers of the initiative. I don't say this is bad, but I think that this should have been a smaller number [considering that] the official announcement was so “aggressive” as to grab the attention of a few thousand collaborators.

author: Felipe Cordero


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Japan: Run Uncle Yamashita! · Global Voices
Scilla Alecci

A 62-year-old Japanese man, known as uncle Yamashita, rollerbladed across the United States from the east to the west coast.
During his 6000 km journey he tweeted @kenyamashita62 [ja] and was in contact with his supporters through Facebook [ja, en]. A group of friends also followed his adventure at two blogs ( Japanese and English).
Ken Yamashita reportedly arrived to Cape Cod [en] on September 03 and plans on getting back to Japan in October.

author: Scilla Alecci


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Jordan: Modified New Information Systems Crime Law Launched · Global Voices
Gabriel Nada

After calls from many important Jordanian internet news publishing organizations, the Center for Defending Freedom of Journalists مركز حماية وحرية الصحفيين, human rights groups, media and legal activists, as well as individuals concerned with censorship issues and freedom of speech and expression, some important modifications have occurred to Jordan's new first-of-its-kind Information Systems Crime Law قانون جرائم انظمة المعلومات summarized in this Aramram Feature.
Filling a Legal Vacuum
Prior to this piece of legislation, no law or legal framework had existed to specifically deal with “cyber crime”, including issues relating to child pornography, exploitation of mentally or emotionally disabled persons, and spreading of information designed to harm Jordanian economic and political interests.
The initial framework was intended to create a legal basis for dealing with all issues related to criminal activity specifically based on the web. However, civil watchdog groups reacted to the initial powers granted by the first draft (such as search of premises and computers without a warrant) and demanded clarifications so that the newly created powers would not be misconstrued and misused to target news sites and the free expression of ideas.
Full Spectrum Reactions
Reactions to the new law have been mixed. Some see it as a step backwards, such as this Aramram user writing as Anti-7afartalism,  commenting on the Aramram site regarding the above video:
hadi el qawaneen el jdeede 7atat el urdunn fee qa2emet el dowal el mota5alefe o a3da2 el internet b3d ma innu el urdun mn asr3 edwal ele intshar el internet feha o atwal shari3 lal internet cafe kan 3ala ginis ….y3ni el wa7ad badal ma yitawrr 3m berja3 la wara o hai el fdee7a weslat lal Washington Post !!! la2eno el urdun m3roof 3nha inha the most free arab country fa keef beseer hada el 7aki!!!
However after the adjustments, others are waiting to see and spreading news of the ammendments via twitter. noor JoJo (nrbi2) tweets:
أهم التعديلات على قانون جرائم انظمة المعلومات المؤقت .. ونص القانون بصيغته النهائية ammonnews.net/article.aspx?a… via @AddThis .. eli b7b yeqr2
abeeryarmouk also tweets:
http://bit.ly/bDuLb9 الأردن/ نقيب المحامين : تعديلات قانون جرائم انظمة المعلومات انهت الجدل الدائر حوله
and SamirKassireyes tweets:
الحكومة الاردنية تعدّل قانون “جرائم أنظمة المعلومات” بعد انتقادات وضغوط محلية http://www.skeyesmedia.org/?mode=newsdetails&id=2283
Government response to Criticism and Pressure
Some see the receptiveness of the government to creating changes in the law in reaction to activism as a positive step in building relations between the internet community and the law. Blogging on Jordanoholic.com, Rani Dababneh writes:
In reference to [Jordanian Bloggers Meet the Minister of ICT on first Cyber Crime draft Law in Jordan], we got notified that Cabinet approved the Information Systems Crime Law of 2010 on , which will take effect after 30 days of issuance. Information Systems / Cyber Crime Law, and Reasons Thereof are below in Arabic: [English Version will be provided soon]
UPDATE: Jordan Government, on August 29, endorsed the final draft of the Information Systems Crime Law (Cyber Crime Law) after ammending several parts of the legislation that drew controversy and criticism from various human rights and media activists.
From his blog at Osamaa.com, Osama Romoh أسامة الرمح also shares the view that the government's inclusion of bloggers in the process and their willingness to listen to the concerns of civil liberties groups is a positive step. He writes:
في نقطة رابحة تُضاف إلى رصيد المدوّنين الأردنيين والمدونات الأردنية للإعتراف الرسمي بهم، قامت وزارة الاتصالات وتكنولوجيا المعلومات بإشراك عدد من المدونين في مناقشة مسودّة قانون الجرائم الالكترونية
The blog Radical Justice العدالة الراديكالية carries the full text of the final version of the new law as well as the specifics of the changes that were called for by public pressure.


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Mozambique: New media bring Mozambican crisis to the world · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

“This week's deadly unrest in Mozambique became a global news story in part because reporters and citizen journalists used new media and social networking tools,” Mohammed Keita reports.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Tajikistan: Women’s Perspective on Climate Change · Global Voices
Diego Casaes

Mark Notaras and Citt Williams bring Tajik women's viewpoint on climate change in OurWorld 2.0 blog. “The way that individual people perceive climate change is complex. Climate change impacts are not simply good or bad. They can be both, as demonstrated in this Our World 2.0 video-brief showcasing the perspectives on climate change of Tajik women.”

author: Diego Casaes


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Tanzania: Africa Bridge helps farmers and children · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

An interview of Barry Childs, the founder Africa Bridge, talking about Africa Bridge work with farmers and children in ruralTanzania.