text:
Macedonia: NGOs and Netizens Prevent Undemocratic Youth Law · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

The withdrawal of the Draft Law on Youth from the parliamentary procedure indicates that the otherwise stubborn authorities can be persuaded not to do more harm if the civil society, social media users and international organizations work together.
At the initiative of Youth Educational Forum, 45 youth and other NGOs joined up and organized the process of consultations, which was supposed to be conducted by the government. It included public debates and meetings with stakeholders (e.g., MPs and youth branches of political parties), as well as press releases and media events to inform the public.
Much of the work was done online, with the website mladizakon.org [Youth Law] as the central web resource of the NGO members and other netizens who spread information via their websites and social networks, including direct tagging of Facebook ‘friends’, such as politicians and media personalities.
Lack of official information about the state of the legislative process spurred NGOs to conduct a media conference at an entrance to the Parliament a day before the deadline for submission of amendments. Photo by Kinj0 (CC-BY-NC)
An announcement [mk, en, sq] by the civil society organizations, which advocated changes to the draft law and tried to persuade the MPs to submit amendments for its change, sums up the process:
Forty-five youth and civil society organizations welcome the decision of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia to withdraw the proposed Youth Law – considered to be undemocratic and restrictive for the youth by the expert and general public.
The decision was reached late last night [Oct 30], during the open session of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia. As announced on the official government profiles on Facebook and Twitter, the Youth Law is being withdrawn from parliamentary procedure in order to conduct a wider consultation with the youth NGOs. The Government reached this decision only half a day after the press-conference of the youth organizations held before the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia [mk].
The organizations that took the initiative to defend youth participation and submitted proposals to the Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia for amendments to the proposed law believe that the withdrawal of the draft-text is useful and that it has been done at the right time, before any more damage could be done to youth organization. The organizations highlight that the future process of drafting laws must directly include all youth stakeholders, interested youth organizations and the youth wings of political parties.
The initiators congratulate all 45 organizations for their efforts and commitment and invite all young people to get more interested in youth policies and youth organization on a local and national level. The 45 organizations will continue to actively participate in the analyses and creation of effective solutions to youth problems. They will focus on providing conditions for establishing a National Youth Parliament, as a self-organizing body of all forms of association of young people in Macedonia regardless of their age, political orientation, formal or informal association, ethnic, religious or other affiliation.
If adopted, the current draft-law would have introduced more bureaucracy, control and restrictions for youth organizing, and an additional precedent – the highest representative body of youth in the country would have been the State Youth Council, in which more than half of the members are representatives from ministries of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia.
The advocacy process against the proposed undemocratic solutions was accompanied by intensive online activities of the youth, sending appeals to the decision makers and tagging them on social networks Facebook and Twitter.
Macedonia is obliged to change and enact a number of laws as part of the reforms required for joining the EU, and conduct public consultations providing opportunities for civil society and individual citizens to provide comments and suggest improvements. However, this has not always been the case – quite a few laws have been brought up under emergency procedures without any public discussion. And in cases when consultations have been conducted, the remarks by the civil society have been neglected.
Examples of this include the Anti-Discrimination Law and the Law on Associations and Foundations, which were found faulty by local activists, legal experts and the international community (you can find more info about this in the 7th, 8th and 9th editions of the Accession Watch Report by EU-integration watchdog NGOs MCET and FOSM).
Text: "In Defense of Youth Participation – www.mladizakon.org". Photo by Kinj0 (CC-BY-NC)
Back in August, human rights expert and university professor Mirjana Najchevska commented [mk] about the Draft Law on Youth [mk]:
…Most cynically, the Government claims that this Law should enable youth participation in decision making, preparation of laws and expressing their specific interests… While on the contrary, the Law has been prepared without youth participation, without any public discussions, nor does it contain provisions for promotion of the interests and needs of the young people.
The Law claims that one of its goals is for “young people to voluntarily associate in youth organizations.” However, a few paragraphs below it defines this “voluntary association” as directed by the municipal councils or the national Parliament, through “forming of a Youth Council, formed by the Municipal Council” and “National Youth Council formed by the Assembly of RM, as umbrella organization over all youth in Republic of Macedonia…” So these boards formed by the state should represent the interests of the youth – cynical, ain't it?
Articles 5 and 8 of the Draft Law, about the top priorities of the youth, accentuate this cynicism:
“the primary purpose determined by the statutes of the [youth] organization is advancing the position and status of the youth, development of democracy, civil society and human rights, protection from drug abuse, sexually transmitted diseases, delinquency of minors, alcoholism, prostitution and human trafficking, improvement of volunteering, and other activities of public interest determined by this or other law.”
LOL. I've always knew that the primary goal of young people is to fight prostitution. It was only necessary to write it down.
And moreover, if the voluntary associated youth fail to include these goals in their statutes, they will commit violation and suffer punishment:
“A fee of EUR 200 to 300 in Denar value will be incurred to the youth organization… if its activities comprise something other than the goals determined by articles 5 and 8 of this law.”
I cannot imagine bigger mockery of youth association and avant-guard youth activism.
Cynicism continues: Instead of promotion of non-discrimination and equality in the structuring and work of these para-youth structures, there are no provisions for equal representation of sexes, inclusion of marginalized groups in decision making, or securing multicultural approach. It all boils up to faded phrases by political morons on just representation.
Within these para-youth structures, the authorities leave no chance for any rebellion, disputing the decisions of the political establishment, or offering alternatives. For this reason, half of the National Youth Council members:
“…will be proposed by the Government of RM, representatives of Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Education and Science, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Local Self-Government, Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planing, Agency of Youth and Sports, Secretariat of European Affairs, Secretariat for Implementation of the Framework Agreement, and National Agency for European Education Programs and Mobility.”
As a professor and educator I call upon the youth to oppose the enactment of such a law.
To emphasize her position, Prof. Najchevska also illustrated her post with photos of Hitler Youth, and wrote that she purposefully quoted all the spelling mistakes from the draft law to show the inadequacy of the proposal.
European Youth Forum, representing 98 National Youth Councils and International Youth Organisations from across Europe, issued a statement [pdf] expressing its concern over the draft youth law, especially about the independence, structure and funding for the future Macedonian National Youth Council (NYC):
According to the draft law in its version from April, the proposed NYC will be politically run by a board, in which the absolute majority of members would be selected by state authorities. A total of six youth representatives out of 29 would be elected for the board, the rest will be selected in what seems to be a non-transparent and non-democratic fashion. On the city level the democratic process is also lacking: apart from the nomination of candidates by youth organisations, the proposed law would see all board members selected by city authorities.
Furthermore, we are concerned that the draft law already defines membership criteria for the NYC. These criteria should be set by a democratic, youth-led initiative for the formation of a NYC, not arbitrarily by the state.
During the night after the press conference, the recently inaugurated official Twitter account of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia quoted the Prime Minister [mk] from the session of the cabinet, broadcasted live on TV*:
Gruevski: The Government withdraws the Draft Law on Youth from the parliamentary procedure in order to purport wider consultations with youth NGOs
In the following month, no new information has been provided by the authorities about the next steps regarding the Law on Youth.

author: Filip Stojanovski


text:
Russia: Detained Member of Parliament Uses Live Mobile Broadcasting  · Global Voices
Gregory Asmolov

Ilya Ponomarev, member of Russian Duma, who was detained by Novosibirsk police [ru] due to “illegal distribution” of his party newspaper conducted live broadcasting via his mobile phone from the police station and responded to text messages from viewers. Finally, he was released by a police officer in front of his mobile camera.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Gregory Asmolov


text:
Sao Tome and Principe: Photographic View of the Country · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

The blog Viagem a São Tomé e Príncipe (Trip do Sao Tome and Principe) has made available a rich archive of photography that illustrates a range of aspects from the country, as for instance unique fruits and flowers, colorful markets and churches, street art and other artistic and cultural demonstrations.

author: Sara Moreira


text:
Slovakia: Visualising Business Registry Data with Vorsr.sk · Global Voices
Jakub Górnicki

Vorsr.sk [sk] is a tool for visual exploration of Slovakia's business registry. It treats the information as one big social network, grabbing the newest data live from the current registry database and delivering up-to-date connections of searched for individuals. The business registry contains information about all Slovak people who own a business, own part of one or are board members.
Following is an interview with Slovakian Michal Habala, who together with a colleague came up with the idea for Vorsr.sk in August 2008, using JUNG, an open-source Java project by a couple of students from the University of California.
Sample data visualisation from Vorsr.sk
Global Voices (GV): How much time did it take to launch Vorsr.sk before it went live? What were people's first reactions?
Michal Habala (MH): At the beginning we thought that it would be ready in a few weeks/months but when we saw the data quality in the business registry we decided to go deeper and implement data cleansing algorithms and other functionality. This and the fact that it is not a commercial project (it was always balanced between all our free time activities) meant that the beta version for public testing was released 18 months after we started. But I think it was worth it; the reactions are always very good, as we can present some results, which you would never be able to see in any other relevant project or tool.
GV: How did the idea change from day one? What are your users saying and how are you adapting to their needs?
MH: This tool is in never-ending development driven basically by our users. Every time we get an impulse from our users to add some functionality, we begin to analyze this request and try to make it happen.
GV: What are your plans for the near and distant future?
MH: The tool is evolving in time and now we are introducing a Czech version (beta version here) and probably in two months we are looking to introduce a Czechoslovak version (from both countries). This could be the first European project which provides information from joint business registries to the public (and it’s completely free).
GV: What is/was your main obstacle while developing and running the project?
MH: Probably poor data quality in the business registry. We tried to make this tool without downloading the data to our databases, so in Slovak it runs as an online wrapper of the business registry. This approach has its positives (like no problem with request limits and always up to date data) but recently we discovered that this approach has some limitations, which we want to overcome. This is mainly the data loading time and stability of the business registry, which is continuously getting worse. Even though we like the concept of using government services as data sources for our tool, we have to face the fact that these services have a long way to go before they can be used in such way.
GV: Was there anyone angry at you after you launched this project?
MH: I think that people still don’t get it what they can do with this tool. Most of our users just look at their own business and do not go deeper. Partly it’s our fault because we don’t pay much attention to the promotion of results yet. But we are going to change that and embed some introductory (tutorial) videos and results-showing videos in our home page. Then I can imagine that some business people would be annoyed that we used their case to present our tool. But in general I think there’s nothing to be worried about, it’s all public data already accessible through the public business registry.
GV: What will be new in the beta version?
MH: The beta version is completely new inside. There was some major object and internal structure redesign, which will improve stability, the speed of the applet and will allow us to easily integrate other countries and add other sources of information. Also some GUI [Graphical User Interface] redesign and new graph analyzing algorithms. So it will be quite new in the end, but we are talking about a wait of probably one year.
GV: I find this tool currently hard to use – there is lots of Java, it's quite slow in my browser. Don’t you lose some of your audience because of these issues?
MH: I know that Java is source consuming and therefore the whole tool is slower in browsers with large amounts of data loaded, but this tool was never meant to be used this way. It was designed to be a small applet for visualizing small graphs online loaded from the business registry. When we saw that big business cases are really big and you have to load very large graphs to see the context, we decided to make a real tool from it. The first step to overcome the speed issue was enabling the install of it as a desktop application, which runs faster. Another step is to release a new version with optimized algorithms (i.e. the beta version mentioned earlier). But at the end, it will never be a click-and-see component for everyone, it’s a tool and when a user wants to use it he/she has to accept its demands.
GV: What are the promotional plans? Do media and journalists use it?
MH: We don’t have information as to whether any media use it. I think that there are some media people among our users but that’s all. I have to say that we underestimated the value of promotion. We are mainly programmers but we have to face the fact that every project needs a promotion plan.
GV: Is there any business person who wants to sponsor you?
MH: This goes hand in hand with the question before I think. No promotion means no sponsor. On the other hand we are getting promo support from the Fair-play Alliance in Slovak Republic and now also from people of the Kohovolit.eu portal in the Czech Republic for which we are very thankful.
Thanks a lot for taking the time to do this interview.

author: Jakub Górnicki


text:
Slovenia: Dec. 4 Elections Updates · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Updates on the upcoming Dec. 4 parliamentary elections – by Dr. Filomena and Sleeping With Pengovsky (here, here, here, and here). Pengovsky concludes: “The way it looks right now, Janša seems poised to win on 4 December. However whether or not he will be able to form a coalition remains a mystery […].”

author: Veronica Khokhlova


text:
Sri Lanka: Colombo Property Issues · Global Voices
Rezwan

Colombo Property developments are not well managed and the values are inconsistent, opines Indi.ca.

author: Rezwan


text:
Tanzania: YoungAfricaLive Mobile Community Launched · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Robert blogs about the launch of YoungAfrica Live mobile community: “Virtual youth community movement, YoungAfricaLive, has launched in Tanzania through Vodacom mobile. Young Africa Live is a mobile community that entertains and educates young people on topics of love, sexual health, gender and relationships which are issues adversely affecting the youth in Tanzania.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


text:
Zambia: How Netizens Observed World AIDS Day · Global Voices
Gershom Ndhlovu

Zambian netizens on various social media sites observed the World Aids Day, which falls on December 1, with a call for people to know their HIV status. Zambians, who say “if you are not infected, you are affected” know better about the effects of HIV/AIDS which has for the last 30 years claimed many lives in the country.
Writing on a Facebook group called the Zambia People’s Parliament—a make-believe online parliament on which all parliament etiquette is followed–Hon Gongs Jhala wrote:
Mr. Speaker sir, I know my HIV status and would like to know how many MP's in this August house know theirs. Mr. Speaker sir knowing one's status is one of the most powerful weapons we can use To fight this deadly disease and save lives of millions. If one is negative, then it is incumbent on them to take the necessary precautions to stay that way such as ABC. If one is positive, it is incumbent on them to seek the necessary treatment and take the necessary precautions to avoid reinfecting themselves and infecting others. Mr speaker on this 1st day of December, I beg to move.
one of the responses to the post which attracted over 100 comments read:
Mr. Speaket Sir, I stand in agreement with Hon Gongs Jhala‘s statement. Every member of this house should take it upon themselves to to be in the lead in this fight against HIV. Mr. Speaker Sir, people out there have a very bad perception of us honourable members of this house because of the infidelity exhibited by some of us. Mr. Speaker Sir, I call upon all of us to get tested, know our status and be faithful to our wives and husbands. For those who cant do this, let them reduce on the number of girlfrends/sexual partners. Let us Think and Act and let our tok not js be mere rhetoric. Mr. Speaker Sir, I beg to move
Joseph Mututa, however, wondered why some people on Facebook wished their friends a happy Aids Day:
Most people have posted on their walls, wishing us a happy world aids day. How do you wish people a happy aids day. Help me people are these people right or wrong.
One blogger posted a link of her blog on to the Zambian Peoples Pact where she talks to three Zambian female musicians about their views on the HIV/AIDS pandemic:
These women brought excitement to the music industry, they were fearless, they exiled in an industry that was dominated by men.
But what exactly are their views on HIV/AIDS and what are they doing as role models in helping combat the scourge?? Let’s find out.
On Twitter, Zambian tweeps also shared their views:
@TwentyKwacha One of my BBM contacts just announced that she will not have intercourse in 2012. That's her world AIDS day promise…
Another tweep wondered why the Zambian President, Michael Sata, made a short address to the nation on corruption instead of HIV/AIDS:
@Nj0lima Wonder why Sata decided to “ambush” the nation with a ka short national address about corruption on World Aids Day. Anyone?
Njolima explains a bit more about the President's speech:
@Nj0lima @TwentyKwacha Very short empty-ish speech about launch of corruption week. On World Aids Day. Puzzling. #Sata
One tweep listed the drivers of HIV in Zambia:
@lwangamwilu In #Zambia multiple and concurrent sexual partners, low rate of consistent condom use, and poverty are major drivers of HIV #WAD11
She also asked about the strategies for helping prisoners tackle HIV:
@lwangamwilu Zero new HIV infections- what's the plan for prisoners? Do they remain excluded from the continuum of strategies? #WAD11
And writing on the Zambian Watchdog  website, Given Mutinta highlights sexual behaviour at Zambian universities in which senior students “rush” for new female students entering university from secondary schools and how this fuels HIV/AIDS among them:
Students in Zambian universities fall within the age group that is at high risk of HIV infection. There are many behaviours and practices that expose students to HIV/AIDS. Of particular interest is what is termed as a ‘gold rush’. This is a phenomenon where senior students ‘rush’ into relationships with first year students. Senior students either abandon their partners for the ‘gold’ new students or date both concurrently. The ‘rush’ into sexual relationships puts students at risk as both partners know very little about each other’s past lives.
Fanning the embers of the ‘gold rush’ is the fact that many of the new students come from single-sex schools and when they join the universities, they are overwhelmed by male and female students. In their naivety, they get into relationships and before they know it, they are already engaging in sex. It is also evident that upon joining universities, students find more freedom and space than they had before.
One comment on the article by someone calling herself Melvis, reads:
I’m a 3rd yr student at UNZA and ve bn living with HIV 4 the past 3 yrs. I got infected in my first semester as a fresher. If i knew what i know about the risk of hiv at UNZA, i would ve taken my time before engaging in sex. I was deceived that I was the only one when we were three of us being fooled by one guy who is now late. ZWD, thank u this artilce!
* Thumbnail image: The Red ribbon is a symbol for solidarity with HIV-positive people and those living with AIDS. Image released under Creative Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0) by Gary van der Merwe.

author: Gershom Ndhlovu


text:
African Bloggers React To UNESCO’s Admission Of Palestine  · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

[All links lead to French language pages except when otherwise noted]
The admission of Palestine as a full member of UNESCO on 31 October 2011 has prompted an intense debate, with people taking very different stands.  Africans from the continent as well as the diaspora have also taken an active part in the debate online.  However, whether they agreed or disagreed with Palestine's admission to UNESCO, the different sides have often projected the debate onto the internal problems of their own countries.
UNESCO admits Palestine.  Photo by Salaam Shalom on Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
The site ouestaf.com   reveals which African countries abstained from voting:
Trois pays ouest africains figurent dans le lot des abstentionnistes : Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Togo. Ils constituent avec le Cameroun, l’Ouganda, la Zambie et le Rwanda les seuls pays africains à n’avoir pas voté en faveur de la résolution faisant de Palestine un Etat membre à part entière de l’Unesco.
Each of the countries that chose to abstain gave its official reasons, which bloggers then quickly tore apart. The site amaizo.info published an article giving valid reasons for most of the countries:
En réalité, ces pays ont en commun d’assurer une partie de leur sécurité rapprochée jusqu’au niveau des gardes présidentielles avec Israël sans compter les aides économiques.
Ces « neutralistes » se cachent derrière l’obligation de réserve au lieu d’expliquer qu’ils sont tous directement ou indirectement tributaires du soutien des pays qui ne veulent pas entendre parler d’un Etat Palestinien pour le moment.  Nommons Israël, les Etats-Unis, le Canada et la Colombie, etc. La France a voté en faveur de l’adhésion de la Palestine à l’UNESCO, mais annonce qu’elle s’abstiendra au Conseil de Sécurité.
The ‘neutral ones’ hide behind the duty to preserve secrecy, instead of explaining that they are all directly or indirectly dependent on the support of countries that, for the moment, don't want to hear about a Palestinian state.  Just to name some:  Israel, the United States, Canada, Colombia etc.  France voted in favour of Palestine joining UNESCO, but announced that it would abstain from the Security Council.
Explaining the position of Ivory Coast, the only African country run by a Muslim president to have opted for abstention, S. Débailly writes in an article entitled “Palestine in UNESCO / Ivory Coast abstains from voting – Why Alassane Ouattara didn't say yes to Nicolas Sarkozy”, published by abidjan.net:
Une source au ministère d’Etat, ministère des Affaires étrangères reconnaît que la pression a été forte. Mais, ajoute-t-elle, elle est restée fidèle à sa nouvelle ligne de conduite dictée par la recherche de la paix par la négociation et la volonté de préserver les amitiés avec tous les Etats du monde. Un peu comme la philosophie diplomatique du père fondateur [Félix Houphouët-Boigny], à savoir : ‘’la Côte d’Ivoire, amie de tous, ennemie de personne’’.
But Roch Tieh, a resident of Sétif in Morocco, commenting on that article, has quite a different explanation, more personal, for President Abdourahmane Dramane Ouattara (ADO):
Loin de partager l'avis de la plupart des frères qui sont intervenus sur ce sujet, j'ai une autre vision de la chose. Je risque de choquer certains, mais pour ceux qui me voient souvent prendre position pour ADO, je dirai ici (Sans en avoir la preuve) que le vote de notre Pays a été influencé, par la Première Dame (Que je respecte beaucoup). Elle serait d'origine Juive et donc comme le dit l'Agade: Ce qui Femme veut, DIEU le veut aussi. Notre Président a demandé que notre Pays s'abstienne, si on ne peut pas voter pour l'adhésion de la Palestine à l'Unesco, il faut rester neutre. C'est sage de sa part et il n'y a pas de Palabres inutiles à la maison.
A story written by Alain Noah Awana of the journal Le Messager (The Messenger) on cameroon-info.net agrees with the  previous analysis on why Cameroon also abstained:
Joint sur son téléphone portable alors qu'il se trouvait à Paris, le Pr. Messanga Nyamding donne les trois raisons qui, selon lui, ont poussé le Cameroun sur la voie de l'abstention….En filigrane, on peut comprendre que le pays a choisi la neutralité pour ne pas attirer les foudres de la communauté internationale, notamment celles des Etats-Unis. Deuxièmement, il se pourrait que le Cameroun ait voulu éviter de «frustrer» un pays ami. Là, le professeur parle d'Israël, qui était formellement opposé à l'admission de la Palestine à l'Unesco. «Le Cameroun a de très bonnes relations avec Israël, sur les plans économique et militaire. C'est un partenaire privilégié que nous n'avons pas voulu frustrer», argue-t-il. Enfin, et c'est la troisième raison, la position du Cameroun tient lieu du fait que c'est un pays très attaché aux groupes du tiers monde et des non alignés. «Nous avons donc choisi la voie du milieu, en attendant qu'il y ait visibilité. Et c'est d'ailleurs ce que le chef de l'Etat a toujours prôné», appuie-t-il.
These explanations don't seem to convince Massaknowall, who makes the following remarks in the comment section:
La garde rapprochée de Biya est formée par les israëliens ceci explique peut-être cela tout simplement
In a comment on a story by Justin Daboné, entitled “Palestine in UNESCO:  Those American anti-democrats”, which appeared on the online site for L'Observateur Paalga in Burkina Faso, a reader named Osiris wrote, addressing President Obama:
vous devez user de votre influence pour amener les durs d’ Israel à mettre un peu d'eau dans leurs vins§ beaucoup d'Israeliens ont payé de leur vie et idem pour les palestiniens ! Il est temps de donner un état à ce peuple.
Clive Chanda finds another reason for Zambia's abstention [en]:
… in 1991, several Jewish Rabbis, came to Zambia, and held a press conference at one of the top hotels in Lusaka, I forget which one. At this conference, they said that God Almighty had told them that there was a lost tribe of Jews in northern Zambia.
Another comment by Yambayamba published on zambianwatchdog.com draws conclusions [en] which sum up the point of view of many Africans:
Palestinians have suffered long enough. Telling Israel this truth does not mean, or should it ever be interpreted as being ANTI JEWISH. Good friends tell friends the truth. Sometimes truth is hard to hear, but it is the truth nonetheless. Because for how long are the Israelis going to sustain the current existing “status quo” between them and their neighbors, the Palestinians? The earlier they deal with this issue, the less physical and psychological damage it is going to cause to future generations in that part of the world.

author: Abdoulaye Bah


text:
Angola: Citizen reports of police repression in Luanda slum · Global Voices
Janet Gunter

Angolan citizen reporters associated with the human rights organization OMUNGA posted an interview today with an activist on the ground in the Cazenga neighborhood of Luanda where police reportedly violently repressed a planned protest against the government earlier in the day. The report mentions injuries and a strong police presence “supported by helicopters”.

author: Janet Gunter


text:
Armenia-Azerbaijan: A microcosm of an unresolved conflict · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Caspian Intelligence comments on calls by the religious leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to withdraw snipers from the line of contact separating the forces of both countries in the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh. Amid increasing concerns about a new war between the two countries, the blog says that the issue is a microcosm of the unresolved conflict.

author: Onnik Krikorian


text:
Azerbaijan: Toy… Tying the Knot the Azeri Way · Global Voices
Aygun Janmammadova

Toy is the Azerbaijani word for wedding, one of the most important events for families everywhere. However, in Azerbaijan such importance is placed on marriage that it takes months of planning. Weddings are also a remarkable showcase for the country's colorful traditions and customs, including in the preparations preceding the ceremony itself.
No wonder then, that they are also of great interest to Peace Corps Volunteers (PCV) serving in the country. Far From Nome, for example, introduces its readers to the world of Azerbaijani weddings through a series of posts on the subject. The blogger says that weddings in Azerbaijan are nothing like those back home.
Okay guys, dig in because this is a pretty big topic. […] The most important thing to know is that weddings in Azerbaijan, although called weddings, share few similarities with American weddings.
Firstly, weddings are big deals. Actually, they are the deal. […] There is no US equivalent to describe how big a wedding is in Azerbaijan, so it is kind of hard to wrap your head around unless you have lived here.
Last week, I went to a bachelorette party. Amid Turkish traditions and probably some Persian customs, we ate, drank tea, and danced.
In another post, the blogger notes that is never quite as simple as just having one wedding.
[…] So…did you know that the bride and groom have their own weddings?!
Yup. That is right. As a bride, you get two (TWO) parties to celebrate the momentous occasion of marriage. At the girl's wedding (a few days before the boy's), the girl wears a colored dress, enjoys the company of her family, and smiles, a lot. She then goes back home and prepares for the boy's wedding which will happen in a couple of days. […]
The best part about this wedding? I got to MOW DOWN. U.S. wedding food has got nothing on Azerbaijani weddings. We are talking at least 5 courses of salads, meats, kebabs, and special wedding rice pilaf.
A subsequent post compares the groom's wedding with that of the bride.
[…] First, a boy's wedding and a girl's wedding follow the same exact pattern. The only real differences are:
1. The bride wears a white dress with a red sash around her waist; and,
2. The bride does not return to her parents’ home after the ceremony.
Otherwise, normally, the boy's wedding is bigger and attended by both sides of the family. Things go pretty normal – about 4 hours (maybe 5 if you are lucky) of dancing, eating, and drinking. […]
After attending several weddings, the blogger concludes that there is more to discover in terms of local tradition.
Now, I have talked about weddings several times , but as I found out last night, not every tradition I have learned is expressed in exactly the same way.
[…]
So, it goes to show that no matter how long I am a PCV, I have barely scratched the surface of Azerbaijani culture. […]
On a more serious note, Life Called by Julie Nelson touches upon the tradition of arranged marriages, but says that this is not always the case.
[…]  The regional customs, family rituals, degree of conservativeness or liberalness, and level of affluence or poverty directly affect Azerbaijani weddings and the events leading up to and following the occasion.
Some weddings are arranged, others are somewhat arranged, while there are those marriages where the spouses choose each other without much family interference (although this is not exactly the norm).[…]
It was a classiest Azerbaijani wedding I’ve seen, and I had a lot of fun.  I also liked the fact that the bride and groom met randomly and on their own – she is a journalist and interviewed him for an article. […]
In an extensive post accompanied by photos, Making Wool from Eggs, another PCV blog, paints a colorful picture of the engagement party, the symbols used, and of course, traditional dance.
[…] At the engagement party, I believe, the boy and girl are not in the same room. It’s separated by gender (mostly) but it all happens in the same house. This is also where the girl and family and friends do a Henna ritual. They just put henna on their palms. On the girl-to-be-married’s palm they put the boy’s first initial in one hand and the girl’s first initial on the other. The engagement period is also when the dowry is prepared. […]
[…] In this wedding, the girl wears a white dress with a red ribbon around her waist (symbol for virginity). […]
[…]
[…] Azerbaijani’s have their own particular style of dancing. Boys and girls dance with their arms out at shoulder level with some fancy foot movement. Men will have one arm straight out and the other arm bent with their hand behind their head. They switch off with their one arm straight and the other bent. Girls will have both their arms out but a little bent (more dainty) and do a forward roll with their hands. PCVs have described this as “screwing in the light bulb” movement. […]
AzerbaiWHAT? speaks about wedding symbols and also shares her dancing experience.
[…] The bride and groom enter with at least one girl carrying a candle and another carrying a mirror. The candle is to bring light into their marriage and the mirror is very practical but also lets them see what they already possess. Pretty cool. They immediately cut the cake and have their first dance and then they sit.
[…]  My first toy dancing seemed to be a success […]. Azeri dancing is ultimately stepping side to side, or step tap step tap. You don't move your hips […]. Very soft flowy movements. If you can't imagine it just sway side to side and delicately pretend to screw in light bulbs.

author: Aygun Janmammadova


text:
Nepal: IT Meet 2011 · Global Voices
Rezwan

Anil P. Ghimire informs that the Kathmandu University Computer Club (KUCC) is organizing the IT Meet 2011 on December 4-5, 2011 at Kathmandu University, Nepal. Students of various colleges and youth from various walks of life are invited among others.


text:
Nepal: The Growth Of Citizen Media · Global Voices
Rezwan

Bhumika looks back at the growth of citizen media in Nepal, which  have pushed Nepali mainstream media into a new era-where citizen input is getting recognized


text:
Russia: Last Words Before Pre-Election Silence · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

This post is part of our special coverage Russia Elections 2011.
The Internet has done for the Russian opposition what the endless negotiations have not been able to accomplish for almost a decade: making a unified decision on who to vote for. Or, to be more precise, who not to vote for.
It seems that through digital discussions on whether to vote or not in the December 4, 2011, parliamentary election (see detailed analysis of the election options discussed by the bloggers), users have finally chosen the option proposed by blogger and anti-corruption activist Alexey Navalny, recently chosen by the Foreign Policy magazine as #24 in the 2011 Global Thinkers list: to vote for any other party but PM Vladimir Putin's United Russia.
The next question is who to vote for then? There are all sorts of answers.
A cartoon comparing a ballot box to a paper shredder, highlights the common distrust towards the election. Illustration by SphinxTheGeek on Flickr (CC BY 2.0).
Friday, Dec. 2, is the last day when campaigning is legal. Bloggers shared their views on the upcoming vote – and their voting plans.
Popular blogger Drugoi [ru]:
Иными словами, в стране создана работающая на нефтяной трубе модель полицейского государства, погрязшего в коррупции и воровстве, с самой примитивной, тоталитарного характера политической системой — «одно государство — одна партия». Я наблюдаю за этим уже несколько лет и настал такой подходящий момент, когда можно хоть как-то выразить своё отношение к тому, что получилось у правящего режима.
Поэтому, я пойду на эти выборы и проголосую. Не «за», а «против», т.е. отдам голос любой другой партии, кроме «Единой России». Другого выбора мне не оставили. Остаться дома или испортить бюллетень, значит сыграть на руку жуликам и ворам и потерять возможность в дальнейшем судить о происходящем в стране. Это моё маленькое право и большой гражданский долг. Присоединяйтесь!
In other words, in our country they've created a model of a police state that works via an oil pipe and is stuck in corruption and thievery, with the most primitive, totalitarian political system – “one country – one party.” I've been observing this for several years already, and the appropriate moment has come when there's a possibility to somehow express my attitude towards what the ruling regime has produced.
This is why I will go and vote this time. Not “for” but “against” – I will give my voice to any other party but United Russia. They haven't left any other option for me. To stay home or to waste a ballot means to play for the crooks and thieves and to lose the chance to pass future judgments on what's going on in the country. This is my little right and a huge citizen responsibility. Join me!
Mikhail Zadornov, an anti-Americanist comedian, proposed to vote for the communists [ru]:
Но если коммунисты наберут более, чем раньше голосов в Думе, они всё-таки смогут противостоять тем, кто чувствует себя сегодня неприкосновенным. А потому вовсе потерял совесть. Россия с её практически однопартийной чиновничьей системой – это конец света в одной отдельно взятой стране.
Kirill Rogov [ru], a journalist, believes that A Just Russia should be the voters’ choice:
главное, что надо понимать про предстоящее голосование, это то, что власти Российской Федерации находятся за границами правового поля. […] Они не заботятся правдоподобными (соответствующими закону) объяснениями своих действий. Они выдумывают от балды поводы наезда на “Голос”. Они гонят наблюдателей. Мэр Москвы смело говорит, что ему нечего стеснятся того, что мэрия и партия – одно. Пусть не стесняется, но мы помним, что это не соответствует Конституции. И что мэр находится вне закона.
Это понимание – самое важное. И оно есть ответ, нужно ли идти на выборы. Нужно. Но не как на выборы. На избирательные участки, мне кажется, нужно идти как на митинг. Чтобы показать свое фэ или хэ.
The most important thing one has to understand about the upcoming vote is that the authorities of the Russian Federation are outside of the legal field […] They do not care about convincing (legitimate) explanations of their actions. They're inventing arbitrary reasons for attacks on “Golos” [election monitoring association, more about the current situation is here]. They chasing away the observers. Moscow mayor bravely says that he is not ashamed of the fact that the mayor's office and the party – is one and the same entity. Let them not be ashamed, but we remember that it is not constitutional. And that the mayor is an outlaw.
This understanding is the most important thing. And it is the answer [to the question of] whether we have to go and vote or not. We do. But we should not treat this as an election. We need to go to the polling stations, I think, as if we are going to a rally. To show your boo or meh.
There were, of course, bloggers, who urged to vote for United Russia. Robert Schlegel, one of the youngest MPs in the United Russia faction in the Duma, also offered advice to the voters. The promo clip for the party he belongs to creatively hijacked the slogan ‘party of crooks and thieves’ that refers to United Russia. The video entitled “Vote for the party of crooks and thieves” suggested that the slogan did not reflect the reality, as United Russia has done a lot for the country:
Later, however, unsure of the success of his postmodern idea, Schlegel wrote:
Хм. Какой там говорите лучший сервис для поиска новой работы? :))))
This post is part of our special coverage Russia Elections 2011.

author: Alexey Sidorenko


text:
World: “Faithbook”, a Project Against Religious Intolerance · Global Voices
Suzanne Lehn

Two young “faith-trotters” Anne-Laure and Frederic launched  “faithbook” [fr],  a project that will take them across the world to meet  similar pro-peace initiatives. They look to start a dialogue between people of faith who believe in peaceful coexistence through initiatives in various domains such as sports, education, culture and environment. They will shortly travel  to Algeria after a trip in Tunisia.

author: Suzanne Lehn


text:
Azerbaijan: Dos and Don’ts of local customs · Global Voices
Aygun Janmammadova

Making Wool from Eggs, a Peace Corps Volunteer blog, puts together a list of random and funny local customs, noting which are approved or disapproved of in the provincial towns and villages of Azerbaijan.


text:
Bangladesh: Lone Woman Shows Resilience by Peaking Summits  · Global Voices
Rezwan

Bangladesh tops the 2010 global climate change risk index but its people are one of the most resilient nations to tackle the threat of global warming and rising seas.
Wasfia Nazreen, a rights activist and development worker quit her job to fulfill her dream to reach seven summits of the seven continents. She started preparations two years ago and she reached 300 meters to the summit of Mount Elbrus in Russia (Europe) in July 2011 and the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania (Africa) in September 2011. She is now on the way to climb Mount Aconcagua in South America.
Wasfia will continue her expeditions in 2012 as she is set to conquer Sagarmatha (Mount Everest) in Asia, Vinson Massif in Antarctica, Mount McKinley (Denali) in North America and Carstensz Pyramidin in Oceania.
Wasfia Nazreen. Photo by Tanvir Murad Topu for Bangladesh On Seven Summits. Used with permission
From the Facebook page of the Bangladesh on Seven Summits Foundation the effort is a tribute to 40 years of Bangladesh’s independence this year:
Bangladesh on Seven Summits is a tribute to those women and men, who, through sheer resolve, overcame enormous ordeal for the birth of our Nation.
Bangladesh on Seven Summits calls upon the international community to act urgently – to meet the drastic “Temperature Challenges” of Global Warming caused by the emissions of industrialized nations. In terms of magnitude, she is one of the most vulnerable countries to Climate Change. The climbs will highlight the resilience of the Bangladeshi peoples, who continue to adapt, confront and tenaciously survive, instead of being mere passive victims of natural disasters.
The world must listen to Bangladesh, and hear her across the heights of Kilimanjaro to Denali, Aconcagua to Sagarmatha.
Chaitanya Kumar at 350.org blog says:
Facing grave dangers of rising sea levels and erratic weather patterns, the country aims to adapt to the changing climate and that will require great reslience and courage. Calling it the temperature challenge, Wasfia is being the image of a resilient Bangladesh by facing extreme weather upon these peaks.
Close to the summit of Mount Elbrus with Bangladesh flag. Photo by Wasfia Nazreen. Used with permission
Wasfia is constantly engaging people with Facebook and Twitter to spread the campaign, raise funds and share updates about her journey.
Here are a few updates from Twitter:
@BDon7Summits: strange happenings at the #russianembassy. hopefully visa by sunday and off we go to Mt. Elbrus! #mtelbrus  (23 Jun)
@BDon7Summits: We are still trying to track @wasfia. Updates soon. Fund raising continues (10 Jul)
@wasfia back to civilization, back to training! one toenail from a frost-bitten toe about to fall off. overwhelmed w all the solidarity messages (20 Jul)
Wasfia in Africa. Image from Bangladesh on Seven Summits's Facebook page.
@BDon7Summits all day yesterday & today with Doctors, doing #fitnesstraining. Follow up w reports again on Tuesday. Preparation for Kili continue (24 Jul)
@BDon7Summits Touch down in Moshi, Tanzania after missing flight/s, losing luggage, paying extra extra extra & a lot of drama!… http://on.fb.me/tu8Sz0 (26 Sep)
@BDon7Summits 2nd Oct, 7:29am in #Tanzania, #Wasfia Nazreen reached the summit of #Kilimanjaro, the highest free-standing… fb.me/YjcAae1k
Wasfia reflects in The Forum (A publication of the Daily Star) on her feat in reaching the highest peak of Africa:
Africa, as a continent is rising rapidly from the ashes of that past… just like us, Bangladeshis, they are resilient and proud people!
She continues:
Kili made me realise, once again, that the tides, the Moon that swoons, the Soul and the Mind who whisper… all are in essence, intricately interconnected. In principle there are a lot of ideas that feel amazing, but in execution, not many of us accomplish the emotional hurdles. Kili renewed my faith, once again, that all barriers, essentially, are in our minds only. Can we not walk the Earth with dignity towards all beings, and all women, including our sisters and mothers involved in this (sex) trade?
Please keep on following the Facebook page, and Twitter accounts @BDon7Summits & @wasfia for updates about the great journey.
Full-blown Sunrise over Patagonia © 2011 Wasfia Nazreen
@wasfia: “Mama i'm home again!” Full-blown #Sunrise over #Patagonia © 2011 wasfia nazreen #Aconcagua #Dec #expedition http://pic.twitter.com/IRxSE29p (Dec 3)
@wasfia: Almost 8:30pm, #Sunset over #Mendoza mountain ridge in the horizon… blowing my being away!! Would be neat to have a #home here!! Please. (Dec 4)


text:
Canada: The Start of the SlutWalk Movement · Global Voices
Maria Grabowski

This post is part of our special coverage SlutWalks 2011.
Global Voices’ author, Maria Grabowski, interviews Heather Jarvis, the co-founder of the first SlutWalk initiative based in Toronto, Canada. Here, they talk about the background of the movement and its quick spread to the rest of the world. [See Jarvis’ Toronto SlutWalk speech here].
Heather Jarvis came up with the SlutWalk idea as a direct response to a Toronto police officer's advice that female students avoid “avoid dressing like sluts”:
We threw it right back. Let's talk about sluts then, victim-blaming and slut-shaming. […] We had had enough – it had been a harsh year against women’s rights.
She tells the story about a rapist in a local area that wasn't convicted, as the judge concluded that the victim [had] “put sex in the air”, referring to her tube top and make-up.
Hitting a nerve
Heather Jarvis, used with permission.
Heather believes that the SlutWalk concept hit a nerve in many people:
Everybody knows how it feels like to be called a dehumanizing word. Maybe SlutWalk is an entry point for people that didn't know where to go to.
Only six weeks from sparking the idea, the event took place with 3-4,000 people attending. She describes this first walk as unbelievable and inspiring: “It was an amazing multi-layered atmosphere. […] Some were crying, some were yelling.”
Women of all ages attended, together with children, men, sex workers and queer groups. All seemed to be there to back each other up. Heather accounts how everyone around a rape victim is also deeply affected – both family, partners and friends – and that they also need support.
The word spread quickly through Facebook and Twitter for the TorontoWalk and is still rolling throughout the world (see GV coverage on SlutWalks in Costa Rica, Brazil, India, Morocco, Australia).
“We weren't expecting this,” Heather comments. She tells how many independent SlutWalk groups don't even contact the Toronto group, but just go ahead with it and find their own form embedded in their local culture. Slutwalk Toronto provides supports to new groups that want it, but Heather's advice is to do whatever you can, wherever you are, and connect with other organizations to stand stronger.
To the critics of SlutWalk, Heather responds: “We believe in dialogue. It's absolutely okay that not everyone agrees.”
She emphasizes that the purpose also is to build bridges, and her hope is that critics will contact SlutWalk so they can talk about in a respectful way. “We are all in a learning curve,” she explains.
This post is part of our special coverage SlutWalks 2011.

author: Maria Grabowski


text:
China: Monitoring the 2012 Presidential Election · Global Voices
John Kennedy

The first of three televised debates in Taiwan's upcoming presidential election was held this weekend, and watched closely by mainland Chinese microbloggers.
MoveOn.org.tw
Ma Ying-jeou still leads the Kuomintang (KMT), but the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), now rid of Chen Shui-bian, looks ready to make a comeback headed by Taiwan's first female presidential candidate, Tsai Ing-wen.
A third candidate, James Soong, has registered as a candidate but says he'll only follow through if he can get a million signatures.
Screen capture of Ma Ying-jeou (L) and Tsai Ing-wen speaking during the televised debate.
People were able to watch the debate live through various browser-based streaming TV feeds, and clips of it have have been posted to all the major video websites, but the discussion has centered around Sina Weibo. Many viewers expecting something as lively as a US Republic Party primary debate wound up disappointed, and a lot of ‘livetweet’ online discussion sought to point out what many accept as obvious:
大明宫梦锦瑟年华：真的是民主，既然台湾可以这样，中国也可以这样子。
鸣者自在：台湾最寻常的民主政治被天朝屁民像看即将被取缔的超女总决赛一样娱乐围观。
薛蛮子: 请教专家，全世界不民主选举领导人的国家：朝鲜；古巴。还有吗？有木有？
Carrying on with Sina Weibo's legacy of turning lies into ‘fact’, discussion there leading up to the debate even prompted Weibo Piyao, the microblogging platform's official rumor-quashing account to write:
近日有用户发布微博，称马英九提出必须在“代表自由、代表民主、代表公平”前提下谈统一。@微博辟谣 就此联系了马英九竞选总部发言人李佳霏，对方否认马英九曾发表此言论。因此，该用户账号已被注销。
From Wikipedia, ‘Republic of China presidential election, 2012′ (12/04/2011):
One big election topic appears to be the 1992 consensus, a term describing the outcome of a meeting in 1992 between the semi-official representatives of the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China. The KMT is putting this consensus forward, which aims to be more democratic and to be ratified by the legislature and a referendum for ROC citizens. Under the DPP's new consensus, this should be the basis for negotiations with the PRC.
According to some news junkies, however, in comparison to Taiwan's 2008 presidential election, more Chinese netizen attention was focused during this debate on issues other than just the future of cross-Strait relations. Phoenix blogger Zheng Dongyang covered the whole range of issues, domestic policies included, in his lengthy post about the things which interested him in this debate. With regard to the debate over unification vs. independence, however, Zheng writes:
个人认为，虽然现在说谁能胜出为时尚早，但可以预见的是，即将到来的选举将是台湾民主化后最理性和温和的选举。民进党利用群众街头运动帮助选情，打悲情牌、族群牌、省籍牌、统独牌的情况会越来越少，虽然其两岸政策虽然摆脱不了“台独”思维，但也不会像陈水扁一样，不断挑战大陆的底线。而国民党也将重心放在政策诉求上，随着马英九的闽南话的日趋流利，他出现在台湾南部的次数越来越多。
这次电视辩论给我的感觉是，如果“统独”之争过去是蓝绿给台湾民众的传统印象，而如今双方施政政策也在民众形成一个新的烙印。传统的“浊水溪”线正在逐渐淡化，双方都将中间选民视为可以团结的对象，而中间选民大多数支持两岸关系维持现状，没有历史包袱，更看重的是两个政党的具体政策是否有利其事业发展及生活质量取得改善，这是过去选举给台湾选民带来的变化。

author: John Kennedy


text:
Japan: Néojaponisme on Marginal Subcultures · Global Voices
Tomomi Sasaki

Néojaponisme has finished posting five installments  for a series on “how marginal subcultures took over a Japanese pop culture with no central core nor leading-edge“, providing a review of the ecosystem for the consumption and production of mainstream and subcultures.

author: Tomomi Sasaki


text:
Madagascar: Debating the Worth of Foreign Direct Investment  · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

While Madagascar attempts to find a way out of a prolonged political crisis, Malagasy bloggers are discussing the value of foreign direct investment (FDI). The worth of foreign investment came into sharp contrast when a land deal with Korean investor Daewoo came under criticism and partly triggered the current crisis.
Many Malagasy believe that Madagascar, like many other African countries is rich in natural resources but that the land has been plagued by poor governance and unfair trade deals. Ten years ago, The Economist labeled Africa “The Hopeless Continent”. Their most recent publication highlights the rapid growth of many African countries‘ GDP.  Still, the growth is not equally felt throughout the continent. In fact, Madagascar is projected to have one of the lowest level of growth in all of Africa.
Additionally, the capital city Antananarivo and other cities are currently experiencing frequent running water and power outages that have provoked frustration  and outrage [fr] among Malagasy citizens. The current situation is one of the reasons Antananarivo has been ranked as one of the cities with the lowest quality of life in the world by the Mercer’s 2011 quality of living survey.
Having been marred in a lengthy political quagmire, the Malagasy blogosphere is trying to steer the debate away from a political solution to an overall debate on how to re-ignite an economy that has faltered over the past three years.
Evaratra in Madagascar. Photo credit to Lalatiana on the Madagoravox blog
Making  FDI work for Malagasy people
Land deals have been discussed at length in Madagascar as a way to get out of poverty;  the aborted Daewoo deal was the most publicized case but similar deals have been implemented without much hesitation or reaction.
The soundness of deals related to the mineral wealth of Madagascar has been recently debated by Malagasy experts.
Blaise Stephen is working at the International Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Madagascar. He voiced his frustration with the current status-quo in the Madagascar political system that according to him is the main roadblock preventing more bilateral cooperation with foreign investors [fr]:
Nous sommes actuellement en cours de création d'une relation commerciale sur le LONG TERME qui sera bénéfique pour les Entreprises de Madagascar entre notre pays Madagascar et le Koweït. L'objectif de cette coopération Étatique serait de mettre en place une ligne de trésorerie (emprunt) de 3 milliards de dollars (voire plus) sur 5 ans avec une mise a disposition immédiate de 1 millard de dollars (encaissement immédiat) que nous pourrions investir dans les activités a forte rentabilité de notre grand pays Madagascar (Activités d'INVESTISSEMENT et non de fonctionnement) [..] .La négociation concernant la mise en place de cette ligne de trésorerie serait la suivante : … 1) Un emprunt de notre État Madagascar a un taux de remboursement a 3,4 %…2) Pret aux Entreprises de Madagascar a un taux de 5,6% ce qui permet de casser le fonctionnement des banques de Madagascar qui prêtent a un taux de 18,20% sur des durées relativement courtes
In reaction to his post, Ndimby,  asks in the comment section [fr]:
Pourriez-vous m'expliquer pourquoi vous rêvez devant un emprunt à 3,4% alors que vous n'arrêtez pas de critiquer les institutions de Bretton Woods qui prêtent pourtant à des “taux concessionnels” de 0,5% ?
To which, Blaise Stephen replies [fr]:
La question n'est pas d'aimer ou de ne pas aimer les institutions de Bretton Woods mais de juger de leur efficacité dans le processus de développement économique et social pour un pays comme Madagascar…Il faut savoir que ces Institutions ont mis en faillite des pays comme la Russie ou l'Argentine. .et il faut se poser la question : Pourquoi une Institution sensée sortir les pays de la galère, les enfoncent encore un peu plus? [..] Non seulement elles ne te donnent pas la totalité de ton prêt en un seul versement mais se permettent d'apprécier la gestion des affaires courantes des Etats…En règle général, le rôle d'un préteur est de s assurer que son débiteur le rembourse correctement son prêt, il ne va pas s'immiscer dans la vie privée de son client…Ces institutions se permettent d'apprécier la politique générale des Etats et de donner des leçons quant a la gestion de leur affaires publiques avec une arme redoutable la SUPPRESSION DES VERSEMENTS ATTENDUS…Bizarrement cela fini toujours par la suppression des versements attendus : non seulement tu ne peux plus continuer tes travaux de développement, mais tu rembourses pour de l'argent que tu n'as pas reçu…C'est la raison pour laquelle je préfère emprunter a 3,4% en sachant que les liquidités sont directement disponibles
Ndimby concludes the exchange on where the money comes from [fr]:
Ce que vous dites à la fin de votre démonstration me semble être résumable en un point : l'argent n'a pas d'odeur. Peu importe d'où il vient, à quoi il sert et le contexte dans lequel vous l'utilisez, pourvu que “vous le remboursiez en temps et en heure” [..] sans conditionnalités apparentes telles que vous le souhaitez. Mais je doute que finalement ces prêts soient innocents et effectués pour “l'amour de l'humanité”
A land rich in natural resources and rife with corruption
What Ndimby hints at is the risk of loan without conditionalities or lack of transparency on the use of investment funds.
Perspectives économiques en Afrique sums up the current economic situation [fr]:
L’environnement politique demeure instable.  Dans ce contexte, les partenaires émergents représentent une opportunité pour Madagascar. La Chine n’a pas reconnu le gouvernement malgache actuel, mais plusieurs de ses entreprises continuent de signer des contrats avec lui. En 2010, le groupe chinois Wuhan Iron and Steel Co (WISCO) a versé une avance de 100 millions USD pour une concession portant sur l’extraction de minerai de fer. Si les gisements se révèlent aussi vastes qu’il l’espère, il pourrait y investir 8 milliards USD, ce qui serait, de loin, le plus gros investissement direct étranger (IDE) effectué à ce jour à Madagascar. Ce pays, où la corruption est omniprésente, devra réussir à transformer cette opportunité en développement.
As mentioned earlier, the lack of clear rules and structure during the current transitional period is already very conducive to all kind of corruption. In this article, Franck R.  highlights recent instances of corruption [fr]:
A Madagascar, notamment sous ce régime transitoire, on aime trop prendre son temps. Et on aime aussi s’enrichir… rapidement. [..] ces véhicules de l’UNICEF confisqués par des politiques, la scandaleuse richesse, en l’espace de quelques mois, d’un célèbre affairiste de la place qui a acquis un immeuble sis à Antanimena, un gros paquet d’actions de Madarail,[..] Il n’est pas le seul à profiter de la transition pour se faire du fric. Ainsi va la transition.
Ndimby concludes on the link between corruption and the political crisis [fr]:
C’est ce genre de mentalité, qui tente systématiquement de cacher la réalité et de détourner l’attention des insuffisances du clapier en matière de gestion publique qui fait que la crise perdure. A force de se complaire dans le subterfuge et la superficialité ; à force de prétendre qu’un coup d’État est une oeuvre de salut public ; à force d’insinuer qu’un régime qui ne tient que par la répression et la corruption est soutenu par l’ensemble du peuple ; il ne faut pas s’étonner que la reconnaissance internationale ait patiné pendant plus de deux ans et que la réconciliation nationale dérape périodiquement.
Malagasy bloggers seem to come to a consensus that foreign direct investment can only be as good as the transparency that accompanies its implementation. Otherwise, it's just another all too common story of wasted money that will benefit corrupt African leaders.

author: Lova Rakotomalala


text:
Philippines: Campout Against Budget Cuts · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

It could be the Philippine version of the ‘Occupy’ protests as activists prepare to launch Campout actions this week against government budget cuts on social services.

author: Mong Palatino


text:
Philippines: Red Whistle Campaign against HIV/AIDS · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The Red Whistle campaign aims to promote awareness about the rising cases of HIV/AIDS in the Philippines


text:
Russia: Massive DDoS Attacks Against Independent Websites on the Election Day · Global Voices
Gregory Asmolov

An unprecedented wave of DDoS attacks [ru] against independent websites on the election day in Russia: sites affected include thenewtimes.ru, echo.msk.ru, novayagazeta.ru, kommersant.ru, publicpost.ru, slon.ru, Bolshoy Gorod (bg.ru), golos.org, ikso.org, ridus.ru, zaks.ru (Saint Petersburg), pryaniki.org (Tula), crowdsourcing platform “Karta Narusheniy” and the LiveJournal platform. Many media organizations are using Facebook and Twitter to continue distributing information. Some of the activities [ru] are taking place in Vkontakte social network. “Golos” tried to collect reports about falsification with GoogleDocs, but it was also shut down. Anton Nossik from LiveJournal compares [ru] the attack to the Soviet efforts to block foreign radio broadcasting. Despite the attack, RuNet is full of reports and videos about voting violations.

author: Gregory Asmolov


text:
Slutwalk Singapore Photos · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

The Online Citizen uploads photos of Slutwalk Singapore which was organized in Honglim Park to protest sexual violence in society.


text:
Social Media Event Gathers Southeast Asia Bloggers · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

ON|OFF 2011, formerly known as Pesta Blogger, is the biggest gathering of bloggers and social media enthusiasts in Indonesia. This year's event also gathered bloggers from Southeast Asian countries.


text:
Syria: Free Razan Ghazzawi  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011.
Syrian authorities have arrested blogger Razan Ghazzawi on the Syrian-Jordanian border today. Ghazzawi was on her way to Amman to attend a workshop on press freedom in the Arab world when she was arrested. Her arrest has drawn criticism and anger from bloggers and activists around the world, who called for her immediate release.
Ghazzawi is a US-born Syrian blogger and avid Twitter user, who has contributed to both Global Voices Online and Global Voices Advocacy. She is also one of the few bloggers in Syria who writes under her real name, advocating for the rights of bloggers and activists arrested by the Syrian regime, as well as the rights of gays and minorities.
A Free Razan poster put up by supporters as soon as news of her arrest spread
Her last post, on December 1, 2011, celebrates the release of Syrian blogger Hussein Ghrer, who was held by the Syrian authorities for 37 days. She blogs:
Hussein is going to be home tonight, where he will be holding his wife tight, and never let go of his two precious sons again. It’s all going to be alright, and it will all be over very soon.
The irony is not lost among netizens, who raised the alarm after her arrest on social media platforms.
Syrian Razan Saffour tweets:
@RazanSpeaks: Razan Ghazzawi used to raise awareness about detainees, write about them and support them. She has now become one of them. #FreeRazan #Syria
and adds:
@RazanSpeaks: Thoughts and hearts are with you @RedRazan. One of the bravest people I have come to know on twitter. #FreeRazan #Syria
Fellow Syrian Sasa notes:
@syrianews: Almost every tweet on my timeline now contains #FreeRazan. You hear us Syrian police? #FREERAZAN
And Global Voices colleague Syrian Anas Qtiesh recalls:
@anasqtiesh: Razan introduced me to the wonderful @globalvoices team and she's the reason I joined as a translator author. #FreeRazan
Syrian Shakeeb Al Jabri vents off at the Arab League:
@LeShaque: Hey Arab League. How's your ill-advised strategy working out? Still believe Bashar will reform? #Syria #FreeRazan
While Chanad Bahraini laments:
@chanadbh: .@RedRazan, @alaa and @abdulemam were all at the first Arab Bloggers Meeting in Lebanon in 2008. Today they're jail or in hiding #FreeRazan
Veteran Egyptian blogger Alaa Abdel Fattah is being held in Egypt under trumped up charges and Bahraini blogger Ali Abdulemam has been in hiding in Bahrain, where he too faces charges related to his blogging activism. Both are among the pioneering bloggers in their countries.
Meanwhile, trusted friends are managing her Twitter and Gmail accounts as well as her blog. Her Facebook page has also been deactivated by friends.
A recent tweet from her account reads:
@RedRazan: Razan Is not anymore managing her twitter account, we, her friends and supporters are ! #FreeRazan
For more reactions on Ghazzawi's arrest, please check the hash tag #FreeRazan on Twitter. A Facebook page calling for her release is also up [ar].
This post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


text:
Thailand: 761,416 Webpages are Blocked · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Freedom Against Censorship Thailand or FACT reports that 761,416 webpages are blocked in Thailand. Most of the websites, including Facebook pages, had been blocked because they are deemed offensive to the Royal Family. Thailand has strict Lese Majeste laws.


text:
Thailand: Corruption Rating · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Bangkok Pundit writes about the latest Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index and analyzes the ranking of Thailand.


text:
Thailand: #welovetheking hashtag · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Thai netizens use the hashtags #welovetheking, #thailoveking, #longliveking to celebrate the birthday of King Bhumibol Adulyadej. In Thailand, the King is an influential political personality. The country also strictly enforces a Lese Majeste law.


text:
Yemen: Taiz is Bleeding  · Global Voices
Noon Arabia

This post is part of our special coverage Yemen Protests 2011.
The 'Taiz is bleeding' poster
Yemen's third largest city Taiz has been the throbbing heart of the Yemeni revolution and for the past few months has also become its bleeding heart, especially since President Ali Abdullah Saleh's forces intensified their violent attacks on the city since May 26, 2011. That day is known as the Taiz Massacre, when Freedom Square was attacked and protesters’ tents in the sit-in area were set on fire resulting in numerous deaths and injuries. Taiz has since become known as the city of resilience.
NajlaMo acknowledges that in her tweet:
Thank you #Taiz for starting and (will finish) what we should have started many years ago, you are the brave city and so is ur ppl. #Yemen
The revolution in Yemen continues despite the inking of the unpopular Gulf Cooperation Council-brokered deal. Marches still continue as forceful as ever, rejecting the deal, demanding the fall of the regime and Saleh's prosecution.
Nothing changed for the city of Taiz after the signing of the GCC initiative, on November 23, as the attacks on the city intensified and the indiscriminate shelling on the residential areas by Saleh's forces has continued.
According to the deal, all military forces would be withdrawn from the streets of the cities and retire to their barracks once a military committee is formed within five days of signing the initiative. This has not been the case. On the contrary, more military reinforcement are reported to have reached the city, an explicit breech to the deal.
The deal also calls upon Saleh to step down and transfer power to Vice President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
This video posted by FreeDomTaiz shows the intensity of the violent attacks that Taiz is enduring every night for the past months:
The resilient people of Taiz shelled overnight, go out the very next morning in marches to condemn the violence they face daily, which destroys their homes, kills their loved ones and terrorizes their children. They take to the streets to  express their steadfastness and commitment to the revolution. They chant “Taiz is free and will not kneel, even if a thousand cannons were fired.” (video posted by taizcitynet)
The following two videos show the attacks on the city even in broad daylight (both posted by mediacentersanaa):
Meanwhile, Yemeni activist Atiaf Alwazir raises a valid point highlighting the continued violence despite the signing of the deal and asks what are the ramifications of such a breech:
@womanfromYemen:
due to violence in #Taiz, will the #UN seek sanctions against violators of #GCC mechanism or seek a ban on military supplies to #Yemen ?
The GCC deal is perceived by many as a “License to Kill” for Saleh and his forces. @SupportBahrainRights expressed this in his tweets:
@WomanfromYemen GCC deal has legitimized crimes against humanity in #Yemen. @noonarabia @summernasser @Afrahnasser #Taiz #UN #No2GCCdeal
and @FahdAqlan adds:
In #Taiz .. nobody has immunity to be killed .. except the killers !! #Yemen #No2GCCDeal
@alruwaishan also criticizes the GCC deal and the West's silence towards the violence in Taiz. He tweets:
The West doesn't want to help, the GCC and it's deal are worthless, and the media is oblivious. #Taiz is burning.
@Ulfat points out:
How are #GCC responding to failure of initiative? If they're not condemning violence in #Taiz, they never intended it to succeed. #Yemen
She raises a question to two official UN Twitter accounts:
@UN_Spokesperson @UN_HRC All twitter reports out of #Taiz today indicate the violence is ongoing. What's your position on this? #Yemen
@bajaberyemen tweets the latest figures as reported by Yemeni local paper Yemen Post on December 3rd:
Death Toll Rises to 28 in Three Days in #Taiz #Yemen yemenpost.net/Detail12345678…
AinYemenEng tweets the total deaths since the GCC deal was signed:
#Yemen Ain News: Since the signing in Riyadh: 33 martyrs and more than 152 wounded since the signing of the gulf… fb.me/U0Ap9ksS
Currently, the formation of the unity government is pending the formation of the military committee, yet Saleh once again objects to the members chosen by the JMP  (Joint Meeting Parties) to be part of the military committee.
@alguneid a Yemeni veteran activist, based in Taiz tweets the reason for the delay:
#Yemen won't have a cabinet till Opposition & Saleh side agree on Military Committee. Saleh, objects to #JMPs nominees akhbaralyom.net/news_details.p…
He @alguneid adds:
Hadi: Won't form Military committee, till opposition forms cabinet. Opposition: Won't form cabinet till Hadi forms committee.You're in #Yemen
While the politicians disagree and the military continue their attack on the city, civil society attempts to play a vital role to save the civilians being targeted. Activists in Yemen are organizing a Support Taiz Caravan loaded with medical supplies, which will include MPs that represent the city, as well as youth and foreign journalists. Donations within Yemen and abroad are being collected to support the besieged city of Taiz.
@YemenPeaceNews explains:
Donations for #SupportTaizCaravan starting to roll in. You too can help us save lives! bit.ly/nTCPem #SupportYemen #Yemen #Taiz #yf
Journalist Jeb Boone sums up the GCC deal in his blog. He articulates his point by highlighting what needs to be done:
For true change to take place in Yemen, both the old guard of day to day politics and the military must be removed, especially members of Saleh’s family. His party, the General People’s Congress, still holds the majority of parliament and may continue to do so after elections with the presence of Saleh loyalist able to make small tweaks to election results. Yemen must start fresh. Like Egypt and the NDP, Yemen’s GPC should be dissolved to allow for a new parliamentarian structure to be built from the ground up. Most importantly, the sons of a deposed dictator must no longer hold sway over the nation’s military. Unless policymakers in the US, EU, GCC, and UN are willing to help Yemenis dislodge Saleh’s presence from the country entirely, his power will be only nominally diminished.
Saleh's family still control the military, which is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of civilians. The GCC deal did not change anything on the ground. The revolution continues through the peaceful marches across Yemen and so does the violence on civilians by Saleh's forces in many Yemeni cities. Yet Taiz seems to be paying the heaviest price. Tweeps have used the hashtags #Savetaiz and #TaizIsBleeding to draw attention to the city's tribulation.
@A_Al3ansy: sends an appeal through a picture saying ‘Taiz is under fire, stop the violence on it.”
#SaveTaiz #Taiz #Yemen #SupportYemen pic.twitter.com/qbF5CHNV
Image by @A_Al3nsy
This post is part of our special coverage Yemen Protests 2011.

author: Noon Arabia


text:
Zambia: President’s Son New Luxury Cars Cause Uproar · Global Voices
Soneka Kamuhuza

It appears that there is no shortage of political revelations for Zambians these days. In the midst of former President Banda's sons being scrutinized for questionable purchases before the elections, the new President's son Mulenga Sata,  is now at the center of controversy following revelations by Committee of Citizens executive director Gregory Chifire that he recently acquired two expensive vehicles worth 1.8 billion Zambian Kwacha (about US$ 200,000).
Zambians weigh in on the revelation at Zambian Watchdog website:
Mpimpa says:
True to the PF political slogan of more money in your pockets, We have not seen this money, we still go to bed having only eaten one meal, and yet our neighbours are buying luxury cars at 1 billion. What an example Mr. President. Please walk the talk this is inclusive of your immediate family. God have Mercy on us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
President Michael Sata's son (holding a camera). Photo courtesy of Zambian Watchdog.
KimZ adds:
Mukanwa mukikopo,then why are we questioning RB’s sons if we know that they have that privelledge of acquiring property as children of the sitting President? Or just because it’s done by the son to the man you love so it’s normal? Right now,people are demonising Liato over K2.1 billion and Liato has been a Minister for a long time.Mulenga,whose father has not even clocked 90 days in Office has so far spent K 1.8 billion. You can imagine how much he will spend by the time his father has ruled this country for 5 years.
The article notes that Mulenga's primary occupation was as an importer of dogs for the Zambian market and so Sipho humorously weighs in:
naine ndeya muku order ama puppies kuti wa wina!!! [translation: Even I will start importing dogs, maybe I can win/become rich].
On a more serious note, Kabanshi laments:
Its sad to see that just because the father is president he has no right to own such a car,if a person like me owns such nobody would know whats happening,i this this publication along with some of the people that comment should show maturity in the way they discus matters of national interest.Normally you read very lousy comments that don’t make sense at all and just because people have an audience every Jim and jack thinks they have news .This man who calls himself a leader of this NGO that i have heard of today for the first time will just bring stories that he probably was discussing with friends in the bar and of course this paper thinks everything is right without credible sources .Shame!!!
Black Doyo defends Sata's son:
Poeple get your facts right! mulenga is a higly qualified civil engineer. this guy is learned.
Netizens have also been reacting to an unprecedented move in Zambian politics after the the president implored law enforcement agencies in the country to investigate his son and encouraged Mr Chifire to report any suspected unlawful activity linked to the first family to the relevant law enforcement agencies.
Discussing this on Tumfweko.com, Tumbo Tumbo says:
HE Sata has done what RB and other Presidents can never do. Subjecting his own son to DEC and Police is commendable. Chifire must be very careful, just like some blogs which judge others in newspapers without those accused having an opportunity to respond or defend themselves. MULENGA Sata is a gentleman.
I hope Chifire has evidence.
HE Sata must also tell and reveal to the nation what has happened to the report he asked about from Cabinet, and investigating wings about DR MITI whose appointment was revoked within 24 hours of being appointed as Ambassador to WHO, Geneva. A Public feedback to Zambians is crucial just like his own Son, MULENGA. We have a reliable, fearless President in HE Sata. Let Miti and MULENGA be cleared from the investigating wings of GRZ!!! Publicly!!!
Mulenga, through his lawyers, has given Gregory Chifire 48 hours to apologise or take him to court. Chifire says that he is not intimidated and is just waiting for the police to call him so that he can go and tell them what he knows.

author: Soneka Kamuhuza


text:
Angola: First video of police confrontation with protesters · Global Voices
Janet Gunter

The first videos from Saturday's repressed protest in Luanda surfaced on the channel of Angolan Youtube user ekuikui. “Electricity, water, health and education!” and “They demolished my house, I'm gonna sleep here!” are some of the protest movement's chants.


text:
Ashura Commemorations Around the World · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar, is a period of mourning for Shia Muslims. During the month they commemorate the death of Husain, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad and the third Shia Imam, at the Battle of Karbala. The mourning events reach a climax on Ashura, the tenth day of the month, which falls this week.
In this post we look at different Ashura rituals around the world, and bloggers describe what Ashura means to them.
Last year during Muharram, Pakistani blogger Fahad Desmukh mapped commemorations in different countries:
Fahad wrote a post to accompany the map:
The map is far from exhaustive, as there are literally thousands of Muharram videos on Youtube from all over the over the world. I've just selected a few that show the wide diversity of the rituals as they have spread around the world.
The map and videos quite neatly reflect the migration and displacement patterns of people from the time of the events of Karbala in 680AD to all corners of the globe today. It also shows something about how rituals and tradition are defined, and then continuously moulded by time and migration.
So, for example, here is one path taken. The rites travelled east from Iraq, across Persia, to North India sometime between 1300 and 1700 AD. Although Shi'ite Muslims claimed ownership of the rites, in India Sunnis and even Hindus were active participants.
In Mauritius, Ashura is known as Ghoon. This video, uploaded by YouTube user MrKheiz, shows Ghoon back in December 2010:
Fahad wrote:
During the days of the British Raj, thousands of Indian indentured labourers travelled to far flung regions of the British Empire, such as Fiji, Mauritius and the Caribbean Islands, taking these rituals with them. In Trinidad, the rites became known as the festival of Hosay, in which not only Sunnis and Hindus participated, but also Afro-Trinidadians. In Trinidad, the Dhol-Tasha drums (referred to as ‘Tassa’) and Tazias (‘Tadja’) can still clearly be seen.
Video by RajkumariCC on YouTube, December 31, 2009.
In Qatif in eastern Saudi Arabia, blogger Mujtaba Alsaif has written about his experience of Ashura:
The days of Ashura are always filled with a lot of activities in Qatif. Stepping into Qatif during this season, the visitor can't help but realize that there is something happening. This activity can consume the individual's time positively as he can visit the many lectures that may hold a significant value, or attend a session of a Latmiya [recitations commemorating the days of Ashura] to understand this region's struggles during a specific period, or just to walk around and discuss with the people to gather their understanding of these blessed days and what Imam Hussain's sacrifice means to them. Muharram in Qatif has always been special to me because it is truly a season that brings people of the region together and abolishes the negativity they have for one another.
An Ashura commemoration in Ghana uploaded to YouTube by Asad1969 on July 30, 2010:
In Atlanta in the United States, blogger Taahira Abdul-Halim has put down her thoughts:
Without Imam Hussain's sacrifice, I would be just like all of the others in the world who wander like drones on this Earth, passing time, questioning their existence, seeking to find temporary satisfaction in trivial things. I wouldn't have Islam. The single most imprtant aspect of my life. The single most important part of being me. I'm starting to get a little bit emotional now because I just know how awful it would be to not have Allah swt [Subhanahu wa ta'ala – may He be glorified and exalted] in my life.
An Ashura commemoration in Moscow, Russia, uploaded to YouTube by djeyxun on January 19, 2008:

author: Ayesha Saldanha


text:
Bahrain: Fake Twitter Account  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini journalist Reem Khalifa appeals to her followers on Twitter: “Plz my followers make report spam for a fake account @ Reem_Khalifah using my pic, words,articles.”


text:
Bahrain: Twitter User Jailed for 66 Days for Tweeting  · Global Voices
Mona Kareem

This post is part of our special coverage of Bahrain Protests 2011.
The Arab world has a reputation for arresting and torturing bloggers and netizens and Bahrain is no exception, particularly after its February 14 uprising. Just the way Bahraini medics used Twitter to tell the world about the torture and abuse they witnessed at the hands of security personnel in jail, a Twitter user who goes by the pseudonym Nezrad (@nezrad) has been tweeting his jail experience over the past few days to share his story with the rest of the world.
Social media logo in support of February 14 protests. Photo credit: People
According to Nazred, he was arrested because of his tweets and with his new updates, he wanted to tell his story [ar]:
He continues describing his ordeal:
He adds:
Nazrad continues detailing his plight in the following tweets:
Nazrad is then transferred to a prison cell, where he shares his arrest story with others. In return, he too witnesses and learns about the atrocities the other prisoners have been subjected to. Here is his story in his own words. All the tweets are in Arabic.
According to the findings of a royal commission appointed by the King of Bahrain Hamad Al Khalifa, the “authorities used torture and excessive force against detainees arrested in crackdowns” on protesters in Bahrain. The report also speaks of the torture of prisoners and systematic abuse.
This post is part of our special coverage of Bahrain Protests 2011.

author: Mona Kareem


text:
Chile: Legislation to Limit Easter Island Visitors Fails · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Around 400 Rapa Nui protested peacefully after a legislation that “would have limited the number of visitors to Easter Island as well as the number of individuals who could move and set-up residency on the Island” failed in Chile's Chamber of Deputies, as Ryan Seelau reports in Indigenous News.

author: Silvia Viñas


text:
China: Anti-rumor VS Anti-censorship · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

David Bandurski from China Media Project blogs about the appointment of the new head of the state-run China Central Television Hu Zhanfan and the firestorm between the official anti-rumor campaign and the anti-censorship on social media.

author: Oiwan Lam


text:
Cuba: Loving Yoani  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Along the Malecon links to an interview with blogger Yoani Sanchez’ husband, in which he reveals that “he quickly realized she was special.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco