Stories about Governance from December, 2010
Maldives: Protesting The Increase Of Privileges Of MPs
The blog of 919, a nonviolent and peaceful democracy movement in the Maldives, calls to join the protests against the bill passed recently by the Maldives parliament to increase the benefits and allowances of the members of parliament.
Sri Lanka: National Anthem In Tamil To Be Scrapped
D.B.S. Jeyaraj informs that “a campaign is being conducted by majoritarian hawks to do away with the practice of singing the (Sri Lankan) national anthem in Tamil”.
Tunisia : “We Are Not Afraid Anymore!”
The year 2010 is coming to an end but Tunisia is shaken up by a social uprising that many bloggers hope will bring a decisive change in their country. Because of the Tunisian censorship of internet and the media, social media are heavily used to inform and organize the protests for 13 days now by using the hashtag #SidiBouzid. One main question stands out: Why are the protests in Tunisia not having the same echo as the protests in Iran? Additionally, why is censorship by China always discussed but the blackout by the police state of Tunisia never addressed?
Barbados: top stories for 2010
What were the top Barbados news stories in 2010? Barbados Free Press shares their list, and asks readers to vote.
Bolivia: Photos and Video of Protest Over Rise in Cost of Fuel
Angel Caido [es] shares photos and a video of the protests that took place on December 30 in Bolivia over the rise in the cost of fuel.
Azerbaijan: Emin Milli's Reading list
In a note posted on Facebook, imprisoned and recently freed video blogging youth activist Emin Milli lists the books he read while in jail in Azerbaijan. Not surprisingly, the books mostly deal with a common theme — freedom and democracy.
Tunisia: Journalist Nebrass Hedhili Attacked during Uprising
Nawaat writes that journalist Nebrass Hedhili was physically abused by policemen not in uniform in the La Chebba center (fr). Nawaat also regularly updates a press review of the ongoing Sidi Bouzid uprising(fr).
Glimpses of Citizen Media from Portuguese language countries in 2010
Throughout 2010 the lusophone blogsphere has given new perspectives on important issues that mainstream media tends to ignore. Read this post and discover a selection of the voices that Global Voices has amplified - from citizen media phenomena, to politics, governance and indigenous peoples.
Belarus: More Commentary on Dec. 19
Commentary on the implications of the post-election events in Belarus – at OpenDemocracy.net, here and here.
Hungary: “Viktor #Censorbán”
Kosmopolito writes about Hungary's new media law and suggests ways to draw attention to the situation; “transforming” PM Viktor Orbán into Viktor #Censorbán is just one of the strategies – and there's already a Censorban account on Twitter, as well as a hashtag. More relevant info and reactions – at...
Hungary: Relations With China
Hungarian Spectrum writes about Hungary's economic and financial relations with China.
Russia: Politics and Justice
At OpenDemocracy.net, Dmitry Travin writes about politics and justice in Russia.
Russia: Media Coverage of Khodorkovsky Verdict
Overview of media reactions to the verdict and sentence in the case of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev – by Robert Amsterdam, Global Chaos, and Sublime Oblivion.
South Asia: Looking Back at the Citizen Media Storylines in 2010
You cannot leave South Asia region out of the picture as with nearly twenty three percent of the world's population, events in this region exert an enormous impact on the international system. Global Voices covered some of these events from a citizen media perspective. Let us review the popular posts of 2010 in this region.
Saudi Arabia: The Kingdom in One Sentence
From Saudi Arabia, Mustafa Hussain tweets (Ar): “Unemployment, corruption, tribalism, weak education curricula, state-owned media, full prisons, bad government services, oil which is not its own – all this and more in Saudi Arabia.”
Ukrainian Blogosphere 2010: Still Enough Room for Everyone
Tetyana Bohdanova translates reports on the state of the Ukrainian blogosphere and the situation with other social media tools in Ukraine.
Latin America: 2010 in Review
An 8.8-magnitude earthquake in Chile, a police strike in Ecuador and the Nobel Prize in Literature for Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa were some of the news bloggers and citizen media users reported and analyzed this year. Let's take a look at these and other stories the Latin American team covered in 2010.
Trinidad & Tobago: Year in Review
Afra Raymond reviews the critical events of the last year, saying: “The Code of Silence must be broken if we are to progress.”
Russia: Regional Minister Hired Through Internet
A new minister for information technologies of Russia's Ulyanovsk region has been found through Internet [RUS]. Elena Balashova, 35, was one of 2,563 people who submitted their online applications for the position. The candidates used Livejournal to share their professional plan and were interviewed via Skype.
Wikileaks, Thaileaks, Indoleaks, Pinoyleaks
There are Wikileaks clones in Southeast Asia: Thaileaks from Thailand, Indoleaks from Indonesia and Pinoyleaks from the Philippines. These websites were established/revived this month to support the work started by Wikileaks and to expose secret government documents in their respective countries.
Sudan: President Announces North Will Be Ruled By Islamic Law If South Separates
As the referendum on whether or not Southern Sudan will separate approaches, a few Sudanese bloggers have been busy commenting on the future prospects of their country. Recent comments made by the Sudanese President, Omar Hassan Al-Bashir, about the implementation of Islamic Law in North Sudan if the South separates have sparked controversy
