Stories about Protest from June, 2011
Macedonia: New Parliament Assembles, Cements Election Victory for “Big Fish”
The newly-elected Macedonian Parliament held its initial session on Saturday, June 25, 2011. Its composition promises “more of the same” kind of politicking from the last few years.
Thailand: ‘Vote No’ Campaign
Thais will troop to the polls next week and although the opposition is leading in some surveys, there is still no certainty of any group clinching a landslide victory. Unusually, the election ballot has a ‘no’ option provided to voters, and a movement has been orchestrated by the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), or Yellow Shirts, to encourage citizens to 'Vote No'.
Cuba: Hunger Striker to Leave Island
Uncommon Sense reports that hunger striker Jorge Cervantes Garcia has ended his protest and “will be allowed to leave Cuba once he has recovered from the physical effects of his protest.”
Egypt: Commemorating the Struggle Against Systematic Torture
As the world marked the International Day against Torture that falls on June 26, eyes were on Egypt where the struggle against citizen abuse has been particularly significant.
Honduras: Dam Project on UNESCO World Heritage in Danger Site Gets Little English Media Attention
RAJ, in Honduras Culture and Politics, says English language media have given little attention to the construction of a dam in the Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve, “a project of the current Honduran administration, acting against the protests of the indigenous peoples of eastern Honduras, who have not been consulted as...
Spain: Manuel Castells at #AcampadaBCN
Ivan Chaar-López posts the videos of sociologist and communications scholar Manuel Castells [es] speech on “Communications, Power and Democracy” which he offered during his visit to activists in Barcelona, Spain.
South Korea: Labor Workers Fight Against Police and Corporation
Hanjin Heavy Industries have violently clamped down its union protest. Twitterer @pmtsjc posted photos of how company-hired gang cut rope to drag down workers protesting on crane top. The clash, which ignited over unfair mass lay-offs, has continued for over a month now.
Syria: Black Comedy of the Revolution
Black comedy is one of the ways one deals with traumatic events. The recent events in Syria, while bloody and depressing to many people, have also brought about an explosion of blogs, Facebook pages and articles that try to satirize the events, and point out the absurdities in the official narrative - sometimes in very unorthodox ways.
Peru: Residents of Puno Resume Protests
Once again the inhabitants of the Puno region have taken to the streets in protests, this time against the contamination caused by the mining of minerals. Six people died as a result of the protests on the day when Peru celebrates the Day of the Peasant.
Syria: The Revolution and the Economy
For 100 days Syria's economy has been frozen. Commerce has halted to a standstill and the coming tourist season does not look good. In addition to that, thousands of frightened Syrians have been changing their savings from Syrian pounds to US dollars or Euros, putting an enormous pressure on the Syrian pound.
Syria: French Embassy Website Hacked
On Saturday, June 25, since at least 3PM GMT, the website of the French Embassy in Syria appears to have been hacked: anyone connecting to the French embassy website is automatically redirected to another site (http://th3pro.pro/fr/), where, to the tune of the Syrian national anthem, a message in French and...
Syria: Blogging Day for Syria
Today marks the 100th day since the protest movement found its foothold in Syria. A 100 days later, more than 1,400 deaths, and three presidential speeches, the protest movement is still in full force. This Friday is being billed "friday of delegitimization".
Senegal: Proposed New Election Law Sparks Riots in Dakar
President of Senegal, Abdoulaye Wade's, proposed amendment to the Constitution and election law, in anticipation of the presidential elections of 2012, has made a lot of Senegalese angry and sparked demonstrations and riots in the capital Dakar on June 23. This popular unrest has since forced the government to drop the suggested amendment.
Macedonia: .mk Twitter Republic
Protests continue in Macedonia, as the authorities keep silent about the people's demands of accountability, political responsibility and an end to police brutality. On Sunday, a new symbol was displayed by some protesters: the Macedonian flag with a Twitter logo on it, homage to the role of the Twitter community.
A Syrian Solution for North Korea
Libyan and Syrian cases are significant to North Korea's possible change by exhibiting how quickly ruthless totalitarian regimes can become unstable in the face of resistance, wrote Joshua from the One Free Korea.
Colombia: Video Mapping the City to Hip Hop
In just four days, a creative cast of characters got together in the city of Medellin, Colombia, where they set out to produce videos and place them on a map of the city to reflect topics that affect their communities: militarization, poverty, forced displacement, crimes of state, resistance movements and more.
Belarus: Police Crack Down on Minsk Protest
A non-violent rally in Minsk, organized via a social network, ended up with more than 450 people detained. Arrests, trials and numerous detentions, however, do not appear to have stopped the protesters.
Europe: “Greek Drama Doesn't Transcend Hellenic Borders”
Luboš Motl of The Reference Frame writes about the current economic situation in Greece and how it affects (or doesn't affect) other countries: “All the hysteria is man-made and unjustifiable by the real data. The Greek default will be just a formality because in practice, it has occurred a long...
Croatia: EU Membership Approval
On June 10, 2011, Croatia was cleared to become the newest member state of the European Union. There is still a long road before Croatians are officially a part of the EU, and the timing at the moment is, at best, precarious, creating many skeptics. Miquel Hudin reports.
Syria: “It Feels as if Syria is Two Countries – With Two Different Realities”
CNN has officially been granted access to Syria and Arwa Damon is tweeting from Damascus, three months after protests calling for the overthrow of the Assad regime started. Syria has shut its borders to international and Arab media since the unrest. Here are some of Damon's first impressions.
Ukraine: Hanna Sinkova's Case; Yanukovych's Prejudicial Comments
Foreign Notes posts an update on Hanna Sinkova's case and concludes: “In matters of law Ukraine frequently seems closer to Tehran than Europe.” He also highlights some “jarring prejudicial comments” made by Ukraine's President Victor Yanukovych during his visit to Europe.
