Stories about Feature from July, 2009
Ghana: Bloggers React to Obama's Speech
President Barack Obama made his first visit to Sub-Saharan Africa and delivered a speech in Accra, Ghana on July 11. The speech has drawn reactions from bloggers around Africa and abroad. Here are some discussions in the blogosphere about the message he had for Africa.
Brazil: Digital mob demands the Senate President's resignation
Thousand of protests have taken place 'virtually' on social media networks, such as Twitter, demanding the resignation of the Senate President, José Sarney. But, when the mobilization goes offline, only some dozen protesters have so far taken to Brazil's streets. Bloggers analyze the current Brazilian political scenery, the background of this situation and speculate on a hidden agenda.
Azerbaijan: Youth activist, prominent blogger imprisoned after trial behind closed doors
In what might be the first case of a blogger being assaulted and detained in the South Caucasus, two youth activists were yesterday imprisoned for two months pre-trial investigative detention in what many consider to be a travesty of justice.
Malaysia: Anwar Ibrahim sodomy trial
Malaysia’s opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim is charged with sodomising a 23-year old male aide. Anwar believes the charge is politically-motivated. The sodomy trial, which has been postponed several times, is scheduled to resume next week. Malaysian bloggers react to the Anwar sodomy trial.
Africa: Obama uses new media to talk to Africans
"Ever wanted to ask our Son from Nyangoma any questions? In other words, would you like the American president, Barack Obama to answer your questions?," begins a post at Hot Secrets blog about Obama's use of new media to engage in a conversation with ordinary Africans.
Azerbaijan: An Interview with Scary Azeri
Unashamedly acerbic, but alway humorous, Scary Azeri in Suburbs has fast become popular with many interested in the South Caucasus and posts have even been republished by the media in her native Azerbaijan. Today, Global Voices Online interviewed Scary Azeri about blogging, tweeting, cultural clashes, trolls and more.
Armenia: Youth activist detained
As youth activists face trial in Azerbaijan on charges of hooliganism despite eye witness accounts that they were instead the victims of assault, concerns are emerging that the way in which young opponents are targeted is becoming the modus operandi for authoritarian regimes in the region.
China: Call for tough response and resent of biased media
With the presence of thousands of armed police, Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang province, has largely restored order and people are returning to their normal life. The violence that has...
Azerbaijan: Youth activists and bloggers beaten and detained
Emin Milli, one of the founders of AN Network, a grassroots youth movement and Adnan Hadji-zadeh, a videoblogger from OL! Youth Movement have been severely beaten by unidentified persons while dining with a group of other civil society and youth activists in a restaurant in downtown Baku.
Mexico: Voters Share Their Null Ballots on Twitter
Mexicans tweeted their discontent with the political system of the country by sharing photographs of their paper ballots nullified in creative ways during the July 5 mid-term elections.
Blogger of the Week: Gabriela García-Calderón
Gabriela García Calderón may be the star translator of Global Voices in Spanish. She translates on a daily basis for our publications, and as if that weren't enough, she still has time for writing in her personal blog, Seis de enero (January 6th). Juan Arellano met with Gabriela for an interview - here are the results.
China and North Korea: Kim is like Chairman Mao?
On 4 July, the United States’ National Day, North Korea has launched seven missiles tests again and some of them were medium-range rockets that pose threat to Japan and South...
Indonesia: Twittering the Presidential Election
Indonesia is preparing for its presidential election today. GV author Marisa Duma tackles the role of Twitter in engaging the Indonesian online community in political and election campaigns.
Honduras: Videos attempt to explain political situation
After the recent confusing events in Honduras, which some call a constitutional change in power and others a coup d'état, citizens try to make sense of the situation, as shown on this past post. Some are using videos to express their perspectives, and we bring you a few of them.
Egyptian woman killed in German court for being veiled
Egyptian bloggers join forces to decry the murder of a veiled Egyptian woman in a German court. Marwa El Sherbini, 32, who was pregnant at the time of her murder was stabbed to death 18 times by the man she had sued for insulting her for wearing the Hijab (Islamic headscarf) after judges ruled in her favour. Here is a round up of reactions from Egypt.
China: Urumqi mass incident and beyond
According to Xinhua latest report (July 6), the violence in Urumqi, capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, has led to at least 140 people dead and 828 injured....
Iraq – Sovereignty?
"It is like deja-vu all over again. How many times will the media declare Iraqi Sovereignty and us bloggers are expected to stand up and respectfully applaud?" writes Salam Adil in reaction to the news of further US troop withdrawal in Iraq. He brings us more reactions from the Iraqi blogosphere about their "new-found sovereignty".
Japan: Eight endangered languages in the Japanese archipelago
In February UNESCO presented the Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger, giving an accurate and worrying description of the languages considered endangered (about 2,500). Among these eight belong to...
Brazil: “President Lula is a nerd”
After his speaking for the first time against the proposed Digital Crimes Bill, hugging Pirate Bay’s spokesman Peter Sunde, defending the use of open source software and inviting Internet users to chip in and contribute to his soon to be launched government social media initiative, the blogosphere concludes: "Brazilian president Lula da Silva is a nerd". Or is it just because 2010 is an election year?
Honduras: Was it a Coup?
The political crisis in Honduras reached its highest levels last Sunday with the arrest and subsequent expulsion of the now ex-president Manuel Zelaya, which was carried out by the Honduran Armed Forces. The response to the aftermath has accentuated the divisions within the country and there are citizens taking a side in the question, "was it a coup or not?"
Iran: Myth and reality about Twitter
International media coverage of the Iranian protest movement in the past weeks has widely celebrated ‘Twitter power' as a tool of organizing and reporting on protests, but the reliance on Twitter has had both positive and negative results in this crisis. We look at some of them here to demystify the actual degree of impact.
