Stories from 4 May 2011
Guatemala: Rigoberta Menchú to Run for President
Nobel Peace Prize and indigenous activist Rigoberta Menchú will be nominated as the Frente Amplio de Izquierda presidential candidate, according to recent reports [es]. Mike in Central American Politics thinks that “even with the rejuvenated Guatemalan left, it's unlikely that Manchu (or any other left candidate) will impact the outcome of...
Pakistan: Probing Questions After Bin Laden
Three days after the assassination of Osama Bin Laden in a compound less than 2 kilometers away from the country's premier military academy, a lot of questions remain unanswered. As the world media continues to criticize and demand answers from Pakistani authorities, Pakistanis have also raised similar questions and continue to discuss possible scenarios.
Costa Rica: Historical Firsts in May Day Crisis of Headless Congress
On the first of May, for the first time since 1949, the Costa Rican congress was unable to elect new representatives to lead them. And also for the first time in 75 years, because of the headless congress, President Laura Chinchilla was unable to give her yearly review in the May Day speech. Bloggers explain how the situation arose.
Palestine: Gaza Celebrates Hamas/Fatah Reconciliation
Palestinian rival factions Fatah and Hamas ended their bitter feud today, in a reconciliation deal brokered in Cairo, Egypt. News of the deal, which will unite the Gaza Strip, which had been under Hamas' control, and the West Bank, which was under the grip of the Fatah movement, was welcomed with celebrations in Gaza.
Côte d'Ivoire: New Videos Detail Capture of Former President
After the arrest in the city of Abidjan on April 11, 2011, of Laurent Gbagbo, former president of Cote d'Ivoire, and his wife Simone, some confusion remains regarding the process that led to his capture. Website Abidjan.net has published a series of videos that show the sequence of events of the Gbagbos' arrest, from the bombing of their residence by French Special Forces, to the transfer of the Gbagbo family to the Hotel du Golf.
Mexico: Netizens Put Death of Osama Bin Laden in Context
As news of United States Special Forces' targeted killing of Osama Bin Laden was broadcast around the world, netizens in Mexico tweeted and blogged their responses to this signal event in the “war on terror.” Tellingly, in the vast majority of cases their language invoked the “war on drugs” that has been imposed on them by their own government since 2006.
Tanzania: Is Osama Bin Laden Really Dead?
The Tanzanian blogosphere has taken the news of death of the al-Qaida leader Osama Bin Laden with a pinch of salt. While few voices welcomed the news, a number of blog readers expressed doubts and came up with a number conspiracy theories.
Nigeria: Social Media and the 2011 Elections
Pharmacist, journalist, photographer, social networker, poet and fiction writer. Meet Nigerian journalist Tolu Ogunlesi and find out his opinion on social media and his country's recent elections.
Russia: Anti-Corruption Donor Details Leaked
In the middle of April 2011, donors to the Russian anti-corruption, whistle-blowing website Rospil.info [ru] began to report that they had received strange calls and emails from unknown people, some claiming to be journalists, asking about their donations to Rospil and why they support the website’s founder, popular Russian blogger Alexey Navalny.
Suriname: Street Art
Srananart's Blog says that “Suriname has known a flourishing culture of street art, with the painted buses and the colorful shave-ice carts as eye catchers that make a lasting impression on people”, explaining how it “resulted in a beautiful book…and with the book came a unique exhibition, taking street art...
Bahamas: Safer Prisoner Transport
“We should not have our lives or property put at risk to accommodate the prisoners”: Weblog Bahamas‘ Jerome Pinder thinks that “the current practice [of transporting prisioners] remains a dangerous one for the public.”
Bermuda: Paying for Past Policies
“The Bermuda Government should be sitting on several hundred million dollars of surpluses…instead we're incurring expensive debt which could take more than 10 years to retire”: Bermudian bloggers think the economic and social forecast looks grim.
Jamaica, U.S.A.: News & Children
“While the US government ponders what pictures to release, I ponder what pictures to try to censor”: Grasshopper Eyes The Potomac blogs about how to explain Osama Bin Laden's death in age-appropriate terms to children.
China: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
The past week has seen a real-life version of film “One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest” reenacted in China. The Chinese protagonist, Xu Wu, has been detained in a psychiatric hospital for four years over a labour dispute against a state-run enterprise. He escaped from the hospital and told his story to a television station, but police forced their way into the station building and abducted Xu, remanding him back to the psychiatric ward.
Philippines: Performance of local governments
LGPMS provides online reports and other performance indicators of local governments in the Philippines.
Indonesia: Kartini Day
Tikno blogs about Raden Ajeng Kartini, a pioneer of women's rights in Indonesia. Kartini Day, which is being celebrated in Indonesia every April, is similar to Mother's Day in Western countries.
Indonesia: Reaction to Osama bin Laden's death
nrg07 from Indonesia reacts to the news about the death of Osama bin Laden: “I wouldn’t be relieved that Osama bin Laden has died, if the spread of radicalism, hatred and intolerance is still there.”
Indonesia: National Education Day
Multibrand blogs about the decline of Indonesian education during the National Education Day celebration last May 2.
Russia: E-Gov Blogger Discusses Technology and Transparency (Video)
Yekaterina Aksyonova, creator of gov-gov.ru, one of the most informative blogs about e-government in Russia, met with Global Voices at Central Asian BarCamp recently and answered several questions on the role of technology and transparency.
Singapore: Mainstream Media and elections
MARUAH monitors how mainstream media in Singapore is reporting the General Elections campaign.
Monitoring Singapore elections via Twitter
As Election Day nears, Singapore netizens are using the #sgelections and #ge2011 hashtags to monitor election updates.
