Stories from 28 October 2011
Ukraine: Best Ukrainian Blog Awards Competition Launched
Watcher.com.ua [uk], a Ukrainian Internet business and social media marketing website, launches [uk] Best Ukrainian Blog Awards (BUBA). Participants may be nominated and voted for by Internet users between Oct....
East Timor: Investing in Creativity and Culture
Barcelona artist David Palazón ended up in East Timor as a break from his career. Now he is coordinating a project to research Timorese culture in hopes of creating a school for the creative industries, to stimulate jobs in the non-oil economy, small businesses, and tourism.
St. Vincent & the Grenadines: 32nd Independence
“I thought of our resilience and how despite all the adversity we have not given up”: Abeni wishes her country a Happy 32nd Independence Day.
Trinidad & Tobago: Outcry over Airing of Child Assault Video
Women Speak is outraged by a local television show which “aired video footage of a 13 year old girl being beaten and raped” and wants the show off the air;...
Madagascar: New Prime Minister Omer Beriziky Arrival Tweeted Live
Twitter users in Madagascar followed the announcement of the new prime minister and reported it live. Avylavitra wrote succintly [mg] : “Omer Beriziky is the new PM in #Madagascar.”
Open Access Africa: Spreading Knowledge, Increasing Collaboration
We celebrate Open Access Week with a special focus on Open Access Africa. As the internet lowers the bar for publishing and disseminating information, print-era publishing models still keep African researchers and students separated from colleagues in different countries and their ideas. How has Open Access changed scholarship in Africa?
Cuba: Internet & Human Rights
“2011 will hopefully be looked back as the year when both the right to internet access and the threat to internet freedom were both recognized and tech companies collaborating with...
Cuba: Dissident Fired
Pedazos de La Isla blogs about a young man whose political views have allegedly “cost him serious impediments such as detentions, threats, and other violations, one of the most recent...
Greek Financial Crisis and Anti-Austerity Protests: The Story So Far
The Greek indignant movement seemingly foundered during the summer, but appears to be picking up steam again in September, at the imposition of yet another round of austerity measures. Asteris Masouras gives an overview of the protests so far.
Botswana: Government Decides Not to Recognise Recognise Bakgatla Paramount
Lauri comments on the decision by the government of Botswana not to recognise the paramount chief of the Bakgtla: “I wrote before about the controversy around Kgosi Kgafela but since...
Egypt: Yet Another Case of Post-Revolution Torture
Anger is mounting in Egypt after Essam Atta, a 23-year-old man imprisoned for two years after a military trial, was killed - allegedly at the hands of his police captors. Lilian Wagdy sums up citizen media reactions to the news.
Africa: New Social Network for African Radio Broadcasters
Digital4Good and Farm Radio International have launched social network for African radio broadcasters: “Barzaradio.com helps farmers increase crop yields through connecting radio broadcasters to each other.”
Russia: Fake ‘Crowd Sourced’ Election Monitoring Portal Launched by the Ruling Party

Gazeta.ru writes [ru] about government-sponsored NGOs that help simulate legitimacy of the election process. Among others authors mention ktonarushil.ru, a fake crowdsourcing monitoring portal launched by “United Russia” party. Not...
Russia: Crowd-Sourced Citizen Lawmaking Platform

The Economist writes about WikiVote (e.g. see projects dedicated to the laws on education, Sberbank, state-owned bank), Russian croudsourcing platform to comment and contribute to the creation of the laws....
Russia: Prison Officer Who Abused Female Inmates Arrested After a YouTube Leak

Anonymous male prison officer from Amur region who had been captured beating and abusing female inmates was arrested, Ria.ru reported [ru]. The arrest was conducted after the shocking video [warning:...
Global Voices Russian Partners With Neweurasia.net
We are pleased to announce partnership of Global Voices in Russian with Neweurasia.net, one of the most prominent citizen media platforms in Central Asia and about Central Asia, which has a large Russian and English speaking audience.
Taiwan, Taipei: Occupiers’ last front torn down
Green Party member Wang Zhong-ming posts his picture on facebook of he sitting in a damaged tent torn down by the police near Taipei 101, the counterpart symbol of WallStreet in...
Sri Lanka: Working Towards Uniting the Nation
The 26 year long civil war in Sri Lanka has left many scars and it is an uphill task to bridge all divides and start the reconciliation to unite people. 'Sri Lanka Unites' is engaging the youth across the country to build good leadership with hope and reconciliation who will unite the nation one day.
Taiwan: The Story of Chiou Ho-shun
Chiou Ho-shun, a death row inmate in Taiwan, may be executed at any time. He said in the mini-documentary, “I hope you can save me, but if it’s too late,...
Tajikistan: Face-saving sentence for the journalists
Journalists Muhammad Yusuf Ismailov and Urunboy Usmonov have been found guilty, but with very commuted sentences following the international pressure on the Tajik authorities, neweurasia’s Alpharabius reports.
Kyrgyzstan: Sec Council bid unsuccessful, but might spell future luck
Marat Sartpaev provides an analysis of the Kyrgyzstan's bid for a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, outlining the possible reasoning behind the failure and future prospects of the...