5 December 2011

Stories from 5 December 2011

Russia: The Revolt of “Net Hamsters”

RuNet Echo

The day after the elections, Russians got together to rally against election fraud. Even though the United Russia party, according to preliminary results, is to lose some 77 seats compared to the previous Duma, most of the protesters considered the election to be neither fair, nor free.

5 December 2011

Cuba: Loving Yoani

Along the Malecon links to an interview with blogger Yoani Sanchez’ husband, in which he reveals that “he quickly realized she was special.”

5 December 2011

St. Lucia: Poetic Preaching

Caribbean Book Blog profiles a local priest who “has just published a book of narrative prose and poetry”, which he describes as ” a Caribbean-centric “theological reflection on the social,...

5 December 2011

Bahrain: Fake Twitter Account

Bahraini journalist Reem Khalifa appeals to her followers on Twitter: “Plz my followers make report spam for a fake account @ Reem_Khalifah using my pic, words,articles.”

5 December 2011

Bahrain: Twitter User Jailed for 66 Days for Tweeting

The Arab world has a reputation for arresting and torturing bloggers and netizens and Bahrain is no exception. A Twitter user has been tweeting his jail experience over the past few days to share his story with the rest of the world. He says he was jailed for 66 days over tweets.

5 December 2011

Ashura Commemorations Around the World

Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar, is a period of mourning for Shia Muslims. Events reach a climax on Ashura, the tenth day of the month. Ayesha Saldanha reports on Ashura commemorations around the world.

5 December 2011

Egypt: Romanian Netizen Lavinia Dieac Shares her Egyptian Experience

Romania and Egypt are two distant countries. They have many differences and many things in common as well, such as the fact that they both had revolutions against dictatorships. Romanian netizen Lavinia Dieac, who lives in Cairo, tells us more about her life in Egypt, particularly the days of the revolution.

5 December 2011

Kuwait: A New Prime Minister and Detainees Bailed Out

More than two weeks after protesters stormed the Kuwaiti Parliament, the country has a new Prime Minister. Netizens comment on the 'new era,' political action and the detention, hunger strike and release of protesters arrested for breaking into the Parliament. The protesters have been released on bail, pending trial. Here are netizen reactions to the country's latest developments.

5 December 2011

China: Anti-rumor VS Anti-censorship

David Bandurski from China Media Project blogs about the appointment of the new head of the state-run China Central Television Hu Zhanfan and the firestorm between the official anti-rumor campaign...

5 December 2011