Tunisians celebrate Ben Ali's fall

Tunisians celebrate Ben Ali's fall

Game over! This is the message displayed on the welcome page of the site nawaat.org since this weekend. This independent Tunisian web site has been providing wide coverage of the popular uprising that has been taking place over the past few weeks. The site is broadcasting videos like these ones showing how citizens took to the streets en masse to celebrate the fall of President Ben Ali, who had been in power for 23 years.

Many Tunisians living abroad have been taking part in the celebrations. As we see in these images filmed in Paris, thousands gathered at the Place de la République, singing and praising the Tunisian people for their courage and perseverance. And whether it was in Geneva in Switzerland or Montreal in Canada, the cold and the snow did not stop a great many Tunisians and other supporters celebrating what many consider to be an historic step for Tunisia.

Indeed many web users believe the day Ben Ali fell from power should go down in history. Alaeddine Ghazouani has tweeted that the 14^th of January should be declared a national holiday for Tunisians from now on.

There is an overwhelming feeling of joy on the net, but some web users are wondering about the country’s future. Twitter user Zizoo thinks that one thing is certain; Tunisia’s future cannot be shaped without the involvement of web users who in his opinion gave a great deal to the rebellion movement. The blogger “Tunisian girl” partly agrees and says this political victory is down to the entire country and everyone should be allowed to have their say in the next steps.

Floods in Brazil

This video was filmed in Nova Friburgo, in the state of Rio de Janeiro. Chunks of the hillside collapse and bury the houses below. These landslides have been caused by the torrential rain that has been beating down in this part of Brazil and hundreds of people have already lost their lives.

Haissem Ejje, who lives in the Teresopolis region which has been equally affected by the floods, went to a stadium offering shelter to victims, most of whom have lost everything.

It is one of the worst disasters ever to have hit the country. The tragedy has sparked a huge wave of solidarity, expressed on social networks in particular. Volunteers from the association Lei Seca notably have been organizing a campaign on Twitter to collect food, clothing and other basic products for victims.

The local authorities have posted an interactive map online displaying the shelters and other medical posts in the region so that people know where they can go to give blood.

In this video, blogger Ricardo Gama expresses his anger with the authorities. He believes that certain politicians are to blame for the extent of the disaster, as they have allowed the buildup of makeshift housing at the foot of the hillsides. This type of housing is particularly vulnerable to landslides.

 Google Variations

With « Google variations » Argentine artist Leonardo Solaas, invites you to play around with Google. So with Googlo, all vowels are replaced by the letter O. With “NonGoogles”, you can carry out your search on other search engines. And “Google is Good” only holds on to results that complement the Mountain View company. It’s an unusual way to surf the net.

 I love Sweden

Valérie Toumayan is French and a great fan of Swedish culture. To share her passion, the film maker has spent the past five years recording Swedish Pop and folk artists and has made a webdocumentary called “Sounds of Stockholm” available to view on the site “I love Sweden.net”, free of charge, so you can learn more about Sweden and its music culture.

Video of the day

In this original version of their song « One night in October » British group Little Comets play the track on the guitar, using the same guitar. And as we can see in this video the result is pretty impressive!