In this edition: volunteers monitoring the local elections in Turkey; Lebanese web users speak out against racism towards Syrian refugees; and 150 mousetraps set off and filmed in slow motion.

TURKISH LOCAL ELECTIONS MONITORED BY VOLUNTEERS
Sunday saw crucial local elections for Turkey and the government of Prime Minister Recip Tayyip Erdogan. Elections held against a backdrop of corruption scandals that have destabilized the authorities and fuelled fears of electoral fraud.
Tens of thousands of activists in Turkey, well aware of the stakes at play, took steps to ensure the elections were run fairly. The “Oy ve ötesi” group set up by activists from the Gezi park protest movement that rocked Turkey last year says its recruited 30,000 volunteers via social networks to monitor polling stations in Istanbul.
Over the past few weeks these volunteers have received training on electoral procedures so they would be able to spot any type of irregularity on voting day. There have also been a series of online video tutorials.
The NGO “Sandik Basindayik” also urged voters to stay in the polling stations after they have cast their ballot so it`s wasn`t just representatives from the different political parties overseeing the vote.
And many have bypassed Turkey`s block on Twitter to share their observations on the microblogging platform. Some claim to have witnessed voters in certain parts of the country being pressured to vote for the Prime Minister`s Justice and Development Party, the AKP.
ONLINE CAMPAIGN IN SUPPORT OF SYRIAN REFUGEES IN LEBANON
Lebanese activists have launched a Facebook campaign in support of the many Syrian refugees in Lebanon who are facing racism. Ordinary citizens have been using ... Go on reading on our web site.

Visit our website:
http://www.france24.com

Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English

Follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/France24_en