04/22/09 | Breaking Tweets

April 22, 2009

Featured TwitPic: Rush hour in Lima, Peru

"Empieza la hora punta" (Rush hour begins) (Posted by @mikytorres, Lima, Peru, April 22, 2009)

IMF predicts global economy to worsen in 2009

Per BBC, global economic output will decline 1.3 percent and advanced economies will weaken 3.8 percent in 2009, according to a new report released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF says the world is currently experiencing "by far the deepest post-World War II recession."

The news quickly circulated worldwide on Twitter.

farazq (New York, N.Y.) IMF finally figures out there is a world recession. Is this seriously "breaking news"? http://twurl.nl/oibx4o 22 Apr 2009 from TweetDeck

cmail (Brisbane, Australia) More Aussie jobs to go - IMF: AUSTRALIA's jobless rate is tipped to soar to 6.8 per cent this year Â– or roughly.. http://tinyurl.com/c7zvq5 22 Apr 2009 from twitterfeed

arjunghosh (New Delhi, India) bad news again RT @ReutersIndia: TOP NEWS: World economy in severe recession, IMF says http://r.reuters.com/wef44c 22 Apr 2009 from TweetDeck

calvin141170 (West Cork, Ireland) Sounds like the IMF is saying that Ireland is basically f***ed: €24 billion to stabilise banking system, or 13.9% of GDP. Not good :-( 22 Apr 2009 from TweetDeck

yckong (Shanghai, China) IMF slashes outlook for global economy: The global economy will contract sharply this year and recover only slug.. http://tinyurl.com/ckcbdv 22 Apr 2009 from twitterfeed

Not all interpreted the report the same way, however.

englishidiot (Undisclosed) When the IMF get their sums wrong or release the wrong figures, you have to wonder if there is really anybody in charge up there. 22 Apr 2009 from web

spitzenburg (St. Louis & Sugar Grove, N.C.) The IMF sees a "shift toward recovery" - YESSS. http://bit.ly/M30zu 22 Apr 2009 from TweetDeck

One Twitterer offered a potential solution to the looming crisis.

alterquest (Queensland, Australia) IMF says "world economy is going to get worse." We say " Why not scrap the old system, get a global currency & make a new economic system?" 22 Apr 2009 from web

South Africa votes in general election

Per BBC, South Africans have begun casting ballots in what is expected to the be the "most competitive general election since the end of the apartheid in 1994." The results will determine how much ruling power the ANC will have with Jacob Zuma at the top of the ticket and an attempt to retain a majority of seats in parliament, according to the article.

Those following the South Africa election on Twitter are using #saelections in their tweets. The hashtag trended all the way up to No. 2 on Twitter.

Twitterers in Johannesburg are reporting long lines at polling places.

ExMi (Johannesburg, South Africa) I think next elections should do drive-thru voting. #saelections 22 Apr 2009 from mobile web

Lioneldp (Johannesburg, South Africa) The meze queue is very popular at the Saheti station #saelections http://twitpic.com/3rdo5 22 Apr 2009 from TwitterFon

RubyGold (Johannesburg, South Africa) Been here an hour nother to go q has slowed rather #saelections 22 Apr 2009 from TwitterFon

theclam (Johannesburg, South Africa) South Africans are an enterprising lot. Coffee muffins etc for sale in the lines... I can smell some boerie cooking.. #saelections 22 Apr 2009 from mobile web

mdegale (Johannesburg, South Africa) voting at houghton school. lots of cars, fairly long queue #saelections #fb 22 Apr 2009 from txt

hellioncat (Johannesburg, South Africa) @magependragon ah yeah, we got there 7:30, got out at 10:20, voting station was primrose, germiston. #saelections 22 Apr 2009 from TweetDeck in reply to magependragon