Stories about Portuguese from July, 2011
Mozambique: Political Rapper Arrested
Mozambicans are reacting to what appears to have been the arrest yesterday of controversial and talented MC Azagaia. While there is no official news, some of his 4,600+ fans showed their support on Facebook and have created a “Free Azagaia” event. The rapper was questioned in 2008 by police, who...
Angola: Bloggers Meet Rappers for a Socially Responsible Soccer Match
Dino Cross, from the blog Hip Hop Angola, announces [pt] a soccer match between Angolan bloggers and rappers that will take place on the 30th of July. All the attendees are invited to bring goods to the stadium which the organization will take care of donating to social institutions afterwards.
Brazil: “A Serbian Film” Banned from RioFan Festival
The controversial long feature “A Serbian Film” was banned [pt] from the RioFan film festival by its main sponsor, the Brazilian national bank Caixa Econômica Federal, as announced [pt] on the website of the organization. Brazilian citizens organized a protest against censorship. A video [pt] gathers several analyses of the...
Cape Verde: Blog Tears Down Statements on Climate Change
“Droughts are a well known fatality in Cape Verde (…) long before CO2 started rising”, argues the blog EcoTretas (EcoBullshit), while tearing down alleged misinformed statements from Al Gore's The Climate Reality Project.
Portugal: “Junk” National Debt Rating Provokes Online Demonstrations
The “junk” rating given to Portugal’s ability to pay its public debts by independent American financial analysis corporation Moody's, has provoked numerous demonstrations of exacerbated nationalism on the social networks. It has also brought to the blogosphere further analysis on the economic crisis and the country's bailout.
Brazil: Blogger Censored and Sued by Businessman
Journalist Paulo Cezar Prado's Blog do Paulinho [pt] has been blocked by the Brazilian Justice, reports the Blue Bus [pt]. Businessman Franck Henouda's lawyer has sued the blogger who had also criticized other public figures related with sports: Ricardo Teixeira, the president of the CBF and Andres Sanchez the president...
Brazil: Belo Monte March in Images
Renata Takahashi published dozens of photos of a march – #MarchaBeloMonte - that took place on July 17 in São Paulo, and in six other Brazilian cities, against the Belo Monte Dam and the New Forestry Code. The protest ended with a sit-in in one of the main avenues of...
East Timor: Arts and Creative Industries in Focus
With the main purpose of launching the future Academy of Arts and Creative Industries of East Timor, a series of cultural events and an international conference are taking place in Dili until the 17th of July. The organization's website Tatoli ba Kultura includes a media map featuring unique works by Timorese...
Sao Tome and Principe: Saving a Cultural Crossroads
The celebration of Sao Tome and Principe's 36th anniversary of independence, on July 12, involves cultural and traditional events being held throughout the country. The country has been a cultural crossroads for centuries, absorbing various traditions into a unique blend. Bloggers help document dance traditions, and express regret that not enough is being done to preserve them for future generations.
Portugal: Research on Literacy, Media and Citizenship
The Research Center on Communication and Society from the University of Minho, in Portugal, has made available for download the proceedings of the First National Congress on Literacy, Media and Society. Among more than sixty papers on several topics, there is one dedicated to “Perspectives on info-exclusion in the lusophone...
Brazil: Report Reveals Unsustainable Practices of Biofuel Industry
Though biofuel has been acclaimed as the best exit for the world’s struggle for energy resource and a 'green' alternative which can reduce carbon emission, a recent study by the NGO Reporter Brasil on the Brazilian ethanol chain production reveals its high socio-environmental cost.
Angola: Human Rights Activist “Partially” Released
The Angolan human rights activist Agostinho Chicaia has been released from jail, though he is “still without his passport, thus unable to go back home”, reports [pt] the blog Branqkituma. Chicaia was “arbitrarily arrested” at the airport of Kinshasa (D. R. of Congo) on June 20 “under an international arrest...
Portugal: Getting Funded by the Crowd
MassiveMov, the first crowdfunding platform in Portugal was launched on July 7.
Brazil: #ForaMicarla as Protest Against Corruption in Natal
Since 2010, denunciations of corruption [pt] concerning the mayor of Natal, Micarla de Sousa, have led Brazilian citizens to mobilize in protest via Twitter with the hashtag #ForaMicarla (Out with Micarla!). The movement [pt] has grown from the web to the streets.
The Disputed Reputation of Portugal's Former Political Police Chief
Major Silva Pais, the last director of Portugal's repressive PIDE police force - operative during the country's “New State” period - has been implicated in a play, in the 1965 assassination of democratic opposition politician General Humberto Delgado. A controversial criminal case is underway by Pais' nephews against the play's author and the directors who staged it.
Sao Tome and Principe: Insight on Rare Birds
The blog Island Biodiversity Race features an expedition to learn about the birds of Sao Tome and Principe, “to show how rich and unique the biota of the islands is and at the same time, how poorly known”.
Cape Verde: Demonstration Against Violence
The organization of a peaceful demonstration against violence in Cape Verde, scheduled for July 5, has already more than 12,000 accepted invitations on Facebook [pt].
Brazil: Inappropriate Use of a Newspaper's Logo
Lino Bocchini, from the blog Desculpe a Nossa Falha wonders [pt] if the Brazilian MTV and its owner, Editora Abril, will also be sued by the newspaper Folha de São Paulo due to the use of Folha's logo within the same satirical context of the now censored fAlha de São...
Brazil: Blogger Threatened to Death
Celso Lungaretti denounces [pt] death threats against Antuérpio Pettersen Filho, who leads the Brazilian Association of Individual and Citizenship Defense and edits the online newspaper Grito Cidadão (Citizen Cry) [pt]. Filho's denouncements on alleged connections between the former chief of Civil Police, Julio César Oliveira Silva, with a Death Squad...
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