· April, 2008

Stories about Breaking News from April, 2008

Remembering Aimé Césaire

  18 April 2008

Aimé Césaire - Martinican poet, politician and consummate West Indian - passed away today at the age of 94. It is not often that politics and poetry go together, but when they do, the West Indies is as fertile an environment as any for the two to coexist. Césaire seamlessly blended his love for language, ideas and writing into his political life, which spanned almost 60 years.

Indonesia: Alert level raised around Mt. Papandayan

  17 April 2008

News from Indonesia reports that alert level was raised on Indonesia's Mount Papandayan volcano. The volcano lies 51 Kilometers southeast of Indonesia's third-largest city, Bandung, which is home to around three million people.

East Timor President returns home

  17 April 2008

Xanana Republic Gazette describes how the East Timor President was greeted by his people when he arrived back in the country. An onlooker described the returning president as “frail but tense.”

Philippines: Bishop blogger sued

  16 April 2008

A hard-hitting Philippine Catholic Archbishop was sued for libel by allies of the government because of something he wrote in his blog a few years ago.

Indonesia: Volcanic eruption

  16 April 2008

The Volcanism Blog reports that Mount Egon on Flores Island, Indonesia, erupted a 4 kilometer ash plume late on Tuesday 15 April, causing the evacuation of hundreds of villagers from nearby communities.

D.R. of Congo: Fifth fatal crash in under a year, food prices the real disaster

  15 April 2008

News agencies are reporting that 75 were killed when a cargo plane crashed in Goma shortly after takeoff on Tuesday. Du Cabiau à Kinshasa reflects on how a plane crash can bring attention to the DRC, generally ignored by Western media, even though it's reeling from one of the greatest human disasters in a century. But Cabiau thinks the skyrocketing food prices, although less photogenic, are the real disaster in the making.

Prison Break, Moroccan Style

  11 April 2008

On Tuesday morning, 9 inmates and suspected terrorists escaped from a Moroccan jail. Moroccan bloggers used every pun and reference from the American television show, Prison Break, to describe their shock and disbelief.

Morocco: Prison Break

On Monday, April 7, nine men convicted of involvement in the 2003 suicide bombings in Casablanca went missing from a Kenitra prison. Prisoner rights advocacy group Ennassir said that the escape coincided with the beginning of a hunger strike by about 1,000 prisoners across Morocco. A search is underway, but the prisoners have yet to be found. Jillian Yorks brings us reactions from the Moroccan blogosphere.

Egypt: Bloggers on the Frontline

Egyptian bloggers worked round the clock telling the world about a workers' revolt that shook their country, as thousands rioted at a textile mill in Al Mahalla, demanding better pay and protesting against increasing prices. They were also among the first casualties of the unrest, which left two people killed, scores injured and an undetermined number of activists, organisers and mere spectators behind bars. Their coverage came in the form of blog posts, YouTube videos, Twitter feeds, Flickr shots, Facebook messages and all other online tools they could get their hands on.

Kenya: Cabinet talks suspended

  8 April 2008

Phil writes about the recent development in Kenya cabinet talks: “Tension is steadily building around the country following the collapse of talks between PNU and ODM towards the formation of a grand coalition cabinet. The PNU have outrightly rejected ODM's demands for certain cabinet portfolios while the ODM had announced...

Japan: Major Parties Cooperate to Legislate Regulation of “Harmful” Internet Content

  7 April 2008

Japanese bloggers have been making noise the past few days in reaction to two separate bills, submitted first by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (LDP) and next by the leading opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), each aiming, in apparently similar ways, to legislate regulation over Internet content deemed to be "harmful" to minors (users under age 18). According to bloggers, the latest moves by government legislators, despite having received virtually no mainstream attention, constitute potentially the most extensive Internet regulation proposed thus far.

Egypt: A Wake Up Strike

Around 500 people were arrested in Egypt Sunday as police quashed a general strike, in protest against the increasing cost of living and calling for better wages. And just as word about the strike was spread via massive text-messaging, email, and popular social networking platform Facebook, bloggers and online activists kept the world abreast with arrests and developments on the ground minute by minute throughout the day. Eman AbdElRahman brings us the story.

China: Chinese protest in London you never see on BBC

  6 April 2008

Bridge-blogging has taken on a whole new meaning now in China since armies of multilingual netizens started scouring the known media universe last month for inaccuracy or distortions in reports regarding China or, more specifically, Tibet.