Stories about Breaking News from August, 2010
Russia: Anothr Kemerovo Blogger Charged With Libel
A criminal case has been started against Alexander Sorokin (aka LJ user commentator40), Echo Moskvy reported [RUS]. He is charged with libel against Kemerovo governor Aman Tuleev [EN] for the post [RUS] in which he compares Russian regional governors to Latin American dictators. It is the second famous case [EN]...
Russia: Temporary LiveJournal Block in Ingushetia
Kaloy Akhilgov (aka LJ user kaloy), a press secretary of the president of Ingushetia [EN], confirmed [RUS] the block of LiveJournal.com in the republic [RUS]. He later wrote [RUS] that the block had been removed. The first news about regional block of LiveJournal [RUS] appeared on July 23rd, 2010 but...
South Korea: Police Raided Google Korea In Street View Probe
South Korean Police raided Google Korea over privacy concerns with Google's Street View Korea Herald reported.
Russian-Fires.ru, First Ushahidi Experience
Wildfires in central Russia have shown that the Russian blogosphere is capable of fast mobilization, cooperation and solidarity when it comes to natural disasters. The RuNet Echo team not only observed the blogosphere's reaction to the wildfires, but has become one of the few centers of coordination of volunteers and victims of the disaster.
Russia: Do Authorities Conceal Rate of Death Caused by Smog?
Blogger molitva-i-post writes [RUS] that Moscow medical services failed to evacuate the body of her grandfather who died of heat and smog. Hospitals and morgues are filled with the dead, blogger reported. Despite numerous similar cases, the Ministry of Health denied [RUS] the increase in death rate caused by high temperatures.
South Korea: Iran Envoy Said South Korea To Avoid Sanctions on North
Iranian Ambassador warned South Korea of substantial economic loss if it follows US led sanction on North Korea in an exclusive interview with South Korea’s Joongang Ilbo, few days later the top sanctioning envoys from the US made visits to Seoul.
North Korea: North reopened A hotel at Mt. Kumgang Resort Without Approval
North Korea reopened a hotel at Mt. Kumgang resort which is on long lease to South Korean Hyundai Asan without getting the South’s approval, South Korea’s Chosun reported, quoting Chosun Shinbo, a North Korean mouthpiece published in Japan.
China: Zhouqu landslide, a man made disaster
On August 8, a landslide happened in Zhouqu in Gansu province. According to official Xinhua news, the disaster has so far taken away 127 people's lives and 1,294 people reported missing. Since there is very limited information from official media outlets, Woeser's coordinated a collaborative investigation via Twitter soon after...
Russia: Musicians Sign Petition for Detained Rapper
Ivan Alexeev (aka Noize MC ), a Volgograd-based rapper famous for its politically charged songs [EN], had been detained for 10 days after a concert where he sang an anti-police song. Blogger Norlink published [RUS] a petition for his defense that had been signed by the Russian rock-musicians.
Russia: a Blogger That Wrote to Putin about Wildfires Regrets Writing
Alexander Pochkov (aka LJ user top-lap), shares [RUS] his regrets about writing to Russian Prime Minister [EN] Vladimir Putin. He claims he may lose his job and Putin's response made him a joke in the blogosphere. It would be better, he says, if he avoided writing and went to fight the...
Russia: Pro-Kremlin Youth Movements Allegedly Forge Photos
Blogger mr-bison posted a research [RUS] of photos published by two pro-Kremlin youth movements (“Nashi” and “Molodaya Gvardia“). He points out that all the photos of the pro-Kremlin activists where they “were fighting with wild fires” are forged.
Puerto Rico: Independence Activist Lolita Lebrón Dies
The Puerto Rican independence activist Lolita Lebrón died on Sunday August 1, 2010. She was 90 years old. Lebrón commanded a group of Puerto Rican independence advocates who attacked the Congress of the United States on March 1, 1954 to denounce the Island's colonial situation under the US.
Russia: Leader of Khimki Forest Defenders Detained
Yevgenia Chirikova, a civil rights activist and leader of the Khimki forest park defenders [EN] has been detained, infox.ru reported [EN]. More than 30 policemen came to detain her after she gave a press-conference in the Independent Press-Center.
Russia: Crowdsourcing assistance for victims of wildfires
Severe wildfires in Russia have continued to spread since last week, displacing thousands of citizens. A new website using Ushahidi software, Russian-fires.Ru, is mapping not the fires themselves, but citizens who need help and those who wish to offer help.
Russia: Ushahidi-based Project to Help Victims of Severe Fires
GV “RuNet Echo” team together with volunteers from different parts of Russia has launched “Russian Fires.ru” [RUS], an Ushahidi-based crisis crowd sourcing website. The project is aimed to bridge volunteers and the victims of wild fires that hit central part of Russia [EN].
China: Sex workers demand legalization, organizer detained
If prostitution doesn't violate contemporary cultural norms, sex activists argue, then why doesn't the law reflect as much? Just a few days after a group in central China took to the street to gather support in a fight for social status for sex workers, the organizer has been detained by police.
Russia: Towns and Villages on Fire
Hundreds of forest and peat fires are raging across central Russia. The organization of the firefighting effort has been inadequate in many cases, and local residents often choose to self-mobilize and defend nearby towns and villages with whatever means they happen to have at their disposal.
