· December, 2010

Stories about Development from December, 2010

Ghana: Takoradi, More Than a Tale of Two Cities

  31 December 2010

There are two incontrovertible truths about Takoradi city in Ghana: “it made news in the oil world on 15 December, 2010 when Ghana officially became an oil-exporting country; secondly, the capital of the verdant and lush Western region is a twin city alongside Sekondi…”

Glimpses of Citizen Media from Portuguese language countries in 2010

  31 December 2010

Throughout 2010 the lusophone blogsphere has given new perspectives on important issues that mainstream media tends to ignore. Read this post and discover a selection of the voices that Global Voices has amplified - from citizen media phenomena, to politics, governance and indigenous peoples.

Africa: MDGTagger available in Swahili

  30 December 2010

MDGTagger, a simple tool to help people track Millennium Development Goals is now available in Swahili: “After quite a bit of searching we found an ‘official’ translation of the the Millennium Development Goals translated into Kiswahilli here. So we now have the MDGTagger available to Swahili speakers!”

Bermuda: bird's eye view

  29 December 2010

FreshieBlog posts high-resolution aerial photographs of Bermuda from 1940 and 1973, “a valuable tool for seeing how Bermuda has developed over the past 70 years.”

China: Press conference held following suspicious death of rural activist

  27 December 2010

It has not been a peaceful week in the news, with a crossbow-shooting bomber-petitioner in Beijing, a city administration official killed with a screwdriver today in Fujian province, and the grisly death of village leader Qian Yunhui in Zhejiang province on Christmas day. [UPDATE: Roland Soong at EastSouthWestNorth has been...

China: Christmas Day death of a Zhejiang village leader

  26 December 2010

After more than 5 years of leading and serving prison time for protests against fixed elections and illegal land expropriation, the former leader of Zhaiqiao village in Zhejiang province, Qian Yunhui, was killed Saturday morning in an accident which left his head severed from his body. Graphic photos and thousands...

Tragedy bookends Year 2010 for Francophone Citizen Media

  26 December 2010

It appears that tragedy will bookend yet another year rich in remarkable events in the world of francophone citizen media. The month of January set the tone with the fallout from the earthquake in Haiti and December saw the elections in Cote d'Ivoire take a dramatic turn. Here is the year 2010 reviewed through the lenses of francophone citizen media users.

“In the beginning was the Word”: Blogs by Bible translators

  24 December 2010

This week Christians will celebrate the birth of Jesus. Christianity appears in many forms around the world and has around 2.2 billion adherents. In this post we take a look at the blogs of the people trying to make sure Christian scripture can be understood in as many languages as possible – Bible translators.

Sri Lanka: A Rational Approach to Re-settlement

  23 December 2010

Blogger Ratmale at Serendipity hopes that there will be rational and consistent approach taken in the re-settlement of the 150,000+ people currently living in Colombo, who will be re-settled as part of the Colombo Redevelopment Plan.

China: South-North Water Transfer Project

  23 December 2010

Yin Mingwan, a senior engineer at the China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, explains in China Dialogue that the South-North Water Transfer Project won’t solve Beijing’s chronic water shortage without managing water consumption.

Africa: The Scandal of the “Ill-gotten Gains”

  20 December 2010

In the scandal of the wealth accumulated by some African politicians, the French Supreme Court of Appeals reversed the verdict pronounced by Paris Court of Appeals a year ago. The court of appeal deemed that the claim of embezzlement filed by Transparency International against the leaders of RDC, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea and their entourage was valid. Bloggers discuss the implications of this wealth accumulated by African leaders in contrast with the poverty of the rest of the population.

Chile: Prison Fire Sparks Debate on Social Networking Sites

  19 December 2010

A fire in a prison in San Miguel in Santiago, Chile, which killed more than 80 prisoners after one of its towers caught fire, caused mixed reactions on social networks. The fire has opened the debate on human rights of prisoners and the media coverage of events like these.

Africa: Banana leaf packaging for street food

  17 December 2010

Banana leaf packaging for street food in Africa: “…banana leaves are a packaging solution that has existed for thousands of years, still exists today, and that could benefit the environment by simply expanding their use to new areas”