Stories about Environment from May, 2011
North Korea: News Resources
Adam Cathcart from Sinologistical Violoncellist has complied a list of North Korean news items on China, cultural diplomacy, US/Japan, Middle East, Environment, and etc. It helps to understand North Korea's understanding of its relation with the rest of the world.
Puerto Rico: Opening the Flood Gates
Gil the Jenius is incredulous about the cause of his neighbourhood's most recent incident of flooding.
Brazil: Alert as 473% jump in deforestation is confirmed
“Events are moving quickly in Brazil's epic battle over a new national Forest Code. The struggle has has reached a critical stage full of both danger and opportunity. Please take action“, asks Lou Gold, as Brazil's national monitoring agency confirms 473 percent jump in deforestation.
Chile: Massive Protests Continue Against Hidroaysén Power Station
After the approval of the construction of the Hidroaysén hydrolectric power station in the Aysén region of the Patagonia of Chile on May 9, 2011, there have been many protests around the country. Netizens have been using social media networks to share and spread information on the demonstrations.
Ethiopia: Are “Land Grab” Deals a Path to Food Security?
The push by multinational corporations and foreign governments in recent years to obtain fertile land in African countries, such as Ethiopia, has spurred debate. Will the move will lead to development, or is it "land grabbing" that further threatens the continent's food security?
Ukraine, U.S.: Chornobyl Songs Project
Maria Sonevytsky writes about the Chornobyl Songs Project: “To mark the 25th Anniversary of the Chornobyl disaster, raise awareness of the continuing environmental damage created by the nuclear disaster and stimulate efforts to prevent such catastrophes from occurring in the future, a group of singers based in New York City...
Chileans Bang Pots and Pans in Protest Against Hidroaysen Dam
Una Mirada de la Realidad [es] shares three citizen videos of “cacerolazos” –protests where participants bang pots and pans– on May 15 in Valdivia, Santiago and Valparaiso against the Hidroaysen dam project approved last week.
Chile: Citizens Reject the Hidroaysen Dam Project
On Monday, May 9, a project to construct a hydroelectric dam called Hidroaysén was approved amid a tense atmosphere marked by about 1,000 people demonstrating outside the place where the voting took place. In social networks, slogans against the government and the project were quickly followed by the hashtag #noahidroaysen, a Trending Topic. An estimated 10,000 people answered the call to protest in the streets across the country that day.
Japan: No Nuke Art
A group of anti-nuclear activists started No Nuke Posters [en], a project “for a post-nuclear future and for those working to rebuild amid Japan's nuclear crisis”. They accept submissions of original artworks [en] that will be published on the website under Creative Commons license (by-nc-sa).
Haiti: Taking Responsibility for Cholera
Stanley Lucas thinks that “this [UN] mission needs to be held accountable for its actions, including the cholera, and should be more responsibly managed – or it needs to be closed.”
East Timor: Cartoons on Development and Everyday Life
The website Sapo.TL features a photo album from an exhibition [pt] in Lisbon with a selection of illustrations from the portuguese architect and cartoonist João Baptista. Baptista created the blog Timor Cartoon, five years ago, and has published since then dozens of cartoons about the development and everyday life of...
Bolivia: Recycling Water for Irrigation
Roberto Laserna describes [es] how he recycles water that he later uses for irrigation. He lists some of his errors in constructing the recycling system and suggests ways to avoid common mistakes.
Slovakia: Second-Class Customers
Even though customers might expect products from the same brand to be of the same quality worldwide, regional differences in quality and price do exist, depending on whether the products were manufactured for Western European markets or for those in Central and Eastern Europe. Tibor Blazko reports on the reactions of Slovak netizens to a recent study on the issue.
Chile: Police Clash With Protesters in Demonstration Against Hydroelectric Dam
Blogger Eileen Smith, an “ExBrooklynite” living in Santiago, participated in the protests against the hydroelectric dam HidroAysén that was approved on Monday, May 9. She reports: “The police were not just dispersing the crowds from Plaza Italia, they were actively pursuing all groups of more than about 25 people, chasing...
Bieber Fever Hits Brunei
Justin Bieber had sold out concerts in several Southeast Asian countries but it seems he missed out Brunei. And this prompted Bieber fans in Brunei to use the Internet via Twitter, blogs, and YouTube to convince the singer to visit Brunei.
East Timor: An Alternative Reading of the Human Development Report
Following the launch of the United Nations “Human Development Report 2011 – Timor Leste” [pdf], the portuguese economist Almeida Serra, from the blog É a economia, estúpido! (It's the economy, stupid!) [pt], makes an alternative analysis. Serra claims that a significative share of the oil revenues have no impact in...
Iran: Dogs Arrested (Again)
Iranian security forces are back in the streets for a sequel to their infamous action of 2007: arresting dogs. Iran's government considers keeping pet dogs un-Islamic, but has mostly tolerated it. Now, according to Iranian newspapers, several dogs were recently confiscated in a new crackdown.
Global Blogging Competition on Water Issues
The European Journalism Centre has launched a three month international blogging competition focusing on water issues called TH!NK5. Bloggers from 40 different countries joined the contest, aiming to win the final prize: a trip to Lisbon, Portugal. Here are some of the most popular and original posts written by some of the winners.
Bangladesh: The Cradle Of Buddhism
Bangladesh Unlocked analyzes history to deduct that the land of the present day Bangladesh was probably the cradle of Buddhism.
Japan: Holiday in Fukushima
The author of Spike Japan decided to spend last week's national holidays in the Fukushima prefecture. In his latest post he chronicles his journey [en] to the tsunami hit area and its surroundings.
Turkmenistan: TAPI Continues To Face Challenges
Christya Riedel provides an update on the TAPI, Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India proposed gas pipeline scheduled for completion in 2016. So far, no big progress has been made on a diplomatic front to provide for the project's start.
