Stories about Good News from April, 2014
‘I Saw You On The Train': Falling in Love on Portugal's Public Transport
A Facebook page called Vi-te No Comboio [pt] (I Saw You On The Train) aims to gather and share the stories of anonymous people who meet on the train and take an interest in the passenger next to them. The stories are sent to the social network's administrators who then post them...
VIDEO: Serbian Child Prodigy's Drawings Stun the Art World
Dušan Krtolica is an 11-year-old artist from Belgrade that has taken the local and regional art world by storm with his exquisitely detailed pen and pencil drawings of complex animals, dinosaurs, knights, and people. Mainstream media in Serbia, and now other countries, discovered Dušan in February of 2014, but the...
Fans in Skopje Gather to Exchange Football Stickers
Hundreds of people gathered on Sunday afternoon in a downtown park in Skopje to exchange stickers of the official Football FIFA World Cup album on April 28, 2014. In Macedonia, as in other countries of the former Yugoslavia, the tradition of collecting stickers is decades long, dating back at least...
Catching Up with the Togolese E-Waste 3D Printer Makers
In 2013, we were introduced to the E-Waste 3D Printer project by Woelab engineers in Togo. My Africa Is gives the genesis of the WoeLab project and what the makers hope to achieve going forward : The Woelab team has organized conferences with individuals in the medical field in Africa, to...
Collaborative Economy Visionaries Gather at OuiShare Fest 2014 in Paris
The OuiShare Fest 2014 will gather thousands of activists for a conference on collaborative economy from May 5 -7 in Paris, France. The objective of the festival is to exchange on a common vision of an economy relying on horizontal networks and communities. Here is a video presenting the festival:
PHOTOS: Forget Selfies, One Artist's Sketched Portraits Have Taken Over Twitter in the Balkans
A Montenegrin artist's ink and pencil drawings have grown so popular that they've begun to replace the headshots and selfies that normally appear on Twitter accounts.
Colombia: Free Cinema Festival in Bogota
El próximo ocho de mayo se llevará a cabo en Bogotá, un festival de cine libre que tiene como antecedente 3 versiones realizadas en la ciudad de Barranquilla.
A Peek at Hong Kong's Collaborative Sharing Economy
Different initiatives in Hong Kong connect people with others to help fix household items, give away unwanted goods and borrow a book.
Jamaica Names Poet Laureate
Jamaican diaspora litblogger Geoffrey Philp is thrilled to hear that Mervyn Morris has been named Poet Laureate of Jamaica by the country's National Library, saying: It speaks to the years of commitment to his craft and the guidance that he has given and continues to give to poets and to...
Pope Francis, a Pope Unlike the Rest
A global view of Pope Francis, a year and half into his papacy.
Cameroonian Bloggers ‘Are the Future, and We Are Writing That Future Now’
An interview with Florian Ngimbis, president of the Cameroonian Bloggers Association, about language, the country's poor Internet penetration and more.
The New Government of Prime Minister Roger Kolo Announced in Madagascar
Tananews in Madagascar has published the full list of the 31 members of the new Malagasy government [fr]. Mitsangana Madagascar notes that the list includes 6 women and that 7 ministers were already part [fr] of the previous transitional government. Former prime minister Beriziky wished the new government well on twitter :...
Voters Turn Out En Masse in Guinea-Bissau's First Post-Coup Elections
About 400 citizen observers monitored elections, which are expected to put an end to the crisis that began two years ago with a military coup in Guinea-Bissau.
In Bangladesh, Cycling to Break Free of Dhaka's Notorious Traffic
Dhaka is one of the most unlivable cities in the world, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit, and its extreme traffic congestion contributes a lot to this fame.
Bermuda: Go Fly a Kite!
In Bermuda, kites plays an important role in the island’s cultural heritage. Repeating Islands says that Bermudians are gearing up for the 2014 Kite Fest.
Documentary Unearths the Story of Eminent Puerto Rican Ramón Emeterio Betances
Despite being considered one of “the fathers of the homeland,” Puerto Rican official history barely mentions him, and many people on the island perhaps only know his name.
Meet India's Most Powerful Women Politicians
With the world's largest elections underway in India, take a look at the women making a name for themselves in the political arena.
A 80 Year-long Wait: Niger Gets its First Train Station
On April 7, Niger inaugurated in the capital Niamey its first train station ever [fr]. The authorities already projected the construction of the train station 80 years ago but the project never took off. The event will kick start the construction of railroads between Niger, Benin, Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire....
PHOTOS: Picnicking Under Japan's Cherry Blossoms
"Hanami", as the activity of flower viewing is called in Japanese, is in full bloom now that cherry blossom season has arrived.
In Havana, a Book in Exchange for Nothing
"This book belongs to whoever finds it in exchange for giving it away again after reading it so that other people can enjoy it."
A Kibera Love Story
This is a fascinating love story between Sam from Kibera, a slum in the city of Nairobi, Kenya and Alissa from Minnesota, USA: This has to be the love story of the year!!!!! Alissa is from Minnesota while Sam is born & bred from Kibera. So how did these two...