· February, 2013

Stories about Governance from February, 2013

Burundi: Violent Suppression of Demonstration Support for Imprisoned Journalist

The Court of Burundi revised the life sentence for journalist and Radio France International correspondent Hassan Ruvakuki on appeal, reducing his sentence to three years imprisonment. Media professionals demonstrated in sympathy weekly outside the Bujumbura Court building since the sentence was handed down until violent suppression of a march by the authorities.

28 February 2013

Squatters Call Venezuela's Highrises Home

In Margarita Island, there’s Corocoro, an unfinished apartment block which was under the control of FOGADE (the State’s entity in charge of taking over assets from failed banks) until June...

28 February 2013

What India Can Learn From #Shahbag

Sandip Roy writes why India should be paying attention to its neighbors #Shahbag uprising as there is a conversation happening there which matters to everyone in South Asia.

27 February 2013

Jailed Iranian Blogger Up for Award

Reporters Without Borders and Google announced the name of the nominees for the 2013 Netizen Prize. Shiva Nazar Ahari, Iranian female human rights activist and blogger is among the nominees. Read more...

27 February 2013

Pakistan's Darkest Night On Social Media

A massive power breakdown rocked Pakistan at 11:45 pm on Sunday, 24 February 2013, plunging 70 percent of the country into darkness for 14 hours. People turned to humor on social media to make life easy during the blackout.

27 February 2013

Weary of Austerity, Portugal Sings a Song of Revolution

Thousands of Portuguese people have promised a massive anti-austerity protest on March 2, 2013. Leading up to the date, demonstrators have led a campaign to interrupt government ministers during their public appearances by singing a historic song used by revolutionaries who toppled the country's dictatorship in 1974.

27 February 2013

A Monologue of Blood and Bullets Precedes Yemen's National Dialogue

Yemeni President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi finally payed a long overdue visit to Aden on Sunday evening, February 24th, after four days of ongoing bloody clashes, which erupted between police and pro-independence demonstrators on Thursday. How will this effect the National Dialogue, scheduled to take place on March 18? Netizens weigh in as more violence shakes the country.

26 February 2013

As Japan's Star Fades, Many Struggle for Hope

As Japan's economic growth continues to shrink each year, the Japanese, who find themselves more and more disconnected from their families and friends thanks to grueling works days and the Internet's erosion of personal relationships, are finding it difficult to put on a happy face.

24 February 2013

Bolivia's President to Seek a Second (or Third?) Term

After Bolivia's ruling party announced that President Evo Morales will seek re-election in the next president contest scheduled for December 2014, debate ensued over whether his current term counts as his first or second, and whether the country's four-year-old constitution would allow him to run again.

22 February 2013

Evacuate the Children of Fukushima

Parents, residents and lawyers are taking to the streets demanding that their children by evacuated from Japan's Fukushima region, where they claim radiation levels continue to be high.

22 February 2013

The Spanish Government's ‘Obscene’ Hashtag Makes Waves on Twitter

The Spanish governing party launched the hashtag #QuelaenseñeRubalcaba [#ShowyoursRubalcaba] in order to urge the leader of the opposition to publish his income tax return. The hashtag has been received with great furore on Twitter and became a Top Trend within a few hours. In this article we've collected some of the wittiest tweets, as well as numerous images which surfers have been uploading on the social network. [All links lead to Spanish language pages unless otherwise stated]

21 February 2013