· February, 2012

Stories from Quick Reads from February, 2012

Haiti: Joining the African Union

  28 February 2012

Mackendie Toupuissant writes [fr]: “The news went almost unnoticed. Until now,  Haiti was a mere “observer” in the African Union.  Since early February, the first black republic in history became  a” full associate member “of the African Union (AU).  This decision, the first of its kind for a country of the African Diaspora...

France : Who is French and who is not?

  28 February 2012

Abdellali Hajjat, author of the book The Boundires of National Identity: The Injunction to Assimilation in France and its Territories, explains in an interview [fr] on the blog Contretemps the ideological seeds of Islamophobia and the institutional logic that reinforces it. “Racism needs a crutch to provide the principle of...

Iran: A blogger and journalist was released

  28 February 2012

Marzieh Rasouli, an Iranian blogger and journalist who was arrested 6 weeks ago, got free on bail.Marzieh writes stories and narrations of her daily life in ‘3 Rouz Pish‘ [fa]. Earlier the Iranian Revolutionary Guards has accused [fa] her of serious charges including ‘espionage’. Reporters Without Borders says [fa] Iran...

Argentina: The Sarmiento Train Crash, an Accident Waiting to Happen

  27 February 2012

Simon Kofoed says that the train crash that took place last week in Buenos Aires, Argentina, “is the worst train accident in Argentina since the 1979 head on collision of two trains near Benavidez station when over 140 people lost their lives.” He adds: “Anyone who travels on the Sarmiento,...

Peru: Problems with Access to Information and Forestry Transparency

  27 February 2012

The Peruvian Press Council reported on a “Public Hearing: Access to Information and Transparency Forest,” accompanied by a training workshop on related issues in the town of Nueva Cajamarca, San Martin. Journalist and blogger Juan Carlos Lujan, who was one of the trainers, recounts [es] the problems faced due to...

Colombia: Using an Earthquake to Advertise

  27 February 2012

Geek The Planet writes about an earthquake in Colombia which took place during the morning of February 24 and the recklessness of some Community Managers who used the quake to come up with advertising material. The post criticizes what various companies published on Twitter [es], and the writer posts some...

Kenya: Kenya Blogger Wins Annual World Media Awards

  27 February 2012

Kenyan blogger Collins Mbalo is the winners of the first Annual World Media Awards in Best African Blog category: “Collins Mbalo tells the African story from a different perspective. This blog covers issues and topics concerning the everyday African person. A recent interview of ” Sue” a Kenyan prostitute inspired...

Cuba: Working for “The Enemy”?

  27 February 2012

Havana Times reports that “the leading Cuban government website…unleashed a front page attack on blogger Yoani Sanchez…with an article accusing her of working for the enemy (USA) for pay”; Sanchez herself sees a news report “in which the blogger Miriam Celaya and other acquaintances appear, surrounded with epithets such as...

Cuba: More Sunday Detentions

  27 February 2012

Uncommon Sense blogs about yet another Sunday of repression as members of Las Damas de Blanco were again detained by authorities.

Latvia: Flagging for Free Speech

  27 February 2012

Juris Kaža of Free Speech Emergency in Latvia reports that Latvian security police has closed an investigation into an Internet call to desecrate the Latvian flag, which is illegal in the country. The case was closed as there was no evidence of any victim of flag burning.