· August, 2010

Stories about Weblog from August, 2010

Venezuela: Franklin Brito Dies After Several Hunger Strikes

Franklin Brito, a farmer who had been on a hunger strike since July 2009, died from a respiratory arrest in a military hospital on Monday night. Brito had lived through several hunger strikes protesting the confiscation of his land. Venezuelans reacted to the announcement of his death through Twitter and blogs.

31 August 2010

Armenia-Azerbaijan: More dialogue through film

With national television in Armenia and Azerbaijan controlled by the authorities or government-linked individuals, there is little opportunity for independent reporting. Now more objective and human interest stories can be found on the Internet.

30 August 2010

Caribbean: “Earl” Watch

It's that time again: Hurricane season. Regional bloggers, having been affected by brutal storms in the past, are keeping a watchful eye on Hurricane Earl, which has now been classified as a Category 3 storm. Within the next 36 to 48 hours, it is expected to affect the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, among other islands.

30 August 2010

Ghana: Former President Connects With People On Facebook

It has been almost a year and half since John Kufuor respectfully handed over power to Ghanaian President Atta Mills. Despite leaving office, Kufuor still sees the need to communicate with the public. Thanks to social networking, Kufuor communicates to Ghanaian citizens using his Facebook account, which has 15,066 followers (at the time of writing this post).

30 August 2010

Australia Still Waiting for a New Government

A week after its election, Australia is waiting for a new government. Neither side won a majority of the 150 House of Representative seats. Bloggers have been busy speculating not only on possible outcomes but also the reasons for the hung parliament.

30 August 2010

West Africa: Drug Traffickers and Politico-Military Dictators

The UN assistant representative in Africa against drug trafficking Cyriaque Sobtafo recently stated that west Africa is now the hub for cocaine trafficking. Many countries are affected and the sudden death of the son of Dadis Camara generated many speculations about the possible involvement of drug dealers in the event.

30 August 2010

Angola: “Alambamento” and Marriage Practices

In Angola, there is quite strong cultural tradition of the asking of the hand of bride in marriage, called alambamento. Considered by some more important that the civil or christian marriage, the alambamento consists of a series of rituals, like the delivery of a letter, material goods and money.

29 August 2010

South Asia: Bloggers On The ‘Ground Zero Mosque’

The recent debate on the planned Islamic Center/Mosque near the site of the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York, USA has been reverberated in many blogospheres around the world. In this post we will look at snippets of some interesting conversations on this issue by a number of South Asian bloggers.

29 August 2010

Morocco: The Sublime Sufi Revival

The rhythms of a Sufi revival are passionately reverberating through the corridors of Morocco, and they are not going unheard, especially by the nation’s youth.

28 August 2010

Egypt: Ramadan Television and the Muslim Brotherhood

This year in Ramadan the Egyptian TV decided to produce a series about the opposition party Al-Ikhwan (The Muslim Brotherhood). The TV series, which is called El Gamaa, tries to shed light on the history of group and it's founder Hassan El Banna, bringing criticism from many bloggers that it reflects nothing but the regime's point of view.

28 August 2010