· March, 2010

Stories about Weblog from March, 2010

Nepal: Death of a polarizing ‘statesman’

Former Nepalese Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala passed away on Saturday March 21st, after prolonged illness. The legacy of this often controversial and polarizing figure is being discussed by Nepali bloggers.

23 March 2010

Pakistan: Child Abuse On The Rise

The term ‘child abuse’ covers a wide array of very diverse kinds of crimes subjected towards the minors. Bloggers discuss the disturbing rise in child abuse cases in Pakistan.

23 March 2010

USA: In Census, Only Some Races Count

Census forms are being delivered to all U.S. households this month, but some citizens complain that the question on race does not offer enough answers to give an accurate picture of their ethnicity.

23 March 2010

China: Google.cn migrated to Hong Kong

Finally Google has decided to leave China. Soon after the announcement, Google stopped censoring the search result of google.cn by redirecting the site to google.com.hk. In Google's official blog, David...

23 March 2010

China: Singing farewell to Google

Google has formally closed its mainland Chinese search engine and rival Baidu will not need long to pick up the slack; nonetheless, former users of Google.cn search braved the cold air to show their support outside the company's Beijing headquarters, singing an anti-Internet censorship protest song while they were at it.

23 March 2010

Venezuela: Concerns About Controls on the Internet

Debate is heating up in Venezuela after decrees and statements from President Hugo Chávez, who questioned how the Internet is being used in the country. Many are interpreting these statements and policy proposals that the government wants control the Internet in Venezuela.

23 March 2010

Iran: New wave of blogger arrests

Another wave of blogger arrests has been reported in Iran but the details are murky. The leader of an anti-censorship group named Iran Proxy, and the founder of blog hosting service Persian Blog have both been arrested.

22 March 2010

South Africa: Remembering Sharpeville Massacre

South Africans remember the Sharpeville Massacre on 21 March 1960 as a turning point in the history of political resistance against racial discrimination. Sixty-nine people were killed in the township of Sharpeville when South African police opened fire on a crowd of black protesters.

21 March 2010

Dubai: Iranian Blogger Omid Reza Mirsayafi Remembered

About 40 young people from all four corners of the world came together in a cafe in Dubai and remembered the first anniversary of the death of Iranian Omid Reza Mirsayafi, the first blogger to die in prison. The meeting also reflected on the March 18 Movement, OR318, via art.

21 March 2010

Singapore: Anti-Death Penalty Campaign

Singapore bloggers react to the death penalty sentence handed down by the High Court of Singapore to a Malaysian youth who was convicted of drug trafficking charges

21 March 2010

Russia: Bloggers Expose Election Fraud Techniques

RuNet Echo

The recent elections for local administrative offices in Russian regions were the first to show the power of Web 2.0. in uncovering voting violations. Bloggers would gather evidence with their cell phone cameras and published them online.

20 March 2010

Martinique: Election, tension and abstention

On Sunday March 14th, all French citizens including those in the four French overseas departments were asked to vote for the regional elections... but two major elections in a three-month period may have been too much for the 55.55% of Martinican voters who decided to stay home and not vote.

20 March 2010

“Damas de Blanco:” A Week of Protest in Cuba

Cuba's Damas de Blanco protests come on the heels of a flutter of international condemnation incited by the hunger striker Orlando Zapata Tamayo's death last month. Wednesday's crackdown by Cuban police was the first in two years on the political group, which is made up of the daughters, wives and mothers of imprisoned political dissidents.

20 March 2010

Iraq: Seven Years On

With the recent elections still fresh in the news it is all too easy to forget that the anniversary of the start of the war is this week. But this will not pass some bloggers. And, the latest results show that the election on 7th March is still too close to call. In the mean time, I have some speculation from the Iraqi blogs.

20 March 2010

China: Revaluing the One-Child Policy

Amidst talk of an aging society and a depleting demographic dividend, appeals for a reconsideration of China’s One-Child Policy were voiced during the annual meetings of the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.

20 March 2010