Stories about North America from March, 2010
Azerbaijan: DOTCOM arrives in Baku
Late last night, American participants of the U.S. State Department sponsored DOTCOM project to bring Armenian, Azerbaijani and American teenagers together to create socially conscious media arrived in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Global Pulse 2010: An invitation to talk to decision makers online
From March 29 to 31, Global Pulse 2010 aims to gather over 20.000 people in an online conversation dealing with topics ranging from human development to science and technologies.
Russia-US: Towards a new Start of nuclear disarmament
Nikolas Gvosdev of The (Ex) Washington Realist reflects upon what now seems a clear road ahead for a renewed Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) between Russia and the US, signifying a breakthtrough in nuclear disarmament.
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 Drummond, the corporate's chief legal officer explains that its decision is due to the Chinese government's “non-negotiable legal requirement” in...
Barbados: Ten Year Sentence
Barbados Free Press is disappointed that the murderer of a tourist was sentenced to only ten years in prison: “Barbados doesn’t want any scrutiny about robbery, rape and violence against tourists…”
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.
CPJ Hires Internet Advocacy Coordindator
Danny O'Brien blogs that he has accepted a position as
Jamaica, U.S.A.: On Extradition
Blogging about Jamaica's refusal to extradite Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke to the US, Active Voice says that “there's no level playing field”, while My View of JamDown from UpSo adds: “The fact is that Jamaica is neither America's weed nor cocaine dealer!”
Chinese netizens’ open letter to the Chinese Government and Google
Rebecca MacKinnon has summarized the viewpoints of some Chinese netizens who have issued an open letter to express their stand in censorship.
Russia-US: A Derogatory Dilemma
Streetwise Professor reflects upon US Secretary of State's, Hillary Clinton, visit to Moscow and reacts against her not responding to insults from Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, fearing this will become a pattern in US-Russian relations.
Iran: Obama's Norouz message
President Obama sends a message to those celebrating the Persian holiday of Nowruz (Norouz), and in particular to the people and government of Iran. Here is the message in You Tube with Persian subtitles.
U.S.: Belarusian Diaspora and the 2010 Census
Belarus Digest reports that “the Belarusan-American Association starts a new campaign with compelling slogan ‘Are you proud you’re Belarusian? Identify yourself on the 2010 census form!'”
Bosnia: Gay Dutch Soldiers
Kirk Johnson of Americans For Bosnia reacts to retired NATO commander John Sheehan's homophobic comment on the Dutch troops’ performance in Bosnia in 1995: “Regarding the Srebrenica Genocide; there are many things for which we can hold the Dutch military at fault, but allowing gay Dutch citizens to serve their...
Plural+ Video Festival for Youth under 25
Plural+ is once again calling for entries for their Youth Video Festival on Migrant issues, asking youth worldwide to send in their videos discussing identity, diversity, integration, human rights and inclusiveness among other topics. Entry deadline is June 30th and video submission is by sending in a DVD to the...
China and U.S: Rhetorics on Google's Exit
Kai Pan from china / divide criticizes western rhetorics in discussing Google's exit from China. The blogger in particular comments on Nicole Kempton piece on the Huffington Post that neglects democratic countries’ role in advocating Internet censorship.
Global: Furs And Fashion
Last month the fashion world went literally “wild” during the unveiling of fall collections. They had models strutting the catwalk in so much fur, it was scary enough to make animal rights activists and environmentalists jump out of their skins.
Saudi Arabia: 1,000 lashes for YouTube video
A Saudi man has been charged for morality crimes after a video appeared on YouTube where he is dressed in police uniform, dancing and flirting with the male cameraman. He has been sentenced to 1,000 lashes, a 5,000 rial ($1,333) fine and a year in prison. Katharine Ganly takes a look at some blogger reactions.
Saudi Arabia: Journalist Leaves to be with Canadian Husband
From Saudi Arabia, Tara Umm Omar shares the story of a Saudi female reporter who has decided to leave her country to be with her Canadian husband. “Hassna'a will go to Canada where she is not oppressed in regards to her marriage. Isn't it such a shame that a Muslim...
China: Should Google “Burn Its Boats” On The Way Out?
DigiCha discusses a possible strategy for Google to leave China. The strategy is “burning its boats” on the way out, which means taking the filters off and forcing the government to shut down Google.cn.
Ukraine: “Bandera Bashing Déjà Vu”
On Feb. 25, the European Parliament adopted a resolution, in which, among other things, it called on “the new Ukrainian leadership” to “reconsider” the posthumous award granted to Stepan Bandera a month earlier. In a post titled “Bandera Bashing Déjà vu,” Stepan Bandera's grandson – Steve Bandera of Kyiv Scoop...
Haiti: Two Months Later
Today marks two months since the January 12 earthquake devastated Haiti - and even in the midst of other natural disasters, bloggers still seem to be struggling to come to grips with what this tragedy actually means for the people of a nation that is often referred to as "the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere."