Stories from 28 February 2009
DRC: Police raise revenue, but whom are they keeping safe?
In the DRC, Cedric Kalonji questions the Inspector General of the South Kivu police who, in a recent radio interview, pledged that the police were committed to raising revenue through security taxes or fees for the issue of public documents. Kalonji writes: “While killings, lootings, rapes and murders, which...
Martinique and Guadeloupe: Vocabulary of the general strike
le blog de [moi] [Fr] discusses how a new vocabulary has entered into the creoles of Guadeloupe and Martinique since the beginning of the general strike: “What was really surprising (and for me, I admit, a little unsettling) was to see how in interviews, men and woman on the street...
Iran: A village where smoking is a sin
Potin has publsihed several photos of an Iranain village, Makhoonik, in South Khorasan Province where smoking is considered as a sin and villagers has another name for TV:Satan!
Armenia: 1 March Anniversary
Dispatches from Armenia comments on tomorrow's first anniversary of the post-election clashes which left eight opposition supporters and two policemen dead. The blog calls the incident a slaughter at the hands of the authorities.
Azerbaijan: Sumgait
The Armenian Observer posts video from 21 years ago showing rioters in Sumgait during an anti-Armenian pogrom which left 26 ethnic Armenians and 6 Azeris dead.
The Greatest Street Party on Earth: The Brazilian Carnival
Barack Obama, Fidel Castro and the Iraqi journalist who threw one of his shoes at George Bush were just some of the characters spotted on the streets of Brazil, during this year's Carnival. See a selection of the most interesting pictures published under a Creative Commons license.
Armenia: No dollars in Yerevan
Life in the Armenian Diaspora reports that panicked citizens have been converting their local currency so frantically that there are now no dollars to be found at exchanges in the Armenian capital, Yerevan. The blog blames the artificial manipulation of the Armenian dram to benefit government-linked importers.
Hong Kong: Budget report: university students on sale!
Financial Secretary of Hong Kong John Tsang made the budget speech for the fiscal year 2009-2010 at the Legislative Council on 25 of February. This is the first budget report after Hong Kong felt the pain from the downturn of global financial crisis. Unlike other areas, our government's finance remains...
Shiv Sena's Orkut Campaign: The Limits to Freedom of Expression in an Intolerant India
Introduction: Freedom of Expression in the Indian Blogosphere The Indian blogosphere is abuzz with discussions on freedom of expression after the Supreme Court refused to throw out Shiv Sena's defamation case against 19 year old computer science student Ajith D (TOI). However, the Indian blogosphere's reactions to the controversy are...
Azerbaijan: Popular website back — minus forum
After several days of closure, the popular semi-independent Azerbaijani news and discussion website, Day.az, is back. However, raising additional questions about its brief disappearance, the site's forum — known for its open and somewhat democratic discussion — is not.
USA: Activists Incensed after Fatal Shooting by Police
Several people recorded mobile phone videos of a police officer shooting and killing a young man named Oscar Grant on a train platform in Oakland, California, on January 1. Since then, citizen media have been central in the ensuing campaigns for justice.
Israel: Battling Cancer
Daughter of Cancer from Israel describes the suffering her 56-year-old mother is going through battling brain cancer.
Paraguay: Why Do Fellow Citizens Leave the Country?
“Why do Paraguayans leave our country?” writes Jasy Moroti on Somos Paraguayos [es] and lists some of the reasons including not being given opportunities, sometimes based on the personal interests by some.
Video: Community Radios Fill the Information Gap
In a highly globalized and digitalized world, sometimes we may forget that in many regions of the world, not even electricity is available, and the possibility of using internet as an alternative information source is still a distant dream. It is in locations like Guatemala, Chad and India that community radio rises as the alternative for native communities to speak about their concerns, hear news and stories, receive information and all this in their native languages.
