Stories from 3 December 2009
Russia: Newspaper Website Hacked And Completely Destroyed
The Web site of a popular Russian tabloid “Moskovsky Komsomolets” [RUS] lost all of its online data due to the recent hacker attack, radio “Ekho Moskvy” reports [RUS].
M-banking: Going where no bank has gone before
Millions and millions of low-income, unbanked people stand to benefit (and maybe prosper?) from the development of mobile financial services in the next years, but there are several technological, logistical, and security challenges that must be addressed first.
Young Leaders from Sweden and Middle East in Dialogue
Last month, the Swedish Institute in Paris hosted a meeting of 26 young people from Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria and Sweden to improve dialogue between opinion leaders in Sweden, the Middle East and North Africa. Global Voices in French was there.
Pakistan: List Of NRO Beneficiaries
Adil Najam discusses about a recently released list of 8000 persons including the president of Pakistan and 34 Pakistani politicians who have benefited from the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), promulgated...
Pakistan: Birth Of A Monster
“Over a span of about 30 odd years, the Pakistani military and its establishment allies in the intelligence agencies, the politicised clergy, conservative political parties and the media have, in...
Bangladesh: The Rising Voices of Women in a Drowning Country
Even in the most extreme circumstances when survival is at stake, Bangladeshi women stand out for their capacity to unite and together overcome climate change’s effects on their lives.
Venezuela: Government Intervention of Banks is Parodied
Political humor blog El chiguire bipolar (The bipolar capybara) mocks the Government of Venezuela [es] after intervening four banks of the country: from now on, author parodies, Bancolchón [Mattress Bank]...
Colombian 3D Animation short film to be released online
After more than a year's worth of work, two Colombian companies have finished a short animated film telling the impossible love story between the flu virus and a white blood cell and wish to share it with the world through a free online premiere.
Climate Change Skeptics Incited by Leaked Emails
Hundreds of emails and documents from the Climate Research Unit (CRU) of the University of East Anglia (UEA) have been hacked and posted online, adding fuel to the beliefs of climate change skeptics.
Cuba: Ration Book Rationale
“In a recent speech President Raul Castro announced the elimination of free services, with the exception of those established by the Constitution, and unnecessary subsidies”: Repeating Islands links to a...
Trinidad & Tobago: The Importance of Human Rights
Trinidad and Tobago bloggers Tattoo and gspottt are critical of the Prime Minister's comments on human rights issues in his capacity as incoming Commonwealth Chair.
Trinidad & Tobago: Value of Money
This Beach Called Life worries “that the TT dollar might soon be worth less, if not worthless. Hops bread will be the new Miami condo.”
Bermuda: Post It!
Vexed Bermoothes blogs about the loss of goodwill towards the Bermuda Post Office, suggesting that a performance audit will help turn the tide: “The Post Office is a logistics business...
Jamaica: Cricket Combating Crime?
Jamaica Salt lauds Courteney Walsh for “using cricket to reach young people in 12 inner city communities and offenders in Jamaica’s prisons”, but wonders “Is it really a game that...
China: The Obama Girl Was An Internet Promotion Campaign
A female student Wang Zifei, who sat behind Obama when he delivered his speech at the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, has become a Internet celebrity. Local media recently found...
Bangladesh, India: Arrest OF ULFA Chairman
Bangladesh Open Source Intelligence Monitors blog analyzes the story behind the arrest of the chairman of an Indian separatist movement – United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) from Bangladesh territory.
Sri Lanka: Bird Counting Month
Sri Lanka Birds blog reminds that December, the bird counting month has arrived again in Sri Lanka. Bird watchers can feed the bird counting data to the “Sri Lanka Birds...
Disaster Management and the role of ICTs (Part 2)
In this post, we examine some more ICT based tools and applications in the arena of early warning systems to help reduce damage to life and property in natural disasters across the globe.
China: Microblogging
Xue Ying from CNreview reports on a tech conference in Beijing concerning the development of microblogging in China.
Michael Moore in Japan
James from Japan Probe blogs about American film maker Michael Moore's visit to Japan.
China: Demise of the media
Uln from Chinayouren comments on the discussion on the demise of the media by looking into the dynamics of the State, the Business and the Readers.
