Stories from 7 January 2010
Georgia: Let's talk about sex, baby…
Perhaps the most buzzing topic in the Georgian social media scene was not politics, elections, sport, crisis, earthquakes or catastrophe. Instead, one of the most discussed topics was actually about a new television show, Ghame Shorenastan, about sex.
Sri Lanka: General Sarath Fonseka’s Election Manifesto
Ajith P. Perera at Dare to be different links to the election manifesto (English version) of General Sarath Fonseka, Sri Lankan presidential candidate of the common opposition.
India: Theft Of Condoms For Free Distribution
Santosh at Über Desi reports that condoms were stolen from 500 of 3000 vending machines installed in Mumbai for free distribution as a part of an HIV Aids prevention program.
Azerbaijan: A bad start to a new year
Flying Carpets and Broken Pipelines says that the start of a new year has not been kind to Azerbaijan with several stories breaking that the blog describes as gloomy. In particular, it mentions new charges against an imprisoned journalist, threats to cut electricity supplies to households that have not paid...
Caucasus: New media bringing people together
Julien Frisch Watching Europe comments on a recent attempt to use new and social media to overcome negative stereotypes in the South Caucasus. The blog details how online services such as Twitter meant he discovered the project, but also asks when will the traditional media also cover such stories.
Colombia: Videobloggers Make 1 Video Per Day in 2010
A group of Colombian videobloggers have taken up the ambitious task of creating one video per day in 2010 and already has featured a wide array of subjects from literature, travel, and local foods.
Pakistan: Is Democracy Appropriate For The Country?
Which one is important – enabling basic human rights with corrupt justice and failed governance in democracy or enabling good governance with no democracy? Osama Bin Javed from Pakistan starts the debate whether democracy is appropriate for countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The Year that Was in Madagascar : Part III
Mialy reviews the final weeks of 2009 in Madagascar in the last of a three-part series.
India: Travesty Of Justice
“After 19 years and 450 hearings, though convicted for molesting Ruchika, a 14 year old school girl and a tennis player, SPS Rathore is still smiling,” informs Indian Homemaker.
Trinidad & Tobago: Bringing Beyoncé
“To pretend that Beyoncé hasn’t done more for world hope and happiness than all the politicians in Trinidad and Tobago combined, is to continue to live in the delusion that we as a nation are as World Class as Beyoncé Giselle Knowles”: This Beach Called Life is all for the...
Bermuda: Violent Start to Year
“Well that didn’t take long. Just days into 2010 and we already have a road fatality and an execution style murder”: Vexed Bermoothes reports from Bermuda.
Rwanda: Kigali to become first hot spot African city
“Kigali will soon go wireless after the government launched a $7.66 million wireless broadband (WiBro) facility that is set to make it the first “hot spot” capital city in Africa,” reports Sandra Nassali of UgaBytes Initiative.
St. Lucia, Dominica: Writers from the Nature Isle
St. Lucia-based Caribbean Book Blog commends Papillote Press, “a small indie publishing house”, which has published a range of fiction and non-fiction by Dominican writers.
Uganda: Obote knew about AIDS but kept quiet
Ugandan former president Milton Obote knew about HIV/AIDS but kept quite: “l happen to hail from Southern Uganda where HIV-AIDS was first discovered. Obote ll Government decided to sit on the medical findings under the late Dr.Eriab Muzira, claiming that it will discourage tourists. But when Museveni took over in...
Nigeria: Review of Nigeria's first multinational brand
Uche reviews Glo brand 2009 in Nigeria. Glo is the mobile arm of Globacom, Nigeria's first multinational conglomerate.
South Africa: Our president is addicted to marriage
South Africa blogger Khaya argues that his president is addicted to marriage: “As you may or may not know, the president of South Africa, Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma, married again recently. We have also heard that he has also paid lobola (dowry) for another.”
Western Sahara: Running the Sahara Marathon 2010
The Sahara Marathon is an international sport event to demonstrate solidarity with the Saharawi people and this year celebrates its 10th anniversary. Many dedicated bloggers wrote about it to promote the event in different languages and even created blogs for this purpose.
Japan: New finance minister
Observing Japan has an article introducing the new finance minster, Kan Naoto.
China: Welcome back, Yeeyan
Ethan Zuckerman wrote on the significance of Yeeyan, a collaborative translation website, in bridging the English and Chinese world. Yeeyan was temporary offline in December and now back to normal.
Morocco: First Indigenous TV Channel Launched
The View from Fez reports on the launch of a long-awaited Amazigh language TV channel by the Moroccan government on Wednesday. It is the first government-funded TV channel in the region broadcasting exclusively in languages spoken by indigenous Berber populations.
Ecuador: The Year in Blogs 2009
The new year is here, and blogger Carlos Correa takes a detailed look back in the year of Ecuadorian blogs and related technology events and occurrences throughout the country in 2009.
