Stories from 14 January 2010
Azerbaijan: Selective Law
Flying Carpets and Broken Pipelines comments on the selective application of the law in Azerbaijan and uses the example of imprisoned video blogging youth activists Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli to illustrate its point.
Azerbaijan: Baku pogroms
The Armenian Observer comments on the twentieth anniversary of the pogrom of Armenians in Baku at the beginning of the conflict with Armenia over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh. Between 48 and 66 people were killed as a result of the bloody ethnic tensions which would later erupt into...
Bangladesh: Traffic Jam And The Prime Minister
Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh saw a huge traffic jam as many roads were closed because the Prime Minister was greeted by supporters as she returned from her India trip. Nazrul Islam at Sachalayatan says [bn] “Dear Prime Minister, if paralyzing the city is the measure of your popularity then...
Pakistan: Traffic Jam And The President
Binary Zero at Lahore Metblogs informs that Lahore is seeing more traffic jams as the President is in the town and his supporters are clogging the streets. The blogger gives some tips to avoid the traffic.
Dominican Republic: Helping Neighboring Haiti After Earthquake
Haiti and the Dominican Republic share the island of Hispaniola. While those in the DR only were shaken, Haiti suffered devastating damage after the earthquake struck. Dominicans are doing what they can to help their neighbor.
Sri Lanka: Journalist Fell Prey To Election Violence
Committee To Protect Journalists reports that in an election campaign related violence BBC’s Sinhala service reporter Thakshila Dilrukshi was hospitalized after a political mob attacked her while she was on duty.
Sri Lankan Presidential Elections: The Heat Is On
As the date of presidential election approaches in Sri Lanka, the campaigns have grown intense and the heat can also be felt in the Sri Lankan blogosphere. Many bloggers are rallying behind their candidates and are engaging in strong debates with detailed analysis.
Russia: Businessman in Exile Uses Blog to Answer Questions
One of the youngest Russian millionaires Yevgeny Chichvarkin [EN], who escaped Russian authorities and currently resides in London, UK, used his blog [RUS] as a platform for a virtual press conference. This live Q&A session attracted thousands of bloggers.
Caribbean: Helping Haiti
Bloggers around the Caribbean react to the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti. Some appeal to the public to support relief efforts; others scrutinise how Caribbean governments and media have responded to the crisis facing the Haitian populace.
Ecuador: Radio Voice of Arutam Taken Off the Air
Radio Voice of Arutam, which broadcasts to the indigenous community of the Shuar, was taken off the air because the Ecuadorian government said that it had incited violence during protests in 2009.
Uganda: Museveni distances himself from Anti-Homosexuality Bill
Sokari posts a YouTube video showing Ugandan President distancing himself from Anti-Homosexuality Bill: “Nonetheless it is not clear how much of the Bill he is distancing himself from so the pressure needs to be kept up as clearly it working.”
Zimbabwe: Putting information in the hands of Zimbabweans
Kubatana's Freedom Fone Project helps put information in the hands of Zimbabweans: “The Freedom Fone project aspires to help civic organisations extend their information in an audio format to mobile phone users.”
Hotline to check status of Filipinos in Haiti
The Philippine government has set up a hotline where Filipinos can check the status of their relatives who are trapped in earthquake-hit Haiti.
South Africa: Photos of first day in school from readers
Dispatch Now has a gallery of photos from their online readers after they asked them to send pictures of little ones having their first ever day at school.
Cambodia: Conference on “Open knowledge, free culture”
The conference “Open Knowledge, free culture” was organized at the Royal University of Phnom Penh in Cambodia. Speakers discussed, among others, the impact of new technology and social media in Southeast Asian societies.
Why Malaysians are migrating?
The number of Malaysians who are migrating to other countries is increasing. The Other Malaysia provides a historical and political analysis to this phenomenon.
Philippines: Top gay films of the decade
The Bakla Review lists the ten most important gay films of the past ten years in the Philippines
Brunei: “Rainart” on Twitter
It's been raining hard in Brunei in the past few days. Maurina gathers the “rainart” twitter pictures uploaded by her friends.
Haiti, Jamaica: Prayer & Action
Two bloggers write posts on what Jamaicans can do to help Haiti (besides praying).
Haiti: Destruction in Jacmel
“Prayers are needed all throughout Haiti. This is not over yet. We are still getting tremors constantly”: First-hand reports of the earthquake from Cody, a blogger in Jacmel, here and here, while Repeating Islands laments the “widespread destruction and loss of life in the beautiful coastal town.”
Bahamas, Haiti: Where is the Love?
“The headlines of our foremost newspapers…rather than forcing us Bahamians to shake our deep, deep prejudices against our closest neighbours…instead reinforce our prejudices and our fears”: Nicolette Bethel says that some of her compatriots are not demonstrating enough compassion for Haiti.
