Stories from 18 January 2010
Russia: Company To Pay $300K For Illegaly Taking Forbes Domain
Russian cybersquatter company “Landmark VIP Service” will have to pay $300,000 penalties for illegally taking domain Forbes.ru, forbesrussia.ru reports [RUS] . It is the largest fine for cybersquatting in the history of RuNet.
Tunisia: Bloggers Against Student Imprisonment
The recent trials of a group of Tunisian students and their sentencing to prison terms ranging from six months of three years after organizing a sit-in in a university accommodation to claim the right of girl students in housing prompted bloggers to launch a support campaign calling for their freedom, writes Lina Ben Mhenni.
Syria: Journalist Maen Akel Still Detained
Maen Akel, a Syrian journalist, was arrested on November 11, 2009, by the Syrian Intelligence Department (State Security) in Damascus. Within 48 hours of his arrest he was also dismissed from his work at Al-Thawra, a state owned newspaper. The reason for his arrest remains unknown.
MENA: Does Rain Bring Happiness or Misery?
Many bloggers and Twitter users from Egypt and different parts in MENA region reported rain and some dusty storms today. Depending on their circumstances, some welcomed the drops of rain with joy while others braced themselves for the storms, flooding and heartbreak.
ONE petitions to cancel Haiti's debt
The ONE campaign is trying to collect 100,000 signatures for a petition to cancel Haiti's debt.
Haiti: Updates from outside Port-au-Prince
Six days after the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti, charity workers and others continue to use online media to provide news of the situation outside Port-au-Prince, the capital.
Brazil: Viewing the Haitian earthquake from without and within
The Brazilian blogosphere is in uproar after comments made by the Haitian consul in Brazil, George Samuel Antoine. Bloggers reflect on a lack of humanity, the failures of diplomacy and the peacekeeping mission, and how to help Haiti from afar.
Chile: Sebastian Piñera is the Next President
Sebastián Piñera was elected on January 17 as the first right-leaning president in Chile after 20 years of left leaning rule. For many in Chile, these elections demonstrated the country's strength as a transparent and healthy democracy.
Sri Lanka: Impressions Of Jaffna
Indrajit Samarajiva visited war ravaged Jaffna recently and writes about his impressions of the capital city of the Northern Province in Sri Lanka.
Nepal: Saraswati Puja
Alisha at Pour Les Femmes writes how Saraswati Puja (Basanta Panchami) is celebrated in Nepal.
Haiti: Online Maps Shift from Charting Damage to Targeting Aid
Marc Herman takes a closer look at some maps that humanitarian aid responders are using to communicate the evolving situation in Haiti’s earthquake zone. Nearly a week after the disaster -- and aftershocks equal to major temblors -- the maps and satellite imagery are proving some of the most reliable information available.
Pakistan: Remembering The Graffiti Activist
Teeth Maestro pays tribute to the Graffiti activist Asim Butt (1978-2010) who was renowned for his graffiti used in activism.
UK: Twitter joke led to Terror Act arrest
Sharpe's Opinion reacts sarcastically to the news of the first arrest in the United Kingdom over a Twitter joke: “Round of applause of the police there. Keeping us safe from those dangerous terrorists who go round advertising their intentions on public social networking websites.”
Canada: Aboriginal Youth Suicides Hit Crisis Rate
Suicide rates have declined in Canada but not in Aboriginal communities, particularly among the youth. Suicide among Aboriginal youth continues to occur at alarming rates, leading to crisis-like situations in some communities
Armenia: Blogging prime minister
Unzippedblog tweets that the Armenian prime minister, Tigran Sargsyan, has set up his own blog [AM].
Graffiti and Urban Art: Voices from Latin American Streets II
Graffiti and urban art on the streets of Latin America is celebrated on the Internet by artists and fans alike. This is the second in a 3-part series on this movement across the region.
Africa: Free Kiswahili synthetic voice for Freedom Fone
Brenda writes about free Kiswahili synthetic voice for Freedom Fone, a project of Kubatana in Zimbabwe: “In recognition of the competitive mobile phone tariffs prevailing in east Africa and the willingness of organisations there to experiment with information on demand voice services, we will create our first localisation of the...
Japan: Shifted Stances in News Reporting
In a post titled ‘Media Shifts Make Japan A Harder Read‘, the Shisaku blog describes the changes in the way major news outlets have been reporting news since the establishment of the new administration and why “the world is relying more and more on unfiltered retransmission what Japanese media outlets...
Haiti: Mobile phones bring news of missing relatives
In Port-au-Prince, @guyadams , the Independent's L.A. correspondent, tweets: “People finally able to get mobile signals. Sadly, that means they're only now finding out about dead relatives…Our host just found out that three of his cousins are dead. Don't know what I can say to console him.”
Hong Kong: The Siege of Legco
DM from Learning Cantonese has a very detailed account of the protest against the government finance plan of the world's most expensive Express Rail Link project on Jan 16, 2010.
China: Speculating the future
ESWN translated Han Han's blog post on his wild speculation of the future of Chinese Internet. The blog post was removed by sina blog hosting.
