Stories from 25 January 2010
Costa Rica: Charges of Plagiarism in Presidential Campaign
With the Costa Rican presidential campaign well underway, many bloggers are noticing that some of the candidates' campaign ads and campaign proposals appear to be too familiar.
Chile: Modern Day Human Rights for the Mapuche
The Museum of Memory in Chile documents human rights abuses during the Pinochet dictatorship. During its inauguration, 2 Mapuche women interrupted President Bachelet's speech, reminding the country that there are still present-day concerns for human rights in their indigenous community.
Lebanon: 90 Presumed Dead After Ethiopian Airlines Jet Plunges into Sea
Condolences poured in on Twitter after an Ethiopian Airlines jet plunged into the Mediterranean minutes after its take off from Beirut, Lebanon. All 90 people on board are presumed dead after the plane caught fire during a lightning storm and crashed into the sea.
Iran: Iranians commemorate Neda's birthday
Iranians inside and outside the country remembered Neda Soltan's birthday. Neda was shot dead by Basij militia on June 20, 2009, during a protest against the presidential election results that declared Mahmoud Ahmadinejad president. Her death was captured on video and uploaded to the Internet. She died with her eyes wide open, and her last moments transcended citizen media to mainstream media, reaching millions of people.
Sri Lanka: Political Reporter And Cartoonist Missing In Colombo
Journalists For Democracy In Sri Lanka blog informs that a political reporter and cartoonist is missing in Colombo on the eve of the presidential elections. Prageeth Ekneliyagoda has disappeared yesterday night (24th of January).
Bangladesh: 3rd Person Singular Number
Bangladeshi blogger Muhammad Shihab Jahir at Bioscop reviews Mostafa Sarwar Farooki's critically acclaimed Bangla film 3rd Person Singular Number.
Jamaica, Haiti: Using the Language
Jamaica's Active Voice says: “Trust the Brits to do the right thing. While our newswomen and men are contorting their mouths reproducing peculiar versions of the Queen's English, British broadcasters are broadcasting to Haitians in their mother tongue–Kreyol.”
Haiti: Media Responsibility
Repeating Islands posts an excerpt from Rebecca Solnit, who, “disturbed by media coverage of alleged looting in Port-au-Prince following the earthquake, posted a powerful article decrying the criminalization of victims by the media.”
Haiti: Lessons Learned
Carol and Tom in Haiti post a list of lessons learned in the aftermath of the earthquake, while Trinidadian blogger Tattoo writes about the dos and don'ts of disaster aid.
Bahamas, Haiti: Solidarity
A new website is launched by “a group of Bahamian webizens who hope to mobilize in support of a realistic and sensible immigration policy with respect to Haitians and their children.”
Trinidad & Tobago: Woman is Boss
Bloggers comment on Kamla Persad-Bissessar‘s winning of the leadership of Trinidad and Tobago's current opposition party.
Haiti: Media Operations Center launched for Haitian journalism
Réseau Citadelle announces the launch of the Media Operations Center, an initiative from Reporters without Borders and Quebecor, aimed at facilitating the field work of local and foreign journalists in Haiti as well as establishing collaboration between the media and NGOs.
Haiti: Signs of a “normal life” in Port-au-Prince
Radio Métropole Haiti provides a list [Fr] of activities belonging to a “normal life” resuming in Port-au-Prince, around banks, gas stations, supermarkets and fruit and vegetable markets – the revival of business in Haiti's capital highlights the gap between the haves and the have-nots.
Japan: Grand Sumo Tournament
Godo Chillida published a photo reportage on the final day of the Tokyo Grand Sumo Tournament. The photographer captured intense pictures of the wrestlers and the decisive match.
Kenya: Abdullah al-Faisal stirs confrontation
As on Thursday 21st Jan, the government of Kenya was at its nerves end trying to raise over US$,400,000 in a bid to deport Sheikh Abdullah al-Faisal to his home country, Jamaica using a hired plane. This was one of the many failed attempts to get al-Faisal out of the country due to his terrorist nature which was deemed a risk to the East African Country, Kenya.
Ghana: Regional Minister, Kofi Opoku-Manu, Going Under?
Ashanti Regional Minister, Kofi Opoku-Manu, has recently taken great heat for remarks he made during a speech to supporters of the ruling party, National Democratic Congress (NDC) on January 6th. According to Ghana’s Ato-Kwamena Dadzie, Opoku-Manu “urged party supporters to resort to violence to resolve their differences.”
China: War of Internet Addiction
DigiCha introduces an online video called “War of Internet Addiction” which a satire on the government’s attempt to “harmonize” China’s Internet with forced installations of “Green Dam Youth Escort” and the travails of Chinese World of Warcraft players over the last several months.
Japan: Doraemon Jet
Pink Tentacle reports on the Japan Airline's anime-themed aircraft, Doraemon Jet.
China: Hillary Talks About the Problem of the Chinese Internet
Max R from China Geeks translated human rights lawyer Liu Xiaoyuan's comments to Hillary's talks about the problem of the Chinese Internet.
China: No more dirty joke via SMS
According to last week's Xinhuanet report, Mobile China Shanghai branch will start suspending a mobile phone's SMS function if they find the number distribute “vulgar”, “pornographic” and other illegal contents(Details see GVA). Other cities and mobile companies also carry out similar practices since the beginning of 2010. The new policy...
Timor Police Brutality Video
Police brutality in Timor-Leste is not new, but getting it on video is. This is something of a “Rodney King” moment for Timor-Leste and its police service.
