Stories from 16 February 2010
Italy: Realtime Video of Maierato Landslide
Patrizia Venturino filmed and uploaded the video of the Maierato landslide where a whole hill slid down the slope in the province of Vibo Valentia in Calabria. The clear video shows as the citizens run away from the river of rocks, dirt and trees amid the shouts of the police...
Russia: What Happens To Suitcase In Airport
Blogger sergeydolya posted a series of pictures showing what happens to a suitcase after it's been checked in at Domodedovo airport in Russia.
Pakistan: Let Reason Prevail
Marvi Sirmed at Baaghi discusses about the ongoing standoff between the judiciary and the executive and urges Pakistanis to keep their sanity intact and let the reason prevail.
Sri Lanka: Microfinance Making A Difference
Drew Kinder posts an encouraging story of Champika, an agricultural entrepreneur in the Kurenegala Distirict of central Sri Lanka, who availed collateral free micro-loan from BRAC and succeeded in achieving financial independence.
India: Civic Sense And Liberty
Prerna at I Love Life.. So I Explore discusses about the phenomenon of the lack of civic sense of Indians inside the country as some make public nuisances completely ignoring the law.
Citizen Video wins George Polk Journalism Award
The citizen video recording the death of Neda, an Iranian woman during the presidential election protests in Iran has won the George Polk Award in Journalism. This amateur and anonymous video spread throughout the world and became a symbol of the Iranian Resistance and citizen journalism.
Haiti: Between Grief and Love
Despite the difficulties encountered by Haitians to get back to a normal daily life after the destructive earthquake of January 12th and the ongoing grieving in people's hearts, a place was given to the celebration of Valentine's Day in the blogosphere.
Russia: 17-Year-Old Builds Popular Video Chat
The New York Times blogs [EN] about Andrey Ternovskiy, a 17-year-old Moscovite, inventor of popular random video chat Chatroulette.com.
China: What will shutting down Beijing's liaison offices do for petitioners?
A planned move to shut down most of Beijing's 'liaison offices', many of which run their own restaurants and hotels as part of lobbying efforts aimed at the central government, stands to help curb corruption. But what will it mean for petitioners, whom liaison offices are tasked with silencing?
Iran: Bus Drivers Union Calls for Green-Labor Unity
In Ahwaznews, an Iranian blog we read [fa]:”Starting March 6, We the Workers of Vahed Company [bus drivers] Will Wage Acts of Civil Disobedience (or white strike) to Protest the Condition of Mansoor Osanloo in Prison. We Appeal to the Iranian People and to the Democratic Green Movement–of which we...
China: Turning Buzz back on
With Google having fixed privacy issues in Buzz, Rebecca MacKinnon opted back in to the service today and has shared her observations on how Buzz is being received by Chinese users.
Ghana: Constitution Review Meets Interesting Proposals
In 2008, during the presidential elections, candidates promised Ghanaians a review of the nation’s constitution. What made this pledge more appealing was the contenders’ - President John Atta Mills included - intention to involve Ghanaians in the review process. The president seems to have fulfilled that promise, and new proposals now fuel interesting debates.
China: Twitter trap?
C Custer from ChinaGeeks wonders if Twitter will become a trap for the authority to track down and prosecute dissidents for what they have said.
Russia and Korea: Siberian Timbering
Robert Neff from The Marmot's Hole blogs about Korea's role in the logging of Siberian timber, in particular how North Korean are working as slave loggers in Russia.
Georgia: Friends of Freedom for Peace
MrAshn [AZ] posts a video of members of the Azerbaijani Dalga Youth Movement with Armenian support holding a small flash mob in Tbilisi, Georgia, to mark their fifth anniversary and call for peace in the South Caucasus. The region has been riven by ethnic conflict, especially between Armenia and Azerbaijan....
Egypt: Recall your Corolla
Zeinobia mentions that the Egyptian Consumer Protection Agency has obliged Toyota Egypt to recall some of its models from the market, in order to fix defects Toyota announced earlier on the company’s expense.
Egypt: One year on from Gaza
Philip Rizk writes his thoughts and memories, a year after his abduction by Egyptian authorities – during his participation in the “To Gaza” march. He then covers a protest organized in Cairo in coordination with activists in Beirut, calling for an end to the construction of the Wall of Shame...
Syria: Happy fifth birthday
Sasa celebrates his 5th year blogging in “Syria News Wire” – a fresh, independent news from the streets of Damascus and beyond.
Egypt: Nadia the flying fish
Egyptian journalist and blogger, Nadia El Awady, blogs her experience with Scuba diving in Hurghada, a popular sea resort on the Western limb of the Red Sea. She also shares some of her pictures taken from under the sea.
Saudi Arabia: Beware of Flirtation Charges!
Blogger American Bedu wrote about a new trend for flirtation in Saudi Arabia by sharing the PIN of Blackberry devices between boys and girls. She further mentions that the Commission to Promote Virtue and Prevent Vice (Muttawa) are now learning about Blackberry and have been given the authority to apprehend...
Kuwait: One Year, 188 Questions
Yasmine Gamal, Egyptian blogger living in Kuwait, shares her 188 questions of the day (Q.O.D) she posted on her Facebook and Twitter accounts over the past year. She initially started this idea as a way to avoid the dullness of the status update or negativity and to start a conversation...
