Stories from 17 July 2010
Brazil: Electoral Blogsphere Censored
Censorship in the Brazilian blogsphere is an extremely sensitive issue due to a dictatorship past when it was legal. As the presidential elections of 2010 approach, the siege tightens and bloggers react.
Nepal: Smallest Book
X Nepali Blog informs about the smallest published book in Nepal which measures 3 inches in length and 2.5 inches in width.
India: Digital Whitening Campaign
Keerthana Nagarajan at South Asia Wired discusses about a sponsored Facebook campaign of a Whitening cream brand, which sparked much controversy in India.
Senegal: Protests Against Frequent Power Outages
Public demonstrations were organized last week in Senegal to protest against load shedding by Senelec (the national electricity company). Rignese who works for Seneweb.com has posted the following videos: the first from Mbour where the mobilization started [fr] and later in Dakar [fr].
Russia: History of postage and mail
Siberian Light writes about the history of Russian and Soviet postage and mail.
Russia: Imitating Saudi Arabia
Quickthink argues that Russia is imitating the political system of Saudia Arabia, driven by the need for power consolidation in managing the wealth emanating from energy.
São Tome & Principe: Environment endangered by oil exploitation
A floating oil rig has recently and “mysteriously” appeared off coast of São Tomé & Príncipe, as blog Island Biodiversity Race reports. The blogger, who is researching about the island's unique fauna and flora, shares his worries on the major environmental changes that occur due to exploitation of oil resources,...
Japan: Artistic manhole covers
Jamaipanese reviews [en] Drainspotting, a book dedicated to the artistic manhole covers located all over Japan.
Mozambique: Parties, citizens and state tussle over properties
In Beira, a city known for its opposition to ruling party Frelimo, a conflict has ensued over a number of houses called “neighborhood centers”. At issue is whether they are state or political party property. When police have gone to enforce controversial court orders, neighborhood dwellers have resisted, reports Carlos...
Palestine: The Pain of Exile
Palestinian refugees are one of the biggest displaced populations in the world, with the United Nations providing assistance for some 4.7 million registered refugees in the occupied Palestinian territory, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. Millions more displaced and emigrant Palestinians live around the world. However, their attachment remains strong to the home they, or their parents or grandparents, left behind. Two bloggers in Gaza have written about the pain of exile.
South Africa: 67 Minutes of Change – Mandela Day
Nelson Mandela spent 27 years of his life in a prison on Robben Island in South Africa. What most people don’t know is that Madiba (as he is affectionately known in South Africa) spent 67 years in the fight against racism and poverty. Sunday 18 July 2010 marks his 92nd birthday and also Mandela Day - a day in which people around the world dedicate 67 minutes of their time to making the world a better place for all.
China: Police's call to set up censorship norms
Beijing City Chaoyang district police station issued an urgent notice today regarding "Calling for a working meeting on the security norm of Internet Company". Jason Ng tweetcasts the talk on censorship norms in the meeting.
France: Blogging about Politics
In Billet politique ! (“A Political post !” in French), blogger JeandelaXR presents a list of his favorite political bloggers [Fr].
