Stories from 5 October 2010
Russia: Medvedev Addresses the People of Belarus via Video Blog
Two weeks ago, Belarus' current leader and future presidential hopeful (yet again) bashed the Russian President's blog. Medvedev responded by sending a video blog message to the people of Belarus. Yelena Osipova looks at the details of this exchange.
Sri Lanka: Children And The Race Question
Indi.ca opines that although it is common in Sri Lanka to query about other people's race, “for an certain generation of children, however, the race label is becoming completely inapplicable.”
Maldives: Why The Migrant Workers Struggle
EM ES & Beyond searches for the motivation behind the struggle of the migrant workers in Maldives and finds: “for survival, men could sacrifice even the most necessary human desires”.
Morocco: Another Magazine Bites the Dust
Morocco's only weekly magazine published in the local Arabic dialect, darija, Nichane is closing shop after a sustained advertising boycott. Bloggers lament the loss of a publication which filled a niche in Morocco's ever-growing publishing industry, covering topics from a point of view usually reserved for the country's many French-language publications.
Tidiane Deme, Director of Google Francophone Africa on the Future of Internet
Although it is estimated that 8.8% of the population in Africa is connected (twenty times more than in 2000), the director of Google Francophone Africa, Tidiane Deme argues that the cost of broadband on average in Africa is still too steep [fr] for individual consumers but that there is a very palatable market...
Mexico: TV Host Threatens Twitter User, #Brozo Becomes Trending Topic
TV host and comedian Victor Trujillo, who plays the character of clown Brozo for Televisa, threatened a Twitter user who created a fake Twitter account for Marissa Rivera, a collaborator in Brozo's show. Among other things, Brozo threatens: “You are in danger.” Twitter users are reacting to the video [es]...
Africa: My Trouble With Contemporary African Dance
What is the problem with “contemporary African dance”?:”The choice of African in contemporary “African” dance is therefore, with a touch of derision and as well canonical. Aside the fact that it suggests a honest geographical location and a common historical narrative, it also makes the unforgiving blunder of plunging into...
Argentina: Students from Buenos Aires Protest Education
Michael Chanan from Putney Debater shares a video (with English subtitles) of last month's student occupation of secondary schools in Buenos Aires and their protests outside the Ministry of Education: “Students […] have taken to the streets in protest against the appalling conditions to be found in many of the...
Liberia: I will take my potato greens with a side of Jesus
Glenna Gordon's photo of the day: “I’ll take my potato greens with a side of Jesus and some teddy bears.”
Malawi: Social Bookmarking for Blogs About Malawi
MalawiSoc is a Social Boookmarking site devoted to news and blogs about Malawi.
Zambia: Has Governance Improved?
Has governance improved in Zambia?: “Well, sort of but its difficult to be sure. According to the latest Ibrahim Index Zambia has moved up just two places in the rankings. It has moved from position 18 in the 2009 index to position 16 in the 2010 index (2008/9 data).”
Africa: Participate in Digital Natives Workshop
Participate in Digital Natives Workshop in South Africa: “The 3-day workshop entitled ‘My bubble, My space, My voice” will focus on how young people use the tools and platforms at their disposal in order to create social change in their environments.”
Burkina Faso: Folk Singer Icon Mahama Konaté Is No More
Le Faso.net reports that the Mahama Konaté, icon of the Senoufo traditional music passed away today [fr]. Konaté was the founder of the band “Farafina” and insisted on making his own instruments, arguing that “music is just a way of giving back what nature has to offer”.
South Korea: Social Network’s Personal Information Gathering Evoke Public Anger
The KaKao talk, a Korean version of twitter, today unnoticingly switched its contract to collect more of the user’s personal information. Korean Twitterers have fiercely retweeted the changed terms and conditions[ko], under the topic ‘#kakao talk’ and finally achieved an official apology from the company.
Iran: Russians bloggers in the Embassy of Iran
According to a Russian blogger last Thursday at the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran held a meeting of Iranian and Russian bloggers in Moscow. During the conversation, bloggers discussed the prospects for Russian-Iranian relations at the present stage. Watch the photo here.
Dominican Republic: Digital TV in 2015
September 24th 2015 is the set date by the Dominican Institute of Telecommunications (Indotel) to make the definitive transition to digital television.
Jamaica: Communities & Climate Change
“Where politicians fail to take the threats to our planet seriously, a strong grassroots movement is mobilizing and taking action to fill the void left by political and corporate paralysis”: Labrish notes that Jamaica is among the Caribbean nations that will take action on climate change come October 10.
Barbados: Flooding Issues
“More and more areas are now viewing flooding as a ‘normal’ event. We have forgotten that this is not the way it was even five or ten years ago”: Barbados Free Press applauds a gardening blog for reminding Barbadians of how things might be; Jamaican diaspora blogger Grasshopper Eyes the...
Jamaica: Nicole's Aftermath
Jamaican bloggers are still discussing the effects of Tropical Storm Nicole.
Macedonia: Continuing Horror in Mental Health Institutions
On her blog Humans Null and Void, journalist Yana Buhrer Tavanier exposes the situation in the “institutions for adults with intellectual and mental health disabilities in Macedonia, where the lack of care, abuse, filth and neglect are all miserably present.” Reacting, Judith Klein asks: “How many more horror stories do...
Afghanistan: Opium production down, but prices rise
Nick Fielding says that, according to the latest UN Office on Drugs and Crime report, Afghan opium production decreased significantly due to a disease that affected the crop. Nevertheless, income from the crop amounted has risen because of the increase in price.