14 October 2010

Stories from 14 October 2010

Netherlands: Latin American Diaspora Women Unite

The European DiasporaSolidaria.org foundation organized a summit for migrant Latin American women in Amsterdam, where they discussed issues such as their rights, the changing nature of families and remittances. LA Ruta brings us a short video recording some of their experiences.

14 October 2010

India: The Grand Secret OS

Greatbong takes a hilarious look at the Indian Defence Research and Development Organisation's (DRDO) proposal to create a “closed source operating system” to protect Data.

14 October 2010

Myanmar (Burma): The Plight of the Karen

The ethnic minority of the Karen are one of the groups that have been targeted by the Burmese army in its effort to defend the military regime. Burma Matters Now brings us a few videos that speak out about the plight of the Karen people as they try to survive in a violent environment.

14 October 2010

Cuba: Violence in Schools

“Although the official media do not report it, through word of mouth from independent journalists, alarming cases of school violence have come to light”: Iván's File Cabinet reports.

14 October 2010

Haiti: Hero on the Titanic

“Joseph Phillippe Lemercier Laroche was the only black man, a Haitian man, to perish in the Titanic; that’s after he saved his wife and kids”: Repeating Islands has the amazing...

14 October 2010

Barbados: Social Media & Tourism

“It seems that despite the power social media has from a marketing perspective that ‘we’ do not have staff in place to effectively monitor and update these sites”: Adrian Loveridge,...

14 October 2010

Brazil: The Xingu River is no place for Belo Monte

On August 26 the President of Brazil, Lula da Silva, signed a decree that transfers the concession to harness the hydroelectric potential of the Belo Monte Dam on the Amazon Xingu River. Indigenous people and river dweller have been organizing themselves into social and environmental resistance movements against the construction of the dam for their present way of life and means of survival will suffer a disastrous impact if the dam is built.

14 October 2010

Zambia: Are Journalists Dogs or Watchdogs?

Zambian journalists have recently been in the news not as reporters and editors but as victims after an opposition parliamentarian, Mumbi Phiri, labeled those working for state-controlled media organisations as Lt-Gen Ronnie Shikapwasha's dogs. Lt-Gen Ronnie Shikapwasha is the Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services. Zambians online discuss her statement and apology.

14 October 2010

Greece: Life Sentence for Officer who Shot Teen Sparking 2008 Riots

After two years of deliberations, a court has delivered a sentence of life in prison for the police officer who shot and killed 15-year old Alexandros Grigoropoulos in December 2008. His killing led to mass rioting and protests in several cities across Greece, fueled by rage over police brutality, and impunity and corruption in the Greek political system.

14 October 2010