Stories from 10 January 2011
Morocco: From the Slums of Casablanca to the Prisons of Iraq
Cabalamuse writes about the story of Moroccan “foreign fighters” in Iraq, retracing their trajectory from the slums of Casablanca to the prisons of Baghdad.
Tunisia, Algeria: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
Protests in Algeria and Tunisia have captured the interest of bloggers in both countries. Social media seem to be playing a central role in the coverage of the unfolding events in a context of heavy censorship and strict restrictions imposed on traditional media (mostly state-run) and on the Internet. Here is an overview of what has been said in the local blogosphere in the last couple of days.
Hungary: New Blog on Arts and Culture
A new blog called Hungarian Watch is trying to help “media outlets, journalists, and concerned citizens” to find information on the deteriorating situation in arts and culture in Hungary. They are sharing notes from Hungarian citizens who work in the media and cultural sector as well.
Japan: Coming of Age Day 2011
It's Coming of Age Day in Japan today and Buddhika Weerasinghe has posted street snaps of people celebrating in colorful kimono. 1.24 million Japanese turn 20 years old this year, which is a record low for the fourth consecutive year.
Jordan: Solutions to Rising Sectarianism
A series of events in Jordan are raising concern of increased sectarianism between Jordanians of Transjordanian and Palestinian descent, as well as increased violence between tribes of Transjordanian origin. Betsy takes a closer look at the dialogue taking place online.
Is “Communist China” an inappropriate naming?
Zhongnanhai picks up the Q & A at Quora on whether or not “Communist China” is an inappropriate way to refer to the People’s Republic of China.
China: Village Woman Crushed Trying To Stop Construction
Fauna from ChinaSMACK translates netizens’ comments on a news story on the death of a village woman who was crushed by a construction vehicle when trying to stop a construction project in Henan.
Egypt: A blogger lost his job because of his blog
Mohamed Maree is not the first Egyptian blogger to loose he job because of what he writes in his blog, as he has been preceded by Founon and Ahmed El Droubi, but he is the most recent one to loose his job because of his writings. Zeinobia elaborates more on...
China: Human error at Zhouqu mudslide
Jiang Gaoming explains in China Dialogue how human development increases the risk of natural disasters by looking into Zhouqu mudslide happened last year.
Japan: Tokyo's Art Scene in 2010
William Andrews at the Tokyo Art Beat blog posted his annual Year in Review of the Tokyo contemporary art scene.
Mozambique: Photoblogging provincial life
Journalist António Zefanias recently started a blog called Fotografando Zambézia [Pt], in which he posts photos revealing unique aspects of daily life in Mozambique's central Zambézia province and its capital Quelimane.
Greece: Uproar over plan to build border fence and expel migrants
Greek Citizen Protection minister Christos Papoutsis provoked fierce reactions on new year's eve, by announcing his government's new zero-tolerance immigration policy.