Stories from 15 January 2011
France: A Show of Tunisian Pride in Paris
Today, January 15, marks the "day after" and the first day of a Ben Ali free Tunisia. Despite their concern for the continuous violence in Tunisia, their relatives and the future, the 600 000 Tunisians in France granted themselves one day to rejoice, celebrate and share an overwhelming collective emotion. Here are a few pictures from a Tunisian show of pride in Paris.
Maldives: Dominance Of The Expatriates
Mohamed Naahi wonders what can be done to reduce the growing number of foreign workers in Maldives.
Sri Lanka: Display Of Sinhala And Tamil Webpages On Mobile Phones
Dhanika has developed a mobile web browser which supports both Sinhala & Tamil Unicode text rendering making display of these languages on Android mobile phones possible.
India: Writing The City In Conversation With Mumbai Taxi Drivers
“Taxi drivers write the city. They move through its streets, they collect its stories, they are confronted with its changes” – this is part of the introduction page of CubbyKabi's podcast blog “Meter Down” containing conversations with Mumbai taxi Drivers.
Mexico: Singer Accused of Rape Tweets in Defense
28-year-old Mexican pop singer Kalimba is using Twitter to defend himself against accusations that he raped two underage girls. His fans tweet to support him, but others criticize the media and public attention the case is getting.
Jordan: Reactions to Ben Ali's Removal from ‘Angry Jordanians’
Jordanians, who held their Day of Anger on the same day Tunisia's President Zainelabidine Ben Ali escaped from his country after month-long protests, reacted in celebration to the news. They too are protesting against increased prices and frustration with political stagnation.
Rwanda: iPhone on the Kigali buses
Pimping buses in Kigali, Rwanda: “Rwanda’s city buses are quite as tricked out or chaotic as the matatus of regional neighbours. However, there are plenty of bus owners in town who take the time to pimp their rides. As far as I understand it so long as the yellow line...
Uganda: Introducing Maisha Film Labs
Tambay introduces Uganda's Maisha Film Labs: “The goal of the Maisha Film Labs is to give aspiring filmmakers in the East African country the tools & knowledge they currently lack, to tell their own stories through film, which would then help foster a self-sustaining film industry in Uganda and vicinity,...
Rwanda: Bloggers take on Stephen Kinzer
An article by Stephen Kinzer criticizing Human Rights Watch’s position on Rwanda was not well received in the blogosphere. In the piece, which appeared in the London’s Guardian, Kinzer laments that human rights groups are spreading what he refers to as human rights imperialism. With specific reference to Rwanda, Kinzer favors a dictatorship that allows for stability.
Kenya: 1 Million Campaign
Support 1 Million Campaign in Kenya: “…we are hoping that a simple declaration by 1 Million of Kenya's voters saying Kenya should stay in the ICC will convince parliament to stop their plans of withdrawing us from the court.”
Brazil: Police brutality during student protest
The blog Vi o Mundo [Saw the World, pt] shares a video by the cartoonist Carlos Latuff and a letter from the Workers Union of the University of São Paulo about the police brutality against students who were protesting in the streets on January 13 against the price increase of...
Kazakhstan: President consolidates power
KZBlog reports that the Parliament in Kazakhstan approved an amendment to enshrine the incumbent president's status as Leader of the Nation and the right to prolong his authority without elections on a referendum, while Germany, the US and the OSCE express their concerns.
Afghanistan: Reassessing media as a peacebuilding opportunity
Nick Fielding reviews the report by the US Institute for Peace, which says that dreams of a free and independent media sector in Afghanistan still go unrealised.
Tajikistan: The death of a newspaper
Alpharabius draws a bottomline under the last ear's historical multimillion lawsuit that had been brought against three newspapers in the Tajikistan’s Supreme Court. One of the publications has disappeared from the market, while the two others became less brave and more self-censored.
Saudi Arabia: Fleeing, Tunisian Ex-President Ben Ali Lands in KSA
As news surfaces that fleeing Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has landed in Saudi Arabia, Saudi Twitter users take to the platform to express their thoughts on the matter.
Tajikistan: A sliver of hope for economy
Elina Galperin reports that a sizeable amount of natural gas has been found in Tajikistan, enough to cover the country's needs Tajikistan for 50 years.
Russia: Financial Pyramid Founder's New Online “Project”
Profy reports that Sergei Mavrodi, who created one of the world's largest financial pyramids in the 1990s, is at it again: recently, he “[…] has decided to launch a new pyramid […] – but this time it should all take place exclusively online using electronic payment provider WebMoney that is...
