Stories from 15 February 2011
China and Mongolia: Goliath and David?
At East Asia Forum, Justin Li discussed the Sinophobia in Mongolia caused by high dependence on China for trade and investment. In another article on the Forum, Julian Dierkes questioned Li's claims, and highlighted that significant shift in Mongolia's ‘third neighbour’ policy is possible. In a separate but related article...
Ecuador: Judge orders Chevron to pay $8.6 billion fine
“The eighteen-year lawsuit against Chevron came to a climax when a judge ruled that Texaco (now owned by Chevron) was liable environmental damages in the Ecuadorian rainforest. The court decreed that the oil company pay a reported $8.6 billion fine and apologize publicly or risk doubling the damages figure,” reports...
Egypt: The Guy Behind Omar Suleiman
Not even a revolution can stop the Egyptian sense of humour. Nowadays, the man seen standing behind Vice-President Omar Suleiman is as famous as Tahrir Square itself.
Ethiopia: Bringing down Ethiopia's Mubarak
Tedla Asfaw says that Egyptians have taught Ethiopians a lesson: “We have twenty years of Western financed tyranny run by Meles Zenawi and Ethiopians who match in number with Egyptians but far behind in their developmental stage by any measurement can topple Ethiopia's Mubarak, Meles Zenawi in short order. The...
Eritrea: Capital Eritrea News site
capitaleritrea news is an online news platform covering the latest from Eritrea. The site is managed by volunteer editors and authors.
Eritrea: Invest in Eritrea blog
Invest in Eritrea is a blog about business and investment activities in Eritrea.
Kenya: Sing for Kenya on February 28
A group of Kenyans of diverse interests, political affiliations,tribes, religions and economic backgrounds have agreed to come together on February 28th 2011 and take a few minutes at exactly 1pm (East African Time) to sing the three verses of the National Anthem.
Africa: Pivot 25: East Africa’s Mobile Competition & Conference
Pivot 25 is an event bringing together East Africa’s top mobile entrepreneurs and startups to pitch their ideas to an audience of 400-500 people, with a chance of winning monetary prizes and increasing awareness of their work to local and global investors and businesses.
South Korea: Blood exuding from the ground where culled animals are buried.
South Korea had lost a quarter of the herd from its worst foot-and-mouth disease outbreak. Fears among Koreans grow as experts anticipated the blood from culled animals may contaminate nearby underground water and soil. Twitterer @Hyeyounga posted a gruesome photo of blood exuding from the burial ground and running over...
Bangladesh: Widespread Protests Force Government To Back Down On Airport Project
A recent venture by the Bangladesh government to takeover 25000acres of wetlands (Arial Beel) 60km South of the capital city of Dhaka, for a proposed International airport and satellite city led to protests and violence in the area. Netizens too, reacted strongly to the government debating the need for a new airport and the government was forced to back down on the airport project.
Bahrain: A Second Man Killed as Police Attack First Victim's Funeral
Another young man Fadhel Al Matrook has been killed this morning as police attacked a funeral procession for another young man Ali Mushaima killed in yesterday's Day of Wrath protests in Bahrain.
China: Lhasa People Are “Happiest”?
High Peaks Pure Earth translated Tibetan blogger Woser's article in response to the latest CCTV's survey that found Lhasa be the “2010 City With the Happiest People”.
China: The limits of Chinese censorship
Michael and Eric discuss China’s censorship policies in both the new and traditional media sectors in the latest episode of China Talking points podcast. Text introduction is here.
China: Apple's new supplier responsibility report
Samuel Wade from China Digital Times brings the readers’ attention to Apple company's new supplier responsibility report. The company pledges greater cooperation with Chinese NGOs in the future in the monitoring of labour condition.
Brazil: Journalist's dismissal causes outrage
Journalist Aguirre Peixoto's dismissal from the Brazilian newspaper A Tarde caused outrage among bloggers and journalists [pt]: Peixoto's reports on the environmental damage caused by a new development to the city of Salvador allegedly put an end to the contractors’ advertising in the broadsheet. After applying 30-days suspension on Peixoto,...
Macedonia: Violent Inter-Ethnic Incident on Skopje Fortress
Two large groups clashed around the old Skopje Fortress around noon on Sunday. The police failed to effectively separate an ethnic Macedonian and an ethnic Albanian mobs, which came to protest for and against construction of a church-like building that the government claims would become a museum. Some of the results include 6 injured civilians, 2 injured policemen, and alarmingly high levels of general fear and hate speech on-line.