Stories from 19 March 2011
Puerto Rico: On the film “América”
In 80 grados [es] film director Sonia Fritz reflects on her latest film “América,” based on the novel by Puerto Rican author Esmeralda Santiago, and the challenges and the joys of making movies in Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico: Al Jazeera in Puerto Rico
Journalist Dalila Rodríguez Saavedra reflects on the recent visit of a team of Al Jazeera to the Island [es] to film a documentary on the severe economic crisis. Rodríguez Saavedra, who was also Al Jazeera's local fixer, analyzes the debate ensued when Al Jazeera journalists preferred not to be interviewed...
Cuba: Confessions of a digital fan
“I am not a digital native, but I consider myself part of the Generation 2.0. I am a facebook girl and intense blogger,” says Cuban journalist Katia Monteagudo [es] about her fascination with the Internet and social media networks.
Bahrain: Journalists Denied Entry at the Airport
Bahrain awoke to a violent crackdown by police on demonstrators camped out at the country's iconic Lulu (Pearl) roundabout on Wednesday. That afternoon, Omar Chatriwala boarded a flight from Doha, Qatar, to Bahrain, in part to see what was unfolding in the island nation he once called home. Hours later, he was deported - just like many reporters not allowed into the country to cover the unrest.
Tunisia: Hillary Clinton's Unwelcome Visit
On the night of Wednesday 15 March, 2011, US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton arrived in Tunisia after a trip to Egypt. Her visit was marked by protests in capital Tunis, from people who see her visit as the height of hypocrisy, considering that the US government was known to be an ally of former President Ben Ali's regime.
Nigeria: Reclaim Naija: Report election incidents
Reclaim Naija is a Nigerian Election Incident Reporting System. Citizens can report incidents by texting, calling, emailing, tweeting or filling out a form online.
Nigeria: Ruckus Over Presidential Debate
The Nigerian presidential debate has run into a major political rumpus with the reluctance of President Jonathan Goodluck to debate other presidential candidates. Nigerian bloggers react.
Japan: Tweeting from Fukushima
At Japan's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Reactor in Fukushima Prefecture, a brave group of workers, dubbed the Fukushima 50, have been left to tame an escalating nuclear disaster. Japan Ground Self-Defence Force (SDF) official and Twitter user @kir_imperial - one of the people on the ground in Fukushima - has been tweeting about day-to-day events at the nuclear power plant.
Africa: Ultimate Walk for Humanity
Listen to an interview with Kenyan Maasai Miyere Ole Miyandazi who has begun a long walk that will take him from Cape Town to Cairo. His campaign is called Ultimate Walk for Humanity.
Japan: Help Japan posters
A post at Adsoftheworld.com shows “Help Japan posters created by different individuals and organizations with a recurring broken red dot”.
Japan: How to donate to relief efforts
Japansubculture.com has an updated list [en] of organizations that are taking donations to help the victims of the earthquake and tsunami.
China, Tibet: The End of TibetCul.com?
The most popular Chinese-language Tibetan website TibetCul.com has been forced offline since March 16 2011. Two other websites, Cometibet.com (Tibet Travel site) and Tibet Encyclopedia website were also affected as a result of the sudden shutdown of their server.
China: How to Prevent Your Website from Getting Shut Down
Don Weinland from China Digital Times translated social media pioneer Zheng Yun's explanation on the self-regulatory practice among webmasters for preventing their websites being shut down by authorities.
China: Chairman Mao's grandson
Mao Xinyu, Mao Zedong’s grandson, was recently promoted to Major General in Chinese military. He has been a major subject for mockery in the past few years among netizens. The Ministry of Tofu presents to you a most update online sarcasm.
China: Salt rush and political trust
Jottings from the Granite Studio has a guest commentary written by Yajun on the recent salt rush. The writer points out that it is a symptom of a profound lack of political trust on the government.
Yemen: ‘Friday Massacre in Sanaa’
Protesters against the rule of long-standing president Ali Abdullah Saleh have once again been fired upon by Yemeni forces, who killed an estimated 40 people and wounding at least 200. Afterwards, Saleh blamed the deaths on a violent faction of anti-government forces and declared a state of emergency.
Macedonia: Census Postponed Till October
As anticipated, the Macedonian parliament adopted a new law on Wednesday, which postpones the Census [MKD]–originally scheduled for April–until October. Political leaders [MKD] have still not set the date for the early elections: May and June are rumored as the likeliest time right now.
