Stories from 30 March 2011
India: Online Solution To Help Save On Medicines
Living in the Past has a brilliant idea – to launch an informative website (with SMS based service), which will provide information about cheap medicine with identical compositions to help the poor in India.
Bangladesh: Is USA Doing Excess On Yunus Issue?
US Astt. Secretary of state for South and Central Asian Affairs Mr. Roger Blake recently visited Bangladesh and discussed with government about the recent disputes with the Nobel laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus. An Ordinary Citizen wonders whether USA is playing excess on this issue.
Macedonia: Early Elections Scheduled for June 5
The biggest Macedonian opposition party announced [MKD] today that they will participate in the early elections in spite of the failure of negotiations with the government on the conditions that would ensure fairness. About two hours later, the Prime Minister responded [MKD] that the ruling party would suggest to the...
Bangladesh: Online Payment Options
In Bangladesh, Paypal is not available and international online payment/receipt via credit card is restricted, which is a problem for the startups who want to sell products from Bangladesh and receive payment. T solve this problem Hasin at “The Storyteller” writes about merchant account providers, who helps users to charge...
Mexico: Drug Trafficking in Mexican Media vs. US Media
Gancho argues that “The contrast between the pessimism and obsessiveness of media coverage of drug trafficking in Mexico with the relative ignorance of the same in the US is striking. Especially with regard to American media–the Mexican outlets often seem to do a better job scanning the news wires for...
Colombia: The Lady of Colombian Television Dies
The blog Portal Vallenato reviews the death [es] of Gloria Valencia de Castaño [es] (1927 – 2011) from respiratory failure on March 24. Valencia pioneered radio and television projects in Colombia. She was known as “the lady of Colombian television” and as a major figure (as host, image and voice...
Lebanon: Exploring the Video Artistic Scene, Featuring Ziad Antar
What's happening on the Lebanese art scene? The directors of a web-documentary on this topic are offering some previews in the form of portraits of contemporary artists.
Cote d'Ivoire: Open letter to Not on Our Watch
Eliza writes an open letter to Not on Our Watch, a charity founded by George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Jerry Weintraub and David Pressman about the political situation in Cote d'Ivoire.
China: Panic buying continues
Following panic buying of salt earlier this month, the last few days have seen residents of Shanghai buying up laundry detergent, soap, toothpaste and shampoo out of fear that companies are about to raise prices for those and other similar goods. This photo from angry Shanghai microblogger Yin Zhuonan shows...
Ethiopia: Jazz in the garden
Jazz time in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: “This last weekend music lovers in Addis converged for the 2nd annual installment of the acacia jazz fest for two days of jazz appreciation. True to its promise, the fest offered the best fusions of jazz elements and contemporary music from established and exciting...
China: Red flag on Wall Street
Co-founder of Chinese fund management firm CDH Investments Wang Gongquan stopped by the New York Stock Exchange building today to snap a picture of the flag of the People's Republic of China, flying over Wall Street to mark popular Chinese online security company Qihoo 360 Technology‘s IPO. Wang was mocked...
Zimbabwe: Exhuming bodies for votes?
Using the dead to win votes: “The beleaguered ZANU (PF) political party is at it again, now by trying to buy political mileage out of the discovery of bodies in the Mashonaland region, yet they continue to neglect the massacres carried out in Matabeleland in the 1980’s.”
Sudan: A road accident does not cause a revolution
Can a road accident cause a revolution? “Recent demonstrations in Sudan’s capital Khartoum over road conditions and traffic signals have led some observers in the West to speculate about the possibilities of a Egypt-style revolution there”
Pakistan: Liveblogging India-Pakistan Cricket Match
Ahsan Butt is liveblogging the electrifying semifinal match between India and Pakistan at the Cricket Worldcup 2011 being held in Mohali, India now.
Pakistan: Life Without Cellphone
The proliferation of cellphones in Pakistan has reached a new high and Mohammad Yusha at Chowrangi asks “is not having a cell phone weird”?
Syria: Reactions to President Assad's Speech
President Bashar Al Assad finally made a speech Wednesday 30 March, 2011, at the Syrian Parliament after days of postponement and anticipation. The president's arrival at the Parliament was met with thundering applause and chanting by the Members of Parliament, and his speech was often interrupted by an MP reciting poems of praise. Twitter users did not receive this well.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez Receives Press Freedom Award in Argentina
In response to the recent press freedom award given to Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez in Argentina, Greg Weeks at Two Weeks Notice writes: “I would like to propose that governments impose a moratorium on granting awards to people from other countries, particularly when those people show evidence of doing the...
Colombia: Fractal, a Sci-Fi event in Medellín
Juan Diego Gómez posts in his blog about Fractal'11, an event about fiction, art, science and technology that will take place in Medellín, Colombia, on April 8-9, 2011. Juan Diego introduces [es] some of the speakers: awarded Science Fiction writer Kij Johnson (@kijjohnson), cyborg anthropologist Amber Case (@caseorganic), researcher Johanna...
Russia: Online Media 2010-2011 According to Yandex.ru
New Yandex.ru report "Media sphere of RuNet. September 2010 - January 2011" suggests that Russian online media are growing but still have a long way to go to become a truly developed reporting platform.
Russia: Mapping Bribery Online
Anton Nosik shares [ru] a link to RosKomVzyatka (‘Russian Committee for Bribes’), Ushahidi-based platform that allows users to map bribes (both given and taken) anonymously. It's another transparency project after rospil.info, gdecasino.ru, otmenta.ru, and others that crowdsource crime/injustice reporting.
Russia: Real Life Super Hero From Chelyabinsk
Metkere.com shares [ru] a video-address of a real life super hero calling himself “The Avenger.” (see his Vkontakte fan group [ru]) The avenger, a man in a black costume with a green letter “M” (apparently M for Mstitel’, the ‘avenger’ in Russian) on it and a black mask, says he...
