Stories from March, 2011
China: Inflation and Fear
Foreseeing the rocket raising inflation, Chinese people are storing up daily necessities, such as Laundry Detergent, at home. Fauna from ChinaSMACK has captured the situation and translated netizens’ response to the inflation fear.
China: Exporting Women
China Hush translated an article from a local forum concerning the imbalance in the “importation” and “exportation” of women in China where the gender ratio has already been distorted which results in a “shortage of women”.
Debate about China Model
The China Media Project has translated two articles written by Zhang Weiwei, a CCP think tank and Yang Jisheng, an experience retired reporter on their understanding of China Model.
China: Crackdown on Activists and Opinion Leaders
The Chinese government's crackdown on human rights activists and opinion leaders continues. Samuel Wade from China Digital Timeshas compiled information from all sources to update on the situation.
Colombia: Indigenous Communities Protect their Food Security
Indigenous communities in Colombia are taking steps to protect their food security. Not only are they educating their communities to eat what they grow on their vegetable gardens instead of buying expensive food brought from outside but they are also protesting new laws and regulations limiting their access to milk.
Brazil: On Opening the Archives of the Dictatorship
A collective blogging was called to demand the opening of the archives of the Brazilian military dictatorship (1964-1985), responsible for torturing of thousands and for killing 380 Brazilians. Of these, 147 remain missing and nothing is known about the fate of their bodies. Until now their families are suffering without knowing their stories.
Macedonia, Bulgaria: Facing Hate Speech
Two NGOs, from Macedonia and from Bulgaria, have published an analysis of the Macedonian-Bulgarian hate speech in the traditional and new media.
Sri Lanka: The Future Of Books In Cupboards
“In this day and age, with houses getting smaller and space becoming an issue, with E-books being the rage in the West, and Kindles and i-pads common enough in Colombo”, Ameena Hussein wonders about the future of books.
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”