Stories from 27 April 2011
Ukraine: Stories From the Charity Walk to Chornobyl
Liudmyla Bulychova guestblogs at UK Ambassador Leigh Turner's blog about Charity Walk to Chornobyl, which was held on April 22-23. More stories [en, fr] and photos – here.
Ukraine: “Twenty-five years ago – Chornobyl – Where were you?”
uaMuzik and Nash Holos blog about the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl catastrophe.
Russia: Kidnapping of Ivan Kaspersky
Julia Ioffe of The Moscow Diaries (now hosted on Forbes.com) writes about the kidnapping of Ivan Kaspersky, the 19-year-old son of the founders of the Russian computer security company Kaspersky Lab.
Colombia's Harsh Winter
Global Voices author Lully Posada writes in equinoXio [es] about winter in Colombia and the strong rains that have left more than 3 million victims.
Panama: Challanges for the LGBT Community
Blogger Erasmo Prado R. [es] writes about the challenges the Panamanian LGBT community is currently facing.
Hungary: Hungarian-Roma Tensions Result in Clash in Gyöngyöspata
Last night, four people were injured in a clash between ethnic Hungarian members of the far-right group Véderő and members of the Roma community in the village of Gyöngyöspata. Contradictory accounts have been published in the Hungarian media about how exactly the fight started - and neither of the communities has taken responsibility for the clash.
Iran: Activist and blogger died in a car accident
Bahareh Alavi, 22 years old blogger and women's rights activist died in a car accident. She wrote for years in Dokhtare Khorshid blog. Several bloggers remembered her.
Ethiopia: Read Latest Posts By Ethiopian Bloggers
Are you interested to know what is going on in Ethiopia at the moment? Read the latest posts by resident Ethiopian bloggers here.
Iran: Students march for better conditions
Several hundred students marched and demonstrated in Amir Kabri University in Tehran for better conditions in recent days. Watch the film here.
Egypt: Gigi Ibrahim on The Daily Show
The appearance of Egyptian political activist Gigi Ibrahim on The Daily Show brought a wave of support and protests from fellow tweeps, who covered the Egyptian revolution. Gigi spoke about the Egyptian revolution and how she was introduced to politics, mocking hypocritical US foreign policy towards the Middle Eastern uprisings and how Egyptians and Arabs are perceived in the media. Here are some reactions from Twitter.
Cuba: Right to the Internet
“Any ‘supposition’ about what a farmer should do on Google, or in the furrow, is called control over the free actions of another, personal choice and individual freedom”: Octavo Cerco wonders “why it’s a problem to assume access to the Internet as a 21st Century human right.”
Suriname: Video Art
Srananart's Blog is excited about the launch of “a new art form for Suriname” – video art!
Cuba: The “Queen of Incredulity”
1Click2Cuba profiles Claudia Cadelo, “one of the best-known members of the Cuban blogging community.”
Madagascar: Here We Go Again with Land Grabbing, minus the Outrage
Tananews reports that the government of Madagascar leases out land for 50 or more years at prices as low as $15 per acre a year (fr) to Indian farmers (via the IndiaTimes). The blog wonders why such stories fail to stir up the same outrage at the national and international...
D.R. of Congo: Donors wary of involvement in elections
Donors are wary of involvement in elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo: “With only seven months to go before elections in the Congo, donors are trying to calibrate their political and financial involvement in the polls. One forum where this is playing out is the UN Security Council, which...
Russia: Communist Party Leads Social Networks Activity Rating
Nikolay Podosokorskiy analyzes [ru] activity of Russian political parties in the social networks. According to his brief research, ruling party “United Russia” is one of the closest and inactive parties online, while the most active is the Communist Party of Russia with more than 73,000 members at Vkontakte groups and...
Kuwait: Sit-in to Rename “Journalism Street” After Al-Saleh Planned
Kuwaiti journalists are planning to stage a sit-in tonight (April 27) to demand renaming "Journalism Street" after the late Mohammed Mousaed Al-Saleh, who was one of the very well known Kuwaiti sarcastic columnists, who wrote for Al-Qabas newspaper for years, criticizing different political and social aspects found in everyday life.
Russia: Bloggers Discuss Best Practices of Crowd Funding
Anton Nossik publishes [ru] 5 rules of successful crowd funding: 1.it should have an aim, 2. it should be transparent, 3. it should be tested before launch, 4. it should also facilitate non-financial help, 5. initiators should disclose their own efforts of improving the project they collect money for. Oleg Kozlovsky...
Nigeria: Women Protest in Abuja
Nigerian women say no to violence: “Nigerian women in Abuja protesting against the post election violence in the north of the country. Nigerian women have always at the forefront of anti-violence protest in the country. Last year hundreds women from the Jos region gathered in Abuja in a day of...
Kenya: Poets and Writers Meet in Nairobi
Poets and writers meet in Nairobi, Njeri Wangari reports: “Last Saturday, 23rd April was the inaugural POWO event – a forum for Poets and Writers that seeks to encourage Kenyan Creative writers to exploit the various opportunities presented by their internet for promotion of their writing.”
Japan: Netizens react to the arrest of an Englishman
Japan Probe translated the comments [en] of some netizens who reacted to the arrest of an English man who grabbed “a mike from a politician at a train station and yelled about how Japanese elections are loud and annoying.”
