Stories from 21 May 2011
Bulgaria: People Bring Flowers to Sofia's Mosque
Ruslan Trad (@ruslantrad) writes that people were bringing flowers on Saturday to the mosque in Sofia where clashes between a right-wing group and local Muslims took place the day before.
Hungary: Facebook Blocked Popular Far-Right Website
Hungarian news sites report that Facebook has blocked the most popular far-right website Kuruc.info. According to kuruc.info [hu], no referring links can be sent through Facebook's system, the Like button has disappeared, and Facebook is also blocking mentions of “Kuruc.info.” Kuruc.info wrote that the block was worse than similar measures...
France: French Women Bloggers on the DSK Scandal
French feminists bloggers and women bloggers writing on women's issues, have gained a larger audience and a new respect in France in the aftermath of the Domininique Strauss-Kahn scandal. Meet a few French feminist bloggers laboring online against prejudices and the French perception of sexual harassment and crimes.
Georgia: Beyoncé's Girls Rule an Apocalyptic… Caucasus?
The premiere of American singer Beyoncé's "Run The World (Girls)" video on May 18 evoked much debate among bloggers and social media users in Georgia for a less than expected reason. Not that it was the first single from her highly anticipated new album, or even because of its empowering message, but rather a simple road sign that appeared 1 minute and 50 seconds into the video.
Brazil: “The City's Most Beautiful Band” Wins the Internet
A musical love “prayer” was one of the hottest topics of the week on the Web in Brazil. A Banda Mais Bonita da Cidade‘s video, (the name means “The City's Most Beautiful Band”) released on May 17 and recorded in a long take, has already thrilled more than 700,000 people [pt]...
Malaysia: Tweets on the Orphanage Landslide
While the world was busy discussing the ‘end of the world,’ Malaysians mourned the death of innocent children who were buried in a landslide in an orphanage motivational camp near Kuala Lumpur
Translating a Vietnamese song to English
Charvey notes the difficulty in translating songs from Vietnamese to English. He translated the lyrics of a song from the Vietnam War era.
Vietnam: Increasing number of high-rise buildings
Luan Nguyen writes about the urban impact of the boom in the construction of very tall buildings in Vietnam.
Azerbaijan: National Identity
Following a heated discussion on the issue of ethnic identity in the comments section on an entry written about Azerbaijan's recent Eurovision win, Scary Azeri responds in an extensive post to criticism from one reader in particular that she is not Azeri enough.
Vietnamese phonetic alphabet
¡¡¡Việt Nam ơi!!! blogs about the Vietnamese phonetic alphabet system used to spell out words on the radio or telephone.
Myanmar: Ban on use of CDs, USB sticks, floppy drives
Myanmar has issued a new regulation banning the use of CDs, USB sticks, and floppy drives in public internet cafe shops.
Thailand: Social media, elections, and politics
Jon Russell writes how politicians in Thailand are using the social media in preparation for the coming elections.
France, World: Discontent Against G8 Meeting About the Internet
Blog Club de l'Europe is outraged [fr] by the “Internet sharks’ feast” to be held on May 24 and 25, 2011, at the Musée du Louvre, in Paris. The meeting aims to prepare the G8 forum, which will be focused (according to its French presidency) on the Internet, but only economic and...
North Africa: Manifesto for a Maghreb of Cinema
The Arab revolution has also impacted the cinema world. Filmmakers from Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia have just launched on their blog Maghreb du cinéma [fr], a suggestion box to reinvigorate the creation, production and distribution of their work. Their manifesto can be signed here [fr].
Nigeria: The Nigerian Event Awards 2011
BellaNaija shares photos and writes about the winners of The Nigerian Event Awards 2011: “The celebration of this maiden edition of the awards brought together a great number of people who came all out to honour remarkable people in the Nigerian Events and Entertainment Industry.”
Rwanda: Government threatens to assassinate opposition
Is Rwandan government planning to assassinate opposition politicians?: “The British police informed two members of the Rwandan diaspora that their government may be trying to assassinate them, according to documents seen by various newspapers. The police visited Jonathan Musonera and Rene Mugenzi on May 12, officially informing them with letters....
Chad: How Communities Are Rebuilding Lives
Paul O'Brien discusses his trip to Chad and how communities are rebuilding their lives: “The biggest challenge facing mothers in Chad is to feed their children and keep them healthy. The country has one of the highest rates of child deaths in the world. In the villages in which Concern...
