Stories from 9 June 2011
Rugby in Laos
Maggie Dillon provides a short history of Rugby in Laos. The Lao Rugby Federation reaches out to the public through its website and Facebook page.
Singapore Blog Awards 2011
The voting for the Singapore Blog Awards 2011 will end on July 3.
Cape Verde: Capital City Without Water
Since water stopped running from the taps of the capital city of Cape Verde, Praia, more than two weeks ago due to improvement works, at first, and then to a breakdown at the central distribution point, bloggers have been demonstrating with poems in portuguese and creole, and posting satirical and...
Pakistan: Extra Judicial Killing By Pakistan Rangers
Teeth Maestro is frustrated to learn about a recent extra judicial killing incident in Pakistan, where members of Pakistan Rangers shot down and killed one young man after a heated exchange of words.
Syria: True Identity of Arrested Blogger Questioned
Since reports emerged that a Syrian blogger named Amina Arraf, known as “Gay Girl in Damascus” had been seized by authorities on Monday, 6 June 2011, serious doubts have surfaced that the blogger may not be who she claims.
Pakistan: Sexual Abuse on Journalists
The Terrorland reports that a Pakistani intelligence agency has sexually abused several Pakistani journalists in situations of captivity or detention.
Sri Lanka: Blogging About Things That Matter
Lefroy thinks that Sri Lankan blogosphere is on the decline and the blogger wishes bloggers would write “about things that matter: things like politics and religion instead of their sad little lives, but always with great passion and conviction”.
Argentina: Food Writers, Part II
Buenos Aires Foodies has revisited their list of Argentine food writers, adding links to more blogs –some written in Spanish, others in English– on the subject.
Mexico: Online Citizen Journalism Channel Aims to ‘Counterweight Media Monopolies’
Paula Gonzalo from Periodismo Ciudadano interviewed [es] two of the collaborators behind Canal Gente Libre [es] (Free People Channel), an online channel ran mostly by citizen journalists in Oaxaca, Mexico that aims to act as a “counterweight to Mexican media monopolies”
El Salvador: Widespread Opposition to Decree 743
“The protests continue over the action of the Salvadoran National Assembly to try and change the rules to make it more difficult for the country's highest court to rule laws unconstitutional. The law, called Decree 743, would require a unanimous vote of the court's five judges to invalidate an unconstitutional...
Haiti: Reporting on Wikileaks
“These seem to have been important facts that were left out, but are an important part of the dynamics of Haitian politic[s] for the past 40 years under Preval, Aristide and Duvalier”: Stanley Lucas contends that biased analysis of the Haiti Wikileaks cables only serves to advance political agendas.
Cuba: In Support of Artistic Expression
“Although I don’t share all of his opinions or agree with the places where he chose to publish them, I am a fervent defender of the freedom of speech”: Lazaro Gonzalez stands with artist Pedro Pablo Oliva.
Trinidad & Tobago: Enforcing Road Rules
“Of all the plagues in our society that require urgent attention, far and away the easiest one to deal with is the scourge of needless death due to drag racing and fast driving beyond the speed limit”: Plain Talk has a few suggestions for dealing with the problem.
Cuba: Tamayo Leaves With Son's Remains
“Orlando Zapata Tamayo was not killed because he was a slave, but because he insisted on being a free man”: As the late dissident's mother prepares for a new start in the United States, Babalu rejoices over the fact that “today, Reina Luisa Tamayo will experience what her fallen son...
Russia: 6 Months of Suspended Sentence and a Destroyed Laptop for a Forum Comment
Yuri Yegorov, blogger from Tatarstan and a former employee of the regional government, has been sentenced with 6 months of suspended sentence for a libelling, openinform.ru reported [ru]. Additionally, the court ruled out to destroy Yegorov's laptop ‘as a weapon of crime.’ Yegorov published information on corruption in the office...
Korea: Defector's Commentary on Using Kim Jong-il's Portrait as Army Target
It was revealed in early June that South Korean military units have been using the pictures of Kim Jong-il, his youngest son, and his late father as targets during firing drills. Ask a Korean blog posted translation of Joo Sung-ha's commentary on the revelation. Mr. Joo is a North Korean...
North Korea: North Korean Netbook Appears to be Chinese
The North Korean netbook highlighted in its state television report appears to be made in China, Martyn Williams wrote about the controversial netbook in the North Korea Tech blog.
Iran: Record Breaking 20-Year Jail Sentence for Blogger
Writing about Iranian bloggers offers few moments of respite. The sad stories are endless, and the threats don't seem to subside. The post explores the stories of three bloggers, Sakhi Rigi, Hossein Derakhshan, and Hossein Rongahi Maleki, who are each serving very long sentences in Iran.
Macedonia: Reminders of Unresolved Killings
Human rights activists have been spurred by the scandalous attempt to cover up the killing of Martin Neshkovski, which occured at the post-election celebration in Skopje, to remind about other cases of abuse of power by all recent rulers of Macedonia, such as torture by the system [mk], including police...
Egypt: When Citizen Media Did What Mainstream Media Wouldn't
This first part of a documentary on the Egyptian Revolution tells it from the perspective of blogger and viral video producer Aalam Wassef, focusing on how online video and other media accompanied the process of civilian unrest.
Taiwan: Life in an immigration detention centre
“M” writes about her experience of being sent to an immigration detention centre in Taiwan.
