Stories from 29 July 2011
SEE: Danica Radovanovic's Interview on Online Social Interactions
At Open Society Foundations’ Blog, an interview with Danica Radovanovic of Digital Serendipities, covering “various topics related to digital use, online social interactions, digital divide, social networks and young adults in Southeastern Europe” and the Balkans.
Kuwait: Bidun fly “Freedom Balloons”
A month ago, the stateless community of Kuwait started a 3 day-long campaign of “flipping your twitter avatar” to catch the media's attention and highlight their cause for the world. This Friday, they've made another campaign to set balloons in the air, calling them “freedom balloons". Mona Kareem shares the story.
Denmark: Starvation Day
The severe drought in Africa's Horn is echoing in many online corners of the world. But not only established organizations are raising funds for food. Here's a Danish Facebooker introducing an alternative event – Starvation Monday [en]: “Starve yourself on August 1 and donate the money you would have spent...
Senegal: Against a third term for President Wade
Macoumba Beye covers [fr] on afriscoop.net the demonstration organized in Dakar on July 23 against the candidature of President Abdoulaye Wade for a third term as President: “The Movement of June 23 – or M23 – brings together political parties, civil society movements, unions, imams and the movement “Y en...
China: Know more about activist Wang Lihong
Wang Lihong, one of many lesser known activists jailed in China, is facing imminent trial. The blog Free Wang Lihong has published a detailed English biography of her. Amnesty International has also issued an appeal to take action for her release.
Kenya: Facebook Should Unfriend John Mwau
A Kenyan blogger, Daudi Were, has raised an interesting question about whether the U.S. government will be willing to enforce the Kingpin Act against Facebook for apparently doing business with a Kenyan national Mr Harun Mwau who had earlier this year been designated as a drug lord under the Kingpin Act.
El Salvador: National Assembly Repeals Decree 743 Requiring Unanimity on Constitutional Court
Decree 743 “the controversial law which attempted to impose a requirement of unanimity on the Constitutional Court” was repealed this week by El Salvador's National Assembly, as Tim reports in his blog. The blog Voices from El Salvador describes the repeal as an “important indication that civil society and public...
Mexico: Improvements in Education Decreasing Emigration Rates
The second post on a series about immigration throughout the Americas on the Council on Hemispheric Affairs Blog focuses on “Mexico's Improving Education and Declining Emigration”.
Colombia: ‘Padding Journalism’
In the wake of the death of singer Joe Arroyo, Colombian news channel NTN24 featured reactions with actresses, models, and former beauty queens in English on its website. The video featuring model and presenter Carolina Cruz was heavily mocked on blogs and social media. Journalist Carolina Ruiz questions [es] the...
Global Voices Bloggers to Mentor Youth Activists from 10 Countries
Today we announce the names of 10 Global Voices bloggers and 11 activists who will be working together virtually over the next months as part of a new mentoring initiative developed by Global Voices and Activista, the youth network of international development organization, ActionAid.
Bahamas: Taking Precautions vs. Dengue
Womanish Words is shaken by her son's diagnosis of Dengue Fever, saying: “These are serious times. We all must take proper precautions. And we need to amp up the national response to the outbreak of Dengue Fever in Nassau. This thing is no joke.”
Cuba: MSM Paying Attention
Pedazos de La Isla takes heart in the fact that “various English-language news sources have been brave enough to publish the truth about the Caribbean island”, saying: “In Cuba, there is much to report, whether it is through blogs, digital magazines, newspapers, television, radio, etc. On a daily basis, dissidents...
Bangladesh: Indigenous or Not Indigenous, That Is The Question
In recent months many Bangladeshi indigenous people have taken the streets holding meetings, human chains and rallies, demanding constitutional recognition of their identity. Bloggers also voice their opinions on this issue.
Haiti: Revered Flag Maker Dies
Repeating Islands acknowledges the passing of “Silva Joseph, a highly regarded Vodou flag maker…in the tradition of BelAir’s famous flag artists, such as Tibout, Joseph Fortine and Luc Daniel Cedor.”
Dominica: Rains Cause River to Break Bank
NewsDominica.com reports on the latest damage caused by persistent heavy rains on the island.
Cuba: Internet Restrictions
Uncommon Sense says that despite the arrival of “an underwater cable reached Cuba from Venezuela” designed to improve Internet access to the island, ” the regime has intensified its control of the Internet, restricting government employees’ access to Facebook and on networks that provide ‘illegal’ e-mail accounts.”
Iran: Islamic Republic's problem with ‘Chat’ and ‘Facebook’
Islamic Republic's Interior Minister Mostafa Najar called [fa] Facebook, satellites and chatting, instruments used by western countries’ soft war against Iranian regime.
South Korea: 35 Million Users’ Information Leaked in Cyber Attack
Thirty-five million Koreans’ information stored in the South Korean portal site Nate and Cyworld, was hacked in cyber attack from China. One net user from Daum Agora website blamed [ko] Nate's default setting in checking emails- reading the emails without preview function- for involuntarily opening doors to mass hacker attacks.
Armenia: The Barber of Ashtarak
Ianyan pays a visit to Ashtarak, a small city just outside Yerevan, the Armenian capital, and a local barber's shop. The blog posts photographs and a brief account of the experience.
China: Wen Jiabao in bed for 11 days?
Jing Gao from The Ministry of Tofu questions the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's statement in the press conference of the Wenzhou train crash that he was ill and in bed for 11 days. According to the records (in snapshots) of official newspapers, Wen had been active in meeting foreign visitors...
Vietnam: More than 500 Attended Barcamp Saigon
The fourth Barcamp in Saigon was held last Sunday, July 24, at RMIT International University in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It was the biggest Barcamp in Saigon in terms of attendance.
