1 September 2011

Stories from 1 September 2011

Bangladesh: Overcrowded Trains

  1 September 2011

Photojournalist Monirul Alam posts an amazing picture and a video of people traveling home in overcrowded trains to celebrate eid festival in Bangladesh.

Jamaica: Block on Ad for Acceptance of Gay Family Members

  1 September 2011

Jamaican broadcasters are refusing to publish a public service ad produced by The Jamaica Forum for Lesbians, All-sexuals and Gays (J-FLAG) encouraging Jamaicans to accept homosexual family members. In this post, three bloggers, Annie Paul, Kathy Stanley and Kei Miller, share their thoughts.

Ethiopia: Tsegay’s Historical Plays Published

  1 September 2011

Four historical plays of the acclaimed playwright and poet Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin are now available in a book form: “Poet, dramatist, translator, anthropologist, activist and social critic, Tsegaye is regarded by many as a major figure in Ethiopian letters.”

Kenya: The Terrible Truth About Kenyan Drivers

  1 September 2011

Learn the terrible truth about Kenyan drivers from Luke: “The police are yet to release figures for this month but the old ghost of tragic road accidents seems to be rearing her ugly head yet again. Statistics for this year so far show that in Nairobi county alone 3 people...

Mexico: Fighting Drug Trafficking With ‘Magic Wands’

  1 September 2011

Blogger Juan Antonio [es] uses reliable sources to report on the situation of the GT200 in Mexico, a drug and explosive detector recognized as ineffective by several countries. Despite warnings from the British government, Mexico has spent more than 250 million pesos ($20 million USD) in these devices.  

Nicaragua: Blog Carnival to Focus on Migration

  1 September 2011

From September 1-10 Nicaraguan bloggers will participate in a blog carnival [es] focusing on the subject of migration. On the carnival's site you can find a directory [es] of the participating blogs. You can also follow the carnival on Facebook [es].

Mexico: ‘Twitter Terrorists’ Face up to 30 Years in Jail

  1 September 2011

“Gilberto Martínez Vera (@gilius_22) and María de Jesús Bravo Pagola (@maruchibravo) face up to 30-year jail terms for ‘terrorism and sabotage'”, Tim Johnson reports in his blog Mexico Unmasked, and explains: “The prosecutor accused the two of sowing panic last week […] by suggesting in tweets that gangsters were attacking...

Chile: Mapuche Youth in Ercilla Reach Agreement with Regional Government

  1 September 2011

Indigenous News reports that, “On Wedenesday, August 31st, the Mapuche youth who had been peacefully occupying the municipal government building in Ercilla signed a MOU (memorandum of understanding) with regional government officials. The MOU provided for increased Indigenous scholarships, an intercultural school and for continued dialogue on ending the militarization...

Trinidad & Tobago: Debate on SoE Tomorrow

  1 September 2011

KnowTnT.com says there are “a few things that [he'd] love to hear come up” when the State of Emergency comes up for debate in Parliament tomorrow: “The specific grounds on which the decision to declare a State of Emergency was based” and “the details of the planning for the period...

Dominica: Decriminalising Marijuana

  1 September 2011

“The obsession with ganja is almost consuming. In a country where there are so many more serious issues like abuse of women, child molestation, incest and petty crime, it doesn't seem to fit”: Caribbean Man makes a case for legalisation.

Trinidad & Tobago: Alice Yard Turns 5

  1 September 2011

This month, “Alice Yard will celebrate its fifth anniversary as an independent space for creative experiment.” See how they plan to celebrate the occasion, here.

Cuba: Distorted Voices

  1 September 2011

Pedazos de La Isla says that the Cuban government “has applied another form of censorship – manipulating voices coming out of cell phones”, a move “attributed to the fact that members of the resistance have been using their phones and Twitter messages to report and record many public protests which...

Nepal: Will The New Prime Minister Be Any Different?

  1 September 2011

Nepal has had three prime ministers in last four years and the promised new Constitution is nowhere near completion. Senior Maoist leader Dr. Baburam Bhattarai was sworn in as Nepal's 34th Prime Minister last week; netizens analyze whether he can be the change Nepal requires.