Stories from 5 October 2011
Colombia: Expouniversidad 2011 in Medellín
The University of Antioquia and Colciencias (Administrative Department of Science, Technology and Innovation) [es], together with other organizations, have opened the sixth version [es] of Expouniversidad 2011 [es] (Sep.29 to Oct.7) in Medellín [es] to promote learning and to show advances in projects related to science, technology and innovation in...
India: The Advent Of $45 Tablet PCs
Aakash, the world's cheapest Tablet PC ($45), has been launched in India, reports Anupam Saxena. The government plans to distribute 10 million tablet PCs to post-secondary students in India.
Russia: Links to Vasily Grossman's Works and Other Resources
The Faculty Of Useless Knowledge writes about Vasily Grossman's novel Life and Fate, which has recently been dramatized for BBC Radio 4. Sarah J. Young posts a selection of links to resources on Grossman and his works.
Pakistan: Why Balochistan is Burning?
Zain Khattak at Chowrangi explains that the intolerance and disturbance in Balochistan are the result of non-democratic attitudes towards the province.
Ukraine: Interview With Author Vasyl Shklyar
Brian Spadora‘s RFE/RL interview with the Ukrainian novelist Vasyl Shklyar – who “has attracted a lot of attention in Ukraine this year both for his bestselling novel, Black Raven, as well for the statements he’s made against the erosion of freedoms that has taken place under President Viktor Yanukovych” –...
Sri Lanka: Media Silenced
Sunanda Deshapriya reports that the police in Moratuwa forced a video cameraman from a private television station to erase a video recording of people protesting the death of a suspect in police custody.
Ukraine: Anti- and Pro-Tymoshenko Camps on Khreshchatyk
Alexander Motyl of Ukraine's Orange Blues writes about the pro- and anti-Yulia Tymoshenko camps thathave for months occupied the block near the court where the ex-PM is being tried. According to this article [uk] in Ukrainska Pravda, people recruited to wave flags from early morning till around 8PM at the...
Pakistan: The Militant Heroes
Malik Siraj Akbar reports that the widely read Urdu newspapers in Pakistan are repeatedly glorifying Punjab governor Salman Taseer’s murder and are depicting the murderer, who has been sentenced to death, as a “hero”.
Ukraine: “Tension is Growing”
Foreign Notes reviews Ukraine's relationship with Gazprom prior to Yulia Tymoshenko's 2009 deal (“for which she may be jailed for seven years”); quotes economist and politician Oleksandra Kuzhel on the conditions in which small- and medium-sized Ukrainian businesses have found themselves in; and writes about the expensive watches “so beloved...
Russia: State-Funded Blogging School Opens in Chelyabinsk
Svetlana Gladkova of Profy comments on the launch of the first public blogging school in Chelyabinsk, Russia: “This state-funded not-for-profit nature of the school is particularly interesting because it looks like the authorities in Russia have not only realized the power of social media but have decided to influence it...
Brazil: Digital Storytelling from a Squatted Building in Sao Paulo
Ipiranga 895 [pt] is the address of a squatter settlement [pt] in a São Paulo building that was occupied for less than two months, from October 3, 2010, until the police followed a court order to evict more than 1,000 homeless people. It is now the virtual address of a...
Ethiopia: People As Tourist Attraction
When people become a tourist attraction: “When my girlfriend and I decided to go there [South Omo, Ethiopia] in the first place it wasn’t just because we are expecting to see beautiful animals – but also exotic people. These are people who can attract tourists with their life style.”
Sudan: Concern Grows About Detained Sudanese Writer
Concern grows about detained Sudanese writer and activist: “There’s been no word of Abdelmoniem Rahma, a poet and political activist, since he was arrested a month ago. Rahma was close to the ousted governor of Blue Nile State, Malik Agar, and involved in the arts.”
Ethiopia: Personal Tribute to Veteran Actor and Political Activist
Prof. Mesfin Wolde-Mariam pays a personal tribute to Debebe Eshetu, a veteran actor and political activist, who was imprisoned a month ago on charges of ties to terrorism: “His onetime prison inmate, Prof. Mesfin says that Debebe is a wonderful and kind person who hates any kind of terrorism act.”
Ethiopia: Miss Ethiopia Website Launched
Miss Ethiopia website launched, Arefe reports: “A new Miss Ethiopia website providing all the latest official information on the upcoming Miss Ethiopia 2011 beauty pageant was launched recently.”
Malawi: Who Murdered Robert Chasowa?
Mabvuto Jobani says that Malawian police know the people who were involved in the death of Robert Chasowa – a fourth year engineering student at the university of Malawi: “Two Blantyre police officers who asked for anonymity told me that so far two theories have emerged as to why he...
Bahrain: 15 Year Jail Sentences for Medics Who Treated Protesters
Bahrain has sentenced several doctors to 5-15 years in prison, accusing them of a range of crimes including stockpiling weapons at the country's main hospital - charges the doctors and international organisations say are fabricated.
Cuba, Jamaica: “Them is Russians Too”
“The totalitarian regime in Cuba seeks to rewrite its past to give the appearance of being relevant and ‘with it'”: Notes from the Cuban Exile Quarter uses an upcoming homage concert to Bob Marley to prove his point, saying: “The best way Cubans can honor Bob Marley is to get...
Jamaica: A Proud Black History
It's Black History Month in the UK and Kei Miller turns on its head “those tired statements of black pride – how, for instance, we are the sons and daughters of kings and queens”, saying: “It seems so banal…it betrays such a lack of imagination. Me… I’d rather imagine other...
Brazil: Mobilization on Twitter Takes Down Pedophile Blog
Following wide mobilization in social media, Brazilian netizens managed to take down a pedophile blog in a matter of hours after the first alert was made on Twitter, on the morning of Monday, October 3.
Mauritania: Black Mauritanians Fear for their Citizenship as Census Proceeds
Bakari Guèye in Magharebia reports that the city of Kaedi erupted into violence on September 24 and 30, 2011, because the black community feared that the census would be used as a discriminatory tool to relegate them to second class citizen status. Babacar Justin Ndiaye explains that only Black Mauritanians...
