Stories from 12 October 2011
Colombia: Outrage at Conservative Politician over Remarks about Rape and Abortion
On Tuesday October 11, Conservative politician Enrique Gómez Hurtado's statements about abortion caused outrage among Colombian Twitter users. Gómez supports a legislative act to reform an article in the Constitution in order to outlaw abortion under all circumstances.
Italy: “Wiretapping Bill” could drastically limit freedom of information
The Italian Parliament is about to vote on a very stringent “wiretapping Bill” [it] aimed at drastically limiting judicial investigations and journalism inquiries, thus blocking free speech about new scandals exposing top-level politicians, as many of such cases keep emerging. After a recent “strike” by Wikipedia Italy [it] and a...
Malawi: Death of a Student Activist and a Campaign of Terror
Early on the morning of Saturday September 24, a University of Malawi Polytechnic student was found lying stiff on a paved surface, next to a pool of blood. His name was Robert Chasowa, a student activist, and he was dead.
Uruguay Celebrates its Bicentennial
This year Uruguay is celebrating the bicentennial of its "emancipation process". Events to commemorate the beginning of the country's independence struggle have been scheduled to take place throughout the year.
Russia: LiveJournal Loses 23 Percent of the Audience in 2011
Vedomosti analyses [ru] serious drop (23-25 percent in 2011) in LiveJournal traffic. While most analytics agree that the decrease is connected to DDoS attacks on the RuNet's main political platform as well as interface improvements in Facebook and Google+, LiveJournal representative explain the negative dynamics with ‘summer seasonal prevalence.’
Tunisia: A Message to Morocco's February 20 Movement
Moroccan blogger Hisham Almiraat shares a video with a message to the February 20 Movement. Watch how bloggers from around the world tell them – Mamfakinch, which means don't give up the fight, in the Moroccan dialect. The video was shot during the Third Arab Bloggers meeting, which ended in...
Egypt: Mourning the Heros of Maspero's Battle
Egyptians are pulling together after a bout of violence at the state television building Maspero, engineered to pit Muslim against Christian and vice versa. Nermeen Edrees sums up netizens' reactions.
Myanmar: Release of Several Political Prisoners
Eleven Media reported that several political prisoners in Myanmar like Ko Thu Ya (Famous Comedian), Ko Ko Gyi (San Chaung), Monks from 2007 Saffron Revolution and members of opposition party NLD have been released this morning.
China: Fundraising for Documentary on Kidnapped Children
Living with Dead Hearts is a documentary film about the search for China's kidnapped children. The director is now trying to raise money to finish up the film. The trailer is available here.
China: Bean-Dregs Boat
One of the poorest city in western China, Lanzhou city, spent RMB 17 million on building a luxury boat which sank on its launch day in the Yellow River. (ChinaSMACK has translated the story and netizens’ reactions)
China: Knockoff World Architecture
Annie Lee from China Hush translated a local feature story about a village along Yangtze River. The rich village has recreated some of the most famous architectures for tourist amusement.
Puerto Rico: Mima at the University
The music blog Puerto Rico Indie [es] has posted a collection of photos of the concert [es] that indie singer Mima [es] offered last October 5 at the theater of the University of Puerto Rico to present her latest album, “El Pozo.”
Puerto Rico: “Teatro Breve” on the Net
The group of actors and comedians “Teatro Breve” (literally, Brief Theater) has a new house [es] on the net where fans can find videos, photos, and news of their presentations.
Puerto Rico: The Occupy Movement is Here
Puerto Rico has joined the “Occupy Movement” [es] that has been spreading in many cities around the world, and they will start their occupation this Saturday, October 15, when a worldwide protest is planned to take place.
