Stories from 17 November 2011
Palestine: Freedom Riders Challenge Israeli Segregation
On November 15 a group of Palestinian activists were arrested while travelling on a bus carrying Israeli settlers. The activists called themselves the “Freedom Riders”, after the American civil rights campaigners of 1961.
Colombia: Students Suspend Strike in Public Universities
Starting November 17, 2011 students from public universities [es] are gradually returning to class, after the strike that had started last October 11, 2011. This decision was announced on November 16 by the National Student Board (MANE) [es] -and published in their blog- in response to the government fulfilling its...
Argentina: New Foreign Exchange Controls
At the end of October 2011 the Argentine government launched a series of regulatory measures designed to control foreign exchange. The country's bloggers comment on and analyse the measures, which aim to slow the inflationary tendency of the US dollar against the peso.
United States: Unexpected Eviction of Occupy Wall Street Protest
On the morning of November 15, New Yorkers woke up to news that police forces had evicted Occupy Wall Street protesters from Zuccotti Park without prior notice. As usual, various opinions continue to circulate in the blogosphere and social networks.
India: A Murder Convict's Parole Stirs Up Controversy
The Delhi High Court's decision to grant parole to Mr. Manu Sharma - currently serving life imprisonment for the murder of Jessica Lal - has led to public outrage in India. Netizens are engaged in heated discussions online on this issue.
Brazil: Toxic Documentary on the Amazon
Brazilian journalist Felipe Milanez (@felipedjeguaka) published [pt, en] a documentary about the Amazon in the series Toxic – “the various ways in which we detonate our planet” – of the Vice website. The documentary features the environmental activist Zé Claudio Ribeiro da Silva who was killed in May 2011.
Cape Verde: Delicious Blogging on Local Gastronomy
Would you like to try the Cape Verdean famous dish, cachupa? Odair Varela explains the process of preparation in a photopost [pt]. For more on gastronomy from Cape Verde, visit the blog CV Na Pontu [pt].
Korea: Benetton's New Ad Campaign Features World Leaders Kissing
Italian clothing giant Benetton is getting heat for its ad images of world leaders locking lips with their rivals or enemies, such as an image of President Obama kissing his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao. Robert from the Marmot's Hole blog commented on a photo-shopped image of South Korean President smooching...
Cuba: The Freedom of Twitter
“Mariela Castro, the daughter of Cuban dictator Raul Castro, opened a Twitter account recently to freely share her thoughts 140 characters at a time”: babalu says that the micro-blogging service has made “Mariela [get] a taste of freedom — not her own freedom, but the freedom of other Cubans to...
Barbados: Thoughts on “Un-Hating”
Skip to Malou* is taken with the new Benetton ad campaign, saying: “Love it or hate it, I'm blogging about this…because I see it as a creative way to bring across some strong, thought provoking messages…poking at very sensitive, serious issues in a light hearted way.”
Cuba: Filmic Propaganda
babalu notes that “ScreenJunkies.com has chosen the Castro propaganda classic ‘I am Cuba’ as one of the top five blatantly lying propaganda films of all time.”
Cuba: Walking the Streets
Generation Y blogs about Tony, a street vendor who “has passed through all the stages of the emerging private sector in Cuba” and wonders, even in this period of entrepreneurial “revival”, “why [it] has to be plagued with so many absurdities, so many limitations.”
Jamaica: Lessons from “Occupy” Protests
Pray, laugh, love! says that there are valuable business lessons to be learned from the the Occupy Wall Street protests: “Ultimately…the protestors would’ve been able to call public attention to their plight and send a very strong message to corporations that enough is enough. Importantly, it shows what can happen...
Cameroon: A Cameroonian Artist in London
Commenting on an exhibition organized by Illy, an Italian coffee maker in London, bonaberi.com blog reports that [fr] : “The Cameroonian Alioum Moussa takes part in the exhibition as he was requested to design one of the new boxes of Illy [coffee]. “
Cameroon: 5th International Festival of Fulani Arts and Tradition
The Bilitol fulfude association is organizing the 5th international festival of Fulani arts and tradition [fr] from December 8th to December 11th 2011. The festival will take place at Yagoua, a region of the far east Cameroon. The program has scheduled the following events: “educational discussions, […] traditional games, traditional...
New Caledonia: Controversy around the 1988 Ouvéa Hostage Taking Movie
French filmmaker Mathieu Kassovitz's movie “L'ordre et la morale” (“Order and morality”), that recounts the tragic 1988 hostage taking at the Ouvéa cave, is not welcome in New Caledonia. The blog Ecran Noir (‘Black Screen’) describes the local controversy around the film's release, here and here [fr]. After New Caledonia's one and...
Europe: A Song Criticizing Schengen Visa Procedure
At BlogActiv.eu, Kader Sevinc writes about “a creative way of criticizing the Schengen visa procedure” – Schengen Macht Frei, a song by Sarp Yeletaysi/Sarpinto, who writes this on SoundCloud: “[…] This song is the product of many visits to embassies of European countries to obtain a visa which is a...
France: A tribute to Author Hubert Nyssen
French writer and publisher Hubert Nyssen [fr], who founded the publishing house Actes Sud, died on Nov. 12. 2011. Among the many tributes to this lover of foreign litteratures and eulogist of translation as a form of art, one can find Sabrina's post that retraces [fr] his biography, an unabridged version...
China: Suicide Civil Servants in Depression or ‘Being Depressed'?
It is well-known that ordinary people who petition against injustice and corruption have been diagnosed as having mental illnesses in China. Recently, a similar diagnosis, this time depression, has been given to civil servants and government officials who have committed suicide.
