21 December 2011

Stories from 21 December 2011

Pakistan: Politics 2.0

Over the last couple of days, people in Karachi were overwhelmed to receive a 30-second phone call from the famous politician Imran Khan inviting them to a political event. Teeth...

21 December 2011

Nepal: Social Media Diplomacy

The US Ambassador to Nepal, Scott H DeLisi, is very active in Facebook and he comments: “Social media have changed the way the Embassy does business.” Read Ujjwal Acharya's post...

21 December 2011

Armenia-Azerbaijan: Garlic Wars

With tensions high between Armenia and Azerbaijan as a result of a still unresolved territorial dispute, the appearance of Azerbaijani garlic in Armenian supermarkets has made some local media hysterical.

21 December 2011

Egypt: Free Maikel Nabil Sanad – A Prisoner of Conscience

When Egyptians took to the streets at the start of their revolution last January, their chant “The People and the Army are One Hand!” was heard around the world. Today, after the army turned its guns on citizens, netizens are remembering the words of one blogger who had warned that the army and the people were never one hand. This is the story of Maikel Nabil Sanad.

21 December 2011

Cuba: thinking about the film festival

Havana Times asks whether the Havana Film Festival has strayed from its original ideals — “Much has happened since its inception in 1978, since which time its revolutionary and emancipatory...

21 December 2011

Syria: A Christmas Massacre

More than 250 Syrians have been killed over the past two days, sending shock waves around the world. Reports of “horrific massacres” come from the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC), which has urged the Arab League to condemn the killings and the United Nations to take measures to protect civilians. Netizens react to the crimes being committed against Syrian civilians under the Twitter hash tag #ChristmasMassacre

21 December 2011

Kuwait: Stateless Protesters Attacked for Demanding Rights

Arrests, beatings and harassment face protesters championing for the rights of 100,000 stateless in Kuwait, struggling to have the rights to documents, education, health care, employment, and most importantly naturalization. Mona Kareem takes a look at protests over the past few days in Kuwait and the police crackdown that followed.

21 December 2011

Mauritania: Bloggers Call for the Boycott of Government-Sponsored Conference

Mauritania announced plans it would host Arab bloggers and activists involved in Arab revolutions in its capital Nouakchott. Its bloggers have joined forces to call on their Arab counterparts to boycott the event which is being organised by a military regime, which bans protests in the country, to embellish its image. They also remind activists that their country's regime has stood against Arab revolutions, in support of Gaddafi in Libya and Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

21 December 2011

China: Qingdao's Real Estate Bubble

Steven Dickinson argues that China's real estate market has bursted by sharing his observations in Qingdao, where new residential real estate projects in have fallen an average of 30% within...

21 December 2011

Peru: Racism Debated on Social Networks

A recent incident at a Lima movie theater has turned a spotlight on the issue of racism. Netizens are commenting on this and other similar incidents and on the bigger issue of racism in a multicultural society like Peru.

21 December 2011