Stories from 29 December 2011
Indonesia: Activist Dies After Self-Immolation in Front of Palace
Indonesian bloggers have been discussing whether activist Sondang Hutagalung, who burned himself to death in front of the state palace, is a hero or a reckless man.
Iran:Blocking the Strait of Hormuz
Iran has warned that the country could block the Strait of Hormuz if sanctions are imposed on its exports of crude oil. Filternet1 writes[fa] if Iran blocks the Strait of...
Africa: 12 Predictions for Africa’s Tech Scene in 2012
Read Mbwana Ally's 12 predictions for Africa's tech scene in 2012: “New models of mobile money will be explored that are less dependent on mobile operators, such asPagatech in Nigeria,...
Ghana: Azonto Dance Craze Goes Global
A Ghanaian dance called Azonto is making waves around the world and threatening to spawn its own YouTube industry as dance enthusiasts try to out do each other by posting...
Africa: African Arguments Online
African Arguments Online is “a multi-blogging site that covers both contemporary African events as they unfold, and develops debates on themes we believe are centrally important to an ever-changing continent.”
Kyrgyzstan: Ravshan Jeenbekov and the Facebook Generation
Of all the divides in Kyrgyzstan’s fractious political society, one too often overlooked is the divide between generations. Unlike the famed North/South schism, which manifests itself in elections and street-protests,...
China: Dairy Company's Website Hacked by Angry Netizens
The latest round of tainted milk scandals broke out last week in China. The country's biggest dairy producer, Mengniu Dairy Co., admitted that some of its milk products contained aflatoxin...
Bangladesh:Hot Air Balloon Show in Dhaka
On 28th December, a hot air balloon show was held in Dhaka. In this context, photojournalist Monirul Alam discussed the history of hot air balloons.
Pakistan: Childhood Joys – Then and Now
Rabia Tirmizey at The Paradigm House points out that the meaning of joy and happiness has changed tremendously for kids in Pakistan and even the bar for happiness has risen....
Egypt: A Letter from Maikel Nabil
No Military Trials for Civilians, a collective blog aimed at raising awareness about the military trial of civilians in Egypt, publishes a must read post by jailed Egyptian blogger Maikel...
India: Looking Back on 2011
Shashi Shekhar at Offstumped looks back on the year 2011 and finds that it has been anything but predictable.
Pakistan: On the Construction of Contemporary Pakistani National Identity
Masood Ashraf Raja at The Pakistan Forum feels that unless Pakistan takes a critical look at its political history and restructures it's national narrative, it will continue to remain a...
Cape Verde: The Musical Legacy of Cesária Évora
After the death of Cesária Évora, symbol of Cape Verdean music, on December 17, there was an abundance of tributes and declarations by her faithful audience from almost every corner of the globe. With the singer and Cape Verde in the spotlight, the blogosphere discussed who might take her place as musical spokeswoman for the country.
India: A Letter to the Home Minister, Protesting Forced Eviction
William Gomes writes an open letter to the Union Home Minister, Mr.P.Chidambaram, protesting against the recent police action against campaigners who were holding a protest rally demanding the repeal of...
China: Dream and Reality
Jing Gao from Ministry of Tofu translated a local feature story on Chinese photographer Fan Shunzan's photo series, How Much Time Does the Reality Allow For A Dream. In the...
China telecommunications market
Tricia wang discusses about the anti-monopoly infringement investigation against the China Telecom and its implications on the China telecommunications market.
Italy: African workers renew their call for open dialogue
Following the murder of two Senegalese men in Florence, Italy, migrant African workers released an open letter on the web [it] to renew their call for dialogue with citizens of...
Colombia: Salsa Song Criticizes Bus Rapid Transport System
A salsa song and video documents the suffering that travelling in the Transmilenio public transportation system of Bogota represents for its users.
Macedonia: Twitter Hashtag for Prime Minister – #Ж
The Macedonian Twitter community is using the hashtag #Ж (uppercase of the Cyrillic letter romanized as Zh or Ž) as the shortcut symbol referring to the Macedonian PM. Filip Stojanovski explains why.
Macedonia: Health System Software Vendor Lock-in
Novica Nakov warned [mk] that the state discriminates against users of operating systems like GNU/Linux or Mac OS X, purporting vendor lock-in by forcing medical doctors to use the latest...
Macedonia, Greece, Turkey: Bridging the Divides Through Multilingual Reporting
Two recent initiatives by civic-minded journalists added value to the e-content in local languages from Macedonia and nearby countries: Diversity Media is offering news analysis through text and audio podcasts...
