Stories from 18 January 2012
Iran: Women activist shot dead in Texas
A Texas Medical Center student and Iranian women activist was shot dead on Monday in Houston. Gelareh Bagherzadeh was driving her car when she was shot. Authorities said it is unknown what prompted the shooting. Iranians users are showing concerns over this murder in Balatarin, an Iranian link-sharing website.
Spain: Electricity Cut Off for one School in Alicante
Power was cut off [ca] for 800 pupils in a secondary school in Alicante due to outstanding payments. The Valencian Community is currently mired in financial difficulties after years of extravagant spending. MPs Esther López Barceló [ca] from the United and Alternative Left and Mireia Mollà [ca] from the Coalicío...
Latin American Sites and Bloggers Protest PIPA and SOPA
Several Latin American blogs like SitioCero [es], alt1040 [es], and Sentidos Comunes [es] have joined the online protests against U.S. anti-piracy bills SOPA and PIPA. Some are speaking out against similar local laws, like the bloggers behind the Mexican blog network Indie Weblogs [es]. Popular series and film site Cuevana.tv...
Turkey: Hrant Dink Murder Trial Closes
Five years and 25 hearings later, the trial to convict those responsible for the murder of Hrant Dink, a Turkish-Armenian journalist, has come to a close.
Guatemala: Child Labor in the Sugar Cane Fields
The recent investigation done by journalists of Plaza Publica in Guatemala has uncovered how government authorities, although legally having to prevent child labor, allow children under 14 years of age to work in their cane fields, a physically demanding and dangerous work.
Sudan: Sudanese Activist, Alim Boushi, Freed from Prison
A case that Sudanese bloggers have been highlighting in recent days, indicating the current repressive state of affairs in Sudan, is the arrest of the Sudanese political activist and engineer Mohamed Hassan Alim, nicknamed Boushi.
Myanmar: Freed Blogger's First Post
Myanmar Blogger Nay Phone Latt, who was released on January 13th along with other prominent political prisoners after being imprisoned for 4 years, wrote his first blog post about his experience in prison.
Philippines: Historical Site Restoration
Mark Segador documents the efforts to restore the now decaying historical sites in Iloilo City, Philippines.
Philippines: Mass Movement and Pop Songs
Vencer Crisostomo looks at last year's mass movement high points in the Philippines through the lens of western pop songs.
Cuba: Whither Gay Rights?
While Havana Times reports that Raul Castro's daughter “hopes the upcoming January 28 conference of the country’s communist party will help end the stalemate around a draft law intended to grant rights to transsexuals and homosexuals on the island”, babalu counters: “While…Mariela Castro, is busy jetting around the world promoting...
Caribbean: Solidarity with SOPA Protest
A few regional bloggers have joined “the largest online protest in history”, against the proposed PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), here, here, here and here.
Trinidad & Tobago: “Disturbing” Laws
Globewriter points out some “strange and disturbing laws” that are still on the books in Trinidad and Tobago, saying: “Yes, T&T can’t deal with LGBT rights but it is so on the ball for child marriage rights.”
Cuba: Hunger Striking Prisoner Close to Death
Cuban bloggers are concerned that there could be a repeat of what happened to political prisoner Orlando Zapata Tamayo, and draw attention to the plight of Wilman Villar Mendoza, who “has been on hunger strike since November, when he was arrested and sentenced to 4 years in prison for the...
Bermuda: Lack of Political Dialogue
politics.bm thinks that tIt speaks volumes about the PLP's interest in informed dialogue that two brief fact based and civil comments that I posted on their Facebook page were deleted and I was removed from the page entirely…not all comments were deleted. Only those that didn't echo the official line.”
Trinidad & Tobago: Sidestepping Motherhood
Suszanna.com explains why she thinks kids may be overrated.
Iran: Iranian site is striking against censorship in U.S.A
Amsterdam based Iranian Arseh Sevom site is striking against SOPA and PIPA which seek to deploy online censorship and surveillance in the name of enforcing copyright, employing the same tools used by authoritarian regimes. Arseh Sevom promotes civil society in Iran.
Iran: Golshifteh Farahani posed nude for Le Figaro
Madame Le Figaro published a nude photo of Golshifteh Farahani, Iranian actress based in Paris, and there has been a huge interest and reactions to this quite rare photo on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks. In a few hours the photo received more than thousands of comments and likes...
Costa Rican Blogs Protest SOPA and PIPA
Ticoblogger [es], a network of Costa Rican blogs, has joined the global protests against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect-IP Act (PIPA). Ticoblogger blogs like Ciencia Ficción [es], Carepicha [es], and El Infierno en Costa Rica [es] posted a message against the U.S. bills and “censored” part...
Iran: More web activists got arrested
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says [fa] Iran has arrested two web activists last week; Mohammad SoleimaniNia, who “hosts and manages websites of many Iranian civil society communities and intellectuals and manager of Persian literature website sokhan.com”, and Simin Nematollahi “Majzooban.org, the website of Iranian Gonabadi dervishes”.
Iran: Second blogger arrested in Tehran
Iranian authorities arrested Marzieh Rasouli, journalist and blogger, last night in Tehran. She writes stories and narrations of her daily life in ‘3 Rouz Pish’ [fa]. This is the second arrest of a blogger in a couple of days in Tehran. Parastoo Dokouhaki, blogger and journalist, was arrested on Sunday.
Nicaragua: Telecom Company CLARO Censors Clients
The perseverance of Nicaragua's internet community through social networks in denouncing the censorship act by CLARO Nicaragua was the reason the company stopped stonewalling and lifted the access block on the website claroqueno.com.
