Stories from 5 March 2012
Venezuela: Rumours About President Chávez's Health Continue
In Venezuela the rumours are far more numerous than reliable information, especially those surrounding the president. Since his cancer diagnosis made some months ago, opinions and forecasts have not stopped.
Republic Of Congo: After the Blasts, Anger and Solidarity
One day after the March 4 blasts in the ammunition depot in Mpila near Brazzaville, the time has come to assess the number of victims. Recent assessments vary from 150 to at least 200 people killed and 1,500 wounded.
Haze in Indochina
Thomas Wanhoff links to a satellite image showing the extent of smog and haze in Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos.
East Timor: Photos of Presidential Candidates
Sapo uploads photos of East Timor's presidential candidates in the campaign trail. More than 600,000 voters have registered for the elections this month
Colombia: President Santos’ Performance According to Gallup Polls
Jaime Restrepo Vásquez from the blog Atrabilioso [es] compares Gallup poll results for current President Juan Manuel Santos to figures during previous administrations. Specifically, Jaime looks at whether Colombians think...
Uruguay: Montevideo's “Comic House”
Blogger Fonzi from Con la cámara en el bolsillo [es] (“With a camera in my pocket”) posts images of a house in Montevideo with images of comics painted on its...
Mauritania: “Facebook is at the Center of the New E-Dissent”
In the wake of the Arab uprisings, the media often overlook Mauritania and its 3 million inhabitants - another country where dissent and social discontent are on the rise. Here is an interview with well-known Mauritanian Internet activist Nasser Weddady on the country's social media scene.
Trinidad & Tobago: Lack of Confidence
“The motion of no confidence in the Prime Minister has been defeated, arguably an outcome predetermined from the start based on the division of numbers in the Parliament”: Plain Talk...
Cuba: Diaspora, Las Damas & the Pope
More discussion about the Pope's visit to Cuba – Havana Times reports that members of the Cuban diaspora plan to come to the island “to participate in Masses that will...
Cuba: Freedom of Faith?
“The pope can go to Cuba, but that doesn't mean Cubans on the island are free to exercise their faith…”: Uncommon Sense blogs about the persecution of a Catholic activist.
Bermuda: Budget & Debt
Vexed Bermoothes thinks that the new budget “shows how quickly Bermuda’s economy is coming apart at the seams.”
Saudi Arabia: Tweeting AlBajady's Hunger Strike
Saudi netizens joined forces last night to tweet about the plight of Mohammed Albajady, a Saudi activist who has been imprisoned for a year with no charges and no fair trial and who has been on hunger strike in protest against his detention for almost two weeks. Mona Kareem charts some of the reactions online.
Macedonia: Animated Hitler Meme as a Free Resource
As a reaction to the corporate efforts to enact an even more draconian legislation and in response to the attempts of the distributor of the film Downfall to take down...
Macedonia: ‘Be a News Blogger’ Awards Announced
Diversity Media Production, a non-profit organization whose goal is to advance journalism, freedom of speech and democracy in Macedonia, has announced [en, mk, sq] the winners of the competition for...
MENA: Which Salafist Movie Would You Watch?
Iraqi Lebanese blogger Karl Sharro decided to start a new hashtag where people tweet movie names after putting a Salafist flavour into them. And like most of the humuorous hashtags, this one got spread in no time, when Twitter users in different Arab countries started using it.
Puerto Rico: “Why So Much Fear of an Image?”
Photojournalist Ricardo Alcaraz publicly denounced that the University of Puerto Rico censored one of his photos from a photo essay he was preparing for the 25th anniversary edition of the University's monthly newspaper Diálogo, where he has worked since its foundation. Dozens of people have republished the censored photo on their walls on Facebook and distributed the link to the 80grados story on Twitter. There has been an outpouring of solidarity and outrage.
Brunei: Monitoring the Eight Legislative Council
Brunei twitterers are using the hashtag #legco8 for updates on the Eight Legislative Council of the government.
Ghana: 2012 Burt Award for African Literature – Call for Submissions
2012 Burt Award for African Literature calls for submissions from Ghanaian authors: “The Ghana Book Trust and CODE, a Canadian NGO, have the pleasure to invite Ghanaian authors and publishers...
Azerbaijan: Singer-Activist calls for Eurovision Boycott
News and Noise! calls for a boycott of this year's Eurovision Song Contest in Azerbaijan by featuring an interview with activist and singer-song writer Cirttan (Azer Mamedov) seeking asylum in...
Armenia: Nationalist zombies and Hitler wannabes
Unzipped comments on the appearance of government-linked organizations with ultra-right wing tendencies and ideologies. The blog considers such groups to be “unacceptable and shameful.”
Hong Kong: What Can Be Done to Stop Birth Tourism from China?
One of the major conflicts between Hong Kong and China stems from birth tourism. According to official statistics, 95,337 babies were born in Hong Kong in 2011 and as much as 40% of babies' parents are birth tourists from Mainland China.
