6 March 2012

Stories from 6 March 2012

Tanzania: Support Operation 365

  6 March 2012

Be part of Operation 365, a project idea from Marisa Ranieri who is taking her first post-graduate job as a high school teacher in Tanzania: “To defray some of the financial stress on my part, my hope is to have 365 different friends and family members donate $10 towards the...

Colombia: Celebrating Gabriel García Márquez's 85th Birthday on Facebook

  6 March 2012

Renowned Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez turns 85 today, March 6, 2012. Fundación Nuevo Periodismo Iberoamericano (“New Iberoamerican Journalism Foundation”, FNPI for its initials in Spanish, founded by García Márquez) has created a Facebook page dedicated to the author's 85th birthday, as the blog 233 Grados [es] reports. The Facebook...

Iran: ‘Crackdown on social network users’

  6 March 2012

Kheyzaran, an Iranian pro-government blogger based in Qom, says there has been a new wave of crackdown on Iranian users of social networks. He writes [fa] that in days before the parliamentary election, Iranian authorities have asked some users to ‘stop or reduce’ their online activities. In last 3 years and...

Russia: Sex, Women, Putin and Videos

RuNet Echo  6 March 2012

Young women calling on co-enthusiasts to rip off their clothes for Putin last summer, seemed to have disappeared from the scene. As the election season draws to a close in Russia, it is worth taking a look back at how that movement evolved, and how it inspired other women - both, for and against Putin - to get creative.

Cuba: Opposition Wants to Meet with Pope

  6 March 2012

“The recent months leading up to Pope Benedict’s visit to Cuba have been marked by state violence against peaceful dissidents”: Pedazos de la Isla reports that a former prisoner of conscience is calling on “all Cubans in and out of the island to pressure Pope Benedict XVI so that he...

Haiti: Demonstration over Shooting Death

  6 March 2012

Dying in Haiti blogs about a street demonstration in Cité Soleil, making a connection between how “violence and fear closes things down and people…can die easier from stupid deaths.”

Cuba: Communication Cut-Off

  6 March 2012

On the heels of a visit from the Archbishop of Havana, Uncommon Sense questions the motives behind “cut[ting] off all communication between [a political prisoner on hunger strike] and his family”.

East Timor: Nation Loses a Treasured Political Elder

  6 March 2012

Online tributes pour in after the loss of one of East Timor's political elders, known affectionately as "Grandfather". Francisco "Avó" Xavier do Amaral was the declarer of independence in 1975, and returned to a free East Timor to serve in the Constituent Assembly and parliament. He was a three-time candidate for president.

Armenia: Eurovision propaganda fiasco

Unzipped comments on a call by Armenian singers to boycott this year's annual Eurovision Song Contest in Baku, Azerbaijan. Armenia and Azerbaijan remain deadlocked in a conflict over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh and the call to boycott was ostensibly made in protest at the killing of an Armenian...

Madagascar: Protesting Endemic Poverty

  6 March 2012

Rivonala Razafison reports in Africa Review that “scores of Antananarivo residents wore black clothes to denounce poverty in the country”.  He adds that Madagascar has experienced over 10 different forms of protests since early January. The latest protest is still ongoing and was initiated by army officers of the CAPSAT, the same...

Mozambique: Time lapse viral video of storm over Maputo

  6 March 2012

This video of a storm arriving over the city of Maputo has gone viral on Youtube, with over 450,000 views in just a few short weeks. Statistics show greatest numbers of views in Mozambique, South Africa, Japan and Portugal. Mozambique has been hit by a number of cyclones in recent...

Brazil: Pay TV Giant Campaigns Against New Act

  6 March 2012

Act 12.485/1, approved by Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff on September 2011, establishing new rules for pay television, has already created controversy among satellite television providers, subscribers and independent producers. Satellite TV provider, SKY, created a campaign to end the act, and several people in the industry have not been pleased with it.