Stories from 27 March 2012
Russia: Kenyans at Pro-Putin Rally Identified As Moscow Circus Acrobats
A month ago, the video of a group of anonymous Kenyan men, who allegedly participated in a pro-Putin rally, received much attention on the RuNet. One blogger recognized the Kenyans as the acrobats who had been brought to Moscow by the Russian circus authorities, to hone their skills and have them later perform here.
Georgia: Anti-discriminatory legislation ahead of Armenia, Azerbaijan
Unzipped: Gay Armenia comments on the passage of legislation in Georgia outlawing discrimination based on ethnicity, gender, age, and political as well as religious views. The blog notes that the inclusion of sexual orientation makes Georgia “clearly the most advanced country in the South Caucasus in terms of legislative provisions...
Trinidad & Tobago: Divisive Politics
The Eternal Pantomime is critical of what she considers to be divisive politics on the part of the ruling government, which “has also sought to promulgate the good old colonial stand-by practice of divide and rule to ensure that it keeps its party base solidly behind it and in support of all...
Trinidad & Tobago: Bloggers Question Relevance of “Congress of the People”
The Congress of the People began as a break-away party from the United National Congress, but the two entities came together to contest the 2010 parliamentary elections - and won. But with the recent defection of San Fernando Mayor Marlene Coudray to the UNC camp, two political bloggers in Trinidad and Tobago are questioning the continued viability of the Congress of the People as a separate entity.
Mexico: Protests and Celebrations Mark Pope Benedict's Visit
On the streets and via social networks, Mexicans celebrated as well as protested (even with nudity) the pastoral visit of the Pope of the Catholic Church, Benedict XVI, to Guanajuato from March 23 to 26, 2012.
Senegal: The Provisional Tally of the Presidential Elections
The provisional tally of the second round of the presidential elections were published on March 27: The incumbent candidate Abdoulaye Wade is projected to have obtain 999,556 votes which is about 34.2% of the votes. Macky Sall was elected with about 1,909,244 votes which amount to 65.8%. The percentage of...
India: Young Women Learning About Participatory Video
A group of young women in the slums of Hyderabad in India are learning how to make videos to change their communities, and in this next film the group of young girls explain what they've learned and how they are helping their communities and themselves through their work.
Philippines: Government Fails to Stop ‘Noynoying’
What started as a substitute to the now banned planking protests is now the latest hit sensation in the Philippines. Filipino netizens discuss how and why the 'Noynoying' protest has gained its present popularity despite efforts by the government to stop it.
Malawi: Meet Malawi's Most Followed Lawyer on Facebook
Facebook has become one of the main platforms for updates and socio-political discussions in Malawi. For example, Malawian lawyer Wapona Kita broke the news of the arrest of Malawi's prominent lawyer and activist Ralph Kasambara in February on his Facebook page. The mainstream media had to follow his Facebook updates to keep their readers, listeners and viewers informed.
Armenia: Ushahidi deployed for parliamentary elections
Georgia was the first country in the South Caucasus to deploy a bespoke crowd-sourcing and crisis mapping platform for its local elections in May 2010, but Armenia will be the first to use Ushahidi to monitor the conduct of national elections in the form of the upcoming May 2012 parliamentary...
Cuba: Pope Benedict XVI Takes a Glance at Cuba's Future
Pope Benedict XVI's arrival at the western province Santiago de Cuba placed the Caribbean nation at the Twitter Trending Topics. Blogs and social media are raging with netizen's opinions on the Pope's visit to the island.
China: A New Collective Blog
Dan Harris from China Law Blog introduced a new collective blog: rectified.name in the Chinese blogosphere.
China: A Titanic Nation
Chinese cartoonist Perverted Pepper posted a political cartoon in which a throng of ordinary Chinese waves goodbye to a large red ship called “Titanic” at Sina Weibo. The drawing was quickly deleted and China Media Project has saved a copy.
Chile: Twitter Debates Therapeutic Abortion While the Senate Waits
While the senate continues to postpone the debate over the legalization of therapeutic abortion, the exchanging of opinions has continued unabated in Chilean cyberspace, most noticeably following two televised debates on the subject.
