Stories from 20 June 2012
Caucasus: Photo Reports by a Belarusian Blogger
Ani Wandaryan (@GoldenTent) links to this photo report [ru] from Armenia by Anton Motolko, a photographer, blogger and traveller from Minsk, Belarus (LJ user toxaby, @Motolko). More of his photos [ru] – from Azerbaijan and from Georgia.
Belarus: Parliamentary Elections Set for Sept. 23
Transitions Online (TOL.org, @TransitionsMag) reports that the parliamentary elections in Belarus have been scheduled to take place on September 23 – and tweets this question: “Will they be (un)free and (un)fair?”
Nepal: Justice For Amar Bahadur Bam
Nepali worker Amar Bahadur Bam was wrongly accused and convicted for a crime in Dubai in 2003 and was tortured to give a false confession. He is currently on a death row and his family had no knowledge of him for years. Save Amar Bahadur is a Facebook campaign which...
St. Lucia: Our Own Stories
Nkrumah Lucien reviews Davina Lee's debut feature film The Coming of Org: “It is indeed important for us to tell more of our own stories, too reflect adequately on ourselves not to reproduce images of ourselves tailored by others and to steer away from cliché and the narrow uncritical Hollywood stereotypes.”
St. Lucia: Flower Festival
At “I and Iyanola”, Nkrumah Lucien completed a two-part blog post exploring the origins of Saint Lucia's flower festivals: “It is not that La Wòz and La Magwit cannot be made into an app…but that those practicing these traditions were not allowed the space and material conditions to allow them...
Costa Rica: The Need to Treat Computer and English “Illiteracy”
Costa Rica has a high literacy rate; but the blog Carepicha [es] argues that the country should also strive to increase computer and English-language “literacy”.
Kyrgyzstan: Cartoons Expose Ills of Patriarchal Society
The Kyrgyzstani art group ‘705’ [ru] has produced a number of hand-drawn animation films [ru] that criticize the conventions and norms of a patriarchal society. Domestic violence and the oppression of women in such a society are two big themes in these films.
Iran: Songs of Freedom
United4Iran, a non-profit organization campaigning for human rights in Iran has created an online music compilation designed to revive hope for freedom for Iranians.
Uruguay: Government Proposes to Decriminalize Sale of Marijuana
The government's attempts to decriminalize the controlled sale of marijuana have generated mixed reactions. The government presented its proposal as a security measure to prevent the consumption and trafficking of cocaine paste. Netizens quickly reacted to the news.
Turkmenistan: Lonesome Dictator Invites Opposition Parties to Form
Turkmenistan's president has recently pondered the creation of opposition political parties that would add an element of competition to the country's political system which is currently dominated by a single party. The Turkmen netizens remain largely skeptical about the possibility of genuine opposition parties being allowed to form and operate freely in the country.
Ghana: Implementing Electronic Surveillance Of Coastline
Ghana is implementing a vessel traffic management and information system (VTMIS) to provide electronic surveillance and monitoring of the entire coast of the country, Ghanaian blogger Seth reports.
Kenya: Online Reactions to the Killing of 6 Lions
Kenyans are reacting on Twitter at the news of the killing of 6 lions by residents of Kitengela a town near Nairobi in an apparent human wildlife conflict.The hashtags #Lion and #Kitengela are trending on Twitter.
Rediscovering Africa's ‘Forgotten’ History
Contrary to what former French President Sarkozy said in a speech in Dakar, the history of the African continent is full of rich civilisations and iconic characters. But this history is too often overlooked or ignored. Here you will find some reasons to rediscover Africa's history.
Cameroon: Officials’ Corrupt Behaviors
Salma Amadore, wrote [fr] about the bad habits of Cameroon officials, on blogitude.mondoblog.org: ” When they are assigned to another city, directors take it upon themselves to sell the TV, mobile phone (especially when it's a blackberry) and fridges that belong to the office. As for laptops, one director even bought...
Russia: Crowdsourcing Project for Finding Missing Children
The emergence of the search and rescue team Liza Alert followed Liza Fomkina's 2010 disappearance in the town of Orekhovo-Zuevo (about 50 miles east of Moscow). Compensating for the government's flawed response, volunteers united in order to ensure nothing like it would ever happen again.
Pakistan: Supreme Court Disqualifies Prime Minister
The Pakistani Supreme Court ruled that the Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani had been disqualified ever since April 26th, when it gave the final ruling on a contempt case imprisoning him for a few seconds. The popular sentiment was divided: some cheered and some termed it as a 'judicial coup'.
