Stories from 12 July 2012
Syria: Bloggers and Activists Rally to #FreeHussein
Syria's bloggers rallied again to campaign for yet another of their own in Syria's detention centers. After the #FreeBassel campaign about blogger and open source developer Bassel Safadi, bloggers and activists launched the #FreeHussein campaign to highlight the plight of blogger Hussein Ghrer.
Yemen: Another Suicide Blast Rocks Sanaa
As police cadets were leaving the Police Academy in Sanaa yesterday, July 11th, for their holiday, a suicide bomber detonated himself at the southern gate, killing nine and injuring 15. Netizens react to the attack.
Colombia: Film on the Afro-Colombian People in Theaters in August
The Colombian movie Chocó, on the life of an Afro-Colombian family in the coastal region of Chocó, which opened the Cartagena International Film Festival and was presented in the Berlinale...
Egypt: Remembering the Abbasiya Events
Egyptian blogger Wael Eskandar publishes an extensively documented report on “the most brutal military crackdown” for the last months. Preceeding the presidential elections in Egypt, the Abbasiya events were quickly...
Video: Worldwide One-Minute Environmental Film Contest Accepting Submissions
The 3rd Edition of the Tve Biomovies 1 minute environmental film competition has begun. Anyone above the age of 9 with a camera and an idea for a 1 minute video on environmental topics can participate to win a $300 award to produce their video and then compete to win a grand prize of $1500 and participation in the UN COP 18 Conference in November.
Russia: Caught Stealing Supplies from Flood Victims

The social documentary film makers behind “Srok” [ru] (“The Term”) have published footage [ru] on YouTube of two men who apparently tried to steal supplies from a collection point in Moscow at Vorob'evy...
Russia: Sveta from Ivanovo to NTV

NTV has announced [ru] that RuNet sensation and Nashi member Svetlana Kuritsyna will host a weekly TV show where she interviews Russia's “greatest newsmakers.” Kuritsyna is known online as “Sveta from...
Haiti: The New York Times reviews Haitian Television
What do people watch on TV around the world? Alessandra Stanley, the chief television critic of The New York Times is traveling to many different countries and through videos, she is...
Iran: 13- year- old girl banned from travel abroad
Several bloggers and a leading human rights site reported[fa] Mehraveh a political prisoner's daughter banned from travel abroad. Mehraveh is 13 years old and her mother, Nasrin Stoudeh, is a...
Togo: Prime Minister Gilbert Houngbo Resigns Ahead of the Elections
The Republic of Togo blog reports [fr] that Prime Minister Gilbert Houngbo resigned on July 11 to officially allow all political parties to be represented in the new government ahead of...
Mozambique: Has Social Media Killed Blogging?
On a short series of posts, professor Carlos Serra writes about some of the reasons why Mozambique's blogsphere is fading away. One reader comments that blogging requires a load of...
#TwitterEnCatalà Provokes Tweets of Joy and Hate
Thousands of Catalan-speaking netizens celebrated the fact that Twitter finally speaks their language. The hashtag #twitterencatalà quickly became a trending topic in Spain.
Ecuador: Juggling Work and Motherhood
In her blog Lunas Azules (“Blue Moons”), Silvana Tapia writes [es] about juggling work and motherhood. You can find more posts about parenting under a tag [es] in her blog...
Africa: Social Media Skills for African Youth With Disabilities
African youth with disability around the continent took part in a social media workshop in Dakar, Senegal early this month. The workshop was organized by Disability Right Initiative and Open Society Foundation, Haute Haiku reports.
Uganda: Remembering the 2010 Bomb Blasts
Ugandans have taken to Twitter and Facebook to remember the 2010 victims of bomb blasts at Kyaddondo Rugby Club and Ethiopian Village bar in Kampala Uganda. The attacks took place when soccer fans were watching the World Cup final between Spain and the Netherlands in South Africa.
Trinidad & Tobago: Blogosphere Responds to Turtle Crushing Incident
The news of leatherback turtle hatchlings being crushed by bulldozers on a beach in Trinidad this past weekend has garnered international media attention as well as concern in the blogosphere - but did mainstream or social media really have all the facts?
China: Shifang Government Goes From Angel to Satan in Crackdown?
Chinese bloggers try to understand why the Shifang government went from angel to satan by brutally and savagely cracking down on a peaceful week-long NIMBY (not-in-my-backyard) protest in a small city in southwestern China's Sichuan province.