Stories from 12 December 2012
Trinidad & Tobago: Hunger Strike was Never a Lost Cause
Dr. Wayne Kublalsingh's hunger strike against the construction of a section of highway in Trinidad ended a week ago - and became much greater than that singular issue. Regional bloggers discuss what the legacy of Dr. Kublalsingh's action will be and the impact it will have on citizens' rights to transparency and good governance.
Bolivian Cyber Activists Uncover Potential QR Code Patent
Can the use of QR codes be patented in Bolivia? Cyber activists worked collectively to uncover a potential unlawful patent over the use of QR codes in the country.
Boycott of Puerto Rico's Popular TV Show “La Comay”
The gruesome death of a publicist in a remote sector outside the island’s metropolitan area last month has led to an ongoing saga in which the Puerto Rican public has turned from alarm to shock, anger, and finally to the internet in a bout of activism that now threatens to overthrow one of the top rated TV programs on the island after its host hinted that the victim "got what he was looking for."
University in Benin Changes its Name after Equatoguinean Dictator
You can now call him Doctor Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. MyGab.Tv reports that [fr] the Univesité internationale du Bénin UPIB is now called Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo University after the Equatoguinean dictator. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has been the benefactor of many schools in Benin [fr] and has received a doctorate degree Honoris...
Reflections on Teaching in Portuguese in East Timor
Valdir Lamim-Guedes, a Brazilian biologist, who blogs at Na Raiz [pt], shared an article he published together with Carlos Junior Gontijo-Rosa on the Global Education Magazine about their experience as visiting professors at the National University of Timor-Leste in 2012, focusing on the challenges of teaching in Portuguese. Despite being one...
Kuku's Case Reignites Racism Debate in Portugal
The recent acquittal of a police agent who shot and killed a 14-year-old boy named Kuku in a neighborhood of the outskirts of Lisbon in 2009 reignited the debate about racism and marginalized communities in Portugal, as well as multiplied the number of social media commentary repudiating the Portuguese judicial system.
Radio Okapi Interfered with by Authorities in Democratic Republic of Congo
The website journaldekin.com, commenting on the interference on the national Radio Okapi, a station which has been sponsored by the UN in the Democratic Republic of Congo since December 1, recalls [fr] that: Radio Okapi, which this year celebrates its tenth anniversary, is born from a partnership between the Swiss...
Corruption Perceptions around the World
Two-thirds of the 176 countries assessed in the 2012 Index received a score of less than 50, on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (almost no corruption). This shows that public institutions should be more transparent and senior officials more accountable. On December 5, Transparency International released the...
Chinese-American Children Left Behind in China
Left-behind children is a term to describe a special group of children who are left in rural areas while their parents work as migrant workers in big cities in China. However, in Fujian province in Southern China, there are about 10,000 left-behind foreign children whose parents are illegal immigrants to other...
Does Peru have Internet Freedom?
It is increasingly common to hear that a particular country is considering or actually enacting some type of law that would affect Internet freedom. Peru is not immune to this. We discussed the topic with Miguel Morachimo of Blawyer (a law and technology blog in Peru), and we reviewed what some other bloggers have said about Internet freedom.
Venezuela and the WCIT-12
Who will govern the Internet and how? What is Venezuela's position in this debate? These are two questions that Luis Carlos Díaz tries to tackle in a post for Prodavinci [es] where he looks at the World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT-12) and Venezuela's position regarding these issues.
Japan's Indigenous Ainu Head to New Zealand
Ainu, the indigenous people of Northern Japan seek cultural exchange with Māori, the indigenous people of New Zealand.
Analysis on Water and Enviromental Bloggers in China
China has serious water shortage problems due to the population and landscape. How many Chinese are talking about this issue on the internet? Check out this interesting analysis on water and environmental bloggers on Twitter and Weibo (China's Twitter) by ChinaWaterRisk.
Reporters Stand By as Biswajit Das is Brutally Murdered in Bangladesh
On 9th December, 2012, during an 8-hour road blockade programme called by the opposition, 24yr old Biswajit Das was brutally murdered in the open before the eyes of the public and a large number of media personnel who were busy taking photographs and video footage of the incident and did nothing to try and save the young man from his horrific end. Shock and outrage poured in via social media.
Xinhua Is On Twitter
Anthony Tao from Beijing Cream blogs about Chinese netizens’ reaction of the Chinese government official news outlets, Xinhua, being active on Twitter, an social media platform which is blocked in China. As the blogger pointed out: it does seem slightly ironic for a government agency to be using Twitter when...
Russian Web Censorship Got You Down? Fight It With “Counter-Absurdity”!
It has now been more than a month since the blacklist of the Russian Internet went live. One Russian ISP has decided to have its own say in the matter.
Trinidad & Tobago: Reporting Standards
Trinidad and Tobago’s news media has a serious credibility problem. Catherine Young, blogging at Outlish, explains.
