20 December 2012

Stories from 20 December 2012

Film Festival on Organic Farming in Japan

The international Film Festival on Organic Farming was held in Satta Hall at Hosei University in Tokyo, December 16, 2012. One participant ama_san [ja] commented on Twitter: Yesterday I went to the International...

20 December 2012

Yemen's Long Awaited Army Restructure

Yemenis were pleasantly surprised yesterday to hear about President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's bold decisions to unify the Yemeni army - and sack the remaining relatives of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who hold prominent positions in the military and security. Netizens react with caution, and some expect retaliation.

20 December 2012

Former Dictator's Daughter Elected As President of South Korea

On December 19, 2012, Park Geun-hye was elected as the next President of South Korea. She is from the ruling conservative Saenuri party and daughter of the former dictator Park Chung-hee. Despite Park's feat in being elected as the first woman president in a largely patriarchal society, young progressives and activists are strongly opposed to Park.

20 December 2012

Tempers Flare As Court Frees Dagestani Boxer Who Killed Russian Teenager

RuNet Echo

Rasul Mirzaev, a 26-year-old mixed martial arts world champion from Dagestan, is a convicted killer. His victim was a 19-year-old Russian man, Ivan Agafonov, whom he murdered in a scuffle outside a nightclub in August 2011. On November 27, 2012, a Moscow court let him walk free, after a little more than a year in custody. The RuNet has responded with often vehement emotion.

20 December 2012

Zambian President Orders Killing of “Rebels” No One Can Find

It remains difficult to confirm the existence of the Barotse Liberation Army, the supposed paramilitary wing of various groups calling for the secession of Zambia’s Western Province. After President Michael Sata’s ordered the army to kill the rebel activists, some have accused the government of fabricating lies.

20 December 2012

Copa Sudamericana Final Ends in Violence

The heated final match of the Copa Sudamericana on the 12th December 2012 at the Morumbi Stadium in São Paulo, between Brazilian team São Paulo FC and Club Atletico Tigre, from Argentina, ended unexpectedly. And violently, too. A fight between the players spilled over to the changing rooms, where the Argentinian team claims to have suffered aggression from the Military Police and São Paulo security staff.

20 December 2012

Caribbean: What Happened in 2012 (Part 2)

The first part of this post observed that in the Caribbean blogosphere, the year was punctuated by hunger strikes - the first in Cuba and the second in Trinidad and Tobago. Part 2 of the regional blogosphere's 2012 summary recalls other issues that got Caribbean netizens talking - from the Olympics to the need for greater political transparency…

20 December 2012

#Sopacriolla: The Tough Road to ISP Regulation in Peru

In a previous post, we commented on the project known as #sopacriolla, an initiative by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism for allegedly collecting contributions for the construction of a standard for copyright and ISP (Internet Service Provider) responsibility. To learn more about the issue, we talk with the blogger Miguel Morachimo, and the lawyer in charge of the initiative, Erick Iriarte.

20 December 2012