4 February 2013

Stories from 4 February 2013

Chobi Mela VII: Photographs Connecting People of The World

The 7th Chobi Mela (Photo Fair), a biennial festival of photography, is taking place in Bangladesh capital Dhaka. This international event is perhaps the world’s most demographically inclusive photo festival which creates a visual dialog connecting people of the world.

4 February 2013

Elmo, Domo and Pikachu Bring Smiles to Japan

“Project: Holding hands” (Teo Tsunago Daisakusen) [ja, en] is an art project that uses iconic children's characters to bring smiles to the people of Japan, especially children following the 2011 earthquake.

4 February 2013

India: Not-for-profit vs. For-profit Ventures

In India it is easier to find funding for a not-for-profit handicraft venture than for for-profit. And these funds are sometimes used to keep alive trades that are inefficient and...

4 February 2013

Saudi Activist Trial Postponed Without Prior Notice

A new trial was supposed to start today [Feb 4, 2013] for Saudi Political and Civil Rights Association (ACPRA) co-founder Dr Abdulkareem al-Khudr. Two of the association's co-founders, Dr Abdullah al-Hamid and Dr Mohammad al-Qahtani, have been already under trial and contentious weekly interrogation for over the previous six months. al-Khudr is the author of several papers making the case for political and civil rights from an Islamic prospective, contradicting the state's official positions.

4 February 2013

Japan's Press Freedom Ranking Drops

Japan has dropped from the 22nd spot to 53rd, recording the biggest drop of any Asian country, on the 2013 Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders. The report highlights lack of transparency and access...

4 February 2013

Palestine: Fighting with the Poem

Amira Abd El-Khalek, an Egyptian blogger who studied English literature and anthropology in Egypt and UK, wrote on the Arabic Literature blog about an evening of Palestinian poets, Asma’a Azaizeh...

4 February 2013

Trinidad & Tobago: Questionable Résumés

Trinidad and Tobago-based bloggers weigh in on the latest political controversy, in which Hafizool Mohammed, who serves on the Commission of Inquiry into the 1990 attempted coup, had many indiscrepancies on his résumé, but was appointed to his post in spite of them.

4 February 2013

Brunei has Freest Press in Southeast Asia?

According to the press freedom index for 2013 released by Reporters Without Borders, Brunei ranked highest in Southeast Asia (122). It was followed by Thailand (135), Indonesia (139), and Cambodia...

4 February 2013

Malaysia's Green Issues in 2013

An increasingly discerning electorate coupled with growing environmental awareness means that governments and corporations can no longer get away with sloppy environmental management. Instead of being defensive, the best way...

4 February 2013

Taiwan: Who Misled Noam Chomsky?

Noam Chomsky's support for an anti-media monopoly campaign in Taiwan has recently been spun into a story of the intentional distortion of Chomsky's position by activists because the placard has a Chinese slogan that criticizes China's manipulation of Taiwanese media.

4 February 2013

Digital Monitoring of Kenya Elections 2013

Uchaguzi is a Kenya’s citizen digital crowdsourcing monitoring/mapping effort:”The Kenyan 2013 Elections are just over a month away. If this past weekend’s political nominations are any indication, there will be...

4 February 2013