21 March 2013

Stories from 21 March 2013

PHOTOS: Once Upon a Time in Madagascar

  21 March 2013

With the same desire to honor and archive Madagascar's history, two Facebook pages are archiving vintage pictures of the cities and the Malagasy people: Madagascar Hier (Yesterday's Madagascar) and Il était une fois Madagascar (Once upon a time in Madagascar). Here is a photo essay of Madagascar, once upon a time.

Google Myanmar is Now Online

  21 March 2013

Google Myanmar is now available in local domain at www.google.com.mm a few days before the arrival of Google CEO Eric Schmidt in Myanmar. Google play store which is inaccessible in Myanmar also seems to have been unblocked for now.

Coca Cola Machine ‘Out of Order’ in Australia

  21 March 2013

A nationwide campaign against Coca Cola has followed their successful legal challenge to container deposit legislation in the Australia's Northern Territory. An activist group reacted by putting “Out of Order” signs on Coca Cola vending machines in all capital cities.

Dominican Republic Wins World Baseball Classic

  21 March 2013

The hearts of the Dominicans are rejoicing thanks to their incredible performance during the III Baseball World Classic. On March 19, 2013, the Dominican team obtained the definite victory of the III Baseball World Classic 2013, after defeating the Puerto Rican national team 3-0

VIDEO: Tokyo Gives Harlem Shake a Whirl

  21 March 2013

Popular Internet video meme the Harlem Shake [en] has hit Tokyo. A verison organized by a Latino under the pseudonym Saw was filmed on March 17, 2013 in Shibuya, the heart of Japan's youth culture, and the video was uploaded on YouTube a few days later. Portal Mie [pt], an online portal that serves Portuguese-speaking foreigners in Japan, has...

Colombia's Indigenous Set Development Goals

  21 March 2013

1) the protection of indigenous territory; 2) indigenous self-government; 3) the self-development of indigenous communities on the basis of equilibrium and harmony; 4) free, prior and informed consent as a condition for developments on indigenous land; and 5) the ‘institutional redesign’ of the state in its relations with indigenous peoples....

São Tomé and Príncipe: 12 Reasons to Return

  21 March 2013

Carmen Alvarez Vilas, founder of the NGO Cooperación Bierzo Sur, posted on her Facebook page an album titled “12 Reasons to go back to Sao Tome and Principe”. Each image selected – from a set of photos taken ​​when she and her team volunteered in the country in the summer of...

African Presidents Active on Social Media

  21 March 2013

Dapa Arnaud gives a list of the 10 most active african presidents [fr] on social media. At the top of the list is  president Paul Kagame in Rwanda: In place since 2003, the president of Rwanda is the most active on the internet.  According to the Ecofin agency, Paul Kagame interacts...

Guinea-Bissau is Second Worst Democracy

  21 March 2013

The Democracy Index 2012 from The Economist Intelligence Unit, published on March 19, 2013, places Guinea-Bissau second to last in the ranking, just before North Korea. The same day a coalition of civil society organizations released a roadmap with concrete proposals for the restoration of constitutional order following the military...

US Rape Case Resonates in France

  21 March 2013

The ramification of the Steubeunville rape case has had an impact beyond the US borders.  Following the sentencing of the perpetrators for rape of a minor, CrêpeGeorgette [fr] tries to unpack the rape culture [fr] that has sneaked in in today's society. The fact is that we are living in societies that find excuses,...

How Russian Villagers Can Terrify the Kremlin

RuNet Echo  21 March 2013

The ploy was simple: Andrei Turinov, a town councilman from Novouspenskii, posted to the Internet an open letter addressing Dmitri Medvedev, declaring the exit of 60 United Russia members from the party. The timing was perfect, and for a brief moment one small village in Krasnoyarsk had the attention of the nation's political elite.

Nowruz on Uzbekistan's Tower of Silence

  21 March 2013

About 20 countries and communities almost all over the world celebrate Nowruz today. Commonly known as the ‘Persian New Year,’ Nowruz has its origins in the ancient religion Zoroastrianism. Don Croner celebrates the holiday on the ruins of the so-called ‘Zoroastrian Tower of Silence’ in Uzbekistan. The blogger writes about...