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The world is talking, are you listening?

Amical Wikimedia, the association that promotes Viquipedia, the Catalan Wikipedia, has got a chapter of its own within the international structure of the Wikimedia Foundation. This recognition comes after a five-year-long discussion to be recognized as representative of a unique language and culture, as previous criteria required chapters to represent states. Now they will have the right to share experiences with other countries and access the funds raised through readers’ donations. This announcement arrives at a time when Catalonia is involved in a debate about becoming independent from Spain.

Patrick Rajoelina argues that [fr] by law, if the president of the transition Andry Rajoelina still wants to run for the upcoming presidential elections in Madagascar, he can no longer be president, according to the road map signed by all Malagasy political parties in 2011. The current prime minister Beriziky stated on 30/05 [fr] that Andry Rajoelina is no longer eligible to seat at the government meetings because he should have already resigned from his position.

“Who's next for Liquidation?” – a poster at today's journalist protest in Skopje, referring to the official code name of the operation (“Liquidation”), in which journalist Tomislav Kezarovski was captured along with others on May 28. Photo by Biserka Velkovska/@bvelkovska, used with permission.

Macedonian journalists gathered [mk; video and text: sq, mk] in front of the Criminal Court in the capital Skopje today to protest against the arrest of their colleague, Tomislav Kezarovski, according to this note [en] posted in the Macedonian Facebook group titled “Journalists and citizens in defense of the right to freedom of information.” It appears that the official reason for Kezarovski's 30-day detention is a story he wrote five years ago for a publication that no longer exists. On the other hand, he has been investigating the death of Nikola Mladenov, publisher and editor of an independent media outlet, for the past two months. More »

Photo of the clashes, uploaded by Abo Bakr Ahmado on his Facebook

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After a week-long strike by medical professionals in Mozambique, Dr. Jorge Arroz, the President of Associação Médica de Moçambique, was arrested on Sunday night, May 26, 2013, under accusation of “sedition” (incitement of discontent or rebellion against a government). On Twitter and Facebook, @verdademz, @canal_moz and other netizens report.

“Many many health professionals here in the 6th Police Station of Maputo. Dr. Jorge Arroz is under arrest. Photo by @Verdade (used with permission)

Benjamin Roger for Jeune Afrique reports [fr] that 18 soldiers, one civilian and four terrorists were killed early morning in an suicide car bombing in Agadez, Niger on May 23. He adds that military school students are currently being held hostages by another attacker following the bombing. Simultaneously, another car exploded in an uranium mine exploited by the Areva Group in Arlit, Niger. The militant group MOJWA has claimed responsibility for both terror attacks.

Locust invasion in down town Fianaratsoa, Madagascar

Locust swarmed many regions of Madagascar and even a few of its cities. This disaster comes as a result of the humid conditions[fr] that remained after cyclone Haruna's landing. The FAO states that 60% of rice production will be affected by the invasion.

Screenshot from press conference video

Medical professionals in Mozambique have announced they will strike. They consider that they were “humiliated, insulted and disdained” in their last meeting with government. This current strike follows a strike earlier this year by doctors. The video announcement is available with subtitles in English, and a number of languages.
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Following Saturday's scoreless soccer game that catapulted Moscow's CSKA club to its fourth Russian Premier League title, the team's fans clashed with riot troops in downtown Moscow. Police detained 140 people [ru], later releasing all but two. Bloggers posted photos to LiveJournal here, here, and here [ru], alleging police brutality.

Police “detain” a soccer fan, Moscow, 18 May 2013, photo by Sergey Danilov, posted to his LJ.

Online journalism and news portals are gaining popularity in Nepal as evident in Surath Giri's list of 20 online newspapers. However, according to reports, the Ministry of Information and Communications of Nepal has recently formed a five-member committee to register, regulate and manage online news.

Hacker collective Anonymous appears to have launched another round of attacks on major North Korean websites over the weekend. A guideline on targets and tools of ‘Operation North Korea Second Project' was shared via Pastebin, North Korea tech explains in detail.

Mehwish khan at ProPakistani compiles a list of sites which are providing live updates and results of the Pakistan general elections 2013.

South Korean President's press spokesman Yoon Chang-joong was relieved of his duty over allegation that he sexually assaulted a 21-year-old intern during President Park's visit to the United States which he accompanied. A community website for Korean women living in the U.S, Missy USA, first revealed the case and a screen capture of Missy USA's report [ko] has widely spread online.

At this very moment, Kirov police are searching [ru] Alexey Navalny's local headquarters, established to coordinate the blogger's public outreach in the city where he currently stands trial for embezzling roughly half a million dollars. The case has attracted international attention as the latest in a long series of politicized Russian judicial proceedings, including the trials of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, three members of Pussy Riot, and others. More »

The Spanish Constitutional Court just suspended Catalonia's Declaration of Sovereignty, which the regional parliament of Catalonia approved by majority on 23 January, 2013. Amid rising tensions between Spain and Catalonia, the decision has generated strong reactions on offline and online media.

Thanks to a diverse team of collaborators, the online Catalan-language publication Vilaweb [ca] offers the Declaration of Sovereignty in 50 languages.

Update:  Here is the full list of the 49 candidates [fr] for the presidential elections. It does not include the current president of the transition.

As the deadline to submit candidacies for the Malagasy presidential elections ends today (28/04), a few surprising candidates have allegedly come forth. While the earlier candidates were relatively new to the general public,  a few prominent political players from the past are expected to contest: former president Didier Ratsiraka, current president of the transition Andry Rajoelina [fr] and the spouse of former president Ravalomanana, Lalao Ravalomanana.

The death toll of the factory collapse in Savar, Bangladesh has risen to 290. Here is a live blog [bn] maintained by the Muktaangon blogging platform curating social media updates on the latest on the relief and rescue effort of the trapped workers inside the collapsed building.

Explosion at the French embassy in Libya via @Eh4b10 on Twitter

Twitter user @Eh4b10 has posted several photos on twitter of a car explosion near the French Embassy today around 6:50 am local time in Tripoli, Libya.

Comoros police forces state that they have arrested Congolese and Chadian mercenaries in an attempted coup over the week-end. Linfo.re adds that [fr]:

Army commanders did not want to engage in an open conflict with the mercenaries. They believe that “any Comoran casualties over protecting an elite cast is itself a act of betrayal towards Comoros”.

After the explosions at the Boston Marathon on Monday April 15, Twitter became a primary source of breaking news, and also of misinformation. Conversations were curated around the hashtags #bostonmarathon and #bostonexplosions the first days. On Thursday night, one of the suspects, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, was killed during a police persecution in Cambridge, and the city of Boston and close communities were on lockdown on Friday during the search (#manhunt) of Tamerlan's younger brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19.  Dzhokhar was found wounded Friday evening in Watertown (#watertown). A debate has ensued after it was announced that he will be questioned without being Mirandized (#mirandarights). Many are also worried about how this will affect immigrants in the U.S. due to the Chechen ethnic origin of the Tsarnaev brothers.

An anonymous threatening message [es] was delivered to the Article 19 Mexico offices on April 19, 2013, as reported [es] by the pro-human rights and freedom of expression organization. As a result, its director, Darío Ramírez, has published a video [es]. You can follow the hashtag #articulo19 to stay informed, and you can also show solidarity through their Twitter account: @article19mex.

Chowrangi blog reports that considering the deteriorating law and order situation and pre-election violence the Election Commission of Pakistan has allowed candidates to keep five civilian bodyguards with licensed arms during the ongoing Election 2013 campaign.

Mozambique's @Verdade newspaper is reporting on Facebook that about 500 residents of neighborhoods resettled by Brazilian mining company Vale are blocking road access to its coal mine in Moatize, Tete province. The peaceful protest is for greater compensation. The paper is reporting the rail line is also disrupted.

Uploaded by Twitter User 島人JUN @baseball_re

A strong earthquake hit Awaji island of Japan on Saturday morning April 13, 2013. Twitter user JUN took this photo [ja] of the devastation. Seven people were severely injured, according to a report [ja].

Doha News charts reactions from Qatar residents following the aftershocks of an earthquake which hit southern Iran today. The aftershocks were also felt in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, where offices in high rise buildings were evacuated.

Hacktivist collective Anonymous claims to have hacked North Korean government websites and stolen more than 15,000 user records. North Korea Tech blog wrote about their message posted online. 

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered rockets on standby to attack US military bases in South Korea in response to recent U.S.-South Korea joint military drills. North Korea Leadership Watch blog post a full script of North Korean state media report on this. 

Nikola Mladenov (1964-2013): “We want a society of free people, they want a bunch of spineless sycophants. There's no way to compromise!”

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Aminul Islam Sajib reports that Google featured Bangladeshi National Flag as a Doodle on the occasion of the Independence Day of Bangladesh (26th March, 1971) which was a long time demand from Bangladeshi netizens.