17 February 2009
Stories from 17 February 2009
MENA: Is the BBC Impartial in its Refusal to Air the Gaza Appeal?
Long respected as a beacon of free speech, bloggers across the Arab world and beyond have been left questioning BBC's integrity after its refusal to air an appeal for the victims of the latest Israeli war on Gaza.
Colombia: The Awá Indigenous Community Caught in the Middle
The ongoing conflict deep within the Colombian jungle between the FARC, ELN and the Colombian Armed Forces often finds people caught in the middle. Authorities are investigating the killing of dozens of members of the Awá indigenous community, and are blaming the FARC guerrillas for the crime. Many say that the Awá have been targeted because of the suspicion that they are acting as informants, something which the government denies. Nevertheless, this indigenous group is now being displaced from their land because of the violence.
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Blogging Gives Kenyan Poetry Larger Meaning And Exposure
Njeri Wangare is a Kenyan poet and blogger based in Nairobi, Kenya. I recently interviewed her at Nairobi Java House in downtown Nairobi and later continued the interview via email. In this interview, Njeri discusses how she has been using her blog, Kenya Poet, to promote artists and art scene in Kenya. Through her blog, she says, she has given Kenyan poetry a larger meaning and exposure.
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Kenya: Urgent Translocation of the Lelwel Hartebeest
At the close of 2008, squatters who had been evicted from the Mount Kenya and Aberdare forests about two decades ago in Kenya were allocated plots a section, Sector D,...
Japan: Hetalia Axis Powers and the limits of parody
Hetalia, a satirical manga set mainly during the Second World War and featuring national protagonists of that era, has attracted attention among both domestic and international audiences for its caricature of world nations. In this post, read reactions in translation from bloggers in both Japan, where the manga originated, and in Italy, the country most strongly ridiculed.
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Armenia-Azerbaijan: High-profile assassinations
On 3 February, less than a month before the first anniversary of post-election violence in Yerevan, an Armenian Deputy Police Chief was gunned down. Eight days later, and five weeks before a constitutional referendum to eliminate presidential term limits, the head of the Azerbaijani Air Force was killed. Bloggers naturally wondered who was behind both assassinations.
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USA: Native Americans, “Yes we can”
Kept invisible for centuries, Native Americans in the United States are increasingly using blogs and online citizen media to promote and preserve their rights and traditional ways of life. With the election of President Awe Kooda Bilaxpak Kuuxshish (Barack Obama’s adopted Crow Tribe name) indigenous peoples see new reasons to be optimistic.
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First, let us ignore your assertion that at the time only 1% of young Chinese attended university because its not...