Stories from 26 February 2010
Azerbaijan: Scary Azeri turns 1
To mark its first birthday, Scary Azeri in Suburbs posts an illustration to celebrate the occasion.
Greece, Germany and the middle finger of Venus de Milo
In the continuing drama of the Greek financial crisis, a row erupted last week because of a German magazine cover that depicted ancient Greek statue Venus de Milo flipping a middle finger at the European Union.
Silence Speaks: Multimedia storytelling in Republic of Congo
Amy Hill, the director of Center for Digital Storytelling, describes the process and ideas behind a 4-day digital storytelling workshop in November 2009 with seven women affected by Congo-Brazzaville’s (also known as Republic of Congo) civil wars from 1997-2003.
Azerbaijan: ANTV receives freedom of the press award
ANTV [AZ/EN/RU], an online citizen journalism site co-founded by now imprisoned video blogging youth activist Emin Milli, has received an award from ZEIT-Stiftung for its work in promoting independent voices and alternative news and views in Azerbaijan [RU]. The Institute for Reporters Freedom and Safety (IRFS) also carries the news...
Russia and US to Broaden Collaboration Online
Vesti.ru wrote [RUS] about the visit of the U.S. “innovation delegation” [EN] led by America's Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra [EN]. The plans of the Russian-U.S. cooperation include launching e-government Web sites and visits of Twitter, Cisco and Mozilla representatives to Russia in June 2010.
Russia: Sakhalin Island Fails to Connect to Broadband
Blogger w7062c wrote [RUS] about two unsuccessful attempts to connect Sakhalin island [EN] (island in the Pacific north closer to Japan) to the broadband network of Russia. The third attempt is scheduled for 2011. Until then, 580,000 inhabitants of the island are able to go online via satellite only.
Armenia: Beauty talk
Ashley Corinne Killough visits the hairdresser and details the experience. The blog also comments on her encounters and observations while doing so.
Sri Lanka: Cricket And English Language
Lanka Rising comments on the issue of accents and the speakers of English as a second language: “Cricket was Englishmen’s, but now we play better cricket so that now they follow us. Can not we do the same with English language? Yes we can.”
India: Indusladies Blog Contest
Blogadda informs that an International Women’s Day Blog Contest has been arranged by Indusladies, a global online community of Indian ladies. To win a cash prize or other goodies the participants will have to “write a blog entry on any one of the prescribed top 10 women development issues” and...
India, Bangladesh: Protest On Killings In Bangladesh
Musings Of A Chakma reports that “the members of Chakma ethnic community living in Delhi held a huge peaceful protest demonstration in front of Jantar Mantar, New Delhi from 11 AM to 3 PM on 25 February 2010 to protest against the attacks on Chakmas and other indigenous Jummas in...
Ghanaian students contribute to virtual media library
We are interviewing Jonathan Thurston who carried out a book-making project with students in Elmina, in the Central Region of Ghana using simple, portable technology to inspire creativity and social media tools to network with like-minded individuals and organisations.
Dominica: Water Needed
News Dominica.com reports on the country's water woes and its impact on the island's agriculture industry, here and here.
Trinidad & Tobago: New Opposition Leader
“Kamla Persad-Bissessar will take her seat today in the Red House in Port-of-Spain as Trinidad & Tobago’s first female Oppostion Leader”: Islandista and Trinidad and Tobago News Blog weigh in.
Belize: Teachers’ Strike
Teachers are on strike in an effort to secure a pay raise: Belizean reports.
Cuba: On the Front Line
Cuban diaspora blogger Uncommon Sense says that “Orlando Zapata Tamayo's fight for liberty is not over, as reports…are that other Cuban freedom fighters are taking his place on the front lines of the struggle.”
Bermuda: Budget Day
Today is Budget Day in Bermuda. 21 Square “throw[s] out a few thoughts.”
Russia: Closure of Torrents.ru Makes People Suspicious of .Ru Zone
The decision to close Torrents.ru is certainly controversial and became one of the major discussion topics in the country. Going beyond the copyright concept, bloggers wonder how safe it is to have a domain in .ru zone.