Stories from 3 August 2010
Chile: Isabel Allende and the National Prize for Literature
Isabel Allende is one of the best-known and most-read Latin American writers. This year she is a candidate for the Chilean National Prize for Literature. Her candidacy has sparked debate among literature critics, writers, and average Chilean citizens.
Russia: Crowdsourcing assistance for victims of wildfires
Severe wildfires in Russia have continued to spread since last week, displacing thousands of citizens. A new website using Ushahidi software, Russian-fires.Ru, is mapping not the fires themselves, but citizens who need help and those who wish to offer help.
Pakistan: Lessons From bangladesh
Yasser Latif Hamdani at Pak Tea House lauds Bangladesh's efforts in banning the religious politics in the country and thinks that Pakistan can win the battle against Taliban by learning from Bangladesh.
Nepal, Bhutan: Different Perspectives On Refugee Issue
Pelden Drukpa at The Story of Bhutanese Refugees blog highlights the perspectives of Bhutan and Nepal on the Bhutanese refugees issue and comments: “until these fundamental differences in the perspectives are not settled, the refugee issue may be difficult to solve.”
Video Contest: Internet for Peace
The Internet has been nominated for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize. As part of the ongoing debate on the contribution of Internet to our society, Condé Nast and Google Ireland have joined to organize this video contest and the winner will have the opportunity to travel and get their video featured on Italian MTV.
Mauritania, Algeria: Analyses of the Fallout from the Raid to Free Germaneau
On July 25, A French-Mauritanian raid on Al Qaeda Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) inside Malian territory failed to free French aid worker Michel Germaneau who was killed by his detainers. Bloggers from the region are weary of the underlying trends in the region: complex diplomatic relations and radicalization of the youth.
Bahamas: Something Fishy
Weblog Bahamas says that there is a “big issue” that needs to be solved in the local commercial fishing industry “before something horrible happens.”
Caribbean: Notting Hill Carnival
“The Notting Hill Carnival is arguably London’s most exciting annual event”: Repeating Islands has details about the upcoming celebrations.
Cuba: Ortega's Award
As news circulates that Cardinal Jaime Ortega (Archbishop of Havana) is to receive an award in the United States, El Cafe Cubano suggests: “In the meantime the Cardinal will be making his rounds in Washington garnering support for lifting the embargo and the release of the Cuban 5. That's the...
South Korea: New move of Ohmynews International
Ohmynews! has closed down its international citizen news section and turned into a blog for on the development of citizen journalism. The official launch of the blog will be in September.
Hong Kong and China: Support Cantonese action
Michelle from interlocals translated an article explaining how citizens from Hong Kong and Guangzhou have informed each other in their civic action, such as the most recent cross border action in supporting Cantonese.
Jamaica: Would Garvey Be Blogging?
Marcus Garvey, blogger? Geoffrey Philp posts a poll.
Haiti: Elections Without Lavalas?
“International donors have expressed disappointment at Haiti's failure to hold inclusive elections, but have continued to fund them”: Wadner Pierre says that “Fanmi Lavalas, widely seen as the most popular political party in the country”, is being banned from participating in the upcoming elections this November.
Russia: Pictures of Village Destroyed by Wild Fires
LJ user photomans posts [RUS] compelling pictures of Verkhnyaya Vereya, one of the villages destroyed by fires in Russia.
Colombia: The Clear Path for President-Elect Santos
As Juan Manuel Santos prepares to assume the presidency in Colombia on August 7, Jaime Restrepo of the blog Atrabilioso [es] writes that Santos has a clear path ahead because of the clear mandate provided by the voters and because of the almost unanimous support for fellow party member Armando...
Uruguay: “Your Ideas Matter” Blog Competion for Schoolchildren
The 2010 version of the blog competition “Your Ideas Matter” is now open [es] and Uruguayan schoolchildren are eligible for the contest. There are special categories for blogs created by schoolchildren with the XO laptops that have been distributed to the country's children as part of the Ceibal Plan project.
Bahrain: Fools and Doctors
Bahraini Mahmood Al Yousif feels ‘flutters’ in his chest and does the right thing when he goes through a series of tests. “only a fool becomes one’s own doctor, and I had,” he admits.
Japan: Second oldest man actually not alive
Discovery that the second oldest man in Japan, at 111 years of age, has actually been dead for around 30 years has been fodder for many incredulous and humorous responses in the Japanese blogosphere and 2channel. Here's Mr. Salaryman's (English) contribution – “The secret of the high life expectancy in...
Lebanon: Endless traffic jams
“Lately it's like the Gods of Traffic have unleashed their fury upon us.” With this comment, Maya Zankoul begins this cartoon strip, in which she depicts the hours wasted in traffic jams in Lebanon.
Lebanon: Condom for a mascot
“When I first saw this picture of a person wearing a condom costume roaming the Beirut streets I thought to myself: Wow! The Lebanese ministry of health is finally taking serious measures to promote safe intercourse…” But the condom mascot was from PETA, writes Nia Soul in a disappointed tone, noting...
Taiwan: KMT undermines media independence
The Far-Eastern Sweet Potato details how media organisations in Taiwan have increasingly been manipulated by the KMT since 2008.
