21 September 2010

Stories from 21 September 2010

Slovenia: Severe Floods and… Surfing?!

  21 September 2010

While severe floods plague Slovenia [SLO], Balkan portals from Croatia to Macedonia keep republishing a video clip named “wakeboarding in Ljubljana at 1am,” showing a car towing a surfer through the streets and passing by a dry cleaning sign.

Egypt: Mubarak Leads the World

  21 September 2010

A doctored photograph which appeared in an Egyptian paper showing Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak at the Washington Middle East peace meeting has been exposed. Issandr El Amrani, from The Arabist, sheds more light on the situation here.

Bahrain: Doctored Translations

  21 September 2010

“Some of our illustrious press carried a doctored translation in Arabic of what the US State Department spokesman said when asked about the deteriorating security situation in Bahrain,” writes Bahraini blogger Mahmood Al Yousif.

Egypt/Syria: Free Tal

  21 September 2010

Egyptian Zeinobia reports on a protest held by Egyptian activists in front of the Syrian Embassy in Cairo in solidarity with arrested 19-year-old Syrian blogger Tal Mallohi. More information is available here and here.

Palestine: Family Matters

  21 September 2010

Palestinian writer Khulud at Life in Fragments blogs about the “importance” of coming from a respected family in obtaining a job offer, and how she would rather be recognised for her own skills than her family background, in this post.

India: An Inspiring Train Journey

  21 September 2010

“Tata Jagriti Yatra is an annual train journey that that takes 400 of India’s highly motivated youth (with some participation of international students) on an 18-day national train-journey, introducing them to unsung heroes of India,” informs Think Change India blog.

Sri Lanka: Social Good Day In Colombo

  21 September 2010

Amitha Amarasinghe informs that Social Good Day Colombo will take place on the 23rd of September at Refresh Colombo, which is the monthly meet-up of Colombo’s web and technology enthusiasts’ community.

Tanzania: Running for office using Kanga and social media

  21 September 2010

A Tanzanian politician uses kanga and social media to campaign: “The fact that Zitto Kabwe is reporting via Twitter, blog, Flickr and Facebook from Kigoma North, while at the same time operating an election campaing with traditional elements – like the ngoma and the kanga – is a clear fact...

Namibia: Teaching English in Namibia

  21 September 2010

Lynn shares her experience teaching English in Windhoek, Namibia: “English is the official language of Namibia and my understanding is that public school classes are taught in English. I think most pre-school kids hear Afrikaans and/or their indigenous languages in their homes and arrive in first grade without a kindergarten...

Africa: Ajami Writing System

  21 September 2010

Do you know Ajami writing system?: “Ajami writing system has been used for at least at least a thousands years in parts of Africa. As I understand it, the script is a modification of Arabic incorporating local languages such as Hausa [mainly the northern regions of Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana]...

Africa: The Black Venus

  21 September 2010

Africa is a Country posts a 30-second trailer of the movie “Venus Noire” (Black Venus) about the life of Sara Baartman, the 18th century young Khoi woman publicly exhibited as a circus freak in Europe.

Kenya: Governance Reform From Below

  21 September 2010

Tobias writes about John Githongo‘s lecture and a new social movement in Kenya: “The lecture took place almost exactly a year ago, and in it you can see the seeds of what has become Inuka Ni Sisi, “a grassroots social movement dedicated to inspiring Kenyans at every level to take...

Haiti: Rock On

  21 September 2010

Blogging for Inside Disaster, Emmanuel Midi profiles a young entrepreneur who continues to produce his “rock art”, even in the aftermath of the earthquake.