12 March 2011

Stories from 12 March 2011

Azerbaijan: More Protests, More Arrests…

  12 March 2011

Following yesterday's protest by youth activists in Azerbaijan, opposition supporters today staged their own. Also inspired by pro-democracy protests in Egypt and Tunisia, the demonstration might not have been as large as those, but it was certainly intense.

Japan: Iodine Distribution Needed

  12 March 2011

@Traysizzzle writes: “I hope #Japan starts distributing #iodine asap to anyone close to the radiation…it's not #Chernobyl but its prognosis is not good…”

Pakistan: Say No To Violence And Ensure Our Civil Rights

  12 March 2011

Beena Sarwar informs that Citizens for Democracy arranged a mass letter-writing campaign in Karachi today. The letters urge the Pakistan authorities to take appropriate actions to reverse the erosion of civil and human rights and to uphold the rule of law without fear or favor.

Ukraine, Japan: Drink Red Wine to Reduce Radiation Toxicity

  12 March 2011

@DJLoli shares a health tip that was popular in Ukraine in 1986: “If u r in the area affected by Japan radiation: drink red Wine to get it out. It what helped us in Ukraine during #Chernobyl. […]” (Here's an article on a 2008 study that showed that “resveratrol, the...

Japan: Onagawa, the Hometown I Once Knew

  12 March 2011

A personal account of evacuation in Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture: Twitter user @kombu_s evacuated to Sendai City and posted tweets and images from her journey, saying "I am an ordinary person that went to pick up her family."

Japan: Fear in Fukushima

  12 March 2011

The day after a 8.9-magnitude earthquake struck Japan, an explosion at Fukushima Daiichi power plant, 150 miles north of Tokyo, is causing both fear and confusion on Twitter about what may happen next.

Portugal: A Protest Generation, Foolish and Scraping By

  12 March 2011

Hostilities have commenced: today the “Scraping-by Generation” goes to the streets in Portugal and beyond, protesting that 23% of young people are unemployed and hundreds of thousands are underemployed or in precarious work situations. With an anthem and some anti-conformism, is this Generation foolish?

Taiwan: Reflection on Japan Earthquake

  12 March 2011

When the 5th strongest earthquake ever recorded hit Japan yesterday, Taiwanese were also shocked. Taiwan and Japan share a lot of geological similarity and both countries are very vulnerable to natural disasters such as earthquake and typhoon.

Japan: The earthquake, as I experienced it

  12 March 2011

Miu tells her experience [en] during the 8.9 magnitude earthquake that struck north-eastern Japan yesterday. The blogger says she was in a department store in Tokyo and thought that “things didn't seem terribly abnormal”.

Belarus: Petition to Move 2014 Ice Hockey Championship Elsewhere

  12 March 2011

Pyotr Kuznetsov posts a petition (RUS, ENG) to the International Ice Hockey Federation, drafted by Lithuania-based Belarusian opposition activists, in which they are proposing “to change the location of the [2014 ice hockey championship] from Belarus to another country” – because “[t]he atmosphere in Belarus and the actions of Mr....