18 March 2011

Stories from 18 March 2011

Nepal: No To Sri Lankan Political Refugees

  18 March 2011

Seven activists from Sri Lankan opposition parties applied for political refuge in Nepal but the Nepali government declined their requests. Bhumika Ghimire wonders whether Nepal should have acted differently.

Bhutan: A Helping Hand For Japan

  18 March 2011

A Helping Hand is an initiative taken up by individuals, both Bhutanese and the Japanese community working and residing in Bhutan to build a platform for people from wall walks of life to help donate whatever they can for the earthquake and tsunami victims of Japan. More details are at...

Syria: Protests Across the Country, 6 Reported Killed in Dara'a

Syria is the latest country to join the wave of erupting protests across the Middle East. While previous calls for protests on 5 February failed, a renewed call to take to the streets on 15 March managed to bring several hundred people to the streets in multiple cities including the capital, Damascus, and Aleppo. Today, in the southern city of Dara'a, 6 protesters have reportedly been killed.

Cuba: No Affiliation

  18 March 2011

“I say am an independent citizen, a free electron, and that my political platform is limited to demanding the decriminalization of differences of opinion”: Still, Generation Y is acutely aware “that we are far from achieving these goals.”

Cuba: Refusing Exile

  18 March 2011

Uncommon Sense says that for newly-released political prisoners like Linares and Biscet who refused to accept forced exile as a condition of their freedom, “the dictatorship is reserving the right to return them to prison whenever it wants — a real concern considering their expressed interest in returning to their...

Africa: African food in the US

  18 March 2011

Khadidjha visits a Senegalese restaurant in Boston, USA: “I ordered Attieke which is a dish that is native to the country of Cote D’ivoire. Attieke is a dish make out of skinned and grounded cassava. The cassava is broken up to make it look like a grain. Its always eaten...

Nigeria: Monitoring Elections Using ReVoDa

  18 March 2011

Monitoring Nigerian General Elections (2011) using ReVoDa Mobile Apps: “ReVoDa allows voters to report as independent citizen observers from their respective Polling Units across Nigeria, having registered to map their mobile number, name and polling unit number to specific locations.”

Argentina: Controversy Over Mario Vargas Llosa Attending Book Fair

  18 March 2011

The 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature, Mario Vargas Llosa, has been invited to inaugurate the 37th International Book Fair in Buenos Aires. The invitation has sparked a debate among those who celebrate it and those who criticize the author's political stances and his recent comments related to Argentina.

South Sudan: On Vigilante Justice

  18 March 2011

Maggies blogs about vigilante justice in Juba, South Sudan: “In my experience as a Juba resident for the past year and a half, vigilante justice and citizen’s arrests, confused and often abusive and arbitrary policing, and a general lack of rule of law are par for the course in what...

Tanzania: Getting honest about rural water supply

  18 March 2011

Tanzanians must get honest about rural water supply: “It's Maji [Water] Week, so a good time for some more analysis of key water supply issues. Several times this blog has presented arguments that the main challenges in rural water supply are political rather than technical or even administrative.”

India: Furore In Parliament Over New Set Of Wikileaks

  18 March 2011

The latest round of India Cables from Wikileaks has led to a furore in the Indian Parliament with the opposition demanding an explanation from the Prime Minister. Netizens have been discussing them with much animation, their reactions ranging from disgust to sarcasm and even a bit of humor.

Paraguay: Netizens Discuss Indigenous Issues on Facebook

  18 March 2011

Netizens share information and discuss indigenous issues in a Facebook group called “Por una vida digna para los indígenas del Paraguay” [es] (For a dignified life for the indigenous people of Paraguay), as journalist Sofía Masi reports in Despierta…Paraguay [es]