31 March 2011

Stories from 31 March 2011

Bosnia & Herzegovina: Towards Partition

  31 March 2011

At OpenDemocracy.net, Bedrudin Brljavac writes about the situation in Bosnia & Herzegovina: “Fifteen years since the end of the war, ethno-nationalist leaders continue to pursue political agendas leading to the partitioning of Bosnia rather than membership of a united Europe. And yet, without the prospect of the EU, it is...

Haiti: Monsanto's Agenda

  31 March 2011

Haiti Grassroots Watch takes “a closer look” at Monsanto's seed distribution in the wake of last year's devastating earthquake.

Trinidad & Tobago: Education – Leaving Kids at Sea

  31 March 2011

“All children now go to secondary school. But it remains an unfortunate truth that the majority of those innocents who sat SEA Tuesday will not have the secondary schooling they deserve”: Lisa Allen-Agostini blogs about the state of education.

China: The Interrogation (A Tale of AI and Revolution)

  31 March 2011

Stainless Steel Mouse, aka Liu Di, has seen many of her peers arrested or disappeared over the past several weeks. Looking at the unusual way in which China's failed Jasmine Revolution began, she has imagined a scenario which mixes fact with fiction.

Cuba: Meeting Carter

  31 March 2011

The Cuban Triangle summarizes former President Jimmy Carter's visit to Cuba, while Generation Y blogs about their meeting and the symbolic gift she gave him “in the name of several bloggers and other Cubans.”

Jamaica: Enquiry No Laughing Matter

  31 March 2011

As the Manatt Dudus Enquiry is extended for the third time, GWAP comments: “A Commission that should have cost Jamaican tax payers JMD $37 million has now skyrocket[ed] to JMD $78 million!”, while Pray, Laugh, Grow thinks the whole debacle is anything but funny.

Communities in Limbo on Honduran-Salvadoran Border

  31 March 2011

Voices from El Salvador's Weblog writes about the communities affected by an ongoing dispute on the Honduran-Salvadoran border, and argues that the governments from both countries “must take immediate action to ensure that those residents in limbo are granted citizenship so that they may have the rights that everyone else...

Honduras: Security Forces in Denial Over Human Rights Violations

  31 March 2011

RNS in Honduras Culture and Politics reports that “security forces in Honduras continue to be in denial about their trampling on the human rights of Hondurans.” RNS concludes: “Until there is a recognition on the part of the police and military that they are violating the human rights of the...

Kenyan Bloggers Form an Association; BAKE

  31 March 2011

On Friday 25th March, several Kenyan bloggers held a meeting in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, under the newly formed BAKE ( Bloggers Association Kenya). The meeting was the 4th in an initiative by some of Kenyas veteran bloggers .

Nigeria: Buhari leads in mock online polls

  31 March 2011

Nigerian presidential candidate Mohammadu Buhari leads in mock online polls: “There are now several platforms online that allow Nigerians with access to the Internet to vote for their favourite presidential aspirant and share their preference on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.”

Russia: The Most Fierce DDOS Attack On LiveJournal Analyzed

RuNet Echo  31 March 2011

Ilya Dronov, LiveJournal's head of development, told [ru] some details about yesterday's DDOS-attack on LiveJournal, popular blogging platform in Russia. That was the most fierce attack in the history of the platform. Anton Nosik, suggested [ru] that (despite that most of the attacking machines were outside of Russia) the main client...

Russia: Voting For The BOBs Blog Award Has Started

RuNet Echo  31 March 2011

On march 22, 2011 voting for "The Best Of Blogs" Awards, event annually organized by German media corporation Deutsche Welle, started. The award is getting more popular every year. This happens mostly because the role of blogs and online communities grows, as does their influence on social life.

Tensions Between Korea and Japan Intensified Over Territorial Conflict

  31 March 2011

South Koreans have expressed deep regret over the Japanese government’s decision to endorse middle school textbooks that defined Dokdo island as part of its territory. Reflecting people's anger, Korea's power Twitterer and bestselling novelist, Lee Oi-soo (@oisoo) harshly condemned [ko] Japanese government for approving the new textbooks.

Taiwan: Nuclear Waste on Orchid Island

  31 March 2011

In 1974, the Taiwan Atomic Energy Council decided to store nuclear waste on Taiwan's Orchid Island, where the indigenous Tao people have lived for generations. More than twenty years have passed, the radioactive waste barrels have eroded with rust and it seems that no one is ready to take care of the problem.

Venezuela: H1N1 Cases on the Rise

  31 March 2011

The H1N1 virus has hit Venezuela. While writing this post, on March 28, the number of people infected with the virus is 415. Using Twitter, Venezuelans are sharing their frustration at the increasing number of cases as they tweet the latest official information and encourage each other to take precautions.

Japan: The Tsunami, God and Man

  31 March 2011

A few days after the disaster that killed more than ten thousand people, Italian vice-president of the National Research Council (CNR) Roberto De Mattei and Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara left the Italian and the Japanese blogosphere astounded when they declared that the catastrophe occurred as a manifestation of God’s will. Both in Japan and in Italy bloggers reacted and demanded their resignation.