Stories from 18 April 2011
Mexico: The Reality of Public Transportation in Mexico City
Bloggers in Mexico City narrate their experiences and express their opinions on two of the most popular means of public transportation in that city: the Metro and the Metrobús.
Azerbaijan: The ‘Terror’ of Tiny Town
Tamada Tales comments on the detention of a small child and her mother at an opposition protest in Baku on Sunday. Captured on video uploaded to YouTube and shared online, the blog wonders what ‘havoc’ could possible be wreaked upon the Azerbaijani capital by the girl.
Chile: Bill Seeks to Move Bicyclists off Roads and onto Sidewalks
Blogger Setty criticizes a bill that, “tries to ban cycling on the street, putting the city’s booming cyclist population onto the sidewalk.”
Venezuela: Could the opposition benefit from a long primary?
Blogging by boz lists 5 ways the opposition (MUD) in Venezuela could benefit from a “long, tough primary”: “It's impossible to say for certain whether the late primary will benefit or harm the MUD until after it happens. But if the MUD ends up winning in 2012, I can guarantee...
Nigeria: ReVoda Turns Voters Into Monitors
ReVoDa users in Nigeria give verdict on Nigeria’s Presidential Election. ReVoDa allows voters to report as independent citizen observers from their respective Polling Units across Nigeria using mobile phones.
Nigeria: Hackers Wish
Nigeria hackers wish: How I wish there is a place in Lagos, Nigeria where: 1. I can code without bothering about power cuts from the power company, my inverter running down, my generator running out of fuel or my laptop dying and also have REAL BROADBAND ACCESS. 2. I can...
Russia: Bloggers Stop FSB Initiative To Ban Skype
It was just a stroke of luck that on Friday, April 8, 2011, LiveJournal did actually work; before and after this date it would constantly “crash” or “die” due to hacker attacks for periods ranging from several hours to half a day. But on this particular Friday it worked, and it’s possible that this saved the Russian Internet and all its users from yet another prohibitive initiative from the FSB (Federal Security Service). At least for the time being.
Argentina: Judge Recognizes Armenian Genocide
An Argentinean judge issued a historic ruling in which he condemned the Turkish state for committing the crime of genocide against the Armenian population. Argentina received an important stream of Armenian immigrants fleeing the genocide, whose descendants maintain their customs and traditions grouped under distinct institutions that form the Armenian Collective.
China: Clearing Urban Centers of ‘Unwanted’ People
From early 2011, major cities in China have started cleaning up "dangerous" and "low-end" elements of their populations. The proposal on "population control" was firstly introduced in the People's Congress held in Beijing in January 2011. It suggested that in the coming five years, the Chinese capital has to repress population growth; it has been estimated that more than 700,000 people living in the old city will be relocated to the city outskirts.
Iran:Persecuted blogger won Theodor Haecker prize
Shiva Nazar-Ahari, a persecuted Iranian human rights activist and blogger, awarded Theodor Haecker prize.
Romania: Literary renaissance
Richard Byrne of Balkans via Bohemia writes about the playwright Lucian Blaga and a renaissance for Romanian 20th century literature and drama.
China: Dumping Meat
Ministry of Tofu posts a series of photos showing how Shuanghui Group, China’s largest meat processor, dumped tons of meat products, including ham sausages, into a huge pit it excavated and fills it with chemicals to destroy them after the food security scandal.
China: The Real Threat
C Custer from China Geeks points out that the real tension in China is between the privileged and the non-privileged classes.
Central Asia: Ideas and Innovations of BarCamp Central Asia
The fourth educational non-commercial conference for professionals in social media (BarCamp Central Asia) took place in Almaty, Kazakhstan, 15-17 April, 2011, bringing together journalists and bloggers, IT and media specialists, web-developers and everyone connected with the Internet and new media.
Kyrgyzstan: Authorities ponder on confiscation of the mobile operator
It appears that Kyrgyzstan’s leading mobile operator MegaCom is about to be confiscated by the government, amidst an ongoing political and law enforcement scandal related to the company, Malika reports.
Turkmenistan: Rights activist isolated in psychiatric hospital
Amangelen Shapudakov, an 80-year-old activist, has been forcibly confined to a pyschiatric hospital by Turkmen authorities after he accused a local official of corruption during an interview with RFE/RL, Schwartz writes.
Turkmenistan: Crackdown on Turkish schools
As Turkmenistan’s authorities quietly move to shut down the system of Turkish secondary schools, Annasoltan communicates with an alum of one of these schools to get an insider’s view.
Kyrgyzstan: Interview with shirin Aitmatova
Sabina interviews Shirin Aitmatova, a Kyrgyz MP and an active online social media activist, discussing poetry and politics.
Brunei: Twestival Unites Local Netizens
Brunei's first Twestival event gathered the country's leading bloggers and other netizens in support of the Child Development Centre, a group that provides assistance to children with special needs.
Ukraine: Kyiv Post Editorial Staff on Strike
Democratist writes about the situation with Kyiv Post, an English-language newspaper whose staff went on strike last week to protest the publisher's decision to fire the editor-in-chief over the publication of an interview with the Ukrainian minister of agriculture.
Hungary: A Medical Doctor on Twitter
Debrecen-based Bertalan Meskó, a medical doctor who tweets under the name @Berci and has more than 6,000 followers, reported on his blog [en] that he was listed among the Top 10 Medical Tweeters on Project IVLine. He wrote this about his Twitter experience: “Whenever I have a question about my...
