25 August 2011
Stories from 25 August 2011
Trinidad and Tobago: State of Emergency, Day 4
With a national state of emergency — declared by the government to combat rising crime — now in its fourth day, bloggers and other social media users in Trinidad and Tobago express doubts about the effects of the emergency measures and respond with humour to the inconvenience of a nighttime curfew.
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Pakistan: Education, The Last Hope
As the socio-political crisis in Pakistan gets out of hand, emphasis on education is being stressed by civil society. This push mainly is due to the hope that maybe, just maybe, education might be the key to bringing stability amidst the unsettling internal civil war that Pakistanis face on a daily basis.
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Bahamas: Riding Out Hurricane Irene
As Hurricane Irene, the first of the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season, continues to move through the Bahamas, bloggers have been sharing their experiences. Netizens reported very strong winds, extensive damage to property, felled trees and downed power lines. Several roofs were blown off and there were reports of flooding in certain areas.
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Colombia: Football Federation Accepts ‘Bolillo' Gómez's Resignation as Head Coach
On Sunday, August 21, Hernán Darío Gómez ratified his resignation as head coach of the Colombian national soccer team after he hit a woman in Bogotá. This time the Colombian Football Federation accepted the resignation, but the issue continues to generate various online reactions.
Somalia: Food Security Emergency Spreads Despite Aid
As the Horn of Africa deals with what the Food and Agriculture Organization is calling the “most severe food security emergency in the world today,” experts warn that conditions in famine-stricken Somalia are likely to further deteriorate. Juhie Bhatia examines the spread of the disaster.
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China: Three Public Expenditures and State Secrets
In China, the term, "three public expenditures" or san gong jingfei, refers to government expenses for overseas trips, food and entertainment and public vehicles. The three expenditures have been considered by the general public as one of the main sources of corruption of government officials.
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Kazakhstan: Controversy Over State Language Promotion
In early August 2011, the Ministry of Culture of Kazakhstan developed a draft law to introduce some amendments into the state's language policy. It was quickly labeled by many observers as a move to further reduce the scope of use of the Russian language, which enjoys equal status with the Kazakh language, according to the Constitution.
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Afghanistan: Afghan Youth Voices Multimedia Festival
In Afghanistan, Internews network is ramping up their efforts to train and motivate Afghan youth to share their perspective on issues that matter to them for the Afghan Youth Voices Festival and Media Camp. They already have many videos documenting different ways in which Afghan youth are reaching out to others.
Georgia: Social Media Used by Presidential Election Candidate in Breakaway Region
Three candidates are competing this week for the presidency in Abkhazia, a breakaway region of Georgia recognized only by Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Nauru, and Vanuatu. Despite being the oldest candidate, Sergei Shamba, born in 1951, turned to social media in order to attract support from voters online.
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==> As Africans we need to let go of our victimhood, inferiority complex & acceptance of the mediocre. We deserve...