12 October 2011

Stories from 12 October 2011

Is North Korean Media No Longer Sealed Off?

  12 October 2011

Martyn Williams from North Korea Tech blog commented on Reporters Without Borders’ recent report on the North Korean media landscape. The report claims that the hermit kingdom is no longer as sealed off from the outside world as it used to be.

Slovenia: #OccupyLjubljana on Oct. 15

  12 October 2011

PIRAN CAFÉ posts photos from Ljubljana's recently renovated Congress Square and writes that this is where the #OccupyLjubljana gathering is expected to take place on Oct. 15 – “one of dozens, if not hundreds planned around the globe that day.”

Slovenia: Notes on the Dec. 4 Early Elections

  12 October 2011

Dr. Filomena writes that Janez Janša, “the man considered most likely to form Slovenia’s next government,” has blocked her as well as a few journalists on Twitter, but hopes that Janša's SDS party wins in the Dec. 4 early parliamentary elections: “[…] For three years, these people have spared no...

El Salvador Hit by Heavy Rains, Flooding and Landslides

  12 October 2011

Tim's El Salvador Blog reports that “Heavy rains, caused by a tropical depression off the Pacific coast have caused flooding and landslides in various parts of El Salvador. School has been suspended in 8 of the country's 14 departments. The weather system has left 18 people dead across Central America,...

Ukraine: Reactions to Yulia Tymoshenko's Sentencing

  12 October 2011

BlogActiv.eu, Foreign Notes (here and here), OdessaBlog and OpenDemocracy.com comment, among other issues, on the implications of the Oct. 11 sentencing of ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko for the EU-Ukraine relations. Ukrainiana and Ukraine's Orange Blues post photos and video taken near the Kyiv Pechersky Court on the day of the verdict....

Bulgaria: #OccupyBulgaria on Oct. 15

  12 October 2011

Bulgarian activists announced that they would join in the global #Ocuppy action on Oct. 15. There is a Facebook event and a group call for action, real democracy and #OccupyBulgaria. The activists have been inspired by the protests in Greece, the United States and Spain.

Macedonia: Comparing Steve Jobs to Tito

  12 October 2011

“Comrade Apple died” – the anonymous Taen bloger (= Secret Blogger) used the language imitating the original 1980 TV announcement [sr] of the death of the beloved Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito to comment [mk] on the reactions following the death of Steve Jobs.

Chile: Education Reform Triumphs in Unofficial Plebiscite

  12 October 2011

After five months of protests and school takeovers, Chile’s student movement continues to mobilize for an overhaul of the country’s education system. Over the weekend an overwhelming majority of Chileans voted in favor of education reform in an unofficial and symbolic plebiscite.

Latin American Social Movements and #OccupyWallStreet

  12 October 2011

Benjamin Dangl in Upside Down World writes a report that “connects tactics and philosophies surrounding the Occupy Wall Street movement with similar movements in Latin America, from the popular assemblies and occupation of factories during Argentina’s economic crisis in 2001-2002, to grassroots struggles for land in Brazil.”

Lebanon: New Blog about Football

  12 October 2011

Disappointed to discover that there were very few, if any, English-language websites or blogs dedicated to soccer in the land of the cedar tree, Fitzroy Morrissey hopes to rectify this situation through this new blog, Football In Lebanon.

Puerto Rico: Legal Action Against Medical School?

  12 October 2011

“On October 3rd, a school of medicine in Puerto Rico, the San Juan Bautista School of Medicine, was punished for its negligence and incompetence by becoming the first U.S.-based institution to completely lose its accreditation”: Gil the Jenius has taken the closure personally (his wife was in her final year...

Cuba: Graffiti Artist Detained

  12 October 2011

Babalu reports that “Cuban graffiti artist “El Sexto”…was sequestered by Cuban State Security yesterday in Havana and is being held without charges.”