19 February 2012

Stories from 19 February 2012

Africa: Weaving the African Dream Through Social Innovations

  19 February 2012

Gamel identifies social innovations that weave the African dream: “Tech in Education: This project is the main motivation behind today’s post. Tech in Education is a 48hr gathering of ideas, people and digital tools aimed at creating novel web and mobile solutions to improve learning amongst primary and secondary school...

Iran: Blogger suffered heart attack

  19 February 2012

Iranian imprisoned blogger Mehdi Khazali has suffered a heart attack after six weeks of hunger strike, due to opposition sources [fa]. His family has shown serious concerns on Mr. Khazali's health conditions, saying [fa] that authorities do not allow any doctor to visit him.

Iran: Execution waits for web developer

  19 February 2012

The Iranian-Canadian web developer, Saeed Malekpour, is going to be executed ‘at any moment’, a blog updates by his family and supporters reports. Mr. Malekpour is accused of running pornography websites by Iranian judiciary and convicted to death. Now his verdict has been confirmed and going to be carried out....

China: Wukan Elections Continue and Inspire

  19 February 2012

Wukan has moved quickly along its path toward clean and fair village elections, inspiring villagers in other parts of the country and winning support from microbloggers all the way up to university halls. However, at least one central government official has blamed the democratic advancements on psychological disorders.

Morocco: Historic Telecom Operator Blocks Skype

  19 February 2012

“What a dreadful news today!” laments the blog Moroccan Geeks [fr], which reports that the Moroccan historic operator Maroc Telecom is now officially blocking all VoIP services, including Skype. The news sparked a heated debate on social media. Many netizens speculate the move is meant to bolster Maroc Telecom‘s paying...

Ecuador: Citizens React to Verdict Against Newspaper El Universo

  19 February 2012

On Thursday, February 16, the highest Ecuadorian court upheld a verdict in favour of President Rafael Correa in a libel case against newspaper El Universo, one of the major dailies in this South American country. Ecuadorian netizens are divided between those who celebrate the verdict and those who define it as a serious offence towards freedom of expression and freedom of the press.

Spain: Police Violence Against Students in Valencia

  19 February 2012

Students gathered at the Luis Vives Institute of Secondary Education in Valencia to protest cuts and because they have to bring blankets to school due to lack of heating. The police attacked the students, many of them minors, and detained ten students.