20 February 2012

Stories from 20 February 2012

United States: Another Assault on Immigrant Culture

  20 February 2012

The decision to eliminate the Mexican-American studies program from the curriculum of schools has caused outrage. Yarisa Colón covers several initiatives that have been launched to stop this act of censorship against the culture of immigrants in the United States.

Sri Lanka: Promoting Reconciliation and Hope to Young People

  20 February 2012

Reconciliation is a much discussed buzzword across Sri Lanka. While there has been much talk about how to do it, a group called Sri Lanka Unites is actually doing something. They are uniting the youth of all ethnic and religious groups across Sri Lanka and promoting hope and reconciliation to them.

Mali: The River Niger in Pictures

  20 February 2012

Boukary Konaté, a member of the Global Voices community in Mali, recently toured rural schools on a traditional Malian boat as part of a digital literacy project. This boat trip was an opportunity to explore his own country and to illustrate the many aspects of the 2,600 miles-long Niger river. Here are some snapshots, taken during the journey.

Egypt: Among Bulaq's Ruins in an Unfinished Revolution

  20 February 2012

Bulaq Abu el-Ela is one of Cairo’s main informal neighbourhoods, threatened with demolition and its inhabitants resettled into apartment blocks in the middle of the desert. Italian film-makers Davide Morandini and Fabio Lucchini, made a documentary entitled "Bulaq: Among the ruins of an unfinished revolution" about Bulaq, its inhabitants, their issues and suffering from forced evictions.

Malaysia: Petition Against Sarawak Dams

  20 February 2012

An online petition urges the Malaysian government to review its plan to build twelve “highly destructive” hydroelectric dams in Sarawak that will displace tens of thousands of people and flood large tracts of tropical rainforest.

The “Brazilebanese”, or Brazilians from Lebanon

  20 February 2012

The return of Lebanese immigrants and their Brazilian families to Lebanon has resulted in the creation of an important community of "Brazilebanese". This community has been making efforts to keep ties with Brazil through the Portuguese language, which has more speakers than Arabic in some villages.

Cambodia: Information About Land Evictions

  20 February 2012

Stories Without Borders provides links to pertinent news articles, videos, and other documents about the land evictions in Cambodia. Over 250,000 Cambodians have been displaced by illegal land evictions in both urban and rural areas.

Vietnam: Land Rights Violations

  20 February 2012

Adam Bray writes about the struggle of Vietnamese villagers for their land rights. He accuses the government of secretly demolishing homes and forcibly evicting religious and ethnic minorities in the rural provinces of Quang Ngai, Kon Tum, and Quang Nam.

El Salvador: Facebook Photo Album Documents Worst Examples of Campaigning

  20 February 2012

Legislative elections for El Salvador are scheduled for March 11, 2012. Tim's El Salvador Blog reports on an interesting Facebook initiative: “The Facebook page called “Sociedad Civil”  (Civil Society) is sharing a photo album of the worst examples of campaigning during this campaign season leading up to the March elections....

Singapore Budget 2012

  20 February 2012

Leong Sze Hian analyzes the Singapore budget presentation for the year 2012. He concludes: “Need to cut rhetoric, and do something, anything, if the government wants to regain some credibility.”

Azerbaijan: Sari Gelin

  20 February 2012

Əli Novruzovun bloqu [AZ] writes a review on a new novel penned by Ali Akbar, author of “Artush and Zaur,” the controversial tale of a homosexual love affair between an Armenian and Azerbaijani. In his new book, “Sari Gelin, Akbar takes his readers on the complicated journey of a young girl...

Egypt: Architecture without Architects

  20 February 2012

In this short video, Omnia Khalil reflects on the massive change society underwent on social and political aspects during the last three decades in architecture, urban developments and art. Full research is available online at Waly Center Journal issue 2. (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)

South Korea: Judge Who Lampooned President on Social Media Resigns

  20 February 2012

In South Korea, a judge who posted an insulting message ridiculing the President on his Facebook wall has resigned amid controversy. Although it seems the resignation is due to his poor evaluation result, his fellow judges and activist groups said that the Justice's decision was to gain the favor of President by punishing the judge who made headlines for lampooning him.