25 August 2012

Stories from 25 August 2012

Venezuela: Chaos in Amuay After Oil Refinery Explosion

  25 August 2012

'The action radius for the propane spheres explosion is devastating. The entrance to Judibana and everything surrounding it is destroyed.' A gas tank explosion in Judibana, Falcón state, has left at least 24 dead and 86 injured. The reasons behind this accident are still unclear.

Ethiopia: Online Reactions to Meles Zenawi Death

  25 August 2012

Samuel Gebru, the founder of EGI (Ethiopian Global Initiative) writes on his personal blog: Ethiopia and Africa has lost a formidable leader who worked tirelessly for the transformation of his country and continent. Prime Minister Meles was not perfect and I did not agree with every decision he made. I openly...

Philippines: List of National Roads

  25 August 2012

The Philippine government has uploaded a spreadsheet identifying the quality of the country's national roads. It's also a mechanism for citizens to report and monitor badly paved roads

Myanmar: Mizzima Website Hacked

  25 August 2012

“We regret to inform you that Mizzima’s websites have come under DDoS attack. Mizzima has received several threats in reference to our coverage of ongoing hostilities in Rakhine State.” Mizzima, a Myanmar independent media website, issued a statement about the DDoS attacks.

Venezuela: 19 Killed in Blast at Amuay Oil Refinery

  25 August 2012

An explosion in the Amuay oil refinery, one of the largest in the world, has left at least 19 dead and 53 injured, according to the latest reports [es] from the Governor of the state of Falcón. Follow reactions and reports through the hashtag #Amuay on Twitter.

Philippines: Senator Accused of Plagiarism

  25 August 2012

A Philippine senator is accused of plagiarism when he delivered a speech without mentioning that he copied several parts of the speech from a blog. The senator, instead of apologizing, has denied that he committed plagiarism. He said his office doesn't quote from blogs. His chief of staff later added that 'copying' is normal in the Senate.

Belgium: Police Violence

  25 August 2012

Here is a video showing police in Brussels arresting a drunk man who was beating a woman, before they then start to beat him. A person in the neighborhood filmed the incident.

Macedonia: Crowdsourcing Against Gender-Based Violence

  25 August 2012

Ushahidi blog's current “Deployment of the Week” selection [en, mk] is React! Be Safe! (“Реагираj!”), an online platform against gender-based violence in public spaces [en, mk, sq], launched by the think-tank Reactor, initially covering the Skopje municipalities of Centar and Čair.

Russia: State-Owned TV Caught in Anti-Semitism?

RuNet Echo  25 August 2012

Writing on Openspace.Ru, Oleg Kashin discusses [ru] a short-lived but disconcerting report [ru] from state-owned Vesti.Ru about Patriarch Kirill's recent trip to Białystok, Poland, where he visited the Nikolsky Cathedral — home to the relics of Gavriil Belostoksky, the patron saint of children in the Russian Orthodox Church. Vesti.Ru temporarily featured language endorsing the...

Russia: Pussy Riot's Courthouse Is Hacked By Anonymous

RuNet Echo  25 August 2012

On August 21, just days after Moscow's Khamovnicheskii Court sentenced the 3 members of Pussy Riot to 2 years in prison, hackers attacked and vandalized [ru] the court's official website [ru]. Hackivist groups self-identifying as “Anonymous” claimed responsibility and also leaked [ru] some internal (though largely uncontroversial) emails. Popular blogger Anton Nosik condemned [ru] the attack,...