11 September 2012

Stories from 11 September 2012

Nepal: Crowning Of Miss UK Nepal 2012

  11 September 2012

Lex Limbu comments on the Miss UK Nepal 2012 crowning ceremony: What a show : Miss UK Nepal 2012. Management and organisation was very poor. The show was quite a bore, too many performances, hosts getting the names wrong. Too many speeches.

Kosovo: Prizren Comic Book & Cartoon Festival

  11 September 2012

Macedonian artist Vesna Nichevska-Saravinova blogged about her participation in the Prizren Comics Festival, organized by the Kosovo Comic Book Artist Association, Xhennet Comics [sq]. Four out of 15 featured artists at the festival were from Macedonia, Eddie Rebel reports [mk], alongside colleagues from Italy, Turkey, Cyprus, France, Kosovo, Bulgaria, and...

Cuba: Blackout Leaves 5 Million People in the Dark

  11 September 2012

An interruption of an electrical transmission line left five million people from Pinar del Río to Camagüey, including the Cuban capital, Havana, in the dark. Various Twitter users residing in Cuba used the battery life they still had on their laptops and dial-up connections to report what was happening.

Brazil: Youth Documentary on Pacification in Rio's Favelas

  11 September 2012

The Project 5X Favela (5 Times Slum), which aims to give a voice to young filmmakers living in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, is now addressing the pacification process in Rio's slums. Their new documentary, 5X Pacification, intends to portray the impact of police units presence in the daily...

Russia: New Competition in Social Media Analysis & Big Data Analytics

RuNet Echo  11 September 2012

Former presidential staff member Konstantin Kostin [ru] and pro-Kremlin blogger Stanislav Apetian (online moniker: PoliTrash) have released new details about an upcoming initiative from their think tank [ru], the Civil Society Development Foundation. In an interview [ru] with Izvestia newspaper, Apetian says the group is deploying technology developed by the American firm Crimson...

China: Journalists Leaving the Field

  11 September 2012

Many investigative journalists in mainland China are leaving the field. The Tea Leaf Nation picked up and translated some of the discussions in Weibo to look into their reasons.

China: Yangtze River Turned Red

  11 September 2012

For some unknown reason, the Yangtze River, the longest river in Asia, has turned red last week. China Hush translated the local news story.

Ecuadorian Views on Assange Asylum Case

  11 September 2012

The government’s attitude and journalists’ blatant disregard for their code of professional conduct makes it impossible for us to consider Ecuador as a haven of freedom of expression. Nor can the diplomatic asylum granted Assange be taken as evidence of this. Eduardo Varas writes in the post “The Assange Case: the...

Nigeria: First Lady's Sickness – Fact and Fallacy?

  11 September 2012

Nigeria’s First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, is currently in Germany but uncertainty is surrounding her trip. SaharaReporters broke the news on September 2, that Mrs Jonathan was admitted to a German hospital and netizens have been debating the turn of events.

Mayotte, Comoros: Tensions Rise After 36 Refugees Disappear at Sea

  11 September 2012

We cannot be part of the Indian Ocean Community and be indifferent to these tragedies. The solution must involve both countries Saïd Larifou reacts to the recent drowning [fr] of refugees trying to reach Mayotte  by sea. Currently 36 are missing [fr] after their boat capsized as it approached Mayotte. M. Larifou warns...

Libya: A Project to Support Blogging

  11 September 2012

Libyablog is a website that shares what Libyan bloggers write. The group blog is run by a team, from France24, along with l’Atelier des Médias. Some Libyan bloggers are also involved in editing. The first phase of the co-operation extends for six month, from July 2012 to January 2013. During...

Brazil: Mapping Fires in São Paulo Favelas, Land Values

  11 September 2012

After crowdsourced research on fires in São Paulo's slums and informal settlements, known as favelas, Patrícia Cornils and a group of São Paulo citizens are mapping the fires at a site called “Fogo no Barraco” which translates as “Shanty on Fire”. The site also reveals dramatic increases in land value near fire...

China: Political Lexicon

  11 September 2012

Qian Gang looks into the political lexicons since the 11th National Congress to show the power plays within the Chinese Communist Party.

China, Hong Kong: Controller of National Education

  11 September 2012

Hexie Farm's latest cartoon is about the “controller” of national education in Hong Kong. Tens of thousands local residents in Hong Kong protested against the curriculum, some of which is written by “researchers” in mainland China. (via China Digital Times)

Kosovo: “Cinematic Darkness Knows No Nation”

  11 September 2012

At Kosovo 2.0 blog, Belgrade-based journalist Dušan Komarčević writes – here and here – about his July 2012 trip to Prizren, Kosovo, to attend the DOKUFEST International Documentary and Short Film Festival: […] The cinemas were filled with movie lovers from Kosovo, Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Croatia, Serbia,...