2 January 2013

Stories from 2 January 2013

New Year and Old Habits in Bahrain

While countries around the world ushered in the New Year with fireworks and celebrations, a special line-up of treats from the authorities was awaiting Bahraini protesters. Luckily, netizens were up and running, and documenting some of them for the rest of the world to see.

Cats, Guns and Spoils of War in Rural Idlib, Syria

Maaret Misreen, Syria–Omar, a former marketing student at a private university in Damascus, is living a life he never could have imagined. He’s originally from Idlib, one of Syria’s smaller cities in the heart of the northwest olive groves. Now he’s living in the line of fire as a media activist, documenting violence and escorting foreign journalists and human rights workers through Syrian terrain.

Mauritanian Women Speak up against Rape

  2 January 2013

A group of Mauritanian women launched an initiative against rape and all other forms of violence against women in their country. Entitled “Etkelmi or Speak up” [ar and fr], this campaign aims according the blog “Al Tasfera” [ar] to break the wall of silence surrounding rape and encourage victims to demand their...

Sixteen Teachers Arrested in Mauritania

On December 23, Mauritanian authorities arrested 16 teachers who had heckled the Education Minister in protest against their arbitrary transfer to remote posts, for having taken part in last year's demonstrations. The police sent these teachers to its various offices in Nouakchott. Journalist Mohamed Salem comments:  يجدد نظام العقيد ولد...

Harasser Identified by Bloggers in Bangladesh

  2 January 2013

An unknown guy posted a prank video of slapping a girl online and shared through social media apparently to harass her. Some Bloggers took notice and used crowdsourcing to expose the identity of that guy. E-Bangladesh has details.

Jamaica: The 2012 Aaron Matalon Award

  2 January 2013

We must dream backwards / Towards the source / We must row back up the Centuries… The National Gallery of Jamaica Blog notes that jeweller and sculptor, Jasmine Thomas-Girvan, has been awarded the prestigious Aaron Matalon Award for 2012.

Podcast: China's Blog Scene

  2 January 2013

How has the China blog scene changed in the past two years? Sinica Podcast hosts two bloggers writing on China: Eric Fish from the Economic Observer who also writes for Sinostand, and Anthony Tao from Beijing Cream.

TEDxSanaa: Inspiring Hope In Yemen

Despite the turbulent year Yemen experienced in 2012, a group of Yemenis worked very hard to end the year on a positive note. The TEDxSanaa team succeeded in staging, for the first time in Yemen, an inspirational TEDx event in Sanaa on December 31 under the befitting slogan “Inspiring Hope.”