9 March 2013

Stories from 9 March 2013

All About Social Curation

  9 March 2013

Gaurav Mishra explains social curation and describes how Media, organizations and brands can curate contents to drive social engagement.

Changing Attitudes on Child Marriage in India

  9 March 2013

In rural India, two out of five girls are child brides. Though Indian law has made child marriage illegal, girls and boys bonded by traditional social norms and values are most likely to get married early defying the legislations. But the situation is changing as a number of women, who had been married as children, are speaking out against child marriage.

Saudi Court Sentences Reformists to 10 and 11 Years in Prison

Earlier today, March 9th, the Riyadh Criminal Court issued its verdict against the two prominent reformists and human rights activists Mohammad al-Qahtani and Abdullah al-Hamid, after being prosecuted for “breaking allegiance to the ruler and his successor” and “trying to impede the country’s developments”. al-Qahtani was sentenced to 10 years in prison and al-Hamid was sentenced to 5 years in prison in addition to completing his previous sentence (7 years, released after a year with a royal pardon).

Malaysians Support Army Offensive Against Sabah ‘Terrorists’

  9 March 2013

Members of the ‘royal army’ of the Sultan of Sulu arrived and occupied some parts of Sabah in North Borneo last month to assert their claim of the territory. After three weeks, the Malaysian government sent its troops to expel the 'terrorists'. Most Malaysians have expressed their support to the military offensive to drive out the invaders

A Zimbabwean Salute to Hugo Chavez

  9 March 2013

Zimbabwean blogger Takura Zhangazha salutes the late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez: “In mourning Chavez from Zimbabwe and from Africa it is key that we remember him for his principled global leadership example and his people centered policies and politics.”

Hissene Habre Victims’ Long Road to Justice

  9 March 2013

Jacqueline Moudeina writes on Pambazuka.org about the inauguration of a special tribunal in Senegal, to bring Hissene Habre, former dictator of Chad, before the courts [fr]: “Being a victim, is a condition in which we languish without the ability to recover, as long as justice has not been served. The...

Benin Journalist Gets Three Months in Prison

  9 March 2013

Jolome News notes that the International Federation of Journalists has denounced the sentencing of Ms. Berthe Cakpossa to three months in prison and a fine of 500.000 francs CFA (the equivalent of $1,000 US) for insulting Boni Yayi, the Head of State. Ms. Cakpossa is the director of a private...

Education vs. Reality in Bolivia

  9 March 2013

On his self named [es] blog, Eduardo Bowles reports [es] on changes to Bolivia's education system. According to the new school programme: “in elementary school there won't be any failed students. According to the new education trends, children should not be educated in a competitive environment”. As part of his...

How Using Twitter Can End Your Political Campaign in Russia

Earlier this week, a judge in Krasnodar disqualified a politician running for city council, after determining that his campaign materials infringed on copyrights of three popular Internet social networks: Twitter, Facebook, and Vkontakte. What exactly was this man’s crime? He ran a black-and-white newspaper advertisement that included the three websites’ logos.