Latest posts by João Miguel Lima from July, 2012
Brazil: Concerns Over Public Health in Januária
Participants of the citizen journalism project Amigos de Januária, Rising Voices grantee of 2011, are carrying on the mission to monitor the local government of Januária, in Brazil. The latest posts on their blog refer to concerns over health and public safety.
Brazil: Project Discusses Political Campaign Sign Litter
Few months ahead of municipal elections in Brazil, the campaign Quem sujou agora, vai sujar depois [Who litters now, will litter afterwards] aims to raise awareness on how political candidates make Brazilian towns dirty during election campaigns. The project's page on Facebook [pt] gathers denouncing photos and videos sent by...
Brazil: Board of Social Communication Under Criticism
The Observatório do Direito à Comunicação, website of communication rights in Brazil, reports that [pt] the Board of Social Communication, elected by National Congress on July 17, is under criticism as the list of candidates was concealed and voting session was unannounced. Board members analyze, report and make recommendations on...
East Timor: Stunning Sunset Photos
Currently based in Dili, Timor Leste, the Australian media and policy professional Ashlee Betteridge shares on her blog Betty loves blogging four stunning photos of Dili sunsets, which “more often than not, put on a good show.”
Portugal: Tugaleaks Bank Account Deemed as Terrorist and Closed
Website Tugaleaks, which aims to serve since December 2010 as Portugal's Wikileaks, had its bank account for donations arbitrarily closed on July 13 with no official communication [pt]. Tugaleaks contributors were finally told the account had been closed based on Act 25/2008 [pt] of money laundering and terrorist financing, which...
Brazil/Portugal: Homophobia and the “Apparent Invisibility” of LGBT
On the blog No que tange, Maycon Lopes shares [pt] his experiences of being a homosexual in Brazil, where homophobia “motivates terrible killings”, and compares to situations he faced while living in Portugal for a year: “Portuguese society isn't violent […] however gays aren't so on sight”. He felt an...
Mozambique: Scholarship Students Kicked Out of Sudanese University
An open complaint letter published on social media by a group of scholarship holders from Mozambique at the International University of Africa, in Khartoum, Sudan, regarding their precarious social and financial situation, led to five of them being expelled and sent back to their home country.
Brazil: Video of Tribute to Murdered Forest Heroes
Watch the footage [en/pt] of Laísa Sampaio's speech at the UN on February, as she received a posthumous tribute to her sister Maria do Espírito Santo and brother-in-law José Cláudio, closing the International Year of Forests. Because of their efforts to protect the forest, they were killed. Laísa says “the...
Brazil: Navy Denies Entrance to Quilombo Rio dos Macacos
Tai Oliver reported on Quartoamarelo Ateliê studio Facebook page [pt] about recent abuses involving the Navy and Rio dos Macacos quilombo community in Bahia, Brazil, which struggles against eviction threats since February. She says the Navy, in control of the quilombo's entrance, denied access to four residents (woman, three children)...
Mozambique: Innovative Ways of Producing and Distributing News
Johannes Myburgh shared on Twitter the Mozambique Media Landscape guide, which he helped produce with Infosaid media project. Radio is considered the country's “most important channel of communication”, but Infosaid highlights independent and electronic newspapers – such as Faísca, Whampula Faz and Global Voices partner @Verdade [pt] – as...
Brazil: Activists Support Civic Framework for Internet
Internet activists are discussing the civic framework (“marco civil”) for internet in Brazil, to be voted on National Congress today. Mega Yes Movement [pt] says the framework will establish fundamental rights online, and urges netizens to read [pt], tweet (#MarcoCivil), and petition about it. Mega Yes activists previously engaged on...
East Timor: Photo Report of Vote Counting in Dili
Besides providing numbers of international observers and media correspondents on site for the July 7 elections, the Technical Secretariat of Electoral Management (STAE) used its Facebook page to share photos of personnel counting votes on paper ballots, in Dili. The procedure was followed by observers, members of political parties and...