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Thursday, April 30, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
ICTs and Clicks
TECHNOLOGY-KENYA: On the Way to Getting Wired
In 1961, there was just one to be had. By 1985, that figure had increased to 1,800 - and at the beginning of last year, it stood at about 520,000, according to government figures.PAKISTAN: Unions Roused to Reject Privatisation of Phone Firm
Pakistan's sell-off of its state telecommunications company has lit a fire under the country's languishing labour movement and sparked the creation of an anti-privatisation group of other civil society actors.LATIN AMERICA: Reg’l Meet Promotes Inclusive Information Society – In Theory
Non-governmental organisations and networks protested their exclusion from the Regional Preparatory Ministerial Conference of Latin America and the Caribbean for the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society, held this week in Rio de Janeiro.POLITICS-TUNISIA: Little Room for Taking Government to Task
The plight of Tunisian attorney Mohamed Abbou has been in the spotlight for several weeks now, with U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher being quoted earlier this month as saying Washington was "very concerned" about Abbou’s imprisonment.INT’L WOMEN’S DAY: Think of These Three Women
International Women's Day asks you to think of half the world, but two writers groups asked Tuesday for attention particularly to three women "under attack for using new information technology to challenge their governments."DEVELOPMENT-AFRICA: Putting Researchers and Policy Makers on the Same Page
Reports. They gather dust on the desks of journalists and bureaucrats - after having been opened with reluctance, and closed with speed. Months of work may have gone into their production; but all too often, the only use for these weighty tomes seems to be as doorstops.ENVIRONMENT-CHILE: Electronic Garbage Poses Increasing Dangers
Computers and mobile telephones that have become obsolete are forming a mountain of electronic waste in Chile. But few people seem to realise the magnitude of the environmental and health problems they pose.SPECIAL REPORT-MEDIA: Alternative and Influential?
When you hear "alternative media," it is often alongside such words as "collective," "citizen-oriented," and "public." But what does it have to do with journalism? And how influential are groups like Indymedia, which recently had some of its computers seized?MEDIA: Alternative Network’s Internet Servers Confiscated
Agents from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Thursday seized two Internet servers in Britain that host the web sites of the global news network Indymedia. Two days later there was still no clarification of why the computers were confiscated or who is holding them.TECHNOLOGY-KENYA: Giving Civil Society a Voice in ICT Policy
Representatives of civil society in Kenya have called for its inclusion in the redrafting of a policy on the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in the East African country.TECHNOLOGY: Rural Africa Yearning for Internet, Connectivity
In a few years, an old woman in rural Africa should be able, if all goes according to plan, to connect to the net and communicate with her children in the city.COMMUNICATIONS: Junk E-Mail Is ‘Epidemic’
All hopes invested in the ''information society'' could be dashed if current - and ever-increasing - abuses of the Internet and electronic mail persist, say experts meeting here this week.MEDIA-U.S.: Activists Remain Vigilant After Major Court Win
Public interest groups scored an almost total victory in a lawsuit to overturn changes by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that had loosened media ownership rules, but they say the fight against market consolidation is far from over.COMMUNICATION: This Fight Is Not Virtual Any More
The emails seemed inoffensive. The sender seemed to be a German official or a journalist with either the Der Spiegel weekly or the broadcaster Deutsche Welle.MEDIA-ZIMBABWE: A Nation of “Information Scavengers”
It's time for mid-week prayers at the Methodist Church in Main Street. But, spiritual affairs may be the least important matter on the minds of those present. Instead, a lot of time appears to be taken up by more worldly concerns, especially the pursuit of the latest information.COMMUNICATION-BRAZIL: Info Technologies for Social Change
Businessman Rodrigo Baggio, 32, decided 11 years ago to do what he could to "put an end to the digital apartheid" that prevails in Brazil.COMMUNICATIONS: Good Internet Governance Key for Development – Annan
A story making the rounds at the United Nations forum on Internet governance is about a young U.S. student of philosophy who decides to seek spiritual guidance from an ascetic monk living in the foothills of the Himalayas.EGYPT: Nascent Activism Scores Rare Win
In a rare show of resistance against commercial interests, a newly formed group of anti-corporate globalisation activists in Egypt has forced two of the world's largest mobile phone companies to back down on recent prices hikes.TECHNOLOGY: Can Security Birds Catch Computer Worm?
No less an authority than the U.S. Department of Homeland Security launched the vital-sounding National Cyber Alert System to fight the problem, in late January.COMMUNICATIONS: Tunisia Pledges Openness for Second WSIS
The government of Tunisia has assured that all civil society organisations will be allowed to participate in the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society, to take place in Tunis next year, the follow-up to last December's meet in Geneva.TECHNOLOGY: There’s Life after Microsoft – Free Software Advocates
Vicente Ruiz, a Spanish advocate of the use of free software, feigned displeasure as he sat down to help a journalist working at the World Social Forum (WSF) in January. ''Aghh, Windows!'' he quipped.« Previous Page — Next Page »
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