16 July 2009

Stories from 16 July 2009

Brazil: Plaintiffs try to silence one of the country's leading journalists

  16 July 2009

Lúcio Flávio Pinto, a prized independent Brazilian journalist has been ordered by a court to pay US$15,000 approximately in damages to a powerful regional media group in a civil libel suit: a real David and Goliath battle. The blogosphere campaigns to help Pinto cover the bill and to promote awareness of yet another case of harassment against independent journalists and bloggers.

Iran: Armenian bloggers on plane crash

When a regular flight en route from Tehran to Yerevan crashed after takeoff yesterday, killing all 168 on board, many in Armenia and its Diaspora were distressed, and not least since there were 40 ethnic Armenians among the dead.

Iran: Online videos send messages to Joe Biden

About 100 Iranians, Americans and Iranian-Americans have posted short personal messages on YouTube to support the Iranian opposition movement that is calling the 12th of June presidential election a fraud. They are calling upon Joe Biden, American Vice President, and the U.S. government not to recognise the current Iranian government and to...

Jamaica: Emmy Nomination

  16 July 2009

Jamaican litblogger Geoffrey Philp reports that “LIVEHOPELOVE.COM, a website about living with AIDS in Jamaica, has been nominated in the United States for a prestigious Emmy award.”

Puerto Rico: Playing the Princess?

  16 July 2009

“When things get tough, the Dream is what unites, what keeps an individual and a group moving forward”: Gil the Jenius is concerned that the Puerto Rican dream is to be rescued and throws out a challenge: “Show Me We aren't the princess. Go ahead, try to show Me Our...

Dominica: Investing in Women

  16 July 2009

Dominica Weekly says that the island's “muted” celebration of World Population Day was an opportunity lost “to start to create meaningful change in the lives of our women”, but adds: “It’s never be too late to create a positive movement…”

Bermuda: Thoughts on Capital Punishment

  16 July 2009

“Due to the recent (and not so recent) spate of violent deaths, there has been much talk about the lenience of our laws pertaining to murder and manslaughter”: Bermuda Jewel advocates the reintroduction of capital punishment.

Jamaica: Returning Home

  16 July 2009

Francis Wade agrees that “the country you leave is not the country you return to”, advocating instead that returning Jamaicans come home “with a flexible, open mind that is willing to enter into an entirely new experience.”

India: Is divorce really the easy way out?

  16 July 2009

Aparna Singh at  Ultra Violet shares her view that despite the rise in the number of divorce cases in India, a divorce is never the easy way out of a marriage – never mind what some cynics may say.

Iran: Opposition goes to Friday Prayers

Several Iranian bloggers invited people to go to Friday Prayers in Tehran as Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi will attend this week's Friday prayers led by influential cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. Iran Baan tweeted that “in this week's prayer, Rafsanjani will defend people's rights.”

China: Fresh tensions in Xinjiang

  16 July 2009

James Leibold from the China Beats points out that both the Western and Chinese media have failed to explain the tensions happening in Xinjiang that lead to massive killing as the tensions are new.