Stories from 22 July 2009
Azerbaijan: Adnan Hajizade, Emin Milli appeal rejected
Despite significant outcry from leading human rights groups, press freedom watchdogs, and the international community itself, two youth activists and bloggers have been sentenced to two months pre-trial detention. Their appeal, originally planned for last week, was eventually heard on Monday, but few expected them to be released.
China: On Eclipses and Astronomy in Chinese history
Today part of India, China and Japan saw the longest total sola eclipse in 21st Century. In Chinese Astronomy, solar eclipses is related with instability and Granite Studio has an interesting article on eclipses and astronomy in Chinese history.
India: FAQs about the Naz Foundation Case
In a three part series (Part 1 2, 3) Vikram Raghavan of Law and Other Things discusses the ins and outs of the famous Naz Foundation case that decriminalizes consensual gay sex in India. V. Venkatesan adds some FAQs of the case in another post of the same blog.
Japan: Political animation
Adamu from Mutantfrog Travelogue posts three political animations produced by political parties that campaign for the Lower House election in August.
Democracy Video Challenge Winner Showcase
What is Democracy? That is the question more than 900 participants set out to answer through their videos, in response to the Democracy Video Challenge set up by the US Department of State and many other partners, open for participants from all over the world. Today we show you the winning videos which explain in their own way the phrase Democracy is...
China: Manufacturing abandon infants
Research-China.Org translated an article, Manufacturing abandon infants, from Southern Metropolis News that describes how the international adoption program provides incentive to local authorities in confiscating new born children from their natural born parents.
Guatemala: International Book Fair Starts July 24
The 6th International Book Fair will take place in Guatemala City starting on July 24 writes Asato Ma Sat Gamayo [es]. This year's special guests will be authors from Costa Rica.
Peru: Ex-President Fujimori Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison
Peruvian ex-president Alberto Fujimori was sentenced to 7 years in prison for corruption writes César Reyna of Reserva Moral [es].
Peru: The Move of Bolivian Textile Companies
Renatto of Real Politik [es] writes about the move of Bolivian textile companies to neighboring Peru to take advantage of its Free Trade Agreement with the United States, after Bolivia was not renewed for the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act.
Controversial Thai Prime Minister website
Cambodia is asking the Prime Minister of Thailand to close down his website that claims that Cambodia has territories which were actually Thai territories.
Thailand: Pregnancy Scam
Magnoy Samsara writes about a new pregnancy scam in north Thailand where girls inject a substance in their bodies to inflate their stomach. Girls do this to “obtain commitment, money, or even escape from forced marriages.”
Philippines: Underwear protest
Workers who lost their jobs after the closure of an undergarment factory held a protest action in front of a government labor office by throwing bras and panties in the air
Jakarta blasts: Twitter vs mainstream media
On the day of the Jakarta bombings, Ong Hock Chuan notes that Indonesian twitterers were criticizing local TV stations for presenting premature conclusions about the blasts.
Indonesia: Bombing victims
The Indonesian police released the names of those who died in the JW Marriott Hotel Bombing in Jakarta.
Japan: Internet users in the world
A post [ja] at ideaxidea shows graphs [en] describing the percentage of the world's internet users in 2008.
Colombia: On Independence Day
Alejandro Ángel celebrates [es] the July 20 holiday and criticizes those Colombians who keep “complaining,” while Miguel Olaya writes [es] about the “re-signification” of this patriotic days during president Uribe's administration, and Apolo Duvalis is grateful [es] to Simón Bolívar and his “gang” for achieving the independence from Spain.
Colombia: The Hunt for Pablo Escobar's Hippo
There is controversy in Colombia after photos were shown of soldiers surrounding a dead hippopotamus, which had been hunted and killed after being labelled a health risk to local communities. The animal had escaped from the estate of former drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, who had brought its parents to Colombia to show them as "trophies and walking symbols of his power."
Global: The push to boycott Shark Week
A group of scientists, scuba divers and self-described shark lovers are using the blogosphere to publicize their criticism of the Discovery Channel’s “horror-show” portrayal of sharks during its annual Shark Week. This loose coalition argues the Discovery Channel programming sensationalizes shark attacks and embellishes the dangers sharks pose to humans.
