9 June 2010

Stories from 9 June 2010

Kenya: Plans to rig the referendum

  9 June 2010

Kumekucha observes that rigging is being planned for the referendum in Kenya: For those who don’t know the intricacies of how rigging is usually done, I think it would be right to start with a brief appreciation of certain key points.Vote rigging works best when the results are close.

Zimbabwe: Women of Zimbabwe making history

  9 June 2010

The former president of Ireland, Mary Robinson, blogs about her recent trip to Zimbabwe: I was in Zimbabwe to attend a ‘High Level Dialogue on Women’s Empowerment in the Political and Economic Arena. The aim of our five day visit was to show solidarity with those working to achieve greater...

Macau: Amendment of media law

  9 June 2010

Michelle from interlocals.net translated an article updating the free speech situation in Macau. Professional media workers are calling for media reform while the government wants to amend laws to control the Internet.

China: Tan Zuoren’s Harsh Sentence Upheld by Sichuan High Court

  9 June 2010

The Sichuan Provincial High People’s Court upheld the judgment of activist and environmentalist Tan Zuoren (谭作人). Tan was convicted of “inciting subversion of state power” in February 2010 and sentenced to five years in prison, with an additional three years’ deprivation of political rights, following a trial in August 2009....

South Korea: 3D World Cup Broadcast and the Square

  9 June 2010

Controversy arose when big corporates have appropriated the public space of the Seoul City Hall Square for World Cup related commercial activities. Some citizens decide to substitute the real life World Cup experience in virtual 3-D theaters.

Colombia: Twitter and Facebook Users Report Possible Election Fraud

  9 June 2010

Twitter and Facebook were buzzing with images of discrepancies between the forms where votes were manually counted and the reported results for the past Presidential elections. These differences affected the number of votes for each candidate and voting totals, and had the population wondering about possible election fraud, as can...

Ecuador: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Visits Ecuador

  9 June 2010

U.S Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Ecuador on June 8, where she met with president Rafael Correa to discuss various issues. Twitter users commented on Clinton's visit, reflecting a whole array of sentiments towards the United States and its relationship with Ecuador.

India: Conflict in Meghalaya

  9 June 2010

Dinesh Wagle pens an in-depth analysis of  what he feels are the reasons behind the ever-widening conflict between Khasis and Nepali migrant workers/Gorkhas in the North-Eastern Indian State of Meghalaya.

Pakistan: Seeking sanity

  9 June 2010

Fatima Ajmal in a post at Teeth Maestro points out the need for greater awareness regarding mental health in Pakistan, removal of social stigmas associated with mental illness, and calls for framing of better mental health policies.

India: The art of swearing

  9 June 2010

Rimi takes a humorous dig at contemporary use of language and swear words. She writes, pen dripping nostalgia, of days gone by when swearing was a ‘smorgasboard of wit, quick repartee, a talent for coining puns and aphorisms, and of course, analogies’.