15 June 2010

Stories from 15 June 2010

Guatemala: Beauty Pageant Includes “Foot Bool” Float

  15 June 2010

San Pedro de Las Huertas, Guatemala is recovering from storm Agatha; they recently celebrated their annual beauty pageant with a float dedicated to football. AntiaguaDailyPhoto includes photos of the event and writes: “Foot Bool with the African spelling is how the people of San Pedro Las Huertas want to let everyone know that...

Mexico: 10,000 Orphans

  15 June 2010

10,000 children have become orphans in Mexico as a result of organized crime in the last year. The blog Vivir México [es] reports on an initiative called “Programa Oportunidades” (Program Opportunities), which seeks to, “provide education and health as well as ‘protection from violence, exploitation, trade, unlawful jobs, and provide...

Bhutan: Breast Envy

  15 June 2010

Bhutanese blogger Passu feels that if he only could breastfeed his newborn daughter, he would feel like a complete father.

Russia: New Websites to Promote Modernist Islam

Paul Goble writes [EN] about the launch of two websites islam-portal.ru and soyuzmusulmanok.ru, that promote modernist Islam. Two websites, Goble suggests, illustrate both attempts to seek connections with younger Muslim population, while competing with fundamentalist Islamists, and to prove Tatars as “intellectual leaders of the Muslim umma of Russia”.

India: Desipundit Is No More

  15 June 2010

Über Desi informs that the favorite Desi blog aggregator Desipundit has shut down today. “This is a sad day in the desi blogosphere and for blogs in general”, reacts the blog.

Russia: Online Media Exempt From Comments Responsibility

Russian Supreme Court finally approved the decision concerning responsibility of online news media for the comments published on their forums, lenta.ru reported [RUS]. The court exempt the news websites from any responsibility for comments left by the users. However, Roskomnadzor [RUS], Internet regulatory body, has the authority to oblige site...

Bangladesh: The Nimtoli Inferno

  15 June 2010

In a photo essay Back To Bangladesh does a post mortem of the Nimtoli fire disaster in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh where a fire inside a building took 142 lives.

St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Viva the Vuvuzela

  15 June 2010

Abeni remembers when the ICC Cricket World Cup came to the Caribbean: “The conch shells, bugles, horns, drums etc which were integral to the Caribbean cricketing experience [were no longer] allowed” – which is why she declares, “Viva the vuvuzela!”

Jamaica: Waiting for ‘Dudus’

  15 June 2010

As ‘Dudus’ remains at large, bloggers comment on the upset the search for him has caused…Chez Hsia: “Someone needs to step in and provide the social services that Dudus was providing, or else the cycle will just begin anew…”; Active Voice: “The problem is that even in times of uneasy...

Trinidad & Tobago: In Through the Out Door

  15 June 2010

Outlish is a new online magazine targeted at young adult Trinbagonians. It showcases people who are going after their dreams and features fresh perspectives on issues that readers obviously relate to, because its popularity is soaring. We find out what makes Outlish the newest "in" thing by talking with its founder and Editor-in-Chief, Karel Mc Intosh...

Fiji: Tackling the land tenure issue

  15 June 2010

Because of its ties to ethnicity, culture and a growing import food bill, land tenure is one of Fiji’s most pressing problems. The government will soon attempt to reform the country’s land tenure system, which has largely remained untouched since the mid-1970s.

Afghanistan: Death of al-Qaeda's leader

Nick Fielding reports on the death of Sheikh Mustafa Abu al-Yazid in a US drone strike in North Waziristan, noting that it came as a huge blow for al-Qaeda, as soon as the man was the head of the organisation in Afghanistan since May 2007.