Stories from 19 July 2010
Japan: Basic English skills, a must for today's workers
In a post titled English necessary for today’s Japanese workers? [en] Adumu at Mutantfrog reflects on a recent debate on the state of English in Japan.
Cuba: Free Expression & the Law
Laritza's Laws examines freedom of expression as it pertains to Cuban legislation.
Bahamas: Local Justice
As the Barefoot Bandit is extradited back to the U.S., Jerome Pinder says: “We have shown that the Bahamas can rise to the occasion and ensure swift action…Now what about...
Trinidad & Tobago: Now Showing
Artist Chris Cozier shares thoughts from his notebook about his most recent work, commissioned for this year's Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival.
Cuba: Future of “Las Damas”
Now that certain political prisoners are being released in Cuba, Along the Malecon wonders about the future of Las Damas de Blanco: “In what form will [the group] continue to...
Panama: The Feast of Corpus Christi in La Villa de Los Santos
Clotilde Castillo of the blog Panamá Mio [es] describes the feast of Corpus Christi in the Panamanian village of La Villa de Los Santos that took place between June 10-13.
Cameroon: Capoeira in Cameroon
Linda writes about capoeira in Cameroon: “I do quite a lot of traveling in different parts of Africa, and I’m always on the look-out for pieces of capoeira. In Togo,...
Iran: Bazaars Closed for Business as Merchant Strikes Continue
Merchant strikes in the main bazaar of Tehran have entered a second week in protest of higher taxes. Several citizen journalists reported this event, while official media keeps silent and tries to ignore one of the most important strikes in 30 years.
South Korea:Water Subdued, May As Tensions
The annual torrential rain swept over the country and brought a faint hope on the Inter-Korean relations. South Korea's Yonhap reported that as North Korea had informed South prior to...
China: Blogs, Democracy and China's Future
ESWN translated an interview with Zhang Wen at my1510.cn discussing the relation between blogging, democracy and China Future.
China: Me, Wang Hui, and Liberal Wishy-washy-ness
Peter Zarrow, a historian at the Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica (Taiwan), explains why he signed the joint letter supporting Wang Hui at China beat. Meanwhile, the mass mail...
India: Treating Foreign Journalists
Sans Serif highlights a case of not renewing the visa of a Japanese journalist by Indian authorities because of his alleged negative reporting.
Hungary: Media reactions to failed IMF/EU-negotiations
Eva Balogh of Hungarian Spectrum dissects Hungarian and international media reactions to the failure in economic negotiations between Hungary and the IMF and the EU.
China: Domestic Microblogs Cut Off from the Outside World
C. Custer from ChinaGeeks explains how Chinese microblogs cut their users off from the rest of the world by white listing the short links in the microblog message.
USA and Congo: Nicholas Kristof and Western coverage of Africa
Bunmi joins the debate over New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof's admission that he tends to focus on the ‘white foreigner as savior, black African as victim’ story in his...