Stories from 20 July 2011
Pakistan: Demanding Justice For Saleem Shahzad
Many suspect that Pakistan's intelligence agency was behind the May 2011 abduction and murder of Pakistani journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad, bureau chief of Asia Online. The judicial commission set up to investigate the murder is struggling from lack of help, and many fear that justice will be denied.
Murdoch Hails Singapore Model But Local Netizens Disagree
Media mogul Rupert Murdoch has told British members of parliament that the Singapore model of paying high salaries to politicians should be emulated to curb corruption. Here is the reaction from Singapore netizens.
Italy: Social Innovation Competition with €10,000 Prize
The EUCLID network is inviting social innovators from any country to submit entries to a competition about how to solve one of six social challenges in Naples, Italy. The winning idea will be implemented by the winners together with local partners using a €10,000 prize.
Singapore's old playgrounds
just rambling creates a google map of Singapore's old playgrounds.
Singapore: How to elect a female president
Grace Ke of the Association of Women for Action and Research explains why it's almost impossible to elect a female president in Singapore.
Singapore: Manager is now a taxi driver
Singapore-Lighthouse reacts to the story about a manager who became a taxi driver in Singapore and links it to the rising unemployment problem in the city state.
Singapore: Supertrees design in new project
Barry Smyth hails the Supertrees design in the Gardens by the Bay project of Singapore. Supertrees are tree-like structures with heights that range between 25 and 50 meters and they will dominate Singapore's new downtown area.
Singapore: Popular primary schools versus neighbourhood schools
While many Singaporean parents are scrambling to enroll their children in popular primary schools, Yee Jenn Jong lists a few advantages of neighbourhood schools and bats for a true holistic education.
Peru: Mining Commercial Sparks Controversy
A television ad [es] by Peru's National Mining Oil and Energy Society (SNMPE [es]) which aired on July 19 during the halftime break of the Peru-Uruguay football game for the Copa América has sparked a controversy among Peruvian social media users, as Global Voices author and Spanish Translation Manager Juan...
Russia-Lithuania: Did Russian Pressure Set KGB-Officer Free?
Gerhard Mangott discusses [GER] to what extent Russian pressure was decisive for Austrian authorities to let a former KGB-officer free, wanted by Lithuania for January 1991 Vilnius deaths.
Serbia: First Reactions to Acquittal of Sandor Kepiro
On Monday July 18, 2011, a court in Budapest acquitted 97-year-old Sandor Kepiro, a Second World War Hungarian police captain who served in occupied Serbia and, until recently, was “the most wanted Nazi.” He was charged with war crimes against Serbs, Jews and Roma during the Novi Sad Raid –...
Uruguay: A Critical Look at Secondary Education
“What do we learn in High School?” and “What happens to students who struggle with a subject?”. These are some of the question Alvaro Fagalde asks in a post [es] where he gives readers a critical look at secondary education in Uruguay.
Chile: Salvador Allende's Death Ruled a Suicide
As Greg Weeks reports in his blog Two Weeks Notice “Salvador Allende's death has officially been ruled a suicide. I think it is fair to say that very few people believed otherwise. Nonetheless, there is evidence that the military (under the orders of Augusto Pinochet) would have murdered him if...
Colombia: On Independence Day
Colombia celebrates its 201st birthday on July 20. Guapacho writes about this year's Google Doodle [es]; Triana remembers [es] José María Espinosa, one of the first Colombian cartoonists; and Julián Rosero Navarrete argues [es] that the “independence” was actually a “secession war” among Spaniards from both sides of the Atlantic.
Panama: Presidential Insults Online
Panamanian President, Ricardo Martinelli, sparked controversy on Twitter after allegedly insulting a user who criticized him in a rude manner. But the President denies that any insult was intended. Netizens discuss the furore.
Brazil: Blogger Censored and Sued by Businessman
Journalist Paulo Cezar Prado's Blog do Paulinho [pt] has been blocked by the Brazilian Justice, reports the Blue Bus [pt]. Businessman Franck Henouda's lawyer has sued the blogger who had also criticized other public figures related with sports: Ricardo Teixeira, the president of the CBF and Andres Sanchez the president...
Barbados: Murdoch Madness
“Who say recession not hitting dem big multi-millionaire/billionaire fellas an dem ain't tightening dem belt like de small man? Even a media mogul like Murdoch cut back and now he wife doubling as bodyguard. See that is how the rich duz stay rich, ‘im have the woman multitasking”: Diaspora blogger...
U.S.V.I: Rhys’ Literary Identity
“Both the English and American interpretations of Rhys have always truly baffled me…the English reading…completely glossing over Rhy's well-documented disdain for the English and her discomfort with ‘whiteness’, and the American reading as an odd feminist revision”: A Nation or Nobody blogs about the ambiguities of writer Jean Rhys and...
Russia: Online Effort to Discredit Environmentalists Exposed
Suren Gazaryan, Russian environmentalist, publishes [ru] the scan of the document that describes the strategy of discrediting local environmentalist organizations protesting against the development of the Tuapse oil terminal. The “plan” includes prices for the paid posts in the blogs, forums, media outlets, as well as a list of possible...
St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Violence vs. Women
Abeni quotes statistics which suggest that “St Vincent and the Grenadines is the OECS state with the most female homicides between 2010-2011″, and asks: “Do we even have the will to come up with solutions?”
Russia: President Medvedev's Gadgets Evaluated in a YouTube Video
YouTube user tebedam publishes a video [ru/en] entitled as “Medvedev is NOT corrupted,” that provides market prices for the gadgets president Medvedev had been spotted with on various photos, including Leica S2 camera (Price 22,995 US dollars), other top shelf Swiss watches, and a spacious Moscow flat. According to the...
