Stories from 25 August 2011
Trinidad and Tobago: State of Emergency, Day 4
With a national state of emergency — declared by the government to combat rising crime — now in its fourth day, bloggers and other social media users in Trinidad and Tobago express doubts about the effects of the emergency measures and respond with humour to the inconvenience of a nighttime curfew.
India: Corruption In Indian Railways
Swetha Bommerla at Youth Ki Awaaz writes about the corruption in Indian Railways regarding reservation of seats and selling of tickets.
Pakistan: Education, The Last Hope
As the socio-political crisis in Pakistan gets out of hand, emphasis on education is being stressed by civil society. This push mainly is due to the hope that maybe, just maybe, education might be the key to bringing stability amidst the unsettling internal civil war that Pakistanis face on a daily basis.
Colombia: ‘Blank Vote, Worthy Vote’
Colombians are invited to cast blank ballots in the regional and local elections to be held on October 30, 2011 through the video “Blank vote, worthy vote” by NachoVelezJim on YouTube. The argument for such a move is that scandals of government corruption have made the country lose billions of...
Uruguay Celebrates Independence Day
Today, August 25, Uruguay is celebrating 186 years of its declaration of independence. Federico Lorenzo shares [es] today's Google doodle on the search engine's Uruguayan version, and comments on the history behind the country's independence.
Bahamas: Riding Out Hurricane Irene
As Hurricane Irene, the first of the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season, continues to move through the Bahamas, bloggers have been sharing their experiences. Netizens reported very strong winds, extensive damage to property, felled trees and downed power lines. Several roofs were blown off and there were reports of flooding in certain areas.
Peru: Ripley Department Store Workers Maintain Demands
Ripley Peru union workers have announced that they will not give up their demands [es] for an increase in the basic monthly salary to 350 nuevos soles [es] (around US $130). They also ask for a payment of 50% of their snack and 100% of their transportation for workers who...
Colombia: Football Federation Accepts ‘Bolillo’ Gómez's Resignation as Head Coach
On Sunday, August 21, Hernán Darío Gómez ratified his resignation as head coach of the Colombian national soccer team after he hit a woman in Bogotá. This time the Colombian Football Federation accepted the resignation, but the issue continues to generate various online reactions.
Guyana: Whole Lotta Love
When her mother falls ill, Guyana-Gyal discovers “the scary side of loving”.
Somalia: Food Security Emergency Spreads Despite Aid
As the Horn of Africa deals with what the Food and Agriculture Organization is calling the “most severe food security emergency in the world today,” experts warn that conditions in famine-stricken Somalia are likely to further deteriorate. Juhie Bhatia examines the spread of the disaster.
China: Three Public Expenditures and State Secrets
In China, the term, "three public expenditures" or san gong jingfei, refers to government expenses for overseas trips, food and entertainment and public vehicles. The three expenditures have been considered by the general public as one of the main sources of corruption of government officials.
Russia: Court Rules Out to Block An Undisclosed LiveJournal Account
Samara city court had ordered a local ISP to block an undisclosed blog at LiveJournal platform that ‘incites hatred towards an ethnic and social (professional) group,’ the website of Samara Prosecutor's Office reports [ru]. The ‘extremist’ website was found ‘during the monitoring of the Internet,’ the report says.
Iran: “Islamic Awakening” or NATO Victory in Libya?
Iranian citizens continue to follow recent developments in Libya with great interest, and are flooding cyberspace with comments, posts and tweets.
Kazakhstan: Controversy Over State Language Promotion
In early August 2011, the Ministry of Culture of Kazakhstan developed a draft law to introduce some amendments into the state's language policy. It was quickly labeled by many observers as a move to further reduce the scope of use of the Russian language, which enjoys equal status with the Kazakh language, according to the Constitution.
Afghanistan: Afghan Youth Voices Multimedia Festival
In Afghanistan, Internews network is ramping up their efforts to train and motivate Afghan youth to share their perspective on issues that matter to them for the Afghan Youth Voices Festival and Media Camp. They already have many videos documenting different ways in which Afghan youth are reaching out to others.
Georgia: Social Media Used by Presidential Election Candidate in Breakaway Region
Three candidates are competing this week for the presidency in Abkhazia, a breakaway region of Georgia recognized only by Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Nauru, and Vanuatu. Despite being the oldest candidate, Sergei Shamba, born in 1951, turned to social media in order to attract support from voters online.
Mexico: Outrage After Shooting During Football Match in Torreón
Mexican citizens use the blogosphere and social networks to speak out about the armed conflict that took in Torreón (outside the Territorio Santos Modelo stadium), which caused panic and uncertainty among fans, and the cancellation of the match.
Ukraine: “Independence Day #20″
Odessablog wishes a happy Independence Day to Ukrainian readers: “Be assured that despite the wandering path taken thus far and all the mis-steps, Ukraine is doing OK. It is not Utopia but then, I have never lived anywhere that was. There are hurdles ahead but Ukraine will get to where...
Ukraine: Yulia Tymoshenko's Case
At OpenDemocracy.net, Valery Kalnysh explains in detail the case against Ukraine's former PM Yulia Tymoshenko.
