Stories from 22 November 2011
Singapore: Proposed Youth Parliament
Bloggers Majulah and angmohlian share their thoughts on the proposal to create a youth parliament in Singapore
Bulgaria: New Protest Against Shale Gas Planned
A new protest is being planned for Nov. 26 in Sofia, part of a series of protests against Chevron's shale gas extraction in northeast Bulgaria. On Nov. 20, nearly 500 people attended a rally in the coastal city of Varna, which didn't receive adequate media coverage. Several Facebook groups have...
Trinidad & Tobago: Flood Damage
B.C. Pires comments on the flood damage in northern Trinidad over the weekend: “Somewhere between asking God for strength and not throwing rubbish in the river, there is a lesson to be learned.”
Cuba: Censoring “El Chupi”
Generation Y blogs about El Chupi Chupi, a hugely popular song in Cuba right now, which has been panned by the Cuban Music Institute, saying: “Controversy will arise, of course, and generate debate, but no public official will be able to erase it with the stroke of a pen, because...
Maldives: Reactions To Defacing Of Monuments
Some SAARC countries have sent monuments to Maldives to celebrate the SAARC summit this year. Maldives’ religious party Adhaalath had called for removal of these alleged idols. Sri Lankan blogger Indrajit Samarajiva shares his reactions on the desecration of the Sri Lankan and Pakistani monuments.
Puerto Rico: Who's Running the Medical School?
Gil the Jenius is calling for the firing of those who were allegedly responsible for the San Juan Bautista School of Medicine's recent loss of accreditation (which has since been reversed, pending probation), saying that leaving those involved in charge “would be very much like locking the door after the...
Kenya: Life in Dadaab, the World's Largest Refugee Camp
Around 75 percent of all refugees are believed to reside in countries neighboring their own, and this is particularly true in Kenya, where approximately 450,000 people inhabit the world's largest refugee camp.
Sri Lanka: Mayhem In Parliament
On November 21st a brawl broke out between UPFA and UNP MPs during budget speech in Sri Lankan parliament. DBS Jeyaraj has the details.
Trinidad & Tobago: The Colman Commission
“The Colman Commission was established about a year ago as a Public Enquiry into the failure of the CL Financial group”, explains Afra Raymond, adding: “The sole Commissioner, Sir Anthony Colman, has now made a statement which outlines his progress in this huge and complex matter…despite all the evidence about...
Barbados: Applauding Anya
Skip to Malou* admits she's “a bit behind on the Project Runway hype”, but says of the winning designer from Trinidad and Tobago: “[She] seems like a down to earth island girl with a big personality and serious determination and we all love to see a West Indian do well...
Nepal: The Attitude Problem Of The Police
“They yell and they carry a little stick”, that is how Nepali describes the average police of Nepal.
Russia: Digital Oppression Hits Web Forums as Election Approaches
As the Russian parliamentary election comes closer, dispersed attacks on regional discussion boards have turned into a massive wave of digital oppression. Alexey Sidorenko reports on several cases.
Nigeria: Celebrating Nigerian Fashion in Abuja
Damilare Aiki shares photos from Mode Demarrage fashion show in Abuja, Nigeria: “The show truly lived up to its meaning ‘Fashion’s Start’ as it marks the beginning of a new age of fashion in Abuja.”
Ghana: Visual Artist Meets Nicest People on Earth
Christine M. Rose, an actor and visual artist from upstate New York, writes about her trip to a Ghanaian village: “They were literally the nicest people on earth…They literally fed, clothed, and sheltered me with no expectation of recompense.”
Global: 1 of 7 Billion Short Film Competition
The 1 of 7 Billion Short Film Competition is open to submissions for videos exploring one of the seven issues targeted by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) 7 Billion Actions initiative. Global Voices Online has been writing about the different actions that individuals and small organizations have been taking...
Mexico: Looking Beyond the Violent Portrait of Ciudad Juárez
Richard Boren in the blog Border Wars shows that there's a lot more to Ciudad Juárez than the violence portrayed in the media. “The city is becoming increasingly more isolated from the world. […] The collateral damage from Juarez's one-sided portrait in the media is enormous, and one of the...
Guatemala's Alarming Femicide Statistics
“According to official statistics, seven hundred women have been murdered so far this year in Guatemala (see here and here). According to CONAPREVI, 838 women were murdered in 2010. Therefore, if women continue to be killed at the same rate in November and December as they have been all year (an average of 70...
Colombia: Bogota's Ignored Street Art
After participating in the ‘Bogotá Graffiti Tour‘, blogger Vicki Kellaway from the Banna Skin Flip Flops writes about the “other” street art in Bogotá, “the kind that’s moulding and rusting away as we speak. Yes, I’m talking about sculpture and, for that matter, statues. When was the last time you...
Yemen: Will Saleh Sign the GCC Deal that the Youth Oppose?
Yemenis have patiently waited ten months too many for President Ali Abdullah Saleh to step down. Now he says he will sign a GCC brokered deal which transfers power to his deputy. Netizens react to the news under the hashtag #No2GCCdeal on Twitter.
Comparing China and Other Countries
He Bing posted a set of photos comparing China with other countries. Archer Wang from Ministry of Tofu explained the context of the comparison.
Russia: PM Putin Gets Booed – “End of an Era” or “Wishful Thinking”?
When Prime Minister Vladimir Putin stepped out to congratulate Mixed Martial Arts champion Fedor Emelianenko on November 20, he was visibly taken aback when he received a less than warm response from Moscow spectators. Donna Welles reports.
