31 August 2012

Stories from 31 August 2012

India: Dowry And The Boys

Nitisha Pandey at Youth Ki Awaaz discusses the current market rates for grooms in India and asks:

Does a boy’s parents’ give him good education only to get a handsome dowry?

31 August 2012

Pakistan: Conflicting Reports in #SaveRimsha Blasphemy Case

The blasphemy law in Pakistan has been the focus of a heated debate yet again, after a minor christian girl named Rimsha was accused of blasphemy and was sent to jail. There have been a few conflicting reports about the case, and the most significant one being a picture of a girl being used, that has now become the face of the #SaveRimsha campaign.

31 August 2012

Portuguese, a Global Language?

A community page on Facebook, Língua Portuguesa: Uma Língua Global? (Portuguese Language: A Global Language?) [pt], provides a diversity of materials to promote the debate about the expansion of Portuguese...

31 August 2012

Turkmenistan: Goodbye August, Month of Melons

August is the month of melons in Turkmenistan where expansive steppe lands yield some of the tastiest crop known to mankind. Turkmen Melon Day, celebrated since 1994, is one of the favourite public holidays in the country.

31 August 2012

Russia: Moscow's Peculiar Illegal Parking Problem

RuNet Echo

Russian adventures and misadventures in parking could be a movie plot. But Russia’s parking problems are anything but comedy. It remains to be seen how vigorously the country will deal with illegal parking. If it succeeds, its methods could show what kind of transportation system and cities Russia will have, and even what kind of country it will be.

31 August 2012

UK: Lion Spotted Is Actually Pet Cat Named Teddy Bear

United Kingdom police officers were busy last weekend with a major operation launched on the evening of Sunday August 26, following the apparent sighting of a lion in the English county of Essex. It was later revealed to have actually been a large domestic cat named 'Teddy Bear'.

31 August 2012

Angola: Before Polls, Serious Questions Arise

On the eve of Angola’s elections, leader of the country’s largest opposition party was loud and clear to the media, stating the electoral process was the worst ever. Citizens report on lack of transparency around the electoral rolls, problems with polling staff assignments and lack of accredited observers.

31 August 2012