5 March 2013

Stories from 5 March 2013

Venezuelan VP: Hugo Chávez Dead

Murió Hugo Chávez (Hugo Chávez has died) is a worldwide trending topic on Twitter after Venezuelan Vice President Nicolás Maduro announced the passing of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. In Venezuela,...

5 March 2013

Democratic India's Shrinking Freedoms

Proloy Bagchi comments that political corruption, government pressure, misuse of public resources, intolerance on criticism, intimidation and threat are some of the reasons that are limiting freedom of expression in...

5 March 2013

Violence Flares in Bangladesh Over Islamist Leader's Death Sentence

Renewed violence has erupted across Bangladesh, leaving 80 people dead, after the vice president of the country's largest Islamist political party was sentenced to be hanged for war crimes on February 28, 2013. Supporters of the Shahbag movement, who have protested for nearly a month to demand the death penalty for war criminals, rejoiced at the verdict.

5 March 2013

Uruguayans Push for Sustainable Transport

Uruguayan citizens collect over 10,000 signatures to pressure their government to provide adequate infrastructure for sustainable transport, starting with bicycle lanes. The initiative seeks to address the omission to consider bicycles as a valid form of transport in the country's long-term transport plan.

5 March 2013

Medellín, Colombia: Innovative but Unequal

On March 1, WSJ Magazine announced that Medellín had been chosen as the most innovative city of the world in the contest “City of the Year.” That same day, the press reported the UN had declared the city one of the most unequal in the world. The big contrast in these two reports has generated various reactions on social networks.

5 March 2013

Kenyans Flood Polls Despite Election Day Violence

Machete-wielding separatists left at least 13 dead in Kenya as millions of people turned out in historic numbers to cast their votes on March 4, 2013 in one of the most watched general elections in Africa since the country's elections in 2007 ended in ethnic bloodshed. Sporadic acts of violence marred the otherwise peaceful election.

5 March 2013

Carnival Samba Takes Aim at World Cup in Brazil

With forced evictions and competing political interests surrounding the run-up to the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, a group of concerned Carnival revelers in Belo Horizonte, Brazil have put the discord to a samba beat. Listen to this year's winner of the carnival marches contest, “Imagina na Copa” (Imagine in the Cup), created by a group of citizens recalling who really benefits from the cup.

5 March 2013

Why Do Russia's Newsmen Keep Quitting?

RuNet Echo

Two editors-in-chief lost their positions on March 4, 2013: Mikhail Kotov left one of Russia's biggest online newspapers, Gazeta.ru, while Alexey Vorobiev is no longer the head of the Kommersant FM, a Kommersant affiliated radio station with a heavy online presence.

5 March 2013