Stories from 17 June 2014
Footballers with Caribbean Roots at FIFA World Cup
No Caribbean nation is represented at the World Cup this year, but Repeating Islands takes note of quite a few players with regional roots.
Caribbean: Get Your App On!
ICT Pulse profiles eight “new and emerging Caribbean apps”.
Journalist: Colombia's President Was Reelected Because He Campaigned on Peace
Journalist Natalia Bonilla writes on Ser Cosmopolita (Being Cosmopolitan) about the results of the run-off in Colombia's presidential election on Sunday, June 15. For her, the peace discourse was fundamental for the reelection of president Juan Manuel Santos: “Paz”, la mejor palabra en su publicidad. Su repetición durante la campaña eleccionaria fue...
Bermuda to Get Public Access to Information Law
Premier Dunkley has announced that [the] Public Access to Information law will be operational by April, 2015. That’s 5 years after the law was passed, and 12 years after the topic was first introduced. Vexed Bermoothes thinks better late than never.
The Case of Ciccone Printing House in Argentina
Eva Row, a blogger for La cosa y la causa (The thing and the cause), writes about the Ciccone printing house, related to allegations against Argentinian Vice President Amado Boudou. Ciccone printing house had a large technical capacity, unused due to its poor economic situation: (Ciccone) adeudaba a la Afip (Administración General de...
The Framing of Jamaica's “Gay Menace”
The dismissal of Professor Brendan Bain from his post as head of the Caribbean HIV/AIDS Regional Training Network is still fueling the debate about gay rights in Jamaica.
Hosting the World Cup or Olympics Isn't All Fun and Games. This Website Breaks It Down
These sporting events don't always have a positive impact on their host cities. Website Sport Better Cities digs into the good, the bad and the ugly of hosting.
Global Voices Seeks Contributing Editor for RuNet Echo Project
Global Voices is seeking a part-time Contributing Editor to support our coverage of Russian citizen media, as part of our RuNet Echo project.
Tejo, Colombia's Explosive National Sport
Tejo or turmequé, a national sport in Colombia since 2000, has its origins in other game played in the Muisca community, which inhabited the Bogotá savannah 500 years ago, as Spanish journalist Jose Sanchez Hachero blogs on Los Mundos de Hachero. Back then, the game was known as “zepguagoscua”. Tejo...
The Impact of Climate Change on the Rural Population of Benin
Alain TOSSOUNON of Benin posted on the West African Network of Journalists for water and sanitation (WASH) blog a summary of the report on the evaluation of post disaster needs in Benin after the recent major floods. The disaster caused the death of nearly fifty people and caused damage estimated...
Tor's Skyrocketing Popularity in Russia
Since mid-August 2013, the average daily number of Russian users of the Tor anonymity network, a free software for enabling online anonymity and resisting censorship, has multiplied fourfold.
44,000 Malagasy Children Die Every Year for Lack of Care. How Can We Stop It?
Children's healthcare is dismal in Madagascar, but some organizations are doing their best to change this terrible reality.
Slow Internet Connectivity Holding Back Online Reporting in Cameroon
In an interview with the online journal Tiptop Stars, Adeline Sede-Kamga, publisher of FabAfrique magazine and organizer of the recent Cameroonian bloggers hangout, assesses the state of online reporting in Cameroon: I think a lot of people are getting their voices heard online these days. Although there are a few...
Do You Know About the Deadly Violence Against Muslims in Sri Lanka? Not If You're Reading Local Media
Clashes between extremist Buddhists and Muslims have left at least four people dead, but Sri Lanka's mainstream media isn't giving the situation much coverage.
The Unintended Consequences of Pakistan's Operation Zarb-e-Azb
On June 15, 2014, the Pakistan Army launched Operation Zarb-e-Azb, a joint-military operation involving Pakistan against armed insurgent groups such as the Taliban (TTP), al–Qaeda, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). The operation started exactly a week after the terrorist attack on the...
Podcast: China's Leftover Women
Sinica Podcast invites Leta Hong Fincher, author of “Leftover Women“, a book about the state of women's rights and gender equality in modern China. The podcast discusses hidden problems and obstacles that Chinese women are facing in society including domestic violence and the “leftover women” issue. It's worth noting that...
Reflections of a Colombian Voter During the FIFA World Cup
On the blog Filosofía de a pie (Pedestrian philosophy), Alejandro Martínez notes that “the T-shirt is the flag”, amidst the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil and the Colombian presidential election, about “the wicked association of football and politics”: La televisión y la prensa han catalogado a estas elecciones como las más...