On the night between February 10 and 11, an airplane of the Czech airline CSA first circled for 40 minutes trying to get the dysfunctional flaps to work, and then performed an emergency landing. The pilot managed to stop the plane at the end of the recently extended runway.

Among the passengers were the British Member of the European Parliament Richard Howitt, and the Macedonian Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikola Popovski. Within the EP Foreign Affairs Committee, Mr. Howitt serves as the Rapporteur on Macedonia - and he is also an avid Twitterer. He tweeted immediately after the incident:

All now fine but just had emergency landing at Skopje on aircraft whose flaps failed. Told take brace position. Thought could be the end.

Richard Howitt MEP tweeted immediately after touching ground.

…and added some more details:

Emergency landing. Snow on runway. Fire engines lined up. Stewardess said: “pray, pray, pray.” #Czech Airline staff heroes. All OK now.

A report by MIA (a Macedonian state news agency) provided more details:

As the plane was landing, smoke appeared from the tires and the captain managed to stop the aircraft right at the end of the runway.

Howitt later commented:

…I didn't know at time about smoke. Told Foreign Minister: give pilot medal for stopping plane

Quite a few people re-tweeted Howitt's info and wrote to express support and relief. Mallen Baker wrote:

Glad it ended well - nightmare situation that anyone flying would prefer to avoid! Great that everyone safe

Extension of the runway was a part of the deal with the Turkish company TAV, which renovated and manages the airports in Macedonia through a 20-year lease contract.

While the cited flaps malfunction might have nothing to do with the weather, the ongoing Balkan snow storm does affect the air traffic in the region. A few days ago, the Macedonian Army helicopters that were supposed to carry supplies to the cut-off mountain villages could not take off [mk] due to continuous snowfall.

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Hello World!

Welcome to another edition of the Global Voices podcast. In this episode we talk through some of the ideas and issues surrounding the global Occupy movement and protests, as we listen to recordings from our team in different parts of the world.

My Greek Co-Host

In this edition, I “occupy” the podcast with Asteris Masouras, Global Voices author and Global Voices in Greek editor.

Asteris has been monitoring the global #Occupy movement online since it all began. Who better to accompany us through this edition of the podcast?

We got together on Skype and discussed Greece, Europe, and the Occupy world, especially in regards to how the movement communicates with itself and others.

Occupy Denmark

Global Voices in Danish co-editor, Maria Grabowski Kjær in Denmark, visits the Occupation there to find out what their methods and messages are. Though many seem to think the protesters are hippies, Thomas, who helped organise the movement in Denmark, aims to prove that this stereotype is not true at all.

Thomas of Occupy Denmark talked to Maria Grabowski Kjier about the movement

London papers

Here in London, the Occupy movement at St Paul’s Cathedral is presented with a newspaper called The Occupied Times of London. I met with Steve Maclean, the editor of the paper, to find out how it works.

Occupy London, Steve Maclean, editor of The Occupied Times

A Camp in Maine

Frances Harlow is an independent radio producer, and friend of Global Voices. In Portland, Maine in the United States, she recorded at a local Occupy camp during her studies at the Salt Institute, after graduating from Brown University.

Frances’ report shows that it’s not always easy to consolidate a message among such passionate people. You can listen to more of Frances' brilliant audio work here.

What do you make of the global Occupy movement? Is there a camp near you or do you participate?

It’s not easy to fit the entire movement into a short podcast but it has been interesting to highlight the similarities and differences across borders. There’s a whole lot more you can read up on at the special coverage page about the global Occupy movement on Global Voices.

Music Credits
In the podcast you can hear lots of lovely Creative Commons music. Thanks to Mark Cotton for his fantastic creations and thanks also to all of the wonderful voice over performances and clips that help to glue the podcast together.

The Global Voices Podcast, the world is talking, we hope you’re listening!

This post is part of our special coverage #Occupy Worldwide.

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The event, which was followed through the #KSMG (Kurdish Social Media Gathering) tag, was live streamed and joined in via Skype and YouTube by those who could not be there physically, although there were participants who had traveled from as far as Australia to participate. It was held on January 21, 2012.

@xoshink: @TaraFatehi speaking at the #KSMG in London! She travelled all the way from Australia! #Bijî!#TwitterKurds

One of the organizers, @kurdishblogger, tweeted a photo of @TaraFatehi speaking to the participants:

@TaraFatehi is here from Australia to talk about Kurdish issues&Kurds in Australia #Twitterkurds#KSMG12 #Kurdistan pic.twitter.com/wVTqS0k3

A Kurdish Twitter user @TaraFatehi flew in from Australia to attend the KSMG in London. Photo shared by @kurdishblogger on Twitter

Others who were not physically there joined in the conversation with how they use the #TwitterKurds tag to communicate.

@xoshink: Social media connected me to amazing people around the globe; helped me find Kurds locally with ambitions to make a change.

@Vexhevxwaz: I totally agree with @apogeeculture1.#TwitterKurds inspired me to organize actions in my local Kurdish community.

Participants focused on social media strategies, Twitter in particular, to attract attention to a given news story, as well as carry out a campaign.

@Shakawan: Q: where do we go from here ? should trending kurdish issues be the top priority?

@B9AcE: Tactics should be chosen from a strategic goal. TT reaches mainly new mainstream. Directed campaigns a #TwitterKurds

@B9AcE: Need new, high impact topic. Send it to large noise makers, asking for it to be spread starting at same time.

@WRyaM: social media tools are also podcasts, Events, collective bookmarking wikis… so let us use them all

Organizers then showed a video sent from Diyarbakır, “sent to them for this gathering by Abdullah Demirbaş, who is the mayor of Sur Municipality in Diyarbakır.” The presenter also noted it was

“worth making a mention at this moment of a very important agency in Amed (Diyarbakır) called @AjansAmed - it's a new social media organization website, a group of social media activists who have put together these videos that you are seeing tonight. Abdullah Demirbaş was part of a campaign to get people tweeting. Every Thursday we were tweeting #abdullahdemirbas, because he has a medical condition he needs to leave America for but he can't travel, because he was taken to court and now he has a travel ban.”

Xende Biradostî tweets:

@Wekhevxwaz Thank you, #KSMG for raising awareness of the plight of #AbdullahDemirbas. #TwitterKurds

Image shared by Halkevi Media on Twitter of the event

One of the speakers was Mehmet, from Halkevi Media, in London. His presentation also included strategies to use social media towards what he saw was beneficial to the Kurdish communities:

This gathering to me is one of the most important events of 2012. I work for Halkevi, the social media part at @halkevimedia, so social media is very important to me. I think we have been lacking in the social media area for quite a while and our numbers are not maximized, there are more Kurds on the internet but they are using it more for their personal stuff, but (social media can also be used) to create awareness and consciousness of Kurdish issues and democratic struggle of Kurdish people and people in the region. I want to talk about the importance of social media in diplomacy - we need to increase the social media effect in diplomatic spheres. We need to determine the agenda rather than having our agenda formed by outside events, such as arrests, operations, etc. We need to have our agenda and initiate to lead rather than be led by political developments that constantly change. Also, we constantly tweet the same thing, it's not getting outside. We need to target certain individuals, for example Middle East correspondents of every single international media organization and MPs. Social media needs to be not separate from grassroots, there are 200,000 Kurds in this country, we needed to have more people here. We need to use different strategies to engage them.

Next, @quzzulqurt from Turkey joined in via Skype. He noted that “this (social media) is a big chance for us around the world to come together. Before there was only Roj TV but now we have this chance and must use it to create awareness, for non-Kurds and Kurds in the region.”

@Zurdosh: @Kurdishblogger has just asked @quzzulqurtabout reporting in English more in North Kurdistan (turkey) #TwitterKurds#KSMG

@PerwinBerdizi: #KSMG#TwitterKurds it is our job, we kurds who can speak ceveral language to translate to the diasporan people

Participants elaborated more on reaching out to professional journalists during breaking news events.

@kurdishblogger: in order to attract the attention of international media, it is extremely important to have a photo, video or witness who can testify. Say, a BBC journalist needs at least 2 witnesses. They don't have that much time, you have to help them. You need to have a photo and you need to give context. People post photos on facebook without any explanation, I am Kurdish and I might know but you can't expect an international journalist to know (what the context is).

@PerwinBerdizi: #KSMG#TwitterKurds unfortunately today's journalism is about copy+paste therefore, do half of their job and contribute with throughout news!

@B9AcE: @AbsoIuteBanana Nowadays activists must basically write journos articles with pictures & quotes for them. Complete work. #KSMG#TwitterKurds

Tweeps deemed the gathering an overall success, with many people asking if there will be similar events in the future.

@apogeeculture1: We have now had participants from all parts of Kurdistan and Australia, Japan, Turkey, Israel! Kurds go International! #ksmg #twitterkurds

@kurdishblogger: “Tweets are more powerful than bullets” Quote of the day at first Kurdish Social Media gathering#Twitterkurds who said this? #Kurdistan

Further reading:

More reactions are available on this Storify compilation by Nigar Hacizade.

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The war was provoked by a dispute between Argentina and England over the sovereignty of the island, which was retained by Britain after its victory in the war.

However, the Argentine government continues to request a dialogue with Great Britain from the international organisations in order to reach an agreement on the sovereignty of the Falklands. These requests have intensified considerably during the last decade, and in 2011, prior to the presidential elections in Argentina, President Cristina  Fernández received a clear ‘no' from British Prime Minister David Cameron:

As long as the Falkland Islands want to be sovereign British territory, they should remain sovereign British territory - full stop, end of story.

The Argentine president took only a few hours to respond, describing the United Kingdom as a “crude colonial power in decline” and the words of the prime minister as “an expression of mediocrity and almost of stupidity”. She also stated that Argentina would continue “tirelessly” with its demand in each and every global forum available.

This was perhaps the moment in which the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands became a recurrent topic in the various news media in Argentina, and an object of analysis and discussion amongst growing numbers of Internet users.

Monument to the Fallen in the Falklands, Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. Image by Leonora Enkin under licence Atribución-CompartirIgual 2.0 Genérica (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The ebb and flow of the conflict

At the beginning of January 2012, with the aim of pressuring Great Britain into engaging in a dialogue on the Falklands matter, Argentina coordinated a movement along with other Mercosur countries in which access to boats flying the Falklands flag was blocked. On January 12, the Argentine newspaper La Nación published [es] the following:

Por medio de las respectivas cancillerías, Uruguay, Brasil y Chile ratificaron el bloqueo de barcos con bandera de las Malvinas. […] En todos los casos quedó en claro que aquellos buques que tengan bandera de las Malvinas no podrán ingresar en puertos del Mercosur, pero si cambian la insignia por la bandera roja comercial de Gran Bretaña sí podrán amarrar.

It was in the face of these events that on January 18, Prime Minister David Cameron aroused controversy accusing Argentina of being ‘colonialist', during a session in the House of Commons:

We support the Falklands' right to self determination, and what the Argentinians have been saying recently I would argue is actually far more like colonialism, because these people want to remain British, and the Argentinians want them to do something else

Prior to this statement, the Member of Parliament Andrew Rosindell had urged the Argentines to remember that they had “lost the war”, words which were greeted by laughter from those present.

These criticisms were received with much controversy in Argentina and condemned by various politicians of the ruling party. The vice-President Amado Boudou made [es] the following comment:

Realmente es muy triste tener que escuchar esta falacia, este exabrupto. […] como mínimo es una falacia histórica lo que Cameron ha dicho respecto del colonialismo. […] Es un exabrupto torpe, ignorante, de ignorar la realidad histórica, nos deja medio impresionados tanta ignorancia. Que vuelva a los libros de historia.

The Foreign Affairs Minister Hector Timmerman added [es] that “Great Britain is synonymous with colonialism”, while the representative for Santa Fe, Agustín Rossi, published [es] on Twitter:

Estoy presentando en Diputados un proyecto de resolución para que expresemos nuestro enérgico repudio a los dichos de David Cameron.

In turn, certain opposition politicians received the criticisms in the same way as the ruling party. The national representative Ricardo Alfonsín said [es] that Cameron's words “displayed an appalling attitude” while the former presidential candidate Hermes Binner stated:

El hecho de que el gobierno conservador británico hable de ‘colonialismo' suena a broma, dado que no se puede manosear la historia.

National representative Fernando Iglesias, from the opposition, expressed [es] his disagreement with the government's position on the Falklands on Twitter:

Una cosa es el justo reclamo de retiro del Reino Unido y su base militar y muy otra la soberanía argentina sobre un pueblo que no la quiere

In the same way, internet users from Argentina and elsewhere are divided between those who believe that Argentina should abandon its claim for the Falklands and those who support this claim.

Journalist Florencia Etcheves (@fetcheves) published [es] the following comment on Twitter, in relation to the current conflict over mega-mining in Argentina:

Mientras la prioridad es Malvinas , arrasan el [cerro] Famatina. Qué plato.

User Martín Caparrós (@martin_caparros) also made [es] the same observation:

¿No es maravilloso que simulen pelear por las Malvinas mientras le entregan toda la cordillera a las mineras multinacionales? #Famatina

Similarly, TV panellist Gustavo Noriega (@Gus_Noriega) pointed out [es] that there are more important matters to worry about:

#cosascotidianas la mitad del país sin cloacas, agua potable ni gas, pero ahora el tema es Malvinas.

From Chile, journalist Felipe Avello Suazo declared [es] himself to be in favour of the Argentine demand:

Los chilenos apoyamos a los hermanos argentinos: LAS MALVINAS SON ARGENTINAS. Avergonzados estamos por ayudar a los ingleses en los 80.

Bloggers have also been giving their opinions on the matter. Doctor Ana, in her blog ana-guev-logueando [es], reflects [es]:

Interesante y absurdo cruce diplomático con los ingleses, en donde los ciudadanos, argentinos e ingleses, caemos una vez más en la manipulación patriotera. […] Hasta una escandalosa guerra protagonizamos, donde – como siempre – los pueblos ponemos la sangre y los titiriteros ponen las cortinas de humo y los fantasmas. […] Tremenda paradoja de un mundo en donde valen más los quiebres que las comunicaciones, la fachada que la casa, los discursos que los actos, los fantasmas que los hombres.

And Fabio Baccaglioni [es], in a lengthy publication, concluded [es] with irony:

Ese país [Inglaterra] está utilizando la palabra “Colonialismo” para describir a otros, no podemos ofendernos, deberíamos tan sólo cagarnos de risa.

Argentina más bien es un país colonizado. La cordillera le pertenece a Barrick Gold y a otras empresas mineras, no hay casi ninguna mina cuyo beneficio termine en el país. […] El agua poco a poco quedará en terrenos que no nos pertenecen, la patagonia es mitad inglesa o de Benetton, los campos de grandes empresas de afuera […] Tal vez Cameron se equivocó al expresarse y lo que quiso decir es que Argentina era una colonia que se creía independiente.

Written by Natán Calzolari · Translated by Eleanor Staniforth · View original post [es] · comments (1)
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On the fringe of London’s wealthy financial district, a four-storey building owned by one of the world’s largest companies has found an unlikely new purpose. 5-29 Sun Street, an office block owned by Swiss financial services giant UBS, was ‘repossessed’ last month [18 November 2011] by protesters part of the anti-corporate greed Occupy movement. Offering the opportunity to “trade in creativity rather than cash,” it is now bustling with art workshops and discussion groups focusing on everything from squatters’ rights to economic trade policy.

Photo by Ryan Gallagher

The choice of building holds no little significance for the protesters: UBS Bank was the subject of a $60bn bailout from the Swiss government in 2008, after piling up the biggest losses of any European lender from the global credit crisis. Regardless of what people think of the #Occupy Movement, @HeardinLondon says that “the idea of cleaning up an old building that has been disused for seven years and turning into a free arts space, education and community centre is hard to fault”:

What? I hear you exclaim, UBS who have been involved in massive tax evasion controversy in America? The same UBS that allowed a rogue trader to slip through the net with an estimated $2 billion? Not UBS who stung mortgage borrowers for up to 67% interest? The alleged bank of choice for Mr Bin Laden? Not the same UBS that many people say bank-rolled Saddam? Shockingly, it’s the very same UBS.

What could be a more perfect antithesis of the government’s slash and burn policies, than to rehouse the projects for the people which are being desecrated inside a bank?

The site is the third in London, set up by the economic justice campaigners who also have camps in Finsbury Square and next to St Paul’s. On YouTube, community powered news channel ynuktv posts a video about the initiative for the non-monetary trade of ideas to help solve the economic, social and environmental problems of our time:

Ideas flourishing

The place is now an open venue for free workshops and lectures held by a wide range of volunteers. Eviction proceedings have been launched against the protesters and the appeal case is expected in Court on the 23rd or the 24th January. Meanwhile, the project is entering the third month since the occupation and has free events scheduled well into December 2012, such as free university courses, permaculture workshop, an art gallery and yoga classes. Some of them are covered via live stream.

Guests and visitors have been using their blogs to report. Illustrator Isobel Williams catches a glimpse of the visitors in drawings and thoughts, whereas visual artist Raphael Franco reports on the Dr. Bike session he attended:

I met Paola and Toni, two lovely ladies who have been working with bikes and people for many years… I didn’t have much repair to do on Caca (my beloved bike), so just stayed there learning with the masters and doing some documentation of the event.

I had a great two hour session with them and learned some quite useful information about how to adjust the brakes and to work do some basic work on gears mechanic (cables, top and lower screws and balancing).

Journalist Peter Watts was surprised:

I didn’t know quite what to find inside, and while I expected a friendly welcome I was surprised by the depth of organisation that has gone into the enterprise, owing as much to the methods of middle management as it does the spirit of the co-operative. This is organised occupation on an impressive scale. There were flowcharts, spreadsheets and white boards full of information and advice on every surface, with people running round spreading messages and sharing news. I’ve worked in dozens of newspaper offices where communication was worse than this. It’s energetic, unifying and genuinely impressive on every level.

Cristina reports on the meditation class she held there:

From the moment we arrived, we felt that we were in a special place, and among special people. These were courageous individuals engaged in a monumental effort; a peaceful struggle to achieve deep social and economic transformation. They wanted a fairer society, and we could see that they were striving, through inner and outer challenges, to become that new society.

£5 rent proposal

A bank statement. Credit: @heardinlondon. Used with permission

To carry on providing room for community groups and other public services that have lost their space due to Government spending cuts, the team at Bank of Ideas has offered to pay £5 rent to UBS, for continued use of its building. It is the full amount that the giant investment bank has claimed as the rateable value of this prime site commercial property in the heart of London, according to a recent re-rating application to the tax office. It has fallen from around £100,000 to just £1 per floor – or a total of £5 in all:

Occupy London would like to take this opportunity to make an open, warm hearted offer to UBS – we want you to help us to begin to build the Big Society.

Bank of Ideas has renovated this derelict building, without state intervention and through volunteering and skill sharing. Since it was publicly repossessed, Bank of Ideas, located in one of the boroughs worst hit by the summer’s social unrest, has been used as a community centre where many local organisations affected by the cuts have a place in which to continue their vital work.

UBS has been accused of many unsavory practices in its time. Now, Occupy London and Bank of Ideas are publicly asking them to work with us to wipe the slate clean – to enable community organisers to permanently manage this site on behalf of the people of Hackney – the border of which is but one pavement’s distance from some of the wealthiest companies on earth.

Whether or not UBS decides to reply positively, remains to be seen; meanwhile, Peter Watts advises people to pay a visit as soon as possible, just in case:

I recommend you pay a visit quickly, before the dead hand of corporatism crushes another lowly outlet of fun and dissent.

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Hello World and welcome to 2012!

In this edition of the podcast we take a look back over the year 2011, consider the similarities and differences between mainstream and new media journalism, learn about an inspiring Rising Voices meeting in Bolivia to support the development of an ethnically and socially diverse blogosphere.

We also set off on a two-wheeled journey around the internet!

Considering 2011

For citizen journalists, bloggers and commentators everywhere, 2011 has been an extraordinary year. It’s hard to imagine a time before now when our friends and contributors faced threats, arrests or violence on such a scale. Nor has there been a year so far when we have seen such influence and change in the sphere of online citizen media. For many of our own writers and friends here on Global Voices, times are still difficult, but let's have hope for perseverance and better times ahead.

Looking back over a year of Global Voices Online is no mean feat! Our deputy editor, Emma Brewin, talks about jumping into a wild torrent of global news, and which stories stood out for her during an extraordinarily busy year.

From mainstream to new media

The Global Voices regional teams are made up of writers, bloggers and media makers of mant different types. Some, like Thiana Bondo, a Global Voices author and translator from Bahia, Brazil come from a journalistic background. Our managing editor, Solana Larsen chatted with Thiana, who is currently based in London, about the differences between being a daily newspaper journalist in Brazil, and writing for Global Voices.

Supporting the indigenous web in Bolivia

In December, Rising Voices hosted a three-day event in Cochabamba, Bolivia for bloggers in Bolivia. The goal was to support the development of a stronger, and more diverse blogosphere. There were workshops and presentations on both technical tools and organising strategies. The meeting was in Spanish, and was called Conectándonos (getting connected).

Maria Mercado is a student and a volunteer who works with indigenous communities. She went to the meeting and told us what she learned. If you'd like to hear more, there is a wonderful podcast of the whole event on Rising Voices by our managing director Georgia Poppellwell, and Rising Voices director Eduardo Avila.

Get on your bike with us!

You may think that we are separated by distance and only connected by the internet, but it seems that we also have some healthy habits in common. Ever prepared with her recording device, Solana Larsen discussed the wonders of getting around by bicycle with Global Voices executive director Ivan Sigal. As Ivan explains, the online cycling community is a vibrant one.

Naturally this meant that I had to ask our stunt-cyclist-audio-contributors to share with us their thoughts on two wheels.

Cyrus Farivar an American journalist currently living in Germany, and the author of “The Internet of Elsewhere” chatted with us about cycling - directly from the seat of a bicycle. In Denmark, Maria Grabowski Kjaer shared the sounds of the city where cycling is celebrated. Cycling for Maria is not just a mode of transport but a way of life.

Well, that wraps it up for our first podcast of the new year. We’ll be chasing audio and chatting about the world’s news and habits online throughout 2012, so do stay tuned and always let us know what you’d like to hear. For now, inspired by our two wheeled wonders, I’m off to try and learn how to ride my bike without being a danger to myself and others!

Music Credits
In the podcast you can hear lots of lovely Creative Commons music. Thanks to Mark Cotton for his fantastic creations and thanks also to all of the wonderful voice over performances and clips that help to glue the podcast together.

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The incident, which is now being seen as a hate crime by the local authorities, has fired the racism debate once again. Netizens across India and the UK have reacted strongly to the murder.

A section of the Tweeple, both from the UK as well as India, expressed sorrow and sympathy at the incident.

@ciarandearden: The more I hear about the tragic murder of Anuj Bidve, the more disgusted I am by this heinous crime.

@MissLButtercup: To the family of Anuj Bidve I am ashamed this has happened in my country.

@LolaMariachi: Just back to Salford Quays after Christmas. Sad to see flowers up for Anuj and TV Vans parked up. Sad times.

@MichaelPayneUK Michael Payne My thoughts are with family & friends of Anuj Bidve, 23yr old Lancaster Uni PG student who was killed in an attack in Salford yesterday

@super_bhav: My thoughts go out to the family of #anuj #bidve so sorry for your loss #salford #shooting #mindless #violence

Others however, also expressed outrage at what they felt was the tragic outcome of  a racist attack. There was a strong call for bringing the culprits to book as soon as possible and mete out strong punishment that would act as a deterrent in the future.

@shekharkapur:  #Anuj Bidve's random killing in UK is a disgusting racist attack tht needs 2 b condemned. Whts happenin 2 British Society?

@tomilis: Sad to see death of Anuj Bidve in Manchester. World isn't safe for those with our skin colour anymore it seems…

@loserSamay:The killing of #Anuj in Manchester must be condemn and the culprits must be sentenced.i thought racist attack in Britain was thing of past.

@AmitabhTiwari:#Anuj Bidve's killing proves that only Indians follow the philosophy of atithi devo bhavah! (a guest is like God)

@scutts:What a cowardly act to shoot Indian student #Anuj #Bidve. Hope the scum are caught quick. #bringbackhanging

@davidmonkton: David Monkton Remember the family and friends of Anuj Bidve. His death in Salford makes us ALL sad that ‘crimes of hatred' take place in our country

@OwenJones84: The horrendous murder of Anuj Bidve is being treated as a hate crime. No rest until all forms of racism are driven from our society

@chet_a_chet: The killing an Indian student Anuj Bidve in UK is being called a “hate Crime” here by the media. It was clearly a racial murder.

@dhulston:After riots we pulled together we need the same approach to clear the city of this scum. Action against #racism

The police have already made a couple of arrests and have appealed to the community for their support in solving the case. They have also announced a reward against information on the killers. That there is support for the police investigation from the local community that feels shamed at this turn of events is evident from this tweet:

@Bethel76: I am proud to live in Salford. The shooting of Anuj Bidve is a terrible crime. The police have support of the communities. #prayforhisfamily

The topic of racism is being discussed and debated in forums and on Facebook as well. For example, in the forum YouBihar, Chalu Chamar writes:

It seems racism is still rampant in Modern British Society otherwise we would not be reading such news.

While some have been quick to generalize and paint the entire British society with  the same brush, there are also other voices which offer a more moderate and balanced point of view on the issue of racism. For example, Sumit Ranjan comments in the above-mentioned forum discussion:

My tributes to the innocent Indian killed. May God give strength and courage to his family, friends and loved ones to bear this great loss. On the topic, sadly, racism does exist in England. I have personally faced it on few occasions and I will not deny it. But, at the same time, I would also like to   say that the majority of the people are not racists. I have got many British friends who stood up for me and even fought some weirdo who had passed some racist comments at me recently in a pub and was trying to act smart. And btw, are we saying racism doesn't exist in India? That would be dishonest too… In my view, it’s a common problem.. but the extent of it may be different in different countries..

The debate as well as the investigation into the killing continues. In the meantime, Anuj's family is leaving no stone unturned to try and get his body back to India for performing his last rites.

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However, despite alarming rates of poverty, corruption and emigration, as well as significant concerns over media freedom and human rights protection, the first question asked by an ethnic Armenian outside of the former Soviet republic showed that priorities can be very different for those living or born abroad.

Because of this, perhaps, Ianyan blogger and Global Voices author Liana Aghajanian, although also based outside of Armenia, asked a question related to the often different priorities that many citizens do have inside the country.

Citing the example of the London-Armenian community, the British Ambassador responded by saying he believed that it would be wrong to consider the Diaspora a ‘homogenous bloc that has only one agenda' although there are ‘issues such as relations with Turkey, where there are different priorities and approaches.'

That's not to say that the foreign policy agenda isn't also a priority for some in Armenia though, with one person from a think-tank set up by a former Armenian Foreign Minister attempting to link Scottish Independence with a long-running territorial dispute with Azerbaijan.

Nevertheless, as many surveys show that foreign policy is not the main priority for most citizens, Liana Aghajanian again raised some of those issues instead.

Another question, one of three from the same person, and the only ones submitted during the two-hour period as opposed to before it, again brought the subject back to Nagorno Karabakh.

In all, 13 questions were asked by 7 people, illustrating the problem with social media in Armenia. Although the Armenian government claims Internet penetration stands at 47.1 percent, few believe such figures especially when recent household surveys by the Caucasus Resource Research Centers (CRRC) put it at around half that.

The results of other CRRC surveys also indicate that 67 percent of Armenians have never used the Internet at all, with only 14 percent accessing it on a daily basis. Meanwhile, according to SocialBakers, although use is increasing, Armenia still has only 242,300 Facebook users out of a population officially put at 3,262,200.

Political engagement online also remains low as opposition attempts to stage a MENA-style uprising earlier this year showed. The point was not lost on the Ambassador himself in an answer to another question from Liana Aghajanian regarding the local media landscape:

“Internet access is increasing and will change the picture over time but it's still not an option for majority of people here,” the Ambassador wrote.

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