Stories from 10 July 2009
Fiji: The fall of movie pirates
With Fiji’s government cracking down on outlets selling pirated DVDs, L. Cass pens a piece in Failed Paradise criticizing these “cheating” retailers but also lamenting their downfall
Fiji: Journalism schools’ standards questioned
A second journalism school has opened in Fiji, this one at the Fiji Institute of Technology. But given “the climate of censorship and media paranoia in post-putsch Fiji,” media educator David Robie in his Café Pacific blog argues the standards of these new programs should face heavy scrutiny.
Russia: Search engine politics
LJ user kostyaorlov posts [RUS] statistics on the frequency of searches for political parties by leading search engine Yandex in various Russian regions, thus indicating geographic variation of political interest among web users.
Russia: Putin breaking the law
Ilya Yashin tells [RUS] how Premier Putin apparently broke the law by serving US President Obama Russian caviar, considered contraband since capture of sturgeon was outlawed in 2007.
Russia: Burning books
LJ user red warrior red claims [RUS] that the Russian edition of a book by murdered dissident-in-exile, Alexander Litvinenko, has been confiscated and destroyed by the Federal Security Service (FSB) in connection with a criminal investigation.
Russia: Ural curfew
LJ user wladimirmgerturns attention to [RUS] a 22 PM to 6 AM curfew for underaged, recently decided by politicians in the Chelyabinsk region of southern Ural.
Hungary: Elections of extremity
Hungarian Spectrum compares the 2009 European Parliamentary elections with the 1939 national elections, finding similarities in their strong support for the extreme right in the country.
Russia: Fifth anniversary of Klebnikov murder
Sean's Russia blog brings memory to the fifth anniversary of the murder of Pavel Klebnikov, editor-in-chief of Russian Forbes Magazine.
Russia: Seven sisters – a short story
English Russia tells a short story with pictures of the Seven sisters – more known as Stalin skyscrapers – built in Moscow 1947-53, and points to other examples in the former “Eastern bloc.”
US-Russia: Blogger reactions to Obama in Moscow
Karina Alexanyan of Internet & Democracy Blog analyses Russian blogger reactions to US President Obama's Moscow visit – a theme previously also covered by Global Voices.
Maldives: Maldivian vs. Continental Breakfast
Hamdun opines that to avoid curry burps and heart burn, “it is better to have a continental breakfast with bread, eggs and sausages and orange juice than to go for a typical Maldivian breakfast.”
Russia: At the lead in online social networking
Information Policy turns attention to a recent survey showing Russia and Brazil in the lead of online social networking.
Bosnia-Herzegovina: Making people out of numbers
Srebrenica Genocide Blog posts a list of 534 people with birth dates killed during the 1995 Srebrenica massacre, recently identified by modern DNA-technique, restoring some dignity to the victims, and making people out of numbers.
Pakistan: The President Vs. Chief Justice
Farhan at Guppu Blog discusses the recent row between the president and the chief justice of Pakistan and cautions others from using sensationalist remarks while describing the tensions as that can incite fresh political agitations.
Poland: More trouble on the horizon for Euro 2012
Polandian directs attention to more trouble on the horizon for the Polish-Ukrainian joint hosting of the Euro 2012 soccer championships, namely the poor standard of Polish hotels not by far meeting UEFA-criteria.
Colombia: Campus Party 2009 in Bogotá
The most recent edition of Campus Party in Bogotá, Colombia is currently underway and Catalina Restrepo of Cosas del Alma [es] writes about her 2nd participation in the event.
Sri Lanka: Facebook Banned In A Girl's School
Anandawardhana at Web Alochana informs that Sirimavo Bandaranaike Vidyalaya, one of the leading girl's schools in Colombo, has asked its students to “deactivate their accounts” and warned that “those who still maintain accounts on Facebook will be expelled from school.”
Bangladesh: Climbing Mt. Annapurna IV
Mohammad Farhan Husain at Had I been in Voyager 1!!! celebrates the feat of a group of Bangladeshis who climbed Mt. Annapurna IV, the first time for any Bangladeshi.
Iran: “Boycotting BBC Persian TV”
Several Iranian bloggers say that BBC Persian TV did not cover yesterday Iranian protest demonstration in Tehran. Arash Madadi calls [fa] Iranians for boycotting BBC Persian TV.
Iran: Slogans against Khamenie's son
A film in You Tube shows that Iranian protesters chanted slogans against Ayatholla Ali Khamenei's son, Mojtaba Khamenei on Thursday. According to some reports Iran's Leader's son has taken control of country's anti protest militia.
South Africa: Table Mountain in New 7 Wonders of Nature competition
Table Mountain in South Africa is nominated for the New 7 Wonders of Nature: “If you live in South Africa there is almost no chance that you don’t know someone who thinks that Table Mountain is the bees knees. I think it’s pretty smart myself, but apparently the rest of...
