8 April 2011

Stories from 8 April 2011

Venezuela: Violence in Caracas

  8 April 2011

Mirelis Morales Tova [es] reflects on violence in Caracas and asks: “Why? Why have we reached the levels of violence of Colombia and Mexico? Where did we fail? And what can be done? Too many questions, without answers. And in the meantime… do we continue to adapt to live with...

China: Privilege Zone

  8 April 2011

Mary Ann O'Donnell has translated an essay on “Why is creating SEZs a logical fraud? The “Special Economic Zones (SEZs)” was designed as a testing ground for reforming and opening China. However, the article argues that it is a privilege zone for multinationals to explore workers.

Zhao Lianhai: we will not be silent

  8 April 2011

China Media Project has translated Chinese activist Zhao Lianhai's video calls for the release of Ai Weiwei and other Chinese dissidents who have been jailed and detained in recent months. Zhao is a victim of the 2008 poisoned milk scandal and has been sentenced to 2.5 years for “provoking social...

Trinidad & Tobago: No Impartiality

  8 April 2011

B.C. Pires suggests that the former head of the Police Service Commission has shown his true colours by “putting out a public call to police officers who feel they are being victimized”, saying: “So. It was ‘an Indian thing’ all along.”

Cuba: Exam Fraud

  8 April 2011

“Fraud in Cuban schools is a deep evil, almost endemic,” says Iván García, who explains that “on a greater or lesser scale it’s been happening since 1970.”

Guyana: Losing Your Religion

  8 April 2011

“Each cast different blame. Your country fault. Your religion fault. And none can see that both is wrong…”: Guyana-Gyal thinks that many of the world's problems could be solved if people would actually listen.

Jamaica, Barbados: Search Putting CARICOM at Risk?

  8 April 2011

Abeng News Magazine says that “Jamaica’s foreign minister…is intimating that…CARICOM could be threatened if an alleged vaginal search of a Jamaican woman mid March by Barbadian border service agents is not dealt with frankly and honestly.”

Russia: FSB Representative Urges to Ban Skype, Gmail, and Hotmail

Alexander Andreyechkin, head of Information and Special Communications Protection Center of Federal Security Service (FSB), said that uncontrollable use of Skype, Gmail, and Hotmail ‘can lead to a massive threat to Russia's security” and urged to ban these services, RIA Novosti reported [ru]. On the same day, anonymous Kremlin representative...

Russia: Distributed Denial of LiveJournal

Russian online space is getting more violent. The last series of attacks on LiveJournal blogging platform has proved this once again. Whatever are the reasons, the attack on LiveJournal is the attack on online speech in Russia. The bloggers, however, share responsibility for the situation.

Rwanda: Remembering the Rwandan Genocide

  8 April 2011

April 6, 2011, marked the beginning of the seventeenth anniversary of the Rwandan genocide. It is a time to reflect on the unforgivable human errors that led to the despicable slaughter of close to a million Rwandans, mostly Tutsis. Bloggers discuss a variety of themes related to the genocide.

South Korea: Four Students Committed Suicides in KAIST

  8 April 2011

Four students at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology(KAIST), South Korea's one of prestigious universities, have committed suicides this semester, reportedly because of the pressure of competition and KAIST's penalty system which charges students extra fee for underachievement. Net users have filed an online petition[ko] urging the KAIST...

Singapore: Understudy MPs

  8 April 2011

Chua Chin Leng blogs about the training of understudy Members of Parliament in Singapore where rookie leaders are ‘understudying’ the job of senior politicians.