19 April 2011

Stories from 19 April 2011

Sri Lanka: UN Panel Report Causes An Uproar

  19 April 2011

An United Nations (UN) advisory panel, led by former Indonesian Atty. Gen. Marzuki Darusman, has submitted a report to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in which they find credible evidence that the Sri Lankan military shelled civilians in no-fire zones and sought to silence critics in a brutal fashion, during the war against guerilla group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2009.

Nicaragua: Holy Week in the Countryside

  19 April 2011

While most Nicaraguans and foreign tourists like to spend their holidays in the beach, Ronald Hill Alvarez in Sueños del Caribe [es] recommends spending the ‘Semana Santa’ (Holy Week) holidays in the countryside. He also describes how people from this region celebrate the religious holiday.

Bolivia: Sharing a Meal with Aymara Women

  19 April 2011

Pablo Andrés Rivero [es] blogs about a “collective, ritual meal of the Andean region” he shared with Aymara women in the Palca municipality, close to La Paz. When he was almost done eating, one of the women asked him “What do they eat in your country?” prompting Andrés to reflect...

India: Higher Education, An Opportunity Lost

  19 April 2011

“Higher Education in India, in particular, is a game of political privileges and cronyism; consequently, Indian institutions fail to make it to global top table and also fail to equip its 2.9 million graduates a year with basic employment skills,” comments Supriyo Chaudhuri at Sunday Posts.

Bermuda: Doing Less With More

  19 April 2011

“One of the many impacts of the PLP’s spend-a-thon over the past 10 years is that Government now cannot afford to continue many of its basic services”: Vexed Bermoothes explains how public transportation is taking a hit.

Trinidad & Tobago: Autism Awareness

  19 April 2011

“It wasn't until 1994 that Asperger's syndrome was officially recognized by the American Psychological Association. Fifty years. T&T's already behind the curve”: Blogging at Outlish, Nicole Greene “hope[s] it doesn't take us another 50 years before we're finally ready to properly support the autistic community among us.”

Haiti: The Democratic Process

  19 April 2011

Toussaint on Haiti suggests that the recent election “is a sign we still believe in democracy and that these elections might have breathed new life into to Haiti’s nascent and fragile democracy.”

Trinidad & Tobago: Problem or Solution?

  19 April 2011

When it comes to the country's social ills, aka_lol says: “An uncaring person is uncaring 24-7 and no amount of phony foreign accents, flowing local dialect, paper degrees, high or low society standing and police friends can make them anything but some of the scum that is helping to run...

Pakistan: In Support Of The Burqa Ban

  19 April 2011

Kalsoom at CHUP! Changing Up Pakistan highlights Nabiha Meher Sheikh, a freelance writer based in Lahore, who explains why she supports the burqa (full face veil) ban in France.

Jamaica: Patwa

  19 April 2011

Jamaica Woman Tongue says that although “the Jamaican Constitution covertly acknowledges the fact that ‘patwa’ is, indeed, a national language…there are no ‘fair trial’ and ‘due process’ provisions in civil cases for citizens who speak only Jamaican.”

Brazil: Satire of Middle Class Problems

  19 April 2011

The satirical blog Classe Média Sofre (Middle Class Suffers) [pt], takes advantage of humour to expose the complaints of Brazilian middle class cybernauts about minor problems via social media. It was inspired by the blog White Whine which features daily updates on “first world problems”.

Brazil/Japan: Bridge Blogging Post-Earthquake News

  19 April 2011

“I read a post from a japanese blogger, I found it truly interesting and I decided to translate part of it”, said [pt] Satou Mihoko, who has decided to bridge japanese news to the portuguese speaking  community, following the earthquake. Brazil is home to the largest Japanese population outside of...

India: Dr. Binayak Sen Is Free

  19 April 2011

Dheera Sujan at South Asia Wired reports that Indian Right to Information activist Dr. Binayak Sen has been freed and she requests Indians to keep protesting at the summary arrests of people like Dr Binayak Sen.

Kenyans Continue to Dominate International Marathons

  19 April 2011

Kenyans continue to dominate major international marathons. Kenyan runners won both London and Boston marathons. Blogger Dave Solomon criticizes IAAF's decision to deny Kenya's Geoffrey Mutai the distinction of running the world's fastest marathon at the Boston Marathon claiming that he was helped by tailwind.