20 July 2011

Stories from 20 July 2011

Pakistan: Demanding Justice For Saleem Shahzad

  20 July 2011

Many suspect that Pakistan's intelligence agency was behind the May 2011 abduction and murder of Pakistani journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad, bureau chief of Asia Online. The judicial commission set up to investigate the murder is struggling from lack of help, and many fear that justice will be denied.

Italy: Social Innovation Competition with €10,000 Prize

  20 July 2011

The EUCLID network is inviting social innovators from any country to submit entries to a competition about how to solve one of six social challenges in Naples, Italy. The winning idea will be implemented by the winners together with local partners using a €10,000 prize.

Singapore: Supertrees design in new project

  20 July 2011

Barry Smyth hails the Supertrees design in the Gardens by the Bay project of Singapore. Supertrees are tree-like structures with heights that range between 25 and 50 meters and they will dominate Singapore's new downtown area.

Peru: Mining Commercial Sparks Controversy

  20 July 2011

A television ad [es] by Peru's National Mining Oil and Energy Society (SNMPE [es]) which aired on July 19 during the halftime break of the Peru-Uruguay football game for the Copa América has sparked a controversy among Peruvian social media users, as Global Voices author and Spanish Translation Manager Juan...

Serbia: First Reactions to Acquittal of Sandor Kepiro

On Monday July 18, 2011, a court in Budapest acquitted 97-year-old Sandor Kepiro, a Second World War Hungarian police captain who served in occupied Serbia and, until recently, was “the most wanted Nazi.” He was charged with war crimes against Serbs, Jews and Roma during the Novi Sad Raid –...

Uruguay: A Critical Look at Secondary Education

  20 July 2011

“What do we learn in High School?” and “What happens to students who struggle with a subject?”. These are some of the question Alvaro Fagalde asks in a post [es] where he gives readers a critical look at secondary education in Uruguay.

Chile: Salvador Allende's Death Ruled a Suicide

  20 July 2011

As Greg Weeks reports in his blog Two Weeks Notice “Salvador Allende's death has officially been ruled a suicide.  I think it is fair to say that very few people believed otherwise.  Nonetheless, there is evidence that the military (under the orders of Augusto Pinochet) would have murdered him if...

Colombia: On Independence Day

  20 July 2011

Colombia celebrates its 201st birthday on July 20. Guapacho writes about this year's Google Doodle [es]; Triana remembers [es] José María Espinosa, one of the first Colombian cartoonists; and Julián Rosero Navarrete argues [es] that the “independence” was actually a “secession war” among Spaniards from both sides of the Atlantic.

Panama: Presidential Insults Online

  20 July 2011

Panamanian President, Ricardo Martinelli, sparked controversy on Twitter after allegedly insulting a user who criticized him in a rude manner. But the President denies that any insult was intended. Netizens discuss the furore.

Brazil: Blogger Censored and Sued by Businessman

  20 July 2011

Journalist Paulo Cezar Prado's Blog do Paulinho [pt] has been blocked by the Brazilian Justice, reports the Blue Bus [pt]. Businessman Franck Henouda's lawyer has sued the blogger who had also criticized other public figures related with sports: Ricardo Teixeira, the president of the CBF and Andres Sanchez the president...

Barbados: Murdoch Madness

  20 July 2011

“Who say recession not hitting dem big multi-millionaire/billionaire fellas an dem ain't tightening dem belt like de small man? Even a media mogul like Murdoch cut back and now he wife doubling as bodyguard. See that is how the rich duz stay rich, ‘im have the woman multitasking”: Diaspora blogger...

U.S.V.I: Rhys’ Literary Identity

  20 July 2011

“Both the English and American interpretations of Rhys have always truly baffled me…the English reading…completely glossing over Rhy's well-documented disdain for the English and her discomfort with ‘whiteness’, and the American reading as an odd feminist revision”: A Nation or Nobody blogs about the ambiguities of writer Jean Rhys and...

Russia: Online Effort to Discredit Environmentalists Exposed

Suren Gazaryan, Russian environmentalist, publishes [ru] the scan of the document that describes the strategy of discrediting local environmentalist organizations protesting against the development of the Tuapse oil terminal. The “plan” includes prices for the paid posts in the blogs, forums, media outlets, as well as a list of possible...

St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Violence vs. Women

  20 July 2011

Abeni quotes statistics which suggest that “St Vincent and the Grenadines is the OECS state with the most female homicides between 2010-2011″, and asks: “Do we even have the will to come up with solutions?”