20 May 2013

Stories from 20 May 2013

Russian Sociology Under Assault

Science isn’t safe in Russia today. That, anyway, was Lev Gudkov’s message in a public statement today, announcing that prosecutors in Moscow contacted him five days ago, to issue an official warning that the Levada Center is operating in violation of a recently minted federal law requiring politically-active NGOs receiving funds from abroad to register with the government as foreign agents.

Indian Army is now on Facebook

  20 May 2013

Prasant Naidu at Lighthouse Insights reports that after a successful start on Twitter, the Indian Army has recently joined Facebook. This is a welcome move as last year the Indian Army had issued orders asking all personnel — both officers and other ranks — to stop using social networking sites...

Nicaraguans Defend Law Against Violence Towards Women

  20 May 2013

In April a campaign entitled "I Support Law 779" began on social networks demanding that the "Integral Law Against Violence Towards Women" be respected before numerous reforms that religious leaders and members of the Supreme Court of Justice proposed.

Are Indian Companies “Land Grabbing” in Africa?

  20 May 2013

As foreign companies and governments buy or lease land in countries across Africa, the debate continues as to whether this will encourage development or is simply land grabbing. The Hindu's Addis Ababa correspondent Aman Sethi has taken part in a Q&A session on Facebook on the issue of Indian "land grabs" in African countries.

10.6 Endless Seconds in Football History

  20 May 2013

On Orsai » Blog [es], author Hernán Casciari narrates, as suspended in time, 10.6 seconds [es] that have gone down in football history and that remain in the memories of each and every person who lived through them, directly or indirectly: Less than eleven seconds earlier, when the Argentinian player...

China: Online Social Management

  20 May 2013

David Bandurski from China Media Project explained the idea of “online social management”, a set of tactics to increase the capacity for channeling online public opinion, put forward by Fu Siming, a professor at the Central Party School.

Mozambique: Medical Professionals Announce Strike

  20 May 2013

Medical professionals in Mozambique have announced they will strike. They consider that they were “humiliated, insulted and disdained” in their last meeting with government. This current strike follows a strike earlier this year by doctors. The video announcement is available with subtitles in English, and a number of languages.

Mauritania Through a Portuguese Artist's Eyes

  20 May 2013

Portuguese artist Isabel Fiadeiro lives in Nouakchott, Mauritania, where she paints and runs an art gallery. Fiadeiro also sketches from observation, filling her blog Sketching in Mauritania with images of daily life in the West African nation. Global Voices spoke to her about how her art has helped her get to know the country.