The Facebook Phenomenon

If the eyes are the window into the soul, Facebook could be seen as the mirror at the haunted house, the contortionist’s dream. A click of the button and, depending on privacy settings, anyone can see someone else’s political inclinations, favourite books, sexual preferences.

Miniskirted maids march on taxi rank in protest

The Times, 5 March
Hundreds of South African women took to the streets on March 4 calling for the end to sexual harassment after a young woman was assaulted by taxi drivers for wearing a miniskirt.
The demonstrators marched to the Johannesburg taxi rank where the attack took place, demanding action from the Government and for taxi [...]

Beijing’s passion for public facilities.

The Times, 5 March
Attendants sit at the entrance of a public lavatory shaped like an insect as official in the Chinese capital said that it had more public convenience than any other city in the world. The ‘toilet revolution’ has swept the city since it was awarded the Olympic Games – ending thousands of years [...]

A flood for a fish.

The Times, 7 March
The Grand Canyon is being flooded with 300,000 gallons of water per second in an attempt to save a rare fish, the humpback chub from extinction. This is a controversial plan, since it involves emptying water from Arizona’s drought stricken Lake Powell reservoir.
The dam, which is upstream from the Grand Canyon, provides [...]

Hypnotism the new slight of hand in Italy.

BBC News, 17 March
Police in Italy have recently issued footage of a man who is accused of hypnotising supermarket checkout staff to hand over money from their cash registers. In each case, the last thing staff reportedly remember is the thief leaning over and saying: “Look into my eyes”, before finding the till empty.
In the [...]

Bjork has unsettling impact on the Chinese.

The Times, 8 March
Shanghai expected the Icelandic singer, Bjork to surprise audiences, and there was no disappointed. Her first concert is set to be her last. The Chinese Ministry of Culture has said that it will impose stricter rules on foreign artists wanting to come to China after Bjork ended her performance last week with [...]

Censorship crack-down across the Arab nations.

The Guardian, 4 March
BBC Arabic TV is being launched at a very difficult time. Arab governments are increasingly seeking to censor existing satellite TV channels that ‘negatively affect social peace, national unity, public order, and public morals’, or ‘defame leaders, or national and religious symbols.’
The pioneering Qatar-based-al-Jazeera and Lebanon’s al-Manar TV, owned by Hizbullar, are [...]

The utopian city cannot withhold the ‘real’ Brazil

The Guardian, 12 March
It was the spectacular creation of a modern utopia: in the heart of a continent, built from scratch with daring architecture and urban planning, arose a city like no other.
Unveiled over half a century ago, Brasilia astonished the world. The purpose built capital of perfect grids and avant-garde buildings exuded wonder and [...]

How to deal with freeloaders: modern countries are world’s apart.

The Herald, 7 March
Freeloaders can best be described as people who put their town interests ahead of the common good and try to manipulate the generosity of others to their advantage. The research, which involved tests in 16 countries, shed new light on this group of people, and what happens when they are punished. The [...]

A desperate father, trapped four stories up by fire, throws his baby out of the window

The Times, 5th February

It was a gesture of sheer desperation. A father, engulfed by flames, dripped his baby from the third floor of his apartment block.
The baby was caught by a fireman and has suffered no injuries. Contrastingly, nine people, including five people and a pregnant woman, were killed by the blaze that destroyed [...]