Stories from Quick Reads from November, 2011
Iran: UK embassy under attack
A film in YouTube shows how a group of Iranian protesters attacked UK embassy in Tehran on Monday.
Iran: “Police brutality toward the protesters”
Hamid Darvishi, a pro-regime student who was among those who raided UK compounds in Tehran, describes [Fa] police brutality toward the protesters: “Our wild brothers in police were beating us in our heads. A soldiers asked us how much we were paid to raid the compound here?”
Myanmar: Meeting Aung San Suu Kyi
dawn_1o9 from Myanmar narrates her memorable meeting with global democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.
Clinton's Visit to Myanmar
US Campaign 4 Burma gathers news stories and other online reports on the historic visit US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Myanmar.
Myanmar, Thailand: Mong Kok Coal Project
A special report was published by Shanland about the devastating impact of a coal mining project in Mong Kok. The project will affect several communities in Thailand and Myanmar.
Indonesia: Social Media Situation
Indonesian netizen @donnybu posts on Slideshare a presentation about the social media situation in Indonesia, including the challenges faced by internet users as they campaign for greater internet freedom
Cambodia: Law on Prison Labor
Human Rights Watch is opposed to the proposed law in Cambodia that would permit prison labor to be used by private companies.
Bolivia Holds its First ‘PressCamp’
The first PressCamp Bolivia [es] will be held on December 3, 2011 in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. With a similar dynamic to BarCamp conferences, participants at PressCamp Bolivia will discuss online journalism, creative commons, and citizen journalism, among other subjects. Hugo Miranda provides more information in his blog [es].
Chile: Mapuche Protest Militarization and Project to Build Airport
On November 23, Mapuche protested against the militarization of their communities and a project to build an airport south of Temuco, in southern Chile, in a territory they claim as their ancestral land. Montserrat Nicolas, from the blog Curvas Políticas, shares a video [es] with speeches and testimonies by Mapuche...
South Africa: Sci-Fi Novel “Zoo City” to Get Film Adaptation
South African science fiction novel “Zoo City” will soon be a movie: “After winning several literary awards and garnering global acclaim for its clever originality, South African author Lauren Beukes’ science-fiction novel, Zoo City, recently saw its film rights awarded to producer Helena Spring (Red Dust, Yesterday, The First Grader),...
Colombia: Internally Displaced People Tell Blogger their Stories
According to the Consultancy for Human Rights and Displacement (CODHES) Colombia has 5.2 million internally displaced people. Mike Ceaser talked “to several of the displaced people who've been demonstrating daily in Plaza Bolivar [in Bogota], demanding that the government give them land and other benefits.” Read some of their stories...
Cuba: Under “Survey-lance”
“As far as many Cubans here are concerned, it is not necessary to have survey results to verify the high levels of discontent and uncertainty we live under”: Without Evasion explains why she's sceptical of surveys.
Trinidad & Tobago: Impressed with Miss Miles
Dingolay reviews the new play about Gene Miles (a whistleblower for a political corruption scandal in the 1960s, who subsequently became a social outcast), admitting she was “a bit chilled by the fact that what happened to Gene Miles could happen again today, woman PM or no.”
Barbados: The Pride of Independence
Barbadian bloggers post their Independence Day greetings, here, here, here and here.
Bermuda: Public Debate about Crime Reduction Methods?
Respice Finem examines the sensitive issue of the Bermuda police's “stop and search” policy as part of their crime reduction arsenal, saying that the concern of “those advocating caution…is that in our quest to significantly reduce crime…we do not sacrifice the liberties so many fought for for so long.”
Jamaica: First Afro Chess Grandmaster
Diaspora litblogger Geoffrey Philp republishes an interview with Maurice Ashley, “the Jamaica-born Grandmaster of Chess”.
A Book on Citizen Journalism
The digital media outlet Periodismo Ciudadano [es] has published a book on the evolution of citizen journalism [es] titled “Periodismo ciudadano: evolución positiva de la comunicación,” which is freely accessible in PDF format. The book includes case studies from all over the world.
China: New Tactics to Rally Around Blind Activist Lawyer
Andy Yee translated an activist, Xiao Cuo's suggestion on sustainable tactics to support blind activist lawyer, Chen Guangcheng who have been detained by the local government in Shandong for more than one year.
Hong Kong: LGBT Come Out Video
“I am who I am”, produced by an activist group, Nutongxueshe, is a series of video for the LGBT community in Hong Kong to come out and speak about their experience, very often painful because of discrimination and bullying. (via acopy.net)
Ukraine: Government Gives In to Pressure, Bans Killing of Stray Dogs
On Oct. 22, Vasyl Pawlowsky wrote about the often “sadistic” ways of getting rid of stray dogs in Ukraine ahead of the Euro 2012 Football Championship. Tell Ukraine to Stop Burning Animals Alive petition now has 496,177 signatures; the goal is 750,000. At least two Facebook groups were set up...
Ukraine: Update on Jailed Ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko; Donetsk Protests
Foreign Notes cites journalist Viktoria Syumar's blog post [ru], which compares prison conditions of the jailed ex-PM Yulia Tymoshenko to those of Anders Breivik, and writes – here and here – about Tymoshenko's health problems. Also on Foreign Notes, a post on the dispersal of a protest by Chernobyl clean-up...
