Stories from Quick Reads from March, 2013
Iran: “We Want Our Children to be Free”
The mother of dead blogger, Sattar Beheshti,said in a message in YouTube that she gave her son for Iran and added “we want our children to be free”. Sattar Beheshti died in “Cyber Police” detention facility last year.
Iran: 500 Year Old Market was Burnt
Bloggers informed that Masuleh‘s 500 year old market was burnt in fire. The historical city of Masuleh has an age of eight hundred to a thousand years.
St. Vincent, Haiti: Easter Traditions & Changes
I find Easter has taken on a ‘carnivalish’ vibe. From St. Vincent, Abeni muses about “the changing face of Easter”, while Theater of Life looks at the Haitian tradition of kite-flying at Easter time.
Majority Religion In A Country Is A Curse
Sri Lankan blogger Patta Pal Boru opines that the majority religion in a country is a curse as the simple weight of the established religion (inertia) gets people thinking about the wrongs rather than the rights favoring the fringe or the other religions.
Russian Photographer Unearths Ghost Slum
A photo-blogger based in the city of Voronezh, located in central Russia not far from the Ukranian border, has taken a series of striking photographs [ru] (including an animated panorama) of a small, forgotten “slum” hiding in the center of an otherwise modern and populous urban area. The “slum”, which turns...
History of Myanmar's Movie Industry
Ei Ei Su writes about the history of Myanmar's movie industry beginning with the country's first silent film in 1920, up to the 1940s when the industry was producing about 400 films, until the army takeover in 1962.
Thailand: Mobile App for Autistic
The Autism Foundation of Thailand has developed a mobile application known as ‘True Autistic’ aimed at enhancing the “physical and mental development of the autistic, and provide guidance to their parents.” Since its launching, it has scored almost 200,000 downloads. According to a report written by Thanya Kunakornpaiboonsiri, there are...
Status of Vietnam's Civil Society Organizations
The Asia Foundation estimates that there are about 2,000 Civil Society Organizations or CSOs in Vietnam. It recently published a survey on Vietnam's CSOs: The nature of civil society in Vietnam is muddled by complex regulations and quasi-governmental organizations claiming to be, and sometimes behaving like, independent CSOs
Tanzania: Building Collapses in Dar Es Salaam
Pernille shares photos of a building that collapsed in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania on Friday, 29 March 20013: “Nearby is a football field used by children. Over 60 persona, including children, are reported missing according to ITV. No confirmations at this early stage.”
Russian Anti-Corruption Blogger Appeals to Readers
Alexey Navalny, unofficial protest leader, took to his blog [ru] on March 27 to defend himself from what he says are unfair allegations of corruption. Navalny is currently a suspect in two different embezzlement investigations. One of these, the so-called KirovLes case, involves the supposed use of a shell company to...
Brazilian LGBT Advocates Beaten, One Arrested
On March 27, a protest against the recent election of congressman and controversial evangelical preacher Marco Feliciano as chairman of the Committee for Human Rights and Minorities in the Brazilian Deputy Chamber ended with repression against LGBT rights advocates. On Youtube, Rodrigo Grassi shared the moment when one of the protestors...
Censoring Censorship in China
The above screen capture of a local news brief has gone viral on Chinese social media yesterday. It said: “Recently Myanmar has unblocked Facebook, the world's most popular social media website. Now only four countries in the world still blocked Facebook, including South Korea, Cuba, Iran and another country.” Other...
China Government's Growing Weibo Footprint
The number of Chinese government Weibo accounts has soared over the past few years and will continue to be so. Via China Digital Times: The survey by the Chinese Academy of Governance found that by December 20, 2012, a total of 176,700 Weibo accounts had been opened by government organs...
Beware: North Korea Rockets on Standby
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has ordered rockets on standby to attack US military bases in South Korea in response to recent U.S.-South Korea joint military drills. North Korea Leadership Watch blog post a full script of North Korean state media report on this.
Caribbean: Technology Regulation
Has technology outpaced regulation in the Caribbean? ICT Puslse takes a closer look.
Guyana: Hole in the Wall
The Seawall in Georgetown is a unique social hub – a place to see and be seen – so naturally, Guyana-Gyal is concerned about a massive hole “on top of the wall where people walk or jog…long, from left to right…almost one foot wide at one end.”
Migration a ‘Tragedy’ for Kyrgyzstan
About 2,000 young and well-educated professionals leave Kyrgyzstan every year. Begimai Sataeva on NewEurasia.net calls the outward migration of the bright and skilled young people a ‘real tragedy’ that affects Kyrgyzstan's economy and international competitiveness.
African Cinema Honored at Film Festival
Boukari Ouédraogo wrote [fr] about the 23rd Pan-African Film Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO, Festival Panafricain du Cinéma de Ouagadougou). The festival took place from February 23 to March 2, 2013: What I did notice is that African filmmakers are true messengers, real educators, historians, storytellers, etc. They speak directly to...
