Stories from Quick Reads from July, 2013
Caribbean: E-waste Ethics
ICT Pulse blogs about e-waste in the Caribbean.
Back from Germany, Workers Demand Promised Wages in Mozambique
Every Wednesday, dozens of Mozambican citizens march in the main streets of the capital city, Maputo, wearing German flags or raising them in their hands. They are called ‘Magermans’, meaning those who returned from Germany. For more than 20 years they have been protesting for outstanding wage claims from the...
An Undeniably Racist Song, ‘Asian Girlz’ Sparks Controversy
Packed with Asian stereotypes and fetishes, song ‘Asian Girlz’ by ‘Day Above Ground’ has invited controversy and angry comments. Blogger Angry Asian Man typed down the entire lyrics to comment [if they have not] ‘run out of stereotypical Oriental stuff to list off, the song would have gone on for another ten minutes”. The...
Germany: Security Above the Constitution
Comments from leading MPs in Germany on the surveillance scandals and security issues prove to be a cause for concern.
Last Day for Submitting Applications for Highway Africa New Media Awards
Today, July 31, 2013 (16:30, Pretoria Time) is the closing date for submitting applications for the Telkom- Highway African New Media Awards.
Asylum Seekers in Germany: Integration or Slavery?
Asylum seekers will carry luggage at a train station in Gmünder, Germany for €1.05 an hour if a proposed integration project is passed.
A Sustainable Ecovillage in Sidi Amor, Tunisia
Nolwein Weiler and Sophie Chapelle reports on the remarkable development of an ecovillage in Sidi Amor, Tunisia [fr]. The project aims to protect the environment while providing a site for economic and social growth for local workers as explained in this video [fr].
India Sees Dolphins as “Non-human Persons”
The eco-friendly blog Treehugger salutes the Indian law that now sees dolphins as “non-human persons”. This law shows India's leading role in many rights-based arguments: (…) India became the largest of four countries to ban the practice — which includes Costa Rica, Hungary, and Chile. (…) [The] (…) thoughtful reasoning...
Racist Slur As A Brand Name
Abdul Halik writes about reactions to a brand of dates marketed in Sri Lanka which sounds like a well-known and highly derogatory term referring to Muslims. The blogger analyses the situation in the context of the recent rise of racism and hate speech against Muslims in Sri Lanka from a...
Bangladesh Experiences Second Stage Of Cyber Crime
Recently Bangladesh police arrested four persons for credit card skimming fraud. They have siphoned millions of Bangladeshi Taka from ATMs of different banks. Blogger and assistant professor of University of Alabama Computer and Information Science Ragib Hasan writes in Somewhereinblog.net blogging polatform [bn]: […] ২য় পর্যায়ে শুরু হয়েছে ফিনান্সিয়াল সাইবারক্রাইম,...
Colombia: Welcome to Downtown Medellín
Downtown Medellin, my home, is one of the most colorful places I have known in my life. It’s not the prettiest or safest place on earth, but it’s very interesting, vibrant and exotic. Adriaan Alsema writes about downtown Medellín, or “el centro”, in Colombia Reports. He lists reasons to love...
Serbia, Turkey, Slovenia and Brazil on Winning Streak at Girls’ U18 Volleyball World Championship
As the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) blog reports, the Serbian, Turkish, Slovenian and Brazilian under-18 girls’ national volleyball teams showed outstanding results on the weekend of July 27-28, some with a perfect win-loss ratio. Full stats and results are available and regularly updated on the Federation's website.
Macedonia: Ohrid's Hidden Medieval Masks
A traveling blogger and communications specialist in the tourism industry, Tricia A. Mitchell, tells of her curious find in Macedonia's UNESCO registered Ohrid old town.
Why Contribute to GV in Arabic ?
Ahlam Safi from Saudi Arabia explains [ar] what motivated her to translate for Global Voices in Arabic and what she has gained from her contribution. She blogs: وفرّ لي موقع الاصوات العالمية فرصة نادرة لاكتساب خبرة في الترجمة ما كنت لأجدها في أي مكان آخر، وتعرفت عن طريقه على مجموعة من...
Top Ten Eateries In Dhaka Town
Expat Mikkela Thompson completed her goal of trying 100 eateries in Dhaka in 18 months. She compiles a list of top ten restaurants in the Bangladesh capital in her blog M's Adventures.
Slim Majority for Ruling Party in Cambodian Polls
Cambodia's Opposition party may have gained more seats in this year's National Assembly elections but the ruling party, which has been in power in almost three decades, continued to dominate the overall results. Election fever is over, the results are out and nothing changes afterall, despite massive gains by the...
Student Movement in Taiwan
“The Far Eastern Sweet Potatoes” has written a review and analysis of the development of student movement in Taiwan in reaction to issues such as media monopoly and land justice against the background of cross-strait relation.
An English Written Chinese Classical Couplet
Chinese couplet is a kind of classical poetry written in two lines, which are corresponding to each other in length as well as syntactic and semantic properties. As the couplet can be pasted to the entrance of a house, sometimes a short extra line, horizontal line to be pasted in...
Delestron, the Supervillain that Embodies Blackouts in Côte d'Ivoire
Ivorian citizens have created a cartoon character named Délestron (délestage means blackouts in french). Delestron has also its own facebook page which has gather more than 5,000 fans since its creation in March of 2013. Ivorian twitter user Lord225 posted a picture from his account: Hier… delestron a frapper fort....
Saudi Website Founder to be Imprisoned, Lashed
Free Saudi Liberals website founder Raif Badawi was charged with "setting up a website that undermines general security" and ridiculing Islamic religious figures.
In Egypt, Young Men “Die for Nothing”
Egyptian blogger Zeinobia shares photographs and a video of an 18-year-old revolutionary artist Eissa Essam. Essam was killed during clashes on July 26 with Muslim Brotherhood supporters camped in the Rabaa Al Adawiya neighbourhood in Nasr City. Zeinobia describes Essam as the liberal son of an MB member, who was...