Stories from Quick Reads from October, 2013
Former Croatian President Mesic Says Tudjman and Milosevic Set Out to Divide Bosnia
Former Croatian President Stjepan Mesic, who was in this office as Croatia's second President from 2000 to 2010, recently gave an interview for Serbian weekly NIN, in which he claims to have found maps of a divided Bosnia in the presidential safe of Franjo Tudjman. BalkanInside.com quotes a portion of...
Young People Revel In Halloween Fun in Kyrgyzstan
While debates over the appropriateness of participating in Halloween fun rage in Tajikistan, young people in the neighboring Kyrgyzstan revel in Halloween festivities. The country's most popular blogging platform has published [ru] a map of all venues organizing Halloween festivities in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan's capital. Dozens of people dressed up in zombie...
Kazakhstanis Divided on Whether Home Is Really Best
A debate about why some Kazakhstanis stay in their country while others choose to emigrate has unfolded online. It started after Daniyar posted his “What Is Keeping You in Kazakhstan?” [ru] on yvizion.kz. The blogger identified seven main reasons why he preferred to stay in the country: #1. Великая история… #2....
Yemen: An Owl Outside My Window
Yemeni blogger Abdulkader Alguneid finds an owl outside his window: He tweets the rare occurrence: بومة كبيرة خلف زجاج نافذتي، 1.30 بعد منتصف الليل. A big Owl, behind my glass window, 1.30 am pic.twitter.com/19WjfUelQ0 — abdulkader alguneid (@alguneid) October 30, 2013
Egypt: Urban Constitution Document
As the “50 member-committee” meets to amend Egypt's constitution, some civil society organizations and urban activists participated in producing what they called the “urban constitution document” [Ar]: We present this document to “50 member-committee” as a comprehensive suggestion for articles we see important in being added to the constitution. What's...
Documentary Provides Intimate Look at Venezuelans Living Abroad
Desde Afuera (From Abroad) is a documentary which follows the stories [es] of five Venezuelans who recorded their daily activities living abroad using mobile and handheld cameras for over one year. Producers Johann Pérez Viera and Pedro Camacho put together this footage and Skype calls with the five participants to...
Documentary Explores 90s Rap Culture in Sao Paulo
Through interviews and archival footage, the documentary “Sabotage Nós” (We Sabotage), available to watch online, presents important moments of Sao Paulo's rap music in the 90s. The film tells the story of the release of the album “Rap é compromisso” (Rap Is Commitment), Sabotage's debut album. Sabotage was an important...
Argentina's Legislative Elections
President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and her allies lost by large margins in the biggest and most important elections in the country yesterday. Her legislative lists were crushed in Buenos Aires (both city and state), Cordoba, Mendoza, and Santa Fe. There is a reason that every major newspaper is talking about her...
South Korean Tear Gas Being Used in Bahrain?
Bahrain interior ministry allegedly ordered 1.6 million teargas canisters to use against protesters, and South Korean company DaeKwang is believed to be one of the major suppliers. R. Elgin wrote in Marmot's Hole blog about the ironic history of tear gas– a notorious symbol of Korean government's clampdowns back in...
International Organizations Call for a Swift Adoption of Marco Civil in Brazil
‘Internet Needs an Uncompromising “Marco Civil” in Brazil!‘, state international organizations that advocate for free speech and freedoms online in an open letter released on October 28, 2013 (on the eve of the vote on Brazil's ‘bill of rights’ for Internet users). Its opening paragraph reads: The “Marco Civil da Internet” is...
Construction of 1 Billion Euro Resort Begins in Montenegro
Luštica Bay, near Tivat on the Montenegrin coast, is being developed by Swiss Orascom Development into a large-scale resort bay and marina. The resort is a colossal undertaking in the small Adriatic country and will spread across a 6.8 million square meter coastal area. The total value of the project...
Opposition MPs Suspect Foul Play as Croatia Airlines Prepares for Privatization
Some members of the Croatian parliament, all of different opposition parties, have voiced their concern in past days regarding safety issues that Croatia Airlines has had in recent weeks and, in particular, the unusual media attention these incidents have received. Croatia Airlines is currently being prepared for a long-awaited privatization...
Everyone Suffers in Manila Traffic
Filipino journalist Iris Cecilia Gonzales writes about how people suffer from Manila's notorious street traffic: When one is stuck in traffic in Manila's streets, there's no escape. Everyone suffers — whether you're driving a sleek Rolls Royce or a moving piece of junk; whether it's with a red plate or...
Is Cambodia a One-Party State?
Anirudh Bhati rejects the position by some analysts that Cambodia has become a one-party state after the main opposition party boycotted the inaugural session of the National Assembly: …it would be erroneous to assume that Cambodia has relapsed into a one-party state simply based on the premise that the current...
Mapping Recent Reports Of Dengue Fever In India
Vidyut at Aam Janata blog has created a map of the Dengue outbreak in India from various reports published in print media in the last couple of months.
Hungarian Student Bloggers Win Lawsuit Against University
Bloggers of Átlátszó Oktatás (Transparent Education) sued the largest Hungarian university ELTE's Law Faculty in winter 2012, in order to obtain documents on how state scholarships and bonus payments were distributed by the members of the faculty's student union. Because the university is entirely state-funded, the students demanded through a...
Journalists Fear Japan's Proposed Secret Information Protection Act
The cabinet of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe approved a bill [ja] on October 25, 2013 to impose tougher penalties on civil servants, lawmakers and others who leak national secrets and harm national security. The so-called Secret Information Protection Act has been unpopular among Japanese press, human rights advocates, and citizens...
VIDEO: “No Woman, No Drive” Stuns Saudi Arabia
Today, October 26, was the day Saudi activists chose to protest against the driving ban on women in the Kingdom. As social networks were buzzing under increasing number of reports of women driving across the country, a brilliant a capella remake of Bob Marley's “No Woman, No Cry” spread at...
Tipaimukh Dam -A Threat To Nature And Native Culture
The Tipaimukh Dam in the Indian state of Manipur, has been planned for flood control and hydroelectric power production. However, In Search For Greener Partures blog reports that this dam will lead to severe changes in climate condition, affecting the livelihoods of over 20 million people in the lower riparian...
