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...
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]...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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 —...
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.
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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,...
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...
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...
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...
