Stories from Quick Reads from November, 2013
Economic Challenges For The New Nepali Government
Economic blogger Chandan Sapkota lists major economic issues the newly elected Constituent Assembly members will be facing as they commence their work.
A Durian Village In Sri Lanka
In Southern parts of Sri Lanka the cultivation of Durian, regarded by many in southeast Asia as the “king of fruits”, is becoming popular as it has export demands. The Sri Lanka Ministry of Agriculture has taken steps to commercially cultivate Durian, reports Ajith Parakum Jayasinghe. A 30-acre Durian village...
Ukraine: Understanding the #Euromaidan Protests
It may seem to many that the #Euromaidan protests in Ukraine grew out of nowhere and overnight, but this is not the case. There is a long history behind the protests and the government's decision to back out of what was supposed to be a historical and significant move toward...
China: Ai Weiwei's Flower Protest
The Chinese government has restricted artist-activist Ai Weiwei from traveling outside the country since 2011 when he was prosecuted with Tax evasion. To express his discontent, he decided to put flowers on his bike outside his studio. @dgatterdam retweeted @aiww's picture with a brief note. Every day @aiww will put...
Impunity: The Biggest Threat to Freedom of Expression in Latin America
In the last 20 years, 670 journalists have been killed in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to delegates from the IFEX-ACL alliance, which recently presented their Annual Report on Impunity 2013: “Faces and Traces of Freedom of Expression in Latin America and the Caribbean.” The crimes — most of which remain unsolved —...
France Replaces Central African Republic Ambassador on the Eve of Military Drive
France is set to send an additional 1,000 troops to the Central African Republic to prevent an escalation of the conflict in the region. So it came as a bit of a surprise when France decided to replace its ambassador Serge Mucetti in the country on the eve of such an important military...
Be the Change – Share Stories of Civic Activism
Be the Change is a new website by CIVICUS for people to share stories of their own activism in order to inspire others or seek helping hands.
Spanish Police Attempt Dead-of-Night Shutdown of Valencia Public Broadcaster
The Valencian government, belonging to the conservative People's Party, has sent the police at 3 a.m. to shut down the regional public broadcaster Ràdio Televisió Valenciana (RTVV) [ca]. Since the government announced the decision to shut the broadcaster down on November 5, the journalists have been running both the radio...
Keeping up with the 2013 World Forum for Democracy
The second World Forum for Democracy is currently taking place in Strasbourg, France. The motto of this year conference is “Connecting Institutions and Citizens in the Digital Age”. Follow the four themes and the 21 workshops of the conference with the hashtag #CoE_WFD.
Vote Counting Errors in Honduras Elections
RNS in Honduras Culture and Politics writes about some of the anomalies noted by observers of Sunday's elections in Honduras, “some of which have been corrected, and others of which have not.” He concludes: A public recount of the Actas would go a long way to providing confidence that everyone...
South Korea: Ordinary Citizen's Extraordinary Feat in Revealing Election Manipulation
Twitter user @zarodream has been receiving congratulatory messages from fellow South Korean Tweeters for providing crucial leads in unraveling the spy agency's election manipulation activities done via Twitter. According to interview [ko], @zarodream, a 40-year-old ordinary office worker with zero professional knowledge nor special interest in politics, has spent about a year following...
Political Prisoners of China Playing Cards
Anthony Tao reviewed a card game at Kotaku. It is called “Political Prisoners of China Playing Cards”. The two jokers are: Xi Jinping and Hu Jintao. Top political prisoner is Liu Xiaobo.
Today: #AskGV About Central and Eastern Europe on Twitter at 8pm UTC
Have you heard of Bulgaria's year long protests involving self-immolations and university occupations? Did you know 100,000 Ukrainians protested after their government walked away from an agreement essential for EU integration? Are you concerned that right-wing politicians are becoming a popular choice in Slovakia? Did you know that Hungary and...
Buenos Aires to Host Indigenous Film Festival ‘BAIn’
Festival de Cine Indígena BAIn 2013 – Del 27 de noviembre al 4 de diciembre + info en http://t.co/nPt8ZxbKAU pic.twitter.com/C4BT1gEC32 — CineBAIn (@BAInCine) November 25, 2013 From November 27 to December 4, 2013, Argentina's capital will host the Second Film Festival ‘Buenos Aires Indígena’ (Indigenous Buenos Aires). The festival, which...
Fashion Show in Japan Takes on Violence Against Women
Asian Women’s Association, a non-profit women's right organization is organizing a fashion show entitled Fashion Resistance to Militarism to appeal the issue of violence against women.
Collection of Articles on the Sacking of Popular Tanzanian Opposition MP
Ben Taylor shares a collection of articles on the sacking of Zitto Kabwe, a popular young Member of Parliament with the main Tanzanian opposition party, Chadema. Zitto was: […] was stripped of his official positions by party leaders in the early hours of Friday morning. He will no longer be...
Honduras: Over 600 Femicides in 2012
A woman is killed in Honduras an average of once every fourteen and a half hours according to the Violence Observatory of the National Autonomous University of Honduras. The group concluded that 2851 women were killed in Honduras between 2005 and 2012 and there has been a steady increase in...
Jamaica: Not Quite All Right
Active Voice isn't so sure that the new Jamaica tourist board slogan is actually “all right”.
VIDEO: Authorities Destroy Mosques in Angola
The destruction of at least 11 mosques in the last two months in Angola is provoking reactions of outrage online. According to Voz da América [pt], Angolan authorities state that the reason for the destruction is illegal construction. Other reports add that the process of legalization of Islam and other religions in the country...
Brazilian Activists Meet in Free Media Week in Rio de Janeiro
A series of debates and workshops dedicated to the democratization of the media, digital radio, cryptography and surveillance, among other digital activism issues, starts tomorrow, November 26, in Rio de Janeiro. The Semana de Mídias Livres (Free Media Week) [pt] gathers three events in one until November 30: the second international conference Spectrum,...
Iran: Jailed Blogger Needs Urgent Medical Care
Jailed blogger,Hossein Ronaghi Maleki needs urgent medical care.He was sentenced to 15 years of prison. Laleh tweeted Jailed activist Hossein Ronaghi in very poor health w/ swollen kidneys-(one non-functioning), bladder & prostate disease #Iran #Iranelection — Lalehلاله (@Lalehsr) November 25, 2013
