Stories from Quick Reads from April, 2014
Kyrgyz Parliament Considers Anti-Gay Law
The parliament of Kyrgyzstan is considering a bill that criminalizes any activity seen as promoting “a positive attitude toward non-traditional sexual relations”. Very similar to Russia's anti-gay propaganda law, the bill is expected to become law soon. Meanwhile, a Kyrgyz blogger argues [ru] that the bill which is targeting the...
Bektau-Ata, Kazakhstan's “Kingdom of Unearthly Beauty”
A group of Kazakhstani bloggers recently returned from a trip to Bektau-Ata mountain tract which has been described as “a kingdom of unearthly beauty, full of grandeur and freedom”. One of the bloggers has posted a video depicting the breathtaking scenery of Bektau-Ata: Detailed photo reports from the trip can be seen...
Army Drafters “Do Not Give a Damn About the President” in Tajikistan
In mid-February 2014, the president of Tajikistan ordered [ru] that recruitment offices stop using “illegal practices” in drafting young men into the army. Blogger Rustam Gulov who has written much about illegal drafting techniques in Tajikistan suggests [ru] that the president's order has not really changed anything: A lot of...
Trinidad & Tobago: The Implications of Style
When you see your reflection, are you seeing you or an amalgamation of your racial, historical and social complications? Tillah Willah blogs about the “self-schism that exists [and the] ways that this affects [her] as a black woman living in the west.”
‘I Saw You On The Train': Falling in Love on Portugal's Public Transport
A Facebook page called Vi-te No Comboio [pt] (I Saw You On The Train) aims to gather and share the stories of anonymous people who meet on the train and take an interest in the passenger next to them. The stories are sent to the social network's administrators who then post them...
Puerto Rican feminist organization Taller Salud Celebrates 35 years
The feminist grassroots organization Taller Salud [es] (@tsalud), which focuses on education and prevention in the areas of sexual and reproductive rights in Puerto Rico, is celebrating its 35th anniversary. Thirty-five years of hard work and struggle. The organization now works mostly with women and girls in the northeastern coastal town of...
Fighting “Breast Ironing” in Cameroon
Josiane Kouagheu wrote a passionated blog post [fr] against breast ironing [fr] practice in Cameroon: Je n’ai jamais voulu parler de ce sujet trop sensible. Il me touche. Dans tous les sens, j’ai trop de victimes autour de moi. J’ai voulu me taire. Mais, que faire quand autour de toi, la télé, Internet,...
When Will Impunity End for Slave Traders in Mauritania ?
A protest coordinated by several Mauritanian civil society organizations and political parties was held on April 29, 2014 in Nouakchott. The protest was initiatied by members of Haratin tribe who demand more rights and the enforcement of existing laws. This protest marks the first anniversary of the Haratin Manifesto [fr]. The...
Robert Antoni Wins 2014 Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature
Jamaican diaspora litblogger Geoffrey Philp reports that Robert Antoni, author of “As Flies to Whatless Boys”, has won the 2014 One Caribbean Media Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, while Repeating Islands republishes a review of his novel, here.
VIDEO: Serbian Child Prodigy's Drawings Stun the Art World
Dušan Krtolica is an 11-year-old artist from Belgrade that has taken the local and regional art world by storm with his exquisitely detailed pen and pencil drawings of complex animals, dinosaurs, knights, and people. Mainstream media in Serbia, and now other countries, discovered Dušan in February of 2014, but the...
Fans in Skopje Gather to Exchange Football Stickers
Hundreds of people gathered on Sunday afternoon in a downtown park in Skopje to exchange stickers of the official Football FIFA World Cup album on April 28, 2014. In Macedonia, as in other countries of the former Yugoslavia, the tradition of collecting stickers is decades long, dating back at least...
How to Rent an Apartment in China
Chengdu Living teaches readers how to rent an apartment in China without going through the agent by giving a 5 step-to-step guide.
China: Party Mouthpiece Urges Not to Use Non-Chinese Words
The Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily has been advocating the public to stop the direct use of non-Chinese words such as “iPhone” and “Wi-fi” in the Chinese language. Anthony Tao from Beijing Cream compared such attitude with autism.
Reconstruction of Historical Memory: Voice of Mass Sterilizations Victims in Peru
With the aim of collecting 3,000 signatures, the association MujeresMundi just launched a petition in the online platform Change.org requesting the Peruvian State a reconstruction of the historical memory in the voice of the victims of sterilizations: […] second period of the government of Alberto Fujimori; it was implemented the...
A ‘Stressful’ Taxicab System in Cameroon
Ghanaian blogger Kuukuwa writes about her experience with the taxicab system in Cameroon: There are no taxi stations, so taxi drivers move around town all day looking for passengers. And, mind you, this is a shared taxi system. Depot (“dropping” in Ghanaian English), where one person hires a taxi isn’t...
Protesting in Venezuela Will Require Authorization
(All links are in Spanish otherwise noted as [en] for English) As the protests [en] in Venezuela draw upon 100 continuous days of demonstrations, the Venezuelan Supreme Tribunal of Justice's recent verdict rules that the right to protest “is not an absolute right.” In order to carry out any type of demonstration, one needs to...
Catching Up with the Togolese E-Waste 3D Printer Makers
In 2013, we were introduced to the E-Waste 3D Printer project by Woelab engineers in Togo. My Africa Is gives the genesis of the WoeLab project and what the makers hope to achieve going forward : The Woelab team has organized conferences with individuals in the medical field in Africa, to...
Collaborative Economy Visionaries Gather at OuiShare Fest 2014 in Paris
The OuiShare Fest 2014 will gather thousands of activists for a conference on collaborative economy from May 5 -7 in Paris, France. The objective of the festival is to exchange on a common vision of an economy relying on horizontal networks and communities. Here is a video presenting the festival:
The Challenge Of Keeping The Indian Electoral List Updated
The world's largest elections are underway in India and blogger Anuradha Shankar at “A Wandering Mind” blog points to the practical challenges of keeping the huge electoral list of the country updated for ready use.
Mental Health Not a Priority in Cambodia
Writing for Southeast Asia Globe, Denise Hruby reported how the mentally ill in many rural areas of Cambodia are being treated: …the mentally ill are still treated by traditional healers, who aim to drive out bad spirits by burning the skin, or by the untrained staff of one-room health clinics...
Former Malaysian PM Blames Boeing for MH370 Disaster
Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad wanted Boeing to take responsibility for the mysterious disappearance of Malaysian Airline flight MH370. He wrote in his blog: Boeing built this aircraft. Boeing must explain how all these means of tracking the plane can be disabled, can fail. Either Boeing technology is poor...
