Stories from Quick Reads from March, 2015
Nicaraguan Mother Recovered Her Child Detained At German Embassy in Managua
Ximena Gutiérrez, a Nicaraguan mother, recovered her child who was detained by his father at the German Embassy in Nicaragua. Arun was taken to the Embassy's office in Managua by his father, a German citizen. Considering the unwillingness to leave the place, the little child's mother reported to the authorities...
Before the Border: The Immigrant Odyseey Across Mexico
The perils of crossing the border between Mexico and the United States are well documented, but for thousands of undocumented migrants from Central America, crossing Mexico is even more dangerous. To reach the US border, undocumented migrants from Central America undertake a dangerous 1,500-mile trip through Mexico, where they risk...
Municipal Referendum to Preserve Skopje Shopping Centre Scheduled
The local council of the Municipality of Centar, part of the Skopje downtown area, approved a proposal to hold a referendum to preserve the authentic look of the iconic Skopje Shopping Center. As Meta.mk reports, the referendum will take place on April 26. For the referendum to be successful, it needs a...
Is This What UN Special Adviser on Yemen Has to Say on Current War: “? tmnoppbbnpbkpb”
Assistant UN Secretary-General, Special Adviser to Secretary-General on Yemen Jamal Benomar's Twitter account has sent out the following message earlier today: ? tmnoppbbnpbkpb — Jamal Benomar (@Jamal_Benomar) March 29, 2015 Adam Baron, a journalist covering Yemen, remarks 13 hours after the tweet was first published: Cant believe Jamal Benomar's media...
Open Letter to 60 Minutes Regarding Its Reporting on Africa
Scholars, writers, journalists and researchers write an open letter to 60 Minutes producer about the misrepresentation of Africa by the Tv program: Dear Jeff Fager, Executive Producer of CBS 60 Minutes, We, the undersigned, are writing to express our grave concern about the frequent and recurring misrepresentation of the African...
Civil War Separates Peuhl Children from their Parents in Yaloke, Central African Republic
Peuhl minorities of Islamic confession have been trying to escape anti-balaka militia since the beginning of the civil war in in the Central African Republic. One of the camps where displaced Peuhl can find protection is the Yaloke camp by the Cameroonian border in the western region. The health situation in...
Mapping Vietnam's Socio-Economic Indicators
The World Bank has launched mapVIETNAM, an interactive map that shows various socio-economic indicators in Vietnam such as poverty rates, employment, and electricity connectivity. The photo above shows the number of households living on $2 dollars a day. Using the map, we can see that poverty rates are high in...
Bus Users Fight Over Seat in Peruvian Bus and You Can't Imagine How This Ends
A video posted on Facebook by user PeruRec show two men almost coming to blows over a seat in a bus of the Metropolitano, Peruvian capital public transportation system. At one point, the stockier guy sits over the other guy, while other bus users laugh out loud. Immersed as they...
Ecuadorians Take to the Streets to Protest Government
Despite the rain, on March 19 citizens participated in a protest in Loja, Ecuador, which spread over seven blocks, to express their discontent of the current government. Labor code reforms, extended reelections, free access to education, and the recent exchange rate safeguards on imports were some of the issues that...
The Media's Role in Mexico's ‘Warped’ Democracy
Blogger Fernando Vázquez Rigada reflects on the role of the media in Mexico, a country where he says democracy is “warped” because it only works on a formal level, and society isn't adequately represented by the political institutions. He adds that Mexican media bear a huge responsibility in this issue....
Eerie Similarities Between Germanwings Tragedy and Argentinian-Spanish Film ‘Wild Tales’
More than once, screenwriters have found inspiration in reality for their fiction. This time, it seems reality was inspired by fiction. The news that the co-pilot of German airline Germanwings‘ Flight 9525 is suspected of intentionally crashing the plane, taking the lives of 149 people with him, seems to be one of...
German Company's Videos Imagine Modern Women as Passive and Dependent
Women in Germany are outraged over one insurance company's videos explaining different types of policies, in which women are described as passive and naive — a role more in line with the expectations of the 1950s than 2015. Birte Vogel writes on her blog Thea – Frauen in Sprache, Medien und Gesellschaft (Thea –...
Prisoner of Conscience Pedro Canché's Letter to Journalist Carmen Aristegui
From jail, Pedro Canché wrote a letter to fellow journalist Carmen Aristegui after her recent and controversial exit from media group MVS. This letter was published on his Tumblr blog “Diary of a prisoner of conscience“. 15 de marzo de 2015 Carta a Carmen AristeguiA propósito del consumado golpe al equipo de investigación de MVS, en...
A Trinidadian Falls in Love with Jamaica
Trindadian diaspora fashion blogger, Afrobella, grew up “steeped in reggae music and [with] a love for Jamaican culture” – so why did it take her so long to actually visit the island? She's not sure she can answer that question, considering that her first impression was that “Jamaica is an...
Documenting the Systematic Decline of Women's Rights in Macedonia
Although southeast European countries are progressive in many other ways, the decline of women's reproductive rights in some Western Balkan countries has been a worrying trend. In Macedonia, several small protests have been held in recent years to demonstrate people's opposition to government involvement in determining public sentiment on issues...
Bermuda's 99%
The economic gap appears to be widening in Bermuda and one blogger has been paying attention. A week ago, after the Bermuda Telephone Company announced that it was considering introducing new – and more expensive – residential high speed broadband internet products and a high-end restaurant launched a $1000 per...
13 Eritrean Writers You Should Know About
Woyingi compiles a list of Eritrean literature, which includes Sulaiman Addonia's The Consequences of Love and Taught to hate: observations on madrasas, Astier M. Almedom's Re-reading the Short and Long-Rigged History of Eritrea 1941–1952: Back to the Future?, Alemseged Tesfai's Two Weeks in the Trenches: Reminiscences of Childhood and War...
The Collapse of Civilisation Is Already a Reality for the Children of Ambovombe, Madagascar
A scientific publication in the Journal of Ecological Economics argues that “over-exploitation of either Labor or Nature will result in a societal collapse” if nothing is done to prevent it. Based on a mathematical model, the study explains (via The Guardian) that the convergence of ” the stretching of resources due...
#HackEC15 — An Open Data Challenge in Ecuador
As part of the Second International Conference on Democracy and Digital Government 2015 (ICEDEG 2015), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers is hosting Hack Ecuador Challenge 2015 (HEC'15). The event welcomes Ecuadorians with open-data apps that promise to deliver needed services in local communities, improving the nation's online ecosystem, especially in the...
Macedonian Journalist Describes How It Feels to Be Subject of State Surveillance
Prominent investigative journalist Meri Jordanovska wrote a testimony about her experience on receiving evidence that she was one of allegedly twenty thousand individuals who have been subjected to state surveillance in Macedonia. In an op-ed on Balkan Insight, Jordanovska explains: Each report on one of my wiretapped conversations was true:...
In China, Online Game Has To Comply With Laws in Real Life
An online game designer, Xu Youzhen revealed in his Weibo that the Chinese authorities require that childbearing in his company's video games comply with family planning. The guideline was issued by Internet Culture Office, Bureau of Culture Markets in their powerpoint explanation of “Ministry of Culture's Online Game Content Censorship...
