Stories from Quick Reads from January, 2011
China: The eight most read China blogs
Dan from China Law Blog introduces the eight most read English written China blogs to his readers.
China: Role in resolving Africa's conflicts
Safeworld, a NGO on peace and conflict, published a report on China's glowing role in resolving Africa's conflicts.
Liberia: Improving Liberian Education
Jenny discusses the works of Concern Liberia, which involve constructing classrooms, separate toilets for boys and girls, providing furniture, textbooks and other essential learning items like blackboards, pencils and copybooks.
Malawi: Meet Malawi's studio wizard
Gregory Gondwe writes about Malawi's studio wizard: “Tapiwa Bandawe is a producer who can lionise a musician none of us have ever heard of and how he does this is a subject of conjecture.”
Taiwan: Animal protection “cockroaches” on Facebook
Boogier warns facebook users to think twice before clicking “like” or “share” button on those pitiful stories and photos of stray dogs and poor dog carers. He criticizes this kind of tactics used to allure people by fake animal protectors-who he'd rather call “cockroaches”, and argues that more dogs are mistreated because of...
China: Censorship Virus Breaks into PKU Printers
Peking University's Portal Website calls for urgent attention on the recent introduction of censorship mechanism among the campus printing shops: no political sensitive materials can be photocopied inside the campus.
Could Nicaragua experience “the Egypt and Tunisia phenomenon”?
In an interview with El Nuevo Diario [es], Global Voices author Rodrigo Peñalba was asked [es] if the phenomenon seen in Egypt and Tunisia is “far from the national reality” and if netizens would respond in the same way. He concludes that the newspaper, instead of asking “could this happen...
Bangladesh: How Much For The Desk Clerk?
Commenting on the corruption in Bangladesh Kazi Rubaiat Imam at The Lunatic Is On The Grass proposes to develop a website where everyone can “see and update the rates of bribes for getting things done at the government offices”.
Morocco: The King's Very Private Visit to France
According to a Moroccan opposition journalist interviewed by French news website Rue89 [fr] King Mohamed VI of Morocco arrived Thursday in France for a private visit, and is staying in the castle the royal family owns near Paris. A holiday abroad at this time of general unrest in North Africa...
India: Environment, Common Sense & Social Media
Munna on the Run hopes that social media conversations will work as a gentle persuading force against the profit-at-any-cost market forces and re-ignite a common sense approach to development.
Ukraine: Photos of Hutsuls
Sergey Maximishin (LJ user remetalk) shares his photos of the Ukrainian Hutsuls and their land in the Carpathian Mountains.
Russia, Ukraine: More Tributes to Playwright Anna Yablonskaya
At The Guardian's Comment is Free, Natalia Antonova writes about the Jan. 24 suicide bombing at Moscow's Domodedovo Airport and about playwright Anna Yablonskaya, who was killed in the attack. Another tribute to Yablonskaya – at The Guardian's Theatre Blog, here.
Czech Republic: The Czech Roma During the Holocaust
Czech Position writes in detail about “the wartime fate of the Roma” – whose “tremendous suffering and loss [are] often reduced to little more than a historical footnote.”
Romania: Accession to the Schengen Zone
Kosmopolito writes about Romania's “clumsy way” to the Schengen zone.
Serbia, Kosovo: Comment on Dick Marty's Report
Belgraded.com comments on Dick Marty's “report on organized criminal activities committed by the Kosovo Albanian side during and after Kosovo conflict”: “As it turns out, there are now at least two things Serbs and Kosovars have in common – people who committed crimes during the war and politicians and other...
Ukraine: Support “The Pickle Project”!
Linda Norris and Sarah Crow are fundraising on Kickstarter in order to be able to return to Ukraine and continue work on The Pickle Project, which “explores contemporary and traditional Ukrainian foodways, introducing fascinating people, practices and places, through photographic documentation, audio interviews and video.”
Hungary: New Media Law To Be Modified?
Hungarian Watch reports that “Hungary seems poised to make changes to media law” – but “freedom of the press is still on shaky ground.”
Hungary: Filtering Foreign Media Content?
Hungarian Spectrum reports that the official Hungarian news agency seems to be supplying other media outlets with “wrong translations” of foreign media content, perhaps trying “to conceal some of the bad news–bad that is from the point of view of the government–from the Hungarian public.” Galamus Csoport, however, offers “accurate...
Albania: Anti-Government Protest in Tirana
Home of the Albanian Blogger and A Nevada Yankee in King Zog's Court share their thoughts on the Jan. 21 anti-government protests and violence in Tirana.
Czech Republic: Lawyers Uncertain About Ukrainian Politician's Right to Asylum
Czech Position reports that “uncertainty prevailed among [Czech] lawyers on whether [former Ukrainian Economy Minister] Bohdan Danylyshyn merits asylum in the Czech Republic.”
Bulgaria: Sofia's Sugar Factory Tragedy
Maya's Corner writes about Sofia's Sugar Factory, where two people died in 2009 when the neglected building collapsed, and the fate of other landmarks owned by “predator ‘investors’.”
