Stories from Quick Reads from June, 2012
China: Local Residents Clash with Police in Shaxi, Guangdong
Police from Shaxi, a city in China Guangdong Province, confirmed on their official Weibo account a barrage of police officers during a public protest. The protest was sparked on Monday, by the beating of a local elementary school students by a teenager from Chongqing. The local officers came to tie...
Morocco: Theater Group Adapts The Vagina Monologues
The association Théâtre Aquarium has begun the representation of the Moroccan adaptation of the play The Vagina Monologues called Le Spectacle Dialy [fr] in Rabat. Ali Amar opines that the Moroccan version of the play is a breath of fresh air in the current era of religious conservatism.
Comoros: Women Barred from Public Beach for Religious Reasons
Women are no longer welcome at the beach of Itsandra-Mdjini [fr] reports Mlimadji in Comores-Actualités. He explains that city officials decided to ban women from the beach at the request of religious leaders. The beach is managed by the cultural association Twamaya and has historically been open to everyone without consideration of...
China: Shanghai Metro Blames Sexual Harassment on Women's Immodest Clothing
Jing Gao from Ministry of Tofu reported a debate in reaction to Shanghai Metro's microblog post, which blames sexual harassment on women's immodest dressing. While some women have stood up to protest against the sexual discrimination, the popular sentiment online has sided with the Metro company.
El Salvador: Citizens of Mejicanos Protest Construction of Walmart Store
Voices from El Salvador reports: “This past Thursday civil society organizations, international solidarity groups, students, and community associations came together to protest the construction of a mega Walmart store in Mejicanos, a municipality in northern San Salvador.” In a stament, organizers say that communities must be consulted about these projects.
Hong Kong: Maid's Toilet and Bedroom
Local newspaper exposed that a popular children songs singer Purple Lee has put her migrant domestic maid to live in a room where there is a bed and a toilet bowl. Dictionary of politically incorrect Hong Kong Cantonese has translated netizens’ reaction to the news.
China: Victim of Late Term Abortion Labelled as Traitor
The father of the aborted seven-month-old fetus, Deng Jiyuan, upon interviewed with a German reporter was labelled as traitor of the country and the local government mobilized residents to protest outside his house. David Wertime from Tea Leaf Nation has the full story.
North Korea: Drawings Of Concentration Camps
Anthony Tao from Beijing Cream highlighted some drawings by survivors of North Korean concentration and work camps from a Korean forum.
Kyrgyzstan: Incident in Batken Highlights Cross-border Ethnic Tensions
Passions flew high in the southwestern Kyrgyz city of Batken last week after local residents took a group of Tajik citizens hostage in an attempt to force the release of three locals detained in Tajikistan on smuggling charges. As Matthew Kupfer writes on Registan.net, “such events certainly aren’t helping interethnic relations within...
Afghanistan: More Girls Poisoned for Attending School
Following our recent report on a string of attacks targeting female students at schools in Afghanistan, there have been three new attacks over the last three days in the country's north. About 300 girls have been poisoned. Commenting on the latest attack, Brazilian journalist Maria Stella Soares writes on Twitter: “Ignorance...
Sri Lanka: Sustainable Agriculture – Not In Practice
Perceptions argues that there are so many words written about sustainable agriculture and “very little of that comes directly from someone who earns 100% of his income from existing agriculture, sustainable or not”.
Bhutan: Wangdue Dzong Fire Images
Passu Diary witnessed the recent devastating fire at the Wangdue Dzong which stood for nearly 400 years and posts some pictures.
Puerto Rico: Women and Cyberactivism
The feminist coalition Coordinadora Paz para la Mujer has convened people to send contributions (in Spanish) for the next edition of their magazine, which will be dedicated to cyberactivism and feminism. Deadline is July 16, 2012.
Puerto Rico: Indie Music Coming Soon
The music blog Puerto Rico Indie announces [es] it's next edition of the video series Archipiélago, in which the bands Las Robertas from Costa Rica and Dávila 666 from Puerto Rico will be performing. Stay tuned.
Malaysia Plans To Expand Cash Transfer Program
Khoo Kay Peng advises the Malaysian government to review its plan to further expand the cash transfer program known as Bantuan Rakyat 1 Malaysia (BR1M). The author insists the money can be used instead to stimulate the local economy
Thailand: Google Asked To Remove 374 YouTube Videos in 2011
According to Google's Transparency Report, the Thai Ministry of Information requested Google to take down 374 YouTube videos in 2011 for allegedly insulting the monarchy in violation of Thailand’s lèse-majesté law.
Cuba: Papal Mass Dissident Still Protesting
Pedazos de la Isla reports that “Andrés Carrión Álvarez, the Cuban who shouted ‘Down with Communism’ during the papal mass in Santiago de Cuba this past March…is still on hunger strike.”
Brazil: Fortaleza City Dwellers Demand Liberation of Green Area
Inspired by the massive “Veta, Dilma” campaign to protect the Brazilian forests, Fortaleza city dwellers launched “Libera, Luizianne“ urging Mayor Luizianne Lins to free a green area for the creation of Rachel de Queiroz Park [pt]. On June 24, supporters planted wooden crosses on the site, symbolizing the death of...
China: An Account of Citizen Disappearance
Cao Yaxue from Seeing Red in China has translated civil rights activist Xu Zhiyong's account of his recent disappearance – a more than 24 hours interrogation and illegal detention.
China: Bridge Blogger List
DANWEI has presented its annual Model Worker Awards 2012, a list of the best specialist websites, blogs and online sources of information about China.
5 Web Sites on Chinese Philanthropy in English
If you are interested in non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and desire to know more of Chinese philanthropy, Helen's “5 Web Sites on Chinese Philanthropy in English” might be a good start for you. Helen is currently preparing for GP Common web site, and thinks it would be beneficial to have a...
