· March, 2008

Stories from Quick Reads from March, 2008

Israel: Yafo Residents Protest Corporate Greed

Yudit of Occupied writes about Land Day in Yafo (Jaffa), Israel: “Over one thousand people marched in Jaffa, against the ethnic cleansing carried out by big money in close cooperation with the public housing companies and the municipality… Jaffa's people, women, men and children, marched together for the future of...

Armenia: Sevan Museum

  30 March 2008

Robert Dietrich posts photographs of some of the treasures he recently discovered at a small museum outside of the capital. The Peace Corps Volunteer says he was overwhelmed by the amount of items dating back thousands of years and in urgent need of being displayed properly.

Armenia: The Little Prince

  30 March 2008

The Armenian Patchwork posts photographs of preparations and a performance of The Little Prince in the Armenian capital, Yerevan. The blog seems impressed with the organization of the play for children.

Georgia: Opposition Ends Hunger Strike

  30 March 2008

TOL Georgia comments on news that the opposition has called off its hunger strike after a second intervention from the Georgian patriarch. With no concessions forthcoming from the government, the blog wonders where the current political situation in Georgia leaves the opposition ahead of the May parliamentary vote.

Mexico: Water News

  30 March 2008

Noticias del Agua [es] is a blog that links to various news articles related to the use and conservation of water, especially in Mexico.

Iran:”Defending animal rights =Westernization”

Mojgan Jamshidi, an environmentalist journalist and a leading blogger says[Fa] in Iran some believe defending animal rights is a kind of westernization. The blogger writes even reformist deputies while dominating Iranian parliament, considered animal rights is not a topic deserve to be discussed. She also published a photo of a...

Japan: Richard Gear ditched by Nissan?

  29 March 2008

A news report [ja] (summary in English) that Nissan has decided to back out of a contract for a TV commercial with Richard Gear due to the actor's support of the Dalai Lama has triggered hundreds of comments in posting forums [ja] and responses from bloggers. While some wonder whether...

Iran:Supporting Earth Hour

Mohammad Darvish, a leading environmentalist from Iran, asks[Fa] Iranians to support Earth Hour,an international event that asks households and businesses to turn off their lights and non-essential electrical appliances for one hour on the evening of 29 March.

Morocco: Melon Season Soon

“Morocco's melon season is about to start. But the bad news is that the melons that appear in the souqs are the ones that Europe doesn't want. The Moroccan melon varieties are grown principally for export,” writes The View from Fez.

Qatar: Some Facebook Applications Banned

Ngourlay announces that Qatar Telecoms has blocked some of Facebook's applications. The blogger also lists five reasons the telecom provider censors sites: pornography, political criticism of Gulf countries and anti-Islamic sites; some sites are also blocked ‘by mistake’ and others are banned because they may be offensive to some people.

Ukraine, Poland: Tusk Visits Kyiv

  29 March 2008

Leopolis reports on Donald Tusk's visit to Ukraine: “The biggest development of the trip was the signing of a cross-border visa agreement for small-time Ukrainian traders living 50 kilometres from the border.”