Stories from Quick Reads from December, 2010
Cameroon Becomes Tourism Destination
Cameroon has officially become a tourism destination: “The country registered more than 500,000 tourists in 2010, a figure required by international norms to become a tourism destination.”
Nigeria: The New Face Of The Niger Delta Insurgency Speaks To SaharaReporters
Sahara Reporters speak to “General” John Togo, the leader of a newly created militant group known as the Niger Delta Liberation Force (NDLF).
Africa: Looted African artefacts belong to Africans
Sign an online petition that has been created to build on a recent petition to stop an auction house, Sotheby’s from selling a 16th Century Benin Mask.
Africa: MDGTagger available in Swahili
MDGTagger, a simple tool to help people track Millennium Development Goals is now available in Swahili: “After quite a bit of searching we found an ‘official’ translation of the the Millennium Development Goals translated into Kiswahilli here. So we now have the MDGTagger available to Swahili speakers!”
Kenya: Internet and mobile to be the future of stock trading
The future of stock trading in Kenya is going to be via the Internet and mobile phone applications: “Kenyans are fast with technology and moved en masse to leapfrog the rest of the world and adopt new technology for mobile money transfers.”
Taiwan: Concerns about press freedom
Media freedom has come into the spotlight in Taiwan recently. Michael Turton has a good summary of the issues. A Taipei Times reporter writes about how the proposed changes to the child welfare law would affect her work.
Bahamas: Junkanoo colours
Bahamaboy posts images of Junkanoo — the traditional year-end masquerade celebrated in Nassau and other parts of the Bahamas — at Flickr.
Bermuda: bird's eye view
FreshieBlog posts high-resolution aerial photographs of Bermuda from 1940 and 1973, “a valuable tool for seeing how Bermuda has developed over the past 70 years.”
Caribbean: environmantal atlas
Repeating Islands links to a new Latin America and the Caribbean Atlas of our Changing Environment, published by the United Nations Environment Programme, which “uses over 200 images to highlight the region’s diverse ecosystems.”
Cuba: cheaper remittances
The Cuban Triangle explains how the removal of a government surcharge makes remittances “cheaper”.
Barbados: abolish income tax?
The Bajan Reporter covers a recent panel discussion on abolishing the income tax in Barbados.
China, Congo and Japan: Soccer politics
Ministry of Tofu translates Chinese netizens’ reactions over a recent soccer fans riot in Congo. The African soccer fans had mistaken the Japanese referee as Chinese and smashed Chinese-own stores to avenge the partial rule in the football field.
Russia: Informal Medvedev Election Trailer Realeased Online
An anonymous user created a short à la Guitar Hero video trailer jokingly presenting Dmitry Medvedev as “President Hero 2012.” The video draws attention to the upcoming 2012 presidential elections in Russia.
Sri Lanka: Development, Not Aid
Indi.ca discusses the importance of development assistance rather than aid as a system for lifting Sri Lankan citizens out of poverty.
Pakistan: Karachi International Book Fair
Cafe Pyala offers an alternative tour of the 6th Karachi International Book Fair.
Pakistan: Solidarity Day For Peace
Teeth Maestro informs that “rallies for peace will be held on 1 Jan 2011 in over 100 locations across Pakistan in solidarity with those suffering violence and repression.”
Chile: Students from Citizen Journalism Project “Young Reporters” Talk About Their Work
A group of school-age citizen journalists who create content for Jóvenes Reporteros [es] (Young Reporters) describe their work in a video for the site Periodismo Ciudadano [es] (Citizen Journalism).
Costa Rica: Reading Newspaper While Driving a Bus
Hell in Costa Rica [es] blog has shared a citizen video where a bus driver working for a public transportation company which recently got in trouble for running over a mother and her daughter is seen reading the newspaper while driving.
Sudan: Land Grabbing in Sudan
Henry's data visualization of land grabbing in Sudan: “I read an article this morning about “land grabbing” in Africa by foreign countries. When I read the amount of land being acquired by foreign investors in Sudan, I thought to my self, “that is horrible”. Then I took a closer look...
Ethiopia: Run Across Ethiopia aims to raise $100,000 for education
The Run Across Ethiopia , a project of On the Ground (OTG), a US-based non-profit organization, aims to raise $100,000 for Ethiopian education projects, including the construction of schools in other coffee-growing communities.
Ethiopia: History of Oromo People
Learn the history of Oromo people from Ethiopia Tribe blog: “The Oromo are a native African ethnic group found in Ethiopia and to a smaller extent in Kenya. They are the largest single ethnic group in Ethiopia, at 32.1% of the population according to the 1994 census, and today numbering...
