Stories from Quick Reads from July, 2013
Peru: From Prison, With All Our Heart
Every year, the Foundation Against Cancer of Peru [es] carries out a fundraising campaign called “Ponle corazón” [Put your heart in it] for children with cancer. Affected because in the last three years the collection has been unable to reach its planned goal, the inmates of Miguel Castro Castro penitentiary...
African Thinkers Blog Competition
Africa Brains announces African Thinkers blog competition with a chance to win $50. It’s now time to announce the first topic which is “How did Technology influence your Education?” Let us know about the technology available when you were at school or college? How have things changed since? Were you...
PHOTO: Muslim Brotherhood Surrounds National Security in Cairo
Netizens and journalists are reporting that thousands of Muslim Brotherhood members and supporters are heading towards the National Security building in Nasr City now. Amr Salama El-qazaz shares this photograph. آلاف المتظاهرين يحاصرون مقر مباحث أمن الدولة الآن بمدينة نصر #رابعة_العدوية pic.twitter.com/oxBFRmzYrN @amrsalama: Thousands of protesters are surrounding the National...
Revolution or Coup: The Ousting of Morsi
Many are continuing to debate whether the ousting of former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi was the result of revolution or a military coup. Mohamed El Gohary shares his two cents in this post.
Bassem Yousif vs Sandmonkey on Egypt
On Twitter, satirist Bassem Youssef and activist and blogger Mahmood Salem (Sandmonkey) had a discussion on the Egyptian political scene today. Noon Arabia collects their exchange in this post [ar] on Storify.
VIDEO: Historic Khalid ibn al-Walid Mosque Bombed in Syria
Protect Syrian Archaeology posted photographs on its Facebook page [en, ar] and videos on YouTube, recording the moment the historic Khalid ibn al-Walid mosque (7th century) was bombed in Homs, Syria. Homs – Results of the bombing of Khalid ibn al-Walid mosque#حمص – أثار القصف الذي تعرض له مسجد الصحابي خالد بن الوليد” This 5-minute video takes you inside...
Honduran Indigenous Leader Killed
This is a story of exploitation of Honduras’ natural resources, and of popular opposition to their destructive effects, largely ignored outside activist media outlets. RAJ in Honduras Culture and Politics blogs about the murder of Tomás García, an indigenous Lenca COPINH (Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras)...
PHOTO: Bloody Protests Outside Brazilian Bus Baron Wedding
While the wedding of Beatriz Barata (the granddaughter of the owner of the largest bus company in Rio de Janeiro) with Francisco Feitosa Filho (heir of the same industry conglomerate in the state of Ceará) was being celebrated inside the luxurious Copacabana Palace, outside the hotel, a humorous protest ended up with...
Cave Temple in Sri Lanka
Uditha Wijesena informs that Dambulla cave temple is the best preserved cave temple in Sri Lanka.
The Beautiful “Country” of Africa
In this week's edition of the Kenyan online magazine Brainstorm, Brenda Wambui rails against the ongoing narratives about Africa: “Africa is a country”, “Africa rising”, ‘”African fashion”. She looks at ways Kenyans can reclaim their story and define themselves on their own terms: As Kenya, or any other country, we...
Female Blogger Jailed in Iran
Jonbeshe Sabz reports that Fariba Pajooh,a reformist journalist and blogger, was jailed last week. Her father hopes “she gets released soon”.
Ireland to Cancer Patients: Not Dying? No Financial Aid.
The anonymous Irish blogger behind the blog “Pieces of me” sends an open letter to the Irish minister of Health after the ministry decided to cut off medical reimbursements for cancer treatments, “unless their diagnosis is terminal.” As a cancer survivor, the blogger writes a poignant pamphlet: My “not such a bad diagnosis at all”, brought me...
Data Visualization: Electric Japan
Electrical Japan [ja], a website by researcher Asanobu Kitamoto [ja] lets you explore electric power plants and energy consumption in Japan through data-visualization. The color of the dots represents the type of power plant, for example fossil-fuel plants are red and hydroelectric plants are blue. The size of the dot represents the amount of power generated....
Puerto Rico a Hub for Spying on Latin America
The Center of Investigative Journalism of Puerto Rico reported that in a series of classified documents leaked by Edward Snowden, it appears that the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) were using a naval base on the island as the center of operations to spy...
Punish the Unmarried in China?
Starting from July 1, 2013 China put into effect a new filial piety law, requiring grown children to visit their parents “frequently”. In reaction to the law, an elderly suggested to punish the unmarried one: My kids shouldn't be treated as a violator of any law if they don’t visit...
Web Popularity of Japan's Candidates Ranked
In the midst of Japan's first election campaign where politicians are officially allowed to use social media, freelance engineer Masahide Mori [ja] has compiled a ranking [ja] based on the number of likes and the number of subscribers on the Facebook pages of candidates. Users can view increase and decrease of Facebook...
Reflections On Social Media Day Colombo 2013
The Social Media Day Colombo 2013 took place on June 30, 2013 at Park Street Mews in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Tech blogger Amitha Amarasinghe reflects on the days proceedings. Photos can be found at the event's Facebook page.
Africa Check: Sorting Fact From Fiction
Africa Check uses journalistic skills and evidence drawn from the latest online tools, readers, public sources and experts, sorting out fact from fiction regarding claims made by public figures around the continent.
Barclays’ Decision Threatens Somalia Peace
Laure Hammond explains how a recent decision by Barclays Bank to close the accounts of 250 money transfer organisations working around the world will have a particularly severe effect on Somalia’s efforts to emerge from two decades of conflict.
