20 December 2008

Stories from 20 December 2008

Brazil: Against Illegal Abortion or Against Women?

Abortion is a very complex issue in Brazil, just like almost everywhere else in Latin America, where it is considered a crime. Despite this, over 1,000,000 clandestine abortions take place in Brazil and over 70,000 women die of complications from clandestine abortion attempts every year. Daniel Duende takes a look at the new moves in the clash between pro-life and pro-choice movements.

20 December 2008

Israel/Palestine: Violence Hurts Both Peoples

“The region has been slowly but surely moving back into instability. With Qassam rockets and mortars being targeting Israeli communities and Israeli helicopters and tanks targeting Palestinian locations. Several Palestinians...

20 December 2008

Israel: Decking the Halls in the Holy Land

“We ended up doing the ultimate Christmas thing in the Holy Land,” muses Anglosaxy. “Eating felafel, made by Israeli Arabs, sat next to a hungry pack of street cats…the kids...

20 December 2008

Egyptian Spinsters

The outcasts of the Egyptian society – the spinsters – are raising their voices in an attempt to change how society views them. Khokha – the anonymous author of The...

20 December 2008

Egypt: Gamal Eid detained and deported from Jordan

The Jordanian intelligence prevents Gamal Eid, the General Manager of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), from entering Jordan because of his criticism of freedom of expression in Jordan two...

20 December 2008

Looking at Egypt's First Female Mayor

Eva Habil, a 53 year-old Christian lawyer, became Egypt’s first female mayor on December 14, representing Komboha, a rural town in conservative Upper Egypt with a Coptic majority community. Yusra...

20 December 2008

Japan, Brazil: A centenary of Japanese Immigration to Brazil.

In June 1908, the Japanese ship Kasato Maru docked in the Port of Santos after a 52-day voyage, bringing the first Japanese families to Brazil. A hundred years later and after a hard period of adaptation, Japanese and Japanese-Brazilians reflect on the history and cultural heritage of this cross ocean cultural mix.

20 December 2008

Video: Costa Rican Artist takes on the Fine Art Classics

Francisco Munguía, a Costa Rican cartoonist and artist has interpreted the Fine Arts classics and is currently doing a show in the Costa Rican Children's Museum. However, you don´t need to travel to Costa Rica to see his work: it is uploaded on YouTube in a gallery style presentation.

20 December 2008

Armenia: LGBT News

Unzipped: Gay Armenia is pleased to inform its readers that following the recent UN statement in support of LGBT rights, World Focus has quoted the blog in its report on...

20 December 2008

Pakistan: A beauty queen's slip

In a recent CNN interview, the 24 year old Natasha Paracha, Miss Pakistan World, was heard saying “…as Pakistanis we have to stand up and condone what has happened in...

20 December 2008