14 October 2012

Stories from 14 October 2012

Greece: Theater Critic Assaulted by Neo-Nazi and Religious Protesters

Religious groups and neo-nazis protested against gay-themed play Corpus Christi in Athens on 11 October, 2012. Deeming it blasphemous, they assaulted a theater critic and forced the cancellation of the performance. Netizens reacted in shocked outrage, demanding an end to the unchecked spiral of violence perpetrated by neo-nazis in recent months.

14 October 2012

Saudi Arabia: Women2Drive Steps Up Tone; Blames Government Policies

Women2Drive, later renamed Right2Dignity, has been campaigning for lifting the ban on women's right to drive by calling for days in which women get behind the wheel and supporting lawsuits against the Interior Ministry for refusing to grant women driving licenses. Now they are blaming the government for the ban, saying that if the Saudi monarchy wanted to lift it, it would have done so earlier.

14 October 2012

Zambia: YouTube Documentary on Negative Impact of Copper Mining

A documentary titled “Zambia: Good Copper, Bad Copper” about Zambian copper mining and its negative impact on society has emerged on YouTube and has so far attracted over 6,000 hits. After watching the documentary, one YouTube user wrote, "Cry our beloved country. Why should we remain poor when a coveted product is plenty and mined at the expense of the locals' health."

14 October 2012

China: Drinking Deer Blood

Some Chinese believe that drinking deer blood can prolong life. ChinaSMACK translated a local report about the cruel business deer farm in China. [Warning: graphic]

14 October 2012

Sierra Leone: Is Ami Musa the Saddest Pinterest Page in the World?

One blog, Lovelyish, considers a Pinterest campaign about a 13-year-old girl Ami Musa from Sierra Leone by UNICEF UK to raise awareness about children living in poverty in Africa "the saddest Pinterest page in the world." Another blogger, Tom Murphy, argues that Pinterest represents a bit of a brave new world for NGOs to reach newer audiences.

14 October 2012