Stories from Quick Reads from June, 2014
Puerto Deseado, a Coastal Paradise
On her blog Viajes y Relatos, Laura Schneider shares her experience visiting Puerto Deseado, in the province of Santa Cruz, Argentina. On the six-day photo-safari, she photographed the beautiful city and places nearby: Yendo por la ruta 3, luego de pasar Comodoro Rivadavia y Caleta Olivia a 300 km, nace una...
The Splendour of Puerto Madryn
Wenceslao Bottaro shares on his blog the trip he made to the south of Puerto Madryn, in the province of Chubut, Argentina. This time, he visited Punta Este, Punta Loma and Cerro Avanzado, among other tourist attractions. Este es un paseo para descubrir la zona sur de Puerto Madryn, es...
Comedy and Activism from Mexico
JM Casanueva, author of the blog SocialTIC, reviews the new trend in activism in Mexico that uses humor on blogs and social networks to reach a larger audience: El humor siempre ha sido una táctica exitosa para transmitir causas de manera empática (sí, que alguien que no seas tú o...
Attacks Against Muslims Continue In Sri Lanka
It has been two weeks since the violent riots against Muslims in the Sri Lankan coastal cities of Aluthgama and Beruwala. Although the situation has died down after widespread condemnation, sporadic violence against Muslims continues in different parts of Sri Lanka. Blogger Abdul Khaleq tweets about one such recent incident in...
Serbian Insurance Company Refuses to Pay Damages to Roma Family
Serbian daily Blic reports on a curious case in which Serbian insurance company Takovo Osiguranje has, in writing, refused to pay damages to the widow and children of a car accident victim, based on his ethnicity. Blic journalists and an attorney representing the victim's family claim that the insurance company...
Srinagar-Leh Highway: An Adventurous Road Trip
The 434-kilometer-long Srinagar-Leh Highway is a spectacular and often scary highway in the Kashmir Valley. This road, which is open for traffic from June to November, is generally muddy, gravely and non-existent at best. The Zoji La mountain pass at 3,528 meters is particularly dangerous with only enough clearance for...
Hong Kong Lawyers Protest in Black Against Chinese Government's White Paper
The protest is in response to the Chinaese government's recent white paper on the practice of “one country, two systems” in Hong Kong.
Italian Footballer Giorgio Chiellini's Praiseworthy Words After Being Bitten
Italian centre back Giorgio Chiellini, bitten by Uruguayan forward Luis Suárez during the match between Italy and Uruguay national teams of the group phase of the World Cup in Brazil, sent Suárez a conciliatory message via his official website: Dentro di me ora non ci sono sentimenti di gioia, di...
Trinidad and Tobago Parliament Asks Itself For Pay Raise, Says Yes
When two controversial bills are passed swiftly and unanimously by a country’s parliament, the alarm bells go off. The passage, on June 13, 2014, of amendments to two parliamentary acts governing pension payments for legislators and judges in Trinidad and Tobago has been called unconstitutional and a threat to the independence...
The Driver Is Not to Blame, It's the Pedestrian!?
Osiris Jasso, a Global Voices contributor, reports on his personal Tumblr blog about traffic and common sense violations in his neighborhood in San Luis Potosí's historic downtown in Mexico. After an accident due to misuse of sidewalks by unscrupulous drivers, Osiris claims: Exigimos a las autoridades que liberen las banquetas...
“No Strings Attached Sex is a Multiple Rules Game”
Mariangel Calderon recommends on her blog El Ovario (The ovary) not to have unrealistic expectations after no-strings-attached sex. She writes this is one of the games with more ruels and it's even more commendable than simply falling in love by preventing someone like that gets into your life unauthorized. She...
Revenge from the “Disgrace of Gijón” as Algeria and Germany Face Up Again at the World Cup
Algeria and Germany national teams are set to face up on June 30 in Porto Alegre in the knock-out round of the FIFA World Cup. The match will revive plenty of strong emotions from both sides because of their previous game in 1982 at the World Cup in Spain. In their...
Justice Matters for Ethiopian Bloggers
Justice matters is a blog that reports on the trial of detained Zone9 bloggers and journalists in Ethiopia for expressing their opinions: This blog contains the most current information about advocacy efforts, press coverage, and the legal status of the Zone9 bloggers in Ethiopia. It is dedicated to report on...
Western Ukraine Police Using Facebook to Increase Police Accountability
According to a report [uk] by RFE/RL (Radio Free Europe), heads of district police departments in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv have been ordered to set up Facebook profiles. As of June 25, 2014, all of them can be found and contacted through the social network, which the Head...
China's Pixar? A Sneak Peek From New Animation Studio Light Chaser
Below is an edited version of the post “A sneak peek from China’s new animation-house upstart” by Jason Li, originally published on the blog 88 Bar. Light Chaser Animation is a startup animation studio based in Beijing. “Little Yeyos,” a short film about seven spirits living in the mythological Chinese spirit world, is...
Interview with Wife of Laos NGO Leader Sombath Somphone Who Went Missing in 2012
Writing for the Southeast Asia Globe, Kearrin Sims interviewed Shui Meng, wife of the disappeared Laotian development worker Sombath Somphone. Sombath, a prominent NGO leader in Laos, went missing in 2012. Various global groups suspect that local state forces have something to do with his mysterious disappearance. In the interview,...
This Philippine Wedding Video of a Dying Cancer Patient Will Move You to Tears
The groom died 10 hours after marrying his girlfriend. Diagnosed with stage IV liver cancer last month, his dying wish was to marry the mother of his two-year old daughter. The wedding took place in a public hospital in Manila, Philippines. The video instantly became popular in the Internet.
Farmers in China's Guangdong Province Are Buzzing About ‘Delicious’ Locusts
Charles Liu from Nanfang.com highlighted a new type of agriculture among farmers in Guangdong province: raising locusts to serve as a meal. Here is his suggested recipe: 1. Remove their wings; boil them in water to remove their excrement, and then deep fry them. 2. Add hot peppers, scallions and...
Confessions of an Ex-Football Fan in Chile
On the blog section of Chilean newspaper El Mercurio, Gustavo Santander writes that he doesn't like football, even though he ends up watching the matches with his friends and sharing stories so much that someone told him once: “you know a lot for someone who doesn't like football.” He explains there...
Tajikistan's GBAO Region – an Incredible Place
In the last few weeks Global Voices has published and republished several articles about the unlawful arrest of our community member Alexander Sodiqov. Those pieces are here, here, here and here. But the Pamir region (known administratively as Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region, or GBAO) where Alex was conducting academic research is not...
Trinidad & Tobago: Secrets of the CL Financial Bailout?
The public is being told that the CL Financial bailout is being resolved, while at the same time the Minister of Finance & the Economy is withholding the fundamental information which any prudent person would need to make a decision. Afra Raymond wonders what is being hidden.
