December 2: International Day of Giving
Initiated in 2012 in New York, Giving Tuesday is the Tuesday after Thanksgiving – and after the consumerism of “Black Friday”. The day is touted as a “global generosity movement”.
Spain: Despite protests, the “Toro Júblibo” took place.
The Spanish animal rights party PACMA had filed a complaint against the “Fire Bull” event. In vain. The barbaric ritual took place last night in Medinaceli, Spain – two hours of the bull’s agony. More here.
Spain still practices cruel archaic bull rituals.
November 15, 2025: On this Saturday evening, a bull is to be “set ablaze” once again in the Spanish town of Medinaceli. The “Toro Embolado” is considered a cultural tradition in many regions, critics view it as animal cruelty. More here.
The tragic story of the first dog in space
On November 3, 1957, a small stray dog from the streets of Moscow made history. Laika, a mixed-breed dog, was the first living creature to be sent into orbit around the Earth by humans. More here.
Canada: whale watching under fire
Two whales died in British Columbia after collisions with high-speed ferries and a whale watching boat. Animal rights activists are making serious accusations against the operators. More here.
By high-speed ferry from Canada to the USA
The distance between Victoria, the capital of British Columbia in the south of Vancouver Island, and Seattle in the northwestern USA is just under 75 miles as the crow flies. In between lies Puget Sound, a bay of the Pacific Ocean. More here.
On the death of the German-South African journalist, writer and human rights activist
Born in 1924 to Orthodox Jewish parents in Fürth near Nuremberg, Ruth Weiss had to flee from the Nazis to South Africa as a young girl. There she experienced the apartheid regime. This made her a lifelong fighter for human rights. More here.
Guest post: In Ghana, people are “Buried in style.”
Celebrate death as we celebrate life: This is the credo of the Ghanaian ethnic group Ga-Adangme. This has given rise to a unique coffin culture. Volker Seitz on a colorful photo book. More here.
August 23: International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition
Arab slave traders shipped hundreds of thousands of slaves across the Red Sea. A dark and largely unknown chapter in the history of the Horn of Africa. Guest post by Volker Seitz. More here.
Even when traveling, little things often count more than big ones.
This week, I went for a walk with Ramses. Not the Egyptian king Ramses II, also known as Ramses the Great. No, my companion was a beautiful mixed-breed male dog. For Sunday: a little story with a dog. More here.
