Stories from Quick Reads
In Azerbaijan, violence against LGBTQ+ people continues unabated
According to ILGA Europe, an international non-governmental organization advocating for LGBTQ+ rights and freedoms, Azerbaijan occupies the last place among 49 countries on the organization's Rainbow Index consecutively for three years in a row.
‘Telman was here': the story of an Azerbaijani man searching for a better life
At 50, Telman spends his days walking the streets of Baku going through every trash box he finds, collecting recyclable items, food, and dreaming of a better life.
Mongolian film ‘If Only I Could Hibernate’ reaches historic milestone at the Cannes Film Festival
The film’s success is poised to kickstart a new era in Mongolia's filmmaking industry. And the government is ready to contribute.
Hungarian beekeepers find a haven for bees in Kyrgyzstan
Describing the Toktogul region, Ferenc Takács from Fulmer says: “This is a heaven for bees because it is a heaven for flowers.”
The stories of Koreans in Kyrgyzstan who converted to Islam
Their conversion is partly the result of the re-Islamization of Kyrgyzstan, which started in 1991, after Kyrgyzstan gained independence.
For Moldovan singer, Eurovision results are a bit of a ‘déjà vu’
Both the winner, Swedish singer Loreen, and Moldova's Pasha Parfeni participated in Eurovision 2012. In 2012, Loreen won the contest, too.
‘You gave me wings': Moldovan Eurovision finalist thanks his fans
Along with the Moldovan singer, musicians from nine other countries qualified from the fist semi-final for the Grand Final: Croatia, Switzerland, Finland, Czechia, Israel, Portugal, Sweden, Serbia and Norway.
Armenia and Azerbaijan take one step forward, three steps back in mending relations
Since active fighting ceased between Armenia and Azerbaijan in November 2020, following the 44-day war, there have been numerous attempts to normalize ties and relations between the two neighbors.
Constitutional referendum in ‘New Uzbekistan’ follows the old script
The independent expert community unanimously agrees that the main goal of holding the referendum was to nullify Mirzioyev’s previous two presidential terms and open the door for his reelection.
Moldova's Eurovision participant makes humorous plug for support on official Instagram
Pasha Parfeni, a Moldovan singer who was chosen during the national round to participate in this year's Eurovision, posted a picture of his car which he wants to sell
Musicians receive draconian prison sentences for setting fire to military draft office in Russia
While some other musicians from the "older generation" of Urals rock club are either supporting or keeping silent about the war, the younger musicians from the Urals are protesting
‘History of love in the country of hatred': influencers detained in Russia for LGBTQ+ ‘propaganda’
Apart from widespread censorship, the Russian "anti- LGBT propaganda" law leads to unprecedented pressure on LGBTQ+ people and the organizations helping them.
Moldova refused to use language constructed by Soviet cultural policy
The Moldovan language was constructed during the early Soviet cultural policy. Now, the parliament changed its name to Romanian because they are practically identical languages.
Transgender girl from Russia commits suicide in a refugee camp
This terrible case exposes the problem of access to psychological and medical care in refugee camps. Representatives of the LGBTQ+ community are at high risk when it comes to suicide.
The new normal after Turkey's earthquake: A TV host and comedian gives his take
The show, relies on daily issues and so it was not at all surprising the new episode that aired on Saturday was all about earthquake.
Is OpenAI biased? We checked so you won't have to
Global Voices explored how an AI image generator rendered pictures from different languages. We typed in the same phrase in nine languages and got wildly different results.
Women in Turkey march to mark International Women's Day, despite state pressure
Meanwhile, opposition parties promised this was the last women's march under heavy police presence and bans.
Former imam recites children's folk song in Kahramanmaras, Turkey
In an attempt to soothe the children but also the adults affected by the earthquake, Ömer Faruk Amca, decided to recite an old Turkish folk song from a mosque.
In Turkey telecommunications watchdog blocks access to popular website Ekşi Sözlük
On February 7, another popular social media platform, Twitter was briefly blocked by the authorities on similar grounds.
After Turkey's earthquake, a fireman adopts the cat he rescued from the rubble
The fire brigade from Mardin saved five people from under the rubble in Gaziantep. On the way back to Mardin, the team had a plus one, a cat named Wreck.
Those who are in these coffins will no longer hear Putin's chatter about ‘everything is going according to plan’
Global Voices gathered some of the social media commentary in Russian with reactions to Putin's speech.