Stories from 15 February 2009
Estonia: National author as gay icon
Itching for Eestimaa reflects over the Estonian 19th century author Kristjan Jaak Peterson and his potential as a gay icon.
India: Religions and Fundamentalists
M.J. Akbar makes a point that all religions are not same, but fundamentalists are.
Ukraine: History of Anarchism
Der Spiegelfechter writes about [GER] anarchism in Ukraine during the Russian 1917-21 civil war.
Armenia: St. Sargis Day
Although the world celebrated St. Valentine's Day yesterday, many Armenians instead prefer to celebrate St. Sargis Day. Writing on her DOTCOM blog, 14-year-old Diana details the tradition observed by young people who eat salty bread before going to sleep in the hope that their true love will be identified in...
Venezuela: Live Coverage of Referendum
No Suma Cero [es] has coverage of the February 15th Venezuelan Referendum using the Cover It Live tool.
Armenia: New and old traditions mix on St. Valentine's Day
Founded in 301 AD, Armenia’s longest surviving institution, the Apostolic Church, is considered the world’s oldest national Christian order. But, over 1,700 years years later, pagan traditions remain alive in the country even if now absorbed into the Christian calendar. While much of the world marked St. Valentine's day, Armenians also celebrated one such tradition -- Trndez.
Zimbabwe: Take Action For Roy Bennet
Sokwanele's call for action to support Roy Bennet: Please call (or sms the cell) these numbers to let the police holding Roy Bennett know that the world is watching very closely and want Roy Bennett to be released immediately. Tell them you will continue to monitor the situation closely, and...
Ethiopia: “St. Mary” thrown out of monastery
An Ethiopia woman who claims to be St. Mary has been thrown out of a monastery in Ethiopia where she started her own sect.
Ethiopia: Baalu Girma Foundation Formed
Arefe announces the formation of the Baalu Girma Foundation. Baalu is the famous Ethiopian writer and journalist who was abducted 25 years ago by the Ethiopian military. He has not been heard since that time.
Nigeria: NaijaPulse: Nigerian Microblogging Service
Loy's analysis of NaijaPulse, a new Nigerian microblogging service: “Unlike Twitter, the site allows you to create groups, features users and has a link for popular posts. If you favour a post, it will be featured as a POPULAR on the right sidebar. You can also tag a word by...
East Timor: Suai Media Space Challenges the Digital Divide
In this second post of a series to celebrate the 9th anniversary of the arrival of the Internet in East Timor, Sara Moreira interviews Australian documentary-maker Jen Hughes - founder of Suai Media Space, whose main objective is to make the voices of Suai youth heard all over the world - and discusses the fight to minimize the digital divide even without broadband connection in Suai.
Armenia: Social Problems
Writing on her new Dotcom blog, 15-year-old Arpen discusses some of the social problems affecting Armenia today. In particular, the young blogger singles out unemployment, violence and pollution.
Lebanon: A Civil Marriage Valentine
Renewed calls for Lebanon to allow civil marriages were made in a Valentine ceremony at a Beirut bar over the weekend. Several inter-religious couples staged mock weddings at a bar in Beirut's trendy Gemmayze district to protest the country's stiff marriage laws. Antoun Issa has more in this post.
Guatemala: The Shuco Hot Dog
The Guatemalan Shuco Hot Dog, which contains avocado sauce, boiled cabbage, mayonnaise, tomato sauce, mustard, hot sauce, and other meats, is starting to become world-famous writes Rudy Girón of La Antigua Guatemala Daily Photo noting that it now has its own Wikipedia entry
