11 May 2012

Stories from 11 May 2012

Turkey: Outrage at Sentencing of Scarf Case Student

On May 11 Cihan Kirmizigul, an engineering student at Galatasaray University in Istanbul, was sentenced to 11 years and 3 months in jail, accused of firebombing a building - but many believe his only "crime" was wearing a Kurdish scarf in the vicinity of the attack.

11 May 2012

Argentina Approves Death with Dignity Law

After a long debate in the Argentine Senate, the Death with Dignity project was converted into law with wide-ranging support. On Twitter the hashtag #Muertedigna (death with dignity) became a local trending topic after news broke out about the new law. There have been many different opinions.

11 May 2012

Russia: Yavlinsky Stir Reveals Opposition Rift

RuNet Echo

True to Yabloko's troubled past and present, Yavlinksy's May 10 blog post criticizing protest escalations has upset many and pleased relatively few. Current developments in the opposition have widened the gap between populist dramatics and nuts-and-bolts politics.

11 May 2012

Kenya: Mark Kaigwa to Global Voices: “The East is Coming to Africa.”

At the 2012 edition of the Berlin re:publica conference, which took place from 2-4 May., Kenyan blogger and entrepreneur Mark Kaigwa was a featured speaker at a session entitled "Silicon Savanna, how African technologies are changing the world". Global Voices took this opportunity to catch up with Mark and discuss his positive outlook about Africa's future.

11 May 2012

Ethiopia: The World Economic Forum in Africa 2012

Over 700 leaders from more than 70 countries are attending the World Economic Forum in Africa taking place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopian from 9 - 11, 2012. The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world.

11 May 2012

Cuba: Remembering the Dissidents

This week, members of the Cuban diaspora have been blogging about two main things: the one-year anniversary of the death of dissident Juan Wilfredo Soto, and the re-arrest of human rights activist Jose Daniel Ferrer Garcia.

11 May 2012

Taiwan: Indigenous Tao People's 30 Year Nuclear ‘Nightmare’

After Japan's Fukushima nuclear accident last year, more and more Taiwanese have started to become aware of the problems caused by nuclear power plants. One of the most serious issues is nuclear waste on Orchid Island, where the Tao people have lived for generations.

11 May 2012