Stories from 17 May 2012
Armenia: Homophobic Firebombing Controversy Continues as Officials, MPs Promote Hate Crime
Controversy continues to surround the firebombing of a gay-friendly bar in Yerevan, the Armenian capital, as officials and politicians praise the arsonists. Online, however, many are instead speaking out against those nationalists doing so.
Togo : Presidential Patrimony versus University Facilities
Commenting on the declaration of assets of the new French President Francois Hollande, Jeogo wrote [fr]: “What is certain is that the patrimony of Francois Hollande (..) is no match for the patrimony of...
Georgia: No Sex and the City
No Sex and the City — Georgian Liberal (an oxymoron) blog comments on the physical confrontation between priests accompanying religious parents and LGBT activists marching in Tbilisi, Georgia. The blog...
Georgia: LGBT Activists Attacked by Orthodox Religious Group
Marching to mark the 17 May International Day Against Homophobia, LGBT activists were blocked and assaulted by a group of Orthodox Christians in Tbilisi, the Georgian capital. Mirian Jugheli reports.
Lesotho: 2012 General Election Date Set
Lesotho will hold general elections on 26 May, against a backdrop of political violence. The Lesotho Political Parties Leadership Forum claims that there is a “hit squad” that has been assigned to kill prominent people ahead of the general elections.
Paraguay: A Look Inside Aché Indigenous Communities
For much of their history, the Aché indigenous people in Paraguay have been struggling to preserve their territory. Now, the Aché are using citizen media to preserve their language and their culture.
Mozambique: Police Chief Sitting Above the Law
The intransigence of Jorge Khalau, Commander in Chief of the Police of the Republic of Mozambique, who stated that police forces are governed by his rules and should not comply with any court order, shocked the public opinion in the beginning of May.
Bolivia: Web 2.0 Workshops for Aymara School Teachers
In early May 2012, a series of Web 2.0 workshops were held for Education professors from the Teacher Training Superior School (ESFM for its initials in Spanish). The event's objective was to help the professors and their students begin to create digital media content in the Aymara language. Victoria Tinta from Global Voices in Aymara shares a summary of the workshop and its results.
Guatemala: A ‘Guatemaltequismo’ A Day
Mario Cordero from Diario Paranoico [es] has opened a wikispace [es] where he posts one ‘guatemaltequismo’ (word that is used in Guatemala) per day. Mario also set up a Facebook...
Ghana: Will Parliament Pass Right to Information Before 2013?
Cecil Dadzie wonders whether the Ghanaian parliament will pass Right to Information Bill before 2013: “The Rights to Information Bill (RTI), which was laid before Parliament in February, 20I0, has...
Africa: The Golden Baobab Award
Submit your story for The Golden Baobab Award: “The Golden Boabab Award was established in 2008 to encouraged writers in Africa who specialize in books for children and young adults.”
Greece: New Interim Government
After the 6 May general elections in Greece and the failure of political parties to form even a coalition government, the interim government to be sworn on May 17 under...
Lesotho: Touching Tiny Lives
Touching Tiny Lives works to mitigate the effect of HIV/AIDS on the most vulnerable infants and children under age five by supporting their health, nutritional, developmental, and emotional needs in...
Namibia: 2012 Chess King of Namibia
Namibia has a news King of chess: “Candidate Master Charles Eichab won the National Chess Championship 2012. The 9 round National Chess Championship came to a close today, 4 May...
China, Singapore: Reaction on Ferrari Crash
Recently a rich Mainland Chinese man killed three persons (including himself) in a Ferrari car crash in Singapore because of drunk driving. The incident has resulted in anti mainland Chinese...
Proposals for Union of Arab Gulf States Prompt Concern
The governments of the Gulf are discussing transforming the current Gulf Cooperation Council into an EU-style union. The move comes in an atmosphere of tension caused by the Arab uprisings and Iran's growing influence. As a first step, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain might seek closer union.
Russia: NHL Stars Return to 2012 World Hockey Championship
Undefeated after seven games, and boasting an All-Star lineup, the Russian national team will face Norway in the quarterfinal round of the 2012 World Ice Hockey Championship. Many bloggers have framed the story as a homecoming for Alexander Ovechkin and Alexander Semin, with others reflecting on their complicated past in Russian international competition.
Ukraine: Yulia Tymoshenko's Plight and Euro 2012
There must be some corners on the web where football fans are still having apolitical discussions of Euro 2012, scheduled to take place in Poland and Ukraine from June 8 to July 1. For the past few weeks, however, the upcoming sporting event has featured prominently in arguments and discussions among those who seem more interested in the Ukrainian and European politics than sports.
