18 May 2012

Stories from 18 May 2012

Trinidad & Tobago: Laws for LGBT Too

Globewriter applauds the contribution of Senator Corinne Baptiste-McKnight “in response to a Clause in the Children Bill that criminalized same sex intimacy among youth”, saying: “Give that woman an award!”

18 May 2012

Barbados: Literary “Giants”

For BC Pires, the highlight of the launch of the inaugural Bim Literary Festival wasn't the speeches or cultural presentations but the greeting of two “literary giants.” 

18 May 2012

Russia: The RuNet's Enduring Tomatoes & Tusovki

RuNet Echo

To a casual observer, the RuNet and the Russian protest movement seem current and contemporary. It is easy to forget, however, that the core of the RuNet and the protests it's inspired has now existed for almost a decade. Burning questions asked seven years ago about the true nature of major figures are still prominent today, such as questions about a certain Andrei Morozov.

18 May 2012

Ethiopia: G8 Summit Casts Fresh Light on Ethiopia

Netizens have stepped up their effort to draw attention to Ethiopia’s independent media situation as the G8 Summit approaches. Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and three other African heads of state are expected to attend. The upcoming G8 Summit in the United States will be held at Camp David in Maryland from 18-19 May, 2012.

18 May 2012

Jordan: Jordanians Say “Thank You!” to Monarchy

Jordanian Twitter users have been using the hashtag #شكرا, or “thank you”, to tweet sarcastically about what the Jordanian monarchy has done for the country. The tweets are a reaction to the slowness of the ongoing reform process in Jordan.

18 May 2012

Cuba: Questioning Digital Expression within the Revolution

The recent Encuentro de Blogueros Cubanos en Revolución [Meeting of Cuban Bloggers in Revolution] brought together a group of “official” bloggers—chiefly journalists and communications professionals who are employed by the state and maintain their blogs as part of their work. Since the meeting, bitter controversy has unfolded around this new iteration of a decades-old question: does the expression of criticism automatically put one “outside” the revolution, especially when the criticism is happening online?

18 May 2012

Armenia: State Sponsored Fascism

Following support from government officials and representatives of the nationalist Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashanktsutyun (ARF-D) for two Neo-Nazis accused of firebombing a gay-friendly bar in Yerevan, Unzipped: Gay Armenia asks if...

18 May 2012

Cape Verde: Encouraging Storytelling and Creative Writing

Set over the course of seven weeks, a creative writing competition promoted by the young Cape Verdean journalist Odair Varela on his blog, has led a dozen word lovers to get behind their keyboards and let their imaginations flow. The winners have already been announced and this article provides an overview of the stories told.

18 May 2012

Palestine: PalFest Literature Festival in Gaza for First Time

This year for the first time the Palestinian Festival of Literature was held in Gaza. A group of about forty Egyptian, Tunisian, Sudanese and Palestinian authors, artists and activists were granted permission to visit Gaza and participate in PalFest 2012 from May 5 to 10.

18 May 2012