Stories from 26 June 2011
Armenia: LGBT Persons Still Facing Discrimination
LGBT persons are still facing discrimination in Armenia and much of the rest of the South Caucasus, a new groundbreaking two-year study by the Council of Europe (CoE) has found.
Tanzania: BarCampa Dar 2011 is here
BarCamp Dar 2011 is here: “We have watched vibrant tech events take place elsewhere in East Africa and wondered when it would happen in Tanzania. The wait is over and we’ve finally got our act together.”
China: Lawyers for Murder Suspects Detained Under Controversial Law
After four defense attorneys were recently detained for challenging confessions to a murder in Guangxi province which their clients are presumed to have given following the use of police force, a legal dream team has assembled and flown in from across the country to defend their colleagues.
Tanzania: Tanzania 2011 Scorecard
Dar Es Salaam signwriters at Kigamboni Market have put together the concise overview of Tanzania in 2011. See their work here.
Tanzania: Dar Sketches Is Now Available
A new book by Sarah Markes, Dar Sketches: street level dar – drawings and writings, is now available in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. It will soon be available in other bookshops.
Africa: The Caine Prize and Unintended Consequences: A Response
Emmanuel Iduma responds to Nigerian writer and critic, Ikhide Ikheloa’s essay “Email from America: The Caine Prize and Unintended Consequences”: “The essay which one website described as ” Wainainaesque” after Binyavanga Wainaina’s satirical “How to Write About Africa” and together with Chimamanda Adichie’s “The danger of a single story”, is...
Africa: 11 Ways For African Revolutionaries to Get Around Internet Blockades
Willemien Groot's Guide for African Revolutionaries: 11 Ways to get around internet blockades: “Internet blockades are more the rule than the exception in non-democratic countries. But there are ways to get round them, even though no censorship circumvention tool is 100 percent safe. Rule number 1: you’re clever, but the...
Botswana: Photo: So Where Do You Want to Stay?
MyWeku's image of the week is a picture taken on the road from South Africa to Gaborone, Botswana via Oddly Specific. It is titled, “So…where do you want to stay?”
Africa: Thoughts of Africa 2.0
Tolu's thoughts on Africa 2.0: “The point is this: in the emerging Africa it is harder for the government to carry on as though the people didn’t exist, or as though they existed to be deceived, because the citizens are losing the fear that once held them down. And then...
Japan: Ryo Chijiiwa on Volunteering
Ryo Chijiiwa gave a 1 hour presentation at Google Tech Talk (video link) about his two month experience volunteering in the disaster zone with All Hands Volunteers.
Japan: Night Running as a Sub-Culture
Running is not something people usually associate with night-life or sub-cultures, but the members of the group Midnight Runners Tokyo (MRT) do. They have been hitting the streets of Tokyo at the dead of night on weekends, and see night running as culture in the making, rather than a sport.
Peru: Residents of Puno Resume Protests
Once again the inhabitants of the Puno region have taken to the streets in protests, this time against the contamination caused by the mining of minerals. Six people died as a result of the protests on the day when Peru celebrates the Day of the Peasant.
Kuwait: Flip Your Avatar, Show Support to the Bidun!
Kuwait has around 100,000 stateless people or Bidun - meaning without nationality. They have no papers, ID cards, access to government education and health care, birth or death certificates. With Arabs rising this year, the Bidun of Kuwait are making their voices heard, both on the ground and via social media, asking people to "flip their avatars" in support.
Syria: The Revolution and the Economy
For 100 days Syria's economy has been frozen. Commerce has halted to a standstill and the coming tourist season does not look good. In addition to that, thousands of frightened Syrians have been changing their savings from Syrian pounds to US dollars or Euros, putting an enormous pressure on the Syrian pound.
China: Update on the Independent Candidate Campaigns
The spokesperson for the Commission on Legislative Affairs of the National People’s Congress stated [zh] on June 8 2011 that no legal basis exists for independent candidacy in grassroots people's congress elections. To be a candidate in grassroots representative elections, he said, one has to first be endorsed by a...
