Victory for human rights group

Manila, Philippines – Philippines has passed a landmark law that criminalises “enforced disappearances’’, a presidential spokesman said on Saturday, in a move hailed by human rights groups. Under the new law, enforced disappearances – or abductions carried out by government forces – will not be treated as cases of ordinary kidnapping and could invite up to life imprisonment... 

Contrition, Attribution

MANILA, Philippines — In a country where anything can be faked (copied, imitated without permission), what is the penalty for plagiarism, a nonexistent crime?  Read More »

‘Mr. Gay Namibia’ comes out

WINDHOEK – When Wendelinus Hamutenya told his father that he was gay, the then 18-year-old was packed off to the psychiatric ward of the Windhoek Central Hospital. Seven years later, he is the country’s most visible gay man, after winning the inaugural “Mr. Gay Namibia” pageant that will make him the first black African to compete for the title of Mr. Gay World in...