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Nepal: Beauties and the Beasts? · Global Voices
Ujjwal Acharya

Protests of beauty contests are nothing new. For the hardliner feminists, such contest gives a false sense of outer beauty while for those supporting it; it's an opportunity to showcase the talents. When Miss Nepal 2007 happened, there were protests outside the venue and police even used force to disperse the crowd.
And, the Maoists who just joined the government put some ghee on the fire as Information and Communication Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara saying to a delegation that he would look into the matters to see if the stopping of the live broadcast of the pageant by the state-owned Nepal Television is possible.
Hisila Yami, minister for physical planning, too spoke against it (of course, Food for Thoughts named her beauty queen after she attended the oath taking ceremony of the Maoist ministers in jeans).
Nepal Through My Lens witnessed the protest:
Everybody inside BICC Hall was cheering for the participating Miss Nepal contestants. But the condition outside the hall was not so good. A thousand woman protesters were demanding to stop the event. More than 18 protest were injured when they clashed with the police.
But Miss Nepal 2007 went on with Sitasma Chand winning the crown. And bloggers, who wrote about the protests and contest, were not too happy with the protest. Mero Guff believes:
I don't see why those protesting groups are blindly accusing the organizers for women exploitation and so. For me, the act of protesting is nonsense. There is no glance of profanity or nudity during the whole show event. In fact, occasionally it was enriched with cultural themes and music in background. I've personally watched that show and my judgment suggested me that there is nothing wrong with it.
Who are these Women Activists to protest that way? Are they jealous? Is it not their freedom to take part in? Has any contestant yet come and cry in front of these women activists for the case of abuse by their organizers? When I heard one of the women activists yesterday in one local FM stations being interviewed, I pitied on her miserable blaming which was just pointless.
The winner herself commented beautifully on the issue of protest. She told the media: “I respect the opinion of all the women who are protesting against the pageant. However, all the participants here are above 18. So the protesters should also respect our right to form our own opinion.”
Meanwhile, Deepak's Diary makes a point that to be a hero, one doesn't have to be physically beatuiful. In the post about a successful differently-able government officer, he says:
But, to me he appeared to be a kind of inspiring figure, an unsung hero who refused to bow to the preconceived notion of society that believes disability is a sin, a crime.

author: Ujjwal Acharya


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Nepal: On corruption and business · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

United We Blog! on the ways of looting a country. “While taking about the corruption of politicians only, the businessmen’s misdeeds were under shadow. In fact, they were the ones who promoted corruption in political circle. The government rarely took action against corrupt businessmen.”

source: news-globalvoices

license: Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Nicaragua: Justice Crosses Borders With Social Media · Global Voices
GV Contributor

As you'll notice on the colored maps to your right as you explore around Global Voices, some countries and regions are better represented on the site than others. Most often this is because some countries have more bloggers than others. In Santiago, Chile, for example, it's almost impossible to stay up to date on the daily swarm of cyber-commotion. But in Paraguay, there is only a handful of regular bloggers. Nicaragua's blogging community has wavered between smaller and small for some time. We are fortunate to now have Rodrigo Peñalba and Mario Delgado of Barricada.com.ni as contributors to the site. Their first post takes a look at how blogs and video sharing sites are shaping public opinion about a controversial court case in which American Eric Volz was convicted of the murder of his girlfriend in Nicaragua.
The recent media campaign launched by the Volz family puts in doubt all of the commentaries, news stories, and reports published in the Nicaraguan media.
Taking advantage of YouTube, MySpace, and various blogs, the Volz family has managed to get the attention of North Americans television programs, opinion pages, and senators and representatives who can act at the political level to pressure the Nicaraguan judiciary.
On the other hand, Nicaraguan netizens, still too dispersed to have a strong blogosphere, have expressed themselves on forums and the comment pages of national newspapers.
Both parties put forth their cases, some with personal manifestations of friendship, others with national patriotism, and many more with epithets of all kinds.
In its national news section, El Nuevo Diario has responded to the online challenge to their coverage of the Volz case by insisting that their reports [ES] and facts are true; but they are also trying to change the opinions of relatives and friends of Eric Volz.
This, beyond the verity of facts, or the innocence of the involved parties, is a battle of Nicaragua's traditional media (La Prensa, El Nuevo Diario, and TV news programs), against the social media pressure of the blogosphere, a new medium of journalism and collective information based on social relations made over the internet.

author: GV Contributor


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Pakistan: No Hugs please · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

To each its own on why women in Pakistan cannot get their hugs. “As per the fatwa, “hugging” was an illegitimate and forbidden act and Muslim women are expected to stay at home and never venture out uncovered. The fatwa demanded that Bakhtiar be fired, given another unspecified punishment and that her family force her to ask for forgiveness so that she does not repeat this un-Islamic act.”


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Paraguay: Peculiar Politics · Global Voices
David Sasaki

“‘An island surrounded by land’ is how novelist Roa Bastos described his native Paraguay, as much in reference to its political and social insularity, as to its landlocked geography.” So begins Teo Ballvé in his post, “Paraguay’s Peculiar Politics.”

author: David Sasaki


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Peru: Interview with Photojournalist Jaime Razuri  · Global Voices
David Sasaki

You may recall the happy ending to the kidnapping saga of Peruvian Photojournalist Jaime Razuri while he was on assignment in Gaza. “Freed, unharmed, on Jan. 7 … the incident made him a minor international celebrity and a major one in his home country. But it also overshadows a more than 20-year career that has included covering some of the most turbulent conflicts in our times, writes C.J. Schexnayder who sat down with Razuri to ask him about his experience in Gaza and around the world as an intrepid photojournalist.


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Russia: Kaliningrad Sanatoria · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Copydude posts pictures of “all three of the former East Prussian sanatoria above Kaliningrad.”

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Saudi Arabia: Segregation of the Sexes · Global Voices
Deborah Ann Dilley

Saudi Jeans reacts to the recent public comment from Interior Minister Prince Naif in which it was announced “Segregation of men and women is not correct”.

author: Deborah Ann Dilley


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Sri Lanka: A code of conduct · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

ICT for Peacebuilding on the issue of a Bloggers Code of Conduct. “A code of conduct may give a foundation to not publish or isolate their comments, but it doesn’t prevent them from posting vitriolic comments on their own blogs or leaving comments in blogs that don’t follow the same guidelines. The very nature of the web is that if someone wants to say something, they will find a way to say it.”


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Taiwan: Bloggers Festival · Global Voices
Pipper Lee

Taiwan Bloggers BoF, the biggest blogger festival in Taiwan is about to take place on April 14, 2007.
BoF was first held in 2005, and named for “Birds of a feather”. In 2006, hundreds of bloggers participated in the 2nd BoF, in which a talk was given by Rebecca MacKinnon, co-founder of GVO, to share her experience in the media, why she left CNN and joined the family of Global Voice Online.
In the upcoming 3rd meeting, Leonard, the acting coordinator of Global Voices Chinese Team, will give a briefing at the session: Citizen Journalism(zh). He will introduce what GV Chinese is and how bloggers in Taiwan can take part in this project. Other organizations such as Peepo (a platform organized by Taiwan Public Television Service) and Wikinews will introduce their status, too. Several international bloggers in Taiwan will also be invited to provide their points of view at this session.

author: Pipper Lee


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Trinidad & Tobago: Bird Photos · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Posting from Trinidad, Caribbean Free Photo has a gorgeous Flickr photoset of birds.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Tunisia: Reactions to Seven Pillars Article · Global Voices
Deborah Ann Dilley

Tunisian Subzero Blue reacts to the recent article the Seven Pillars of Middle East Reality: “Arab leaders have no interest in genuine peace with Israel
This can't be more wrong; the Arab leaders wouldn't want anything more than to have the whole Israel-Palestine problem solved, a peace established, the ability to move on and leave the whole thing behind them. In fact, a number of the Arab regimes, if not most of them, already have secret ties with Israel, and are just waiting for the chance to make them public and announce normalization.”


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Turkey: A Disconnect in Turkish Class · Global Voices
Deborah Ann Dilley

Carpetblogger recounts some of her learning adventures in her Turkish class: “I have been spending four hours a day, five days a week in a small room with two Korean women, a Argentinian woman, a Turkish/Swiss woman (who speaks German but no Turkish) and two women from “Dogu Turkestan.””


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Turkey is Typing…Keeping up with the Komşuluk · Global Voices
Deborah Ann Dilley

Komşuluk means “the neighborhood” in Turkish, and today we are going to stroll through it's streets.  First off on our visits today is Amerikan Turk, who in response to hearing the news that Turkey was going to block websites that offend Turkishness…he tongue-in-cheekly answers:
I can help!
Time to really populate my list of “Insulters of Turkishness”. Such a list is now officially required.
Next on our list is Erkan's Field Diary, who once again is delaying his military service.  He also comments on the role of the President in lieu of the upcoming Turkish presidential elections:
What I was taught in high school was that the Presidency was mostly “symbolic”.  the President had some power to enact but the real executive power resided in  Prime Ministry. Despite this supposed division of labour every presidential election in recent times had its own phase of political crisis. It seems that this last one to come produces a wider range crisis. Among a thousand things to say, I would like to state that Mr. Sezer, our current president, is mostly responsible for that the chair of President has become a site of more executive power and has become more partisanal instead of being a position that is beyond daily politics.
Idil from Ignore Me If You Can brings us a list of items directed to a “special someone”: I don't care if….
….You think your problems are more important than mine. No, they’re not. From my perspective; they’re completely irrelevant.
4) You now have a life that doesn’t involve me; watch me have one that doesn’t involve you.
5) You can’t take two minutes out of your busy schedule to give me the time of the day. If you won’t, someone else will.
6) You think the world revolves around your drama; it doesn’t. It never did, it never will.
7) You make out with every cow in the country, I don’t care anymore….
Me and Others comments on the nature of crowds…and his dislike for them:
it seems like there is nothing left in Istanbul you can do without getting involved to a crowd, a very large crowd. Try to change location, try to do business with a bank, try to eat something, or go shopping or even try just to walk. All you hit is people and people and more people.
Spooky Sense by Garfucius manages to turn a post complaining about the lack of good television into a comment on the current Turkish administration:
but zapping is a good method of sampling what is on show. skip the gibberish and football crap instantly, linger a moment to hear a question asked or a comment, stop there a while if the going is good and you do patchwork a sociological picture of the goings on. however, as far as the turkish stations are concerned, the presidential election, for the american and british channels, the war and the plight of muslims in the west have already lasted longer than the endless and ultimately unviewable young and restless. especially when it comes to tayyib bey's aspired ascent to çankaya; oh lords of fire and ire! have words ever been so completely exhausted out of meaningful ideas and insight! how can so many tongue-hours (*) be spent without a single spark of inspiration slipping through some lips at least?
In a follow-up post, the presidential commentary continues….
however, under the current settings, tayyib bey -though i hate that it is so- has every right in the book to climb to çankaya, the seat of the top state job since atatürk. if a man is good enough to be premier, he is good enough to become president, too. if you are afraid that his somewhat pedestrian religious, political etc. standing is detrimental to the well being of the state and or the nation, you should have the democratic mechanisms, principles, practices and habits in place even before he started climbing the first rungs of the ladder. not having that, you tried to do it on the edge of a bayonet and the jab you gave him made him spring to the top.
We are almost to end of the block on our trip today, Tarkan DeLuxe lists the latest gossip about Turkish popstar collaborations, and Turkey and My Foreign Perspectives gives us a list of our local Istanbul libraries.
As a little girl, I was fascinated by the library and librarians, but here in Turkey, you can't find them in every neighborhood and sometimes not even in an entire area where you live.
As an expat in Istanbul, have you had a hard time finding a library? In Istanbul, many of the universities and other specialty libraries allow you to visit for free or for a low annual fee, instead of having a local library. So today, I share some library resources for all of you working or visiting here in Istanbul.
As for me, I am off to find a good book.  Thanks for our walk today, see you next week.


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UAE: Back to the Beach · Global Voices
Deborah Ann Dilley

Life in Dubai gives us a picture tour of the Dubai beaches.


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Vietnam: Hanoi Life · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Juan Pablo Fernandez post pictures and describes the daily life in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam.

author: Preetam Rai


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Zimbabwe: deport children of government officials · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Zimpundit is conflicted about the campaign to encourage western nations to deport children of Zimbabwe's top officials: “An online newspaper, Zimdaily, has apparently launched a campaign to out the children top ZANU-PF politicians. The idea is to encourage western host governments to expel these children back to Zimbabwe because of their parents purported anti-western politics.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Algeria: Al Qaeda Strikes Again · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb has struck again, killing at least twenty-three people, and injuring well over one hundred in a two pronged assault on Algiers, reports Algerian blogger Nouri.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Algeria: On Obama · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Algerian blogger Nouri gives us his thoughts on US presidential candidate Barack Obama, who managed to raise $25 million despite running a ‘disorganised’ campaign.


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Armenia: On the Campaign Trail · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Onnik Krikorian files a dispatch from the campaign trail with Prosperous Armenia

author: Nathan Hamm


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Bahrain: Blocking Sites · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahrain unblocked and then blocked a number of sites, writes Bahraini blogger Mahmood Al Yousif.
“I am told that Batelco has started to block the sites again, but rather than blocking them at the proxy servers (which are in a sad state, it seems) they are blocking them directly at the router, which means it is going to be harder to bypass that block. I’ve checked some of the sites below and found that some indeed appear blocked. So, essentially, no lesson has been learnt unfortunately,” he writes.


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Bahrain: Iran Winning Propoganda War · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Iran is now winning the war against the propaganda machines of the US and Britain writes Bahraini blogger emoodz. He compares the treatment met to the captured British soldiers with those held at Guantanamo Bay.


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Bahrain: Parliament Work Pays Off · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini blogger Mahmood Al Yousif claims that Parliament pays very well. He posts a copy of a cheque for about $10 million, allegedly in the name of a Bahraini MP.


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Bangladesh: On the Bangladeshi Blogosphere · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

An article in publication, Slate on the Bangladeshi Blogosphere. “While by vocation Ahmede is a journalist, there is a growing band of bloggers who are bypassing the mainstream media in favour of their own to take up reporting of news or opinion analysis, via their blogs. These Citizen Journalists, springing up all around the world, are transforming the view of blogging from a simple tool of personal expression into a potent source of un-reported and under-reported news.”


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Belarus: Bloggers Help Political Prisoner · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

TOL's Belarus Blog reports on how bloggers helped to get a political activist out of jail.


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Blogging Business: West African Bloggers, Inc. · Global Voices
Benin Mwangi

This week, while perusing the Africa business bloggers section of my RSS reader, I noticed a peculiar thing, or maybe this is not so peculiar.  But I noticed that a large number of the business blogs that I have been reading lately are authored by writers of West African origins.  Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, and Cameroon are some of the West African nations have been brought into the spotlight by West Africa's business bloggers.  Without delay let us begin by visiting a few of these bloggers.
The first that we shall look at is Emmanuel Oluwatosin.  I first learnt about Emmanuel through the African Path.  In his recent post, he urges readers to pay careful attention to the tenets of Mr. John D. Rockerfeller.
Emmanuel Oluwatosin of Nigeria writes:
…According to Nelson Rockerfeller, the one time Vice President of the United States, his father John D. Rockerfeller, Jr, gave each of his five sons an allowance “We got 25 cents a week, and had to earn the rest of the money we got.” To earn part of that extra money he raised vegetables and rabbits…” We always worked.
All the boys were required to keep personal daily account books. They were required to give 10 percent of their income to charity, to save 10 percent, and to account for all the rest.” They had to balance their account books every month and to be able to tell what happened to every penny they earned.  The Rockerfeller kids were taught a specific pattern for dealing with their money. These are the Rockerfeller rules.
* Work for all you get
* Give away the first 10%.
* Pay yourself the next 10%.
* Live on the rest.
* Account for every penny…”
Africaincorp is a blog that I have been following for a few months now.  This blog is written by an Ivorian blogger, Frederic Tape.  He chronicles the story of an African entrepreneur who has recently launched an investment portal website:
…Africanselect was “Launched in 2006 with the goal to go beyond just creating an awareness of African Stock Markets but also offer a technologically advanced platform that allows African and international retail and corporate investors to take part in investment opportunities across the continent.”
This business could be added to the likes of LiquidAfrica,and Africanlion.com.
The one question that has been raised during our team meeting was the following: how can such company leverage the aggregating power of social networks such as Facebook, MyspaceAfrica, Afriville, Myafricasite, Edumela and Hi5 among others to reach out to the huge number of young African professionals and entice them to find interest in the Real estate, securities markets of Africa.
The reality is that many young individuals with disposal income, stay oblivious to the opportunities laying in the open in Africa. The incomes they generate in the western world is sufficient to make them potent players on these markets more so than in the American or European markets…
The Entrepreneur News Online is a group blog that is edited and published by a Cameroonian newspaper, The Entrepreneur.  Snowsel Ano-Ebie discusses the style that many African managers find productive as it pertains to getting results in the corporate world:
…How can management be defined? Management is the process of administering and coordinating resources effectively and efficiently in an effort to achieve the goals of an organization. And a manager is anybody who plans an organization’s resources such as time, money and people in a bid to achieve the organization’s objectives, drawing from the contributions of Henri Fayol and those of Henry Mintzberg to management thinking. Thus any African who heads an organization or a part of it, and performs the four management functions of planning, organizing, leading and controlling can be called an African manager.
PROFILE OF THE AFRICAN MANAGER
What then are the distinguishing characteristics of the African manager?  African managers for the most part represent the old view of managers. It should however be noted that the profile, which I am presenting of the typical African manager, could also be true of some managers in other parts of the world. But we can confidently draw a profile of African managers because we know them better than we know other managers. After all we live in the same community, we share the same public utilities and we can be contented with being only “ear-witnesses” of who they are, what they do, and what they stand for.  The African manager thinks of himself as manager or boss. Others must relate to him only in that capacity. If you go to an organisation where the manager’s office is situated in a storey building, chances are that his office will be somewhere upstairs, maybe on the last floor so that he can seat on top of every other person and is physically seen to be doing so. Thus the African manager is happy to be referred to, as “Up”, not to say “God”…
Next we move on to Ghana to meet the Nigerian-born Global Voices Author, David Ajao, teaches us how to make money online:
…It is indeed very true that you can earn a steady income from working over the Internet. It is also true that there is no single magic wand to making money online. Some of the “offline” rules apply online too. Hardwork, entrepreneurship spirit, perseverance, and of course, Knowledge. You need to know what you are doing. Excellence they say, is never by accident.
In gathering useful knowledge, you need to consult experienced folks, who are already making money on the Internet. One of such folks is Emmanuel Oluwatosin. He is not only making money online, but also teaching people how to make it. Little wonder his blog’s tagline is: “Inspiring Excellence, Realising Ambitions”. His blog is rich with useful tips and ideas that can inspire and direct you. One such useful post is the one titled: “Carnival of Entrepreneurs: 12th edition Hits the Road Big Time.” Comes highly recommended…
The final business blogger from West Africa that we are going to take a look at is Mr. Omodudu.  He is a fellow blogger after my own heart.  He is a trained economist and a mortgage lender.  Omodudu tackles the issue of foreign economists, “Onyibo economists,” attempting to dispatch policy advice to African countries that many of them have never even visited:
This article in WSJ caught my attention because the topic is close to my dissertation. Mr Wessel's ideas are cutting edge and definitely goes against the grain, he is essentially suggesting, though in a subtle way, that economists in developed countries do not get ‘it’. Which from my experience is absolutely true. A high school student from any developing economy can pick holes in the theories put forward by most of the best papers in developmental economics.
We are forced to live through these, day in day out, due to the imbalance of power. The stronger dude is right even when he is glaringly wrong. Academics of African descent ought to forge together in order to bring forth a formidable voice. A voice worth reckoning with. This guys do not know half of the things they claim to know. Developmental economics is unique as it can not be put in any neo-, post-, pre- box. It's case dependent.
Well, as you have seen the West African environment has spawned some wonderful business blogging talent.  And guess what?  This was only a few of them. Just start searching for business blogs about Africa and you will see for yourself.  I will not finish this post without mentioning of of the key figures in African business blogs Emeka Okafor.
Please let us know what you think and we hope to see you again here very soon.

author: Benin Mwangi


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Bulgaria: Names and Nicknames · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Petya notes on the Bulgarian way of simplifying life for the local bureaucrats: “There are more nicknames in Bulgarian than names.”


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China: Losing the lottery · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Via China Digital Times, Roland Soong at EastSouthWestNorth translates a report from Southern Weekend looking at the spread of the illegal “Mark 6″ lottery throughout Southern China.

author: John Kennedy


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China: Shanghai correspondents gather · Global Voices
John Kennedy

In an age of declining numbers of English-language foreign correspondents, the few remaining in Shanghai are making the most of the moment, the latest in a series of related posts from Shanghai-based Dutch China consultant and China Herald blogger Fons Tuinstra.


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China: The lives of retired athletes · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Professional Chinese athletes are known to undergo some of the toughest training regimens in the world, but does this prepare them for post-competition careers? Roland Soong at EastSouthWestNorth translates a recent post from marathoner-turned-blogger Ai Dongmei, “If my child wants to be an athlete, I'll break her legs first.”


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Cuba: Supporting Iran’s Nuclear Rights · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Uncommon Sense refers to an Islamic Republic News Agency story that quotes Cuba's Foreign Minister as saying that Cuba will defend Iran's nuclear rights.


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Egypt: Great Job! · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptian blogger Ibn Al Dunya pays tribute  to Global Voices Online for its coverage of Egyptian blogs.


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Egypt: Muslim Women Fashions · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Writing in The Arabist, Ursula Lindsey  discusses her views on an article on the way Muslim women dress up here.


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Georgia: Rules of the Supra · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Cuttino Alexander discusses the rules and customs that are part of the Georgian supra.


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Guyana: World Cup Hosting a Success?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

As Guyana's President lauds the efforts of his country in successfully hosting its leg of the Cricket World Cup Super Eight matches, Guyana Providence Stadium calls for “an audit of actual costs”.


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India: A view of Changlimithang · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

As a stadium gets ready for a 100 years of Monarchy celebration, Visit Bhutan has some photographs and description. “With the weather condition of Thimphu unpredictable and the frost still get into the tender leaves of the young sprouting grass, life does makes it hard for the worker to starts the work early morning. The morning sun rays hit the Thimphu Valley early morning in the hilly area facing west and south. The mountain and hilly area just get a bright flash before it descend towards the Thimphu Valley.”


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India: Why work? · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Indian Mommies links to mommy bloggers from India or of Indian origin. Some fabulous stuff. “I would like to be a working mom, yes! But I have never heard a more ridiculous reason to be one. “Oh What if my husband dies at 47? What will I do?” Please, give me a break! Have you never heard of Life Insurance? “


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Iraq: Baghdad Explosions · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Iraqi blogger Omar keeps us updated with news and explosions rocking Baghdad here. You really can't blame him when he writes: “Ok, let's go over what happened yesterday and today; last thing first. And please forgive me for the lack of chronological order, some information were received or corrected during the preparation of the post.”


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Jamaica: Film Industry · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

ART:Jamaica examines the question of what having a Jamaican film industry actually means: “The idea of ‘Film’…is cool, hip, seductive and perhaps for this reason connects with the image Jamaica presents to the world.”


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Japan: Old pols, crimes and porn · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Plenty of discussion on ComingAnarchy blogger Curzon's ‘Japan Roundup‘ post this week looking at three current stories: the fading popularity of Shintaro Ishihara, the recently-reelected governor of Tokyo, the hot-button issue of WWII comfort women, and navy officer's possible leak of information related to Japan's missile defense program.


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Japan: Salarymen · Global Voices
John Kennedy

In case you think a salaryman is the person in the accounting department on whose best side you want to be, the an englishman in osaka blogger brings us photos and metered prose that might clear things up.


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Kyrgyzstan: Reports form the Protest · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

The Kyrgyzstan blog at neweurasia carries numerous posts reporting on the protests in Bishkek against President Kurmanbek Bakiev, including one from Tolkun Umaraliev in which he writes his impressions of the first day of protests.


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Kyrgyzstan: The PM, Info War, & Graffiti · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Teo Kaye reports on the ongoing protests in Bishkek against the president, focusing on anger against the prime minister, the information war between the two sides, and the political graffiti showing up around the capital.


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North Korea: Research in war documents · Global Voices
John Kennedy

K. M. Lawson at Frog in a Well blogs on fascinating ongoing research into captured North Korean documents dating back to the regime's early years and the Korean War.


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Poland: Scientologists · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The beatroot writes about the arrival of Scientologists to Poland: “Bizarrely, the ‘leader’ of Scientology in Poland is Hanna Garbalska, a member of the Polish Peasant’s Party! Is she seeking to lure witless peasants into a life of misery and poverty?”


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Russia: Namesakes · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Stepping away from the drama and farce of Ukrainian politics, here is a story about namesakes (RUS), posted by Chechen journalist Timur Aliev (LJ user timur_aliev, editor-in-chief of The Chechen Society newspaper, and the Chechnya editor of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting):
Myself and Other Timurs Alievs
Five or six years ago, I search my name in [Yandex] for the first time and was surprised to learn that I, or, to be more precise, Timur Aliev “escaped from prison where he had been serving a life sentence for a terrorist act and pension funds embezzlement”!!!
Turned out that this “fame” belonged to my complete namesake from [Dagestan]. A couple years later, I met this person's former classmate, and he shared the details of this Timur Aliev's eventful life. I don't remember what happened to him next, but I do remember how I feared going through checkpoints for a while – after all, they could've mistaken us. Though our place and year of birth were different.
In addition to this, there are plenty of Timurs Alievs in the world. Two of them have already “suffered” because of me. And I've managed to meet them both in person.
One lives in [Makhachkala], and he turned out to be a journalist, too, working for the local paper Chernovik (“The Rough Draft”) and for the Caucasusian Knot site. After one of my comments to BBC on the situation in Dagestan, he got a call from the local cops, who told him something like, “What do you think you're doing, bastard?” They ignored his attempts to convince them that it wasn't him who was doing it: they called and threatened him a few more times again. He ended up changing his last name to Isaev – which is also kind of funny, because my wife's last name happens to be Isaeva. In any case, his current byline is Timur Isaev and it looks like everything's okay. Last year we did a seminar in Makhachkala and my namesake was there. I came up to meet him, but I can't say he was particularly happy about it.
The other Timur Aliev works as a driver at the UNHCR office in [Vladikavkaz] and [Nazran]. I met him just a few weeks ago […]. He came up to me himself. Turned out that he often gets phone calls from journalists from CNN, BBC and other media, asking him to comment on this or that situation in Chechnya and the Caucasus. He tells them right away: “I'm not the Timur Aliev you're looking for.” I said that from now on he should be providing comments on behalf of Timur Aliev. After all, there are times when I cannot be reached – and this way I could effortlessly increase my quotability :)
Once, my friend and colleague was a Timur Aliev – he told me that himself. He wrote some pretty tough article for a federal paper and signed it with a pseudoname. But it was a pseudonym for him – while for me it was my own name.
And once, I caught a mention of yet another Timur Aliev – a mafioso from [Tashkent] (as they wrote in the article). But I didn't understand who he was exactly and what he was known for – because the article was written in the Uzbek language.
Periodically, various Timurs Alievs can be found in Google and Yandex. Some of them make good fish kebabs, others studied in [Dushanbe] and are now being looked for by classmates, and one is a member of the weightlifting team at the Far East. One Timur Aliev is known for “the really high flies on the quarterbacks” – whatever that is. And another one has a street in [Baku] named after him – the embassy of Poland in Azerbaijan is located there.
But the second most frequently quoted Timur Aliev (after me) is the one working as Skoda representative in Russia. He is constantly commenting on something to the press, and every once in a while, new photos of him appear on the web, along with the photos of new Skoda cars.
Anyway, there are many of us, Timurs Alievs. But I don't think that knowing this will allow me to make any practical use of it. And I'm not even sure what's better – to have a unique name or the one that's typical and is used a lot?
Strange enough, but this apolitical post has stirred a bit of a political discussion, albeit humorous – about the upcoming presidential election in Russia and Vladimir Putin's potential (and still unnamed) successor:
erpert: You've raised the most relevant today's issue! Imagine if either [Ivanov] or [Medvedev] becomes Russia's next president? What would happen if some crazy Ivanov starts giving orders as the Supreme Commander?
[…]
And if all Russian Sergeis Ivanovs and Dmitrys Medvedev's start giving interviews to the media – the world would go nuts!
timur_aliev: This can't be allowed… Let's not allow Ivanov and Medvedev to run for president… :)) [Zhirinovksy] would've fit well in this context, by the way… :))


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Russia: Spring · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Turkish Invasion celebrates his one year in Russia and, with some unfortunate delay, the arrival of spring.


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Slovenia: Difficult Language · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Glory of Carniola explains “why you will never learn Slovene.”


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South Africa: colonization of Africa by Africa? · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

The silent takeover of Africa by South African businesses: “According to the State Of The Nation: South Africa 2003 – 2004 (7), available documents show South African businesses running the national railroad in Cameroon, the national electricity company in Tanzania, and managing the airports located in or near seven African capitals. They have controlling shares in Telecom Lesotho and Mandisi Majavuare the leading providers of cellphone services in Nigeria, Uganda, Swaziland, Tanzania, Rwanda and Cameroon.”


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South Asia: DST, Agent MR-9, SAARC Car Rally, Tshechu ritual, Caste Practices, Driving and Piracy · Global Voices
Rezwan

A wide range of topics up for discussion in the South Asian blogosphere. The possible chaos of adopting Daylight Saving Time, Bangladesh's answer to 007, a car rally to improve people to people contact, on caste, religion and ritual and much more.
Bangladesh:
Sada Kalo endorses the Government plan to introduce “daylight saving time” scheme to manage power crisis but is apprehensive about the inevitable chaos that will follow in the country. Ahemede Hussain of Black and Gray interviews Kaiser Haq, the notable English language poet of Bangladesh. Masud Rana or agent MR-9 has been the Bangladesh's answer to James Bond 007 for the last forty years. Mahmud portrays the thriller series written by Qazi Anwar Husain and published by his Sheba Prokashoni.
Bhutan:
Ugyen wirtes about the recent 3rd leg of the SAARC car rally which went through Thimphu, the Capital City of Bhutan. One of the objectives of this rally was to enhance people-to-people contact within the South Asian region.  Bhutan Film Blog posts an YouTube version of the award winning Bhutanese documentary “Price of Knowledge”.
Ugeent of Kuzu Bhutan Weblog describes the Tshechu ritual. It is normally performed during the tenth day of the Bhutanese calendar. Before the sunrise of the last day of Tshechu the great Thongdrol, an intricately embroidered silk scroll is displayed (photo courtesy Kuzu Bhutan Weblog).
India:
Dina Mehta asserts that now internet is a way of life for youth. Rama of Cuckoo's Call reviews “India untouched”, a film on the tradition of 4000 years old religious system of caste practices and untouchables in India. Debashish interviews the Greatbong, winner of two categories in the Indibloggies 2006 including Indian blog of the year.
Nepal:
Dinesh Wagle writes in United We Blog that the Nepal Telecom, the government entity fails to tap on the mobile phone craze in Nepal providing contemporary mobile technology and access to Phones. Bhupall of Nonviolence for Peace and Democracy criticizes the Nepalese leaders’ habit of self praise. AtoZ-Nepal lists the ethnic communities of Nepal.
Pakistan:
Shirazi at Chowrangi critiques the driving manners in Lahore. Adil Nizam of All Things Pakistan is taking a different look at the EU ban on fish from Pakistan and comments that it is an opportunity to re-examine the fisheries and seafood export policies and slow down the industry – thus allowing the local marine wildlife to flourish. Jahane Rumi travels to Dhaka and finds that Pakistanis are not unwelcome in Bangladesh (formerly a part of Pakistan)  although they had a bitter past and experienced a bloody seclusion.
Sri Lanka:
ÃYUBÕWAN lists ten best places to visit in Sri Lanka. Niro of A week in Sri Lanka dicusses the rampant Audio & Video Piracy in Sri Lanka. Mixing sports with politics: Lanka Pages denounces the attempt by Amnesty International to bring down the morale of the Sri Lankan Cricket Team.

author: Rezwan


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Sri Lanka: Facade of nationalism · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

One One Things on nationalism and economics. “The idea is that foreign investment is all good but the profits leave the country, so we must stop that. People forget that profits make up just one part of economic activity. Employment generation, knowledge transfer, and services provided are several fold more important to the country than the profits that are repatriated.”


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Syria: In Commentary and Pictures · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Blogger Dahr Jamail updates us with a voice commentary and photographs from Syria here.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Caribbean Fruit · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Posting from Trinidad, Thebookmann begins a new photographic series – this time, of succulent Caribbean fruit.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Lara Apologizes  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The West Indies cricket team's loss to South Africa yesterday will likely leave them out of the World Cup finals – ttgapers.com reports on Captain Brian Lara's apology to the people of the Caribbean and highlights analysis by T&T Cricket Board President Deryck Murray and commentator Tony Cozier, among others.


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Ukraine: Notes on Politics · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Leopolis writes about political opportunism of members of Ukraine's ruling coalition and the strange-sounding rhetoric of some Western expats.


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Uzbekistan: Aral and Health · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Bonnie Boyd continues with her series of posts on the Aral Sea, this time focusing on the healt impacts of the sea's disappearance, most of which are heavily concentrated in the Karakalpakistan region of Uzbekistan.


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Africa: confusing trolling and debating · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

A Nigeria blogger, eshuneutics, joins the debate about blogger's code of conduct: “The civil values that we prize today were not built upon polite speech. The pamphleteers of the seventeenth century—the bloggers of their day—were renowned for transgressions and fierce intellectual argument. What I most worry about in this move for a Code of Conduct (and the right to have a Sheriff Star Badge on a blog site…a Sheriff Badge?) is that trolling and debate are becoming confused. A Code of Conduct is not going to restrict trolling.”


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Arabeyes: Esra’a Al Shafei – Your One-Stop-Cyber-Activist · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

At the age of 20, Bahraini university student Esra'a Al Shafei sure has a lot of chores to juggle. And it isn't classwork that is taking her time and sapping her energy.
As a cyber-activist, Al Shafei's interests range from campaigning to free jailed bloggers to highlighting atrocities being committed against women and migrant workers in the Middle East. She is also active in promoting and fostering inter-faith relations in a bid to create a better tomorrow for our future generations. Despite fears of repercussions, her sight is fixed on achieving her goals and furthering her agenda, working relentlessly day and night behind a screen and tapping away at that keyboard to achieve her goals and make the world a better place.
What makes her tick? Why is she so involved in such causes and what does she hope to get out of it? To answer those questions and gain an insight into the mind and heart of an extremely brave woman, read on.
1. When did you start blogging and what got you interested in cyber activism?
I started blogging in May of 2006. I was interested because the power of blogging in our societies was very noticeable. However, I knew I had to do something with this phenomenon. What was happening wasn't enough. There were advantages, which included how much blogging connected people from all over the world, but the disadvantages include the fact that blogs mostly attract like-minded individuals which actually keeps dividing people rather than bringing them together. So I started a group blog instead, and I invited Kurds, Arabs, Iranians, and Israelis to start working for it – not just through blogging but through networking and campaigning together. We have almost nothing in common, I even see differences between me and fellow Arabs, but that's why I'm reminded of the fact that what I'm doing is important. Despite our huge differences we stick together and consider each other friends and that's my idea of a successful society – tolerance, constructive dialogue and understanding.
2. How many websites do you manage? What are they? What do you hope to achieve through them? What other plans do you have in store for the future?
Lalith, my partner in these projects, helps me manage various websites, and we help many others with their websites. I operate all of the following websites:
www.mideastyouth.com
www.mefaith.com
www.inter-iman.com (Arabic version of ME Faith)
www.darfur-awareness.org
www.migrant-rights.org
www.sexual-terrorism.org
www.freekareem.org
And I help others get their own domains, hosting, and designs. We target those who need our help, and are unable to really get it. We have helped people in Egypt, Afghanistan, Syria, and we never turned down an offer. When people want help, we do it, and we do it quickly and efficiently.
3. Is this a one-woman show or are there others supporting you? Is it easy to recruit and maintain volunteers? Is there any financial support coming your way?
This is a two-person show, I'm in charge of content management and the ideas, and my friend Lalith, who runs lazybeelab, is in charge of design and technical support. He co-owns MidEast Youth and our many networks. I wouldn't have come this far without his much needed help, this is why I put him in charge of executive decisions regarding the site as well. However there are many others who give us support and encouragement, and without our writers at MidEast Youth we wouldn't be able to achieve a lot. We have friends who help us with marketing and PR, and others who help us with proposals and advice. It's a tightly knit team. We help each other to make things work.
We have a lot of goals for the future, and I'm sure if we keep this consistent effort up, we'll achieve so much that we will serve as one of the biggest cyber networks in the Middle East. Though I also want to achieve these things on a ground-level. These websites are a start, not a solution. It helps us keep people hopeful and inspired.
No one supports us financially, we support ourselves. It's not expensive to maintain all these things because we don't pay anyone to do anything for us, like site design or advertising or sponsorship. We work hard on doing everything ourselves. Our shop helps us create the money we need to buy other domains for other projects.
4. Are your activities restricted to cyber-activism or have you been active on the ground? What are the projects/campaigns you took part in?
I attend a lot of conferences where I meet people who need help, and often I help them through setting up their websites or getting them domains and hosting. The ideas are there, but most of the time young people are confused as to how to start, and I often give them advice on how to do that. I also occasionally help organize activities on the ground. My next project is helping my communication professor organize a seminar in Switzerland that brings together youth activists and peace journalists in the Middle East. We build a bridge between these two. A lot of people are unaware of the good things that are being achieved in the Middle East, and I consider MidEast Youth to be one of them. We have several amazing peace activists on our site, and this includes Leah from Israel who reports things that we would never otherwise hear about.
5. How easy or difficult it is for a young woman from an Arab Gulf background to become an activist? Do you enjoy support from your family and surrounding environment?
It's pretty difficult. I try to stay away from local politics for my own safety. I'm very much involved though. I get more warnings than support, to be honest. It's very discouraging, but I don't give up. This is my passion, and if the warnings are true then I accept any consequences that come with this. People need to get and stay involved, and I don't see myself giving up any time soon. Sometimes you just have to swallow your pride and do what you have to do to achieve change in your region, and if risking your life is a risk then so be it.
6. What advice would you give to people who feel strongly about certain issues and want to campaign for or against them?
DO SOMETHING! That's my advice. So many people have opinions and they say “this is so wrong” or “this has to be heard” yet a lot of them aren't doing anything about it. Why not? When I feel strongly about something, I only have one thought going through my mind: “Do something about it!” and I do. When my friend Kareem was imprisoned, I started a campaign within minutes of this news. It is now a widely visited website with thousands of supporters worldwide and we formed our own coalition as well as organize worldwide rallies. When I lead the first protest for Kareem, it included only 3 people. This inspired others in the U.S to do something, and weeks later, the protest was worldwide and took place in many countries, including Paris, Rome, Sweden, London, and several states in the U.S. Our next worldwide protest will take place on the 27th of April. I think it will be just as successful.
The usual excuse is, “I don't have time.” I'm a full time student with a double major. Do they think I have time? I don't, but I make time. I use up every free second I have to work on these things. That's how things get possible. You risk things, and sometimes that includes comfort. The reason why I love doing this is because I know it's making change, and I know it's inspiring many others to take action. I'm a nobody, I'm an average person with the same daily routine as any other college student. The only reason why I achieved a lot is because I believed in myself, I started so small and am now going big. Anyone is capable of this, it's just a matter of whether or not you give up, and most do.
7. Are any of the projects you are involved in rewarding in any way? Do you have any success stories you would like to share with us?
I guess I just want to repeat the fact that all of this started from absolutely nothing. No money, no contacts, no help, and in fact, a lot of people ignored us and considered us “kids” who didn't know what they're doing. I'd like to see what they think about us starting one of the most powerful campaigns for a blogger in the world. We started out with a website, now it's a worldwide effort to support my imprisoned friend. Furthermore, our MidEast Youth network is now one of the most unique in the region. It's inspiring a lot of young people to get involved and take proper action. And not just political action, but we encourage a lot of artists and musicians to keep working because their works aren't really appreciated in our societies. So we help them promote their work. We just launched a gallery feature on our website that helps get photographers and artists in the region known.
My advice for everyone is this:
Don't wait for change, be the change. No one else is going to do any of this but you. Rely on yourself and your own abilities and when criticized, aim to prove them wrong. Don't give up. Ask for help when needed but if no one helps, do it anyways! And when people see how charged and active you are, they will be the ones asking for your help. Writers want to join without an invitation, artists want to get involved, musicians want to promote their work with us, people are listening. I'm very proud of my team at MidEast Youth who are helping me make things possible, and am especially thankful to my friend Lalith from Lazy Bee for taking care of the technical work which is by far the most important aspect of these projects.
Thanks again for this interview.


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Armenia: Prosperous Armenia Offices Bombed · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Onnik Krikorian reports from the site of the bombing of Prosperous Armenia offices in Yerevan, mentioning that many believe the attack to be the work of the Republican Party. If true, the bombing may be a hint of clashes to come between these two powerful groups during election season.


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Bahrain: Apologies to MP · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini blogger Mahmood Al Yousif retracted a post in which he posted a copy of a cheque for about $10 million in the name of an MP, claiming that it is a fake. “Therefore, and with further assurances of the officials I spoke to, this is a wholly fabricated situation. I offer my sincere apologies to MP … if I have caused any offence by publishing the original article, but I know he understands that it was done in the interest of fairness rather than malice,” he explains.


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Bahrain: Blogger Sued  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini blogger Mahmood Al Yousif has just been summoned to show up at the High Criminal Court on April 17 for a libel suit being brought against him by a minister for comments he published on his popular blog. “I am convinced that I did no wrong. I have portrayed my criticism squarely at a public figure and a government organ both of whom I think did not execute their job to the full extent of their capability. This case is nothing more than a scare tactic to silence any form of criticism, especially that of a public official. Why else is a case like this is to be heard at the highest criminal court in the land? Why else is a defamation case looked at in the same court that adjudicates murder and treason cases?” he argues.


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Brunei: Anti-China Demonstration in Japan · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

The blogger at Daily Brunei Resources, currently on an official visit to Japan encounters demonstrators protesting against the visit of Chinese premier in Tokyo.


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Central Asia: Hot Air & the Aral · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Bonnie Boyd writes that since 1991, there has been more hot air than progress on saving the Aral Sea.


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China: Nailhouse questions remain · Global Voices
John Kennedy

With all the blogging and reporting that's been done on the now-infamous nailhouse, Davesgonechina takes a long look back—two, actually—and still finds many unanswered questions.


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Colombian Contrasts: Bush, Spanish Royalty, literature, kidnapping, internet week and free hugs. · Global Voices
Juliana Rincón Parra

Julio Alejandro Camelo sums up the state of Colombia and its blogosphere succinctly in ColombiaHoy, where he zooms from celebrations to funerals, from excess in receiving foreign visitors to famine in the Choco region, from the value of family to corruption:
Colombia,  en definitiva, es un país folclórico. Pasamos de lo trágico a lo cómico, quizás a lo intrascendente, con una facilidad que asombra.
This is certainly reflected in the selection of blog posts from Colombia.
Via BlogsColombia, a harsh critique was written by El Editor de el Planeta en Pantaloneta on blogger apathy, regarding the lack of blogger participation covering Bush´s visit to the capital city of Bogota:
Balance negativo para los blogs de Colombia. Su influencia en el paisaje mediático colombiano es muy débil. Muchos blogs acusan a los grandes medios del monopolio de la información, pero en este caso la culpa es de la timidez de muchísimos bloggers.
To this, Carlos Raúl van der Weyden Velásquez of The Colombia Herald replied with a post full of videos and pictures of the citizen coverage of Bush´s visit [EN]:
It’s true, as for citizen journalism, Colombian blogosphere has long a way to go, but it’s not so easy when the police is more likely to seize your camera for taking pictures of the demonstrations rather than avoiding vandals to loot and destroy businesses.
However, Bush isn´t the only visitor who fell under bloggers’ scrutiny: The Spanish Royal Family and their large entourage were also in the crossfire. Via Oh! Medellin, Caruri from equinoXio comments on their visit commemorating the Spanish language, a grammar handbook to be written in Medellin, literature, and its effect, or more appropriately, the complete lack of an effect on citizens.
Medellín, dos días después, se encontró en su misma soledad mediterránea –en el sentido estricto- supo que de toda esa efervescencia quedaron los titulares, las fotos, los videos, los archivos de noticias de sociedad, y la esperanza de que en alguna oportunidad, ojalá más arcana que lejana, en otros lares, regiones o países de habla española, se acuerden de que fueron don Álvaro Uribe y Vélez, y don Sergio Fajardo y Valderrama, los varones ilustres de las Indias Actuales quienes se gastaron una millonada –desconocida aún entre los plebeyos- para que la ciudad estuviera en muchas bocas mientras dura un suspiro.
Literature, or rather, the simple act of writing letters is the catalyst for Mauricio Duque Arrubla´s article where he prompts not only Colombian bloggers but also those from around the world to follow this initiative and tag their letters with the word “persistencia”:
Este será el lanzamiento de la convocatoria Cartas de la persistencia, abierta al público entre el 12 de abril y el 12 de julio de 2007. Se trata de una invitación a que todos los colombianos (los que viven dentro y fuera del país) le cuenten a alguien que ya no está, a quien está lejos, a un desconocido, a un familiar o a un amigo su victoria cotidiana y personal y la manera en que sacan fuerza para seguir viviendo a pesar de las situaciones adversas o los actos violentos.
The Colombian blogosphere is also preparing for the Internet Week:
Con el propósito de incentivar la participación, movilización y sensibilización de los ciudadanos en las oportunidades de Internet y uso de las TICs (tecnologías de la Información y Comunicaciones), enREDo realizará la I versión de la Semana de Internet en Colombia del 14 al 17 de Mayo 2007.
In Medellin, a blog has been made to organize bloggers for a meetup/event to compliment enREDo's Bogota activities.
Another call to action is made by Octav in Crítica Destructiva, this time regarding those who are kidnapped:
Hay más de 3 mil colombianos secuestrados en este momento, lo cual bajo ninguna circunstancia es admisible … Libertad inmediata y sin condiciones para todos los secuestrados.
Jaime Restrepo from Atrabilioso, writes on statistics and although there are less kidnappings in number than in past years, there is still a very long way to go:
Mientras UN solo colombiano esté secuestrado, TODOS los colombianos estaremos secuestrados, pues solo será cuestión de tiempo para que ese flagelo se acerque y toque las puertas de nuestros amigos, de nuestras familias o de nuestra propia casa.
Finally, in El Chaos, Evelio Ramírez reminds us that even though bad things happen in Colombia, there is a lot of good going on to balance it out. He posts a superbly edited video of the Free Hug Campaign that took place in Medellin.

author: Juliana Rincón Parra


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Croatia, Australia: Dragan Vasiljkovic’s Extradition · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Balkan Baby writes about Australia's decision to extradite a Croatian war criminal Dragan Vasiljkovic: “The tables have been turned since the last time he was in Croatia. Back then he was the man who served out his form of cruel justice, now though he looks like the cockroach, defenseless, just as a large boot comes down. Fortunately for him, Croatia is a modern democracy and he can expect a fair trial which will probably take place under the microscope of the international media.”


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Cuba: Church Caving to Government Pressure?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Uncommon Sense, citing reports by both Reuters and The Miami Herald, wonders if the Catholic Church has caved to pressure from the Cuban regime in halting the publication of Vitral, a church-sponsored magazine that, according to one anonymous activist, “worried both conservatives in the church and hard-liners in government”.


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East Timor: High Number of Invalid Votes · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

East Timor Journal comments on the unusual numbers of invalidated votes in the East Timor elections.


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East Timor: Predicting Remaining Votes · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Return to Rai Ketak looks at the announced results of East Timor elections and tries to predict the outcome in other districts where the counting is still on.


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East Timor: Who will win the Run-Off · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Tubleweed says that if it comes to a run-off between the two leading candidates in East Timor elections Francisco “Lu Olo” Guterres might be favored over Ramos-Horta.”From the personal views i've gathered , votes for Lu'olo seem to be really sentimentally tied to the resistance years. Fretilin still evokes strong emotions and pride in the people. THe resistance years were a time when they stood united as a people.”


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Egypt: Facebook Closed Circuit · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptian blogger Mostafa Hussein explains to us why he hates Facebook here. “Simply, facebook is just a reincarnation of Orkut, Hi5 and the same old … concept of closed social networks that demonstrate nothing but it is a small world after all(tm) phenomenon. People are all excited about it, because of the social pressures I discussed above. It is only a way for people to express their vanity online,” he explains.


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Egypt: Human Rights Abuses · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptian blogger Ibn Al Dunya links to an article  by Amnesty International which details systematic abuses of human rights in the name of security in Egypt.


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Egypt: Syrian Cyber-Activist Arrested · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Writing in The Arabist, blogger Tim Seah links to a statement issued by Reporters Without Borders which calls for the immediate release of arrested human rights activist Ibrahim Zoro, 47, who regularly posts material on foreign-based opposition websites. Journalist Muhened Abdulrahman and writer Habib Saleh are also in prison in Syria for posting material online.


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Ethiopia: doing dirty work for America · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Ethio-Zagol Post writes about suspected “terrorists” detained in Ethiopia: It was Replica Iran. Eight “terrorists” detained in secret prisons in Ethiopia (some referred to them as TPLF’s Guantanmo) were paraded on ETV yesterday. The “terrorists” in broken English told the world that their captures were humane; and provided them with clothing and meals of their own choice. The claimed Ethiopian jail guards were friendly, and like brothers to the jailed. What a moving story!


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Hungary, the EU: Knowing Too Much · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

How much should the EU members know about one another? Further Ramblings of a N.Irish Magyar disagrees with the Hungarian president.


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India: Child Abuse, The Other Half and NRIs · Global Voices
Kamla Bhatt

A few days ago a study about child sexual abuse in India was released and the findings of the study were pretty disturbing. If you recollect Mira Nair's movie “The Monsoon Wedding” had an underlying theme of child abuse in India, and that was probably the first time that this taboo subject was addressed by a mainstream filmmaker.
Pooja of Instablogs writes:
“The sanctimonious pride with which we espouse Indian family values has been proved to be a myth. The ugly truth is out – one out of every two Indian children has suffered some form of abuse…
The study surfaces an alarming figure of child abuse. It shows that 53 percent out of over 17,000 children reported one or more forms of sexual abuse. This is the first time the government has done such an exhaustive survey on the controversial issue of child abuse. “
(Photo Credit – Matthieu)
However another blogger Zoey is a bit skeptical about the statistical methodology and rigor employed in the study. She writes:
I'm a bit skeptical, primarily because none of the stories I've read have defined the exact boundaries of physical or sexual abuse, nor have they addressed the issue of methodological rigor.
While Zoey is skeptical about the statistical methodology she wonders if mainstream media will do any kind of thoughtful follow-up either about the statistical methodology or the child abuse issue.
From child abuse we move to the other half of India, the other India that has no business or IT graduates. Nita talks about the other India in her post The Spirit of India, which is essentially a photo essay. Through her pictures she highlights and shows how the other India lives in the city of Mumbai, where 37 percent of the population are migrants.
But, what about the other half of India that are engineer or management graduates and make a life outside India? How do these Non Resident Indians (NRIs) live? Ram Krishnaswamy writes in Churimuri that not All NRIs Aren't Rich:
If truth has to be told, my reading is that people living in India, especially the middle class, have a lot more spare cash than Indian NRIs. It is a myth that NRIs have a money tree growing in their back yards.
Ram, who lives in Australia gives a run down of how NRIs make it other societies and what it takes for them to survive. He writes:
By the third week in most young NRI households, all funds are gone and they are using their credit cards and waiting anxiously for the next pay packet.
In other words it is hand-to-mouth living for most young couples, in what is basically a Credit Card Society. There is no such thing as savings, especially with low interest rates it is just not worth saving anything in a bank.
We wind up this week's round-up with a look at Laurie Baker, a British architect who became an Indian citizen and spent many years working in India. Bakerji as he was fondly called pioneered low-cost housing in India. Arzan Wadia, an architect and blogger located in New York has an extensive post on Bakerji with links to other bloggers.

author: Kamla Bhatt


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India: Your Menstrual Cycle · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

In what comes across as a PR disaster, the government in India appears to be asking women in the civil services about their menstrual cycle and pap smears in their appraisal forms. (News reports suggest that the government has dropped the idea today.) Gilli.in collates some links discussing the issue.


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Iran:Veil and punishment · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Bar Sahleh Salmat[Fa] says she is shameful that Iranian police announced that women who do not respect veil properly, will be punished.She says she carries chador but it is a personal choice.The blogger writes it is just like all country's problems get solved and only women's hair can make trouble.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Jamaica: Frances-Anne Solomon Speaks · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Jamaican Geoffrey Philp features writer, producer and filmmaker Frances-Anne Solomon in her own words: “Creation is a form of Terror, particularly when you come from a colonial context and background in which Empire (read: a sense of inferiority) was imposed through education, language, culture, as much if not more than through the barrel of a gun.”


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Jamaica: West Indies are Minnows · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Jamaican b C wishes the West Indies well, but calls a spade a spade: “The truth is, the West Indies team is a minnow. You can't win matches when your opening pair of batsman can't give you more than 24 runs. You can't win when only one strike bowler actually takes wickets. You can't win when your entire middle order is almost incapable of half-centuries. You can't win when the fate rests in one man's hands.”


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Japan: Chuoism · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Late last year blogger Joi Ito brought us a post on the Chiba Newtown Chuo, a “designed from scratch community in the middle of nowhere near my house.” This week he brings us photos.


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Japan: Ethnic Korean prefect candidate · Global Voices
John Kennedy

Ongoing election bloggage from the eponymously-named debito blogger: “Read on to hear about a naturalized Korean-Japanese’s campaign for a prefectural seat in Osaka, campaigning his Korean roots overtly.“


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Japan: New local law blog · Global Voices
John Kennedy

As if the powerhouse China Law Blog weren't enough, now there's the new Japan Law Blog. Via gen at the Gen Kanai weblog.


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Kyrgyzstan: Impressions from a Protest, pt. 2 · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Tolkun Umaraliev reports on the second day of protests in Bishkek calling for the president to resign.


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Kyrgyzstan: Same protests as every year · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

Two years have passed since Kyrgyzstan's ex-President Askar Akaev got ousted. This regime change, or “Tulip Revolution” to many heralded a new era of open politics in the small mountainous republic.
Although economic growth, a proper fight against corruption and several other key promises of Akaev's successor Kurmanbek Bakiyev didn't materialise, the country regularly experiences political protests organised by the opposition (Global Voices reported before, here and here).
It's protest time in Bishkek again. Says former Prime Minister Felix Kulov:
“What is our aim? Constitutional reforms and an early presidential election. We don't have any other aim. However, the ‘tails’ [supporters] of Bakiev dislike this. It is very important for them to maintain their power by any means.”
To get an impression of the political climate in Kyrgyzstan, it's worth looking at a post CXW wrote for neweurasia in 2006. Sadly, I can't really see any change since this has been written:
Everyone has a theory of who is to blame – most commonly former President Akaev, as though those that are in power now never had any dealings with him. And what is to be done – Reopen factories! Immediate constitutional reform! Get more foreign investment! Protest!
Several blogs have been tracking the current protests in Bishkek:
Registan.net's Teo Kaye is based in Bishkek, equipped with his camera and a witty pen for his cartoon drawings, he gives an update on what's happened on the capital's main square. Teo notices new anti-Bakiyev graffiti and previously offered his analysis of the political situation:
While resigning under pressure is probably not something Bakiyev is going to allow, a repeat scenario of hasty constitutional reforms is more likely. The question of course is how far Bakiyev and Kulov will hold out for an agreeable compromise and accordingly, how controlled the amassed protestors will be.
Several bloggers from Kyrgyzstan also feature live reports from Bishkek. Check morrire (RU) for photos and opposition activist Edil Baisalov's LJ (RU). Although not updated at the moment, Kyrgyz Report had a nice background piece some while ago.
On the Kyrgyzstan pages of neweurasia, Tolkun and Mirsulzhan are offering their insights of the events in Bishkek. Both are very sceptical of the motivations of the opposition and – most of all – those of the protesters, most of which show up on the streets to earn promised money. Mirsulzhan reports:
The opposition has demonstrated its inability to organise big protests. The participants were sleeping in the military tents, complaining that they were not being fed.
and:
“If Bakiyev does not answer the requirements of the protesters’ demands, there will be unrest in the city…”, said two young girls on the square, who came from Kara-Balty. One of them added that a deputy (of something she didn’t know) has promised to pay them 1.000 soms each for a day of the protests (about 27 dollars).
Tolkun, reporting from Osh, says that the protests haven't spread to other cities. Also, he sees the government retaining the upper hand:
Summing up today’s events, I am likely to say that the score is 1:0 to government, as opposition has lost respect of some its people by the end of the day. People are dissatisfied and frustrated. However, it is just a beginning and it is too early to make conclusions. Let’s see what tomorrow holds for us.
Also weighing in is Sean Roberts on his Roberts Report. He is a hoping that the protests remain non-violent, but is worried because of the apparent stand-off between Felix Kulov and Kurmanbek Bakiyev, two men who have usually been on the same side.

author: Ben Paarmann


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Malaysia: Attending a Kenduri · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Eating Asia has pictures from a Kenduri – a traditional Malay ceremony or feast. The blogger describes the preparation of the food. “All kenduri involve protocol – there are must-do's and must-don'ts; dress should be appropriate, and ritual respected. But this is Malaysia, a country where food is never an afterthought. So, as the betrothed-to-be prepared herself for the afternoon's events, assorted relatives and neighbors cooked up an amazing meal for the guests.”


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Malaysia: Pictures from Blogger’s Meet · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Borneo Blues posts pictures from the inaugural National Alliance of Bloggers Meet. Malaysian Bloggers are coming together in response to statements made by politicians against them.


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Malaysia: Political Party hires Blogger for Publicity Work · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Rocky's Bru says that PAS, a party ruling the Malaysian state of Kelantan has hired “Syed Azidi Syed Abdul Aziz, the owner of the politically-potent Kickdefella blog to work for the state government as a Corp Comm Officer“.  What is interesting about this news is that Syed Azidi Syed Abdul Aziz is currently a member of UMNO, the party currently ruling Malaysia and often critical of blogs.


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Mongolia: Birding · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Axel Braunlich lives in Khovd, Mongolia, and he recently started a blog called Birding Mongolia that contains accounts and photos of his birding adventures in Mongolia.


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Nepal: Reminiscence Of Childhood Dreams · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Kathmandu Speaks has an interesting post on a lot of things -including childhood, literature and citizen journalism. “Citizen Journalism- I didn’t know anything about this wonderful phenomenon until I was called for an interview. I was sure towards the end of the interview, that I had really impressed those three impressive men. Yeah, I was selected out of other tens of competitors, and I was the first employee of my current office.”

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Nigeria: Oyo State domain name expires · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

David Ajao briefly discusses domain name usage in Nigeria and reports that the government of Oyo State website displays Google Ads after domain name expiration:
A case in point is Oyo State. The government website was at oyostate.gov.ng Later moved to oyostategov.com (for whatever reason). Now the .com domain name has expired and the official website of the government of Oyo State is displaying Google Ads.


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Pakistan: The Umpires · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Metroblogging Lahore reminds us that while the cricket team may not have fared well at the World Cup 2007, the Pakistani umpires are doing a great job. “Not very long ago, Pakistani umpires were looked down upon – Remember Javed Iqbal of Ashes fame? But these two have done exceptionally well at the international level and it's high-time we recognize their achievements!”


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Romania: Bucharest Pics · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Pictures of Bucharest, at Novala, Europa.


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Romania: Recycling · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Romerican writes about “a crude start” of a recycling initiative in Brasov.


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Russia: Cosmonautics Day · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Turkish Invasion and De Rebus Antiquis Et Novis mark the Day of Cosmonautics.


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Russia: No Bikes Allowed · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Copydude reports that it's not allowed to cross the Russian border on a bicycle.


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Saudi Arabia: Discussion Group Laws · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Saudi blogger Rasheed Abou-Alsamh  links   to an article in which he writes about how discussion groups in private homes in Saudi Arabia are now required to register with authorities or face legal action. ‘She says she received a troubling call from a government official a few weeks ago asking her to register the group with the Ministry of Interior or face police action against her group. “The official kept calling me, but I said I would not believe what he was saying unless he could send me something in writing,” recalls the academic, who asked for anonymity for fear of retribution,’ he writes.


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Saudi Arabia: Maid Gone · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Saudi-based blogger Nzingha‘s maid is gone – and she can't hide her happiness. “And I'm so happy she is finally gone. I have learned a few things with this experience, one is that I will never again hesitate in firing a person if it isn't working out,” she writes.


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Saudi Arabia: Meet the Abazons · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

We all know who the Amazons are – but to learn more about the Abazons – Saudi Stepford Wife‘s latest post is a must read. “Abazon- An abaya-clad Amazon who, as their literary counterparts in the past, threaten the masculinity of most Saudi men. As such, the typical goal of the Saudi man has been to defeat and humiliate them as a way of reasserting their own, masculine superiority,” she writes. The Abaya is a black cloak which covers the body and which is worn by Muslim women.


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South Korea: Investment or infantry for Iraq? · Global Voices
John Kennedy

In light of today's meeting between Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, ROK Drop blogger GI Korea asks if 2,300 Korean businessmen might be able to do more for the Arab nation right now than the same number of Korean soldiers in ‘Less Zaytun, More Hyundai‘.


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Sudan: Khartoum Explosion, Death By Stoning, Tortured Journalist & Chinese “Musical” Diplomacy · Global Voices
SudaneseDrima

Sudan has been witnessing interesting developments in the past few weeks. The most recent one is the Khartoum ammo truck explosion, which Mimz blogged about:
A little over 24 hours ago a series of extremely boisterous explosions took place in one of the military sites availed for storing ammo, in the Burri area of the capital of Sudan. The explosions occurred in three enormous gunnery-loaded trucks.
So this blast happened a few meters away from the University of Khartoum, students had to evacuate campus and basically run for their lives as they witnessed the thick, heavy black smoke approaching and heard the disturbing loud sounds of explosion.
Does this sound familiar?, she asks:
I'm sure now that this sounds familiar, doesn't it?
Chaos, chaos, chaos. Should I just pack my bags and leave? It's getting ridiculous.
Let he who is without sin cast the first stone
Aperadosini expressed her outrage at a sentence issued against 2 Sudanese women apparently guilty of adultery. They're both to be stoned to death:
What's disgusting isn't just the fact that they are being put to death in the most demeaning of manners, however, they haven't even been given the chance to adequately defend themselves. The women, who came from the African Fur tribe in Darfur, did not know Arabic and were not even provided with a translator during court proceedings and so were not given the chance to even defend themselves!!
Freedom of the press? Say that again
On the other hand Black Kush brings us news of a journalist he personally knows who has been tortured by the Sudanese authorities:
I told you before that I as following the clashes in Khartoum when it happened. Now the journalist who was beaten up was someone I personally know.
…Freedom of the press? Say that again.
Musical diplomacy
Last but not least, Fluent-Sudani highlights the latest Chinese efforts at building closer ties with Sudan. He posts a YouTube video of Chinese musicians singing a traditional Sudan nationalism song:
On the above video, a bunch of Chinese ladies are singing in a festival held in khartoum strengthening relations between Sudan and China.
I give them much credit for language perfection. What they are singing is a traditional Sudan nationalism song.

author: SudaneseDrima


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Tajikistan: Reform & Alienation · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Beyond the River says that recent cultural reforms the president of Tajikistan has implemented stand to alienate youth.


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Trinidad & Tobago: PM’s Residence before Carnival Centre · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Trinidad Carnival Diary is puzzled about the T&T government's construction priorities: “While the Prime Minister (or new Prime Minister given that General Elections is carded for later this year) will be sitting pretty in a brand, spanking, new “crib” we masqueraders will have to eat dust on the streets of Port of Spain for the next few years only because we truly LOVE the mas!”


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Ukraine: Film Debut · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

MoldovAnn writes on playing a foreigner in a Ukrainian movie about an orphanage child: “So, our part is literally in the last two minutes of the film, and we are far from the focus of any scene. But hell, we’ll be in the credits!”

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Ukraine: Mykhailo Demtsiu · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Olechko writes about Mykhailo Demtsiu's work currently on view at a Kyiv gallery.


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US Virgin Islands: Silly Signs · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Writing from the U.S. Virgin Islands, News of St. John chuckles at a few signs of the times…


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Africa: Afrigator goes mobile · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

The new blog aggregator from Africa, Afrigator, has gone mobile: “hit the waters and so much has happened it’s scaring the living crap out of me. The latest addition to the Gator family is Afrigator Mobile and you can check it out on your mobile at http://afrigator.mobi.”


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Africa: calls for reparations and apology hilarious · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Thinkers Room makes a strong case against reparations and apology for slavery, “I am not one of these seeking these nebulous things.
As a matter of fact, I find these attempts, and the resulting rippling gymnastics hilarious.”


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Argentina: Scholar networks, the Web according to professors · Global Voices
Jorge Gobbi

One of the most pressing issues of Latin America's education system is the teacher's poor training in the use of new technology, particularly those related to computers and the Internet. It's not uncommon to find cases in which the students know more about PCs than their teachers. So, the creation of Redes Escolares (scholar networks) is quite good news. The site gathers blogs maintained by teachers from Buenos Aires schools, and they're managed with Feevy.  In the blog of Buenos Aires’ High Schools, they present the project like this:
Redes Escolares is a multi-thematic site co-produced by teachers and schools around Buenos Aires. Managed by the Red de Escuelas Medias (High School Network), it's a difussion tool of the experiences in innovation that tries to show the threads of the city's education network. It works by hosting the schools’ blogs, classes and teachers participating in the project and updates permanently, when the different nodes distributed by Buenos Aires generate new content. Today it has over thirty blogs and we encourage the educational community to send those they consider shouldn't be left out of an experience of these characteristics.”
The interesting thing about Feevy, a blog aggregator, is that you can quickly see who has published new entries, and select those we're interested in. The site is divided in three sections: School blogs, teachers blogs, and recommended blogs. We hope this kind of initiatives are more common in other places of Latin America.
If you're a teacher from a Buenos Aires high school and wish to add your blog (or your school's) to Redes Escolares, send an e-mail to reporte_media@buenosaires.edu.ar or to redescuelasmedias@gmail.com
More at Weblog sobre weblogs and Pablo Mancini's blog (both in spanish).

author: Jorge Gobbi


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Assasinations and blasts in Armenia continue · Global Voices
Artur Papyan

Armenia has gone out of control these days with blasts, shooting and assassination attempts following one another.
“2 offices of ‘Prosperous Armenia’ [one of the most powerful pro-presidential political parties running for parliament in the elections on May 12, 2007] were blown up” reported Kornelij Glas (ru) about the blasts that rocked in Zeytun and Avan districts of Yerevan, the capital of Armenia on the night of April 12. This report was soon followed by more detailed posts by other bloggers: Oneworld Multimedia, Hyelog.  Soon Onnik Krikoryan of Oneworld Multimedia followed up with photos from the  site of bombings and more comments:
Indeed, almost everybody in Yerevan is already pointing the finger at the Republican Party although a few say that either the incident was manufactured to make believe a serious rift between the two exists or that Prosperous Armenia staged the incident themselves. However, as I said, most believe it was the work of the Republicans although the ruling party effectively denies the accusation.
The bloggers can’t stop wondering just how far the assassinations will go; Armenia Blog is comparing Armenia these days with Chicago 80 years ago and quoting ArmeniaNow, listing some of the recent high profile assassination attempts and killings:
The assassination attempt against the Mayor of Gyumri Monday night, leaving three dead and three wounded, is the eighth high-profile and public attack within just over a year. In all the cases, only two arrests have been made, and none brought to justice
JLiving notes (ru) writes about attacks on Parliment candidates: shootings at Hakob Hakobyan’s (Choit) car past midnight and the arson attack at the election office of Sousanna Haroutyunyan.
Well, as Kornelij Glas (ru)  puts it in his election leaflet #7, the “Kalashnikov guns have already become the number one brand of the pre-election campaign” in Armenia.
The terrible statistics make this pre-election campaign seem like the most dangerous one since Armenia’s independence in 1991 …and the official campaign has just started on 8th April!!!
Photo by E-channel. Used with permission.

author: Artur Papyan


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Bahamas: New Junkanoo Blog · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Nicolette Bethel has a new favourite blog – the first that's dedicated to the great Bahamian cultural tradition of Junkanoo –  (never mind she's a little biased).

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Bahrain: Formula One Fever · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Formula One Fever is gripping Bahrain, writes Bahraini blogger emoodz, who spent an hour on an otherwise 15 minute drive from the monthly blogger's meeting to his house. “Things all started to make sense now, the presence of traffic control policemen at nearly every major intersection till late at night, the dramatic increase in Saudi and Kuwaiti cars all over the island, foreigners speaking languages other than English out loud wherever you go, even the traffic on my blog has tripled for some reason,” he explains.


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Bahrain: Neutral Language? · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahrain-based blogger Bint Battuta  writes  her thoughts on the book Perfume – from a linguistic perspective. “Perfume is a novel written in German, but set in France. I read the English translation; I can't judge the translation fully, as I haven't looked at the German (I would be interested to one day, though), but on the whole it reads smoothly. What it prompted me to think about was the way language conveys culture; as a native English-speaker, English to a large extent is a neutral language for me,” she explains.


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Bangladesh: A little less critical please! · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Close Your Eyes and Try To See attempts to reason with bloggers to be a little less critical about the government. “A unique type of government is running the country which came into power in a very critical situation. During their 3 months in power, they have been enjoying vast public support so far.”


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Bangladesh: The idea of South Asia · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Unheard Voices on the dream for a more cooperative South Asia. “I’ve always been in love with the idea of a South Asian version of the EU – where Bangladesh played a key role of course – marching into 21st century as an Asian bloc with superpower ambitions. In my mind, a (heavily romanticized) South Asia that has finally moved beyond ethno-religious conflict and has developed economically and politically, would also work together at an unprecedented level of closeness.”


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Barbados: Poor Attendance for First Super 8 at Kensington · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Barbados Free Press laments that despite the “carefully crafted photographs” that “give the impression of a stadium packed with excited cricket fans enjoying the best cricket in the world”, attendance at the Super 8 match at Barbados’ Kensington Oval was “only 37% of capacity”.


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Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia: Concert Controversy · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Illyrian Gazette writes about the controversy surrounding a Croatian patriotic singer's intention to perform in Sarajevo to mark the 10th anniversary of the papal visit.


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Bulgaria: A D-Type Visa Question · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Petya is collecting answers to this “seemingly simple and straightforward question”: “Does one need a D-type visa when applying for a long-term Bulgarian residence permit?” Here's why: “Every person or institution we've asked has provided us with a different answer. So, I am thinking, we might as well come up with more answers of our own.”


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Chile: Creative Commons Precedent · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Described as a triumphant achievement by Claudio Ruiz of Creative Commons Chile, Armando Torrealaba, represented by the non-governmental organization Derechos Digitales issued a cease-and-desist to the design agency Porta4 for using Torrealaba's image without following the non-commercial guidelines of his Creative Commons license. Porta4 ended up taking down the image from their website.

author: David Sasaki


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Cuba: Asking the Question  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

In the context of a recent blog post about “a young Cuban rapper who criticizes injustice in Cuba while wearing a che t-shirt”, Babalu Blog asks a question that he thinks is “an excellent example of something not much talked about, but that is very important to the future of Cuba when the castro regime ends.”


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Czech Rebublic: Tribute to Egon Bondy (and Kurt Vonnegut) · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Deleted by Tomorrow posts tributes to Kurt Vonnegut – and to the “Czech philosopher, writer, poet and professional dissident Egon Bondy” who died two days before Vonnegut.


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Dominica: New Book about the Caribs · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The CAC Review is happy about the publication of a new book about the indigenous Kalinagos (or Caribs) of Dominica, which “tells the story of a remarkable people”.


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Egypt: MB MPs Invited to the US · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptian blogger Zeinobia reports that Muslim Brotherhood MPs have been invited to visit Washington DC ahead of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's visit to the US next month.


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Egypt: Torture Video Out  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptian blogger Ibn Al Dunya provides a link to  the first part of a video on torture in Egypt, which landed Al Jazeera journalist Houwaida Taha into trouble with the law. “The interesting thing about this particular documentary is that it´s focus is on the everyday man on the street, it might have been you or me if we were unlucky. And it shows .. that a culture of torture exists and that it is used routinely, probably every single day and in all sorts of cases,” he writes.


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Egyptian blogger Abd al-Monem Mahmoud has been arrested · Global Voices
sami ben gharbia

The 27 year-old Egyptian Muslim Brother journalist and blogger, Abd al-Monem Mahmoud, who is running the “I am Ikhwan” blog has been arrested today by the Egyptian police.
“I believe his arrest is mainly an attempt to silence the campaign against sending ikhwan leadership to military tribunal, Monem was coordinating the campaign which used blogs as it's main tool ” said Alaa Abd El Fattah in his e-mail alert.

author: sami ben gharbia


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El Salvador: Biofuels Vs. Basic Foods · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Tim Muth on the double-edged sword of El Salvador's investment into ethanol.


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India: Grand-Aunt and Feminism · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Blogpourri responds to a tag on feminism by remembering her grand-aunt. “She was married at seven to a 42 year-old man. Following the marriage he disappeared, never to be heard from again. A few years later, he was legally presumed dead and my grand-aunt had her whole life ahead of her – as a widow.”


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Indonesia: Labour Activist Running for President · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Indonesia Matters has a profile on Dita Indah Sari, a labour activist intending to run for the post of Indonesian president in the next elections. “Dita, like Amien Rais, believes that the examples of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, and Bolivian leader Evo Morales, should be followed by Indonesia, specifically their nationalisation programs of key industries.”

author: Preetam Rai


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Iran: Jailed Teachers, Nuclear Ceremony and UK sailors  · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Iranians celebrated the New Year last month with reflections looking back at the progress, or lack thereof, made by their government over the previous twelve months. A month later, those same challenges still persist, among them: the nuclear crisis, economic problems and human rights issues. Officials celebrated a nuclear ceremony last week while more teachers were arrested.  The Iranian blogosphere is dealing with all of these issues without forgeting the outcome of the UK sailors’ crisis.
Teachers between the classroom and prison
Teachers have begun a campaign of peaceful demonstrations in March and April for a salary raise in various cities including Tehran and Hamedan.
Thanks to Kosoof, a leading photo blogger, we can see several photos of one of the  demonstrations in Tehran in March.
According to Gach o del [Fa] (“Chalk and Heart”), a blog covering issues related teachers, about 40 teachers were arrested in April, accused by authorities of preparing strikes and demonstrations. According to provincial authorities, most of have been liberated.
The blogger adds that three of the teachers who were arrested during a demonstration at Parliament were sent to Evin prison in Tehran.
The blogger was surprised that authorities said the arrested teachers in Hamadan did not deserve the title of teacher because they were planning a strike and organizing protests.
The Teachers’ Syndicate Blog [Fa] has published the names of arrested teachers, adding that the Minister of Education may be called to Iranian Parliament and face impeachment as a result of the episode.
ZaneIran [Fa] says on Sunday and Monday that many teachers refused to go to schools in Hamadan as a show of solidarity. According to the blogger, schools were half-closed on Monday.
Tears of president and real challenge(s)
Jomhour[Fa] asks how Ahmadinejad can weep with joy during a nuclear ceremony to announce the start of nuclear enrichment for industrial purposes.
He reminds readers that 45 teachers are presently imprisoned in Hamadan because they asked for better working conditions; women activists are in jail; and similar news is abundant. But, despite all this bad news, the president gets emotional from nuclear development.
Mohammad Ali Abtahi, former vice president, says
Negotiators had found a way to cooperate with the world in this regard after last year’s great celebration, the two resolutions against Iran had not been ratified; and if this year, after the nuclear celebration held again yesterday our cooperation becomes serious, the country will be saved from more forthcoming crises. After great victory celebrations which are signs of power, we should solve the country’s international problems instead of becoming proud. If this is done, then the happiness is distributed among all the Iranians who have to suffer from the problems of sanction, although the history of Iran is full of losing opportunities.
More on UK sailors
1984 [Fa] writes that the maritime crisis caused the price of oil to rise sharply, earning the Iranian government 167 million dollars. The most important outcome of this crisis is Iran’s influence and weight in the oil market. Many have doubts if sanctions can work out now or not.
Azarmeher says that Iranian political prisoners must endure much more than Britain's temporarily detained sailors.
Iranian dissidents who have been forced to make TV confessions in the last 28 years have been through hell before they got to that point. Iranian journalist, Siamak Pourzand, in his 70s, put up more resistance before making a TV appearance, than these supposedly young, fit trained marine fighters . Just the sheer sight of Pourzand's weight loss made it known to everyone what he had been through.


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Iraq: Costly Terror  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

The terror campaign being waged in Iraq comes with a hefty price tag, writes Iraqi blogger Ala. “Mr. Mohammed Al-Askari, the consultant for the Iraqi Ministry of Defense stated that according to estimates in the ministry the average car bomb costs about US $100,000 . So if you estimate the cost of only this favorite weapon of the enemy with a rate of at least five per day, this amounts to half a million $ per day,” he adds.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Iraq: Sarrafiya Bridge No More · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Iraq's Sarrafiya Bridge is no more, writes Iraqi blogger Omar. “This morning Baghdad lost one of its historic icons when the terrorists blew up the Sarrafiya Bridge. This was an attack on both a vital infrastructure of the city and our morale, let alone the innocent lives that were lost in this vicious attack. What we lost today was not just a bridge, it was a piece of the Baghdad history,” he explains.


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Iraq: The Airport War · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Iraqi blogger Ladybird links  to a video which claims that the US used Neutron and thermal weapons against Iraqi troops in the battle of the airport, but the Iraqis kept fighting until the last man and nobody survived the fight.


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Iraq: Why Iraqis Hate Al Jazeera · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Iraq Pundit wonders why Iraqis hate Al Jazeera here. “Why do I keep watching Al Jazeera? I think of it as a form of mortification. Some people whip themselves with chains; others wear hair shirts; I watch Al Jazeera,” he explains.


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Kuwait: April 16 Date for Iran War · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Kuwaiti blogger UzF reports that members of the Kuwaiti military reserve will not be available to play a video game online starting April 16 because they will be on emergency duty/detention for an unknown time.
“I wonder.. is that about Iran? that's what we were afraid the case was..” he writes.