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Russia: Day Watch · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Russia Marketing Blog reports that a new movie, Dnevnoy Dozor (Day Watch), is smashing Russian box office records and raking in lots of profit.


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Saudi Arabia: Saudi Women at Football Stadium? · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Something interesting might happen tonight in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia is going to play an international football match against Sweden, which pressured Saudis to allow women to attend the match. Sweden is going to play with their reserve team, as most of their stars refused to join the team for this match. However, according to FIFA website, the news that both Swedish and Saudi women would be blocked from attending the game did not go down well, Ahmed said.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Haitham Sabbah


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Singapore: Closet Agenda? · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Blogs in Singapore are discussing a recent government grant to a group known as “Liberty League,” formed to help “gays and lesbians understand their sexual identity.” Sayoni Speak, a new queer blog, writes that the group's name is misleading — it's actually a Christian group of ex-homosexuals “trying to ‘stamp out’ homosexuality.”

author: Jose Manuel Tesoro


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South Africa: housing crisis · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

African HouseIT posts on a report on South African Housing crisis in the Western Cape.

author: Sokari Ekine


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SouthAfrica: Retraction by Global Fund on HIV funding · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

South African blog, Idland posts on the retraction of a $40M grant that was coming to town to prevent mother-to child transmission of hiv by the Global Fund because of a discrepancy between the treatment cost per head and the drug cost per head.  He comments “It seems so much more vile to be literally stealing the HIV treatment from small children. I guess believing that HIV/AIDS is a Western conspiracy offers some consolation to the thieves.”


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Syria: Khaddam chances are? · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

For Khaddam, chances are he is simply too corrupt for other people in the opposition to approach. Should he drastically temper and revise his expectations, he might have a chance of appealing to some. One thing is clear though: he will not be allowed to become the leader of the external opposition, no matter how highly he happens to think of himself, Ammar said.


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Tajikistan: Fraternizing with Iran · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

neweurasia reports that Tajikistan has picked on odd time to be fraternizing with Iran..

author: Nathan Hamm


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Tajikistan: Kurgan Teppa · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Tajikistan Travels reports on a visit to the Kurgan Teppa Women's Center, the only center of its kind in the country, and tells the story of one of the women there.


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Tajikistan: Wedding · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Tajikistan Travels reports on a Tajik wedding.


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The Kurdish Blogs-The 3 Week Update · Global Voices
Deborah Ann Dilley

I have been remiss in my duties to you, dear Global Voices readers, in not posting about the Kurdish Blogosphere for three weeks. Today I will try to catch you up in the ongoings of the Kurds in this new year. As to why I missed my articles, let's just say that planning a wedding is much more of a daunting task than I thought that it would be.
For mental ease on my part, we are going to go blog by blog instead of thematically. The Kurdistan Bloggers Union besides New Year's Greetings has two other posts of mild interest: One, about the media coverage of the bird flu and civil war rumors in Iraq, the comments on this post reveal more about the issues that the original post; the second post (which I admittedly wrote) is about an evening with former US Ambassador Joe Wilson and his comments on the Middle East.
Land of the Sun:Kurdistan has a post about the famous Van Cat, once you see pictures of this distinctive cat I am sure that you will remember seeing it in many places.
Sami from Iraqi Thoughts has returned and gives us his impressions of the December voting in Iraq:
What saddens me is that in my heart I know the best people capable of turning Iraq around are not popular inside of Iraq and the problem still lies in so many lists.
Hiwa from Hiwa Hopes writes about the Turkish schools in Northern Iraq/Southern Kurdistan, and his hopes for a less corrupt government in Southern Kurdistan. He also has a fun post about a non-smoking Kurdish village.
Pearls of Iraq has Kurdish proverbs, part one and part two. She also continues to give us weekly updates on the reconstruction efforts in Southern Kurdistan, including  part two, part three, and the weekly update for this week.
From Holland to Kurdistan writes about the importance of the recent conviction of Dutch businessman Van Anraat:
The main suppliers of deadly weapons will walk free. Frans van Anraat is only one of the guilty ones. Despite this; the court confirmed that other suspects that delivered chemicals to Saddam could face trial too. Something I missed in the short news items of news agencies.
Vladimir also posted several times about the bird flu in northern Kurdistan and how the Turkish health ministers are not handling the situation and letting it reach crisis proportions. Other posts include rumors of a movie to be made about Mustafa Barzani and the salon skincare craze of Kurdish men in Southern Kurdistan.
Roj Bash has a fabulous post detailing the defense at the University of Sorbonne, Paris, of Saywan Barzani's thesis in politicial science : The Iraqi Kurdistan Question, 1991-2005.
I find that I can't say enough about the work that Save Roj TV is doing and I just recommend that you make this blog a daily regular on your reading list.
If you want to know about the lastest updates on the bird flu in Turkey and Northern Kurdistan Rasti is the place to go, as he has multiple posts on this topic I will not link to all of them just his main page. Of course the bird flu is not all that Rasti has written about, for instance he has a great post about memories of Kurdish bread and false claims of Kurdish gangsters.
Last up on this short novel I am apparently writing is a reminder that on this weekly article I try to cover what is being written in the english Kurdish blogs, however an alternative project of mine Kurdistan Blog Count attempts to follow the Kurdish blogs in all languages. Also if you are interested there is also a Kurdish Blogs Aggregator that is regularly updated with each new Kurdish blog found.

author: Deborah Ann Dilley


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The Week That Was – Bolivian Blogs · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Este artículo también está disponible en español en Blogs de Bolivia
Bolivia will not be participating in this year’s World Cup in Germany.  In fact, they did not even come close to qualifying, finishing at the bottom of the table in the South American region.  Even though footballing success on an international level has not been achieved since qualifying for the 1994 World Cup, the most popular sport has been a subject for a growing number of blogs written by Bolivians in Bolivia and abroad.
One blog-like site that covers Bolivian football in its entirety, with special emphasis on those players abroad is La Maquina Verde, run by Alberto who resides in Sweden.  The website, which is currently under reconstruction, draws loyal readers who want to find out the latest rumors on player movement abroad, since Bolivia only boasts a handful of players who play outside of the country.
Vittorio Cattoretti takes a look at Bolivian and other international football on his blog Con Pelotas, which is a part of the Mundo Al Revés series of blogs.  This entry about the current state of Bolivian football searches for the answer to the question, “Who is to blame?”  His conclusion is that the entire system is at fault and there needs to be a reconstruction from the ground-up.  Perhaps a dramatic change would give hope for 2010, when the next World Cup is scheduled for South Africa.
Hinchas (fans) from various domestic league clubs have taken their opinions and photos to the internet, giving them an opportunity to express their love for their team.  La Paz’s top two teams, Bolivar and The Strongest, both have a presence in the blogosphere.  Bolivar, also known as “La Academia”, has three blogs, one written anonymously called simply Club Bolivar – Campeón Boliviano  and another similarly named blog called Club Bolivar – Campeón Boliviano written by “Lucho Bolivar”.  The third Bolivar blog is written by a university student named Oscar from Cochabamba called Bolivar_F.C. Official Hattrick website.
Their rivals, the team simply known as “The Strongest”, also count on a pair of blogs.  The Strongest, Orgullo Boliviano is a project of José Fernando Velasco Peñaranda from the Department of La Paz, which compiles different stories from newspapers regarding his favorite club.  Another site with little recent activity is called Blog Stronguista.
The third club with a noticeable presence in blogs is San José from Oruro.  H. Alvaro, a self-described university student and bum has an MSN Spaces page dedicated to the “Best Team in Bolivia.”  Finally, another page billed as the Página de Aliento Al Poderoso San José de Oruro comes complete with music from the club's famous backing brass band (recommended to turn down speakers if clicking on link).
Finally, Gabriel Iriarte Rico's entry included in last week's Bolivian blog summary was recently featured on the website The Global Game.   The entry described a football game, in which President-elect Evo Morales participated in a pick-up game with Iriarte and his friends last year in Cochabamba as described in the blog Gabriel al Sur de Francia.
Note: We are pleased to announce that a Spanish version of “The Week that Was – Bolivian Blogs” will appear on the Blogs de Bolivia site on a weekly basis.   Special thanks to Miguel Esquirol for making this a possibility.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Trinidad & Tobago: Ethnic profiling in the press · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Indira takes issue with references to the ethnicity of a couple accused of murder in a headline in the Trinidad Express.

author: Georgia Popplewell


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Trinidad & Tobago, India: Hutch prize for Naipaul? · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

The Caribbean Beat Blog speculates on whether V. S. Naipaul may have Indian citizenship. The Trinidad-born Nobel laureate, a long-time British subject, has been nominated for a Hutch Crossword Book Award — “the Indian ‘Booker Prize'” — whose eligibility rules state that authors “must be Indian citizens or must hold an Indian passport or should have been born in India”.


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Turkmenistan: Pensions Cut · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Peter of neweurasia relays some disturbing Russian language reports of severe pension cuts or cancellations in Turkmenistan.


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United Arab Emirates: Dubai looks like? · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

What can you do in Dubai? It's all desert?
The black feline suggest the Big Bus tour..all of Dubai within a day on a double decker bus with an open top.


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Venezuela: The Flag · Global Voices
David Sasaki

A.M. Mora y Leon has an entire post about the Venezuelan flag, commenting that “no one, not even north Americans or Mexicans, waves the national flag quite as intensely as Venezuelans do.” Daniel Duquenal brings up parliamentary discussion on changing the nation's flag and coat of arms. Finally, Luigino Bracci Roa uses the free and open-source software program, Blender to create a 3D image of the flag.

author: David Sasaki


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Albania: Whiskey · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Our Man in Tirana cautions that if one finds what appears to high-quality whiskey, it very well may be local rotgut in a good bottle.


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Argentina: Eminent Domain in Tilcara · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Jorge Gobbi follows up on the conflict between attracting tourists and respecting private property in Tilcara, Jujuy by posting an email from local resident, Jaro Godoy about the lack of media attention the story is getting.


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Armenia: Yerevan Homeless · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Both Zarchka and Onnik of Oneworld Multimedia has additional reports on the homeless in Yerevan.


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Bahamas: Race relations · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Larry Smith dissects some of the arguments around race relations in the Bahamas and conclude that racism is more illusion than reality.


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Bangladesh: 1971 remembered · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Unheard Voices links to documents that implicate certain individuals in the events of 1971 and the role of Jamaat.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Bangladesh: Jamaat · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Imtiaz's Weblog urges readers to sign the petition against Jamaat and demand that Jamaat apologize for their role in 1971.


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Bangladesh: Odhikar Report · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Razib links to a report by “Odhikar, a Human Rights organisation, published a report detailing the killings of 461 Bangladehis by the Indian Border Security Force(BSF) over the last 6 years”.


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Bolivia: The Media’s Morales Recipe · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Eduardo Ávila shares the secret recipe to any mainstream media article about Bolivia and Evo Morales. Miguel Buitrago lists some of the attendees at Morales’ inauguration including, of all people, Slovenian President, Drnovšek.


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Brazil: Date Set for São Paulo’s Pride Parade · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Made in Brazil tells readers to mark their calendars for June 17th when the world's biggest gay pride parade will take place in São Paulo.


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Cambodia: On the Scene · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Cambodia-based blogger Jinja happens to witness an opposition rally — in the midst of a power outage — while typing in a post.


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China: China is Like a Game · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Sinosplice‘s list of things that make living in China like playing a role-playing game has warmed the hearts of China-involved nerds everywhere.


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China: “Geisha” Banned? · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Angry Chinese Blogger comments on the indefinite postponement of the opening of Hollywood movie “Memoirs of a Geisha” in China.  The movie has attracted a lot of criticism from Asians who decry (for different reasons) a Chinese actress portraying a Japanese hostess.


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China: Made “in China” · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Matthew Stinson approves of a recent Businessweek article that deflates some of the exaggeration surrounding the threat posed by the Chinese economy, including the fact that many products labeled “made in China” don't come from Chinese companies. “As such, the West, while making demands upon China to open up and shift its growth strategy from exports to domestic consumption, should be conscious of the fact that the Chinese economy needs time to retool and adjust. Move too fast, demand too much, and we run the risk of breaking the Chinese economy, and a sick China could prove far more dangerous to the global economy than an ‘unstoppable’ Chinese behemoth.”


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DRC: thousands flee armed clashes · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Coalition for Darfur reports that thousands are fleeing as DRC troops clash with militia armies in the east.


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Ethiopia: Timket celebrations · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Meskel Square posts photos from Addis Ababa's Epiphany celebrations known as Timket


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Ethiopia:  · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Addis Ababa Rocking Fun Zone decides  to get serious and start reporting  on politics and current affairs from Ethiopia.  He has a rant against the US and concludes he will leave the politics to Meskel Square and others


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Guatemalan Blogs in 2006 · Global Voices
David Sasaki

TIME declared 2004 as the beginning of the golden age for blogs and ABC News declared Bloggers as the people of the year, during 2005 blog's growth didn't stop and according to Technorati there are more than 24 million blogs. Christian Van Der Henst, Guatemalan director of MaestrosdelWeb.com (webmasters), in the editorial“Do you have a blog already?”, lays out the characteristics which, to my criteria, have allowed blogs to become so highly accepted. If you don't know what a blog is, you can find the definition of blog  in the Wikipedia.
In Guatemala there are blogs that are already heading for their third anniversary, such as Zaxl ‘s and Cvander, and particularly Guate360, a collaborative blog maintained by youth, which I consider the virtual headquarter of all the Guatemalan blogs for being the blog with most national content and interesting discussions within its comments. Guate360 speaks to us about diverse topics but beginning this year we have to emphasize that beside all the content generated by this site in 2005 the young people that promote it have translated their interest to action and succeeded in multiplying smiles this Christmas thanks to the support of many Guatemalans, many of them residents overseas, who collaborated with an interesting fund-raising campaign and toy drive which took place completely on the Internet, showing the potential reach that the Internet can have with just a little bit of good will.
During 2005 I got to know many Guatemalan blogs and I decided to maintain and share with everyone a list of blogs of Guatemala, which beginning now will classify the active blogs and abandoned blogs and will add other web sites that sindicate news and information, among those El Periodico, Recrearte and the SAT; the latter of which is my job's website where we've worked to take advantage of the benefits of content syndication for our portal and within newsletters. Also worthy of notice this year is the EnRed program developed by the PrensaLibre and supported by young and very professional webmasters who in the great majority are also well-known Guatemalan bloggers.
I would have to write a complete news story to cover 2005 in the Guatemalan blogosphere, something that fills me with satisfaction when I see the ability and quality of the work being done. I have yet to find all the Guatemalan blogs that participated in my game of the “Testigo Chapín” (Guatemalan witness), I know they are plenty because recently I was checking the access registry to my page and I found at least 5 blogs that were new for me. I promise that in January I ‘ll compile them all and will write a post listing all the Guatemalan witnesses.
Guatemala, then, has interesting blogs of different types and they are all very good: I can't really say which one I like over another. Therefore, as a final recommendation, I'm listing the blogs that in this first week of the year have already published something, confirming that 2006 will be a better year for Guatemalan bloggers.
In this simple list of blogs you'll see a bit of everything: personal blogs expressing the feelings of the writer, technology blogs, webmaster blogs, system administrator blogs, blogs belonging to Guatemalan writers, to students to businessmen and even loving couples. If you wish to know more Guatemalan pages, visit my list of Guatemalan Blogs.
What is your opinion on Guatemalan blogs for 2006?


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India: Education · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The Nanopolitan writes on unschackling education in India and highlights benefits for the concerned stakeholders.


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Iran: World Cup & Nuclear · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Several bloggers such as Khorshid Khanoum (Lady Sun – in Persian) invited Iranians to vote in CNN quick vote concerning Iran & World Cup: Should Iran be banned from soccer's 2006 World Cup over its nuclear activities? Yes or No. So far 70 percent is NO!

author: Fred Petrossian


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Israel: Tel Aviv sandwich shop explosion · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Over the last two weeks the Israeli government and media had been doing their best to cover the news of the Jewish families living in Hevron.
Today a Palestinian bomber once again blew himself up in a crowd. Islamic Jihad today demonstrated a terror act by dispatching a suicide bomber to a Tel Aviv sandwich shop. Almost two dozen wounded according to early reports.


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Jamaica: Church hypocrisy & prime ministerial hopefuls · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

CoolDestiny is put off by the hypocrisy shown by her former church in its refusal to handle the funeral of a woman on the grounds that she was an “informal commercial importer” (also known in Jamaica as a “higgler”). The church claimed the funeral would attract “patrons [who] would smoke, drink, curse etc. on the church compound.” And Scratchie posts photos and a short commentary on the four likely candidates for the position of Jamaican prime minister, which will become vacant when P. J. Patterson retires later this year.


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Jordan: Human Rights Teaching · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Inaccurate ‘human rights’ teaching in Jordan's national schools textbooks was reported by a Jordanian National Centre for Human Rights, Sabbah said.


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Jordan: Jews tourists · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Jordan Turns Israelis Away For Being Too Jewish? The answer is of course they don’t want Jordanians to identify them as Israeli tourists and “religious” Jews come with symbols; the outer wear. And that will make them stick out like sore thumbs where they would ordinarily pass as European tourists, Nas said.


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Kazakhstan: Dutch Disease · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Ben of neweurasia reports that Kazakhstan is seeking to avoid the problems associated with an economy based on resource extraction by investing in industry with a high value added component.


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Kenya: Blogger identity · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

What an African Woman Thinks wonders about her decision to remain anonymous…”Why has my instinct been to hide rather than to reveal my identity? Is it about not wanting to be accountable for my thoughts as expressed here? Or is it about another thing that Dan Gilmore alludes to as reported in the same blog entry”


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Kiswahili Blogosphere · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Mwandani is not sure whether he should be happy or sad after reading the review of  the former President of Tanzania, Benjamin Mkapa, two five-year terms.   Mkapa finished his second term at the end of last year.  Jakaya Kikwete, his successor, was the foreign minister in Mkapa’s government.  Kikwete is the third Tanzanian president since independence.  First it was Mwalimu Nyerere, followed by Ali Hassan Mwinyi, Benjamin Mkapa, and now Jakaya Kikwete.
Every January, Tanzanians remember the Zanzibar revolution that deposed the Sultan of Oman.  This year, Mwandani reflects over the long history of violence in the semi autonomous Island.  During his inauguration speech, the Tanzanian president, Jakaya Kikwete,  promised to take care of political tension in Zanzibar.
Michuzi digs up an old photo of the first Tanzanian president mixing soil from Zanzibar and Tanganyika to symbolize the union between the two countries in 1964.
Gaphiz writes very briefly about a site with Tanzanian domain name, which allows people to blog for free.
Responding to increasing interest in blogging in Tanzania,  Jikomboe starts a new blog of Swahili blogging instructions.  The blog will basically contain an updated version of the instruction manual that has been used in Kiswahili blogosphere  for the past two years.
For some reasons, most Kiswahili bloggers are either poets or poetry lovers.  It is nearly impossible to translate most of the poems and convey the same message.  Most of the time these poet bloggers are challenging each other with creative use of complex and deep Swahili, which is an established tradition in Swahili poetry.  The most prominent poet bloggers are Mkwinda, Mwandani, Kasri la Mwanazuo, and Nyembo.
Tanzania, finally, has a national dress.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Lebanon: Lebanese can’t manage own affairs · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

A day after organizing a protest against alleged foreign meddling in Lebanese affairs, Hizbullah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah told al-Hayat that the cabinet crisis he created proves that it is difficult for the Lebanese to manage their own affairs, Kais said.


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Martinique: Carnival photos · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Claudie (FR) posts photos of the Carnival preparations in Fort-de-France, Martinique.


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Nigeria: Bans gay marriage · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

TIGBlogs reports that gay marriage is banned in Nigerian . The ban includes gay rights activists and gay and lesbian people..All to face 5 year prison sentences!


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Nigeria: Niger Delta hostages · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Cyblug reports on the kidnapping of hostages by Niger Delta militants……”One step forward ten steps backwards and the problems in the region  i.e poverty remain unresolved.”


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Nigeria: The Persistence of Racism · Global Voices
Ethan Zuckerman

Black Looks, by Global Voices’ own Sokari Ekine, offers a roundup of posts reflecting on the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. and observing the persistence of racism around the world.

author: Ethan Zuckerman


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Pakistan: Bus fare and policy · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Public Policy on bus boards? Metroblogging Lahore with a photograph of what is credited as an unpublished quotation by the father of the nation on what students should be charged for bus fares.


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Palestine: Fighting Talk of Elections · Global Voices
Shaden Abdulrahman

Laila el-Haddad (Palestinian blogger of Raising Yousuf) is reporting from Gaza on the approaching legislative Palestinian elections, in a series of posts for Guardian Unlimited, Laila described the situation in Gaza last week by being unusually quite adding: “The brief calm also seems to strengthen the argument of those who posit that the recent chaos was, in fact, premeditated by certain political elements in an effort to destabilise the government or postpone elections. My guess is the gunmen are too busy devouring their Eid meat.”
This week, Laila says posters enveloped Gaza City as everyone has become a national hero while some marched down the streets shouting: “Thieves, thieves, you're all thieves” in reference to the ruling party.”. Laila gave Fatah (Arabic) party a call to find some answers, read her full story here

author: Shaden Abdulrahman


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Poland: Plumber Sacked · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

the beatroot reports that the brains behind the wildly successful “Polish Plumber” ad campaign has been fired by the new government.


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South Asia Blog Buzz · Global Voices
Kamla Bhatt

In this week's round-up of South Asian bloggers many of them share common themes and threads sports, read cricket; films; food; and of course politics.
Bangladesh:
Samad of Bangladesh Watchdog has a posting about the Human Rights Report for Bangladesh. Nayma, a political science student from New York wonders about Institutions and Constitutions and comes to the realization that Bangladesh has an “Electoral” democracy. She shares her thoughts about Bangladesh and how it compares to some of the other states in the world.
Cell phones and their users have come under scrutiny and Drishtipat has a post about moral policing and cell phone usage in Bangladesh.
These two blog entries have pictures from Bangladesh. Bonlebon has a link on where do ships from around the world go to die? Amy shares here pictures of Dhaka.
Bhutan:
The landlocked country of Bhutan does not have many bloggers. Rossputin has a political update on the country via his friend in Bhutan. The current king will retire in a couple of years making way for his son. And Cyborg in his discussion about a Buddhish book points out that the current king coined the term Gross National Happiness.
India:
Technology, and anything technical, is always a hot topic of conversation among Indian bloggers. This week we take a look at Apple, the company that does not possess much traction in India when compared to Microsoft. What do bloggers think of the company and its products? We have two interesting views on this subject. Amalgalm of Thoughts has an interesting take on Apple's iPod. It is not iPod they say, instead it is iPlod. Read on to discover why they call it iPlod. Apple dominates the thoughts of another blogger — Mandar, writes about a wonderful iPod Creativity Contest and Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple.
Abhilash of Sania Mirza India's Teen Pride has a write-up about her Australian Open performance. Cricket fever is on in India and this picture by Dinesh speaks volume. You say footaball season and Superbowl? Switch over to India to witness the frenzy over cricket.
Anurag Jain has a nice round-up of the Tri-Continental Film Festival organized by Breakthrough, a Human Rights Organization. There are some interesting films from South Africa, China and Latin American countries. It is not very common to come across blog postings about Chattisgarh, a new Indian state that came into existence five years ago. Saurabh has a nice round-up about Chattisgarh.
Neologism, or new words, are constantly crafted in India and perhaps this is a natural off-shot of a polyglot society. For example, it is common to fuse an Indian language with an English word, and viola you have the birth of a new word. Word Mint has converted this pastime into a regular feature and has a blog to showcase their efforts. This group of creative people are constantly churning new and interesting words. Read on.
Pakistan:
The Cricket mania has seeped into the private lives of the players. Two Pakistani players have put their marriage plans on hold due to the cricket season. Read here. It sounds that marriage season was not only in the mind of cricket players, it was also the a hot button topic for Sami. British Born Confused Desi is visiting Pakistan from the UK, and shares her thoughts and pictures of Lahore's inner city.
Karachi Metroblogging writes that musician Bryan Adams will perform at a live concert on January 29th, 2006. South Asians love their food and tea. Fahd discusses his favorite tea spots in his town of Wah. Metroblogging Islamabad mentions the influence of Afghani immigrants in terms of food: french fries with Afghani chutni, now that is definitely a new twist to that food.
ZindagiXP has an interesting blog entry about dwarfs and giants — how do politicians behave in comparison to entrepreneurs?
Nepal:
Nepal Law has a list of human rights activists arrested by the government this week. The arrests total to about 89 people including politicians. Democracy of Nepal's Parmendra Bhagat shares his views on the latest development in Nepal.

author: Kamla Bhatt


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Taiwan: Taiwan’s Myspace.com · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

the leaky pen talks about the pros and cons of Wretch, a Taiwan blog-hosting service much like myspace.com that appears to attract not just teenagers but politicians and local celebrities.


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Tajikistan: Traffic · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

neweurasia reports that Tajiks are suffering from the increased drug traffic across the country from Afghanistan.


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Thailand: In-Between · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

vdaniel writes at Thai-blogs.com about his unease at being an Asian male in the U.S. yet not quite accepted either in Thailand.  “If America annot accet me and Thailand views me as a stranger , where do I belong? Australia maybe?”  Read the discussion that follows as well.


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This Week on  Nigerian Blogs · Global Voices
Imnakoya

I’m sure that whoever came up with the phrase: “It is a men’s world” must have turned in his/her grave going by Olaniyi David Ajao's post entitled:  “Female Heads of States”.
”Women rights activists must be grinning from ear-to-ear right now.” He states. “In the past few weeks, a new wave seems to be spreading through the world’s political landscape as more women take up leading roles. Today, a new head of state is being sworn into office, in the west African nation of Liberia. She happens to be Africa’s first female democratically-elected President. I’m talking about Madam Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. Just yesterday, the people of Chile voted-in their first female President – Michelle Bachelet…”
His post also mentions the Chancellor Angela Merkel, and South African Vice President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka as other female political leaders.
Still on Nigerians in the Diaspora, Yesi at “NTEX”  discusses a collaborative research of Professor Wole Soboyebo, a Nigerian academic at University of Princeton. The Professor has received a set of grants from the United States’ National Science Foundation to “build relationships between African and American professionals, develop a manufacturing base in Africa that will allow the continent to participate in more lucrative trade in the global market…”
Orikinla at the Nigerian Times is  elated by the Chinese desire to invest in the Oil and Gas sector of the Nigerian economy. Other Nigerian Bloggers are not so enthused about the $ 2.3 billion dollar deal. Sokari at Black Looks, states that: “…Judging by China's track record of human rights and respect of the environment in China and their record in Sudan, I suspect that little will change for the people of the Niger Delta and may in fact become worse.”
Chippla, a Sino-skeptic, who has always made it clear where he stands on Sino-Nigerian trade relationship appears somewhat swayed by the newly revealed China African Policy, stating, “Something new might just come out of the China African Policy…”
“Africa's development in the 21st century appears inextricably tied to that of China.” He opines on his blog.  “Inasmuch as this writer detests a situation where African nations serve as nothing more than exporters of raw materials, something new MIGHT just come out of the China African Policy. For instance, it speaks of medical and health cooperation as well as science and technology cooperation. Now, that's one part that really interests this writer…science and technology cooperation. For unless a reasonable number of African nations begin exporting more than just “raw materials” to China, skepticism and caution will remain the order of the day”.
Emeka of “Timbuktu Chronicles”  showcases a Nigerian entrepreneur who has discovered his niche in the disposal of human waste. “DMT Mobile Toilets is a trailblazer in the field of human waste disposal. Their locally manufactured portable loos are “…FILLING A SERIOUS NEED…Motivated by the recognition that there are fewer than 500 functional public toilets in Nigeria , and that the vast majority of these toilets are poorly maintained and inadequate. With a population of about one hundred and fifty million people (150,000,000), the company has begun to make inroads into the public toilet arena… ”
The sentencing of a Nigerian to 376 years of imprisonment for advance fee fraud is one of the news items reported on Chidi Ezeibe’s “News from Nigeria”
Chidi states  that “NEMESIS at the weekend caught up with a 32-year old Nigerian, Mr. Harrison Odiawa. He was sentenced to 376 years imprisonment without an option of fine for defrauding an American, Mr. George Robert Blick…” By the time scam was reported to the FBI, Odiawa had obtained more than $ 2 million from Blick.
In a more recent post captioned: ” Obasanjo pleads for kidnapped oil workers “,  Chidi writes about the ongoing unrest in the oil-rich Niger-Delta region of Nigeria:
“Obasanjo yesterday held a crucial meeting with the nation's political and military leaders over the threat to oil installations in the Niger Delta at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.  The leaders established a committee to ensure prompt release of the kidnapped oil workers. President Obasanjo, who presided over the meeting, appealed to the hostage takers “not to do anything that might result in the loss of lives…”
“In recognition of the monumental role played by Nigerian blogs in the year 2005 the Naijarita News team has created the Nigerian Weblog Awards 2005 to honour exceptional bloggers from Nigeria. Can you believe that we already have 132 blogs in a country of only 120 million people? Phenomenal, isn’t…” Check out who got what!

author: Imnakoya


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Trinidad & Tobago: Chinese heritage · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Christopher Yee Mon learns about his heritage from a newspaper article on the Chinese presence in Trinidad; and in an international business course he learns that anyone of Chinese descent is considered a citizen of China under Chinese law. “Nice to know I still have a home to go back to,” he says.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Did Kitch steal from Lady Day? · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Jonathan Ali is going through a Billie Holiday phase — which leads him to wonder whether the great calypsonian Lord Kitchener may be guilty of plagiarism.


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Argentina: Ruthless Efficiency, Cultural Consumption · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Ian clarifies that he's not joking when, in a post entitled “Argentina's Ruthless Efficiency” he writes that it only took 20 minutes to get a three month working visa. Roberto Bobrow is back with another comic about the state of cultural consumption in Argentina. But in his bilingual explanation, he says he's skeptical of the survey.


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Bahamas: House arrest · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

“At the time of this writing a convicted murderer escaped from the prison is still on the loose in Nassau and our son and I are at home with the doors locked,” writes Lynn Sweeting in a post highly critical of prison conditions and the state of the police force in the Bahamas. And Larry Smith discusses the ups and downs of the Bahamas’ offshore financial sector in light of the global crackdown on money laundering.


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Bangladesh: Human Rights · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Unheard Voices on Human Rights Watch World Report 2006 with excerpts on sections on Bangladesh.


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Bermuda: Commentary & cloning · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

The Limey abandons the idea of guest contributors and invites readers instead to send in their comments by e-mail. He's already received two responses. And Valentine Michael Smith announces that Bermuda is to launch an official program of cloning.


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Bolivia: PR Advice for Bechtel · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Jim Shultz has some PR advice for Bechtel: admit that they made a mistake in their administration of Cochabamba's water supply.


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Caribbean: Introducing Indigo Leaf magazine · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Karen Walrond unveils her ambitious new venture, a Salon.com type web site called Indigo Leaf magazine featuring work by writers and artists previously unpublished in the US.


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China: Flash Patriotism · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Sinosplice points us to some pretty, Flash patriotic propaganda for China.


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Costa Rica: Broadband (Im)penetration · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Bob Glass writes that for every 1,000 Costa Rican inhabitants, there are only 10 high speed connections, compared to South Korea's 248 or even Chile's 59.


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Costa Rica: Elections Site · Global Voices
David Sasaki

JD Clarke has launched a website dedicated to the 2006 presidential elections in Costa Rica called elecciones2006.com (ES). On its front page is an announcement which seeks volunteer photographers, pundits, and bloggers who want to help cover the election.


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Dominican Republic: Country’s first podcast coming soon · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Remolacha.net announces that the Dominican Republic's first podcast will be coming soon.


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DRC: Patrice Lumumba · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

The Trials & Tribulations of a Freshly-Arrived Denizen reminds us that we should not forget Patrice Lumumba...”Today, I say SHAME to Belgium for having killed this man, and SHAME to the US for having had a President under the name of Eisenhower who ordered his death because of the distorted view that the man, fighting for his country, was a Communist.”


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Egypt: Visit Nefertari · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

A special fund raising tour for Theban Mapping Project will cost you $5,000 not including flights plus a donation of $500, Tour Egypt said. The tour promise to take you to visit Nefertari and other closed tombs like KV5 and Seti I.


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Eritrea: Press freedom · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

EMDHR from Eritrea writes on the lack of press freedom in Eritrea….”Nowadays, in Eritrea, the government in power controls the mass media. Newspapers, radio and television stations are predominantly government owned or censored. As a result of this, an atmosphere of phobia and lack of interest is created among journalists and those individuals who want to express their views and concerns through this avenue. Being denied this inalienable right, the people are not sincere at all in expressing their views about how they really feel about an administration when asked”


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Ethiopia: thoughts on motherhood · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Weichegud! ET Politics comments on an interview she watched on US TV with actress Felicity Huffman who recently  became a mother.  Huffman through the spanner in the works by coming out and saying first she resents being asked if motherhood is the greatest thing that ever happened to her and secondly no its not.. I with her on this one!
“Motherhood is not the most beautiful thing I have done in my life. Rather, it has been the most uncertain, destabilizing entity to hit my life. All of a sudden my confidence plummeted, I lost my footing, I was filled with doubt and dread about being responsible for the wellbeing of another living, breathing human being.”


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Grenada: Day of protest · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

YingYang reports that today, trade unions in Grenada will be observing a day of protest in reaction to a Reconstruction Levy being imposed by the government. The bus associations are also expected to participate. For the benefit of Grenadians living outside of the country, YingYang emphasizes that the country is not on the brink of another revolution.


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India: Changing Trends · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

What will really change India? Post-graduates placed in MNCs, or more people listening to their inner voice and taking up more risky careers like writing and politics? Rashmi on the recent news of some students from a top ranked technology institute opting to go into politics.


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India: Comparing Spain · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Spanish In India reads an article on labour laws reforms in India and goes on to compare the scenario with Spain to understand how reforms may or may not work.


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Iran: Blogger gets three-year suspended sentence · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Journalist and blogger Ahmad Reza Shiri (Persian) will have a permanent threat hanging over him as a result of the suspended sentence (used to silence journalists who bother the authorities) of three years in prison handed down by a court in the northern city of Mashhad, Reporters Without Borders said today. He was reportedly accused of writing articles in his blog calling for a boycott of last February’s legislative elections.


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Iran: Stencils of Islamic Revolution · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Iran graffiti exposes a couple of stencils  (Persian) of Islamic Revolution on the walls. There are images of Khomeini & Beheshti.


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Jamaica: Homosexuality & politics · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Stunner attempts to set the record straight on Jamaica's attitude toward homosexuality. “Yes homosexuality is illegal in Jamaica,” he says “and it ought to remain like that! Like me most Jamaicans believe that it is wrong, immoral and nasty!” And Scratchie offers an overview of the political scene.


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Kenya: Domestic violence · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Gukira and MentalAcrobatics both write eloquently on the subject of domestic violence… MA writes “As a man I feel disgrace that on what is essentially my watch, i.e. in my years of manhood, it has become more dangerous for women to be women in our cities, in our towns, in our villages, in our homes. Rape, beatings, domestic violence on the increase.” and Gukira “I am haunted by the cries of a high school teacher’s wife. Her voice punctuated my evening prep, as her husband, a history instructor, struck her again and again. No one intervened. Not his fellow teachers and certainly not students. “


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Kuwait: Kuwaiti leadership on the brink · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

After the sad passing of the Kuwait Emir earlier this week, everything was supposed to be figured out within the week or so to clear the view for us as Kuwaitis to know what is the future of our leadership.
The new Emir, Sheikh Sa'ad, is physically in very bad shape. There was an argument on wether it is possible for Sheikh Sa'ad to be Emir without saying the oath.
Everybody in Kuwait was hoping for the ruling family to agree on something very quickly so everything can go back to normal. Unfortunately, it has gone the opposite way so far, Kuwaitism said.


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Malawi: Giving birth · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Babycatcher - midwife based in Malawi writes movingly on the death of a 17 year old woman during child birth…..“The 17-year-old mother died under our noses and now I’m trying to provide hope and help by giving cans of formula. One word – inadequate.”


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Malawi: Impeachment withdrawn  · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Anti-Bakili Muluzi reports on the move by a MP to withdraw the impeachment notice against  President Bingu wa Mutharika of Malawi


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Malaysia: Worth a Thousand Words · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Genuinely Bored is a new blog by a Kuching, Malaysia-based graphic designer.  She's putting up drawings she's made over the past decade that are themselves thoughtful comments.  Call it graphic posting.


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Mixed musings from Southern Africa · Global Voices
Bronwyn

There's never a dull moment in South African politics. It's January and we already have our first political scandal of the year. Every political scandal gets a name – most of them ending in “gate”. Last year we had Travelgate (MP's scamming the parliamentary travel voucher scheme), Oilgate (ruling party political funding foulplay linked to the oil industry) and Zumagate (the axing of deputy president Jacob Zuma over corruption allegations).  Our latest shennanigans however, makes bold departure from the “gate” terminology, it's been dubbed the “gravy plane”. Our new deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, it transpires, took a December holiday that wasn't strictly kosher. She took her family on a jaunt to the United Arab Emirates (possibly via Mombassa) using a luxury military jet at the taxpayers expense. She was accompanied by the wife of a cabinet minister, and it's alleged that the three adults involved had more than sightseeing in mind, and were rather more interested in furthering their private business interests.
Commentary joins the debate over whether the trip was legal or not: “I'll concede that Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka's state-funded shopping expedition probably was legal (if only because nobody bothered to cover it up), and I'll even concede the principle that high-ranking government officials are entitled to use state-sponsored transport for personal use, due to security concerns and so on. But the real problem here is the amount. R700,000 is insanely high. How did she manage to spend this much on a week-long holiday? Was she perhaps chauffeured around the United Arab Emirates in a gold-plated Rolls Royce Phantom? Ultimately, even if the whole thing was absolutely, 100% legal, it still reflects poorly on the content of her character. “Right and wrong” is not the same thing as “legal and illegal”, and this was definitely wrong, irrespective of what the lawyers say about it.”
Scandal aside, the political atmosphere is becoming hot and steamy as we count down to local government elections on March 1st. The main election issues are the high levels of corruption in local government and the lack of service delivery for the poor, relating to housing, water & sanitation, and the provision of electricity.  These two factors have given rise to a series of violent grassroots protests in the poor informal settlements of the country. Last year there were around eighty such protest actions, and we've already had two so far this year.  African Houseit takes a look at a study on the housing crisis in the Western Cape:  “The housing backlog has increased proportional to the growth of the population in the province and has reached a crisis point where it is about to spiral out of control. This study argues that the exacerbation of the crisis in housing is as a result of the overall shift towards market-oriented policies, which shapes the approach of housing authorities. “
Politics.za writes about tensions within the ruling African National Congress (ANC) relating to their election candidate lists: “The ANC is finding that drawing up electoral lists is harder than expected.  [President] Thabo Mbeki has stated that he intends to use these local elections to rid council of corruption and ‘populists’ but he’s going to find that hard to do when local ANC branches submit lists full of the people he is trying to get rid of. I don’t think that the national ANC structure can override to much of the choices of the local ANC wards without straining tensions in the ANC even further.”
Well, it's not all seriousness and politics in South Africa, Red Star Coven is of the opinion our country has finally managed to deliver the great South African movie:  “went to see “Tsotsi” in Glasgow the other night. What an amazing, powerful film. For those who know nothing about it, maybe saying it’s South Africa’s answer to “Trainspotting” or “City of God” will give you a picture. It’s about a township gangster in Soweto who hijacks a car, finds a baby in the back seat and decides to look after it.” Cherryflava shows off a set of gorgeous photo's from a recent trip to Zanzibar, and Lusharazzi tells us why we should avoid going to Cape Town's annual high society J&B Met horse racing event.
Finally, moving beyond South Africa's borders to our north western neighbour, the Botswana blog Mr. Twice, has this to say: “Botswana needs to change and needs the change soon otherwise we’ll end up in the same mess as other african countries who used to have plenty but are now starving. …. i would like to say that there are two fundamental things which do not exist and their lack thereof is already eroding our economy and society like cancer. These two things are 1. Meritocracy and 2. Accountability.”

author: Bronwyn


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Nepal: Curfew Times · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

United We Blog! has images from Khatmandu which is currently under curfew in two parts.


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Nigeria: Poetry  · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Molara Wood has an excerpt from a novel by  British/Ghanian poetNii Ayikwei Parkes – a novel in progress.


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Nigeria: same sex marriage outlawed · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Musings of a Naijman comments on the passing of a bill outlawing same sex marriage in Nigeria…”He caps it by reiterating that oft repeated triteness espoused by such eminences as the venerable Mugabe that homosexuality is “unAfrican”


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North Korea, South Korea: Treatment of Defectors · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

The Asia Pages writes about how poorly North Korean defectors are treated in South Korea: “for all the rhetoric of love South Koreans speak of when referring to North Koreans, there are too many cases of Southerners talking the talk but not walking the walk.”


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Pakistan: Getting interviewed · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The Olive Ream, a GV contributor – is interviewed by Radio Open Source and has a quite a tale to tell.


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Peru: Political Blogs · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Juan Arellano reviews (ES) two Peruvian political blogs as the election season heats up. Peru Election 2006 is written in English and Spanish by political science students at the University of British Columbia. Perú Político is written solely in Spanish by two Peruvian and one German political science students with the advice of Peruvian philosophy professor, Raúl Valenzuela.


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Philippines: Long Day’s Journey · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Jessica Zafra is on her way to Utah from Manila for the Sundance Film Festival.  Her first adventure: a cancelled flight in Manila that forces her to stay overnight at a cockroach-infested hotel with Filipino immigrants to the U.S. who say “Tell dem we are prom di Istates and we are not use to mabaho (stink).”  Follow her further adventures beginning here.


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Singapore: Closed Door · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Recently, several prominent Singapore bloggers were invited to a “closed door” meeting held by a well-connected think tank.  The meeting was called “Blogging and the Law.”  Sintercom. org wonders if the meeting was a prelude to government legislation against bloggers, while Singabloodypore thinks “it was probably just a cosy chat. But why the silence? A lot of ‘silence’ around the sg blogosphere these days from the so called ‘elite’.”


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Singapore: Victim of its Own Success · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

The annotated budak writes down his thoughts about Singapore blog aggregator tomorrow.sg: as it becomes a one-stop shop for the Singapore blogosphere, people are expecting far more than it can deliver.  Has it become a victim of its own success?


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South Africa: 4 years in London · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

One Afrikan celebrates 4 years of living in London.….”If anything, the past 4 years have been something of a pilgrimage, and with any pilgrimage (not that I’ve done one mind) there is a sense of satisfaction that starts surfacing as you start feeling that the pilgrimage itself is worth it.”


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Views from the Horn of Africa · Global Voices
Vandu

The blogosphere in the Horn of Africa and Sudan has been awash with discussions spanning the realms of culture and politics. One common feature, which seems to have arisen amongst Ethiopian bloggers is their lack of sympathy for the ruling government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. Ethiopian Paradox, a thought provoking and very insightful blog, presents a write up titled: “Ethnicity gone awry” in which it accuses the Meles government of playing the ethnicity game for political gain:
“In Ethiopia, the world is witnessing ethnicity gone awry. The division of Ethiopia into ethnic administrative regions was mandated by the TPLF [Tigrayan People's Liberation Front, a part of the ruling party in Ethiopia] government and written into a new constitution approved by faux elections. The idea of ethnic federalism did not originate from the people nor did they approve of it in free and fair elections…ethnic federalism must be viewed as an artificial system imposed from above.”
The blog ethiopundit appears to fully concur with the views expressed by Ethiopian Paradox on ethnicity. In an article titled: In Whose name?, ethiopundit states:
“…ethiopundit is not denying the importance of ethnicity. It is a profound and necessarily respected aspect of every person. However, that aspect of identity is more often than not manipulated for selfish ends with the classic aim of divide and rule… Ethnic politics does serve the interests of a very few whose security in power trumps all other considerations.”
Meskel Square, a blog by a journalist who gets to travel around Ethiopia, presents some fascinating topics that touch on daily life in the country. For instance, it speaks of young Ethiopian boys’ fascination with English Premiership football (yes, even those that reside in remote Ethiopia). Meskel Square also speaks of Ethiopia becoming a new tourist destination. In its opinion, Ethiopia with its “Gondar castles and underground churches… is really a great place to visit.”
Inside Somaliland presents some very beautiful pictures of the arid and serene landscape of Somaliland (Somaliland is an unrecognized state. It is viewd by the wider world as being part of Somalia). In an article called “Finding Peace”, its author tells of the serenity that comes from being in such a landscpae, and of a little nomad girl called Hilda. Of Hilda, the author writes:
“Deep inside, I wished I could be like her even for a moment. No hassles, no pressure, no demands of the hectic busy life in the city where everything is measured and judged by how you talk, you do and wear. Where life is controlled by the latest technology. Where life is sometimes superficial and mundane, sometimes not. There are times, when my soul wishes to be still. Moments when I long to reach deep inside to know my truth and find peace.”
Djibouti is a small African nation perched between Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and the Red Sea.  With a population of less than half a million, this French and Arabic speaking nation appears to be hardly ever mentioned in the blogosphere. However, Djibouti recently decided to take France to the International Court of Justice over the latter’s violation of a treaty obligation to provide some assistance to the former in a criminal investigation.
All of a sudden, this bonsai African nation made the waves in the blogosphere. Djibouti had finally arrived! The blog Opinio Juris, having posted on the Djibouti-France case, asked the following question of its readers:
“I know many of our readers are savvy well-educated, well-travelled internationalists. But how many of you really know where Djibouti is? How many of you knew it is located in between Somalia and Eritrea and the location of the main U.S. military base in that region?”
The blog Punks Page simply titles its article: “Djibouti Rocks” and chips in the following lines:
“this small, seemingly insignificant east African country is taking FRANCE to court! ahhh… i love africa!”
Several other references to Djibouti in the blogosphere appear in the French language.

author: Vandu


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From the Ethiopian blogosphere · Global Voices
Andrew Heavens

Political unrest returned to the streets of Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa this week. And, once again, the country's bloggers were on the frontline.
Posts over the last few days focused on clashes between armed federal police and protesters during the annual celebrations of Timket – the ancient Ethiopian Orthodox Church's festival of the Epiphany.
There were no confirmed reports of deaths during the protests, which were sparked by controversial national elections and the subsequent mass arrests of opposition politicians, journalists and alleged rioters. But the violence had ominous echoes of more serious confrontations in June and November last year, when more than 80 people were killed.
Things We Should Have Written Down was, as usual, right in the middle of things with his post Timket violence:
Then shots rang out. One, two, three. I lost count as the crowd surged. An old woman next to me nearly fell, and I thought to help her but realized that I too was almost falling. My colleague had his hand on my back at first, trying to keep track of me, but soon he was out of sight.
When I looked back to try and spot him, I saw a man fall to the ground in pain. Blood was streaming from his leg. It was clear that he had been shot. I tried to push my way back through the people, but this was impossible. There was screaming and crying, and the wounded man was picked up and taken away in a matter of seconds, leaving only a shoe and a puddle of blood.
Aqumada posted another eye-witness account from a friend. Nazret.com kept everyone up to date with photos of the unrest. Meskel Square missed the action but published some more photos of the colourful Timket celebrations before any trouble broke out.
Global Voices’ own Ethan Zuckerman joined in with a barbed modest proposal for Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on his personal site My heart's in Accra. The proposal in question was for Meles to stock up on non-lethal munitions – including sponge bullets and beanbag projectiles – for the next time his forces have to control crowds of protesters in the nation's cities.
Carpe Diem Ethiopia mixed Ethiopian and American politics with his reflection on Martin Luther King, Jr., the EPRDF and protest politics:
In honoring MLK we also celebrate the rights to assemble, petition, and to protest, rights so vital for a democracy yet rendered criminal liabilities by a government that defines itself as “revolutionary” and “democratic.”
Outside politics, Aqumada got all earthy on us with posts on the Amharic alphabet and news of the discovery of an Amharic translation of the word nipple.
Weichegud! ET Politics published a moving exposé on the realities of life as a parent in Mother blogger:
Motherhood is not the most beautiful thing I have done in my life. Rather, it has been the most uncertain, destabilizing entity to hit my life. All of a sudden my confidence plummeted, I lost my footing, I was filled with doubt and dread about being responsible for the wellbeing of another living, breathing human being. I spent countless nights debating and rattling sabers with my husband about morality, discipline, logic and latitude—and I can guarantee you no part of it was beautiful. I’ve agonized over what a complete basket case I’d be if I lost a child. Parenthood made me be what I had always resented: vulnerable, bourgeois and the champion of everything status quo. I started to fight to quell the rebel in me and gut check that part of me which made questioning authority prerequisite for fun. Alas now I was the authority. Parenthood turns you into a horrible cliché.
Ethiopundit highlighted a forgotten corner of Ethiopian history with his posting on new research about a group of early twentieth century Ethiopian intellectuals known as The Japanizers:
The term (Japanizers) highlighted the impact of Japan’s Meiji transformation on Ethiopia’s intellectuals. Japan’s dramatic metamorphosis by the end of the nineteenth century from a feudal society—like Ethiopia’s—into an industrial power attracted them.
One blogger who made it clear he was never going to touch the ins and outs of Ethiopian politics “with a ten-foot pole” was Addis Ababa Rocking Fun Zone who returned after a long hiatus on Monday. In his own words:
Although it might be more interesting, or at least more timely, to discuss Ethiopian politics, I have no interest in doing that. I prefer my physical and social safety…Perhaps if I was blogging from the U.S., I might be able to offer my thoughts, but no dice for now…
Continuing a dinner conversation I had with some friends last night, however, I can take on the emotionally invigorating subject of which Ethiopian musician has the best beats.
His answer was, of course, the Ethiopian singing sensation Teddy Afro. Next week, he promised, he would take on another hot topic – “Ethiopian pastries: better or worse than their American counterparts”. Stay tuned.

author: Andrew Heavens


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Global Fusion: Creating Delicious Food One Meal at the Time! · Global Voices
Melissa De León

#1: Madrid Fusion
My colleague Chef Elena was in Spain with three other Panamanian chefs, for the  world famous "Madrid Fusion" one week event, held in the beautiful city of Madrid. No doubt this is an incredible event. It will set the course for the emerging and extravagant cooking techniques, inspiring many and shocking many more. Head over to El Amor por la Cocina to read her first report on this event.
Chef Inés Peña from Apuntes de Cocina desde Venezuela, and VelSid from Directo al Paladar (ES) from Spain, also report on this important event.
#2: Pork Education
"Pig Ignorant, that's me…" is a very tasty essay that Cook Sister wrote on the delicious "gammon" subject. But, to get to that porky end, she goes through a very detailed explanation of each of the pig breeds: lard breed and bacon breed. If you are not confident with your gammon knowledge and need a hand or a ham, this is your lucky day because we have found the right post for you!
#3: A Consumer Report from Bermuda
How many times have you been beaten up by the indifference of a supermarket clerk, and other silent crimes that challenge our existence and our only human need to look for food in those places? BermudaSucks.com … the inside scoop reports almost in tears of joy what happened to him: "Friendly Service in Supermarketplace Shocker"
#4:  Say Cheese!
There is nothing like a fresh, carefully prepared-from-scratch-with-love cheese! That's what two cheese-loving bloggers,  in two very distant places of the world, created. In California, Sam from the Becks & Posh blog prepared "homemade ricotta cheese" from a very easy recipe she learned at the Tante Marie's Cooking School. Then, thousands of miles away in India, Anthony from the Anthony's Bachelor Cooking prepared an outstanding paneer, which he later used to cook a colorful "Paneer Masala with Green Peas and Potatoes." You would be amazed at how easy it is to prepare these types of cheeses.
#5: Brazilian Mango Fever
While in Panama we call it "ceviche de mango", in Brazil, the South American paradise with world famous beaches that I enjoyed when I was growing up, it is called "Salada de Mangas Verdes".  This last recipe was beautifully prepared by Karen from the Kafka na Praia. She also prepared a perfectly caramelized pork fillet with mangos "Filé de Porco Caramelado com Mangas", and a juicy fruity chicken dish "Frango com Manga." I so much relate to her motivation, mango being  such a beautiful, unique fruit from the tropics.
#6: From Venezuela with Love
Chef María Eugenia Eiras from the "Experiencia Culinaria (ES), cooks up some nice looking "suspiros" or meringue cookies. They are feather-like and sweet and beautiful, the perfect gift that you could prepare for the high sugar, be-my-Valentine, upcoming season.
From the "Mil Sabores" cooking domain, María Luisa interviews one of Spain's most famous chefs: Martín Berasategui from San Sebastian, the Basque Country. Get in the kitchen with this talented chef by reading "Martin Berasategui: hay ruido en la cocina (ES)."
#7: Roots to be cooked!
From Singapore, Mana Makan – The Feast Crusade reports on cooking with lotus roots. Stephanie's contribution to the Weekend Herb Blogging hosted by Kalyn's Kitchen is an exuberant photographic display of almost every possible way to prepare this interesting looking root.
While this aquatic rhizome looks vaguely rude whole, they are flirtatiously pretty once you cut it up into rings crosswise. With whimsical hollows (the air valves actually) inside, they resemble lacy pinwheels when sliced into thin rings.
She shares her recipes to prepare: "Pork Ribs & Lotus Root Soup", and "Sea Bass Soup with Lotus Root and Red Dates."
When you are at her blog, do not miss her "Send Me Love Letters" post to celebrate the Chinese New Year!
#8: The Year of the Pom
When others prepare to receive on January 29th, the Chinese Year of the Dog, Kitsch'n'Zinc, Culinary Musings from Cape Town welcomes his new-born "Year of the Pom". At this point, using my supernatural mind-reading powers, I can tell that you are thoroughly puzzled, right? To solve that, head over to his blog and find out what the mysterious "year of the pom" will bring to all of us!
#9: Going South
From Buenos Aires, Argentina, SaltShaker offers a complete "Spanish-English Food Dictionary", which will help you order delicious meals when in town visiting the charming and exclusive LOLA Restaurant.
#10: Queen Lemon Beauty
My dearest Michelle from the Accidental Scientist blog in Oregon, crafts from scratch her very first cake: Meyer Lemon Cake. Hmm…, with real buttercream frosting, and made with the queen of lemons, the Meyer Lemon! Yum!
Happy cooking!

author: Melissa De León


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Iran: BBC Filtered! · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

According to Hoder, BBC Persian which is very popular in Iran and Entekhab a conservative site, have been filtered. It seems Iranian government is filtering more & more.


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Palestine: Countdown to crunch time · Global Voices
Shaden Abdulrahman

Laila el-Haddad (Blogger of Raising Yousuf) writes her third post in a series of five parts to Guardian Unlimited about elections in Gaza, Palestine. She updates on the situation saying: “Things are getting heated between the frontrunners, Hamas and Fateh, who have been exchanging blows over credibility over the past few days.” Laila further talked about the recent bombing in Tel Aviv and its effect on the elections. She has estimated Hamas audience with no less than 50,000 whilst Fatah (Arabic) enjoyed only 20,000 Gazzan in the northern district.


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Turkey is Typing…. · Global Voices
Deborah Ann Dilley

Two weeks and no “talking Turkey”, I apologise dear readers.  Let's just jump in shall we?
The best thing to come out of the Turkish blogs in the last two weeks is the creation of the Amerikan Turks Yahoo Group.  Started originally by Murat from Amerikan Turk, with the creation of this group he seeks to….
My goal is to create an online community of Turkish bloggers who are interested in keeping a finger on the pulse of their peers in the “blogosphere”.
Most people would say, “oh no, not another email/chat/forum thingy”, however the great thing about this new group is that everyone's blogs posts are being posted to it…creating a user friendly RSS feed.  I think that it is a wonderful way to use the medium and I am proud to be a member of it as it creates a stronger community in the blogosphere.
Nobody has summarized the hot topics in Turkey better this week than Metroblogging Istanbul, items which include the bird flu and the release/recapture of Mehmet Ali Agca (most known for this assasination attempt of Pope John Paul II, but convicted murderer of Editor in Chief Abdi Ipekci of the Milliyet newspaper) although I do believe that the battle of the blue and red buses in Istanbul is of importance as well.
First, touching on the subject of the bird flu, Erkan's Field Diary has the most comprehensive updates.  Many in Turkey are abstaining from eating poultry, which for many has been fairly easy as with the end Eid al-Aida, or Kurban Bayrami in Turkey, many have been eating alternate meats.  Many Turkish bloggers wrote first hand accounts of their celebrations of this holiday including: Erkan's Field Diary, Amerikan Turk, and The Need to Know- who ate a bit more than she should have.
The second main topic is the release and rearrest of Mehmet Ali Agca, which according to Turkish Torque is a sign of the Turkish judicial system being in shambles.  Other items discussed by Torque include the sad story of a young Turkish boy who sent 1 lira to the President of Pakistan and memories of the Peace Corps Volunteers that he met in his college days.
The White Path writes about Sultan Abdulhamid and the Armenian Genocide.
Besides reporting from the Golden Globes Talk Turkey also posts an Open Letter to Turkish Americans in which he states the importance of the Turkish-American viewpoints:
I believe it is imperative for the Turkish populace in the U.S. to be informed, as well as informative, and thereby better served by examining and publicizing our general philosophy,view, and stance concerning issues that all Americans consider relevant. That is the true definition of an effective lobby that we as American Turks yearn for.
On a tip from Yogurtland there is a new Turkish food blog out there called Zen in the Kitchen, which is excellent and has a great list of links to other food blogs that have been mentioned in this article before.  Mmmmm….that's all for this week folks! Until later!


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Venezuela: World Social Forum Caracas · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Just in time for next week's World Social Forum, Red Pepper has posted the “WSF Caracas Survival Guide with extra tips in the comments from Caracas resident, Alessandro Parma. Solana Larsen of OpenDemocracy will also be blogging from the forum.


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Iraq: NY Times buys up Iraqi bloggers · Global Voices
Salam Adil

After a hiatus of three months Zeyad of Healing Iraq is back. But only to give the news that he and four other Iraq bloggers are now writing for the NY Times. Unfortunately yours truly cannot tell you what is in there unless he pays out the $50 it costs to subscribe. Zeyad, Konfused Kid, Hassan, Aunt Najma and Truth teller you will be missed!

author: Salam Adil


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Afghan Whispers · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

There is a new Afghan blog which promotes peace and non violence in the world. In Afghan Peacemakers we read :
The concept of non-violence as a method of change is new to Afghanistan. We know two ways to deal with injustice; fight it or tolerance, the second option was fine if I was the one suffering, but it did not provide a way to stop you from inflicting injustice on a third party. The Muslims could choose to endure great injustice. So that's fine, but on the other hand our religious duty is to confront evil; how can we do that. … Non-violence does not answer all questions. It is filled with contradictions.
Afghan Warrior talks about the US air strike in Pakistan:
We feel sorry for the civilians lost and we hope tribal people help their government and identify those whom shelter the terrorists. If the government of Pakistan is against the US air strikes on Pakistani soil, then the Pakistan government must take serious action against the terrorists in those remote lands so there will not be a need for the US to conduct military operations in Pakistan. We know that Pakistan is a close ally of United States in the war against terrorism, but Pakistan should prove it by actions, not words.
There are Afghan bloggers who got really upset by Iranian  reaction when President Karzai cancelled his trip to Tehran. According to Sohrab Kabuli (Persian), the Afghan president says the trip was cancelled because of bad weather and technical problem. Karzai added that he would go to Iran after the  London Conference on Afghanistan. The blogger says that some Iranian officials and Iranian websites said the Afghan government just got orders from US to cancel this official trip. The blogger considered Iranian government's policy in region is baseless and Iran's behaviour does not fit diplomatic norms. He says, “If Afghanistan is not an independent country for Iran why they send to our country their ambassador and accepted ours!”


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Africa: bloggers hitting the mainstream media · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Kenyan Pundit reports on the recent coverage of African bloggers in the African mainstream media….

author: Sokari Ekine


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African Renaissance: Challenges · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Africa Unchained points to a review of “African Renaissance: Roadmaps to the Challenge of Globalization” by  Fantu Cheru….Africa’s dependence on foreign aid, he says, has done the opposite of its claimed mission, but in fact has been used to keep Africa’s people disempowered through the support of dictatorships and undemocratic regimes.”


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African Union:  · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Black Star Journal questions whether the African Union deserves to exist. The AU was created to uphold human rights and promote “peace security and stability on the continent” … The President of the AU should therefore come from a country that respects these values


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An ordinary week in Bahrain · Global Voices
Mahmood Al-Yousif

This is a less hectic week, come on, collectively breath a sigh or relief. Normal life has (almost) returned to Bahrain!
A week where: Ali7 agrees with Jakob Nielsen in that blogs, just like normal websites, need to follow some reasonable usability guides. He stresses the point however that trusting your writing efforts to free blogging engines is probably not the right way of going about things as the author would lose control of what he wrote.
Ali Al-Saeed is now not only a writer, but a co-producer of a documentary that is in the process of being shot by an American film company in Bahrain dealing with women leaders in the Gulf. He's also been tasked to write the documentary's accompanying book.
Zainab Al-Khawajah tells us a bit about her Christmas holidays which she has spent in London; protesting in front of the Bahraini Embassy, speaking at Hyde Park's Speakers’ Corner and visiting five human rights organisations handing them reports about Bahrain.
Haitham Sabbah, on the other hand, wishes that he was a parrot!
Discrimination against the Shi'a is the theme discussed this week by Jaffar Al-Omran.
Last but not least, we now have a fellow blogger elected to the Steering Committee of Bahrain's largest political party: Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society. Tawfiq Al-Rayyash was one of 60 candidates for the 30-member body that will decide on all future directions of the party, including whether they will participate in the forthcoming parliamentary elections. A very important post and we wish him luck in his new position and wish also that he continues blogging so that we know what's going on in that party and so that he may also benefit from other opinions.

author: Mahmood Al-Yousif


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Argentina: Clarín Doesn’t Give Attribution · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Eduardo Acros wonders why the Argentine daily, El Clarín isn't giving recognition to Mariano Amartino (who blogs for El Clarín at Weblog Sobre Weblogs) for finding leaked screenshots of Internet Explorer 7 on a little-known tech website. Arcos notes that Argentina's other major daily, La Nacion, does in fact link to Mariano's post.


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Armenia: Foreign Ministers Meet · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

ArmYouth Blog discusses the meeting between the Armenian and Azeri foreign ministers and the proposed Nagorno-Karabakh settlement.

author: Nathan Hamm


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Armenia: The Genocide in Rap · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Who Knew Armenians Could Rap?, a new blog on Armenian hip-hop, reports on the Armenian genocide in rap.


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Around Cambodia with Digital Citizens · Global Voices
Tharum Bun

A blackout in the United States in 2003 made history and news headline, but not at all in Cambodia. In Stung Treng, while composing an email in a community Internet center, a development worker could not finish because the generator-powered computer was running out of gas.
In Krong Keb, Cambodia’s forgotten beach, as written in the guidebook, ZJ another foreign development worker, is experienced with staying at a guesthouse where there is no electricity supply. “I didn't want to go to Krong Kep… again. My first time there proved to be, well, a disaster of sorts. There were few guesthouses, and unfortunately, where we stayed there was no electricity and the bed was infested with dust mites so badly that when I went back to Phnom Penh I had skin allergies,” she admitted.
Back to Phnom Penh, the capital city of the country, an expat Steve Goodman who has currently launched another photoblog, complained about the unreliable electricity and had to cook with gas. Elsewhere in the city, the power was cut off while a Cambodia-based weblogger was blogging one evening. “As I'm typing the above near the waterfront, about 6:30 PM, there's a sudden power cut. Quite a few of these in the last few weeks,” he wrote.  Power shortages also angered an Englishman who exaggerated that “at home, I do not even have any candles left!”
After two decades of war, Cambodia is becoming a top tourism destination. ‘Wonders of Cambodia – The top 7 things to see and do in Cambodia‘, a weblog post of Khmer440, described 7 greatest places to visit in the country, from Angkor Wat to The Toul Sleng Genocide Museum, to beautiful Sihanoukville beach, Preah Vihear province,  Battambang town, and to Rattankiri province. Keeping an online journal to share the traveloque with friends and family means a lot to travelers and the rest of the world. Since 2003 Stefan writes about his travel in towns, resorts, and rural areas. Not only expatriates, but a group of young people established a weblog under the name ‘Youth Vision’ and shared their amazing experience of wine drinking that traditionally produced by minor ethnic in Modol Kiri Province, a rural area of the country.
Is all the visiting to Cambodia giving you headache?
For a Taiwanese citizen who planned to visit Cambodia, paperwork and process of obtaining a tourist visa to the country gave him a first impression about the country visa red tape. At the Cambodian embassy in Singapore, his resident country, another $5 extra fee asked from a visa officer for express service. In response to this, a Bulletin of Singapore Bloggers, Tomorrow, popagandhi wrote that “actually the extra US$5 is more of a rule rather than the exception. except when you land at the phnom penh or siem reap airport on an international flight. happens at the land borders too. to go to countries like these you just have to be prepared to take whatever is thrown your way.”
Although he was confronted by the officer, he hopes to visit Cambodia in a positive manner.
Travel around Asia
As part of Ship for Southeast Asian Youth Program 2005 (SSEAYP), a Cambodian lecturer Somongkol Teng, proudly represents Cambodian youth, to join other young people from ASEAN nations to travel to 6 countries. This Japan-sponsored youth program, with 11 countries from ASEAN and Japan participating, is scheduled to travel to Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Brunei, Philippines and Japan via cruise ship. On his weblog, a chronicle of photo ongoing photographs chronicle the group's journey.

author: Tharum Bun


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Azerbaijan: Black January · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Carpetblogger (who is sadly relocating from Baku to Kiev) reports on Azerbaijan's day of mourning on January 20 to commemorate those who died when the Soviet used force to crush the independence movement 16 years ago.


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Bangladesh: Indian Media making an entry · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Media crosses borders – but this time it's making money in a language which they already have programmes for. Rezwan on Indian Media eyeing the Bangla market.


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Bolivia: Morales Takes Reins · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Eduardo Avila, watching CNN en Español, was disappointed with Morales’ inaugural speech: “The historic and poignant moment was spoiled by the speech that had a stream of consciousness feel to it.” Jim Shultz says, “in a ceremony that hasn’t taken place since the conquest half a millenia ago, Bolivia´s first indiginous president was granted powers by the indian communities of the altiplano.” Patricia has a brightly colored photo set of the ceremony. Looking ahead, Nick Buxton writes, “I am acutely aware of the pressures Bolivia will be under both from outside (in particular multinationals and international financial institutions) but also those who have profited immensely from an “apartheid” system who won’t easily accept change.”

author: David Sasaki


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China: Eat More · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Talk Talk China has found the Chinese answer to life, the universe and everything: “Eat more.”

author: Jose Manuel Tesoro


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DR, Haiti: Deaths at the border · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Solidaridad Fronteriza reports  (ES) that members of religious organizations in Ouanaminthe, Haiti, have carried out religious rites at the mass grave containing the bodies od 24 Haitians who died of suffocation on January 11 in a vehicle in which they were trying to cross the border into the Dominican Republic. According to Baturrico (ES), another Haitian was killed during protests over the manner in which the bodies were being repatriated.

author: Georgia Popplewell


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Ethiopia: Coffee  documentary · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Friends of Ethiopia comments on a documentary film “Black Gold” which focuses on the plight of Ethiopian coffee growers and the huge difference between what is paid to the farmers and the profits of the distributors……”The film’s effectiveness is bolstered by juxtaposed scenes of fat and happy Americans and Europeans slurping up frozen chai lattes and clucking about how big Starbuck’s is getting with scenes of children going into “therapeutic feeding centers” in the region where Starbuck’s gets its coffee because they can’t afford to by corn”.


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Ethiopia: Freedom and fear! · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Ethiopian Paradox writes it is impossible to improve the livelihood of people when they are deprived of freedom and  continue to live in fear.….”It is impossible to achieve prosperity and development under a repressive rule. A repressive rule inhibits people of their energies. And in a country where people are inhibited of their potentials, the land cannot be developed. It is people who need to grow, develop and improve.”


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Ghana: Africa cup of nations · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

The Trials and Tribulations of a Freshly Arrived Denizen comments on the Nigeria v Ghana game in the African Cup of Nations being held in Egypt.  Nigeria 1 Ghana 0.


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Guyana: Local idioms · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

VSO intern Michiyo notes a few Guyanese idioms she finds strange. As usual, she offers a Japanese translation of the post as well.


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Haiti: Kidnapping fears · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

“I fear receiving a phone call or an email giving me dreaded news,” says Mbayisyen, contemplating the changes wrought upon daily life in Haiti by the recent increase in kidnappings.


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India: California Dreaming · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Kamla on a post about the colour brown as a determinant of ethnicity. Mexican-Punjabis and other stories that made California in the early part of the 20th century.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Indonesia: Removing Bad Air · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

The Lucretius Plan catches malaria on the island of Flores, Indonesia. Finding little by way of Western medicine, he goes to a local healer who massages him to release the bad wind.


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Iran: Last Gamble! · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Hasan Agha, says by inviting Moqtada Sadr  to Iran, Iranian rulers clearly show their role  in making troubles in Iraq to whole world(Persian). According to blogger, it seems Iranian rulers are playing last cards!

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran: National Confidence Party · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Teste democracy (Democracy Test in English!) says other political parties can learn a lot from new National Confidence Party. Blogger adds ” this new party has a site, a news paper and on its site we know how can we become party members“(Persian). This party has been launched by cleric Karrubi.


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Iraq: Backroom Dealing · Global Voices
Salam Adil

Nibras Kazimi of Talisman Gate has heard rumours that a secret deal has been struck between Ayad Allawi and Nadim Al-Jabiri of the Fadhila Party under American auspices. This could move 20 seats from the UIA to Allawi's coalition. The idea being that Allawi can then assemble enough supporters to make him president. More on the backroom dealings here.


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Iraq: Bush should apology · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Raed Jarrar jotted a sample email and asked his reader to send it to White House, which should be quick to apologize for its mistakes, such as bombing of civilians in Pakistan, he said. “This war administration should start admitting its mistakes. Whether you were a US citizen or not, you can either urge your government's representatives to contact the White House, and/or email your message directly to them yourself.”

author: Haitham Sabbah


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Kenya: Africa Cup of Nations · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

MentalAcrobatics also comments on the Africa Cup of Nations asking us to place our bets now for the outcome of the World cup to be played in Germany in July….”no one, least of all football pundits and “experts”, know what to expect from the African teams at the World Cup this time round. The four countries making their World Cup debuts Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo and Angola have everyone shaking their heads”.


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Kenya: Apathy is poison · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Kenyan blogger  Gukira comments on the ills of being apathetic and accepting defeat…”Apathy kills. It destroys the soul. It wounds the spirit. It leaves us limping in fields where the grass grows high, the sun blinds, and we need our collective strength”.


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Kuwait: Roll Back · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

In my humble opinion.. the far more worrying aspect about the current Al-Sabah family feud is not who will finally be named Emir of Kuwait, but that the reforms that the late Sheikh Jaber implemented might fall by the wayside or even get rolled back sooner than we fear, Zaydoun said.


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Latin America: Sixth Annual Weblog Awards · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Panamanian chef, Melissa De Leon has been selected as a finalist in the best Latin American weblog category of the “2006 Bloggies.” Other finalists in the Latin America category include Bestiaria, Motel de Moka, Ponchorama, and Guyana Gyal. Congratulations to all.


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Nepal: Protestors · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Samudaya.org has a post on protestors clashing with the police in Nepal.


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Nicaragua: Flor de Caña · Global Voices
David Sasaki

The votes are in and Nicaragua Living declares Flor de Caña the most beloved alcoholic beverage. More information on Flor de Caña is available on Wikipedia.


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Nigeria: ban on gay marriages · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

In contrast Afro Homo takes a completely different approach.  In reponse to the Archibishop Akinola, head of the Nigerian Anglican Church,who believes  homosexuality is “Unnatural and Unafrican” he writes……”How would he know? Christianity only became a mainstream religion a few decades ago. Does he find universities, electricity, monogamy and his fancy Archbishop costume “Unafrican” too? What about its sister religion, Islam? African or Unafrican? I'll the history books judge. Be assured that he'll hate the verdict too”


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Nigeria: Homophobia · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

The main conversation in the Nigerian blogosphere this week has been the banning by the Nigerian government of same sex marriages.  It will also be illegal for anyone to campaign for gay rights in the country.   Trae of Trae Days unleashes a homophobic and misogynist diatribe….Anyways me thinks lesbos probably need a dick whipping”


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Nigeria: Legislators · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Grandiose Parlour asks some serious questions of Nigerian legislators in the light of the decision to close down  the Tinapa Tourist Resort project due to violence in the Niger Delta…….”Are elected representatives accessible to their people that voted them in? Do representatives hold regular consultation with their constituents? Do representatives have any local visibility- local offices and staff- beyond what they claim on paper to justify the office/staff allowance they receive?
Do Nigerians know what to expect from their representatives…?


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Pakistan: Chilas · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Shirazi writes on a town “In northern Pakistan, Chilas – a small town – was once an important crossroads on the ancient trading route taken by travellers like Marco Polo. A jeep track leads from Chilas over the Babusar Pass to the Kaghan Valley.”


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Pakistan: Muktar Mai · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Pakistan seems adamant on supressing Muktar Mai's voice over and over again says Sepia Mutiny. This woman who has inspired so many others to speak out against violation of rights and against governments isn't having an easy time.


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Peru: Presidential Candidate, Ollanta Humala · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Un Lobo en Perú profiles Peruvian presidential candidate, Ollanta Humala whose popularity among registered voters has soared in recent months. Maxwell A. Cameron writes that Humala has been implicated in human rights abuses which took place in 1992.


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Philippines: Boxing Victory · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

The main topic among Philippine blogs this past weekend was the victorious knockout of Mexican boxer Erik Morales by Filipino Manny Pacquiao. Clickmomukhamo writes a (close-to-literal) blow-by-blow account of the match.


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Poland: Acceptable Discrimination · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

the beatroot, in commenting on a travel guide for the fictional country of Molvania, takes issue with the failure of political correctness to extend to central and east Europeans.


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Russia: Forging Uzbek Ties · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Tim Newman says that Russia's new deal for Uzbek gas is yet another piece of evidence that charges that US policy towards Uzbekistan was driven by a desire for gas and oil are utterly false.


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Rwanda: Survivors · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Rwandan Survivors is a new blog that gives voice to survivors of the 1994 genocide and hopes to encourage a range of discussions on Rwanda.


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Singapore: Fragile State? · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

A Xeno Boy in Sg posts a meditation on a quote from a government minister, who predicted dire consequences if the public supported an opposition party's proposal to scrap the country's ethnic integration policies.  He writes: “When the notion that “racial harmony will be destroyed” is invoked in this manner in Singapore, it is an effective silencing.”


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South Africa: Africa source II · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Linuxchix Africa reports on Africa Source II recently held in Kampala, Uganda….”Africa Source II focussed on how technology, in particular Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) can be integrated into the project work of NGO's.”


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South Africa: reflections of a poet · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

South African poet blogger, the Imperfect Poet, reflects on his ability and evolution as a poet and writer….At the heart of this epiphany is that, for me to comfortably call myself a poet and a writer, I need to delve deeper into my forms of choice and create context from the wealth of work that has come before me. In doing this, I am in a stronger position to be able to define and identify what it is I do and how it fits into the general scheme of things”


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South Korea, Taiwan: Lost in Translation · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

Pinyin News discusses the sorry state of translation in Korea, as compared to Japan. Many translations are not direct from English but from Japanese translations, and (apparently) Korea does not have a proper English-Korean dictionary. According to Taiwan-based Mind of Mike, though, there's little worry: “English Sucks!”


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St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Helmet law · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

“I have reached the point where am tired of standing at the graves of young men who have died in traffic accidents,” says Abeni, who is pleased to see that the St. Vincent and the Grenadines government plans to introduce a law making the wearing of motorcycle helmets mandatory.


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Taiwan: Read It and ::>_ · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

In Taiwan, many are upset about the appearance of Internet slang in questions on the all-important college exam. Pinyin News explains what some mean, including ::>_<:: which represents someone crying, and reflects on how young people today might find that more relevant than classical Chinese.


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The African women’s blogsphere this week · Global Voices
Nish Matenjwa

Some Kenyan women bloggers have been blogging about the famine in Kenya where the government says 4 million people are in need of food aid.
The inequalities and unequal distribution of resources that exist amongst Kenyans greatly disturbs the Girl Next Door who writes about a country where ‘famine, wealth and squalor co-exist’ and where while one part of the country has the food it needs, the other is starving to death.  This blogger takes issue with Kenyan government officials and says ’it does not make sense to treat symptoms without looking at the root cause’.
Amongst other issues, Mimmz also writes about the famine’s effect on only parts of the population and wonders whether this means ’Nairobi is still going about its business uninterrupted’.
Nyakehu ponders about the fact that ’there are those buying and selling food to Southern African states’ during the current famine and drought.
Irena has posted several pictures of contented and important looking government officials being driven to unnamed destinations and asks where they ‘are being driven to while others die of hunger’.
African women have also blogged about other issues.
The banning of gay marriages in Nigeria does not surprise to Black Looks as homosexuality is already illegal in the country.  ‘What is worrying and of more immediate concern’ she writes, is that this law also outlaws ’any form of protest to press for rights or recognition by homosexuals’ and the consequent difficulties that will be faced by campaigners for the human rights of gay people.
Molara Wood takes the reader on a fascinating and absorbing tour of London’s West End starting at the British Museum and ending on Leicester Square that takes in an an exhibition and movie.
A new year resolution was to open up to new experiences thus Pilli went for a reflexology session which turned out not to be the relaxing experience she was expecting. ‘I would like to recommend this exercise to all those folks who get a kick from painful experiences’, she writes and says she will go on a ‘trip to the beach’ next time she wants a pleasurable foot experience.
‘The rich places in the world are never on people's t-shirts or dangling from their ears’, writes Helenism who posts photographs of two young women she met on a shopping trip were wearing big, beautiful earrings carved in the shape of the map of Africa. ’The more contested a place is, for whatever political reason, the more it becomes a symbol’, she says.
What is the point of people spouting beliefs and ideologies they do not follow or adhere to, ponders Afrikan Eye and gives the example of people who claim to love Africa and yet will spend their money buying goods imported from abroad rather than purchase those that are ’beautiful and well crafted’ and made in Africa.
Pilgrimage to self celebrates her 36th birthday, looks back and takes stock of her life and concludes that although people tell her she has achieved several milestones, she still wants to do something that will make a difference. In her mind, the ’what’ question still remains unanswered.
Things are beginning to look up for Nneka who recently gave up smoking and who writes about her debilitating withdrawal symptomsthat included insomnia, irritation and light headedness and generally feeling unwell. Hang in there, Nneka.

author: Nish Matenjwa