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Kuwait: Heat Lagging  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Intlxpatr from Kuwait is ‘heat-lagging.’
“The heat has hit me like a building crashing down around me. It changes everything I do. Somehow I don’t remember last year being so hot, but I know it was, and I think I just didn’t go out very often. Now that I am driving all over town, man, the heat KILLS me.
“I just checked Weather Underground for Kuwait and the temperatures (Fahrenheit for my US readers) is going to be between 107 and 114 for the next five days. Kuwait DOES cool down at night more than Doha, but if you are outside after nine in the morning, you feel like a steak thrown into a hot frying pan to sear. It is sizzling hot!” he explains.


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Kuwait: Online Grocery Shopping · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Kuwait-based Lebanese blogger Mark  says online shopping for grocery is picking up in Kuwait. “I prefer passing by an actual supermarket to buy my groceries but this could be an attractive solution for people who don’t have the time to physically go and shop,” he notes.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Kuwait: Pedicure Bliss  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Ansam from Kuwait announces the launch of a new service – a pedicure service done right in the convenience of your home.
“This is amazing… specially for Kuwaiti people! We like to have everything at our doorsteps!” she notes.


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Kyrgyzstan: Issyk-Kul and Tourism · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Asel is worried that the pursuit of short-term profit from tourism is ruining Kyrgyzstan's Issyk-kul.

author: Nathan Hamm


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Latvia: Gay Parade and Other “Problems” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

“Gay parade is the least of our problems,” writes All About Latvia: abortions, the lowest life expectancy in the EU, and human trafficking are no less – if not more – significant.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Lebanon: Hariri Tribunal Wait Over · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“Today, after a long wait, the International Tribunal will be established. The next priority is to build bridges, mend fences and restore unity and confidence in this country,” writes  Beirut Spring.


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Lebanon: Rich Arab Rap Song · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Lebanese blogger Leila links to a hilarious rap song by what is apparently a rich Arab.


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Libya: Blair in Tripoli · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“British prime minister is touring Africa before leaving his office and we got a glimpse of his visit to Tripoli. His visit brought a very tight security to the city. Our backyard parking area is cleared by the police and there were checkpoints all around our street,” writes Iranian Mr Behi from Tripoli, Libya.


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Mauritius: a new book on art in Mauritius · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

An announcement about a new book on art in Mauritius: “Art in Mauritius – Post Independence issues and perspectives is being launched on Wednesday 30th May 2007 at the 26th Salon de Mai, at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute’s School of Fine Arts in Moka.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Mexico: Shakira Concert in the Zocalo · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

More than 200,000 fans of the Colombian singer Shakira packed Mexico City's Zocalo to attend a free concert. Many of the fans waited the day before for a chance to get close to the stage, and when she did begin performing they were not disappointed. Dfinitivo [ES] runs down the night's songlist and performance notes.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Morocco: ban on YouTube lifted · Global Voices
sami ben gharbia

The block on the video-sharing Web site YouTube has been lifted yesterday and the Moroccan blogsphere is celebrating its victory  and planning to continue the struggle to unblock Google Earth and Livejournal.
“Najib Omrani, a spokesman for the state-controlled telecommunications company Maroc Telecom, said Moroccans were unable to access YouTube due to a technical glitch“

author: sami ben gharbia


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Nigeria: remembering the Biafran War · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Chxta and Ababoy remember the Biafran War, which took place 40 years ago this month.


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Oman: Minimum Wage and Omanisation · Global Voices
Riyadh Al Balushi

Omani blogger Suburban questions the effectiveness of setting an Omanization quota for corporations in order to reduce the reliance on expatriate labour and provide greater work opportunities for Omani national citizens. Suburban argues that the stringent rules for laying off non-performing Omani employees along with the proposed increase in the minimum wage for Omani employees would only negatively influence the employers’ decision when choosing between a national and an expatriate employee.

author: Riyadh Al Balushi


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Oman: Shura Questions  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Omani blogger Sleepless in Muscat  discusses the affairs if the Sultanate here. “Then there is the other side of the story that has so many questions and queries to ask and begs to differ with the situation at hand. The fact that our country has come a long way in the last 36 (not counting the upcoming Omani national day) years and what development has been done so far in the progress of this country in many aspects in terms of democracy; freedom of speech and the term of applying worldwide adaptable standards upon the country so that it runs in a more efficient and productive manner,” writes the blogger.


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One Caribbean; Many Identities… · Global Voices
Karel McIntosh

Calypsonian Lord Nelson once sang, “all ah we is one family”. Optimists in the Caribbean may well agree with these words, but the reality is that if you were to describe Caribbean states as a family, you would have to call it a complex unit – and one in which there is much sibling rivalry. Caribbean bloggers Geoffrey Philp (Jamaican writer), Guyana Media Critic aka Living Guyana and Francis Wade (Jamaican management consultant) recently shared their personal views about this complex region with me.
What it means to be Caribbean
“Caribbean means being a part of one of the most interesting, though unintended, social experiments in the world”, says Geoffrey Philp who lives in Miami. “Within this archipelago, we have people from all over the planet meeting and trying to live together without resorting to genocide…
“In Miami, we all tend to try to get along because we are in a minority, so we have to get along.  That said, whenever the fight bruk out, they usually tend to be along the lines of stereotypes, which are really ways for not thinking for yourself. And some people don’t want to think for themselves.”
Living Guyana describes the Caribbean as “a unique collection of people strung together by a common history and increasingly and perhaps irreversibly influenced by Americana.
“It’s a usually change-resistant conglomeration in desperate need of real political and economic unification.  One troubling feature of Caribbean life is that despite the obvious need for real political and economic fusion, there is a significant degree of resistance to this in some quarters.”  While he admits that there is a common fun-loving thread which binds Caribbean cultural and social life, he says there are also subtle differences that define each particular island such as lingo, food and self-image.  “But at the very core,” he says, “we are a singular people bound by a common and undeniable history.”
Yet not all people automatically buy in to the concept of “one Caribbean”. For Francis Wade to emotionally connect to this notion of “one Caribbean”, it took the persuasion of a Trini friend that “we were all one Caribbean people”, and a vacation to Trinidad, which felt familiar to him: “It looked like Jamaica; it felt like Jamaica.”
There are many answers to this question of Caribbean identity, as Caribbean Free Radio, and the BBC have discovered.
For some, national identity brings its own challenges. To Living Guyana, being Guyanese means “regrettably, inherent discrimination both internally and externally. It means being perceived as being disadvantaged but it simultaneously means having to be diligent and committed to perseverance in order to succeed. It means being resilient and more open to Caribbean integration. It means being naturally hospitable and warm. It means being proud.”
West Indian versus Caribbean
Many people use the terms “West Indian” and “Caribbean” interchangeably. Yet the question still remains, is there a distinction between the terms “West Indian” and “Caribbean”? Living Guyana thinks it’s “mere semantics”, while Wade uses the terms interchangeably:  “Logically I know that Cuba, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, and Martinique are Caribbean,” he says. “Caribbean primarily means English-speaking, Caribbean Basin country, but I include Bahamas and Belize in there although they are not really a part of the Caribbean Basin.”
Philp, on the other hand, has a clear distinction about the terms:
“West Indies refers to the former colonies of England – mostly English speaking. ‘Caribbean’ refers to the whole gumbo: English, French, Spanish, patwa, what-have-you speaking archipelago of islands, and the coastal regions of South and Central Americas. You could even extend the definition to places in North America such as the recently colonized Miami and the older cities in Louisiana and the Carolinas or Plantation America.”
Caribbean Unity
In her Global Voices post Bombastic?, Janine Mendes-Franco writes, “The Caribbean, as a region, manages to operate quite well when it comes to endeavours like The University of the West Indies and West Indies Cricket (recent events concerning the latter notwithstanding).”  Francis Wade attempted to provide an explanation about Jamaican attitudes:
“We don’t even think about fighting in Jamaica. We just want to do our own thing. We like to be together when it works, and we like to be apart when we’re apart. The Federation fell apart primarily because the DLP saw that opposing it was a way to win the elections. If they had been more enlightened they would not have pushed so hard for a referendum then, and history would have gone differently.
“Now, because of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) more Jamaicans are identifying with being Caribbean. Luckily, many Caribbean businesses operate across borders. It’s about when will it become easier to do business, when will barriers be moved? It’s a question of when, not if.”
Although Philp thinks that Caribbean people “don’t want them (Federation and CSME) to work”, he is quick to give an optimistic outlook on Caribbean people’s ability to work together.
“When we are united, we are unstoppable,” he explains enthusiastically. “Look at the work of that generation that fought for independence on a united front across the national borders. They fell apart once they gained independence, but the unity was tremendous and unparalleled.
It is a sad fact that humans rarely get together unless it is to fight a real enemy. We have no ‘enemies’ so we’ve decided to kill ourselves.”
There are those like Don Mitchell from the Corruption Free Anguilla blog who look forward to becoming part of “an integral part of the independent and sovereign nation known as the West Indies”. He describes the West Indies as “a country that is coming into existence. It does not yet have a flag or a national anthem”.
Economic Rivalry
While Francis Wade recently blogged about “some significant announcements related to acquisitions across the Caribbean region”,Living Guyana thinks that Caribbean people’s gripe with one another stem from “the varying responses to political and economic unification, and the stereotyping of each other without any initiative on the part of CARICOM or individual governments to redress this”.
Coming Together Despite Differences
Apart from some similarities stemming from their shared histories, a Trini is different to a Barbadian, who in turn is different from a Jamaican,” writes Francis Wade.  Defined by its complex characteristics, the Caribbean brand is one that is often used by its states. Yet some see the need to distance themselves from it when it is attacked.  According to Barbados Free Press, “When you have declared yourself to be a family member, your brother’s reputation is yours.”
Although Caribbean people’s differences can sometimes create division among them, they also know how to rally around each other and to feel proud of each others’ achievements. Philp, Wade and Living Guyana all agree that the Caribbean will benefit fro harnessing the strengths of its members. In fact, Living Guyana prophesies that:
”The governments of the Caribbean will find themselves in a situation where they are forced to formalize and institutionalize Caribbean people, through travel, work, business, trade, sex, and relationships, are already charting the course.”

author: Karel McIntosh


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Pakistan: East and West Punjab · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

I, Me, Myself in Punjab, Pakistan – and reflecting on the similarities with the Punjab in India. “Then there were the sights and sounds of a Punjab that I had only read about in books or heard about from my elders. There were children studying in a village school in a class that was being held under a tree, with the added benefit of cool breeze that became cool by virtue of having passed over the village pond. Now this is a scene that you might come across in East Punjab as well, except for the vital fact that each of the children used a phatti (wooden board) to write upon with a qalam (a pen fashioned out of the thick, dried stalks of tall wild grass)”

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Pakistan: Jobs for country runners · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The Pakistani Spectator has an interesting list of job profiles. “A matriculate or having a bachelor degree from an un-recognized institution having 30 years political / no-political experience and the age should not be less than 45 years. The candidate will be reporting to relevant institutions abroad but not reporting to the Nation. Ability to announce emergencies and others marshal laws shall be an added advantage.” for the country's ‘CEO / President / CMLA / MLA (01)’.


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Pakistan: The Urs · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Metroblogging Islamabad with a brief post on the urs of Bari Imam. “His yearly urs, celebrated in these days of the year, is attended by thousands of devotees from all over the country. The urs, now becoming a festivity for many city dwellers and people coming from across various villages, started this Monday. While coming to office, many people (more like a caravan) were spotted carrying brightly coloured flags, flowers, walking their way towards Bari Imam (miles away from the margalla road) bare foot. Isn't it a bit odd, since Islam prohibits self-torture …!”


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Panama: Political Season Heating Up, The Return of Noriega, and Crime in Panama: a Love Story · Global Voices
Melissa De León

#1: Panama Guide meditates on the always controversial Panamanian elections: Political Season Heating Up, Slowly
It may seem like it's still very early to be talking about the next national Panamanian election which will not be held until May of 2009. But in fact this is when politics in Panama are genuinely interesting because all of the obvious questions have not yet been defined. For example, who is going to be the candidate for the PRD for President? Everyone knows that Martin Torrijos would like to be followed by Samuel Lewis Navarro, but now the job at hand is pulling that off, and first they have to get past the elections for the National Executive Committee (CEN) and then a national PRD primary. Other serious contenders are ex-President Ernesto Perez Balladares who very much wants to return to power. The third wheel is Panama City Mayor Juan Carlos Navarro, who apparently is willing to be a team player for the strategic and long-term good of the party. Balbina Herrera, ex-Dignity Battalion Commander, National Assembly deputy for San Miguelito and current Minister of Housing is a force of nature in Panamanian politics. Read more…
#2: Panama's Noriegaville News reviews the possible actions the Panamanian government could take facing the imminent return of ex-General Manuel Antonio Noriega to this country: "Getting to host the general."
We're only 4 months away from Manuel Antonio's release from the US prison where he's being held. The media in Panama produce nothing but a deafening silence on the subject, but behind that the Norieguista government is bustling with activity to assure that things will run smoothly.
There is, The Noriegaville News learned, for example a plan in which Torrijos
Jr. gives Noriega a similar reception as the latter gave Torrijos Sr. in 1969, when the dictator returned to Panama to counter a coup that had been mounted against him while in Mexico. Torrijos Sr. arrived in David in a plane he had borrowed from his friend the Nicaraguan dictator Somoza, and there Noriega had prepared a triumph caravan by car to the capital. Believe it or not, but a similar event – Noriega walking or being driven in some sort of Papal vehicle from the airport to his house – is in its early stages of preparation for when the narco-tyrant returns to Panama…To read the complete article visit Noriegaville News…
#3: Boquete Guide reports on expatriate living in Panama "Immigration – Visas have arrived, finally!"
We finally have received our Jubilado Visa’s gone are the monthly trips to immigration for renewal of temporary Visas.
The Jubilado Visa is a permanent tourist visa. It allows a holder to stay in Panama indefinitely without exiting the country. In fact exiting requires another visa entirely. As a holder you are not an immigrant in any real sense, just a tourist with some benefits.
One major benefit not listed below is that you do not need to leave Panama every 90 days for 3 days to re-enter as a tourist. Here is the official list of benefits.  Continue reading…
#4: Jorge Arango shares his point of view regarding politics and life in Venezuela: Sad for Venezuela
Venezuela is an amazing, beautiful country. Although I’ve only  once, I was captivated by its warm people and seemingly world-class infrastructure. I was also taken aback by its social iniquities, which were obvious even to a casual visitor like myself. (Note: Panama is not much better in this regard.)
I’m very saddened every time I hear news about the Chavez government’s latest “progressive” initiative to further consolidate their stranglehold on Venezuelan society. Tonight RCTV – one of the few mass media outlets left that is critical of the government – is being shut down; the government decided to not renew its license. Freedom of the press – a critical pilar of any healthy society – is quickly withering away. (How long will it be before they start censoring the Internet?) Read the complete post…
This is what Julia, one of his readers has to say on the subject:
It is sad indeed. Not just the closing of RCTV but the fact that for protest against it I also had to run and hide inside some buildings because the police were throwing tear gas bombs and don’t know what else. I’m frustrated. We are a beautiful country but every day we are more sad, more angry and less safe. As a Venezuelan I want to thank you for your words.
#5: Chiriqui Chatter travels to Costa Rica by road, and shares some valuable tips and information on what can you expect if you take this trip, and what you would miss if you don't: Trip to San Jose, Costa Rica
As you can see, I have returned. While it was a good trip, I am always glad to get back home. I took the TRACOPA bus from the Frontera to San Jose and the round trip price was about $20. The trip is about 7 hours by bus and that makes the trip about the same as a bus trip from David to Panama City. As always I took photos to give you a taste of what the trip was like.
….I will have to say that the road from Paso Canoas to San Jose was in very good condition. I didn’t see a single pothole. The road is only two lanes and is a pain to drive because of all the 18-wheelers. I would not want to drive this road. I think the road from Panama City to David is easier even with the potholes. Read More…
#6: Matt Landau from The Panama Report presents a common problem from a different perspective: "Crime in Panama: a love story"
It was a fairly muggy Saturday afternoon when, walking through a quiet intersection just short of Via Espana, I felt a tug at the back pocket of my jeans and turned to find a beautiful woman smiling as if I’d just kicked some game her way. It was the kind of tug that might have gone unnoticed had there not been a beautiful face not inches away from mine. We walked a few paces, our shoulders touching, our hips brushing, and our feet semi in sync. Any closer, and I’m pretty sure we’d have been having intercourse.
I looked at the girl, cute face, saddle skin tone and devious eyes like marbles, and then at her breasts which were the size of small ornamental pumpkins. She smiled back in an intimate way and I felt, for the first time in my life, I might be truly in love. A low-cut striped top and relatively tight jeans revealed a slender body that looked to be crafted for model runways and cheap beer ads. I pictured me and my honeydew girl forming a solid and meaningful relationship, perhaps some day sitting with our grandchildren and recalling the day we met. That is however, until I realized that honeydew was not flirting with me, but rather trying to steal my wallet. Read the complete post...
#7: Kleph's Kitchen shares one of Panama's traditionally loved recipes: "Sancocho"
Sancocho is a classic chicken soup. It is very similar to Caldo de Gallina in Peru. As such, it is best cooked with an old laying hen than a young frying bird. The tough meats will break down nicely and there is a much richer flavor to reward the time invested. In fact that's where the name comes from, the Spanish verb sancochar, which means to parboil.
According to the Cooking Diva, what makes this version uniquely Panamanian is the use of culantro which she defines as, "is a strong flavored, aromatic herb native from Mexico and Central, and South America. It is cultivated widely all over the world, and it is used extensively in Latin American and Asian cooking." It is not cilantro or coriander. And it isn't found commonly in US cooking. Get the scoop now…

author: Melissa De León


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Russia, Austria: Raiffeisen, Murder and Money Laundering · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Robert Amsterdam writes about the alleged ties of Raiffeisen Zentralbank (RZB) of Austria to murder and money laundering in Russia.


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Russia: KPRF/Just Russia Merger? · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Siberian Light reports on the proposed merger of the Russian Communist Party with Sergei Mironov's Just Russia: “[…] I’m sure there are many within the Kremlin who would like to see the influence of the Communist Party diluted still further – although they are broadly supportive of Putin at the moment, there is no guarantee that they will continue to be so if the face of Russian politics changes over the next few years.”


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Singapore: Pretty Fly · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Nature lover the annotated budak asks “Can a fly be pretty?“

author: Preetam Rai


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Slovenia: Vinko Bogataj · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Glory of Carniola writes about the Slovenian skier Vinko Bogataj (who happens to be much more than just his magnificent 1970 crash).


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South Korea: Gender Gap · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Kotaji comments on the widening of gender gap in South Korea, there are more male than female. The writer's quick suggestions are acceptance of homosexuality, sex change, clone female.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Swahili Blogosphere: Higher Education Blame Game, Miss Universe, and Personal Privacy vs. Public Life · Global Voices
J. Nambiza Tungaraza

Hardship is the name of the game, it seems, for Tanzania's higher education students both at home and abroad. While the University of Dar Es Salaam has readmitted all the suspended students after the recent students’ strike over ‘unaffordable fees’, another crisis over students funds ensues for Tanzanians in Ukraine. About 29 Tanzanian students at Ukraine-based Kharkov University have been suspended from the university due to lack of school fees. The students have been camping at the British High Commission. Tanzania's opposition parties have created a special emergency fund to help the abandoned students amidst government denial of all the students’ claims.
Muhidin Issa Michuzi and Maggid Mjengwa have posted photos of the students outside the British embassy. A comment in Michuzi blog sums up the question in everyone's mind:
Hivi hao vijana walifikaje huko kama sio kwa kupelekwa na serikali?? sasa yawaje hii leo serikali inawakana kwamba haiwatambui?
While the recent student's saga has been covered by few bloggers, many bloggers have be been following closely all the news about the Tanzanian contestant at Miss Universe 2007 , Ms Flaviana Matata. Michuzi has a number of posts about Miss universe urging his readers to vote for Flaviana. So is Zeze and Charahani.
Chemi Che Mponda wonders if it will be ‘our Flaviana’ this time, noting her shaved head,which is uncharacteristic of previous Miss Universe winners.
Mjengwa is proud of Flaviana:
Mimi sintamwita Flaviana ” Binti yetu”. Huyu sasa ni mwanamke wetu anayetutangaza duniani. Anafanya kazi ngumu iliyowashinda “Wanaume” wengi katika jamii yetu. Tunamtakia kila la kheri…
And, slowly but surely, Tanzanian bloggers are getting closer to the formalisation of Jumuiya ya Wanablogu Tanzania (the community of Tanzanian bloggers). They have already discussed the basic structure of their community and now the interim committee has invited bloggers to declare their intentions to stand for elections. Luihamu, Ramadhan Msangi, Damija and Kitururu have already expressed their wishes to contest for different positions.
Hoping to help building an effective and ethical Tanzanian online community, Jeff Msangi writes about internet predators posing as teenagers. He urges Tanzanians netizens to abide by the netizens code of conduct:
Wapo watu wazima chungu mbovu ambao kazi yao ni kutafuta watoto wadogo mitandaoni,kuwarubuni,kuwafanya kitu mbaya na hata kuwaua.Inawezekana kirahisi kwani mtandaoni mtu anaweza kujiandikisha kwa kudanganya kila kitu.Babu wa miaka 90 anaweza kujiandikisha kama mtoto wa miaka 10 nk. Nchi zinazoendelea kama Tanzania yetu ni lazima nazo ziamke mapema inavyowezekana katika kuwalinda watoto wa nchi.
On the road, photoblogger Maggid Mjengwa, who travels around country Tanzania on regular basis and posts photos on his popular photoblog, gave a presentation on citizen journalism to Communications students at the Muslim University in Morogoro, Tanzania. During his presentation, they discussed, among other topics, issues that dominate the front pages of Tanzanian newspapers, particularly the recent marriage breakup of one of the youngest members of parliament, Hon. Amina Chifupa.
Swahili blogosphere has not been spared from Amina Chifupa's private affairs either. After some of the newspapers in Tanzania splashed the news about Hon. Amina Chifupa marriage breakup, the big question remains: Should private lives of politicians saturate the media?  Should the public care about what a politician does at home?
Some of the bloggers who have written about it are Chemi Che Mponda, photoblogger Muhidin Michuzi ,Mroki ,who posted a photo of journalists waiting eagerly for the divorced MP press conference; and Mzawa.
Chemi Che Mponda feels for Amina Chifupa:
Miaka mingi nimekuwa nikifuatilia habari zake. Lakini hii miaka ya ya karibuni maisha yake yameanikwa hadharani na kushabikiwa kama vile maisha ya hao stars wa Hollywood. Yaani maisha yake imekuwa kama Tanzanian Soap Opera. Ni kama vile papparazzi wanavyofuatilia maisha ya Paris Hilton hapa Marekani… Kwa kweli tangu jana nilisikitika sana nilivyosikia kuwa mume wake kampa TALAKA! …
And lastly, Ndesanjo writes about the annual Highway Africa Conference taking place in September 10-13 in South Africa. He asks journalists to apply for a scholarship to attend the conference.

author: J. Nambiza Tungaraza


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Syria: A Letter from a Syrian Worker in Lebanon · Global Voices
Yazan Badran

Golaniya  a letter from a Syrian Worker in Lebanon.

author: Yazan Badran


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Syria: Assad for a second term with the “approval” of 97.68% · Global Voices
Yazan Badran

President Bashar Assad won his second term in office by a landslide. 97.62% voted “Yes” on the presidential referendum this week. Andre of Flight of Ideas, cannot comprehend though how the turnout could reach 95.86% of the eligible voters, as the ministry of interior had said earlier. “in comparison with the 6% participation in the parliament election. this is not science, this is damn magic!!” he writes.


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Tajikistan: Next Generation of Journalists · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

At neweurasia, Vadim says that the next generation of professional journalists in Tajikistan will cut their teeth in the blogosphere.


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Thailand: Blocking Pro-Thaksin Sites · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Thai authorities have blocked more sites that support the former prime minister Thaksin. The Bangkok Bugle says the block might have a reverse effect with Thai people trying other means to figure out what Thaksin has to say.


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Thailand: Stereotyping Foreigners · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

The Siam Sentinel looks at the Thai habit of stereotyping foreigners. “It's not always the case but many Thais are still going by long believed stereotypes about how the Chinese, Indians, and farang are all cheats and out to steal something from the Thai people.”


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Trinidad & Tobago: Indian Arrival Day  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Both CULTURAL LITERACY and HAVEWORLD acknowledge the celebration of Indian Arrival Day.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Turkmenistan: Relations with Kazakhstan · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Bonnie Boyd discusses the great significance of the emerging relationship between Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.


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Ukraine: Crisis, Again · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Abdymok.net reports: “the so-called agreement reached under the rug at the presidential administration in the wee hours of may 27 lasted . . . about 72 hours.”


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Uzbekistan: Another Blog Blocked · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Libertad discusses the blocking of yet another blog within Uzbekistan. The blog in question, Khorezm, mostly discusses daily life in Uzbekistan's Khorezm region.


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Uzbekistan: Prohibition’s Consequences · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Tolkun Umaraliev posts that restrictions on the sale of hard alcohol in Uzbekistan is driving sales underground and spurring some to instead drink beer.


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Zambia: does Zambia-China relationship worry IMF? · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Is IMF concerned about Zambia-China relationship?: “This warning appears to reflect IMF concern about the blossoming Zambia-China relationship, and the investment conditions established for Chinese companies entering the recently announced ‘economic zone’ around Chambishi. The site is already a source of major conflict between workers and communities and the existing Chinese investors such as NFC-A, BGRIMM Explosives and Sinozam Hospital. The IMF's concerns may be quite genuine – after all it wants Zambian revenue streams to increase. At the same time, Western institutions have a number of reasons for fearing increasing Chinese investment and influence in Zambia, not least that it weakens their relative influence over the Government.”


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Zimbabwe: inflation exceeds 10,000% · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

“The Zimbabwe opposition Movement for Democratic Change’s economics spokesperson, Eddie Cross, says that judging from his own bakery business in Bulawayo the country’s inflation rate now exceeds 10 000%.
In his regular newsletter on Wednesday, he said that he was told by a supplier that flour for his bakery would now cost Z$250 000 for a 50kg bag, which cost Z$30 000 just recently,” via Sharon Dzimba.


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Africa: blogging the G8 Summit · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

A team of African journalists, who are working with Panos London will blog from the G8 Summit in Germany: “For nine days starting on 1 June, journalists from Ethiopia, Uganda, Mozambique and South Africa will bring you stories and perspectives from Africa on HIV/AIDS and healthcare, international aid, debt relief and climate change.
We’ll be reporting from the G8 Summit in Heiligendamm and the G8-alternative-summit, and will be finding out whether the G8 is really listening to African voices.”


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Arabeyes: Short Skirts Looked Down at in Tunisia  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

From a conversation about her friend Fatima, Tunisian blogger Maheva  takes us deep into an argument about education, freedom of choice and personal preferences.
ما الذي جعل فاطمة تطرح هذا السؤال؟
فاطمة صادرت حريتها كفرد و أعطت المفاتيح لزوجها حتى يسمح لها أو لا يسمح بارتداء ثوب ما أو بتسريح شعرها بطريقة ما أو بمصادقة شخص ما. و هي عندما قامت بذلك لم تفكر لحظة واحدة أنّ هذه مسائل تهمّها هي بالدرجة الأولى. و هي إذ تمارس بهذا الشكل و تقبل هذا التدخل في شؤونها من قبل زوجها تعتبر أنه أمر بديهي و لا يناقش لا من حيث وجهة نظرها فحسب و إنما من وجهة نظر الآخرين أيضا. و هي بعد أن صادرت حريتها بنفسها أصبحت تجوّز لنفسها أن تمارس سلطة تجاه الآخرين تصادر بها حرياتهم، و هي ترى أن من صلاحياتها أن “تحميك” أنت نفسك من ممارسة حريتك الشخصية
مسكينة فاطمة!!! سمعت منّي ردا جعلها في غاية الاندهاش إذ لم يكن في الحسبان رغم صدقه و عفويّته فلقدت أجبتها ببراءة و بدون تفكير “و ما شأن زوجي بهذا الموضوع؟ هل هو الذي سيرتدي الفستان أم أنا”؟
فاطمة و امثالها عديدون فهل هم مجرد وعاء محشو بجملة من القيم و المعارف؟ هم غير مؤهلين على التعاطي معها إيجابيا
كيف تستطيع فاطمة وأمثالها أن يتمثلوا مضمون هذه القيم وهذه المعارف؟
Poor Fatima!! What she heard from me was a response which shocked her as she did not expect it – despite it being truthful and spontaneous. In all innocence and without giving it a second thought I blurted out: “And what has my husband got to do with it? Is he the one who will wear the dress or me?” There are a lot of people like Fatima, who are after all just vessels filled with information and values they are not qualified to interact positively with. How will people like Fatima ever be able to grasp the content of such ideas?


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Bahamas: A Story on Race  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“If you wanted to get ahead, your best bet was finding a way to make your children lighter than you, so maybe one day, their children or grandchildren could be fair enough to matter.”  Guest authoring at Bahama Pundit, Nicolette Bethel continues the discussion on why race matters.


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Bahrain: Electricity Shortages  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini blogger Mahmood Al Yousif discusses electricity shortages in Bahraini here.


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Barbados: Um-ba-rel-la? · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Where did she get that pronunciation from?  I could forgive her if she was speaking bajan and pronounced it ‘am-brella'…but Um-ba-rel-la?  Anybody ever look at you and say ‘buddy that rain just hit outta nowhere I could share that um-ba-rel-la with you?'”  Jdid has a few issues with fellow Barbadian Rihanna's new hit.


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Bolivia: A Country Unites Behind FIFA Ban on Stadiums at High Altitudes · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Sitting in the middle of the Miraflores neighborhood of La Paz, Bolivia, the Hernando Siles stadium is home to several local professional football teams and is home to the Bolivian National Team.  Even though the squad has finished at the bottom of the table for the past three World Cup qualifying process, the advantage that high altitude is said to give was one of the catalysts in the qualifying for the 1994 World Cup, Bolivia’s first and only appearance.  Santa Cruz blogger E. writes in Voz Boliviana [ES], “In 1993, when we qualified for the World Cup USA '94, the entire country was in a state of joy, optimism, and nationalism.  The feat was merited because we qualified by our own efforts.”
Recently, the international football governing body, FIFA, announced that international matches will no longer be permitted to be played in stadiums above 2500 m, putting many stadiums in Bolivia off-limits, and dashing the hopes for qualifying once again for the world’s biggest sporting event.
The decision mobilized the Bolivian government headed by President Evo Morales, a self-professed football fanatic, who sent a high-ranking delegation to Zurich, Switzerland to speak directly with FIFA President Sepp Blatter and declared it “Challenge Day“.  Marches and demonstrations against the ban took place across the country.  Bloggers also joined the united voice against this decision.
The decision is drawing the ire of Bolivians across the country and cutting across ideological lines.  Andres Pucci [ES] of Santa Cruz, writes:
El deporte, sea cual fuese es algo universal, que se lo practica desde los lugares mas calientes y húmedos hasta los mas fríos y secos, desde lo mas bajo hasta lo mas alto.
Para algunos jugadores es también difícil jugar por ejemplo en Recife Brasil a las 1500 horas a mas de 40 grados Celcius, como subir a mas de 3500 metros es difícil para otros , pero es parte del deporte, de la visita que se hace a otro pueblo, lugar, región para disputar algún encuentro
The universal sport is played in the hottest and most humid places to the coldest and most humid to the lowest altitude.
For some players, it is also very difficult, for example, to play in Recife, Brazil at 3:00 p.m. at a tempreature of 40 degrees Celsius than it is to play at 3500 meters above sea level, which is difficult for others.  This a part of the sport, to visit another country, place, or region to play a match.
Sergio Asturizaga, a Bolivian living in Brazil, blogs at Así como me ves me tienes [ES] and  recalls a time that Blatter visited La Paz at a time when there was constant debate regarding matches at high altitude.  Blatter reassured the Bolivian federation and lent his support for the stadium. To commemorate this visit and his statements, a large plaque was placed on the stadium exterior walls.  Hugo Miranda of Angel Caido [ES] provides us with the text of these words that are found on the stadium wall.
I was born in the mountains.
My hometown in Switzerland sits across from the highest mountains in Europe. For that reason, I am not afraid of the altitude.
Joseph Blatter, FIFA President on February 11, 2000
Miranda lives in Oruro, which is one of the cities that would be affected. He draws conclusions to what this decision is really about by this ban:
A FIFA solo busca dinero y lamentablemente para que sus patrocinadores sigan desenbolsando esas cantidades de dinero necesita que los de siempre: Brasil, Argentina, Uruguay esten en sus torneos.
FIFA is only looking for money and unfortunately that in order that its sponsors continue to give out these amounts of money they need the same teams: Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay to be part of the tournament.
Carlos Machiado Salas of Guccio’s [ES] writes:
Si quieren vetar los stadios de las ciudades de altura, donde hasta ahora no ha muerto nadie por el tema de la altura, deberían vetar también los stadios de Buenos Aires y Sao Paulo, donde al mes muere una persona a lo menos por la violencia de las barras bravas.
If they want to ban the stadiums located in high-altitude cities, where until now, no one has died because of the altitude, then they should also ban the stadiums in Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo, where at least one person dies per month due to the violence within the barra bravas (supporter groups).
If international football is outlawed from being placed in these places, what comes next? Willy Andres [ES] wonders if all sports might be affected from being placed at high altitudes.  Gery M. of Nacido en Bolivia [ES] writes that this decision from FIFA might have other long lasting affects on the youth of these coutries, who might be discouraged from playing sports, which can help improve the quality of life in these countries.


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Bolivia: Residents of El Alto Fed Up With Bars · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Residents of the city of El Alto took the streets and forcibly “closed” clandestine bars that were said to contribute to the rising delinquency of the city.  Mario Duran, GV author, descended to the area to have a look and presents a slideshow of images that he posted on Noticias El Alto [ES].


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China: Entropia Universe · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Peijin Chen from Shanghaiist reports that Entropia. Inc will soon enter China and create a cash-based virtual world, where millions of people can work, socialize, learn and fall in love, Sweden-based Entropia Universe announced Wednesday.


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China: Lost in “preservation” · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Wang Jun comments that media attention has succeed in preserving part of “old Beijing”, however, the old part might still get lost in actual preservation plan, as it allows rebuilding and radical renovation (zh).


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China: Pork barrel politics · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Will from imagethief discusses the delicate politics in the recent rise in pork price in China, the connection between epidemic, death sentence of the former commissioner of the State Food and Drug Administration, pork reserves, etc.


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China: Xiamen Demonstration Against Chemical Project · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Tomorrow there will be a demonstration in Xiamen against the construction of Chemical factory campus. Although the local government has already announced the deferral of the construction plan on may 30, the rally is to stop the plan all together. Details and discussions about the rally and construction plan can be found at panic's tiny house.


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Cuba: Today Show · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“I'm sorry, but an American news outlet visiting Cuba isn't news. That they're not going to be able to score an interview with Fidel Castro is news.”  Lawhawk shares his thoughts on the upcoming Today Show visit to Cuba – as do Uncommon Sense, El Cafe Cubano and Babalu Blog.


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Egyptian Blogger Monem to Be Freed  · Global Voices
Freedom For Egyptians

A recent clampdown on Egyptian bloggers encompassed bloggers of different political orientations. Egyptian blogger Abdul Monem Mahmood who has been detained for 46 days on political allegations belongs to the banned Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. However, various bloggers of different backgrounds showed support to Monem without discrimination.
According to Monem's blog, he is in jail under inhuman conditions, denied to attend his post-graduate studies exams and barely succeeded in visiting his ailing father few days ago.
Egyptian bloggers received the news of Monem's release with apprehension reflecting the amount of distrust in the Egyptian security. Nora Younis said “the release decision came as surprise like the detention order…I am still apprehensive. I won't congratulate Monem before I see him with my eyes.”
In an earlier blog post titled “Freedom for Internet”, Jar El Kamar suggests that the reason behind Monem's detention is his blog posts on torture by state security to him, participation in conferences, and for being an active journalist defending human rights. Jar El Kamar says: “the accumulation of fear feelings leads to strict self censorship… I am sad because the only place where I felt free is now cordoned.”
The release of Monem this Saturday does decide on future procedures regarding other bloggers expressing themselves freely in the Egyptian blogosphere which explains why some received the news with silence, apprehension and cautioned happiness. The only clear procedures so far are setting legal precedents with Egyptian bloggers to succumb them to a level of censorship.

author: Freedom For Egyptians


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El Salvador: Preliminary Census Figures · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Early returns from the first Salvadoran census since 1992 have found that there are less citizens in the country than expected.  Tim Muth provides the prediction that “you can expect the ARENA government to spin this as good news — it means a greater per capita income statistic when you divide the country's Gross Domestic Product by the number of inhabitants,” but on the other hand, perhaps more Salvadorans are leaving because of the poor opportunities at home.


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Estonia: The Emperor’s Menu · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Nami-Nami examines the menu of the Emperor of Japan during his recent visit to Estonia: “The only ‘outsider’ is the snow crab, which was caught in Kamtchatka.”


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Guyana: If Wild Animals Could Talk.. · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“The sound was so lawless…raucous, vulgarhh…even the early morning sun quiver and turn pale.”    Guyana-Gyal discovers what all the fracas is about.


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Hong Kong: Take it to the UN! · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

A new blog called, take it to the UN, has been set up to file the complaint of the recent censorship cases by the Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority (TELA) to the Committees of Human Right Council of United Nation.


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India: Development and West Bengal · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Singur underlines why development is crucial in West Bengal. “Today, regional and sub-regional cooperation is the axis around which the wheel of economic growth is turning. The nay-sayers to new investments in West Bengal and Bangladesh should glance eastwards to see how this wheel has turned in the direction of poverty alleviation, employment generation and shared prosperity. Not long ago, undivided Bengal was more advanced than several countries in Southeast and Far East Asia. Kolkata itself was ahead of Shanghai. Today, if Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, South Korea and, lately, even Vietnam, have left West Bengal and Bangladesh far behind, it is primarily because they realised the virtue of economic cooperation.”


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India: Muslims and Political Parties · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Indian Muslims on the civic elections in Malegaon, which was rocked by bomb blasts last year. “So, does it helps if you are concentrated in a region, play communal politics and still be acceptable to the mainstream? Or can you be a party of only the majority group and still be fine? And when no political party in India is tackling the real issues of Indian Muslims namely poverty and education, is it really a bad idea to have someone who can fight for their rights and help address their genuine grievances?”


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Interview with Caroline Nellemann, Danish Researcher of Iranian Blogs · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Danish researcher Caroline Nellemann has done her Master's thesis on Iranian blogs and was involved for three months with the Berkman Center for Internet and Society in Harvard. In order to meet Iranian bloggers and to be more in touch with Iran she took a trip to Iran recently. Caroline shares some of her ideas, photos and research experience with us in this interview.
The photo is from a blog event where “The Frogomist Award” (Golden Frog) for the best Iranian blogs in various categories was given. (Caroline is on the second right with the back pack).
Please introduce yourself and tell us about your interest in blogging and especially Iranian blogs?
I have just finished my master's thesis which focuses on the Iranian blogosphere. The purpose of the thesis is to examine how blogs become a part of the public sphere. Iran is an interesting example for several reasons. First of all, blogs in Farsi are extremely widespread both in Iran as well as within the Iranian Diaspora. Secondly, it is interesting to look at blogs as an alternative, freer media in a country where public discussion is restricted. When I talk about the public sphere in this context I primarily refer to the press.
I had the chance to go to Iran in April for three weeks on a grant from the Danish Institute in Damascus, where the purpose is to encourage cultural and scholarly exchange between Denmark and the Muslim worlds. When I got to Iran I was completely overwhelmed by the friendly and hospitable atmosphere I met as well as intrigued by the many contradictions e.g. the great contrast between public and private life.
What are some interesting characteristics about Iranian blogs and what is their presence in Iran's media?
Unfortunately I do not read Farsi but I have read a lot of examples from blogs that were translated, and have followed some of the Iranian blogs in English. My primary source of information was communication with Iranian bloggers who discussed the content of their blogs as well as their experiences and ideas about blogging. In Iran I met with ten different bloggers, and I would like to thank the many helpful people in this process, including Hamid Tehrani from Global Voices. The bloggers I met had very different profiles regarding age and gender. Some of them focused on social and political matters, while others had blogs that were more personal.
It does not seem like blogs are on the list of favourite subjects in the mainstream media in Iran, although one of the reformist newspapers has a column that discusses what is currently happening in the Iranian blogosphere. Some of the people I talked with explained that blogs are described in Iranian media as a phenomenon for well-to-do youth. In that respect one might get the impression that the authorities are not interested in promoting this medium. On the other hand, the current Iranian president has launched his own blog as well as an official blog festival with awards for the best technical and religious blogs. These initiatives should be seen in the light of the constant upgrading of Internet filtering and no Internet speeds over 128 kb. One could argue that this dualistic approach to blogs and the Internet reflects the continuing schism between tradition and modernity in the Islamic Republic.
During your trip to Iran, did you find a radical difference between how Iran is presented in western media and real society?
Going to the airport in Copenhagen on my way to Iran the taxi driver asked where I was going. When I told him my destination was Tehran, he thought I was out of my mind to go there. Of course not every one has that idea, but I believe that the Western media have presented Iran in such a way that only a very limited aspect of an otherwise highly complex society is shown. At the same time I think that it is exactly this one-sided picture of life in Iran that the Iranian authorities want to present to the world. When I was in Iran I experienced that a lot of people were very concerned about how Iran and the Iranians were depicted in Western media. They were very eager to point out positive aspects of Iranian society and requested that the “other side of the story” be told to as many people as possible.
How can we make a dynamic bridge between Iranian and Western bloggers?
A lot of the bloggers I talked to were only writing in Farsi even though their English was extremely good. They said that they felt that the subjects they wrote about were mostly relevant for Farsi speaking readers inside or outside of  Iran. A few even expressed that they did not want to add to the negative picture of Iran that Westerners seem to have. So they would rather keep their critique to themselves and their fellow countrymen.
On the other hand, I believe that blogs are a way of opposing prejudice. The blogosphere enables a pluralistic exchange of opinion and contributes to the eradication of prejudice. Most of the bloggers I talked to explained that they are participating in the blogosphere regardless of whether they agree or disagree with the blogs they read. This indicates that the blogosphere is not just a free-for-all for ideas, but at the same time promotes networking and allowing people to be better informed as well as more politically conscious citizens. Reading about everyday life in Iran and seeing pictures on a photo blog from Tehran might change a lot of Western idea about Iranian society. One of the Iranian bloggers I met developed a more nuanced view of the hejab after reading about women who actually wore it voluntarily.
Do you have any ideas to share with GV's audience?
The conclusions in my thesis have changed somewhat after my trip to Iran. Before my departure I was very optimistic about the possibility of mobilizing public opinion by means of internet and blogosphere. I am still optimistic, but perhaps a bit more realistic. Although the virtual and real worlds are interconnected, there are still important distinctions between the two. On the one hand, the internet can have a very positive effect on the people who communicate with each other, but from there to real life outside cyberspace is something else. The society-transforming potential of blogs depends on how the medium is utilized, since technological media are only instruments for social interactions. As with all other media, the social context determines how blogs function as a part of the public sphere.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iraq: Diyala Update  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“Diyala has arguably become the most dangerous place for both Iraqis and Americans.
The recent crimes of al-Qaeda and affiliated groups in recent months in this province have cost tragic losses among Iraqi civilians, Iraqi security forces and American soldiers,” writes Omar in Iraq The Model.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Israel: Kuwaiti Weekend · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

ISRAELITY comments on Kuwait's plans to change its weekly holidays from Thursday and Friday to Friday and Saturday here.


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Israel: Underground Sderot  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Batya, from Israel, jokingly suggests  building an underground Sderot.
“‘Sderot Underground’ should be so strong, secure and reliable, that the new “Sderot” will be the most desirable place to live in all of Eretz Yisrael, especially when Iran (G-d forbid) gets the bomb.
“I have no doubt that Olmert and his fellow travellers will love this plan. Think of all the money they can make off of it!” writes the blogger.


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Jamaica: Worst Test Cricket Loss in 50 Years · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Sometimes I wonder if we should just drop cricket like we're dropping the sugar industry. Both are vestiges of colonialism. But I dare not say this aloud…'cause, unlike the sugar industry, cricket swims in our very blood.”  Jamaican Leon Robinson is disappointed in the West Indies’ performance against England.


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Jordan: Who to Trust?  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“Who do you trust these days? The tug-of-war between the government and the IAF in Jordan is a traditional center piece of Jordanian politics. It’s a back and forth effort and it has just gotten to a point where one cannot trust either and it merely becomes a question of who can be trusted less,” writes Naseem Al Tarawnah from Jordan.


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Kenya: Mobile Toolkit Workgroup  · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

White African writes about Mobile Toolkit Workgroup meeting in Nairobi, Kenya:
The first 3 days were taken up with examples and stories of how mobile technology is being used as an effective tool within NGO’s that have a focus on human rights and social advocacy. A typical question at these sessions would be, ” What do you need to make your work with mobiles more effective?”
A few of the answers:
* Access to service reports (SMS)
* User-friendly software
* Tables with the list of providers that are able to send messages to other providers
* Alternative power (solar power, charging and energy saving techniques)
* A glossary of the technical jargon
* Text-to-voice techniques
* Mobile-to-blog techniques


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Kenya: they came, they saw, they were conquared · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Only in Kenya writes about Harambee Stars vs. the Green Eagles: “They came, they saw, they were conquered.
That is the story of the Super Eagles after their encounter with Harambee Stars Sunday 27th May 2007 at Kasarani. Yes, they hit us 1-0, but as anyone who was in the stadium will tell you, our Stars deserved the loud applause they received at the final whistle.”


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Kuwait: Paris Hilton Lingerie  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“I came across this bizarre news while surfing the net, Inspired by the great Paris debate, Mio Destino, a designer lingerie company, has specially designed “Free Paris” and “Jail Paris” silk panties. The company will contribute 50% of the profits from the ‘Paris Hilton Panties’ sales to an Ovarian Cancer Action charity.
ooook. I ain't no Condoleezza, nor am I into politics, but come on, with allll the problems we have in our world, who cares if the poor little heiress went to jail or not?!” writes self-confessed Kuwait fashion junkie Confashion.


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Latvia: Doctor to Become President · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

All About Latvia reports on the election of the new president: “And this is the first time in my recent memory, the Parliament voted in a person opposed by so many organizations.”


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Lebanon: It’s Getting Hot in Here  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Sietske, a Dutch expat living in Lebanon, fills us in on the latest developments in Beirut. “The Warden messages from the Canadian and American embassy are arriving more frequent now (Warden messages are messages from embassies to warn their nationals of (imminent) danger that may befall upon them).
“I even received one from the Brits this morning. They all basically state the same. ‘Avoid going downtown’, ‘Leave Tripoli’, ‘Do not frequent popular places’, Do not venture near Palestinian camps’, ‘Stay away from manifestations’, ‘Adopt a defensive posture at all times ‘etc etc’. These all add up to previously issued messages about not going down south, and staying clear of the southern suburbs. If this goes on much longer, and I would heed all messages, I’d end up barricaded inside my house,” she explains.


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Lebanon: Questioning Amnesty for Islamic Militants · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Frencheagle writes that certain members of Fatah Islam implicated in the decapitation of 27 people on the first night of the conflict with the Lebanese government were not only granted amnesty by parliament [Fr] in 2005, but were arrested last year–and then promptly released–for vandalizing the Danish embassy.  “You don't release [people who repeatedly murder and thieve] so easily, and you don't release that kind of person for political reasons.”

author: Jennifer Brea


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Macedonia, Greece: Name Dispute · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Macedonian Tendency posts a note on the name dispute between Macedonia and Greece.

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Morocco: Bono in Fez  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“The View from Fez has its ear to the ground and can confirm a rumour that has been floating around the Medina (city) for the last two days. Bono is in Fez. Why? Well according to one source he is recording here with U2 – another is that he has dropped in for the Fez Festival – or ( most likely) he is here for both reasons,” announced The View.


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Morocco: Punish YouTube Blockers · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“People behind the blocking of Youtube in Morocco have to be reprimanded in proportion with the damage caused from ban. The news has made its way to BBC,New York times, Washington Post and a plethora of other news outlets in the world causing an unwanted negative advertising of a Kingdom that seeks to replenish its image and join the club of modern and free societies,” writes Moroccan blogger Adilski, who is based in Washington DC.


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Nagorno Karabakh conflict: “Liberated Territories” in Focus · Global Voices
Artur Papyan

The Armenian  blogosphere is full of speculations about the seven regions in Azerbaijan currently under the control of Armenian and Karabakh forces, which are referred to as the “Liberated Territories” by those with a more nationalistic perspective.
Now that the parliamentary elections are behind us the international community is once again turning to what is perhaps the number one problem in the regions – unresolved frozen conflicts and in particular, Nagorno Karabakh, says Onnik Krikoryan looking at the latest developments on way of conflict resolution examining RFE / RL, Today.az and Eurasia Daily Monitor.
No surprise to discover that mediators from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) were in Yerevan earlier in the week before moving on to Baku. According to RFE/RL’s  report posted on the day of their departure, the OSCE Minsk Group mediators have said they hope that the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents will meet on the sidelines of a summit to be held in St. Petersburg on 10 June. With presidential elections set to take place in both Armenia and Azerbaijan next year, there really is very little time and only a small window of opportunity for a long anticipated breakthrough framework agreement.
While Oneworld Multimedia is looking for possible solutions to the conflict, Armenian Breaking News reports that Turkey is inciting Azerbaijan to war in Karabakh:
«The Nagorno Karabakh conflict cannot be settled peacefully. Everyone should know that lands which were seized with bloodshed cannot be returned bloodlessly,» said lieutenant general Yasak Demikbilek, former chief of Turkish intelligence agency.
As noted also by Onnik Krikoryan in the post referenced above, the problem of seven regions in Azerbaijan currently under the control of Armenian and Karabakh forces, continues to bother politicians and activists in Armenia. Via Ahousekeeper (ru) I learned that Anaid1708 (am) has posted some video extracts from the presentation of the book “Liberated Areas of Armenia”, where Armen Ayvazyan (political scientist) and Zori Balayan (publicist, writer) speak about the importance of keeping these lands in the Armenian hands and putting this issue in the context of solving the Armenian Question, which is a diplomatic term, referring to the protection and the freedoms of Armenians from their neighboring communities.
The new wave of discussions seem to have started at OpenArmenia forum, after which Kornelij Glas (ru) posted about the petition signed by a number of internet resources (ru) against the surrender of the liberated territories, saying that the negotiations currently in progress are based on “the readiness of Armenia to surrender already all seven (!) liberated territories around NKR, living only the Lachin corridor (not the region).” In exchange Karabakh would gain the right to conduct a referendum on its status after about 5-15 years. Kornelij Glas (ru) says that his opinion — that this will definitely lead to a new war in which Armenia will be on the losing side — is only shared by a few people, and of those few, most think, that Robert Sedrakovich (president of Armenia) is from Karabakh and would never make concession on the issue.
Ahousekeeper (am)  here, here and here as well as the Freedomfight777 (am) and Hayblog (ru) are also joining the petition and urging everybody to sign the petition “AGAINST THE SURRENDER OF THE LIBERATED TERRITORY” at http://www.miacum.ru.  Armenia Breaking News is writing that according to Vahram Atanesyan, chair of the NKR Parliamentary Committee of External Relations, all the issues discussed during the talks must become subject of public debates:
I think the people of NKR are to solve the question of status of NKR and the territories surrounding former NKAR[Nagorno Karabakh], because only people are empowered.
Looking at all the polemics in the blogosphere Uzogh (ru) is stating that there is no way to go without Kharabakh conflict resolution and is asking – what are the options?
I know 2 [positions in circulation currently]: the position of Jirayr Sefilyan (which can be described in short as: “the hell do we care about resolution, we are OK as we are now”), which rejects the concept of resolution per se, and we have vague suppositions, that can be reduced to the phrase “surrender of 7 regions”.
Uzogh’s (ru) post has definitely generated a lot of interest: 103 comments when I last checked it, which by Armenian blogging standards is pretty big deal.
Pigh (ru) says he won’t sign the petition. This is all pointless noise the blogger says: “Serge and Robert [Prime Minister and President] would never surrender Karabakh – 100%”.
One thing is sure – if Armenia wants peace and integration in this region, we have to be prepared to surrender something. But what will be the true price?

author: Artur Papyan


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Palestine: The 1967 War · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Palestinian blogger Haitham Sabbah gives us a history lesson about the 1967 war between the Arabs and Israel here.


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Peru: Bloggers Featured for the First Time? · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Bloggers Juan Carlos Luján and Vladimir Terán Altamirano were interviewed on the radio station Radio Libertad.  Podcasts of the interview were posted on the Grupo Periodisimo Digital [ES]  blog.  This led the blog's author Sandro Medina to comment, “I don't remember a Lima, or even a Peruvian radio station that devoted so much time to this topic.”

author: Eduardo Avila


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Peru: Interview with Archaeologist Guillermo Cock · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

C.J. Schexnayder of Kleph's blog recently sat down with famed Peruvian archaeologist Guillermo Cock, who led the effort to unearth thousands of mummies and tens of thousands of artifacts in a area of land near Lima that was destined for urban development. Among the topics discussed with Cock were the problem of looting, the challenges of the need for urban development and Peruvians link with their past. There is also a photo of one of the mummies, Tejida.


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Rising Voices Seeks Micro-grant Proposals for Blog Outreach · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Application Deadline: June 15, 2007
Rising Voices, the outreach arm of Global Voices, is now accepting project proposals for the first round of microgrant funding of up to $5,000 for new media outreach projects. Ideal applicants will present innovative and detailed proposals to teach citizen media techniques to communities that are poorly positioned to discover and take advantage of tools like blogging, video-blogging, and podcasting on their own.
As the internet becomes more accessible to more people, as computers become cheaper, and as software applications move from the desktop to the web, the so-called digital divide seems to be narrowing. In its place, however, we see a participation gap in which the vast majority of blogs, podcasts, and online video are being produced in middle-class neighborhoods in major cities around the world.
Rising Voices aims to help bring new voices from new communities and speaking new languages to the conversational web, by providing resources and funding to local groups reaching out to underrepresented communities. Examples of potential projects include:
The sky is the limit, but unfortunately funding is not. Rising Voices outreach grants will range from $1,000 to $5,000. Please be as thoughtful, specific, and realistic as possible when drafting your budgets.
Successful projects will be prominently featured on Global Voices.
Completed applications will be accepted no later than Friday, June 15. Please email them to outreach@globalvoicesonline.org
Feel free to ask questions in the comments section below or by sending an email to outreach@globalvoicesonline.org

author: David Sasaki


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Russia: Export of Bio Specimens Banned · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Russia bans export of biological specimens, Siberian Light reports.


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Russia: Off-the-Beaten-Path Research · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Darkness at Noon blogs on his scientific research from “a run-down bus station in a little village about 2 hours outside of Lipetsk, which is itself about 10 hours from Moscow by train”: “Never did I think I would long for Moscow so intensely, but after a week in and out of provincial towns and villages (all without hot water), Moscow is like an oasis on the horizon, rising out of the parched earth.”


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Russia: Pirates Strike Back · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Russian pirates strike back: “By buying licensed Windows you sponsor the war in Iraq.” See the poster at Russian Marketing Blog.


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Saudi: Saudi Jeans Birthday  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Saudi blogger Saudi Jeans (Ahmed Al Omran) is marking his 23rd birthday without much fanfare. “As for my birthday, there will be no party: Just me and my beer coke, working on some unfinished projects and getting ready for the tough finals,” he explains.


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South Africa: Media Tech Africa 2007 · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Media Tech Africa 2007 is taking place in South Africa: “Organised by Thebe Exhibitions, mediatech africa 2007 showcases cutting edge technologies and services from industry leaders in television and broadcast, sound and audio, lighting and staging, animation, communication, and every related field. The combination of technology, demonstrations, networking opportunities and special events attracts top quality visitors from all parts of the media, entertainment, broadcast and communication industries.”

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Sri Lanka: An Expat’s reasons · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

An ex-pat (was) explains why he came back to Sri Lanka and why he chooses to stay there. More at Indi.ca. “I was born in 1982 and my entire life has been defined by this war I had nothing to do with. It was just this messy inheritance. With the CFA I thought that maybe my parents generation would sort this out so I could have a normal life here, and build. That dream is rapidly slipping away for my generation, but I’m glad I had it. I still love Sri Lanka. I still feel like I’m home. I just have to do what little I can now. I still have that dream of a great Sri Lanka. It’s just one generation removed from me.”


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Sri Lanka: My mom is a Doctor · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

London, Lanka and Drums reflects on being the child of a doctor and doctors in SL. “These Sri Lankan Doctors are an abundant resource aren't they? I was travelling to the motherland last year with my brother and there was an announcement over the plane's PA asking if there was a Doctor on board. There were scrums and fights as most of the passengers went forward and volunteered for the task of saving the poor suffering passenger's life.”


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Touring Libyan Blogs: Tony Blair, Watermelons, Shock and Awe and a Really Hot Summer · Global Voices
Fozia Mohamed

Certainly these last two days Tripoli has been abuzz with the talk about British Prime Minister Tony Blair's visit. I have never seen such security displayed in my entire life. You could guess the guest of honour's itinerary from the security arrangement. If this is what Tony Blair gets then what will happen if Mr Bush decides to pay us a visit before he leaves the White House ?
Blogger Highlander is only interested in one aspect of Blair's trip, namely the fact that he visited the families of the Libyan children AIDS victims.
“It is a good PR move [..]as it is not often that I see sympathy or care shown to them in the media but only to the Bulgarian nurse and  not the Palestinian doctor.”
We have to thank General Graziani for the invention of the ‘shock and awe’ tactic which was pioneered on Libyans during  Italy's  fascist colonial past.
Gheriani has dug another historical gem, I urge you to read his post to witness the atrocities.
Below is an extract from what Dr. Asad whom Gheriani is quoting said :
“The Italians adopted the new tactics of making surprise raids by mechanized units on the Bedouin encampments, slaughtering man and beast indiscriminately, and destroying the grain stores, In these raids, on what in a noncolonial war would be regarded as the civilian population, the purpose was to kill as many of the Bedouin as possible, striking terror into the hearts of shepherd folk of Cyrenaica. When the rains came and mechanized transport could no longer be used, the camps were bombed and machine-gunned from the air.”
On another note there is new aggregator for Libyan bloggers in which Libyano  has encapsulated the essence of Libya with the icon he chose دلاع -‘the watermelon’ .
Lastly, I think that the Libyan bloggers like all other Libyans are busy or their family is busy with end of year exams. Either that or the summer which has dawned upon us with a bang  this week is affecting the blogging.  A friend told me it was 49 degree Celsius in the shade on Sunday. Well check Libyano's experience he posits it's going to be a hard summer:
I open the door
My face shrivels up
My hair sticks up
My forehead is dripping with sweat
My lips stick together
What a horrible day (my translation)

author: Fozia Mohamed


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Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica: Rex Nettleford & Today’s Thinkers · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“It was undoubtedly a pleasure to hear from one of the few great Caribbean minds–with the recent passing of Lloyd Best, their numbers are even fewer now, and needed no less than ever.  Yet it occurred to me…that these minds are almost to a person of an older generation.”  Attending a lecture by Jamaican scholar Professor Rex Nettleford leads Jonathan Ali to wonder, “Where are the great scholars and thinkers of today?


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Ukraine: Kyiv Mayor and Orphans · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Scenes from the Sidewalk reports on Kyiv City Administration's attempts to deal with the problem of orphaned children in Kyiv.


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Ukraine: Tsushko’s Illness · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Foreign Notes writes on the speculation around the sudden illness of Ukraine's minister of internal affairs: “Any number of unexplained deaths and assassination attempts on highly placed politicians and businessmen over the last decade and a half [including that of a former Minister of Internal Affairs Yuriy Kravchenko who committed suicide by shooting himself twice in the head in March 2005] give citizens a queasy feeling, suggesting stories like the one above cannot be completely discounted…”


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Venezuela: More Protest Photos · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

GV Author Luis Carlos Díaz continues his on-the-ground coverage of the post-RCTV closure and adds another Flickr photoset.


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Afghanistan: Children Used as Political Props · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Fahim Khairy reports that children are being used as tools to protest the expulsion of Malalai Joya from parliament.

author: Nathan Hamm


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AIDS in Japan: Blame it on gays? · Global Voices
Hanako Tokita

Since the first case of AIDS in Japan was officially reported in March, 1985, official figures have indicated that the number of cases of HIV/AIDS among Japanese has been steadily increasing over the years (this despite the difficulty of making assessments due to the low rate of HIV testing among the general population). The Japanese government has been dealing with the problem of AIDS through various campaigns and activities, the results of which, judging by their own figures, have not shown much success.
In fact, the latest results show that Japan is well behind other developed nations in combating the spread of HIV. On May 22, the AIDS Surveillance Committee of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare announced that the number of people diagnosed with HIV, combined with the number who developed AIDS in 2006, altogether hit a record high. According to the survey, 1358 new cases of HIV/AIDS were reported (952 people were diagnosed with HIV, while 406 people developed AIDS), adding up to a cumulative total of 12,394 cases reported since data started being collected (see links to reports in English and Japanese). Men reportedly represented more than four out of every five new cases of AIDS, and in a significant majority of cases, the patients were homosexual.
Government-sponsored ad promoting AIDS testing performed by the popular comedian Puppet Muppet
Although this announcement was only briefly covered by the mainstream media, many bloggers linked to or cited the news and added many comments. Among many entries about the recent release of the statistics, blogger Ishimaru provides an example of comments that blame gays for the spread of the disease in Japan:
まあ、迷惑な話ですな。
ここまできたら、ホモには税金をかけてもいいと思うのですが。
個人の嗜好として男が好きというのは別にかまいませんが、妙な病気を流行らして、医療費を圧迫するのは勘弁願いたいと思います。
Another blogger shares a similar view.
これはちょっと深刻な状況ですね。エイズは「死なずに済む」病気にはなったけれど、単に治るわけではないし、投薬も副作用があって、結構きついらしいし。
今時、ゲイの間で流行っているのは、ひょっとしてゲイ・コミュニティに末法思想のようなものでも蔓延しているのか、と勘ぐりたくもなる。
単純に医療コストを上げてしまうわけで、回避できるものは回避して欲しいですよね。
On the other hand, Upappi, a gay blogger, expresses his concern about the discussions on blog sites:
一方，僕らゲイにとって気になるのが「男性の同性との性的接触による感染が増加」という文言．
Yahoo!ニュースの関連ブログやmixiの記事引用日記などでも盛んに取り上げられており，ノンケ（と思われる方々）のHIVに対する知識のなさと「何でそんなに男がいいのかね？」に代表されるゲイという存在への無理解には苦笑させられますが，この文言は「印象操作」しだいではゲイバッシングにつながりかねませんし，HIV感染に対し誤った知識を植え付けることにもなりかねません．
Finally, an HIV positive blogger provides yet another perspective on the issue:
厚生労働省のエイズ動向委員会の発表は統計として一部は意味のあるものだろう
けれど、数字だけでHIV対策を計るとしたら大きな誤りだと思う。
セックスの時にはコンドームをすれば予防できるなんて、簡単に考えられていては
どうにもならない。HIVが服薬によって簡単にコントロールできるなどと思っていては
どうにもならない。HIVは予防しにくいものだし、服薬によるコントロールは決して楽
ではなく不便で辛いものだ。
日本のHIV/エイズ対策は未熟でお粗末なものだと思う。
これから先、日本の中でエイズ/HIVに対して、どのようにすれば本当の意味で知識
が普及して偏見をなくせるのか。それを考えて実施していくことが新たなHIVの予防
や意味のある統計へつながっていくのだろうと思う。

author: Hanako Tokita


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Argentina: Partial Election Results on Second Life · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Pablo Mancini provides partial election results for the Jefe de Gobierno contest in Buenos Aires.  At this junction, Jorge Telerman leads over Mauricio Macri.  Polls at the Argentonia site remain open until Sunday (the date of the real elections).


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Armenia: Freedom to Rock · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

tirami su reports that a protest for the right to organize a “rock for freedom” concert.


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Armenia: Notes from the Blogosphere · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Onnik Krikorian rounds up some of the latest discussions in the Armenian blogosphere.


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Armenia: Reckless Drivers · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Notes from Hairenik says that there are far too many reckless drivers in Armenia, and explains how that recklessness contributed to an accident in which the author was involved.


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Barbados: CWC Hurt Barbados Tourism · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Barbados Free Press reports that the recently-concluded Cricket World Cup has hurt Barbados tourism revenues.


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‘Bean Curd Soup Woman’  · Global Voices
Hyejin Kim

‘Bean Curd Soup Woman’ (doin-jang-nyeo: a new term to indicate women who are crazy about material and western products) is the result of a philosophy of ‘treatment of women as inferior to men’ rooted in Korean society. A male blogger says  [ko]

author: Hyejin Kim


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Belize: Peeved at Miss Universe Blunder  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The Miss Universe show, which was broadcast from Mexico, made the misinformed statement that Cozumel has the second largest barrier reef in the world.  Belizean.com says that Belizeans are “ticked off” about it.


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Bosnia & Herzegovina: Banja Luka · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Wu Wei posts some pictures from Banja Luka.


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Chile: Issues of Broadband Access and Net Neutrality · Global Voices
Rosario Lizana

This week Chilean bloggers had a heated reaction about the broadband and net neutrality. Senator Fernando Flores declared that we were far along the way as a country, and that this was not an issue for Chileans.  Pepe Huerta, who attended a private discussion about broadband and net neutrality,  discovered that the general managers of big companies just don’t care about it, and are protecting their investment. The brave act was a posting about this meeting on his blog.
This all started through a meeting called together by País Digital (ES) a foundation that promotes Information Technologies in Chile. The goal of the meeting was to discuss the law proposal concerning broadband and neutrality on the net. The audience was comprised of generalmanagers of the large telecommunications companies and some governmental officials, Senators, and Deputies. As Pepe Huerta (ES) explains, he was able to attend the meeting because he is the assistant of deputy Gonzalo Arenas, who is the sponsor of this two law proposals. Pepe described the conversations of the meeting on his blog. One of the issues exposed was that companies can not use the commercial name broad band in connections lower that 1.5 Mbps, which is the standard of the International Communications Union and is used by most of the developing countries. He explains the reaction of the General Manager of Telefonica Company, the biggest communication company in Chile:
(…) las empresas proveedoras de acceso a Internet no estarían dispuestas a invertir el dinero necesario para lograr otorgar el servicio que la ley exige y que, según el, no puede acotarse el nombre Banda Ancha solo a las velocidades superiores, debido a que históricamente se le denomina Banda Ancha a todas las conexiones no conmutadas (aquellas realizadas por líneas telefónicas comunes).(…)”
Pepe continues explaining his personal view :
Sobre esto, solo puedo comentar que mientras las plataformas físicas que sostienen “los cables” que se utilizan para generar la conexión a Internet sigan siendo de propiedad de un par de grandes empresas, los costos asociados para generar conectividad seguirán siendo elevados, por lo que tampoco existirá competencia ya que es imposible competir con el “dueño de la pelota“. En Chile finalmente, pagamos lo mismo que paga un ciudadano europeo por una conexión diez veces más rápida que las nuestras. ¿Parece coherente?.”
Regarding the neutrality issue, Pepe explains that the one of the members of VTR, the other main telecommunications company argues that they use filters to protect the users from attacks of hackers and virus on the net.
There are more concerns about these issues, but the main discussion does not center on broadband or net neutrality.  There are many blogger reactions about the declarations by Senator Fernando Flores, who led the discussion.  Pepe writes:
Creo que la discusión sobre neutralidad en la red debemos dejársela a los Estados Unidos y Europa, Chile no es potencia en desarrollo tecnológico, por lo que no tenemos pa’ que discutirlo
In regards to blogger reactions to this issue, Flores posts (ES) that he is concerned about the issue of broadband and he has been working a lot on the issue for quite a while, even though there are a lot of people who do not know about the issue. He wrote that Chileans are too immature to be able to participate in the discussion and that we have to wait to see how this issue goes on in Europe and EEUU.
The blog, neutralidadsi (ES), (Pepe's blog) promotes free internet in Chile and asks for support for the new law proposal regarding neutrality on the web. They declared that the Chilean discussion is similar to discussion in the United States: “the internet provider should restrict their themselves only to provide the access and not to allowing privilege or to hinder the access to some content”. He also posts the text of the law proposals.
This is the beginning of a discussion and bloggers will continue to post about for years to come. Atina Chile, one of the biggest and most well-organized online social movements founded by Fernando Flores has promoted the campaign of broadband for all and lately has been meeting with the Chilean Economy Ministry to support OLPC (One Laptop Per Child),  here you cand find the news about this issue.

author: Rosario Lizana


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China: Liveblogging from ground zero · Global Voices
John Kennedy

As much as it was a precedent for publicly-organized, nationally-observed mass demonstrations in China ending peacefully, the protest held in southeast China's seaside city of Xiamen—borne out of widespread public anger at the planned construction of a toxic chemical plant dangerously close to the city core—early June 1 was also a landmark for China's leading independent blogger's collective Bullog.
With a media blackout on news of the demonstration, the time, location and target turnout of one million people were spread almost exclusively by SMS, bbs postings and on blogs. The government was able to stop the SMS from spreading for several days and nearly all bbs webmasters and blog service providers were swift to delete any related discussion, leaving Bullog members free to go on to post several in-depth posts this past week looking at various angles of the situation, including one of of the key public figures lobbying against the PX plant, Southern Metropolis Daily columnist and Xiamen resident Lian Yue.
Several other Bullogers took it a step further by attending the demonstration in person, leaving one at home to post their SMS live updates straight onto Bullog, giving it a national exclusive as to what was happening minute-by-minute down on the ground which, by the afternoon of the 1st, had attracted enough readers that Bullog's host server was left unable to keep up. With Bullog inaccessible, the live SMScast was temporarily moved here, from where many of the below discussions mixed in with the live reporting were taken.
Disclaimer: this blogger was there SMS-blogging the tail end of the procession.
In addition, a video of the march has been uploaded to YouTube. Flickr users Miao Ben Zhou, Aaron Roy, hellhell007 and shgbird have also been following it very closely.
Protest theme: wear a yellow ribbon.
cloudswander says:
08：52：31
三七：武警围住500以上人。老太太们在高呼：”拒绝污染，保护厦门！”政府门口有大批人要进去，有一个大红横幅刚刚拿出来。
北风：有人在市政府门口高举抵制PX，保护鹭岛的横幅，警察试图抢夺。
北风：第二条大标语：抵制px项目，保市民健康，保厦门环境。
08：58：28
现场人数大致超过3000人。
08：59：49
警察很克制，市府院内大批武警待命。
群众举着横幅，涌向市府大门，暂算克制。
Close to the government headquarters
09：02：05
群众推进了5米。
现人群聚集在市府门口右侧十米处，警察三道人墙，僵持中。
09：05：18
开来要开始XX了，正往返方向走。
——市府的右侧反方向，沿湖滨北路向西，此举相信出乎当局预料。
09：12：16
现场人数过万，XX之势已成！
沿途群众纷纷加入，XX队伍越拉越长。
手上绑着黄丝带的人也多了起来。
09：19：08
因事先没有规划XX路线，现场有点乱，现队伍掉头沿建业路往湖滨南路行进。”要停建，不要缓建！”的口号最响亮。带头者身穿保钓服装，好玩！
09：23：59
补充：警方的动态？
北风：不见警察，看上去他们来不及调度。
09：24：25
移动的网络确认被关闭。（补充注：此前来信询问过网络是否通畅，北风用联通，我移动，均广州用户）
09：32：55
沿途很多人派发打印好的标语和丝带，我的包上也绑了一根。口号：民生民主民权和谐。有警察朝我拍照，我连忙变换姿势摆了不少POSE。
现场有七十多岁的老人说：为了下一代，不怕秋后算账，说值得！
有群人帮着与众不同的橙红色字条，公司统一以个人的名义参加。
View from the footbridge
09：40：52
XX队伍进入白鹭洲路，人数维持在一万左右。
XX队伍前往湖滨前集中，据了解，不少是公司全体出来参加，算出勤。
XX队伍中尚无过激和煽动性言辞，警方沿途交管，XX和平理性。
09：48：18
队伍马上进入湖滨南，口号：爱护厦门人人有责！
警方根本不知道队伍的走向，只好一个个路口等着。（补充注：这是行政成本，居高不下也要破产）
队伍左转进入湖滨南向西前进，领头的那位头戴一个防毒面具。
09：54：18
游行队伍人数过万，沿途汽车长鸣呼应。经过建筑设计院，声势浩大！
（补充回应网友图片问题：因我和北风手机都比较老款，发不了彩信，图片只能晚上才有了，抱歉！）
游行队伍人口构成：多以青年为主，貌似家庭主妇的人也不少。
（补充注：这是典型的北风视角：他在自己家楼下和家庭主妇们常打麻将，常常赢人家钱，现在亲切感油然而生）
10：01：18
现场唱起了一首与鼓浪屿有关的歌。队伍已经到了后滨路口。
市民买了水放在路边，给游行的人解渴，场面感人。
队伍走完湖滨北路口。
10：09：40
貌似政府的工作人员要求队伍去大会堂，但队伍行进的目标可能是火车站。
10：17：27
过了后埭西路，队伍情绪亢奋。
厦门天气很热，队伍在骄阳暴晒之中，沿途不断有人送水进来。
10：21：03
游行已经两个小时，大家都有点累了。
10：24：43
经过金榜路，目标确定是火车站。
10：25；55
现在游行人数增加到两万，新加入的人群原在火车站附近等候
10：27：17
警方只是远远管制交通，貌似便衣的人试图影响行走路线
10：31：11
现场一个警察在与同伴的对讲中称不知道游行队伍的行进路线，出租司机也拿出手机在拍摄现场照片。
10：33：46
必须停建喊声云，现场再度亢奋
10：35：59
仍在湖滨南路，临近富山路口。
10：37：40
现场开始响起高喊何立峰下台的口号。
Then reader  cloudswander says:
另外有一支游行队伍正从主干道嘉禾路经过莲坂,人很多,上班的人们的情绪也都被调动起来了,很多人从公交车上的士上冲下来加入游行队伍.
More updates copied and pasted from SMS dispatcher Buchong's Bullog page:
cloudswander says:
10：46：11
队伍在新世界百货前，没有再往火车站方向走。
10：47：05
队伍沿嘉禾路往北行进。
队伍长约300米，人数不详。
10：51：19
队伍在转盘处发生分歧，后队换了方向，前队停着没动。
10：53：09
后队改变主意，跟了上来，仍往北走。
10：55：48
北风有中暑迹象，昨晚从广州到厦门一夜未睡好。
cloudswander says:
///失去前方的联系近一个小时，55555///
现在全部的人都对着市府大门高喊为人民服务
游行队伍冲破了警察如抗洪般的人墙，唱这国歌正与广场静坐人群汇合。
从市政府里有约一百多武警跑步向游行队伍的方向。有六辆空军用卡车从那边开回来停在市府门口。
一部警车停在路边放广播，说”天气越来越热，请大家尽快撤离”。在场有人说市内的朋友讲游行有一万来人。
cloudswander says:
www.56.com/u56/v_MTQyNDE1MjU.html
一小段视频
luanyu says:
也补充牛博北风的直播：
10：59：47
捡废气瓶子的拾荒者跟在队伍后面，他们也收获颇丰。
现在队伍看来是要回到政府门口和那边的市民汇合。
11：01：52
现队伍转入莲岳路，可惜连岳不在。
有几位打工者，凑钱买了两箱水送给游行的市民，他们说身上只剩下10元钱了。
11：08：44
听到一个警察正在打出的电话，他们已经知道市民的路线，正在作部署。路旁的市民拍着手给游行市民鼓劲。
路旁有大帮小朋友呼吁：”加油！加油！！”（三七）
11：10：39
队伍转往湖滨西。员当街道办门口几车警察在车里待命。市民情绪高涨。
奔跑前后拍照，要抽筋了。
11：20：50
一批警车经过，有人发信息说队伍前面有点紧张（三七）
11：28：42
大批警员在市政府四周，游行队伍已经回到政府附近。
大批武警也出动了。
市民唱起团结就是力量，距离武警只有100米左右。
消防水龙也在待命。
11：32：19
游行被警车阻止了（三七）
现场发生冲撞，武警被冲散
11：33：59
武警第二道防线被冲散。
人们高喊反对暴力
武警群众都在集结形势危急
11：37
湖滨北路，发生推搡，有些人受小伤，高喊”反对暴力”（三七）
冲散处在湖东桥头，队伍继续前进。
队伍已经过了七星路口，目标是市政府。
You better e-mail me a copy of that.
原帖地址：http://www.bullog.cn/blogs/buchong/archives/66717.aspx
cloudswander says:
///太感谢啦啦啦啦啦啦！！///
非常整齐响亮。
何立峰，出来！何立峰，下台！
现在的口号是不要缓建！必须停建！
Here cloudswander posts a link to the to a 163.com news story on the PX plant from noon on June 1[news.163.com/07/0601/11/3FTB7B9M0001124J.html] which he praises but mentions nothing of the march currently underway.
Back to Beifeng's live updates from the ground:
cloudswander says:
11：40：22
附近好像有武警调动。
队伍喊出明天八点不见不散的口号。
特贸路口有警力，有群众捡石头被旁人制止。
11：45：00
群众亢奋，局面难以预料。
武警再筑人墙，双方步步紧逼。
现场高唱国歌。
武警人墙再度被冲破。
11：52：07
双方现在处于僵持中。
在湖滨北路，又被强行阻止了（三七）
武警的防线已经被冲散。
成功冲了100多军人两次，马上有第三次，人人在叫”反对暴力！反对暴力！”（三七回顾冲防线）
11：57：13
市民成功抵达市政府门口，高喊”何立峰，下台！”的口号。
警力死守政府大门，防止冲入。
现在回到市政府，军警特别多，人们在疯叫市长”下台”，听不清名字，又向军警叫”为人民服务！””保卫厦门！””PX必须停止”（三七）
Oppose PX, Protect Xiamen
“何立峰，出来！”（三七）
唱国歌了！市政大楼上面挂了个很大的红色”为人民服务”牌。
12：11
双方在市政府门口僵持，北风三七在这里遇到了几个牛博网网友，他们正在聊天喘息之中。厦门天气很热。稍息片刻。
Aether Woo  Pro User  says:
im watching you.
plz continue
MingDami says:
支持厦门市民的周五集体散步行动！
reverdie says:
上面那个实况报道的bullblog网页，我亲眼看着被封
reverdie says:
整个牛博都上不去了
to reverdie
这是为什么要使用伟大的flickr的原因
flickr的作者肯定没有想到flickr还能够这样用
Aether Woo  Pro User  says:
www.bullog.cn
应该已经被拔掉服务器电源了
cloudswander says:
我本人坚决反对冲击市政府的行为，授人以柄啊。坐坐就可以，冲击不解决任何问题。
Cloudswander continues copying live SMS updates from Bullog:
cloudswander says:
12：46：31
不少上班族中午休息时间赶了过来，人越来越多，市政府发了个新闻稿，说环评要半年，希望大家以正常渠道反映情况。
本站已经突破1万的点击了，在短短的几个小时之内
13：02：06
有不足一千人在市政府门口唱歌，其他的人在对面人行道围观。
北风三七现在去午餐。
13:20
现在人没有早上的多
部队比较多
现场在喊何立峰下场
一些警察还主动说,闹吧,还是有效果的.只是起围拦作用并不怎么阻碍民众
13：35：22
北风等刚刚吃了点东西，现正买水和几位牛博网网友一起赶往现场。
13：43：32
游行队伍主力离开了市政府门口，准备沿中山路去厦门大学。
Dong Yan says:
cloudswander says:
具网友说
厦门大学这两天再考试……
13：52：21
离开市政府了。游行队伍到了市政府门口就很兴奋，便衣警察和武警很紧张。制服警告我们几个老外，说再不离开就抓我们。两个被查了护照的老外被登记了护照号码，被要求删除相机中的全部照片。他们看到警方手上有我的护照复印件。离开市政府时军警比参与游行的人还多。（三七）
cloudswander says:
有网友称收到一条短信
曰：通过正常渠道向市政府反映，我们一定将你们的意见和建议转达给环保专家。。。
来源：09599移动之声
政府用心良苦啊
Back to the Bullog live updates:
13：58：59
队伍约两千人从湖滨南路一路向西行进。
队伍到了环保局门口高喊口号：”保卫厦门，拒绝污染！”
一个带红领巾的小朋友说她也想参加游行，但学校不放假。
Then cloudswander says:
再也找不到任何信息的来源了，所以地方都被封锁了。仿佛落入黑洞。前方的朋友们，千万不要发生任何意外啊。
今天进行到这个程度已经是极好的，政府临时让大家游行，可算开18年来未有之局面了，如果因冲动而失去双方妥协之可能，所剩只能是后悔。
本站已经超过40000view了
cloudswander says:
人群刚才到了轮渡,引起交通堵塞近20分钟…
14：45：12
游行队伍高喊”保卫厦门，加入我们！”动员市民参与，人数有所增加。
回观整个游行，觉得队伍是无组织有纪律，气氛和天气都超热，与队伍中的积极分子有接触，但上午的几个骨干，有些现在已经没有走在队伍前面了。
刚刚听警察说，要全力防堵队伍进入厦大。
15：13：55
队伍经过海军医院时，为避免打扰病人，队伍自动停止呼喊口号。非常理性。
队伍左传到了政海路，即将右转去厦大。
15：18：19
北风感到身体疲劳，喝了一听功能饮料，又觉得身体能坚持，但手机的电量能否坚持是个问题。
15：28：58
队伍现在行进在大生里，离厦大约两站路，幸好是下坡，否则这支疲惫的文明之师要遭遇大自然的严峻考验了。
口号现在是：保卫厦门，拒绝劈叉!（PX）
15:43:11
游行队伍现在走到理工大学思明校区。未见有警力部署。
学校大门紧闭，听到一个貌似学校领导的人在打电话，要求看住每一个学生。
有学生要出来，但校领导在力阻。队伍在校门口高呼口号。
没有效果。门全关了。理工大学生基本被关在校内了。
15：58：18
马上就要到厦大的校门口了。有学生迎出来加入游行队伍。
队伍抵达校门口，学校封门了。大家准备就地静坐。
人们高喊开门，保安护门，未见警察。
16：03：19
市民在游说学生参加，看来可能性不大。。。
16：22：17
现场有人通知明天早上八点市政府门口集中。
16：26：50
厦大门口人群渐渐散去，估计今天到此告一段落了。
厦大的老师进不了校门，意见很大。

author: John Kennedy


text:
China: Pollution in Tai Hu · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Tai Hu, located in Jiangsu province, is one of the three major fresh water lakes in China. Recently it is suffered from serious pollution. Zhaomu blogs some photos of the polluted lake.

author: Oiwan Lam


text:
China: Xiamen X project · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Zuola travelled to Xiamen to report on the demonstration against the construction of chemical factory. He took some pictures from the site and had a few interviews with local residents. Most of the internet discussion about the issue had been deleted by internet police (zh). He also reported on the demonstration via mobile message at twitter (zh).
DANWEI has most updated information concerning today's demonstration.


text:
Cuba: When in Cuba… · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“In my previous life as a journalist…I once spent a day working in a busy restaurant pretending to be a kitchen hand.  It's an old journalistic stunt that is supposed to allow you to learn first hand how other people live and work, so that you could then go away and write about it.  It’s a lot of fun but…the reality is you always go back to your comfortable cocoon.”  Neither Child of the Revolution nor Uncommon Sense is impressed at the Associated Press‘ Havana Bureau Chief's announcement that she will “spend all of June trying to eat like an ordinary Cuban.”

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


text:
Czech Rebublic: Civil Democrats · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

An in-depth view on Czech Republic's Civic Democrats and other political forces – over at Dr. Sean's Diary.


text:
Egypt: Jailed Blogger Disappears  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“Egyptian blogger Monem, whose release was ordered on May 30 by general prosecutor after 46 days imprisonment in Southern Cairo Torah prison was deported from prison at 2pm yesterday May 31st. Mr. Islam Lotfy, Monem’s lawyer, contacted us now from Cairo saying Monem was able to have someone call him and pass a message of his whereabouts as he moved.
“Mr. Lotfy said Monem arrived Beheira governorate at 9pm, then arrived Ministry of Interior Transfers Department in Alexandria city at 3am today June 1st.
“While Monem was able to pass a third message to his lawyer confirming he is inside Alexandria Transfers Department, security officials denied he ever appeared at their premises and Monem’s lawyers were dismissed.
“‘It is illegal to keep Monem for more than 24 hours after his release. I am worried Monem is being subject to re-interrogation by State Security, or even torture and re-detention,’ says Mr. Lotfy,” reports the Free Monem Blog.


text:
Egypt: Saudi-Egypt Causeway Plans  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptian blogger Zeinobia discusses plans for a Saudi-Egyptian causeway here.


text:
French Village’s Monument to a Gabonese WWII Hero · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Association des gabonais d'Amiens writes about a monument in Airaines, a small French village of 2,000 people, dedicated to Charles Ntchorere, a Gabonese captain in the French army [Fr] who was taken prisoner and executed by German forces in 1940.


text:
Hungary: A Wi-Fi Village · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Free wi-fi covers an obscure village in Hungary, making it possible for the residents – most of whom are Roma – “to finish their studies, obtain a profession, and then, to find a job.” More at TOL's Romantic.


text:
Hungary: Budapest Travel Tips · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Budapest travel tips, from Viktor Dimitrov at The nEUrosis: “Last but not least, don’t ask questions about the big football rivalry between Ferencvaros and Ujpest.”


text:
Hungary: Maternity Leaves · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Further Ramblings of a N.Irish Magyar writes about the Hungarian labor market and the seemingly “family friendly” policy of allowing mothers to have long maternity leaves.


text:
Hungary: More on Police Rape Scandal · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Pestiside writes more on the police rape scandal.


text:
India: Education and the Government · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The Indian Economy Blog does a series of posts on education in India. “In the broadest terms, the government of India is an extractive and exploitative system created specifically for that purpose during the nearly one hundred years of its existence as a British colony before India became politically independent. The British, as a colonial power, created a system designed to control every aspect of the economy to maximize extraction. The challenge of administering such a large population required a certain small percentage of the native population to be educated in a very specific way. Therefore the total and absolute control of the education system was a necessity.”

author: Neha Viswanathan


text:
India: On Dera Sacha Sauda · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

An intense discussion on DesiPundit, where a post on the religious sect Dera Sacha Sauda has been linked to.


text:
India: The Next President · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Indian Muslims runs a poll on their blog on the preferred next President of India. “On 16th May 2007 we started a poll requesting our readers to vote for their choice for the upcoming Presidential elections in India. The participation was substantial and we got 212 votes during the 15 days the poll was active at the blog. I heartily thank all the readers who participated in the poll. The result is along the expected lines. Incumbent President APJ Abdul Kalam was the overwhelming favorite of the voters netting 54% of the total votes cast. Founder of Infosy, NR Narayanmurthy was a distant second with 24 votes which is around 11% of the total votes.”


text:
Iran:Kian Tajbakhsh, an Iranian-American Scholar in Jail · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Kian Tajbakhsh is one of Iranian-American scholars who was arrested in Tehran.He was charged with trying to topple Iran's government. FreeKian.org is launched to support this scholar and to inform people about his situation.Iranian government has formally charged another Iranian-American, Haleh Esfandiari, with trying to topple the government. Tajbakhsh has consulted for several Iranian government organizations, including the Municipalities Organization, the Social Security Organization, and the Ministry of the Interior, and with international nongovernmental organizations such as the World Bank, the Open Society Institute, and the Netherlands Association of Municipalities.

author: Fred Petrossian


text:
Iraq: Fighting in Amiriya  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“Fighting in a western Baghdad district between two insurgent groups continued for the 2nd day, eye witnesses told ITM.
The clashes erupted yesterday around noon between two groups of insurgents that are competing for control in the Amiriya district, one of Baghdad's most violent and lawless districts.
“The two groups, teams actually, were later identified; on one side there's al-Qaeda and the Islamic state in Iraq and on the other there's the Islamic army and ‘Jaish al-Mujahideen’ (The brigades of the 1920 revolution in another account), the latter are know to be largely military and intelligence officers of the former regime as well as members of the Baath Party,” reports Iraqi blogger Omar from the battlefront.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


text:
Is Ryanair’s website blocked in Morocco? · Global Voices
Jillian C. York

This morning, MoTIC has posted that the websites of Ryanair, a popular low-cost airline which recently began offering flights to Morocco, has been blocked.
Une partie de la censure de Maroc Telecom se fait pour des raisons économiques pour défendre ses propres produits (comme la téléphonie longue distance en bloquant des services de VoIP) ou pour défendre certains intérêts économiques du gouvernement ou d'entreprises publiques. C'est le cas pour la compagnie aérienne Royal Air Maroc que Maroc Telecom essaie de protéger au Maroc en bloquant l'accès aux sites de la compagnie aérienne low cost Ryanair.

author: Jillian C. York


text:
Israel: No Moral Prohibitions Against Killing · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Israeli blogger Desert Peace is shocked  ‘to read the words of Israel's former Chief Rabbi, Mordechai Eliyahu.. who “ruled that there was absolutely no moral prohibition against the indiscriminate killing of civilians during a potential massive military offensive on Gaza aimed at stopping the rocket launchings”….
No moral prohibition?????? What ever happend to ‘THOU SHALT NOT KILL'???’