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Jamaica: Politcal Debates  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Your guess is as good as mine,” writes Jamaica and the World, talking about what effect, if any, the political debates will have, while Francis Wade thinks that the Jamaican electorate is “divided between ‘Amen’ people and ‘thinking people’.”


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Korea: The Second Meeting between North and South Korea · Global Voices
Hyejin Kim

The Second North and South Korea summit will be held in the North Korean capital Pyongyang from the 28th to 30th of August. Seven years have passed since the first summit between the South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
As part of an international agreement, Pyongyang also shut down its main nuclear reactor in July. While the summit gives welcome to Koreans, South Korea’s main opposition party, Han Nara Party (GNP), criticized the move as an election stunt ahead of the presidential election this December.
Conservative media also focus on what political intentions the current government (Roh Moo-hyun Government) has and why the meeting place is Pyongyang again, and criticize it as the incompetence of the current government.
While the summit seems to cause more political snarls between political parties, bloggers are enthusiastic about the coming meeting.
Papazzang is one of the most enthusiastic bloggers on this issue.
제2차 남북정상회담을 위해 노무현대통령이 경의선 열차를 타고 방북하는 방안이 추진되는 모양이다.
당연히 그렇게 되길 기대한다.
지난 5월 17일 오전 12시 역사적으로 경의선과 동해선 열차가 재개통되면서 축하승객 50명씩을 태우고 각 각 56년과 57년 만에 개성과 양구로 올라가고 내려 왔었다.
그때의 감격…이루 말할 수 없었다….
그런데 이제 남북한 쌍방의 노력으로 제2차 남북정상회담이 열리게 되었다.
역시 어렵게 성사가 된 마당에 뭔가 상징성을 넘는 가시적인 성과가 있어야 하겠는데, 제일 먼저 실천하기 쉬운 요건이 열차를 이용한 노무현대통령 일행의 방북행렬이 이루어지면 얼마나 좋겠냐는 것이다.
상상만 해도 즐겁고 감격적이지 않느냐 말이다.
기왕이면…북쪽의 김정일 국방위원장이 개성까지 마중 나와서 같은 열차로 평양까지 간다면
At noon on the 17th of May, the Gyeongui Line Train and Donghae Line Train started re-operating. Taking 50 passengers for each train, one went to Kaesong after 56 years and the other to Yanggu after 57 years. It’s speechless to express how impressed I am…
With mutual efforts by both North and South Korea, the Summit will be held.
Beyond the symbolic gesture, there should be some visible accomplishments. The first easiest step could be by the train the South Korean president goes to North Korea.
Just imagining the scene makes me happy and impressed. In addition, it couldn’t be better if the North Korean leader, Kim Jongil welcomes the South Korean president in Kaesong and both of them take the same train to Pyongyang together.
The Majority of bloggers are citied, pointing at that some politicians and media take this issue as a political interpretation for the sake of the current government.
남북정상회담이 대선과 연관지어 정치적인 꼼수라느니 정권연장이라느니 하는 말들이 오가고 있다. 그런데 남북정상회담은 분명히 말해서 정치적일 수 밖에 없는 문제이다. 왜냐하면 대북문제 자체가 정치적인 이슈이니깐 말이다….노무현정권이 정상회담이라는 정치적인 행위를 함으로써 남북평화체제 구축에 엄청난 기여를 한다면 그것은 노무현정권의 정치적인 성공이다. 김대중 전 대통령의 남북정상회담 자체가 정치적으로 엄청난 성공을 이룬 것과 같은 의미라고 생각한다. 김대중정권의 정치적인 행위는 남북관계에 많은 진전을 이루게 해주었다. 그래서 김대중정권의 핵심적인 정책은 바로 햇볕정책으로 남는 것이다. 물론 노무현정권의 이 정상회담이 김대중정권의 연장선에서 이루어졌다는 것을 부정할 수는 없다고 본다…
나는 지극히 정치적인 판단으로 제2차 남북정상회담을 적극적으로 지지한다. 왜냐하면 남북의 긴장완화에 도움을 줄뿐만 아니라 평화체제구축에 큰 의미를 가져올 수 있는 회담이기때문이다. 여러가지 대북문제들을 포괄적으로 해결할 수도 있는 기회이기도 하기에 정상회담개최를 강력하게 지지한다…
남북정상회담개최에 대한 정치적인 책임은 분명히 노무현정권에게 귀속되는 문제라는 점을 생각해 보면 너무도 간단한 문제가 아닌가싶다…
With my political judgment, I support this second summit actively. Because it help relax the tension between the two Koreas and it’s meaningful to build up peaceful relations. It could be a chance to solve other North Korean issues comprehensively through this meeting, I strongly support it…
It will be simple to think that political responsibility of this second meeting  will also go to the Roh Government.
Some bloggers intend to focus on it as a natural process.
남북정상회담은 당연히 정례화 되었어야 하지만 우리는그것을 조금 늦게 시작한것일뿐이며 이것은 너무나도 당연한 일이기에 지지의사를 굳이 밝히지 않아도 된다고 봅니다
남북정상회담은 북핵문제를 해결할수 있는 하나의 실마리로써가 아니라 북한을 개방시킬수 있는 하나의 교두보로써가 아니라 그전에 만남 그 자체가 매우 자연스러운 일이며 당연한 일인것입니다.
This meeting should be taken as natural and not look for other purposes, such as solving nuclear problems or bridgeheading to open North Korea in public.
Through some netiznes’ responses to this North and South Korea meeting, it is read that the positive result could influence the next government.
김대중 전 대통령이 이룬 가장 큰 업적 중 하나는 남북정상회담이다. 우리나라가 남북으로 분단된 지 50여년 만에 처음으로 남과 북의 정상들이 만났다. 남과 북의 대결 구도가 완화되고 우리 국민들은 북이 우리의 적이 아닌 결국에는 우리가 보듬어 안고 가야 할 우리의 형제자매로 인식하기 시작했다. 금강산 관광, 개성 공단 경협이 시작됐고, 철도가 이어지고, 많은 사람들이 남북을 오갔다. 북핵 문제로 북미 간의 마찰이 있었어도 우리 국민을 동요하지 않았다. 평화의 물꼬가 터진 것이다.
노무현 대통령이 두 번째로 남북정상회담을 갖는다… 노무현이 한 번만 더 이 나라를 이끌어 준다면 정말 우리는 한 단계 더 올라설 수 있을텐데…
웃기는 언론들은 이번 남북정상회담이 누구한테 더 이익인지, 또 뒷거래는 없었는지, 대선에 영향을 미치기 위한 정치적 의도는 없는지 이런 것들에만 관심이 있다. 그들에게 우리 한반도의 평화, 민족의 안위와 번영은 안중에도 없다…
노무현이 한 번 더 할 수 없다면, 김대중-노무현의 뒤를 이을 제대로 된 지도자를 뽑아야 한다. 그들이 이루어 놓은 업적을 이어 나갈 수 있는 대통령을 우리가 만들어야 한다.
노무현 대통령이 이번 남북정상회담을 성공적으로 마무리할 것으로 믿어 의심치 않는다. 평화 체제가 정착되고, 경제 협력이 강화되고, 이산 가족들이 만나고, 핵이 폐기되고, 북미간 수교가 이루어지고, 마침내 통일의 기운이 무르익을 것이다. 참여정부는 통일의 기반을 다지는 정부가 될 것이다. 그리고 다음 정부는 그 기반을 바탕으로 통일을 앞당기는 정부가 되었으면 좋겠다.
And then the President No Moo-hyun plans the second North-South Korea Summit.  If he leads the nation one more time, the development of the country will be much better…
The ridiculous media are just focusing on for whom we do this summit, whether there are some kind of secret stories, and whether there are political intentions to influence the presidential election. They don’t care about peace on our Korean peninsula and our properties…
The president can’t do extend and then a leader as equal to Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun. We should select a president who can follow their achievements… I don’t doubt that Roh Moo-hyun will have a successful summit. Peaceful relations will more settle down, economic cooperation will be stronger, families apart in North and South Korea can unite together, the nuclear weapons will be abolished, and North Korea and America will accompolish diplomatic relations, and finally we will be in the verge of the unification of the peninsula.
And the hope below was easy to find through several blogs.
김정일 손잡고 서울까지 내려와왔으면 좋겠다!!

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Hyejin Kim


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Philippines: Extreme weather events alarm the public · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Most Philippine bloggers are worried over the changing weather patterns in the country. If global warming was an esoteric term a few years ago, it is now a familiar term which can be understood by almost everybody. Situated in the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Philippine archipelago is usually ravaged by strong typhoons, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Yet, despite being no strangers to natural calamities, many Filipinos are alarmed over the freak weather events these past months. Climate change fueled a certain level of panic among the public and initiated a community discussion on what should be the best adaptation measure to implement today.
One Alternative Energy Blog writes about the dry spell which affected the northern part of the country:
“The Philippines is welcoming typhoons with open arms. Not because of the death and destruction that they usually bring, but rather for the strong rain that accompany it. Rains are very much needed now in the northern island of Luzon where the capital, Metro Manila, is located. This is necessary so that the rains can fill up the reservoirs of the hydroelectric dams. The water levels of the dams are running very low due to the prolonged dry season that preceded the rainy season. This could be the Philippines’ own proof that global warming exists.”
The Keyboard Confessional identifies the ten reasons why there is drought in the country. The dry spell is not only affecting water supply; it also has a negative impact on agriculture. A-Force links to a news report that the drought will cost the economy by about P1 billion.
Manila Times says the country faces a great risk from global warming. Thoughtstreams mentions the hailstorm in a highland city. A hurricane was also reported in a province. Wow Zamboanga cites the erratic weather in southern Philippines.
The government resorted to cloud seeding to raise water level in dams. The Catholic Church enjoined the faithful to pray for rains. The heavens answered the prayers. Chuvaness is delighted:
“This rain comes with thunder and lightning, which tells me its real rain from heaven. Yesterday we started praying for rain in all Catholic masses in the Philippines. This is a true sign that prayers deliver miracles, what more if a whole nation prays.”
Aiza Bautista, Typing Free cautions the media not to frighten the public:
“I’ve already refused listening to radio and watching TV about the rants of how the dry spells are affecting everything from the rise of electricity to cloud seeding to global warming. It’s just pathetic how they’re making everybody panic over these while it is the perfect time to inform people of what they should be doing instead.”
In many instances, people are blaming the inaccurate weather reporting in the country. Akomismo explains:
“So far we just have 12 weather forecasters, and half of them are applying for jobs abroad. The University of the Philippines — which offers the sole meteorology course in the country — is struggling to find five applicants to keep the course in the curriculum. This is how urgent the need is.”
Kalikasan is doubtful whether the government is ready to confront the impact of global warming:
“Whether the dry season will progress into drought or whether it will be followed by an extremely wet season with typhoons and heavy rains, the question is whether the government is prepared to handle the possible effects of these weather conditions on the people, among these the vulnerability to more environmental tragedies, diseases, and economic dislocation.”
Cool the Planet recommends doable measures which everybody can follow:
“A little goes a long way. Even a small cut on your power consumption will limit carbon emissions. Turn off the aircon and just use an electric fan especially since its getting cold [due to the rainy season]. Or for college students, when you pass by an empty classroom, make sure the lights and the fans are turned off. Don't forget to tell your friends and family to practice the same energy-saving habits. We all have a stake in this world after all.”
Batanghamog advises the government to learn from the environmental practices of other countries. The composed gentleman lauds the government decision to include global warming in the school curriculum. Planeta Azul reports that climate change is included in the President’s legislative agenda. Allen’s Site warns that the environment crisis can be used to promote presidential ambitions of certain politicians. Gerry Albert Corpuz presents wants the ‘emergency funding assistance’ for farmers to be closely monitored by anti-corruption groups. Greenpeace in Southeast Asia has a page devoted to raise awareness on climate change.
Blogged uploads a news article on the need for an “integrated plan to manage the danger presented by rising global temperature that will consider coastal, forestry, agricultural and health solutions, just to name a few.”
A review of Philippine blog posts on global warming also reveals that a great number of young Filipinos learned about  the disastrous consequences of climate change through the documentary, ‘An Inconvenient Truth’, produced by former US Vice President Al Gore.
Related articles: The perfect storm, Worst marine disaster

author: Mong Palatino


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Sierra Leone: facts about Sierra Leone elections · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Facts about the Sierra Leone elections:
* More than half of the voters are under 35 years old.
* There are 7 presediential contenders.
* There are 566 parliamentary candidates for 112 parliamentary seats.
* Ballots have been transported by trucks, canoes and porters to some 6,176 polling stations in
savannah, jungles and mountains.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Sierra Leone: post-election day · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Post-election day in Sierra Leone: “Sunday, August 12.
remained quiet overnight which means that we no longer have a curfew. So this morning I went to church with a couple of others. I love the church I go to now- it feels like home. Amazing pastor, friendly people, beautiful surroundings. It’s great. The elections are still very much a hot topic; everyone is talking about them. Actually, church is held in a community center, which was used as one of the polling stations yesterday.”


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Trinidad & Tobago: Bloggers’ Union?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Caribbean Public Relations wonders whether bloggers should become unionized.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Trinidad & Tobago: Windies New Head Coach?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

West Indies Cricket Blog makes his pick for the new Head Coach of the West Indies Cricket Team…


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Africa: Beautiful Africa Blog Carnival · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

The third edition of Beautiful Africa Blog Carnival: “Just wanted to let you know that the next edition of Beautiful Africa is due in a week. Time to read through your blog again and look at the posts you've written (in order to see if there is anything amidst all the lines that you've already written that has captured a Beautiful African issue in a positive or constructive way); or, to sit down and write something according to your heart's desire.”


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Africa: the music of Samba Mapangala and Dar International · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Steve Ntwiga's musical link takes you to East Africa: Meet Samba Mapangala and Dar International.


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Angola: life-affirming dance in Angola · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Kilandukilu is a dance group from Angola, which brings together the old and the new: “Kilandukilu was founded by a group of friends in the Maculusso municipality of Luanda twenty-one years ago, bridging traditional Angolan beats with break-dance, pop and even funk. “These are works basically about our history, they are stories about daily life,” says dancer Ton Da Costa Mangani or ‘Ton’ as he is known, who has been dancing and now choreographing with Kilandukilu for over nine years.


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Argentina: Starbucks to Arrive in Argentina · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Starbucks is arriving to Argentina.  Expat Argentina wonders whether domestic competition will be too much for the make a dent in the market.

author: Eduardo Avila


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Bangladesh: August in 1947 and 1990 · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

The month of August and the flood of memories at Addafication. Partition in 1947, and memories of the author's family living in Kuwait in 1990, during the Iraqi invasion.

author: Neha Viswanathan


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Barbados: Cemetery Bulldozed  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Almost 300 years of history erased with the expenditure of a little diesel fuel and the movement of a few levers and pedals”:  Barbados Free Press calls for accountability in the destruction of the island's historical Moravian cemetery.


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Bolivia: Blogger on El Alto Radio · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

El Alto blogger Mario Duran of Palabras Libres [ES] will now be a regularly scheduled poliitcal analyst on Wayna Tambo radio.


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China: Baidu Kids Version · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Jason Li from Virtual China found out that Baidu has launched a Baidu Kids Version, it is something related with the Chinese Internet market.

author: Oiwan Lam


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China: China Daily Messed Up Copy-and-Paste Job · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

ESWN has screen-shot the story of China Daily being mistakenly copy and paste Reuters’ sentence describing June 4 incident in Beijing Olympic report.


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China: Chongqing home buyers cheated · Global Voices
John Kennedy

The new property law has been much-discussed on the millions of homeowner forums across the country, and property rights consciousness is definitely spreading across the country, but it's not every city that has private interest-defending heroines like Chongqing‘s Wu Ping (the video linked to there has been deleted but this one shows Wu in action, and more here).
From the same city this past week, Chongqing residents eager to buy flats in the new Top Class Sixteen (上品十六) property had gathered on August 5 for the next step of flat selection. Two thousand VIP cards had been sold, as is often done in China, which at CNY 6,666 bought the holder the advance privilege of choosing which particular flat they would purchase. Only when flat selection day came, with several thousand potential future residents carrying the required down payment of CNY 10,000 in cash gathered in a gymnasium, it was announced that there were not enough flats to go around, and the crowd rioted.
There had been discussion of what ensued on Netease, which has since been deleted. Video of the scene during the flat selection inside the gymnasium can be found here:
Extensive discussion and accounts of the events leading up to and following the destruction of the developer's Sales Office and resulting clash with police can be found on several local Chongqing internet forums, however. Here's what one homeowner wrote:
场面过于混乱以及时间段长（早6：30—-凌晨2：00），只能简单叙述。
早在6月初，上品开始发放VIP卡，交6666抵扣10000房款，本来很多开发公司都以这种方式积累客户，但上品是在几个开发证件不齐的情况下发放，并不能随时退，协议要求在开盘20天后才予以退还。现场销售人员介绍开盘时间7月份，置业计划预算单价格为3600（后有3700、3800、3900）一说，直至8月5号摇号，前后2个月时间，周边房价涨了300-500元。要说房价普涨，它不涨也没道理，问题是客户已交的钱不能退，并在销售人员那里得到种种暗示：买卡一定能选到房，价格不变。在目前房屋都疯抢的情况下，很多业主寄希望于上品，即便是涨点价，但先期买了卡，至少可以保证选到房。基于此种心理很多客户放弃购买其他楼盘的机会，安心等待上品开盘。
The writer continues on with the story, of showing up at the gymnasium at 6:30 on the morning of August 5 with a VIP card and CNY 10,000 in cash down payment in hand ready to wait for his number to be called and to claim a flat for himself, noting that many potential homebuyers there were around 25 years old, and estimating the crowd at between 7,000 to 8,000 people.
Your number gets called, you choose your flat, and then you paid, with the lineup allegedly having quickly stretched several hours long. Between the straining to listen for their numbers from the gymnasium bleachers, he writes, and clutching tensely the bundles of cash they brought—credit cards weren't being accepted—it wasn't long before people got worked up. Eventually the chairman of the proceedings began calling people up on their mobile phones, informing them that many of the flats had already been informally reserved by the developer for in-house use. Quite tired by this point, people were unsatisfied at hearing this. One woman charged down onto the floor and began demanding a refund. This quickly led to the situation getting out of hand, and the angry mob's departure for the developer's office, demanding refunds.
They ripped the door off the Sales Office when they arrived, storming in and smashing walls and other things. The police arrived, who then quickly called for backup and there were some scuffles, but no fighting either way. Eventually the police let the remainder of the crowd into the office where among what they found was an official notice from the State Land Administration for the developer to cease illegally issuing VIP cards, as well as a list of flats which had been reserved by company executives which included the names and phone numbers of those involved, the size and location of the flat.
实事求是，昨天幸亏有警察维持现场，否则事态会更加恶化。正如有个警察向上级的汇报电话：“我们人一直在维持，要晚点售楼部都要遭烧”。
又退到外面静坐，这时，突然看到售房部那个台湾人和另一工作人员，身后围着10多个满脸横肉“光头”。原本一直克制、冷静的我心火顿冒，这都是什么样的社会啊，在几百警察的眼皮底下，竟然出现这种场面，连我一平头百姓都能感觉到这些人是干什么的，这些警察难道是瞎子，看不出来？并在不远就是他们的公安局长。暗下决心如果这些人敢动手打客户，我绝对参加反抗，豁出去，拼了！后来，一直都是内外闹哄哄的，不知道什么时候再没看到那群“光头”，也许是开发公司请来给工作人员壮胆，怕被客户认出打伤，但那台湾人和工作人员一直在工地大门不远处坐着。
Someone came out to speak—whom he wasn't able to see—and the crowd charged again, with violent clashes between police and homeowners now taking place and, the writer says he personally saw, at least two women be surrounded by seven or eight police officers and beaten. Another charge, and then a letter of guarantee stamped and signed by the developer suddenly arrived, promising those who wished a CNY 10,000 refund for their CNY 6,666 VIP card. No time reference is given, but his account ends here; judging from what many others have written, the crowd dispersed around 2 am on August 6.
Tencent has set up a page devoted strictly to the incident, and much more in eye-witness accounts is to be found at the Chongqing section of the real estate website Soufun.com, including a market description and layout diagram of the housing estate.
Discussion on the forums is covering all sorts of topics: members proposing votes on whether to follow through with purchasing the flat or seek a refund, a space devoted to personal testimonies of violence seen or felt that night, including a photo of one woman ostensibly injured during the rumble.
There's even been a Sina blog set up for this incident which is still being updated. Within can be found many photos of the smashed plants—even a temporary roadblock—from earlier in the day, and the mob action later at night.
Details and many photos can also be found at local website Chongqing Focus, but the discussion seems most lively at the Soufun site.
Comparison has is made to The Nailhouse and details of the day and night's proceedings are provided.
Some forum members are accused of attempting to influence the course of discussion in several forum threads which if true would explain the quick change of tune seen in some newer threads, with anonymous users writes reassuringly of the developers, heralding their exceptional integrity in resolving the situation, garnering little response from other users.
There's also a thread seeking to organize people for injury compensation, and another which alleges one pregnant woman was beaten and others present even killed, although users are quick to negate the death claim and emphasize that injuries sustained were not serious.
As mentioned above, on early morning August 6 the developers released a letter of guarantee responding to the grievances of those shortchanged with promises to offer them first choice in properties of the same price from the next phase of development, quickly raising questions of when that construction will begin, when it will finish, the quality and appearance of these flats, looking upon these promises with serious skepticism. Another thread summarizes those suspicions and provides a photo of the letter of guarantee, which states that ‘those not willing to buy houses on August 5′ can have their VIP cards refunded for 10,000 on August 7, adding that no more VIP cards will be issued.
The same concerns are echoed yet in more threads, with home buyers vowing to try and seek a refund, resigned to buy elsewhere, as property prices across the city are rising steadily. Like this thread, where one user writes:
时间就是金钱，这句话用在这里是再直白恰当不过了。
前期销售人员也好，KFS也好，给我们大家编制了一个很美很美的梦。大家的期望着，憧憬着，等待着这个美梦的实现。如今只听到“砰”的一声，在没有消散的烟雾中看到几个醒目的大字：这是一个白日梦……
我们这群怀揣美好生活梦想的年轻人呐，大家一定要团结起来，打人也好，恐吓也好，收买少数人也好，我们要KFS、zf为此付出代价
At least one thread claims that following the house selection in the gymnasium, when the crowed stormed the developer's office, police began beating people at one sergeant's orders.
Homeowners even issued a list of the previous issues and their recommendations for recourse. During the storming of the developer's office, the crowd got their hands on several documents which they've posted online, like this one which shows how many of the flats were reserved for company executives and their friends and relatives:
A series of photos have been gathered at the Cultural Vanguard forum, where not much discussion on this has taken place:
Perhaps related, on August 12 a video was uploaded to China's largest video website 56.com by user cuidi3zhu which shows a group of angry homeowners arguing with what appear to be representatives of a property development company, speaking in the Chongqing dialect:

author: John Kennedy


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China: Giant Cat-fish? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Kenneth Tan from Shanghaiist reported on the discovery of a giant man-eating cat-fish in a Guangdong reservoir. However some netizens said that the mutant cat-fish may in fact be a whale shark. See for yourself.


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China: Harmful Information · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

William long has translated a government regulation, Computer Information Network and Internet Security, Protection and Management Regulations, which has a very clear definition of “harmful information”.


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Eastern Europe: Flat Tax · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Transatlantic Politics reports: “The Eastern European countries are engaging in what seems to be a race to the bottom in the implementation of a flat tax policy & rate.”

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Guatemala: The Role of the Transit Police · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Luis Figueroa of Carpe Diem [ES] thinks that the Municipal Transit Police in Guatemala spends too much time chasing after street fruit vendors and not regulating real dangers like overstuffed trucks.


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India: On Museums · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Youth Curry on museums in India, and how they could improve a visitor's experience.


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Indonesia: Miss Universe Go Back · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Japundit links to a news story where visiting Japanese Miss Universe Riyo Mori was given a cold reception by protesters in West Java, Indonesia. The protesters are a part of a hardline Islamic group that opposes the exploitation of beauty.

author: Preetam Rai


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Iran:Esfandiari and Tajbakhsh will have some writing to do! · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Omid Memarian writes that Hassan Haddad, Security Deputy District Attorney of Tehran stated that investigations about two Iranian-American jailed scholars, Haleh Esfandiari and Kian Tajbakhsh, cases has completed. He added that these two will have some writing to do upon completion of which further decisions will be made about them.Omid adds In some cases, prisoners were made to sign book publication releases on confessions made under physical and psychological pressures inside their solitary cells and without access to their attorneys.

author: Fred Petrossian


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Iran:Revolutionary Guards and Eco Disaster · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Mahar Byabanzai,a leading pro environment blog, reports[Fa] that Revloutionary Guards’ military activities in Dena,a protected wild life area in Kohgiloyeh and Boirahmad province, has damaged this natural heritage.


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Jamaica: Curitiba in the Caribbean?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Geoffrey Philp thinks that the Caribbean can learn a lesson or two from Curitiba, Brazil.


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Jamaica: Home Grown  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Much better, (and cheaper) I think, is to let the child stay and then apply as a full-fledged Caribbean product, rather than one that is a culture shocked creature, being neither fish nor fowl”: Francis Wade makes a case for not sending Jamaican kids to high school abroad.


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Kenya: civil society protest · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Mental Acrobatics marched last week with other Kenyan activists: “On Wednesday afternoon I joined civil society activist in a peaceful march to parliament to present a petition to parliament protesting against the Media Bill passed by parliament which is now awaiting presidential consent and the corrupt, immoral, illegal “gratuity” payment Kenyan legislators are attempting to award themselves.”


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Lebanon: Analyzing the By–Election Results  · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

Are you interested in finding out the different interpretations for the results of the by–elections held last week in Lebanon? Then you have to read this week’s round up of the Lebanese blogosphere.
By–elections results
Many bloggers discussed and reported on the by–elections held last week. The elections themselves were a point of controversy. While some saw them as illegal because they were being held without the signature of the President, others believed that they should be held with only one candidate and no contestants since they are supposed to occupy parliamentary seats left vacant due to the assassinations. Some of the parties in the opposition took part in the elections while others abstained. The elections were held and the results are out and can be found on any news site. The reactions to the way the elections were held and to the results were diverse. Some of these reactions are mentioned here:
Jamal’s Propaganda looked at the aftermath of the elections and highlighted what he saw as an ugly manifestation of racism and sectarianism in the speeches that followed the elections and the declaration of the results:
In a country where there is a constant battle of what is and isn’t true, and who is true and who is truly an inconvenience. Yesterday was a full display of the true nastiness of our society. Lebanese raceo-sectarianism reached unprecedented lows; which says much considering this country was a stage for a fifteen year bloody sectarian war.
It wasn't just Amin Gemayyel who in keeping up with family tradition found a new group of people to direct his hate at. When your hate mongering towards Syrians, Palestinians, Arabs, Muslims, Sunnis, Shia runs out of steam; a new channel must be created. Also, why let the people of the southern suburbs bear all the brunt of condescending speech, let the intruders of the northern suburbs share the load. So take “them” out, and Gemayyel is victorious in the Metn Mountains where the true Christians reside. Sadly, many of the electoral reform scenarios circulated would encourage the Gemayyel school of thought.
Two of the bloggers posted interviews with the two prominent opposition candidates who were contesting the pro-government candidates in the elections:
Journalist Taylor Long interviewed Beirut opposition candidate Ibrahim Halabi for the Lebanese Political Journal. The interview included the reason why Halabi is running against the pro–government candidate as well as the inner workings of his campaign and of the political party (Harkat as-Sha’ab) of which he is a member:
Given the immense amount of coverage of the Metn by-elections compared to the dearth of coverage of the Beirut elections, this article presents a unique glimpse into opposition operations.
Harald Doornbos posts an interview with Kamil Khoury, the opposition candidate who won the elections in the Metn area of Lebanon. The interview took place before the elections were held:
Days before, I spoke to Kamil Khoury, the candidate in Metn for the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM). The FPM is the party of general Michel Aoun, a Christian leader who is anti-government and works closely together with the radical Shi'ite movement Hezbollah. Mr. Khoury runs against Amin Gemayel, also a Christian and a former president of Lebanon. Mr. Gemayel is pro-government, his Falange party works closely together with Sunni Muslims of the Future Party of Rafiq Hariri, who was killed in 2005. Amin Gemayel is the father of the late [assassinated] Pierre Gemayel.
Ms Levantine began an article by drastically criticizing the seemingly unprofessional reporting of the Lebanese political pundits:
Allow me to start with a disclaimer: the subtle intricacies of Lebanese politics bore me to tears. The learned analysis that our local pundits come up with on a regular basis are more suited to a village square than to a civilized nation, which admittedly we are not yet. Still, even the casual observer must be amazed by the numerous comments following the epic Metn by-election.
Then Ms Levantine carried on his analysis of the elections by looking at what projects and future plans (or lack of) that the opposition (March 8) or pro–government (March 14) have (or have not) to offer:
This is where Mr. Aoun and his Tayyar [opposition] are doing a better job than March 14. You can call it populism, demagoguery, whatever you choose, the reality is undeniable. In Lebanon we have deep structural problems: lack of institutions, corruption, poverty, official mismanagement, collapsing environment, no redistribution of wealth… The Tayyar came up with what my good friend Abu Ali once called a Mickey Mouse program. March 14 came up with…well, nothing at all.
Les Politiques discusses in details what she sees as the reasons behind the loss of the pro–government in the Metn by–elections. She sees this as a statement that the Christians are rejecting their diminishing role in Lebanese politics:
Aoun is accused by March 14th of being pro-Syrian because he is against them. It is only since 2005 that March 14th like to describe themselves as anti-Syrian and everybody else as pro-Syrian. “You are either with us or against us”. Some other critics of Michel Aoun have also pointed to the fact that his alliance with Hezbollah, an Islamist party, was going to loose him votes. However, there is a reality on the ground felt by Christians every day. The Gemayel and Lebanese Forces alliance with Hariri is diminishing the role of Christians in Lebanese Politics. Christians in the March 14th movement are not even playing second fiddle to Hariri. They have lost the support of their community for blatant corruption, special interest politics, and political incoherence. In a country used to frequent shifting in political alliances, they became the champions of the process to the point they are unable to make their moves intelligible for the community; allied to Syrians one day and then to their enemies the day after.
Marxist From Lebanon sees that Aoun lost plenty of his supporters since his return from exile in 2005 and that the results of the elections are terrible for him even though his party’s candidate won the seat in the parliament:
The results of Matn are disastrous for Aoun. Now, he can’t totally rely on himself to sweep elections, rather he has to depend on ex-Syrian officials (like the Mafioso Michel Murr and the SSNP) to win. Amin Gemayel’s stubbornness to promote the traditional logic of Christian glory (inherited from his father Pierre Gemayel) caused Aoun to lose such a number. Amin Gemayel for starters had a lot of factors to assist him. For starters, he was the perfect candidate to be nominated by March 14th Alliance because he was the father of a recent “Christian Martyr” (his son) and the brother of the Christian popular, the butcher Bashir Gemayel (another Christian Martyr). Moreover, Aoun’s blunders and over self-confidence has shoved a lot of supporters to his side since the ‘Change’ he promised didn’t materialize in Matn, specially with his alliance to the most powerful figurehead Michel Murr, actually Michel Murr was second in command of the coalition which Aoun himself spearheaded: Reform and Change. No change occurred, rather his blunt alliance with the pro-Syrian Social Nationalist Party and Baathi Party allowed 14th of March to capitalize on it and promoted Aoun as a “Syrian Dummy”. Furthermore, the logic of 14th of March that only a 14th of Marcher would inherit a parliamentary seat of their assassinated martyr paid off, because a lot of voters came to vote as “No to assassinations”, and henceforth Aoun was contributing to justify the assassination of the politicians of the opposing camp (so far all assassinations were directed against 14th of March figures on the political level). This campaign pushed the seculars in general to vote against Aoun.
Rampurple simply vents her anger at both parties involved in the elections and asks the questions that many Lebanese asked during the days preceding and following the elections:
Now that the elections are over, I can vent out.
This is my own personal, non-political, ignorant opinion.
I think it’s extremely funny how March 14th claim they are all righteous and stuff, and yet manage to break constitutional laws and have an election! I think it is even funnier how March 8th, who do believe the current government is unconstitutional, run for elections although the cabinet has been halted for the past 8 months by them.
Like I said this is my own opinion on the matter. I always knew the politicians were this low, I just never expected the Lebanese people, who people claim to be one of the most sophisticated people on this planet, can so easily follow this tidal wave.
When the elections were over and the results were out, both sides claimed that they won. Stuck in Beirut captures this point to write about the upcoming presidential elections:
In typical Lebanese fashion, both sides are claiming victory after the local elections in Maten. […]
Furthermore, neither side really has the final say on who the new President will be. That decision lies outside of the Lebanese borders and circles of influence.
Blacksmiths of Lebanon wrote a lengthy analysis of the election results which included a critique of both local and foreign journalists’ report and interpretation of the election results:
For the past two to three years a trend has emerged in some American (and more generally, western) media outlets that has sought to (over-)compensate for those news agencies’ complacency and/or complicity in taking their nation(s) to war. As it relates to Lebanon this trend has consisted, for the most part, in the application of a Seymoure-esque narrative, usually peddled by the same Baath regime PR-reps that fed Hersh his spoonfuls of disinformation, painting the current government as weak and unpopular, barely holding on to power save for the grace (or lack thereof) of a Bush administration intent on pushing its plan for a New Middle East, no matter what the cost!
It is a narrative that is perfectly suited to emerging social and political trends amongst those journalists’ domestic audiences, but which, sadly, has nothing to do with realities on the ground in Lebanon.
Arab Democracy explains why there is disappointment with the Cedar revolution after two years and carries on to write about the appeals of the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) mentioned above as one of the parties of the opposition that took part in the elections:
As the last Syrian soldier departed Lebanon and the media hype began to wind down, the realities on the ground began to unfold. The truth is that the new democracy we have been offered is not in touch with the aspirations of all Lebanese and oddly resembles the one we had before. The truth is that we are governed by tribal leaders that have used and abused our Constitution and judiciary system in the name of special interests and political sustainability and are supported by a press that has independently chosen to pledge allegiance to one party over the other. The truth is that Lebanon continues to be a collection of mini-states. The truth is we are as corrupt today as we were before 2005. The inconvenient truth, to quote Al Gore, is that Lebanon’s Cedar revolution is hollow at best. […]
The Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) is perhaps the best example of a new untraditional player in the Lebanese political scene judging from the fierce political battles that occurred in many regions of Mount Lebanon and the North where this party was running.
On the other hand, Streets of Beirut writes an analysis on the upcoming presidential elections and about the prospective candidates from the point of views of the opposition and of the pro–government. He states his position on the side of the pro–government stating why Aoun should not be a candidate for presidency.
Why should eyebrows be raised? Because Aoun is no longer the Christian leader. It is almost impossible to compete with his voting record when the last elections he had back in May 2005 got him over 70 percent of the Christian vote. When Aoun left March 14 back in 2005, he took all the Christians with him. Now, the Christians are back where they belong, but Aoun is no where to be seen.

author: Moussa Bashir


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Liberia: pro-Charles Taylor signs · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

You might have missed the story about pro-Charles Taylor signs in Monrovia: “As previously mentioned here, and often mentioned in articles by visiting international reporters, for about six months now there's been a pro-Charles Taylor billboard posted at the corner of 20th Street and Tubman Blvd, behind a high wall with razor wire on top.”


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Malaysia: Human Trafickers Friends With Authorities · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

KTEMOC comments on the complicity of Malysian officials with human traffickers as reported by NBC and highlighted by another online news site.


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Mexico: Discovering the Work of Pola Weiss · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Daniel Hernandez writes about an art show at Mexico City's UNAM, which also features the work of Pola Weiss, a not very well known artist and who was considered to be “the first pioneer of video art in Mexico.”


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Mexico: Spanish Citizens Detained in Oaxaca · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

EBRmx [ES} writes about the case of four Spanish citizens that were detained in the city of Oaxaca and about the real reason why they were in the country.


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Morocco: Is Co-Education Better? · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Is co-education better than girls-only and boys-only schools? Moroccan blogger Mohammed Saeed Hjiouij shares with us  his insight in this post I am translating from Arabic.
Hjiouij writes:

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Pakistan: Bad infrastructure · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

KO on rain bringing Karachi's infrastructure to a standstill, and why bad infrastructure is worse than terrorism.


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Pakistan: Celebrating Independence · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Metroblogging Lahore has photographs capturing the spirit of celebration to the run-up to Pakistan's Independence Day on August 14th.


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Russia: Book on Lenin, Stalin and Hitler · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The Economist's Edward Lucas reviews a book on “the three monsters of 20th-century Europe”: Lenin, Stalin and Hitler.


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Russia: Gender-Bent Dolls · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Boing Boing reports on “gender-bent dolls” and snow sled that are “causing upset” in Russia.


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Russia: Part of Europe · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Having spent some time in Moscow, Jonathan Power of Wanabehuman became convinced that “the EU must now pick up the unfinished business of modernising and stabilising Russia that ended in 1914. […] Russians, I dare to suggest, would welcome it.”


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Russia: Views on Blogging · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

In a recent newspaper interview, writer Dmitry Bykov said this (RUS) about bloggers:
Anyone who has a LiveJournal or any other blog is a person with an obvious psychological pathology.
Gallery owner Marat Guelman (LJ user galerist) responded (RUS) to Bykov's harsh judgment on his blog:
[…]
Haven't there been diaries in the pre-Internet age? Diaries whose authors knew that they'd be published? I, for example, have always been interested in reading diaries more than in reading fiction. Diaries and letters. In the late 1970s, I read plenty of diaries. Volumes. I got reconciled with the “classics” – that they tortured us with at school – only through reading diaries. Tolstoy's diaries (and not his “War and Peace”) have changed me completely. At all times, reading someone else's diary was a special pleasure. And leaving one's own on the table, for others to read it.
And the feel of authenticity? A diary ([LJ friends’ feed]) is more brutal than some literature. It's not [Stanislavsky System] or some realism [faking life smoothly] – but life itself. Without hidden seams. Without literary and linguistic embellishments.
The revival of correspondence because of email and of a diary because of blogs is the most important factor in the development of literature – because it's not some “innovation” like sms-poetry […]. It's the civilization's key genre since antiquity.
[…]
Below are some of the comments to this post – and more views on what blogging is and isn't:
imperator_wawa:
I agree and think that LJ is even broader in all senses, and diaries and memoirs have always been more interesting, too, exactly because of their authenticity, and the chance they gave to look at the author and his life by myself […]
pavel_zhagun:
A chance to put down events and thoughts of the present moment that others can read about is perhaps one of the most archaic human needs, which has its roots in childhood: words and texts written on the fences and walls are of the same nature… “diaries” are an already cultured, perfected form of narration, and that they are “hidden” means there are some “secrets” and “mysteries” – which appeals to the reader more than other literary experiments.
warsh:
The thing is, a diary is what's kept in our notebook or on our hard drive. LJ is a mass medium.
iguanart:
How about “album diaries” of the [Aleksandr Pushkin] times? A tradition to leave traces in other people's albums in the form of poems and drawings? Just scan it – and you've got an LJ…
rikrok:
I've been thinking recently about what LJ is. And I realized that it is, in a way, one of the new forms of communication. And the natural reaction of many people to all new is denial. I think it's a great thing to look for new friends through LJ. Because it's so important to find people who think alike, but how to do this in everyday life? You wouldn't scream at work – PEOPLE, I'M INTERESTED IN THIS AND I'M CONCERNED ABOUT THAT – HELLO!?
There is, of course, the problem of pathological addiction to the internet. And in this way, all of us who read these posts aren't completely normal. But I think there's nothing to stop this collective madness anymore.
mdovzhenko:
In a regular diary, a person communicates with the future readers and doesn't countr on an answer, and this turns some of these diaries into literature. LJ is nothing but an internet chat, in which the interaction is saved as a “diary.” These two things have nothing in common.
buches:
I think Illarionov has made a nice observation that LJ today is what kitchen conversations were then. [“In Soviet years, the kitchen came to represent the one space where privacy could be counted upon, and ‘kitchen conversations’ became a form of passive protest against a repressive totalitarian regime.”]


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Serbia: “Nefertiti” by Jasmina Tešanović · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Boing Boing hosts the HTML version of Jasmina Tešanović's latest novella, “Nefertiti” – Creative Commons-licensed, featuring stencil art from Aleksandra Petković.


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Singapore: Senseless Records · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

DK is not amused by the world records that Singaporeans are happy breaking.


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South Africa: what is the future of Facebook in South Africa? · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

What is the future of Facebook in South Africa?: “THE calls are growing for facebook to be banned from offices around the country as bandwidth is soaked up by “social networking”. This is one workplace where it would be crazy to do that. Facebook has well over 150 000 users on its South Africa network and I’m guessing that a lot of them would be readers of The Times and our site www.thetimes.co.za .”


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South Korea: Presidential Election · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Victor Foo from Ohmynews wrote an article concerning the upcoming presidential election in South Korea.


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St. Vincent & the Grenadines: Nepotism?   · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Blogging from St. Vincent, Abeni examines the recent appointment of the Prime Minister's son to the post of UN Ambassador: “Never in my life have I seen such a calling out of troops to present and defend any ambassadorial candidate before.”


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Syria: The Bloggers · Global Voices
Yazan Badran

This post will be dedicated to the lives of some of the wonderful individuals that make the Syrian blogsphere.
The Syrian blogsphere has grown extensively in number through the last few years, but one thing stayed the same, it is a very personal space. You can look at it as a collective personal blog of Syria. It is one of the few places that extends through the many shades of the Syrian society, whether at home or diaspora. Politically, religiously and socially it has grown to represent most of the colors that make up the Syrian identity. Whether it is the far left, the liberal center or the conservative right. Be it pro-Arabism, or Pro-Syria, religious or atheist, the collective efforts of these fine bloggers writing their day-to-day life on their blogs has come to paint the collective image of Syria, through blogging.
I will be taking a leave from politics today, to take you on a trip through the small details in days of many different Syrian bloggers.
Imagine yourself under the hot water, washing away a good two-hour workout's sweat, and then, imagine a power outage!
That's what happened to Dubai Jazz, a Syrian architect working in Dubai. But wait, there's more…
Horrified at the sudden collapse of civility, he decided to stay in his shower cubicle. Feeling the heat and the humidity brewing heavily in the place, he tilted the water tap to ‘cold’, and sat down at the floor mat (which was more like a perforated plastic grating). As he rested his back on the smooth ceramics, he felt a slight vibration emanating from the walls ‘it must be that people are rushing down from the upper floor’ he thought…’is there an evacuation underway?’.
Images of a stampede of naked people popped up to his mind. It must be his subconscious reflecting earlier gripes about the shameless nudity in the locker room, he thought. In order to keep his calm, he tried to think of a plausible course of action to get his ass (which has now registered the distinctive imprints of the flooring mat) out of this mess.
Lujayn, also working in Dubai, tells us about her new beginning…
I am not a woman who takes easily to change. I resist it, preferring to stay wherever I am or in whatever mess I’m in, rather than initiate change. I make endless excuses as to why I can’t change or shouldn’t change whatever I am doing, even if I’m utterly miserable in my current state. I don’t know if I can take credit for this last move, since a close friend of mine almost forced me to apply, but I have finally quit my job and I’m moving to a new, more challenging job.
Abu Fares, the gentleman from Tartous, decides to leave his work, laptop, emails and cell phone behind him, hop on a ferry with his family and head on for a week in Mersin.
Mersin proved to be a perfect choice. Temperatures were soaring all over. The family mutually agreed on not wanting to go around places but to rather stay in one city. As far as I was concerned, all I dreamed of was to sit in the shade by a body of water (a stunning swimming pool), read a good book (The Man Who Fell to Earth) and sip my misty drink (Vodka with anything). The little ones were just ecstatic to spend so much time in my company and to swim all day. Om Fares and Diana couldn’t ask for more than to be able to get away from the three of us and maraud the shops and markets of Mersin. An excellent status quo was reached during the daylight hours and later on in the evening when we would all regroup, we would experience the little joys of a family vacation.
Golaniya, a Syrian student studying in Lebanon, takes a leave from her excellent volunteer work in Nahr el-Bared, and her reporting on the Syrian-Lebanese borders, and also heads to our northern neighbor, but this time on a bus.
So here I am, in the bus that will take me to Turkey, taking a major step towards my autonomy from myself, my routin, and the common Syrian/family pattern. I knew I am going to be a “tourist” someday, but I never thought it would be that soon. I know that the campaign life has affected my character in a way that made me less a hesitant person, more adventurous and daring.
Her photo recollection of the trip here, is just as descriptive.
Katia, a Syrian living in Brussels [who celebrated her birthday only two days ago, with a table full of delicious cuisine], tells us a beautiful story about her little cousin's first date…
Once outside, I noticed him fidgeting a little. He leaned a bit on the large concrete step to the right of the door and, even if not quite grasping what was happening, I just felt right there that I was about to have the most genuine and sweet conversation ever. And before I knew it, he said “Are you free tomorrow evening?” Though it was his first time asking out a girl, at least I think, he decided to dive in head first. He is brave, you see. I, on the other hand, was still a little puzzled. I must have uttered something along the line of “Yes, nothing planned yet”. My lack of plans clearly added to his spunk and so he immediately asked whether I would want to have dinner with him. Somehow he felt like he should add that it would be just the two of us, to make sure we were on the same wave length. I smiled. Sure I would want to and would love to and whichever words of acceptance one could think off. “Is 6 Ok?” he asked. 6 was perfect indeed, thinking to myself that the heat would be down by then so we could have a walk.
Omar, a Syrian living in Canada, writes another one of his amazingly precise, yet highly incoherent posts. This one was meant to be a comeback post, after a while away from the blogsphere…
again, how do I sum up the past 8 weeks? talk about my wedding? talk about my shorter than a joke 4-day-long honeymoon in New York? my first relaxing vacation in Damascus since long time (where I finally managed NOT to fight with my dad over lots of things)? about how I was almost taken to the hospital1 hour before my wedding because I had a sudden severe stomach infection that left me unconscious with fever for 2 hours while my bride was waiting in her home for me to show up? about the 3 strange doctors that almost saved me from death while the infection was eating my brain, shoving IV tubes into my arms and allowing me to go and attend my own wedding? how I finally re-connected with my sister after a long self-imposed cold relationship because she decided to put a veil, and how I finally came to peace with Damascus after 7 years of contradicting emotions? or about how I (again) decided to go back to school and get myself into another weird artistic and philosophical adventure…
Wassim, a Syrian living in London, writes about his endearing memories back in Syria.
The days gently slid us into a sleepy routine. In the morning, we'd wake up to the noise of the people going about their business. The smells from the old bakery beneath us wafting up and enticing us out of bed. The grocer or mazoot guy passing by with their horse drawn cart and honking that horrid horn. I remember the attraction was always the horses, so beautifully decorated and with jingly bells and tassles and those large plumes of feathers on their heads. We always used to rush out to the balcony to see those horses or donkeys, lumbering along dutifully day in and day out. In the evening, the man with his dara (corn on the cob) wagon would pass and you'd see him moving around with a big boiling cauldron. He'd wrap them in newspapers and sprinkle salt on if you wanted, we never turned down the chance to have dara.
And Finally, we end with Bassam, a Syrian physician who moved back to Syria two years ago from the United States, and decided to chronicle his experiences and life here in his blog, Bassam in Syria. Well, now Bassam is moving back to the United States, and this was his farewell post.
I hope that after five or six years, I would visit my blog again and have a good laugh at what happened then. And at the same time, see what things have become, what changes have been made, whether it was in the city of Damascus, the government, myself, or anything that I ever noticed. And if anything was going in the direction I wished for, I will give myself a credit… at least for whining about it.

author: Yazan Badran


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Trinidad & Tobago: Curry Sculpture · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

If it looks like curry and it smells like curry, it must be…Adele at Thebookmann showcasing her interest in Indian art.


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Trinidad & Tobago: Lawful CD ROM?  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“Holy crap! $5,000 for a CD ROM?” wonders Manicou, on learning about a new CD Rom of the Laws of Trinidad and Tobago.


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Ukraine: Update on Politics · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Europhobia posts an update on the current political situation in Ukraine and calls to the EU to take action: “Ukraine is simply too important a neighbour to just sit back and ignore – yet that is what the EU has largely been happy to do for much of the last few years, despite it becoming increasingly apparent that Ukraine is in the midst of a major identity crisis that could well have major implications for the stability of Europe’s eastern border.”


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Zimbabwe: commercially insane · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

The failure of the business community in Zimbabwe to confront Mugabe is “commercially insane”: Business has become the latest target of the Mugabe regime, and yet in the face of all of this, it remains reluctant to criticise or confront him directly. The Mail & Guardian recently leaked the contents of a meeting between business leaders and President Mugabe. In language reminiscent of the communiqués between the Commercial Farmers Union and the state at the time of the farm invasions, “business leaders plied Mugabe with accolades, saying his ‘contribution to Zimbabwe was without equal,’ that he was a ‘decisive’ leader and that ‘the country’ was responsible for the economic crisis by failing to meet his goals of ‘creating a prosperous society for all’.”


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Afghanistan: Sabotaging a radio station · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

Sanjar reports that during a fight with government troops, Taliban fighters destroyed a radio station in the Wardak province.

author: Ben Paarmann


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Algeria: The Last Jew of Babylon · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Nouri from Algeria links to a video which tells the story of the last Jew of Babylon here.


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Algerian Foodcast Delight · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Algerian Chef Zadi delights us with a video of yet another feast in this mouthwatering post. Bon Appetit!


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Armenia: Racist graffiti · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

Both Onnik Krikorian and Tirami Su find the recent surge of racist graffiti in Yerevan disgusting.


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Armenia: Smoking waste · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

Anahide writes about a dump site outside of Yerevan, where unrecycled waste is slowly burning and releases toxic emissions. Thomas of Follow the Way took some pictures of the site.


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Bahamas: Immigration Policy  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Craig Butler, writing at Bahama Pundit, thinks that the Bahamas’ immigration policies towards the children of illegal immigrants “seem geared more towards dehumanization rather than inclusion.”


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Bahrain: 36th Independence Day! · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahrain marks its 36th day of independence from Britain, says blogger Mahmood Al Yousif.


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Bahrain: Arabic Play  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bint Battuta, a British translator who lives in Bahrain, attended an Arabic play. Here‘s a description of what she enjoyed.


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Bahrain: Why We Blog? · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Bahraini Esra'a Al Shafei discusses why she blogs, particularly in a volatile and restricted region like the Middle East, in this post.


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Barbados: Heritage Tourism · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Living in Barbados thinks that heritage tourism is a good alternative to sun, sea and sand.


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Barbados: Is Blogging Dead?   · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“When I got into the game it seemed like blogging was a cool concept and the ‘hip’ thing to do, there was a newness, a freshness, an eye-opening motif.”  Jdid wonders if blogging is dead.


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Barbados: Petro Caribe Summit  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

As the Petro Caribe summit in Venezuela ends, Notes from the Margin asks, “What's the catch?”


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Cambodia: Believe in UFOs? · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Vann Lyda in Camodia asks her readers if they believe in the UFOs.


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Child killed in Egypt · Global Voices
Mohamed Nanabhay

Abdulrahman Mansour was horrified to report that Egyptian police brutally tortured and killed 12 year old Muhammad Mamdooh Abdulrahman who they “arrested” for petty theft.

author: Mohamed Nanabhay


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Chile: Microfilia, a Film about Public Buses of Santiago · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Chile From Within recalls his experiences on the speeding public buses of Santiago.  He also writes about a film about these buses called Microfilia, which takes the audience along for the wild ride.


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China: An Electric Wire Thief · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Tan Wei shan, a reporter in Guangzhou (a city of violence), posted a photo of an electric wire thief who has been beaten by local security guard.


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China: Manpower Parallel Rail · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Kanchai pointed out that the labour market in China is now in parallel rail, which means two different salary system for same the same job, people coming from rural areas earn far less that urban citizen. Such discrimination is caused by the rigid political system (zh).


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Costa Rica: The Colon vs. the Dollar · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

The REAL Costa Rica Blog warns readers about the value of the US Dollar vs. Costa Rican Colon and suggests that the smart person would keep the money in the lcoal currency.


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Dominica: Tropical Storm Approaching  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Living Dominica reports that the island is caught “in the cross hairs of Tropical Storm Dean”.


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Egypt: Academics Should Report to Security · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptian blogger Eman discovers how academics in her country needs university security approval to take part in conferences and exchange programmes abroad.


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Egypt: Police Kill Boy, 12 · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Zeinobia, from Egypt, reports that a 12-year-old was tortured to death by police, after being arrested for shoplifting.


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Egypt: To Mangos, With Love · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptian blogger Shobrawy writes an ode to mangos in this post.


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Egypt: Travelling Heavy · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Egyptians pack up their entire homes with them when they go on holiday, jokes Zeinobia.


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Guyana: Blogging Mojo  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Guyana-Gyal is desperately seeking her blogging mojo…


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Haiti: Behind the Mountains  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Library Goddesses reviews award-winning Haitian author Edwidge Danticat's first novel for young readers, Behind the Mountains.


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Hong Kong: Dreadful Questionnaire · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

ESWN translated a blogpost from hoiking commenting on a recent questionnaire conducted by Hong Kong Youth Association on youth's position on Queen's Pier demolition. The questionnaire is based upon using “association members to distribute” but it claims to be a public poll. Besides it is designed in a way that the respondents were forced to choose between one (and only one) choice between preservation and development.


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India: 15th August through the years · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Indian Muslims on remembering Independence Day celebrations through childhood and early years.


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India: Tamil Blog Camp in Chennai · Global Voices
Mathy Kandasamy

On August 5th 2007 tamilbloggers.org conducted a blogcamp in Chennai, India. More than 300 people attended the blogcamp Almost double the number expected.
Tamil Blogs have been in vogue for around four and a half years. In the beginning almost all initiatives to propagate blogging in Tamil took place on the Net. Later, efforts were taken up slowly all over the world from Singapore to Toronto to Sydney. As interest grew, bloggers from India started growing by leaps and bounds. And the year 2007 saw tremendous growth in the number of blogs and in efforts to popularize Tamil Blogs.
Earlier in May 2007, a small blog conference took place in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. That acted as a catalyst for the blog camp that took place in Chennai on August 5, 2007.
Around 30 bloggers worked round the clock for the past couple of months and around 1000 mails were exchanged in their mailing group. Everybody pulled strings to make thing happen. And things did happen at a fine pace! The University of Madras offered space for the blog camp. internet providers SIFY enabled free internet access. Donations were procured from business organizations and other bloggers. This blogcamp took place on two different levels. one was devoted for existing bloggers where discussions took place in an unconference style.
The true measure of success of such camps are the attendees. This blogcamp is a true winner too, in that regard. Many of them started a gmail account followed by a blog. For some of them, it was the first time seeing Tamil on the Net. An older couple aged around 70 years attracted everybody`s attention. Mr. Nallaperumal, a retired teacher expressed his desire to blog about his experiences in education. A few physically challenged persons attended the conference and some of the visually impaired folks requested ways and means to blog. They were told about audio podcasts. Phone numbers were exchanged and they were promised further assistance. Theirs were not the only phone numbers that changed hands. Almost everybody who attended the conference was given personal assistance. And the organizers are expecting at least 50-100 new bloggers.
More than anything, this blogcamp has acted like a catalyst and Tamil bloggers from around the world are all in deep discussions with fellow bloggers in their cities. Almost all the out-of-town bloggers who attended the conference seem eager to conduct similar blogcamps in their city. Tamilblogdom is eagerly looking for the next announcement.
Free CDs with necessary software to write in Tamil were given out with a few memorabilia. Interestingly, no admission fees was charged, with lunch and refreshments on the house!
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15.

author: Mathy Kandasamy


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Iraq: Kurdistan Visit · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Iraqi Hala, who lives in the UK, describes her trip to Kurdistan this summer.


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Iraq: Police Bully Boy · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Ala from Iraq recalls a horrifying incident in which a 12-year-old Iraqi child was bullied by police in 1997. The boy ended stabbing a policeman and was sentenced to three years in prison.


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Jamaica: Hinds Appeals Ban  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

West Indies Cricket Blog reports that Jamaican captain Wavell Hinds is appealing his one-year ban from the sport.


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Jamaica: Transformation Nation  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“What is missing is an understanding of the connection between personal cause and public effect,” writes Francis Wade, as he considers how to go about transforming Jamaica.


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Japan: Tokyo Pride Parade · Global Voices
Hanako Tokita

On August 11, 2007, the 6th Tokyo Pride Parade with nearly 3,000 participants hit the streets of downtown Tokyo under the blazing August sun (English news video here). The parade was first organized in 2000 and has been held intermittenly since then. Initially named Tokyo Lesbian & Gay Parade, the event has a new outlook with a more inclusive and internationally recognizable name, the Tokyo Pride Parade, which reflects the organizer's stance to embrace and celebrate other sexual minorities such as bisexuals and transgenders. This year's Pride marked several small but significant changes in social attitudes. The Ministry of Health, Labour and welfare, the Tokyo Metropolitan government as well as other governmental institutions officially supported the event in various ways. Otsuji Kanako, an openly lesbian candicate in the recent upper house elections, gave a speech at the end of the event.
Many bloggers who participated in the TPP wrote about their experiences with excitement. Blogger Maruyama Tenoru writes:
僕は、パレードに参加して、ああ良かったと嬉しくなりました。それはまた、ゲイとして生まれ、ゲイとして生きてきて、ああ良かったと感じたことと同じでした。愉しくパレードを歩くことと、愉しく生きることは、まさしく同じことなのだと確信できました。これが、プライドパレードの意味なのだと、あらためて実感しました。プライドパレードに加わり、ここで僕自身の存在を再確認できたことで、これから先もゲイとして、負い目や申し訳なさを何ら抱くことなく、人間として堂々と生きて行ける自信を得られました。
A gay artist, Yu (悠), who participated in the parade with his partner expresses his joy with a colourful painting:
去年は彼氏は実行委員だったため、殆ど一緒には居られなかったのですが、今年は（我が儘も押し通しつつ）ずっと一緒に参加。一緒にいてくれて、ありがとね。
The painting is accompanied with a poem:
いろんなひとたちと　いっしょにあるきながら
ただぼくは　あなたの手だけは　はなさないように
そんなことを　おもいながら　あるいたんだ
Akira shares his thoughts:
しかし思うのは、あえてこんなふうに声を上げなければならないほど、(世間的に認知されてきたとはいえ)セクシュアル･マイノリティは「少数派」であり「異端」として扱われているのだ、ということ。
(ちょっと言葉の選び方がうまくなくて申し訳ない(_ _;))
逆に言えば、セクシュアル･マイノリティではない「普通の」人々は、「あえて声を上げる必要もない」ほどに「大多数」であり、それが「常識」だとされているのだ、ということだ。
そしてその事実に気付く機会すら、ほとんどない。
こうしたパレードは、セクシュアル・マイノリティのためだけではなく、それ以外の人が己のセクシュアリティを見つめなおすことのできるきっかけのひとつとしても、価値があるのではないかと私は思っている。
ていうか、性の多様性を知った上で「私は心身ともに男(あるいは女)であり、異性愛者である」といったことをしっかり認識するってことは、自己をはっきり確立するためにも大事なことだと思うんだよね。
「あたりまえだから」って感覚で流さずにね。
Participants in their colourful costumes
Althought the TPP drew a few thousand participants and spectators, there are still many people in Japan who remain silent and are reluctant to come out to people around them.
Gucchifone echoes the feelings of those who watched the parade from “behind a wall”, with a photograph entitled “A rainbow behind the wall”:
僕だって、陽のあたる場所で、大切な人と過ごしたい。
僕だって、好きなものを素直に好きだって叫びたい。
それなのになぜ、僕の気持ちを壁で覆い隠そうとするの？
君たちと僕との違いを、なぜ認めてくれないの？
僕の叫びを、君たちはいつも無視しようとする。
・・・でも僕は、あきらめない。
だってこの壁の向こうに、太陽に照らされた虹が見えるから。
この壁の向こうには、僕が望む未来が待っているから。
僕は、また一歩、陽のあたる向こうにむかって踏み出した。

author: Hanako Tokita


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Jordan: Honour Killings Against the Wrong Sex  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Honour killings are directed towards the wrong gender, writes Jordanian Hareega, who narrates a touching story about how a woman contracted a sexually transmitted disease from her husband.


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Kazakhstan: Building a tent · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

Michael Hancock finds “Khan Shatyr” to be a manifestation of the widening gap between rich and poor in Kazakhstan: the huge tent which is being built in the capital Astana at the moment will mainly cater to a growing, but essentially small elite.


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KenyaUnlimited:  Gigabytes of Voices, Opinions, Knowledge and News · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Any discussions about the rise and future of online communities in Africa will be incomplete without mentioning KenyaUnlimited, the home of the Kenyan Blogs Webring (KBW) and Kenyan blogs aggregator.KBW turned three years last month. Since its birth, KBW has been able to bring to a global audience gigabytes of voices, opinions, news, knoweldge and debates from the Kenyan blogosphere.
Reflecting on the three years years of its existence, Daudi Were, one of the three volunteers running KBW, declared 2007 to be the “year of emergence” for KBW:
When I think back over the last 12 months what I notice is that this year has been a year of emergence for KBW and her members. If you will forgive the farmer in me for a moment, in our first two years we were finding our feet, exploring this blogging thing, figuring out if we wanted to do it or not, we were germinating.
What is a blog? How do I join the webring?
Since its birth, the Kenyan Blog Webring has been offering online support to new bloggers:
The most frequent support question we would be asked in the Admin Team during the first two years was, “Why should I start a blog?” or “What is a blog?” or variations on that theme.
In the last year we mainly get asked, “I have a blog, how do I join the webring?” or “How do I get your aggregator to syndicate my content?” or variations on that theme. They “why” and “what” questions are decreasing, the “how” questions are increasing.
That is a good sign and KBW members have played a big role in convincing Kenyans to blog. These days when someone asks me why they should blog I simply point them to the KenyaUnlimited aggregator. I can almost guarantee you that they will read something that they either agree with whole heartedly or disagree with completely, that fuels an urge in them to get to a keyboard and start typing to contribute to the debate.
One of the reasons behind KBW being a thriving community is its diversity:
In this way we have emerged from within ourselves. Where else will you find a community composed of Maasai Market traders, IT geeks, undergraduates, pastors, self styled “sex therapists”, financial journalists, university professors, professional sports players, political commentators, rural farmers, many times many of these all rolled into one person?!!
The statistics
In its first year, KBW signed 69 members, the number went to 171 during its second year and as of last month there were 293 members, making for a total of 464 members. 293 new voices and counting:
293 new members. Remember this is not a web forum where we have one central site where each member writes a sentence here or a sentence here. These are bloggers, generating new and unique content (in the most part) every single time they write. 293 new people giving us their unique insight on the issues they feel are important, in the way they want. You are effectively talking, in web 1.0 terms, of 293 new webmasters and web content editors joined together in a single community. Now those are numbers to be proud of. This has been achieved without a single penny spent on advertising; the only emails we send out as KBW are to bloggers who are already members.
Although KBW is mainly a community of Kenyan bloggers, it is open to non-Kenyans as well. Sokari, a non-Kenyan member of KBW writes:
Congratulations to everyone of you for your hard work in starting this project and even more so in keeping it going – thanks also for opening up KU to non-Kenyans and giving us the space to share with you all – I have had the pleasure of two visits to Nairobi this year and have yet another in October so I guess I can now say that I have a little bit of Kenya in me and am proud of that.
Loving Nairobi – need to visit some other places though
Noting members’ recognition
As KBW celebrates its three years of success and growth, its members have also being recognized for their efforts in various technology-related projects:
This past year has also been marked by KBW and KBW bloggers being recognised outside our own community and emerging as leaders in some of the most interesting projects that use web 2.0 Here are some examples of this:
1.	KenyaUnlimited was Kenyan’s ambassador on Blog Day 2006.
2.	KenyaUnlimited was nominated as a Finalist in the 2006 Black Weblog Awards.
3.	At the Digital Indaba held at Rhodes University, South Africa KBW was frequently mentioned as an example of bloggers organising themselves into an online community.
4.	At the Global Voices Summit 2006 in Delhi, India, KBW was again highlighted as an example of how to organise a blogging community.
5.	At TED Global again the importance of the KBW to the African blogosphere was frequently mentioned and clear to see and on and on.
6.	Three dedicated women, KBW Admin members Mshairi and Kui led by KBW member Sokari are the forces behind the African Womens’ Bloggers website and webring.
7.	KBW members, lead by the indefatigable White African, together with JKE and Afromusing are pushing AfriGadget to amazing new heights.
8.	The most radical, innovating forces in ICT in Kenya a.k.a the geekosphere a.k.a Skunkworks-KE are active members of KBW.
9.	The Kenyan main stream media, while still feeling threatened by blogs (why??!!), are beginning to understand that ignoring us is a mistake, ironically the main stream media outside Kenya can not seem to get enough of Kenyan bloggers.
10.	ICT magazines within Kenya have started carrying regular blogging columns for example KBW member Al Kags’ regular column in ICT Village magazine.
Two bloggers, Sylkwan and JKE, have been using their blogs to garner support for non-profit work in Nairobi and Kisumu:
Sylkwan has used her blog to mobilise resources for St. Francis Children’s home in Karen/Langata, Nairobi and JKE has done the same for The Nest children’s home in Limuru. In the past 12 months I have been lucky enough to visit both homes in the company of other KBW members and it is fantastic to see what positive change a few individuals can make when they decide to take a stand. The staff at St. Francis and The Nest are an example to us all.
After the tragic crash of Kenyan Flight KQ507 in Cameroon early this year, KBW reacted by setting up a website for online tributes, Pamoja.
Recently, the British newspaper, The Independent, published an article about blogging in Africa with interviews from members of KBW.
Challenges
For three years, KBW has been faced with technical and administrative challenges. Daudi points out that the technical side has been taken care of:
On the technical side, we have moved from an ordinary shared hosting account, to a more advance shared hosting account, to our own VPS, and soon to our own full fledged dedicate server.
With new bloggers joining Kenyan blogosphere everyday, the Admin Team of three volunteers has been overwhelmed with requests from new members.They are sending an invitation to KBW members who are willing to give back to the community to join the team:
As many of you know KBW and KenyaUnlimited are run by a team of three volunteers. This year, in many ways, we have been victims of KBW’s success. As more and more bloggers sign up and join the webring we spend the vast majority of our KBW time dealing with support questions and various sign up queries. It is not unusual for KBW Admin Team members to spend 2 hours a day everyday of the week dealing with various support queries. Then take into consideration that the three of us have full time jobs, are located in three different countries and in three different timezones! While the primary task of the Admin Team is to provide this support and we enjoy it (in the most part) we have noticed that other KBW projects, especially those which are manpower heavy have suffered.
For example, last year it took a team of 6 of us to run the Kaybees. Towards the end of the process four of us basically gave two full days to counting and verifying the nominations and counting and verifying the final votes, sometimes roping in boyfriends and girlfriends to help with spreadsheets! LOL. The main, in fact the only, reason we have not held the Kaybees this year yet is because we understand immediately that we would be spread too thin with the team as it stands. This has also extended to other KBW projects such as Kenyan Bloggers’ Day.
In the past we have expanded the Admin Team by sending out invitations to one or two bloggers. This time we have decided to do something different and instead send out an invitation to all of you! We shall soon be advertising Admin Team positions on KenyaUnlimited. If you are a member of KBW and want to contribute back to the blogging community, want to get involved in some interesting and innovating projects, like helping people and are dedicated we would be grateful to hear from you.
KBW has been consistently cited as an inspiring example of how African bloggers can form and organize online. Last year the community held its first Blog Awards, Kaybees Awards 2006.


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Kuwait: Copyright Infringement · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Hellraiser from Kuwait draws attention to a copyright infringement in this post.


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Kuwait: Meteor Sightings · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Teagirl from Kuwait goes meteor watching with her family. Find out if the mission was successful.


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Kyrgyzstan: SCO summit · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

Bonnie Boyd writes a comprehensive update on developments in the run-up to the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit to take place in Kyrgyzstan this week. Meanwhile, Azamat is upset that he can neither buy nor order alcohol in central Bishkek anymore: “Absurdistan!”


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Lebanon: Fatwa to Ban Honor Killings  · Global Voices
Moussa Bashir

From rules on how to handle men in Lebanon to the meaning of the name Lamia, we end this round up of Lebanese blogs to a fatwa (religious edict) by a top Shia clergyman which bans honor killings, which he describes as a “repulsive act.”
Rules how to handle Lebanese guys
Our first post today looks into relationships. Lebanon Reporter learned that there are certain rules a girl needs to learn when in Beirut. These are the rules necessary in dealing with Lebanese guys and avoid sending the wrong messages:
Every girl you'll see walking around in Beirut will appear to be very stuck up. But it's not that they're really arrogant… It's more like a facade. If you DON'T act like you're the princess, you won't be able to get anything done or go anywhere. Or worse, you could be sending out the wrong message to a guy.
What to do when a guy you don't like is talking to you:
1) Look extremely bored. Raise an eyebrow, look skeptical, yawn a bit… just get good at using the facial expressions saying: ‘you're an idiot’.
2) Pretend to be busy. Read something, you need to cross this ultra busy street right now, you're meeting your boyfriend, whatever. But don't say you're married. They will think you're looking to have fun with someone else since he's not with you and you're happily talking to another guy right now.
3) Ignore. ‘What's your name’ and ‘where are you from’ might seem innocent questions but before you know it, you won't get rid of the guy.
4) Strut around as if you own the place. Do not make eye contact.
5) NEVER, never ever smile!
Art and Mythology
Einmal-Ist-Keinmal posted the beautiful painting of the half-nude “Lamia”. The name Lamia is popular in the Arab world. Einmal ist Keinmal gives us an idea of the meaning of the name Lamia in Greek mythology as well as its meaning in Arabic. And the meanings are totally different if not opposite:
In Greek mythology:
one of vengeful, bitter mother without children that compensated her children's death by eating other women's children.
In Arabic:
The girl with a beautiful darkness in her lips.
Nice and delicate lips.
Dark and hard spears.
Thick and shadowy trees.
Religion
Finally, the Human Province reports on the fatwa made by the Lebanese Shi'a cleric Grand Ayatollah Fadlallah, in which he banned honor killing or honor crimes as he is calling them. These are the crimes, usually killing, that are carried out against females, by their family members or relatives for what the relatives may consider as unaccepted sexual relationships or behavior:
Lebanon's most senior Shiite Muslim cleric issued Thursday a fatwa, or religious edict, banning honor killings, calling the custom of murdering a female relative for sexual misconduct “a repulsive act.”
The fatwa by Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah was a rare condemnation by a prominent cleric of the practice. Fadlallah's office said he issued the statement in alarm over reports on an increase in honor killings.
There are many more interesting blog posts out there so keep checking back for more!


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Moldova: TOL’s New Blog · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Read about Moldovan wine and other subjects on TOL's newest blog: Moldova.


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Monaco: webmaster accused of defaming the Head of State · Global Voices
sami ben gharbia

In Monaco (Principality of Monaco), Marc Giacone, the owner of a new satirical website, featuring cartoons allegedly defaming and ridiculing the Prince Albert II and other local politicians risks a 6 month prison sentence and a fine of 1500€. The website, Monaco Politic Circus, which was meant to imitate the famous French satirical political weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo, has been suspended.

author: sami ben gharbia


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Nepal: Students and Politics · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

UWB! has details of a student clash. “The Maoist affiliated All Nepal National Independent Student Union (ANNISU) beat up Nepali Congress affiliated NSU students in a college in Kathmandu”


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Pakistan: Images of celebration · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

More photographs at Metroblogging Lahore celebrating Independence Day in Pakistan.


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Pakistan: On Pakistaniat · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

All Things Pakistan on defining what Pakistaniat means to various individuals. “we ask our readers to share the one thing – a song, an image, a verse, a thought, a quote, a person, anything – that represents their Pakistaniat for them.”