Global Voices Online

Lova Rabary-Rakotondravony explains that the government of Madagascar has sent four delegates to Honk Kong to try to retrieve one of the heaviest and largest emerald on matrix in the world currently on display at the Baoqu Tang Modern Art Gallery in Honk Kong (fr). The Malagasy government claims that the stone is part of the national patrimony whereas Chan SicPo, the artist who obtained the license to display the stone, states that he purchased the license from the rightful owner of the stone, a mining company based in Reunion called Orgaco (en).

Mialy, a blogger in Antananarivo, describes the plight of young married girls in rural areas who are subject to health and social concerns stemming from early pregnancy (fr). She explains that fistula, a consequence of giving birth at an early age, results in incontinences and therefore health complications compounded with social rejections. Malagasy laws allowed girls to be married as early as 14 years-old until 2007. Health care costs and lack of education are the two other main aggravating factors.

Jayne Taylor Gaubatz, a Peace Corps volunteer blogger in the southern city of Fianaratsoa, describes the impact of a well-done family planning poster, the importance of baby weighing in tandem and attending a Malagasy gospel choir [en].

While the football world is enjoying the UEFA European Football Championship, many countries in Africa are restricted to watching 8 tournament games. Jentilisa, blogging from Madagascar, explains that the number of games to be broadcasted was decided by AFNEX (African Network and News Exchange) who bought the rights to the tournament in the region for African national televisions. He argues that Africa is home to many of the elite players who play in major European clubs and soon home of the next FIFA World Cup 2010 in South-Africa and the tournament should not be restricted to rich people who owns satellite dishes. He wishes that Chinese TV CCTV would dispute this monopoly in the future and lower the broadcasting fees for resource limited nations (fr and mg).

David on Formosa reported on the Bike Smiling Day event in Taipei on May 25 with photo. The oil price is skyrocketing all over the world as well as in Taiwan, and the carbon emission produced by transportation is also causing serious environmental problems in Taiwan, especially in crowded cities, so a group of city bicyclers, environmentalists, and bloggers get together to host the Bike Smiling Day in order to encourage more Taiwanese people to try bicycling.

Isabel Guerra of Palabras Van y Vienen [es] writes that very little was written by Peruvian bloggers about Languages Day held last month.

Babilown [Fr] puts Benin's local election results in perspective: “[it's as if] the opposition won China, Russia, Brazil and Mexico, while the ruling party snatched up Belgium and even Canada, but also Crete, Malta, the Cayman Islands, the Vatican, Albania, Haiti, Barbados, Cap Verde, Estonia, Lithuania, Israel, Jordan, Rwandan, Saint Lucia, Samoa, Serbia, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, all the members of the United Nations, and other more or less imaginary countries like the Kingdom of the Sahara and the Freedland Republic…or the Kingdom of Redonda.”

The general delegation for the French language and languages in France, a branch of the Ministry of Culture and Communication recently published a report on the use of the French language in the digital world. The objective of the delegation is to promote the use of the French language in international communication and multilingual projects in general (Fr).