Global Voices

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The world is talking, are you listening?

Yueran Zhang from Tea Leaf Nation reviews the Chinese petition system and discusses directions for future reform:

Ongoing reforms should include the enhancement of the institutional powers of bureaus of letters and visits. On the other hand, the citizens flooding the petitioning offices, which are considered a last resort, reveal the ineffectiveness of other channels for hearing complaints and grievances. Enhancement and clarification of the roles of the People’s Congress, NGOs, the arbitration system and the judiciary branch could lessen the burden on the petitioning system.

Online journalism and news portals are gaining popularity in Nepal as evident in Surath Giri's list of 20 online newspapers. However, according to reports, the Ministry of Information and Communications of Nepal has recently formed a five-member committee to register, regulate and manage online news.

On the 26th day of the historic Genocide trial against former de facto head of state Efrain Rios Montt and his Head of Intelligence Jose Mauricio Rodriguez Sanchez, the prosecution and defense gave their closing statements and the main accused, Rios Montt, finally declared.

James Rodriguez shares a photo essay of the day in MiMundo.org.
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kiskeácity links to a letter which “echoes many of the issues Haitians face with the White Savior Industrial Complex…and its army of 3,000 NGOs, 12,000 UN troops, innumerable speakers for Haiti, appropriators of Haiti's ancestral religion, culture and music and other so-called ‘allies’ who silence Haitians for a profit while assuming their voice.”

Ujjwal Acharya tells a sad story of a Nepali migrant worker who was denied to board onwards by Air Arabia at Delhi airport because she did not have a return ticket. They did not offer any food or accommodation for 72 hours until she managed her fare back home from that transit point. She is one of many migrant workers who are regularly exploited by different quarters.

The Spanish Constitutional Court just suspended Catalonia's Declaration of Sovereignty, which the regional parliament of Catalonia approved by majority on 23 January, 2013. Amid rising tensions between Spain and Catalonia, the decision has generated strong reactions on offline and online media.

Thanks to a diverse team of collaborators, the online Catalan-language publication Vilaweb [ca] offers the Declaration of Sovereignty in 50 languages.