Global Voices Online

ESWN puts together local reports and commentaries on the tragic case of three university students who died while trying save others. The tragedy involves a moral debate over the business of body retrievers.

Xujun Eberlein from Inside-out China blogs about a 18-year-old man Sun Zhongjie's act of chopping off his little finger off to protest against the Shanghai Traffic Management Bureau's “hook” on “black taxi driver”.

Sailani says that in response to continuing threats to the foreign staff in Afghanistan, it now appears that a decision has been made to withdraw about six hundred UN international officers from Kabul.

Nick Fielding reviews the most recent report on the security environment in Afghanistan, which says that the situation has deteriorated since 2005, affecting all aspects of the reconstruction operations.

A charity concert will be held in Vientiane, Laos this Friday to raise funds for the typhoon victims in the southern provinces of Saravane, Sekong and Attapeu.

Updates on the flu situation in Ukraine, at Greetings From Kyiv - here and here, and at Ukrainiana - here.

Scenes From the Sidewalk writes about an encounter with one of Kyiv's many homeless children - and posts photos from actress Olga Kurilenko's visit to a CrossRoads Foundation/ChildRescue's rehabilitation center. Wild World of Sean's Blog reports on a charity visit to a Kyiv hospital for children affected by the Chernobyl catastrophe.

Annasoltan writes about the problem of human trafficking in Turkmenistan against the background of persistent economic hardship, porous borders and the regime's attempts to demur and defer the issue.

Vlad reports that Turkmenistan has taken to barring entry to Peace Corps volunteers, for reasons that remain utterly baffling.