Global Voices

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The world is talking, are you listening?

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Katerina Todorovska wrote [MKD] on the Macedonia in the European Union blog about EU's imperfect record on LGBT rights and its positive influence in relation to starting the debate and improving tolerance in the Western Balkans, as Croatia, Serbia, and Macedonia strive to join this supranational structure.

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Greater Surbiton writes about the controversy surrounding Rihanna's upcoming concert in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

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The Free Gaza Movement have produced a video showing their attempts to leave Cyprus and sail to Gaza with medical and reconstruction supplies.

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Belatedly, links to some posts on Entropa: Margarete of The Foreigner's Guide to Living in Slovakia believes “it should be taken down”; Kosmopolito thinks that “the debate around the project is also part of the installation”; BBC's Mark Mardell writes that “the fact that it is a hoax does not mean that the art itself is bad”; Blue, Black and White Alert doesn't think Entropa is “that incendiary”; A Fistful of Euros considers Entropa “an ugly but really funny piece of work.”

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The Cyprus government is currently attempting to ban GPS systems that use Turkish place names in the Turkish-occupied Northern Cyprus, Homeboy Media News reports:

The Ministry of Education and Culture meanwhile has come up with some additional reasoning for the campaign to ban the GPS receivers. In its feedback, the Ministry pointed out that the Greek place names of Cyprus have been shaped throughout the centuries. It is a fact that the Turkish “so-called authorities” have indeed undertaken a systematic campaign to alter the nomenclature of occupied northern Cyprus. Further, the Ministry pointed out that, according to both the UN and UNESCO, placenames are part of a nation’s cultural heritage.

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“One thing that's definitely in short supply here in North Cyprus is opera, so I'm thrilled that no less than 21 opera stars are performing in Kyrenia on September 14th,” writes Kathy from North Cyprus Blogs. Opera singers from Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Northern Cyprus, Bashkor-tostan and Tatarstan will be performing various traditional opera arias from Middle East culture.

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The Cyprus Blog posts a video of a humorous, yet innovative, way of solving the water shortage problem in Cyprus. Of course it does involve stealing the water from your neighbors' water surplus tank and putting it into your own tank, but as long as no one has a video camera to catch you doing it at the break of day you're fine, right?

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While discussing the plight of unrecognized states, blog Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus states that “If Russia does decide to recognize Georgia’s two separatist regions, they’d be in a diplomatic situation similar to North Cyprus.”

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A Fistful of Euros writes about Kosovo: “So we’re going to end up with a Balkan Taiwan: a de facto state without a UN seat, recognized by some nations but not others.”

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Leon wonders why the 18th Commonwealth Games aren't getting more media attention. “Is it because the mighty U.S is not involved, since the Commonwealth games only include former territories of Britain? (But wait, America is a former territory of Britain!).”