Global Voices Online

Williamlong reports that feedburner website is finally blocked in China after technocrati (zh).

Neema from One Billion Users reports a provincial government sponsored project, “Zhejiang Province Farmer's Mailbox”, which allow farmers to send free p2p SMS and e-mails.

ESWN translates an article written by Li Datong, the former editor of the Freezing Point supplement in China Youth Daily, about the erosion of precondition of media control in China.

On the basis of “information received directly from Cuba,” Fort Worth, Texas-based Dr. Eloy González identifies the location where Fidel Castro is said to be hospitalised.

Zenia reports from Cuba (ES) that “a message from Fidel was read at 645pm — Cuba time — during the information round table on Televisión Cubana, in which he made it known that known that in due course the Cuban people would be given details of the progress of his convalescence, as was the case the time he fractured his knee. . . . “

“Those rejoicing in the streets of Miami could do well to rethink their jubilation,” says Curzon as he posts an excerpt from a profile of Raúl Castro, the brother of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, to whom the latter temporarily passed presidential power on Monday night. According to Curzon's profile, Raúl is “regarded as more hardline than his brother”.

“As the hemisphere’s worst-ever dictator slides into death’s embrace, the mainstream media sweetly qualifies the Monster of Havana, one of the century’s worst tyrants, as a ‘maverick’ and other crap,” writes A. M. Mora y Leon in the opening paragraph of a post which includes several links to commentary on the Fidel Castro situation and gives special mention to the coverage by Babalu Blog.

Nick Tay has photos of The Scorpions' free concert in Ulaanbaatar's Sukhbaatar Square.

James discusses the growing involvement of Tajik women in Hizb-ut-Tahrir, an Islamist organization in which they were earlier only peripherally involved.

Babalu Blog weighs in on the CNN coverage of the Fidel Castro situation in two posts, one calling CNN the “Chávez News Network”, and another in which “the ‘internet' expert, after a long schpiel on Latin American obviously leftists internet portals, used the words blogs and ‘rampant rumors' in the same sentence.“

Ben Paarmann takes a closer look at the quickness with which many accept that Kazakhstan is the most stable and economically sound country in Central Asia.

The Latin Americanist posts a valuable set of links relating to the Castro situation, including one for a few anti-Castro jokes.

Today several islands in the Caribbean observe Emancipation Day. Gela's Words notes that for Jamaicans, it's a time “we get back in touch with our culture and Ole Time Jamaica”. From Trinidad, both Caribbean Free Radio and Attillah Springer mention last night's concert at the Emancipation Village, headlined by South African star Miriam Makeba, and Attillah remarks on the evolution of the observances from “back in the days when the Emancipation procession was just a freak show, when people pointed and laughed. When it wasn't fashionable to be African and you certainly couldn't find cheap made in Taiwan knock-offs of African prints in the fabric stores in downtown Port of Spain,” to what it is today.

Omar Nuri thinks that Hezbollah proved the Arabs were wrong, and I mean the Arab leaders. Their bet was Hezbollah is sliding slowly to an end, its end. Now, they see it didn’t. It is standing firm and strong. Battling one combat to another, winning big time, stabbing the IDF’s pride in the heart where it hurts the most and above all throwing the Arab leaders bet against the wall.

Ladybird believes that the controlled media lies about the Israeli aggression in Lebanon are similar to its propaganda about the terror attacks of 9-11. In both cases the gross deception foisted upon the public caused widespread misunderstanding of the facts and the identity of the guilty party.

Issam referring to Qatar's Foreign Minister accusing some Arab states of supporting the Israeli offensive on Lebanon to dismantle Hizbullah. He is little surprised with the Minister approach this time, which was more frank, honest and direct. The irony is that His Highness did not explain for us his country's position to allow the US government to use Al Udeid air base which is located in Qatar,to supply Israel with “bunker busters,” which aim to finish the plight and existence of Hizbullah, Issam said.

Mustapha explains explains why some Lebanese bloggers now support Hezbollah. He says that old readers of his blog know how critical of Hezbollah he has always been. But to them, Hezbollah remains a Lebanese party that has gone astray, but they will never allow foreigners to discipline them! This is the essence of sovereignty which is as important as democracy.

Israel is currently fighting for the security of its citizens and soldiers on its sovereign soil. This war will hopefully establish once and for all that we will not compromise with objections to our right to exist as a nation. This country was founded on the basis of a very simple ideology that can basically be equated to – Jews in the Diaspora are persecuted thus Jews need a homeland to ensure their safety, Voices from Israel said.

Unless we can make some real breakthroughs that can help us deliver a different message to this particular segment of the populace, demography in our part of the world will continue to be on the side of tyranny, and our children will continue to be the fodder thereof and the pawns of its wars, Ammar said.

The beatroot criticizes the coverage of Polish migrant workers in two British newspapers, the Daily Mail and the Guardian: “But, alas, PC seems to cover every ethnicity these days except the white working class, and those from central and eastern Europe.”

LEvko of Foreign Notes reports on various parties' preparedness to a new election.

South East Europe Online: S.E.E.ing is Believing! reviews the latest media and blog coverage of the Balkans.

Our Man In Tirana is surprised that, according to a survey on the EU expansion, only 44 percent of respondents oppose Albania's membership.

Further Ramblings of a N.Irish Magyar learns that some of Slovakia's “new government's members are maybe even worse than” he believed them to be.

Jim Shultz asks his readers from the United States to sign a letter demanding former president, Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada's return to Bolivia, where he could be tried for abuse of power. “Those charges stem especially from the violent repression undertaken by Sanchez de Lozada in October 2003 that left dozens dead (including several small children and one pregnant mother), more than a hundred wounded, and forced Sanchez de Lozada to flee to the US.”

Ian Mount asks if Buenos Aires is experiencing a crime wave. In a related note, Jeff Barry and his partner Cecilia came home the other to find the door of their apartment pushed open. Read the post to find out how the police reacted.

Fernando Casale posts the latest music video for the song Mal Mal Mal by Astroboy.

Lots and lots of news from Mexico. Ana Maria Salazar says that tent cities have already been installed in various parts of Mexico City in support of Lopez Obrador. “These avenues are totally closed off to traffic and became pedestrian walkways. (Needless to say the traffic was chaotic today. I am serious, if you live in Mexico City stay away from these areas, although I have been told that the traffic jams can be felt kilometers away.” Olganza reminds readers (ES) that in November 2000, Obrador signed an edict prohibiting the blockage of any of the city's main arteries. Ceci Connolly links to a Guardian article describing moviemaker Luis Mandoki as “Mexico's Michael Moore.” Goleech says that even Lopez Obrador supporters should not cause chaotic disruptions (ES) in the capital city. Finally, Mark in Mexico keeps us up to date on the teacher's strike in Oaxaca.

Luigino Bracci has a thorough recap of Richard Stallman's visit to Venezuela (complete with audio recordings and photos), where he recommended that the country not adopt the proposed “Infogovernment Law.” There is also a two minute video clip where you can check out Stallman's Spanish.

Omid Memarian, blogger & journalist reminds us that the U.N. Security Council Monday adopted a resolution demanding that Iran suspend its nuclear activities by the end of August or face possible sanctions. The blogger says it is very interesting to notice how USA with a well planned strategy could unite all Security Council members to put pressure on Iran [Fa]. Some analysts, who considered there will be no consensus on Iran in UN Security Council, were wrong.

In Daftar BiMokhatab inform us that in a less than a week there will be election in Association of Iranian Journalists. It is said that conservative journalists will invite their colleagues from provinces to Tehran to vote to their list. It seems the reformist list can win the election if 400 to 500 journalists vote for it [Fa].

In a long detailed post, Fleur d'Afrique relates what she has heard through word of mouth about the aftermath of sunday's presidential election. Among other rumors, she's heard that:”Kabila is leading the polls particularly in the eastern and some southern parts of Congo.” She also deplores UDPS's strategy of boycotting the election

Public opposition to the idea of independence for Bermuda has increased by 10% since 2004, notes the Limey: “It’s time for the Premier to graciously acknowledge this lack of interest and shelve the discussion.”

All things Pakistan blog conducts the second blog poll on ‘what President General Musharraf should do now'. The results are not only interesting, but also confusing. ATP blog concludes that the public opinion amongst Pakistanis remains divided and uncertain on the future of Gen. Musharraf.

Dathana in Myanmar gives a background of the political situation in the country and tells us why he blogs. “So, who am I? I'm just a blogger. I write what I believe. I write what I should highlight to create awareness. I cannot stay without speaking out when I see and hear that my country and people are suffering. If someone says, “ohhh… these are politics. you shouldn't write.”, he/she is one of those people making the dictator ruling last longer. “

Cambodian blogger Vannadeth is saddened by the TV images of the fighting in Lebanon and she remembers the troubled times in her native country.

Bloggers Nepal reports how Nepali army is becoming increasingly unpopular in the country. Their lack of transparency and lack of respect towards ordinary citizens even towards the police forces are blamed for that. Questions are being raised whether the Nepalese government is in control of the Nepal army.

Fiji blog Babasiga finds that websites for Fiji's provinces are fast disappearing.

The Sri Lankan blogosphere is concerned by the Sri Lankan government's decision of shutting down LBN & CBNSat cable TV services in the country and more to follow. Hundreds of thousands of subscribers are affected by this. Lanka Libertarian ironically puts that the Sri Lankan government should make cable TV a basic human right shielded by the constitution.

Robert Koehler disagrees with the comment that Korea is a boring country and explains the charm of Korea that he has experienced in Marmot's Hole.

Ohmynews citizen reporter, Munish Nagar, posts his interview with a Tibetan independent activist, Kalsang Phuntsok, a member of the Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC).

Asia media forum puts up an interview with the editor (Hu Shuli) of Chinese economic magazine, Caijing. In the interview, Hu talked about the importance of professionalism and commented on Chinese media climate.

Sounds and Fury has an angry post commenting on the mainstream media's attitude towards independent music during the recent 3 days annual independent music festival. The writer links the development of music industry with media reform (zh).

“The issue at stake is not only whether or not they reports on the independent music festival. The Arts and Movie page in the newspapers has becoming more and more shallow that people just treat them as ‘entertainment' page. Therefore we only have scandals about singers and movie stars or gossiping pieces on their clothing style, etc. There aren't any discussion or analysis concerning the music and the environment of the industry… in the end, the quality of Taiwan music will deteriorate.”

Bingfeng posts a conversation with an overseas Tibetan, Tenzin, in his blog on various issues including the role of Dalai Lama, Tibet autonomy, etc.

South Asia Biz posts 10 reasons why one should travel Maldives. The small country situated on the south, southeast of India consists of 1,192 islets, out of which two hundred are inhabited by people. The main attractions include visa free entry, modern resorts, scuba diving heaven, water sports, picturesque sceneries with natural landscape and it remains sunny all the year.

Bollywood has successfully adapted William Shaekspeare's Othello with enough brilliance, emotion, grandeur, wit and drama. Amit Varma posts a round up of reviews of Vishal Bhardwaj's blockbuster movie Omkara.

Oscar Mota announces the commencement of the “Guatemalan Blogs Marathon,” which will coordinate and track conversations throughout the Guatemalan blogosphere for one week, starting today. You can subscribe to the category feed.