Global Voices Online

Andres Duque describes the storm of controversy resulting from a series of semi-nude photos with religious overtones published in the Colombian monthly SoHo: “The images, which depicted recreations of Biblical passages such as the last supper and the crucifixion with the nude actress taking the role of Christ, were accompanied by a sarcastic and blistering essay by polemic gay writer Fernando Vallejo on President Alvaro Uribe and his government's ties to organized religion, including the Colombian arm of the right-wing Catholic group Opus Dei.”

Boli-Nica gives historical and geo-political context to the outsider presidential campaign of Benjamin Rausseo, wondering aloud if the Venezuelan comedian might actually have a chance against Chavez in this December's elections.

Writing from Buenos Aires Mariano Amartino spreads the news that bloggers found a modified photo which was published by Reuters. “What is really odd is how a photo with such a serious error was able to pass through all the layers of editing at Reuters,” remarks Amartino.

Yulia of neweurasia translates a Russian language post on the debate over the death penalty in Kyrgyzstan.

Vadim discusses passenger complaints against Tajikistan's national airlines.

Why exactly is Norway involved in the conflict resolution process in Sri Lanka? Komiyage Loke with conspiracy theories, oil and other factors that move the planet.

Ben Paarmann writes about Kazakhstan's implementation of Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative statutes. He says that if the EITI statutes are successfully implemented, high-level corruption in Kazakhstan could be seriously reduced.

Shirazi writes about Satghara - a sleepy and dusty village that once was a power center in its own right. “The first impact that this monument leaves is an emotional one for it is a symbol of cultural identity a part of heritage. It also has architectural historic documentary spiritual and symbolic value. The remains of the monument have to be preserved and saved from total ruination a danger they are facing at present.”

Onnik Krikorian reports on this weekend's internet outage in Armenia. Krikorian says that high prices, poor quality service, and outages are all the result of ArmenTel's monopoly on internet access.