Global Voices Online

An American in Africa writes about the burial of a traditional chief, two years after he passed away: “Anyway, Ga Mantse died almost two years ago, but tribal chiefs are not buried until their succession is settled. This is a phenomenon we have encountered quite a few times since we moved here. Delayed funerals are not uncommon. We have no idea where the deceased hangs out while he waits and there is no polite way to ask.”

As Mikhail Khodorkovsky is facing new charges, his lawyer, Robert Amsterdam, blogs about the situation. An anonymous guest-blogger, The Politechnologist, provides more analysis.

Grigory Pasko follows Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev to Chita and the preliminary detention center they are kept at; he writes about it at Khodorkovsky's lawyer's blog: “As of December 2006, SIZO-1 of the city of Chita held around 2000 suspects, accuseds, and convicts, which is three times more than the established limit of places. […] it has already been announced that the trial itself will take place inside the isolator – an unprecedented move clearly designed to ensure that a nominally ‘open' trial will in fact be closed to the public, which will not be able to gain access into the high security facility.”

According to Copydude, Novgorod is a city where children's playgrounds look abandoned and prams are “an unusual sight.”

David McDuff has completed his translation of Marina Litvinenko's interview - part 13, part 14 and part 15 are now posted at A Step At A Time.

Greetings from Kiev posts a rather immodest picture of a pig and writes about the Ukrainians' favorite food, salo.

Mazyar Nazemi has published several photos of Christiane Amanpour,top CNN journalist,in Tehran.According to the blogger Amanopur was in Iran to make a documentary about Iranian nuclear project.The blogger adds Amanpour did not answer Iranian journalists' questions and said she is not a political journalist[Fa].

Victor Yanukovych's government can't control the situation with grain again, writes Foreign Notes: “Quotas were applied from 31 st December 2006 and this has led to the scandalous situation described in newpapers across the world. ‘Ukraine's grain dumped into sea as quotas strangle exports,' from FT is typical.

Human Rights Watch announced that Shahram Rafizadeh and Arash Sigarchi are two Iranian bloggers who received the prestigious Hellman/Hammett prize, an award that recognizes writers globally who have been victims of political persecution. There are 45 people,including seven Iranians, who received awards.