Global Voices Online

Via La Russophobe, the pro-Kremlin youth group Nashi demonstrates poor knowledge of English (among other things) - a forged International Herald Tribune headline in the Nashi's brochure reads: “Russian soldiers, that were named a heroes for the acting in chechen war, were nailed charges in murder of chechen rebels.” A Step At A Time links to an article by Leonid Radzikhovsky and writes: “…the actions and ideology of one of Russia’s principal opposition movements, the National Bolshevik Party, differ little from those of its opponents, the government-controlled Nashi youth movement.”

Eternal Remont posts a note on the opening of Estonia's first synagogue since WWII. A Step At A Time follows Shimon Peres' visit to Estonia - here and here.

In Bulgaria's capital this week, “there wasn't a strike of the drivers, but there was a protest of the cyclists,” Sofia's Hidden Beauty reports.

TOL's The nEUrosis critiques a Times' story on the EU's newest members: “But rather than explaining the situation, the article goes on to provide no explanation or example why Bulgaria and Romania are in such a sordid state. In the same vein, anyone could say the same about any country out there - and let’s be fair, there are places in England which do a great job resembling Ukraine.”

Mark MacKinnon quotes William Montgomery, “the U.S. ambassador who headed the efforts to oust Slobodan Milosevic seven years ago,” on the current Kosovo situation: “Montgomery's point […] isn't that Kosovo should never receive the extra autonomy its people are demanding. He's asking why Washington and Moscow are hurtling towards a confrontation that both sides claim they don't want.”

The Economist's Edward Lucas writes about his recent trip to Moldova, Transdniestria, Romania and Ukraine - here, here, here and here (the last installment is due to be posted Friday).

Deepa's Web Log on the sheer “show of democracy” in the recently conducted elections in Uttar Pradesh. “In the heartland of India's largest state where women are by and large in purdah, a woman, from the lower caste, with no pretensions to sophisticated qualification or degrees or mannerisms, managed to build a majority across caste-based divisions and clocked a milestone by winning the largest majority in 14 years.”

Lankawatchh alleges that LTTE forces families to send their children to join their forces. “Reports from LTTE controlled areas reveal that the LTTE is on a fervent campaign to forcibly draft Tamil youth to fight the Sri Lankan government forces. The campaign called on every family in the LTTE controlled areas to give one child – regardless of age - to ensure security for the family. According to the reports, the children of parents who fail to comply will be abducted while the parents risk being murdered.”

Why do bloggers get cynical about the motives of other bloggers? A Voice in Colombo on why we blog. “What can I gain by creating a popularity for a nickname like Voice in Colombo? Contest to become the next Mayor of Colombo? (If I wanted that, I would start driving a taxi, rather than blogging) These comments lead me to make a post on the subject “Why Do People really blog?”"

iFaqeer compiles reactions of Karachiites on the recent events in the city. “A lot of the discussion around what happened in Karachi starting on the 12th of May has been centered on the role of the MQM. I thought readers might appreciate reading the following exchange between a few people who, though they spend most of their time living outside Karachi, strongly feel and identify with the city.”

United We Blog! on why the Youth Communist League's activities are unacceptable. “Prachanda and his rag-tag army committed the first blunder by declaring an armed rebellion back in 1996. Even if we agree on their claim that they raised awareness in the rural areas, the loss of human lives, infrastructures and economic deterioration do not justify the so-called people’s war.”

Bien Au Bout… shares the strange story of children who fled their schools en masse fearing they might be eaten [Fr] by a white man seen wandering in the forests outside their villages. Local rumor had it that Patrice Faye, a French naturalist and collector of endangered snakes with 30 years' experience in Burundi, was a cannibal.

Blaise Mantoto at UDPS Liege argues the Congo's Christian revivalist churches encourage political disengagement [Fr] by interpreting “Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's” to mean “leave politics to politicians, don't get involved.”

Correction: Samy Musampa Batenababo was erroneously cited as the author of this post

Sporting a beard could land you into trouble with the authorities in Egypt, reports Nora Younis, who translates a post by Asad.
“This is a hilarious post by Egyptian blogger Asad. Although it is a very short real life experience he went through at a main road checkpoint, it clearly depicts the black comedy of our police state - Egypt,” she writes.

Israeli blogger Stephanie posts an IM chat between Sderot resident Shlomo and a friend sitting at a business meeting in another part of Israel. “In our day/age of YouTube, BlackBerry, IM and the power of “instant”, the effect of someone chatting to another person in real time during a rocket hit is quite surprising,” she notes. According to Aussie Dave: There seems to be no respite for Sderot, towards where 30 Qassams were directed yesterday. Already today, a number of Qassams have struck the western Negev, including one that struck a high school. Today's wounded include a mother and her nine-year-old daughter who are suffering from shock.

Iraqi blogger LadyBird reports heavy fighting in Mosul between ‘occupying' and ‘resistance' forces.

The construction of five new airports in Oman will deal a serious blow to the environment, notes Sleepless in Muscat.

Prisma International writes that the Chadian government plans to discharge all child soldiers [Fr] currently serving in its army. A UNICEF investigation counted 400 children between the ages of eight and eleven among the ranks of Chad's armed forces.

“…I rejoice because Clifton reminds me always of why writing poetry is important and why it is good to believe this.” Geoffrey Philp quotes Kwame Dawes' meditation on James Dickey, Lucille Clifton, and the power and grace of poetry.

Jordanian blogger Lina links to a news article which says that journalists from five Arab countries are to launch a media watchdog group in reaction to what they call increased restrictions on press workers in the region.
According to the article, 20 reporters from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Morocco and Libya will launch the Cairo-based “Free Media Workers Union” in June, an initiative supported by Egyptian-American sociologist and human rights activist Saad Eddin Ibrahim.

Julie Akofka Akoussah, the “Diva” of Togolese music, said, “Music is in my blood. It allows me to communicate the joy that animates me to all of those whose hearts are suffering and who have lost their smile.” [Fr] She passed away in late April and will be buried this Saturday in her native village in southwest Togo. Togo-iTunes has information on a memorial held for her in Brussels and Agence Togolaise Press Atop her death and legacy.

Egyptian blogger Nora Younis focuses on the meanings of being a citizen as opposed to being a resident in Egypt in the aftermath of an attack on Coptic homes in the village of Bahma. “I tell you if we let the discriminative and politicised security apparatus grib all our causes and issues, if we don’t stand for citizenship rights, for places of worship, for building churches, for freedoms to all Egyptians, then the exodus will continue and those who remain will be residents - not citizens. Who would want a country like that? Who would want an over-crowded plot of land with 70 million residents and no citizens? Are they leading us to civil war?” she asks.

“Inciting hatred” is becoming a fashionable charge in Bahrain, explains blogger Mahmood Al Yousif. “Soon, Bahrain’s streets, villages and towns will once again live several days of a perfumed atmosphere. The wafts of tear-gas and the sounds of rubber bullets will be infused in decrepit narrow streets, while that effervescent smell of burning rubber, that major adrenaline aphrodisiac normally only experienced when paying hundreds of dinars at the F1 racetrack, will be available completely free of charge while cars dodge the flames and probably accompanied by thrown rocks and sticks; all of those terrorist acts by kids who - because of their reaching the legal age of maturity which is 15 in Bahrain - could be imprisoned for a very long time, but could never dream of exercising their energy and intellect to vote for a representative who could speak with their voice,” he notes.

As Algerians head apathetically to the polls, in the sixth bout of elections held in the country since 1992, another attack rocks a major Algerian city; Constantine in the country's rugged east. The attack was comprised of two blasts, ten minutes apart detonated by way of remote controlled mobile phones. The attack wounded fourteen and killed one police officer, writes Nouri, whose amazing insight gives us an eye-opener to the election scene in his country.

Living in the Caribbean posts video of some grammatically confusing St. Lucian road signs.

“What happens when you have managers that will not extract opinions from employees AND employees that are so deferential they will not offer them”: El Gringoqueno thinks he has identified the simple problem with Puerto Rico.

Want to improve your writing? Antilles features “V.S. Naipaul's Rules for Beginners”.

The View from Fez was the bearer of good news this morning, informing us that Morocco has finally released its first English-language print newspaper. Although international papers are available in Morocco, and Magharebia.com and Maghreb Arabe Presse provide anglophones with news on the internet, there's nothing better than settling into Morocco's cafe culture with a good newspaper. The View's Samir says: “Starting a newspaper anywhere is always a difficult and risky undertaking. Creating a viable readership not only relies on advertising and word of mouth, but also on the content of the newspaper. It must be relevant, fresh and engaging, with a range of stories covering as many aspects of life as is feasible. In this regard The Casablanca Analyst is off to a good start.”

One of these logos will probably become the official logo of the Tanzania Bloggers Association (Jumuiya ya Wanablogu Tanzania - Jumuwata).

Dear Seun: “What happened next shocked me, my dad reached over and slapped me across the face. “Liar”, he shouted. “Am I raising a prostitute and a liar? You know what the bible says about these things. So if you don'thave a boyfriend, who were you saying i love you too to? Eh, you can't talk abi? Tomorrow evening you had better bring this boy with no home traing home” and with that, I was dismissed.”

Korean sex trafficking: past and present. A blogger wonders why the past is a bigger deal than the present in Korea, linking to a news article, “Enslavement of women persists despite new law.”

“Give me a train ticket for Pyongyang” Koreans express their joy for the North-South Korean train through internet cartoons and gatherings. See the moment the train finally operated today from Munsan in South Korea to Kaesong in North Korea. Against the festive mood, families of people who have been abducted by North Korea cry in the same place.

Sudanese Thinker writes about identity crisis in Sudan: “After 9/11, I believe things changed for most Northern Sudanese though. Many in America where happy to be identified as African and not Arab. They wanted nothing to do with being Arab. All of a sudden it became a burden. My brother didn’t care much. For him, nothing changed. He had always regarded himself as first Muslim, second African and third Arab, the same way I do. But hey, this is me and my bro. Bring a sizeable group of us Northern Sudanese (about 10 or 20), drop the question, “are you Arab or African” and be prepared to run after that. It might get ugly… the identity crisis continues.”

Joel Martinsen from DANWEI translates an interview with Yu Guoming, a vice-dean of the Renmin University School of Journalism and head of that university's Public Opinion Research Institute, on Internet and politics, published at Globe magazine.

A South African peacekeeper and blogger returns home from Darfur, Sudan: “Driving from the airport in Johannesburg to Pretoria. What a sweet feeling to be back home. After three days of demobilisation we were allowed to go to our homes. Even though I was happy to arrive home I am still thinking about the people of Darfur. My thoughts are with you.”

Imagethief analyses whether the “genocide Olympics” campaign against China's stance in Darfur would be working or not.

Mong Palatino shares the good and not so good of his campaigning experience in the recent elections in Philippines.

Observations about the Ugandan blogosphere from the makers of Ugandan Blogumentary: “[Blogren] the term was invented and introduced by the Ugandan blogger the 27th comrade on February 6. 2007 to respond to his fellow citizens (please correct us if we’re wrong). What the blogrens have in common is their love of writing and their opinionated minds. Besides that they are very different indeed and they have very different motives of writing. Following some of the motives: release/therapeutic (public diary), escape of the mundane, to meet people, rebellion, to get connections and networking, to get publicity.”

Singapore based design consultant Brian Ling tries to figure out why there is so much copying of products and designs in China.

Upon the Obscene Articles Tribunal issued the ruling on Chinese University publication “CU Student Press” as second class “indecent” material, local netizen launched a campaign to the Television and Entertainments Licensing Authority (Tela) to complain on the indecency of Bible. Uptill now, there are more than 1,000 complaints being sent.

Marie Mockett from Japundit gives an update on the dispute over violating the privacy of Mineko Iwaaki in “Memoirs of a Geisha.”

A call to Nigerian bloggers to be part of a book called, Naija Bloggers Vol. 1: “This is a call to all Nigerian bloggers worldwide to become a part of An anthology of the greatest works of Nigerian Bloggers-A book called Naija bloggers Vol 1.
Nigerian Bloggers around the globe are requested to send in their stories or recommend great posts for the publication of a physical anthology, the first of its kind by any group of bloggers on any continent.”

Timbuktu Chronicles writes about Africa@home: “…AFRICA@home is a website for volunteer computing projects which allow your computer to contribute to African humanitarian causes…The first application being developed for AFRICA@home is called MalariaControl.net. This application models the way malaria spreads in Africa and the potential impact that new anti-malarial drugs may have on the region…”

Christian Espinoza of Cobertura Digital [ES] links to a study that found that Ecuador ranks the highest in costs per kbps, and it is almost three times as much as Peru.

Martin Varsavsky [ES] writes a thorough overview of the national elections to take place in October of 2007. Among the topics he discusses is the role of Nestor Kirchner and his wife, as the probably presidnetial candidate.

Ever wanted to travel overland in Argentina? Chances are you would depart from Buenos Aires' Retiro station. The approximately 200 different bus companies can be a bit overwhelming. Argentina's Travel Guide provides instructions on how to maneuver through the busy station.

Joshua Foust says that transplanting drug interdiction strategies from Colombia into Afghanistan is a recipe for failure.

KyrgyzReport reports on the Kyrgyz government's attempts to make more money from gold mining, but says that the lack of transparency in licensing decisions reduces potential income.

KZBlog reports on a long list of proposed amendments to Kazakhstan's constitution.

Afghanistanica wonders who is behind a string of assassinations of former Hizb-i Islami commanders in northern Afghanistan.

Registan.net covers the angry response from Uzbekistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs over the EU's decision to extend sanctions against Uzbekistan.

Moe Moe wonders why her cousin asked her to send him a remote control car for his birthday because of the Government decision on banning such toys. “Strange thing to ban toys, really, to stop terrorists from bombing more things in the country. I mean, everyone knows the government itself has been known to set off bombs just to scare people and seriously, why not ban soap as well while you are banning things.”

Blogger Phoe Htaung is organizing the financial support for Mg Aung Myin who came from a poor family and having a financial difficulties studying Medical Science. He is currently a third year Medical student and needs about ~ US$ 50 per month for another 2.5 years to finish his study. “Mg Aung Myin who is currently studying Medical Science at Magway Medical Colleage as a Final Part I student, is seeking financial help for his studies. He is almost near his goal just need a few steps to be Medical Doctor. He needs about 50,000 Kyats per month for 2.5 years.”