Global Voices Online

An indignant French-writing journalist has, along with a lengthy rant, posted video taken this week during an opening ceremony rehearsal inside the Bird's Nest. Hong Kong entertainer Jackie Chan and Tibetan singer Han Hong can be seen on stage. Note that in the comments one reader shares the most popular rumor as to who (or what) will be symbolically wrapping up this year's Olympic torch relay…in just over twelve hours.

Iraqi blogger Wameeth draws our attention to Iraqi Jews. “Iraqi Jews are one of the most sensitive topics in Iraq, one of largest markets in Iraq in the center of Baghdad trade market is called the Jew market ,it was the center of all the trade in Iraq till the beginning of the sixties of the last century, one of the biggest history and religion thinkers in Iraq is Ahmad Sosa he was a Jew and later became a Muslim,” he explains.

Following news of the murder of a honeymooning British couple in Antigua, Danielle Jones at Dominica Weekly says: “While some of us may be inclined to brush this incident off as an Antiguan problem, in reality it has implications for the wider Caribbean. It comes just weeks after our CARICOM leaders decided to market the region jointly as part of a ‘One Caribbean’ marketing campaign.”

Pawel of Polandian writes about the 1st of August anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising of 1944, including several photos of the remembrance celebrations in a post titled “Poles must stop living in the past”. He writes: “The fact that we decide to focus all our popular celebrations around history means that we feel we have no achievements in the present”.

Strog's Prague pictures & opinions diverses [French] has been writing about several churches in Prague, including many pictures. Most recently, he has described in great detail the Gothic church of sv. Václava na Zderaze, the Baroque sv. Jana na Skalce (in French St Jean -de Népomucène- sur le rocher) and the Roman St Longin.

Jordanian The Black Iris discusses polygamy in the kingdom - a practice he admits is rare, “yet relatively accepted to some extent.”

LJ user webgolos surveys (RUS) whether Russian bloggers perceive recently deceased writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn as a hero or traitor - or perhaps simply as an author. So far, results are 46% hero, 16% traitor, and 38% simply an author.

Vitaly Portnikov comments on (RUS) the new and restrictive Belarusian media law that has now been confirmed by the country's president, Alyaksandr Lukashenka.

Itching for Eestima compares the different spirit of the citizens of Estonia's two biggest cities - Tallinn and Tartu.