Global Voices Online

The Armenian Observer posts a video with English subtitles and comments on yesterday's rally by the radical opposition in Armenia. The blog says the movement led by the country's first president seems to be slowly turning into a lost cause.

Unzipped comments on recent statements made by newly-elected Russian president Dmitry Medvedev as well as the Council of Europe and Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) reaffirming the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. The blog asks its readers somewhat rhetorically if the statements represent the failure of Armenian foreign policy.

Red.CBGB at Bullog.cn has posted several of the images from Amnesty International's Beijing Olympics human rights campaign in a photo post, ‘Olympic project'. ‘It feels like a little too much,' writes one reader. ‘This is no exaggeration at all,' writes another, ‘but the truth is always hard for anyone to take.'

Just over a month until the big games, Fons Tuinstra at China Herald takes a look around Beijing as the city prepares itself in ‘Olympic shutdown gets into places'.

Cuban blogger Ninety miles away….in another country and Why does the glass have to be half empty or half full?, from Trinidad, both find good reasons to delight in their world.

Barbados Underground draws attention to the plight of a woman who died at a US hospital this week. 49 year-old Esmin Green collapsed and died on the floor of a New York City hospital after waiting over an hour without receiving any help. BU asks whether this could happen in Barbados?

Cuban blogger Machetera questions the timing of the rescue of French/Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt. And, she says, the comments of this high profile hostage show Ms Betancourt's experiences with the FARC guerillas, “left her with no greater understanding of the Colombian conflict than when she was seized on her presidential campaign tour seven years ago.”

Unzipped: Gay Armenia posts two entries about two very different sets of posters on display in Yerevan. In the first, the blog translates signs visible in one of the capital's parks prohibiting lovemaking. In the second, the blog comments on two posters designed to raise awareness of violence against women, but says that a more mainstream approach would be appropriate in order to reach a wider audience.