Global Voices Online

On the eve of the Jewish day of Atonement - Yom Kippur, we wish our Jewish readers a g'mar chatima tova and an easy fast.

BTW, I just realized that ‘Yom Kippur‘ is very similar to our Arabic words ‘Yom Kapper‘, both of which means the “Great Day.”

Day after day, I believe that “we have more in common than you think“.

As the vote on Iraqi new constitution is coming close (2 days left), ChristianIraq, Hassan of An Average Iraqi and Omar of Iraq The Model, all give us an update on the last minute situation and preparation for the vote.

Brooding Persian says that if we look closely at some of the blogs or the many news outlets covering Iran (and to some extent the broader Middle East), it is either you are a bunch of zombies/ terrorists/ automatons wanting to wage Jihad, or destroy and ruin [what’s left of the] Western civilization, or you are millions of highly talented, intelligent, educated saints who can do no wrong and are simply being deprived of an easy, opulent lifestyle by a bloodthirsty, irrational regime.

Ritzy says that journalists are like men: they raise you to the skies and then suddenly they take you down. Read her commentary on the recent article of Cairo Magazine, which was dedicated to describe part of the most active Egyptian blogsphere.

Arjen Westra takes a trip around Tanzania ahead of elections on Oct. 30, listening to men talk politics and drink coffee in some of the country's political hotspots.

Jeff Ooi reports that police with sniffer dogs made an appearance at a commuter station on the Putraline of the capital's light rail system. Commenters to the post say this was a security exercise.

Issandr El Amrani, The Sandmonkey and Sabbah; all discussed the intercepted Letter of Al Qaeda, which was released yesterday.

Sokwanele blogs about a petition entitled “No Shaking Hands With Mugabe” to be presented to Britain's Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street Wednesday, urging Tony Blair to bring up the problems in Zimbabwe at the United Nations Security Council.

Danwei reports that Chinese Web users now have access to Blogspot blogs and the Google cache, but suspects the move is a result of more efficient blocking using “forbidden” keywords.

One of the most talked about topic of the day in the Arab blogsphere was the early breaking news of the suicide of Syria’s Interior Minister, Ghazi Kanaan. The news hit many blogs from around the Arab world. Starting with Syria, then Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan and many more here, here, here , here and here.

ESWN translates reaction from the Chinese-language blogosphere, notably from mainland Chinese journalist Michael Anti, on the reporting by Guardian reporter Benjamin Joffe-Walt of the attack on Hubei lawmaker Lu Banglie in Taishi village earlier this week.

“There are so many people fleeing from the new attacks on villages that all we can do is scramble to keep up with registrations and emergency distributions for the new arrivals,” writes an exhausted Sleepless in Sudan in a hastily penned post from her Darfur internally displaced persons (IDP) camp. “People are coming to the camps, particularly the bigger ones clustered around state capitals, in droves.”

Kenyan Pundit posts more notes from a recent open forum on the country's forthcoming constitutional referendum.

Marmot's Hole notes growing momentum for the idea of a pullout of U.S. troops from South Korea, expecting the reality to follow sooner rather than later.

Nad's Notes speculates on the Ulysses Awards for Reportage, wondering why so many contenders are writing about war and other horrors, and tipping the blog Baghdad Burning as a likely winner.

Senior pro-democracy political adviser Eddie Cross writes on The Zimbabwean Pundit about the debate now ensuing among the Movement for Democratic Change about whether to fight elections to an upper house they never agreed with in the first place.

Jorge Arena has the lowdown on rumors that Chavez is looking to buy a nuclear reactor from Argentina.

Eduardo Ochoa heralds the arrival of Sudoku, a Japanese type of puzzle which has taken the world by storm, to Ecuador's largest daily paper El Universo. Ochoa admits his addiction with ease and says he has downloaded the game to his cellphone.

Havana Journal says the Panorama Hotel in Havana will start offering free Wi-Fi internet access to customers this month.

Colom Buenazo is upset with president Uribe's government after yesterday's violence between police and protesters in Santa Rosa. The post has generated passionate discussion.

Logtar gives his analysis in both English and Spanish to the supposed defining list of what makes a Colombian.

International Nepal Solidarity Network has the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) charter of Nepal on its blog.

Donation seekers everywhere. Habitual Procrastination on the guilt and the pressure to donate after the tragedy of the Earthquake.

Harry Hutton maintains his patent sarcasm even when a nearby car bomb, aimed at a senator, explodes. Hutton has also posted photos.

More on tourism in Bangladesh. Imtiaz hates the fact that the Bangaldesh tourism website doesn't work.

There are politicans, and there are photo-ops. indi.ca takes a shot at a candidate whose campaign seems to centre around his clothes!

Lanka Citizen ponders on the question of the “less dictatorial” in the context of the elections in Sri Lanka.

Blogspot, the blog hosting service held by Google, was said to be removed from banning list of Chinese internet flitering system. (Via Keso; Here is an English translation by Danwei) . It has been blocked for almost 3 years in mainland China. In addition, Google Cache, the service to arhchive web page is also back to normal again. However many bloggers and internet users still reported that this move may not be nationwide and in some area both of the services are still unavailable without using proxy.

Brazilian photoblogger Tatiana Cardeal announces she will be showing 10 photographs at MediaNoche.