Global Voices Online

Adam Isacson laments the forced withdrawal of Colombian congressman (and blogger), Pedro Arenas in the upcoming elections because of security concerns.

Sangroncito tackles race and class in Brazil, noting that most Brazilians avoid discussing race by bringing up class instead.

Kevin Aylward of the 2005 Weblog Awards has announced the nominees for “best Latino, Caribbean, or South American blog.” He explains that the finalists were selected after a call for nominations in November.

Robert Wright, playing on the word “forro,” which can mean either “condom” or “idiot” in Argentine slang, has more photos of the famous obelisco in Buenos Aires covered by a pink condom.

Miguel Centallas has a new graphic of the latest pre-electoral poll while Eduardo Ávila, after taking a walk around Cochabamba, reflects on just who this election should be for.

Karen Walrond posts the email of a reader who attacks her multi-ethnic identity. The post inspires a small mountain of comments offering their support and analysis of race perceptions in Trinidad and Tobago compared to the United States.

Rezwan on the royal treatment Bill Gates is getting on his visit to Bangladesh.

LIRNEasia has links and stories on their experience at WSIS, Tunis.

Legal News from Nepal reports “The Supreme Court (SC) today issued show cause notices to the government, vice-chairmen of the Council of Ministers and some ministers seeking their explanations on why the government had not implemented its (SC’s) order to make necessary arrangements for the promotion of the disabled.”

The cricket scene captured at Metroblogging Lahore. Cricket IS a religion on the sub-continent!

Beyond the Red Crescent and the Red Cross - Looking for new symbols can be a tedious task. But the future of this new symbol could be interesting in multi-cultural communities. More at Pickled Politics.

Kid's Doc in Jos writes about his talk to local parents around children's disability and possible cures…….”I started with an overview of how the nervous system works, how the brain can be damaged, and what results from the damage. The emphasis was on the complexity of the brain and how “simple” skills like feeding oneself are actually very complicated and can be disrupted by neurologic problems at many levels.”

Webgardian wrties according to BBC and Fars news ( Link in Persian), An Iranian military plane with 94 people on board has crashed into a building in a heavily built-up suburb of the capital Tehran. Many of passengers were journalists and reporters.

Grandiose Parlour writes that Nigerians need to “act or shut up”………Nigerians need to step up to the plate in unison and discard the cloak of apathy that we have worn for so long. We need to engage and challenge the party candidates at every opportunity. We need to not only ensure that our siblings, neighbors, and associates register and vote on the election day, we must also mount vigil at the ballot centers to ensure that no fishy dealings occur afterwards.

Sleepless in Sudan offers some suggestions for those wondering what they can do “to help the people in Darfur“……Find out more; Give money; Nag the politicians and newspapers; Join an activist group; Be creative

Ethiopian blogger, Aqumada writes on his recent experience of travelling in the West as a Black man with a US passport!

Bankelele reports on yesterday's mini earthquake that hit East Africa.…”A mini quake shook downtown Nairobi this afternoon. Buildings swayege gently side to side for about fifteen seconds,with calendars flwying off the wall. No damage really, just to people's psyches.”

The sight of a nighttime sushi stall in Thailand recalls Preetam Rai to old-time Edo, which had similar stands until the stalls went extinct after World War II.

What an African Woman Thinks asks “Is English really as global a language as it is made out to be? What she means is that even though English is spoken around the world, the language is culturally English as in white Anglo Saxon I believe.

Malaysia's Mack Zulkifli suggests that the print media make more of an effort to present the human impact of the stories they cover. “That could be a way to rejuvenate the slump that our printed news is facing. And make no mistake, the slump is getting worse.”

Sheila Coronel at the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism podcasts her thoughts on the eight million Filipinos working overseas and the toll that takes on the country.

White African goes ahead and highlights some of his friends blogs….”Good writers all of them, and well worth a read” .

Chemical Generation Singapore extracts some lessons for foreign governments like Australia, whose Nguyen Tuong Van went to the gallows last week, and the Philippines, whose Flor Contemplacion was executed in 1995, in dealing with trying to save a citizen from Singapore's death penalty: “There are surely ways where a criminal will get his or her just punishment without affecting bilateral ties. It is just that governments, activists, the media and politicians all don't get it.”

Two Koreas discusses the death of farmer Chun Yong-chul while protesting South Korea's liberalization of its rice market.

Mzansi Afrika wonders how apartheid South Africa “dealt” with Black foreigners…..? “Did a black African from Swaziland, Lesotho, Senegal or Mali have to carry a pass? I suppose not, but one never knows. Were these foreigners treated in the same way as black South Africans were? If so, how about African Americans — how were they treated? And if not, where was the line and on what basis was it drawn? Passport? Language? Something else”?

Eddi Cross guests on Zimbabwean Pundit and writes on the “death of democracy” in Zimbabwe following the recent Senate elections - low turn out and predicatable outcome.

Chinese Preimier WenJiabao is Blogging? Someone found that a blog named “Daily Briefing of Wenjiabao's work” on Bokee.com, the leading Blog Hosting Service in China. Shangjin, a technology reporter, has some screenshots on his blog(in ZH). He also asked Fangxindong, CEO and founder of Bokee about whether this blog is written by the PM himself. Fang answered that it was a fake and told him that it has been “handled”. Now the blog is forbidden to access without authorizing.

A Canadian graduate student is conducting a research project about Iranian weblogging. He is interested in the issues of blog-audience and censorship. Survey is in English & Perisan.

The Glory of Carniola discusses Reporters Without Borders' curiously high ranking of press freedom in Slovenia and determines that where countries end up on the rankings is a function of selective attention..

Sean Guillory reports on the Moscow municipal elections, which many view as a preview of the 2007 parliamentary and 2008 presidential elections.

Further Ramblings of a Northern Irish Magyar reports on the sad state of Hungarian football.

Cyber-Generation reports on new Russian immigration forms.

Peter reports on the emphasis placed on neutrality in Turkmenistan at neweurasia.

James of neweurasia reports on mixed messages on the US in Tajikistan.

KZblog and Registan.net round up news from Kazakhstan's presidential election over the weekend.

Nurzhan writes on economic union in Central Asia at neweurasia.

Baktygul of neweurasia writes on education, and looking east or west in Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev was was elected to a third seven year term yesterday with a whopping 91% of the vote. Democracy Rising reports pithy commentary from the opposition.

Carpetblogger does a head-to-head comparison of Donald Trump and Turkmenistan's eccentric ruler who goes by the name of Turkmenbashi (Father of the Turkmen), and finds Trump lacking.

If you happen to have a mother in Panama, be forewarned: Thursday is Mother's Day.