Global Voices Online

Steve Bridger has started a new blog, afterwilma.info in order to document the reconstruction process taking place in Cancún and the Riviera Maya. He explains what inspired the blog on the about page.

Rob Mercatante posts a press release by the Colectivo Ecologista MadreSelva on a meeting between World Bank president, Paul Wolfowitz and a delegation of indigenous people affected by the Glamis Gold mine in San Marcos. Mercatante has written previously about the mine.

Both Tim and Salvador Canjura blog about the street protests by pirated CD vendors against a new CAFTA-related law, which brings tougher enforcement and punishments against vendors of copyright-infringed products. El Diario de Hoy has photos.

“WorldCitizen” generates a lively response on the Poor But Happy forums when she voices her problems with common stereotypes of binational relationships between Caucasian men and Colombian women.

Adam Isacson compares what the U.S. has offered Evo Morales in aid and assistance compared to the offer of Hugo Chavez's Venezuela and concludes that the United States is making a foreign affairs folly by not embracing Morales' moderate side.

Costa Rica Blogs says that 110 - 120 international observers will be on hand during the February 5th elections.

Andrew of Comings Communiqué recounts his visit to the island of Alcântara, off the the coast of São Luís.

Eduardo Ávila has two photos of posters demanding justice be brought against former president, Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada. Jim Shultz wants to know what is behind the New York Times' spin on Evo Morales visit to Spain.

Toutatis attempts to sum up the state of the Argentine blogosphere, which he refers to as “young and not sure where it’s headed.” In an addendum, he adds Hernán Cascieri's blog-novel, Mujer Gorda, which was selected as best weblog in the BOB's.

Cronyism is nothing new, says Taran Rampersad, commenting on the furore surrounding FIFA Vice President and adviser to the Trinidad & Tobago Football Federation Jack Warner's alleged hogging of tickets for matches in the 2006 World Cup.

Orange Ukraine says that the new gas deal between Russia and Ukraine is not bad, and breaks down the good and bad in it.

With Bulgaria refusing to pay higher prices to Gazprom, Veronica Khokhlova wonders why no on in Russia is accusing them of lies and thievery..

Kazakhstan is getting a new national anthem. It's an old tune with new words supplied by the president. You can listen to the song at neweurasia.

James of neweurasia reviews 2005 in Tajikistan.

The Golden Road to Samarqand discusses besh barmak (”five fingers”), the Kyrgyz national dish, offering a recipe and detailing customs surrounding the dish.

Onnik Krikorian writes on Armenian politics and the scandal that has rung in the new year.

Casti of In Pursuit of Nirvana is worried about avian flu in Azerbaijan on the heels of the news of deaths from the disease in Turkey and massive numbers of deaths of farm birds in southern Azerbaijan.

According to Paiz (Persian), Nederlands based blogger, ICFTU (international confederation of free trade unions) wrote a letter to Iranian President to protest against the continued detention of the leader of the Syndicate Mansour Osanloo. It has also been reported that 1500 Sherkate Vahed (Tehran's Bus compnay) workers signed a petition for his release.

Inspired by Somini Sengupta's New York Times article, Is Public Romance a Right?, Vikrum Sequeira compares societal attitudes towards public affection in India and Latin America.

Danial Varisco, Chair of the Anthropology Department at Hofstra University and author of “Tabsir: Insight on Islam and the Middle East” has a very interesting post on “American Tableaux Manners Egyptian Style”

The Refugee All Star Band was formed by Sierra Leone refugees living in a camp in neighbouring Guinea. SoundRoots reports that the band who toured other refugee camps has now released an album “Living like a refugee”.

Naijablog reports on the banning of street trading by the Lagos State Government which he describes as another “outburst of fantasy politics.” He asks: “Where are these people supposed to go? How are they supposed to find an alternative means of living? No doubt a certain percentage will be forced to turn to crime, armed robbery etc. in a city which has security issues already”

This is Zimbabwe comments on the corrupt activities of the Bishop of Harare, a supporter of Mugabe's ZANU-PF party. “In short, the conduct of this delinquent bishop raises very serious questions for the Anglican Church. Given that the incitement to murder and other charges against Kunonga have now been dropped by the ecclesiastical courts, and without satisfactory explanation, the question is what other steps may be taken in to rein in such a church leader who is clearly abusing his powers shamelessly for his own personal advantage.”

Grandiose Parlour comments on the upcoming Nigerian Census - despite having 4 census over the past 50 years, the population of Nigeria is still a mystery! “The 2006 census will be an acid test for Nigerians, if we can successfully conduct the census and able to demonstrate agreement between 2006 and 1991 census figures, then Nigeria has come a long way as a nation.”

Black Star Journal comments on the African Union finally taking a stance against Mugabe's government…”Last month, the African Commission on Human and People's Rights adopted a resolution denouncing the lamentable human rights' situation in Zimbabwe.”

The Trials and Tribulations of a Freshly Arrived Denzian has a rant over Accra's water supply and the South African/Dutch water company brought in to manage Ghana's water supply.

Music blog, Benn loxo du taccu posts some music from Benin by Gangbé Brass Band and some Elvis imitation from South Africa.

Africa Unchained asks what exactly NGOs are trying to achieve? “If the purpose of aid work is to diminish poverty, the past decade looks like a dramatic failure.”

Bankelele comments on the affirmative action programme that enables rural children to enter schools with lower scores than their urban peers. Parents of urban children are now considering allowing their kids to take their exams in the rural areas thereby ensuring them places at “coveted national schools”

Mzansi Afrika reports on an orphanage in Soweto for children whose parents have died of AIDS. She challenges the South African and world community to think beyond the “days of public awareness” such as World AIDS Day…”There seems to be a tendency for people in our community to show their generosity to orphans when it's convenient and then to forget them when they are too busy or it doesn't suit them.”

Tamiliana on “Jaffna University or Yarlpanap Palgalaikkazhagham has become a volatile flashpoint of tension in the on going conflict between security personnel of the state and the younger generation of the district. “

Lankabuzz on the state of Education on Sri Lanka and the pressure on school children with long hours and heavy tuition fees.

Unheard Voices on Dr Nazia Khanum, an expatriate Bangladeshi, being awarded the OBE recently for her services to community relations and to equal opportunities in Luton.

The Caribbean Beat Blog notes that the Accompong Maroon Festival is being celebrated today in Jamaica. The maroons are “the descendants of slaves who were freed by the Spanish and fled to Jamaica's untouched South Coast in the pursuit of freedom, and who live there to this day.”

Carrying forward Mezba's post on Hajj, Rezwan on the concept of Hajj given the pre-conditions, and why people insist on going more than just once.

Legal News from Nepal reports on the extension of the Transit Treaty by three months between India and Nepal, despite the fact that it was up for an automatic renewal.

While the Maoists have gained considerable ground, Samudaya.org points out two crucial factors that are potentially their weakest links when it comes to recruitment - and how the Maoists can be out-manouvered socialistically.

Arubagirl finds it “icky” when tourists snap photos of a funeral party outside a local church.

I wonder how does one go about prioritizing who gets the #1 headliner spot? Is it based on the most amount of people dead? Or most important death? I know if I die today I won’t be seeing my face on the BBC or CNN website. But if I were important enough then maybe I could get the spot, Nas said.

UAE women are increasingly out, educated and employed, and likewise their most senior figurehead, the Secret Dubai said.

An egyptian movie that shows a man and a veiled woman making out on a bus is causing all kinds of contreversy, the Sandmonkey of egypt said.

Ahmad Humeid says, as the usage of the internet keeps growing in the Arab world, and as a new generation of users who grew up with the net becomes more vocal, blogging and other forms of self expression will continue to grow in importance. And we Jordanians will be there to power it all on our platforms.

Anonymity and credibility of blogs seems to be the ‘hot topic of the day‘ around some of the Arab blogsphere blogs.

According to Hoder, Toronto based blogger, filtering Iranian sites and blogs have become more efficient. Hoder's visitors, from Iran, dropped from 40% to 13% of total number of visitors. (Persian)

Both Miguel Octavio and Caracas Chronicles cover the closure of Caracas La Guaira highway because of the potential of a viaduct collapsing.

Honduras Daily News covers the Conference on Honduras 2006 to be held at the Copan Ruins. You can find out more about the Archaeological Park at the Copan Ruins Blog.