Global Voices Online

Ukraine's government has been sacked now that details of the deal have emerged. Veronica Khokhlova is frustrated with politics in Ukraine.

neweurasia reports that Turkmenistan's government is worried about bird flu, but that it is suppressing information about it.

Kazakhstan's president will be inaugurated for a new seven year term soon and plenty of world leaders will be on hand. neweurasia reports that by the end of the festivities, President Nazarbaev will have heard plenty about oil.

The Glory of Carniola reports on more of the all too common confusion that strikes the press when it tries to locate Slovenia on a map.

At Cilicia, Alex writes that if Armenians' aspirations to join the West are to be realized, regressive attitudes must be overcome.

Ataman of neweurasia says that Kazakhstan tries to flaunt its success to be taken seriously by the rest of the world and that the faultlines in the country are between those who have benefited under the president and those who haven't.

John Guzman links to an article about a large-scale broadband rural access project in Colombia on Proyecto Colombia, while he compares family structure between Colombia and the U.S.A. on his personal blog.

Do the communist parties in India indulge in double standards? An impending visit from Bush brings much criticism, but for the King of Saudi Arabia - not a squeak says Arthashastra.

Charu on highways in India - with special emphasis on the one between Bombay and Pune. Roads in India impact more than just economics and travel - they actually do bring people closer!

Luís Afonso Assumpção says that “the “politically correct” can be defined as a type of ‘ wishful-thinking'” which is harmful to Brazilian democracy. The essay is also available in Portuguese.

Sumna Inc muses on girls in Sri Lanka. I wonder if there is a an almost similar sounding post possible on cows. Or if boys in Sri Lanka come in such variety.

Rezwan wishes his readers a happy Eid and ponders on the piety-factor in the slaughter of animals on the occassion. In the same vein, Mac explore the economics of slaughter on the day and urges that the skins be donated.

Where people in Nepal used as human guinea pigs? International Nepal Solidarity Network links to a story that states that “Between 1995 and 2003, the US government carried out the trial of a new vaccine for Hepatitis E on Nepal soldiers and now, that the vaccine is reported to be successful, questions are being raised about how ethical the test was.”

While Muslims celebrate today the first day of Eid ul-Adha, Imshin says that observant Jews fast today in memory of Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon's two and a half year siege on Jerusalem, which commenced 2594 years ago today.

Omar of Iraq The Model says that two developments took most of the interest in Iraq's political scene yesterday. The first is the latest audio tape of Zarqawi in which he urged the Iraqi Sunni parties especially the Islamic Party to abandon the political process and go back to the “right path”.

The second important development in Iraq was the Kurdish decision to nominate Jalal Talabani for presidency after a period of hesitation.

007 in Africa writes about the problems of having drugs delivered to the DRC….no addresses to speak of, almost impossible to get photos taken, too few staff and a scanner? “are you kidding, no electricity.

Grandiose Parlor writes about the recent interview of President Obasanjo's son Gbenga Obasanjo that has “ruffled some feathers in Nigeria's political circles.

South African blog The Front Line comments on a story on “Muslim scholars being paid to aid US propaganda”……”Does Democracy need to be established and maintained by Propaganda and War? Just recently we heard about the US take-over of Iraqi print media to spread propaganda and now we got the Divide and Conquer strategy being played out by buying-out Iraqi Scholars in order to better target the propaganda to the masses.”

Nazret.com reports that in the midst of Ethiopia's poverty, two cheetahs that were rescued by Ethiopian veterinarian and U.S. counterterrorism soldiers, are now living comfortably in the grounds of the official residence of Ethiopia's president. One commenter writes “Has anyone seen the Irony here, Cheetah's live in the palace after having been rescued by American soldiers while over 40,000 young are in prisons for protesting against the Ethiopian government. And there is no justice for 83 who were killed by Ethiopian special forces.”

Uganda-CAN points to a report in Uganda's Daily Monitor on the Olara Otunnu’s Sydney Peace Prize lecture about northern Uganda given last November.

This is Zimbabwe considers the situation with Zimbabwe's economy in 2006….”Will we see any improvement to our standard of living?” “What about the exchange rate?” “And the promised new currency?”

Passion of the Present points to an article on women in the DRC who are fighting the stigma of rape.

The Bearded Man points to the main headlines of the day in Zimbabwe from “Zimbabwe normality is misery “to “Fiddling while Zimbabwe burns Shenanigans” which asks what is wrong with the MDC (Movement for Democratic Change)

The Voice of Somaliland sends out a warning to all foreign companies on signing false contracts with the Regional Administration of Majertenia in North Somalia….”We have also been informed that the president of the Administration of Somalia and his prime Minister, who has no jurisdiction over Somaliland, have given their support to this illegal agreement.”

Chippla writes that even if corruption was to be eliminated in Nigeria, poverty would still exist. He calculates Nigeria's finances and comes up with…”the total amount received by all tiers of government in Nigeria for the month of October 2005 comes to a mere $15 per person. Sounds like a very poor nation despite its so-called oil wealth!”

Talk Talk China ponders customer service in China, which hasn't improved despite the booming economy. He reflects on asking for a bar of soap right behind the counter and being told “We don't have it.”

China Top Blog tantalizingly gives us a shot of a movie Chinese bloggers are shooting on their own. They're dressed as policemen. This will be interesting.

Imagethief has a post about the discovery that cat meat is being served in some Shanghai restaurants: “China is the land of the food scandal, which makes any trip to a cheap restaurant an exercise in random cuisine.”

An animal researcher in Taiwan concluded that the island should no longer accept artificially bred pandas from China since their rate of survival is so low. Sun Bin talks about the science of breeding pandas and the economics (of zoos) involved in having them.

Musing Under the Tenement Plan plays around with the phrase “with Chinese characteristics” often used by Chinese officials to explain adaptations of foreign practices to China by searching for similar phrases using different countries' “characteristics.” Here's what he found.

Angry Chinese Blogger discusses noted Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-Wai's complicated relationship with China. Wong was recently named jury president for the Cannes Film Festival, and Cannes has a “noted tendency to defy Beijing.”

Beisbolblog.com, a soon-to-be-launched blog dedicated to Dominican baseball, is seeking an Executive Editor, contributors and photographers. And a music video for the song “Ha lo Que Tu Quiera” by R-1 is available for download at r1hiphop.com

Caribbean-born sci-fi writer Tobias Buckell links to Cheryl Morgan who links to British sci-fi writer Neil Gaiman who picks up on the stunt pulled recently by the Sunday Times' which involved submitting a slightly altered version of the opening chapter of Trinidad-born Nobel Prize-winning novelist V. S. Naipaul's Booker Prize-winning novel “In A Free State” (which was published back in 1971) to 20 agents and publishers. The book was rejected by all. The Caribbean Beat Blog puts in its two cents' as well.

Judging from the local press, stakeholders seem divided on the issue of mandatory GPS systems for Bermuda's taxis, says the Limey.

On December 31st, 2005, a team of seven women set out on a 650km expedition whose aim is to map what they believe to be a new route through uncharted virgin jungle in Guyana, writes Amazon Rainforest. According to the expedition web site, this effort is in support of The Prince’s Trust Women Working campaign, and for expedition leader Rachel Kelsey it represents “a longstanding dream, to have a close team of determined women exploring an uncharted area of the world, to create a legacy for others to follow, to benefit a country inspired by our endeavours, and to support a cause of great importance.” The web site also features a map of the expedition route.

“What does “Caribbean” mean? What a vast weight of confusion & possibility & debate those four little syllables have to bear,” says Nicholas Laughlin in a thoughtful post inspired by a long-gone writing deadline, by the debates around the restructuring of the Global Voices “Americas” region, and by Taran Rampersad's mention of what Nicholas terms “the phenomenon that some call brain drain & others call the diaspora.”

Yaxbalam has a lovely Flickr photoset devoted to the island of Dominica, comprising scenes of Roseau, the capital city, landscapes, historical sites and local flora.

In the absence of a British Empire, do titles like OBE, MBE etc, really have meaning? Abeni raises these and other questions on the occasion of knighting of St. Vincent and the Grenadines' Deputy Prime Minister. “Isn't it time that countries like mine come up with their own national awards for citizens they deem worthy of recoginition?” she writes.

We have linked to several of Guillermo Juan Parra's translations of Oswaldo Barreto's editorials. Now, Parra focuses in on Barreto himself and his ties to Venezuelan poetry and literature.

Plan Colombia and Beyond breaks down the numbers of U.S. aid to Colombia in 2004, 2005, and what has been requested for 2006.

More controversy follows leftist presidential candidate, Ollanta Humala. Peru Election 2006 reports that Humala was called “a little dictator” by former colleague, Michael Martínez.

Both Miguel Centallas and Miguel Buitrago pen their thoughts on President-elect Evo Morales while The Latin Americanist takes a sample of what the international media have to say.

GlowMain has photos and video of Saturday's “Love Parade” in Santiago, Chile. It certainly looks as though a good time was had by all. There is also a group on Flickr.