Global Voices Online

Tim Muth notes that a government-run anti-poverty program has, so far, been successful in increasing school enrollment.

Adam Isacson explains that aerial fumigation has caused Colombian coca growers to plant their crop in Colombia's national parks and that new proposals call for extending the fumigation to the parks or recruiting manual eradicators to dig the plant up.

Bob Glass says the ballot counting continues in Costa Rica while José Daniel of elecciones2006.com hopes that this year's close count won't serve as an excuse to implement electronic voting in 2010.

Azrael on the identity politics of being from a Sinhalese and Tamil heritage, and the constant labels one counters.

Nepali Netbook on the US-Nepal relations affecting the peace process -”In a recent barrage of interviews, the Maoist supremo has all but conceded that but for the Americans, his people already would have let a hundred flowers bloom across Nepal.”

Democracy for Nepal puts forward an idea for a demosphere - “It is the demosphere. It is an informal network of blogs, websites, and digital citizens who support democracy and want to empower local democracy activists. It is a digital ecosystem.”

The Organic Brew comments on the cartoon related violence in Pakistan - “As usual, whilst the ‘liberals’ stand by motionless, as the engines of government stand hostage to the tyrannies of the religious establishment, another piece of society falls and dissolves into the brimming ocean of intolerance, of violence and cruelty.”

Metroblogging Lahore on the real issues in Pakistan after “I took a quick tour of Mall and Edgerton road today to see for myself the aftermath of violence. It was shocking to see more damage than I expected or seen on television.”

glowMain features (ES) 29-year-old Venezuelan DJ, Juan Carlos Azuaje, better known as Take. He studied classical music as a young child and the began his Drum and Bass career in 1999 in Caracas.

Reacting to a report that U.S. copyright holders “lost $1.756 billion through forgeries in Russia last year,” Alistair of Ruminations on Russia argues that it's not pirate copies that these companies are competing against, but bad sales caused by incorrect pricing.

Yuri Mamchur of Russia Blog reports on Hamas' alleged connection to the Chechen rebels, recently brought to light by the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

The Golden Road to Samarqand discusses a report on bride abduction in Kyrgyzstan.

Alex(ei) of The Russian Dilettante's Weblog writes about the Russian connection of Flemming Rose, the man who authorized the Danish cartoons.

Oneworld Multimedia has additional photos from SOS Kinderdorf's facility in Armenia and an interview with its director.

The Golden Road to Samarqand reports on the opinions of Bishkek law students on current events in Kyrgyzstan.

Zarchka writes about substance and appearances in Armenian society.

neweurasia reports on HIV/AIDS in Georgia.

Sergey Belyakov of RUBLog cites the Russian defense ministry's report on violence in the army and links to an illustrated guide to “dedovshchina”, published in Bolshoi Gorod (RUS). “Dedovshchina” is the systematic abusive treatment of new army recruits by their senior fellow soldiers, which is common in the armed forces of the former Soviet states.

A very strange thing happened in Moscow today: at 2:08 PM, people all over the city felt and heard a really forceful blast. There was no official explanation, though one theory has it that this could've been a supersonic plane breaking the sound barrier somewhere near Moscow. Other theories offered by LiveJournal's Russian-language users include a flash mob during which everyone's talking about a loud explosion, and the arrival of Hamas following Vladimir Putin's recent invitation. Norvezhskiy Lesnoy has links to some of the LJ reports, reactions and discussions (RUS).

Yekaterina Chistyakova reports (RUS) that photo-marathon “Through My Eyes: A Day in the Life of Children with Cancer Around the World,” which took place Sunday, Feb. 12, at the Children’s Clinical Hospital in Moscow, was a success; winners will be announced Sunday, Feb. 19. Some of the photos can be viewed here, here and here.

“It never ceases to amaze me how so many people (i.e causian folks) don't have a clue regarding black hair,” says Campfyah, who traces the trajectory of her hair and its various hairstyles in recent times.

As the Bahamas initiates a compulsory government healthcare program, Larry Smith examines the failures and successes of healthcare systems in other countries.

Indonesia Matters talks about public canings in Aceh, which have been permitted as a result of the autonomous province's application of Islamic law.

Philippine blog Bangketa Republique has some pointers on how to deal with demanding customers.

Malaysian business blog small and medium thoughts discusses an article that says Singapore has been repackaging Malaysian rambutan fruit as “Singapore Lychees” for re-export. Horrors! “This isn’t the first time I’ve read about this sort of wrong ‘country of origin effect’ attribution to Singapore.”

jin at Singapore's Sayoni Speak writes about how difficult it is to come out as a lesbian to members of her family. She's been trying. “But somehow, something always stops me from blurting out the words. I can’t seem to gather the courage.”

Kevin of crazy junkies describes his experience auditioning for the Singapore Idol talent competition.

Mohammed wasn’t so surprised to see a handwritten sign displayed at one of the busiest roads in Bahrain calling for the ban of valentine in collaboration with the recent Danish boycott calls. “Why is it that we Muslims keep mounting up the barrier between our cultures and the rest of the world? Does living in a Muslim world mean that you will have problems in integrating with civility?”, Mohammed said.

Abtahi, a cleric blogger & reformist politician, writes about Valentine that a guy buying love gifts asks the sales attendant for a dozen cards with the sentence “I ONLY LOVE YOU.”

Will of kabobfest says that Yahoo's Indiana Jones-journalist Kevin Sites is slowly getting on his good side. “I blogged about him in critical and in not-so-critical ways. But his interview with ‘Paradise Now‘ actor Ali Suliman of Nazareth is a solid effort in support of good art. Despite the cheesy title, the interview gets at his experiences filming the movie I grew to love, and his identity as a Palestinian citizen of Israel (thanks for not using “Israeli Arab”),” Will said.

Egyptians are still happy with their success after winning the football’s cup of African nations. On the other hand, the Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, quietly takes a decision to postpone the local/municipality elections scheduled for April in a hush-hush manner, using the fact that the people are busy with their football gains and that political reform progress is of no importance as it has always been, Freedom for Egyptians said.

According to Rooznamenegar No (New Reporter) many bloggers back popular communication professor, Mr.NamakDoost, who was fired recently (Persian). It seems Saturday there will be a demonstration to back him. During recent months more university professors and responsibles have been fired without clear reason.

Supermale, a.k.a. Morad Ouasti (FR) interviews 8 men from all over Africa about infidelity and concludes that there is no consensus on where to draw the line between fidelity and infidelity while personal experience and … convenience influence individual opinions.

Douglas Adams on Jujuflop gives a detailed analysis and update on Taiwan's foreign relations: “When it comes to international relations, only two things really matter in Taiwan: Taiwan’s relationship with China, and Taiwan’s relationship with America“.

David McDuff at A Step At A Time alerts his readers to the upcoming World Chechnya Day, to be marked on Feb. 23, 2006, in order to recognize “the suffering and genocide of the Chechen people as a human catastrophe of historic significance” and to show respect for “all victims of Stalinist deportations.”

Kim Myong Chol, North Korea’s unofficial spokesman in Japan, boasted of North Korea owning a fleet of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) capable of unleashing retaliatory nuclear strikes on the US mainland. Joshua and readers dissect the sick humor in this news on The Korea Liberator.

The Lost Nomad reports that South Korea's LG Electronics has begun selling air-conditioners equipped with enzyme to fight the bird flu. The enzyme is extracted from kimchi, Korea's staple pickled vegetable, which is reportedly capable of eliminating the H5N1 virus.

Both Attillah Springer and Francomenz report on the fire which took place yesterday in the downtown area of Port of Spain, which Francomenz reminds us is “the capital’s second major blaze in less than a year.” “How can there be two fires on the same street in less than six months?” Attillah wonders. ” In addition to the politicians, we apparently have pyromaniacs on the loose. Or could it be some business owners practicing fire-nomics. . . “

China has just announced the building of two large nuclear power plants in Southern China. HK Dave reminisces on Simon World about what the announcement says about China's skyrocketing energy needs, and how those needs will translate into pollution traveling to Hong Kong.

Chen Kaige, one of the most prominent Chinese film directors, is suing a young man for making a video spoofing the director's latest martial arts fantasy epic, The Promise. Chen, famed for his film Farewell, My Concubine, alleged copyright violation. Even though he may be on solid legal ground, most of the Chinese netizens are against him. ESWN translates from Chinese blogs to explain why.

People's Daily, the propaganda mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, recently published a piece in which a Chinese official claimed “No Chinese has arrested for Internet writing”. The Chinese blogosphere reacted with sarcasm. Danwai translated a comment on a Chinese blog, Massage Milk: “You see, our democracy has unparalleled advantages that Western countries cannot hope to match.”

Stefan Falke experiences the Muslim observance of Hosay (aka Ashura) in Trinidad for the first time — and takes some great photos.

Paradise Found finds that efforts to map Bermuda by Google Maps et al leave something to be desired.

Chippla addresses some of the problems facing universities in Nigeria as the government impose a ban on the appointment of university faculty who do not have doctorate degrees.

Pestiside.hu writes of a silly political story that made it into the Western media, the coverage of Hungary in general, and the candidates Hungarians have to choose between in the upcoming election: the lesser embarrassment, not the lesser evil.

All About Latvia links to a year-old interview with Dmitry Katemirov, an ethnic Russian activitist of the Headquarters to Protect Russian Schools.

CyBlug reports that the interrogation chamber used by Nigeria's former dictator, General Sani Abacha is to become a National Monument

MentalAcrobatics discusses “recycled topics” in the Kenyan blogosphere - ““so and so is a spy / agent of the government / C.I.D / Special Branch etc sent to watch us and report back” or “Kenyans abroad are traitors / chickens / cowards of one sort or the other who have abdicated their responsibility”.

Rugby is on the mind of many Kenyans - Afromusing and Magaidi report from a Rugby fest in LA last weekend in which Kenya took part………The sea of red black green and white at the Home Depot center in Los Angeles was a sight to behold. Kenyans from all walks of life, all corners of the continental United States flocked to cheer their underdog team against rugby powerhouses gathered for the USA Sevens

Researchers studying a water supply programme for Ethiopian villages found that it had many benefits, but one unpredicted result was an increase in the birth rate - from EthioBlog

Agumada reports that Ethiopia’s first winter Olympian Robel Teklemariam has had his suspension lifted and he is vindicated and “. ready to take on the world. We are already proud! yekolotemari

Agathon Rwasa points to an Amnesty International report on human rights violations in Burundi…”Amnesty International reaffirms its call to bring to justice all perpetrators of serious human rights abuses in a fair trial that strictly complies with international standards and without recourse to the death penalty. “

Lemuel Kolkava of Deleted by Tomorrow writes about a strange “symbiotic relationship” between left-wing parties of Slovakia and the Czech Republic. With the June 2006 elections just two weeks apart, Czech and Slovak Social Democrats have decided to join forces - most likely because of “mutual expediency, not brotherly love or socialist internationalism.”

My Hearts in Accra points to an article in the Washington Posts by William Easterly, an economics professor who asserts that “the West cant save Africa” but possibly African entrepeneurs can.

Michael of The Glory of Carniola has found an online compilation of contemporary Slovenian writers' work translated into English, poetry and fiction.

Ukraine, Russia, Europe, the US, Oh My! looks at campaign ads of Ukraine's main political forces: Our Ukraine Bloc and the Party of the Regions. Our Ukraine could've done better, it seems: “…this perverse sense of humor can be seen all over Kyiv in their billboards: “Do Not Betray the Maidan!” Check out Petro Rondiak's election 2006 billboard collection and see for yourself. The reaction elicited by these ads is understandably bemused, to say the least. After all, some Kyivites say, who stood in that freezing weather for all that time? Who is the betrayer and who is the betrayed?”

Peru Election 2006 says that Ollanta Humala has withstood recent political attacks and that perhaps the most interesting news recently is the 10% increase in the undecided vote.

Roy Jones has a a recent series of posts offering his impressions of Panama.