Global Voices Online

Mission World details a trip to two medical clinics in Sebaco and Somoto.

León Felipe Sánchez announces that the website of the Mexican Presidency (ES) has officially adopted a Creative Commons license.

Guatemala Solidarity Network gives an update to the reparations which are finally being distributed to the 300 survivors of the 1982 Plan de Sánchez massacre.

Tim Muth has asked five Salvadoran bloggers for their predictions on this Sunday's elections. Their answers were almost unanimous. U.S. - El Salvador Sister Cities has a good description of a building movement against the Central American free trade agreement.

Titilayo announces the Bridgetown Film Festival, scheduled to run from May 6-14, and now accepting submissions.

ICANN committee member Jacqueline Morris links to a wiki set up to strengthen “Civil Rights and Consumer Protection in ICANN’s policies.” And Taran Rampersad writes to the WSIS governance list with his views on development.

Larry Smith attributes the absence of reports about the cache of treasure rumoured to have been found in San Salvador (Bahamas) from the mainstream media to laziness and dependency on press releases.

Grenada-born sci-fi writer Tobias Buckell links to an interview in which he talks about his first novel. Among the issues he addresses are the representation of Caribbean voices and researching Aztec culture.

Andrés Duque links to a Jamaica Observer report which states that three men and a woman have been formally charged in relation to the murder of Jamaican AIDS Support staffer Lenford “Steve” Harvey.

Indonesia Anonymus conducts another one of their social experiments: this time they try to see whether superstition has a hold on urban office workers.

Kenny Sia gets up before dawn to run in the Kuala Lumpur International Marathon. His pictures tell the tale.

An underthought article in the Guardian decrying the lack of democracy in Southeast Asia angers Eevil Midget, a Filipina in London, who responds: “democracy is a farce anyway! as if the Western world is that much better.” Torn and Frayed in Manila shares his own thoughts on the piece.

Singapore's Tinker, Tailor explains the difference between working in a low office cubicle and working in a high one.

Our Man in Hanoi worries that he'll end up like many Westerners in Asia: “Am I destined to be the movie ex-pat villain, stuffing my face, sweating profusely and shouting at a befuddled waiter to be quicker with the drinks? I hope not. But you can see it happening over time.”

At UDPS Liege [blog of the Liege, Belgium chapter of a DRC opposition party] blogger Kayembe Tshipamba Jean P. opposes (FR) the parceling of the DRC in 26 provinces, deplores interim President Joseph Kabila's blaming of the continent's problems on the West, invites the DRC to cooperate with Belgium in bettering the DRC and incites the East Kasai province to continue protesting the 26-province parceling.

Stunner finds that there's a price to be paid for being light-skinned in Jamaica.

March 9 is the 192nd anniversary of the birth of Taras Shevchenko, Ukraine's national poet. Two translations of his best-known poem, The Testament, are posted at Orange Revolution. Peter Byrne at Abdymok recalls this day five years ago, when opponents of Leonid Kuchma's regime clashed with the police - first by Taras Shevchenko's monument and later near the presidential administration in Kyiv.

Miyakonojo gives a heart-warming (and lung-burning) account of his debut at the volunteer fire department in a small town in southern Japan, where visits to Filipina hostess bars punctuate the sameness of fishing and pachinko.

br23 blog reports on the arrest of one of the opposition figures, Vincuk Viachorka: this is “the end of the elections.” Russian observers, however, think otherwise.

Eric Gordy of East Ethnia tackles a number of issues inherent in the dispute between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia and Montenegro, which is currently being heard by the International Court of Justice. The first three parts posted so far highlight these questions: 1. Did genocide occur? 2. Was there a policy? 3. Does the court have jurisdiction?

Dan McMinn of Orange Ukraine reports that Ukraine is finally going to have “normal trade relations status with the United States,” after the House of Representatives passed legislation yesterday “to graduate Ukraine from the Jackson-Vanik Amendment.”

David McDuff of A Step At A Time reports that Latvia's President Vaira Vike-Freiberga might replace Kofi Annan as the U.N. Secretary General at the end of the year.

The Asia Pages rhapsodizes about Korean men, berating herself as a defector and a racist for doing so. “Korean guys do something that absolutely drives me nuts and it is related to their soft hands, skin and groomed nails,” she says in defense of male manicures–and her own predilections.

NKZone picks up a report from the official Chinese Xinhua news agency about changes to middle school testing in North Korea, where authorities are opting for multiple choice test formats as opposed to the traditional essay-based exams used in the past. Includes links to interesting background.

Michael Anti posts a long article (ZH) analysing the current debate going on ahead of the Vietnamese 10th Communist Party Congress in April, about the direction the country's socialism should now take. Says one commentator: “Basically this is just a pirated version of China.”

The Opposite End of China summarizes and compares the accusations of human-rights violations traded by Beijing and Washington and finds strong similarities.

At Le Blog du Congolais, blogger Philippe Lomboto Liondjo questions (FR) whether elections will happen as scheduled on June 30, 2006. Liondjo thinks back to the aborted election of June 30, 2005 and fears that the DRC will have to endure another extension. Among reasons for his skepticism, Liondjo cites the wavering of opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi, tensions over the presidency of Parliament, poor governance on the part of the European Union's Commissary Louis Michel, an uncertainty over whether international aid or government monies should pay the military.

Wang Yi's Microphone posts a list of the core members of the Critical Reading Group of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Propaganda Department, and key officials in the secretive Propaganda Department itself. The former includes: Foreign Affairs Ministry News Department officer Song Ronghua; Ministry of Information Industry inspector Song Naiqi; People's Daily deputy editor-in-chief Jiang Shaogao; deputy director of the Internet bureau of the State Council News Office, Liu Zhengrong; and the deputy director of the News Office itself, Cai Mingzhao.

Glutter, post-relationship break-up, vows to take a break from blogging, in quest of reality and solidity, as opposed to the disembodiments and shifting perspectives of cyberspace.

After managing to get some overseas MSM stalwarts to report on their ‘demise', Massage Milk and MilkPig are back. In this post, entitled ‘Sorry' (ZH), Massage Milk says this wasn't the intention. Read all about it, here on ESWN.

It was a nice evening as usual full of funny topics and a lot of laughs like in all the meetups I've attended until now. But to avoid repeating what other bloggers said already, I will choose other topics. I'll start by saying that this meetup was the first one to be sponsored by the owner of the restaurant. And it was even his idea when I explained him this phenomenon of bloggers meetups. He was so kind to invite us and offer us the drinks, Marouen said.

Dubai Police had better sharpen their pencils: they are in serious danger of losing this year's Purple Prose Prize. An associate has forwarded a press release of such exquisite floridity that it quite takes ones breath away, or would do if such a fallacious cliché were possible, Secret Dubai said.

In case you ever wondered where in Libya Berber languages are spoken, check out this map at Tawalt (Arabic). Note at least two oases that don't get any mention in the Ethnologue - Ubari and al-Fogaha, Lameen Souag said.

Where did the Algerian Revolution, or perhaps more importantly, the Algerian national movement come from? It is often debated, mainly among Algerian nationalists and others that the movement arose as soon as the French landed ashore in Algiers, that the Revolution was a continuous process from Abdel Qadir and Ahmed Bey right up to the F.L.N. This contention is however, not true, Nouri Lumendifi said.

If the Netherlands becomes the first European country to ban the burqa and other Muslim face veils this month, Hope says she’ll resort to wearing a surgical mask to dress in accordance with her religious beliefs, Sabbah said.

Rime Allaf says: “Apparently, the Syrian people do not need human rights (even though this was an approved EU initiative). They do not need freedom of expression either (but such treatment and intimidation of journalists is old news). Apparently, what Syrians really, desperately need (and the entire Arab world with them) is Arabism. More Arabism. True Arabism. New and improved Arabism. That will solve all their problems. Jealous of the Islamists who have a ready answer to everything (”it's all in the Holy Quran”), the Baathists (not even pretending anymore that “reform” is on the way) are now saying the answers are all in Arabism. Get it?”

Syria Planet, the community site for Syrian bloggers, is now online, it features an aggregator of member blogs (Syrian or about Syria), and forums for arranging activities and meetings, and discussing what's going on in Syria and the blogosphere, among the other things, Ayman said.

Ethnic Loft comments about the growth in genealogy in the US amongst African Americans seeking to trace their ancestoral roots. “South African has introduced a different twist to the topic by using geneology to lure tourists to the country. South Africans and international tourists are being invited to test and match their DNA against Nelson Mandela’s”

Nigeria coments on the showing of the Vagina Monologues in Abuja….”was pleasantly surprised to find that it has come to Nigeria! I was pleased that no riots or protests happened. The enjoyable parts of the show made me giggle, even though it could've been tailored more to the local Nigerian context. What better way to celebrate International Women's Day”

Oluniyi David Ajao comments on the possibility of Nigeria's Obasanjo running for a third term which would require a change to the constitution. He asks: “What precident are we laying down for the next generation? What if Nigeria later has a tyrant for head of state who decides to usurp power by automatically extending his mandate with a third-term bid, what do we then do”?

Girl in the Meadow celebrates IWD by honouring Waris Dirie, a Somali model who campaigns against FGM.

Sudan Watch reports on an Irish aid NGO that is providing schools for girls and adult education for women in rural Sudan. She also points to a message on IWD from the Physicians for Human Rights on Darfur.

Ethiopia Watch reports on an Eritrean diplomat expelled from Italy in retaliation for an Italian expelled from Asmara. The Eritrean government says the man was expelled for breaking the law.

The Bearded Man reports of a man arrested in Zimbabwe with a large cache of arms. He comments on the Government spin on the case which he feels is too much and unnecessary He also provides links to related stories.

Adventures of a Retired Armchair Traveller points to an article in the IPS. One cites some interesting statistics from Burkina Faso and Niger. She also points to a piece in the Washtington Times “Ethiopia's Trail of Tears”

The Video Journalist blog is a video streaming blog by Dutch reporter working in Kenya. His last two posts are on the Standard raid and he has some video streams of the printing press and an interview.

Jewels in the Jungle provides an update to the Kenya Standard raid with links to various media reports.

Emma decides to check out a school, and discovers that women are not allowed much mobility inside.

IndianWriting hosts the Carnival Of Feminists and has an incredible set of links to posts all over the world.

Beneficiaries of the Tsunami tragey and their concerns as reported by Webhamuva - “The eventual Thalpitiya beneficiaries are looking forward to the day they will receive them, but they have worries too. They wonder when they will finally get the houses and are also concerned about the situation that will arise once they do.”

The Indian Mainstream Media doesn't seem to indulging in responsible journalism in Nepal says Nepali Netbook.

Shirazi on Dr. Senta Siller for International Women's Day - “With her right skills and motivation, she was able to give each woman in Thatta Ghulamka Dheroka – a small village in the backwaters of Punjab, a strong foundation for working hard and helping own sleves.”