Global Voices Online

ESWN translated a local news report on the massive fabrications made by Chinese reporters on World Cup. For example, a reporter without a pass wrote an exclusive interview with FIFA World Cup committee chairman Franz Beckenbauer!

Williamlong explains that earlier this month internet users could not access google.cn. Now the server is moved to Beijing. It implies that google.cn will be more stable by subjecting itself to the list of censored keywords (zh).

Boz has posted some pre-election notes from his recent time in Mexico City. In other news from the capital, José Luis López says that Cow Parade - the art phenomenon which started in Zurich - just ended its Mexico City leg and is now headed for Guadalajara. You can see photos of the cows at Jose Luis' Flickr account.

Dr. Emer at Parallel Universes talks about a consumer group in the US suing a fast food chain for using oil with trans fatty acids that might cause coronary heart diseases. The blogger, concerned about health issues observes the popularity of the same chain in Philippines and says “As they say around here, “masarap kumain ang Pilipino.” Period. I'm sorry to foreign readers if I can't quite capture the exact meaning of that phrase in English, but it roughly says that Filipinos love to eat. Their eyes and tongues cannot discern the difference between good fat and bad fat. The argument is always — is it delicious or not?”

Indi at indirani.net is asking the Singapore government to regulate how buyers and sellers behave on online auctions. “I am saying this because 99.9% Singaporeans tends to perfectly obey what the government instructs them to do so and what better way than to ask the Singapore government to help us create a fair play among sellers and buyers in the Singapore Yahoo! Auctions and eBay Singapore.”

Manivan Larprom at Thai & Lao Food Blog has instruction on how to prepare banana leaves for wrapping traditional Thai and Lao food.

Andy Brouwer points to an Ramvong Disco being organized in London. For people who don't have experience with this traditional Cambodian Dance, Andy posts a diagram of hand/feet movements to get one started.

Malaysian blogger Alvin Lim points to an article about an archeological site in Malaysia that was seat of a pre-islamic civilization.

Ben Paarmann looks at Freedom House's assessment of Kazakhstan and finds it lacking.

Leila of neweurasia translates a Russian language post about Kazakhstan's entry into the space industry. The country has launched two of its own satellites from its launching facilities at Baikonur and now it has plans to woo foreign aerospace professionals to work in Kazakhstan.

Nessuna notes that the analysis of the black box from the Armenian jet that crashed near Sochi recently is finished, but says that it does not answer all the questions about the crash. She also says that the results of the investigation should be public.

Peter of neweurasia discusses the upcoming local elections in Turkmenistan and their potential significance as a sign of limited democratization.

Onnik Krikorian interviews Christine Allison, a researcher curently in Armenia studying the oral history traditions of Kurds.

Guyana Providence Stadium assesses the performance of a few Guyanese blogs. Among the category headings is “started out hot & sweaty and then simply fizzed out”.

“How dare a man be six foot seven and called Crouch?” writes Jeremy Taylor at the Caribbean Beat Blog, in his entertaining account of Trinidad & Tobago's clash with England today at the World Cup.

Barbados Free Press points out the fallaciousness of Prime Minister Owen Arthur's assertion that “Happily, we in the Caribbean have thus far been spared Enron-type experiences,” by reminding us that Enron used Barbadian and other Caribbean “offshore companies and banks to set up some 900 front companies to facilitate the movement of money to the detriment of Enron shareholders.”

The Bahamian tourism industry is almost 200 years old, writes Nicolette Bethel, but that longevity may in fact work against its becoming a sustainable enterprise. “It’s not sustainable because it doesn’t place the uniqueness of The Bahamas — our landscapes, our culture, our selves — at the centre of the deal,” she says. “Oh, it sells that uniqueness, rather the way that Madison Avenue sells the features of cars; but we don’t make that uniqueness central to the endeavour, so much so that it will be preserved.”

A hilarious post on Domain Maximus as a response to the govenrment in one state deciding that traditional nursery rhymes were to be done away with. He comes up with a bunch of side splitting new ones that are more culture specific.

Light Within on the impact on Germany's economy thanks to the World Cup. “Last time the world paid so much attention to Germany was 16 years ago when the (Berlin) Wall came down. During ongoing World Cup 2006 German government, businesses, economists and politicians are hoping for a kick, to the national economy – let up in tourism with a million soccer coming there, Adidas anticipating {euro} 1.2 billion worth of World Cup related sales, 60,000 new jobs being created and every third job is expected to be a permanent one.”

History is rewritten rather fast after the April Revolution in Nepal. United We Blog! on “Meeting half a dozen Janaandolan (People’s Movement) victims who are trying to cope with post-treatment life, our blogger probes beneath their dreams, desires, anxieties and sorrows and concludes that they have become forgotten heroes.”

International Nepal Solidarity Network on ensuring a democratic future for Nepal. “Many organizations and individuals are collectively organizing a national conference entitled Citizens' Initiatives for Future-2 on Asar 3-4, 2063 (June 17-18, 2006) at the premises of Tribhuvan University's central campus at Kirtipur. The main objective of this conference is to actively deliberate on the issues and methodologies for ensuring inclusive, independent and participatory constituent assembly election in Nepal.”

St. Petersburg-based Megan Case explains why she'd only go to private clinics from now on, following her recent visit to “a scary unfamiliar hospital in a sleeping district even grimmer than mine.”

Oleksandr of Messages From Canada writes that his Spanish classmates teased him following Spain's victory over Ukraine in the World Cup yesterday.

imperfect world 2006 on alternate healthcare in Bangladesh. “The experience has left me dazed but at the same time has given me a wonderful insight into healthcare - both modern and alternative - as it operates in Bangladesh.”

Dayhawk writes on Poland's resistance to Germany during a World Cup game yesterday: “The Polish, who have not won a football match against Germans in 85 years, were shooting for a tie, tackling, stealing and blocking every German effort to score.”

Srdjan Cvijic of The TransAtlantic Assembly writes about the EU's unfairly mild reaction to homophobia and intolerance in Poland: “More importantly, the case of Poland, and the mild reaction of other member states, directly compromise the EU enlargement and foreign policy. How can the EU pretend to demand from the hopeful candidates in Turkey and South Eastern Europe to respect its human rights standards when some of its own Member States (Poland) lag behind in this respect?”

The beatroot posts Joseph Vogt's pictures from the Equality Parade that took place in Warsaw on June 10, and writes about the event that drew from 2,000 to 10,000 people: “Unlike similar marches in Poznan and Krakow which ended in bloody violence, this demonstration was peaceful and pleasant.” Becca Steel of Boo posts 90 pictures from the parade and writes: “The police were on hand in enormous numbers and created a barrier between us and the rather straggly group of counter-protestors, who incidentally seemed to be protesting against paedophilia […] (nobody's told them homosexuality isn't the same thing as paedophilia you see, poor ignorant bunch).” Aaron Fowles of p3 writes about Abigail, an American expat who attended the parade: “She kept pace with the parade despite having one prosthetic leg. She held onto my arms at times for support, but she marched right along with the rest of us.”

Jane of From Russia With Blog posts on how to stay safe in Russia: “Whatever you do - don't smile!”

Jane of From Russia With Blog writes about and posts pictures from her recent trips to Tula and Yasnaya Polyana (and Leo Tolstoy's grave) and to Count Khrapovitsky's abandoned estate.

W. Shedd of The Accidental Russophile takes a minute from his preparations for getting married and posts about Mikhail Kalashnikov and his famed creation: the AK-47 gun.

David McDuff of A Step At A Time writes about Russia's shifting position regarding NATO.

David McDuff of A Step At A Time quotes from “an interesting and discursive study of anti-Chechen feeling in Russia.”

Kamangir has published a photo from an Iranian fashion show. The blogger says he wants to show that Iranian women have the sense of fashion.

The secretdubai say it is great and glorious day for wifebeaters throughout the UAE after hearing the Federal Supreme Court confirming a lower court verdict imposing a Dh 100 (US$ 27) fine on a husband found guilty of assaulting his wife.

Here is a small tip from the Egyptian blogger El3en Elsehrya on how to become an activist:

Just make a random mix of talks about the following:
1-Human Rights
2-Women Rights
3-Coptic Prosecution
4-Detained Bloggers
5-Random Personal Experiences
6-Sexual Freedom
7-Resenting Religions
8-Communism and socialist theories
9-Whatever topic others are talking about at the same time , e.g Judges…
10-Egypt is Not an Arabic country

The tip is a very close description of the existing topics discussed in the Egyptian blogsphere.

Ali Mazroi, reformist politician & blogger, writes about inflation and how government has failed to control prices. The blogger writes there is no activity in real estate and capital (stock) market then more money is spent for consumption. He adds government’s decision to reduce interest rates discourages people for saving and gives them the motivation to consume (Persian). All these consumption will push prices higher and people’s buying power will decrease.

Passion of the Present has a report on the possible prosecution over thousands of killings of civilians, massacres and hundred of rapes.

White African posts on “Global Artisans” and EBay in the developing world and has some ideas about how this may work in Africa.

Africa Unchained points to a report on the importance of providiing access to credit for micro-entrepreneurs particularly women the majority of whom are stuck at micro level and unable to expand.

A report on the rains, drought and world cup from Kenyan Villager

Soul on Ice is writing daily reports of an African perspective on the World Cup - Germany v Poland its David Odonkor who comes out tops!

Monef in the city writes about identity in the age of “globalisation” - a Nigerian born in Britain, living in the US and working at the British Embassy - so the question is “who is she”?

Chipplas Weblog goes in search of “true republics” and finds that in Nigeria for example, a republic that is full of monarchs that in his opinion have no place in modern Nigeria

Nazret.com points to a report on the perilous journey of Ethiopian migrants to the Arabian Peninsula