Global Voices Online

Stavros says that Kazakhs are questioning Russia's actions against Georgians living in Russia to get back at the Georgian government.

Dan O'Huiginn has a detailed primer on Georgia's current conflict with Russia

Shards of Mongolia reports that the speaker of Mongolia's parliament is appealing to the prime minister to curtail free speech rights.

Jay Z and Beyonce are Maasai warriors in Tanzania!

The African blogosphere is not immune from controversy and misunderstanding. Follow this “CNN” interview with a Kenyan blogger to learn about the latest controversy.

Ethnicloft is a bit pessimistic about initiatives such “Rock for Darfur” organized by Myspace:”As they party hard, shamelessly, a multitude of people are being raped, maimed and killed, helplessly, in Darfur. I wonder if that ever crossed their mind.”

In Iranian Truth, Celine Petrossian shares her research about Iranian blogs. Researcher says without a doubt, blogs have allowed Iranians to connect with their homeland and cultural traditions and freely discuss political, cultural and social issues on a transnational level.

Bloggers in Syria are puzzled by the new move from the Syrian Government to block access to all .blogspot blogs, although access to the main www.blogger.com is still available… The service is blocked through all Syrian ISPs including private one AYA, reports Amr.

David McDuff of A Step At A Time responds to La Russophobe, explaining the trouble with the “‘Russophile-Russophobe' debate”: “…the character of the present “Russophile-Russophobe” divide, complex, call it what you will, is similarly based on emotion and personal animosity, rather than on substantial intellectual content. Thus, the movement of the debate is controlled by those whose aim is to continue the slaughter and the unreason - initially, though of course only initially, in the debating chamber, grounding the arguments in terms that can be made comprehensible to Western minds.”

A Step At A Time translates part of Natasha Mozgovaya's interview with Anna Politkovskaya.

Sean's Russia Blog posts a tribute to Anna Politkovskaya: “What separates her books from most journalistic accounts is not the acerbic words she uses to condemn those who don’t hesitate to stomp on humanity; it is the deep humanism that pervades her prose. While violence may dehumanize her subjects, often to a bloody pulp, she resurrects them to their full humanity. This is an art in any language let alone in Russian journalism where the cost for telling the truth has now become the lives of 42 journalists since 1992.”

White Sun of the Desert writes about a night of billiards at a Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk bar.

Sean's Russia Blog translates Russian police documents targeting ethnic Georgians.

Adventures in Moldova writes about grave harvest and a Moldovan wedding.

The beatroot covers the recent rallies that took place in Warsaw: “We had the ‘blue’ march, the ‘white and rose’ march; we had the governing party hold a rally; we had crusty anarchists with pet mongrels.”

Megha writes on witch hunting in India. “While witch hunting has become a thing of the past in the western world, certain states in India still revel in this appalling practice. The folks in the rural areas of Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh (specifically the Telengana district), Tripura, Assam, Orissa and Bihar still hold on to a pathetically ludicrous fear of alleged witches or ‘Dains’.”

The death of Kanshi Ram has Bhupinder commenting on the man, the politics he played and the times he lived in. “Yet, Kanshi Ram is significant for a number of reasons and one has to acknowledge the singular, if not stellar role that he played in the Indian political stage in general and Dalit politics in particular.”

Moju links to an article on the plight of the Tamils and the Eelam obsession of the LTTE. There is an interesting discussion in the comments space.

Panamanian chef Melissa De Leon is on vacation in Uruguay and Argentina, where she met fellow chef and fellow blogger Dan Perlman.

Tim Muth has two posts on the alleged assassination attempt of President Tony Saca.

On indigenous peoples day, Vivir Latino takes a at the ongoing protest in Oaxaca, Mexico, commenting that “it is important to look throughout our Americas at the people leading struggles in the name of their community's future.” Writing from Oaxaca, Mark in Mexico translates an opinion piece by Sergio Sarmiento of TV Azteca criticizing “all parties involved in this 4 month-long fiasco.” Juán José Díaz Bermudez describes the party politics at hand behind the street protests [ES] and, finally, Ana Maria Salazar tells us that the Asamblea Popular de los Pueblos de Oaxaca (APPO) now has their own website after warning readers to “stay away from Oaxaca.”

After citing a poll which puts President Lula da Silva in the lead with 54% compared to Alckmin's 46, Boz gives his impressions of Sunday's debate: “Alckmin risks losing votes by appearing to bully the president, who is fairly well liked.” Colin Brayton also offers his thoughts.

Fernando Casale introduces readers to the “brief but intense album of experimental music composed and interpreted by Nicolás A. Alonso, guitarist and pianist of Turpentine. The album was released under a Creative Commons BY 2.5 AR license so you can remix and republish it without restrictions as long as Alonso is given attribution.

Eduardo Ávila recommends three Bolivia-centered links. Jim Shultz reviews the film Quien Mato a la Llamita Blanca? (Who Killed the Little White Llama?) by Rodrigo Bellott and links to its trailer.

Eric “Butter” Levy and Rob Rivera [ES] introduce Panama's first “Zombie Walk.” Jorge Yau has made a badge to promote the event.

Oil Wars dissects the “Mi Negra” plan of opposition candidate Manuel Rosales and concludes that Rosales is a “phony populist.”

United We Blog! with more on the Baluwatar talks and the outcomes. “Very much unlike the interview of Prachanda which expressed doubts even in the occuring of the Summit Talks, both the SPA and Maoists have expressed hope of its success. At the end of the meeting which lasted for around 9 hours the two sides released a press release.”

Metroblogging Islamabad on Ramadan and Zaakat. “Mosques are full of the faithful worshipers. The bazaars and streets are full of a new type of beggars! These men, women and children are not asking for charity any more. They are demanding ‘Zakaat'. And they are getting it!”

Uaridi's contribution to the 1st Carnival of African Women is a post about Blogger Identity: “I do not blog about poverty, race, gender and justice. These remind me too much of my work, and much as I love it, I want to stop thinking about it when I am at home.”

A poem from Mshairi for the 1st Carnival of African Women.

Stunner gives a post mortem of the Rising Stars television talent show recently concluded in Jamaica.

“Before my ninth birthday I knew IMF was screwing up the economy, socialism was just an appetiser for the communist meal, gunmen would kill you for sporting the wrong colours and Reggae was the music of nasty people,” says Marlon James of growing up in Jamaica in the 1970s. “Still I wish I was in my 20's or 30's in the 70's if for no other reason that it seems that that was the last time where anybody thought there was possibility.”

Nicholas Laughlin is convinced that an advertisement for a meeting of Trinidad & Tobago's opposition party was designed by a double-agent from the ruling party. He supports his claim by annotating a copy of the ad posted at caribbeanfreephoto's Flickr page.

InternetRapide.com explains that at a recent internet and telecom fair in Guadeloupe (Carrefour des Technologies de L'Information et de la Communication, October 5-7), telecom provides competed for consumers' attention. Now that bandwidth problems have been solved in Guadeloupe, the blogger notes that one of the most interesting new products is Mediaserv's “Triple Play”: DSL cable, TV and Telephone rolled into one.