Global Voices Online

Madagascar Croissance posts (Fr) a list of the ministers that make up the new government.

Reunion Passion usually blogs on her homeland but recently she focused on nearby Indian Ocean French overseas department Mayotte (Fr): “Many cultures cohabitate in Mayotte, the first, of Comorian origin, constitutes 60% of the population, the second is Malagasy and is heavily influenced by the first and finally the French and Western influences the first two increasingly.” The blogger posts an original slideshow of the featured island.

Due to regained security in the capital, pre-carnival festivities in Port-au-Prince have been about as well attended as carnival itself, says (Fr) HaitiXchange. Adds the site: “Marching bands and the better known DJs were all part of the festivities. People came from everywhere: Petion Ville, Delmas, Cite Soleil, Martissant…in order to enjoy themselves. Important measures were put in place by the authorities to prevent any decline in security during the pre-carnival activities.” (See full post translation to English here.)

Senor Enrique in Manila introduces us to Jun, a Taho seller. Taho is a popular sweet snack in Philippines and it is made with bean curd, liquefied raw sugar and tapioca balls.

Bangkok Dazed takes us to Inle Lake, one of Myanmar's popular tourist destination. Inle Lake is a large fresh water lake in Shan state.

Abeni regrets to report that drive-by shootings have arrived in St. Vincent.

Ryan Patrick at the West Indies Cricket Blog offers up a list of his favourite “dramatic cricketing names” and invites you to submit yours.

Larry Smith offers a useful historic overview of the history of the drug trade in a post that asks the question: can the war on drugs be won?

Alejandro Armengol attempts to make sense (ES) of the reaction of Miami's Cuban exiles to the video of Cuban president Fidel Castro released yesterday.

Laura at the Caribbean Beat blog is interested to see what the impact of the three-year old — and inaptly named — Tobago Jazz Festival will be on the region's other music festivals.

“How do you take back a country that at independence failed to take real responsibility for itself, whose fabric has been slowly unravelling ever since, and which now equates modernisation with a frantic rush towards industrialisation and “developed country status by 2020″?” asks Jeremy Taylor of his country, Trinidad and Tobago.

Collectif Haiti de Provence reports (Kr) on a Creole language mass that took place last Sunday in Marseilles, France for the Haitian community there: “More than 120 people showed up in their Sunday best. Restless young men weren't very excited about the music and hymns but they still showed up… Before people returned home, another Creole language mass was scheduled for February 18.” The mass was organized by a Haitian cultural association.

Iraqi blogger Nabil writes about yet another terrifying day in his neighbourhood.
“Me and several people ran to the roof of the house, and there was my neighbour lying on the floor with his legs got cut due to the explosion and he was severly bleeding and there was blood stains all of him.I was completely shocked, scared and terrified, I stood there and didn't know what to do.A man who was standing next to me shouted on me “come on!, grap him with me, lets take him to the hospital”, I ran to him and carried my neighbour with him,” he wrote.

Iraqi blogger Imad Khadduri reports a massacare in Najaf, which left about 260 people dead.

Egyptian blogger Zeinobia is in stitches that the Israeli Ambassador to her country has left his residence in Maadi Suburb because of the Maadi Slayer.
“Oh yes the Israeli Ambassador and his family pack their bags to stay in the Embassy in Giza area near the Zoo because of the Maadi slayer. (It) was announced that the man couldn't stand the security measures taken now in Maadi !!” she wrote.
According to Zeinobia the slayer is said to have attacked six victims so far, injuring but not killing them. I have found no reference to him in official media sources.