Global Voices Online

Zizou from Djerba points to [Fr] an IMF report evaluating the Tunisian banking sector and adds: “To my knowledge, no Tunisian press organ has mentionned it.” The blogger echoes the report in expressing concerns about the credit sector.

Details are Sketchy comments on the news that two of the worst performers in the recent commune elections in Cambodia, ,Prince Norodom Ranariddh and opposition leader Sam Rainsy are joining forces. “This really is beyond pathetic. Out of the 1,621 commune-level positions up for grabs in last Sunday’s poll, Prince Norodom Ranariddh won an impressive total of zero. Even most narcissist could take that hint.”

Phnomenon is trying to trace the origins of a Cambodian dish called amok trei . At the risk of being “pistol-whipped by a motivated official from the Ministry of Tourism “, the blogger suggests that the dish might have originally come from some other South East Asian neighbor of Cambodia.

Professor Zero, in her search for Peruvian cuecas, discovers a YouTube video of Joan Baez and sister Mimi Farina singing a Bolivian hymn written by Apolinar Camacho at a performance at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in New York.

“My lifelong quest for cheap rent has taught me a thing or two about gunshots,” foreshadows Chileno. [Warning, somewhat graphic images.]

The Armenian Economist reports that more cash is moving around in the Armenian economy.

Think you know how to run Armenia? Then this is the place to participate in a virtual race for the presidency.

At neweurasia, Vadim reports that Tajikistan's government is trying to convince the London Museum to return the Oxus Treasure, an important collection of Achaemenid Persian metalwork.

Cyrus Online[Fa] reports Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize winner and human rights activist, asks government to organise a referendum on nuclear question. She says if the majority of Iranians reject government's nuclear policy, it means they are not going to pay the price for sanctions and military interventions.

Blogger Jane Novak links to an article which sheds light on a widening rift in the relations between various sectarian and religious groups in Yemen.

Iraqi blogger Mama shares with us the horrors of living in war-torn Iraq here. “To see smashed car, due to explosion ,bomb or other accident, became familiar to anyone go through Iraqi roads. To be in your house , work , school ,or even in hospital church or mosque a very load explosion is something very expected everyday, you might get hurt by the shrapnel, or you could be blessed and only get terrified,” she explains.

Blogger and journalist Christopher Allbritton, who covers Iraq, disputes newspaper reports that the US will attack Iran on Friday. “Don’t believe it. I’m due to be on board the USS Stennis, believed to be one of the ships taking part in this attack, next week — and it won’t even be in the Persian Gulf. I’m not inclined to believe the US military would be taking reporters on boat rides in the Indian Ocean, for example, just a few days after the start of a new war,” he writes.

Egyptian blogger Zeinobia accuses historians from time immemorial of being hypocrites. “Really we are since the beginning of history big fat hypocrites who only mention their rulers success but not their defeats never , we even change in the history to make them appear victorious !!” she writes.

groundviews on the regime's defenses about human rights violation wearing thin. “There is no escaping the conclusion that the regime is bent on a military solution to the conflict and that as far as human rights is concerned it is a toss up between a missing gene and being mala fide. On both fronts the regime’s defences are wearing thin.”

My Useless Banter on veiled racism. “It makes me so angry when people say racist things to you pretending as if they're not racist at all, and that infact because they're talking to you, it just proves that they're not racist. This guy at my workplace went to India for a holiday and the first thing he said on his return to me when I asked him how it went was, ‘At least, none of us got sick'.”

Metroblogging Islamabad on a rally to protest President Musharraf's removal of Pakistan's Chief Justice. “The rally in Islamabad on Tuesday was the biggest street protest yet in the capital in protest of Musharraf's removal of Ifitkhar Mohammed Chaudhry, the court's chief justice, on March 9. The move sparked the biggest political crisis of Musharraf's presidency.”

Photographs from a rally protesting the Gaur massacre at United We Blog! “The focus of the event might have been about the violence in Gaur, but the mood was definitely not. In contrast to the funeral march in Kathmandu, the Maoists at this function seemed a lot less angry, and much more enthusiastic. They were definitely having fun.”

Visit Bhutan on the only theatre in Thimpu cities that screens movies. “Well, I can still remember the last time i saw a Bhutan movie in the only picture hall or Movie Theater in the Thimphu. The Lugar Theatre which lies in the heart of the Thimphu Town put up the latest Bhutanese Movies and Hindi Movies but with the release of 22 Bhutanese movies last year, the highest since 2000, the 890-seater Lugar theatre in Thimphu is booked for local screenings upto January 2008.”

Bahrain-based blogger Bint Battuta attended a play being staged in Bahrain as part of a festival to mark World Theatre Day.

We've already reported on postal service inefficiency in Russia and in Romania, and now here's a rather typical post office horror story from Hungary, written by Further Ramblings of a N.Irish Magyar: “So, yes I needed one measley stamp, but had to wait forty minutes to purchase it from the little ray of sunshine behind the counter.”

Further Ramblings of a N.Irish Magyar reports that Hungary is required to “change national rules that limit sports betting.”

Further Ramblings of a N.Irish Magyar posts miscellaneous Hungarian statistics: “Did you know 56% of the Hungarian population make home-made jam?”

Very belatedly, here's a link to Peteris Cedrins' post on Marginalia about the 1949 deportations of Latvians.

Marginalia writes about a U.S. pastors visit to Latvia, gay rights and other political issues.

All About Latvia and Marginalia write about the recently-signed Russian-Latvian border agreement. All About Latvia also comments on the Russian media's reaction.

Thebookmann's Caribbean Flower Series is a heady combination of compelling photography and interesting tales on each flower's origins.

Taras Kuzio writes about president Yushchenko's earnings: “…I am not the only one who therefore remains skeptical of the President receiving $100,000 in honorariums.”

Olechko recommends art galleries in Kyiv.

Lyndon of Scraps of Moscow thought it'd be a good idea to start a blog on “the so-called ‘frozen conflicts'”: “I could even just use this blog - ‘Scraps of Moscow' would in some ways be a perfect name for a blog about these territories, what with their close ties to Russia.” But TOL is already doing something similar at Steady State: “So far, there seems to be just one person posting, but the content is good, especially since as far as I know there is no other English-language blog focusing on the post-Soviet conflicts (Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, South Ossetia, and Transnistria).”

Olia Yatskevich of Romantic posts Romani tales from Belarus: here and here.

Jeremy Taylor catches announcers out on their pronunciations and scores two very amusing quotes of the week.

Romantic, a TOL-hosted blog on “Roma issues around Central and Eastern Europe,” writes about representation of the Roma in the works of Bohumil Hrabal, a Czech writer.

Lyndon of Scraps of Moscow lets “Russia's beggars make the point themselves” - by posting their photos.

Natalia Antonova responds to La Russophobe's recent post at Darkness at Noon: “Babushkas are soft targets. ‘They’re ugly and they smell!' ‘They liked comrade Stalin!' ‘They eat boiled cabbage!' Please. At this point, babushkas don’t owe us shit. And no one, not even La Russophobe, can now judge who was or was not a ‘true Russian patriot' - considering the full scope of the chaotic meat-grinder that is the babushkas’ history.”

As we enter Holy Week, Idle Yout Speeks is careful not to crucify the Crown Prince of Cricket for the sins of the entire West Indies team: “Let's not be quick to behead the king while we let the headless chickens around him run amok.”

Siberian Light links to neweurasia's stories on the Russian Germans and ethnic Russians living in Central Asia.

Olechko writes about works of Ukrainian artist Eujeniya Gapchinska.

What crazy looks like wonders about the message a Trinidad-designed ad campaign is trying to send about HIV-AIDS awareness.

Nicolette Bethel longs for rational discussion about issues like slavery and emancipation and links to a South African blog that provides a good example of how to go about it: “We can only dream of such an exchange occurring here. Can’t we?”

Omani blogger Muscati discusses reports that Oman will be pulling out of Gulf Air - once a regional airline but owned by Bahrain and Oman.
“While it is understandable that Oman is thinking about improving its own airline rather than continuing to spend on Gulf Air, which has been an ailing airline for so long that no one really remembers when exactly it was that this company was ever in good health. Still Gulf Air has assets that other regional airlines would kill for: landing rights all and a destination portfolio accumulated from its 50 years of operation that no other startup airline has,” he explains.

Omani blogger Lym was in for a shock when she went to give blood. She was told she suffered from iron deficiency anemia - a condition triggered by low iron levels in the blood. “This is all to say that my lifestyle has to change as soon as possible and as drastically as possible. I should stop neglecting myself and health,” she notes.

Saudi-based blogger Nzingha regales us with her tales about phone pests and their annoying calls. “What is it with me and these perverts? Are there that many out there that I just can't seem to escape them, even when I don't leave the house?” she writes.

Pauken from Ohmynews writes about the toxic sandstorm in Northeast Asia: Floating dust carrying heavy metal materials from Chinese factories are invading the lungs of people from the Asia Pacific.

Japan Newbie blogs some mobile and computer emoticons in Japan. If you are interested, there are more from the previous post.

China Media Project has a nice round up on the media discussion concerning the implications of the Nail house case.

Yee blogs about the recent talk of Baidu CEO Robin Lee who claimed that: if they launch Email service,that service must provide unlimited storage.

Yesterday Google released its pinyin type input in China. Keso found out that it could not input “two” by inputing “er”. This is a rather serious bug.

Danwei TV's next episode is a Sexy Beijing show about feminism and International Women's Day in China. Their research is based on 4 major woman magazines in Beijing from March to April 2007.

Inspired from the discussion on HEMiDEMi, macdog created a service called “Losheng Walker” (corresponding to “Taipei Walker“, a magazine which focuses on food and fun in Taipei), using the API provided by UrMap.

This service allows users recommending featured food, drink, and snacks near the Lo-sheng sanatorium. The idea is to demonstrate that the community around the sanatorium may benefit from the reservation of Lo-Sheng Sanatorium, and to alleviate the resistance from the local residents in Hsinchuang City, where the sanatorium is located.