Global Voices Online

Stepping Stones posts pictures from her recent trip to Albania's northern city of Shkodra.

Itching for Eestimaa writes about Estonia's relations with its Nordic neighbors: “Estonia is too small and too far for serious investment when dollars and pounds can flow into larger, closer markets like Poland, Hungary, or the Czech Republic. For the Finns, Swedes, and to a lesser extent the Danes and Norwegians, Estonia is attractive because it's a market they can dominate with relative ease.”

Budapest photos - at Pestcentric.

“The annual Amnesty Report this week has charged Hungary with discrimination against the Roma, a lack of protection for women and not surprisingly, police abuses,” writes Further Ramblings of a N.Irish Magyar.

Live in Moldova posts pictures from the countryside; Public Policy Watch writes about Chisinau City of her dreams and the local elections.

About half a million Catholics from Hungary and Romania make an annual pilgrimage to see Our Lady of Csiksomlyo, Csikszereda Musings reports.

The Polish government doesn't like to be made fun of: the latest case involves Ryanair, the beatroot reports.

Eternal Remont visits Bulgaria at the height of the prom season: “Even desperately poor families will bankrupt themselves to pay for a fantastic dress and a classic car. Entire convoys of these vehicles roll the streets of Sofia, honking horns and otherwise making a fantastic racket.”

Belgrade 2.0 comments on Goran Miletic's “fifty human rights tasks that new government should do.”

Pictures from Abdymok: two Ukrainian riot policemen preparing lunch, the Prosecutor General's office, and people gathered for yet another rally at a Kyiv park. Foreign Notes writes about a “turbulent day” for Ukrainian politicians.

Rh Reality Check is an “online community and publication serving individuals and organizations committed to advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights.” The site recently launched a series on its blog written by men and women from across Latin America, where they discuss their own country's reproductive rights policies. Recent posts include views from Argentina, Nicaragua and Mexico.

Metroblogging Islamabad on the inadequate transport facilities for students in the city. “I talked to a few students on the road, about the transportation availabilty in their schools and the responses were quite shocking. Most came back with complains that their schools, including the private and the public ones were facing acute transport shortages. Cost of private transport is too high for most student's parent to afford, so they have to opt for either the public transport or the crowded school buses.”

a bengali in TO points to a recent move in India banning women under 30 to work as maids in the Gulf. “Renuka Chowdhury, the Indian minister of women and child development, has called for a ban on women under 30 to work as maids in the Gulf in a bid to curb sex trafficking. While any attempt to improve the lot of poor women and children should be supported, it always vexes me when people try to cure the symptom rather than the disease. If your roof is leaking, you can't put a bucket under the leak and say all is well.”

After an attack on a mosque in Hyderabad, is the media missing the bigger picture? iFaqeer comments “Of course, he is taking it from the perspective of a “Security” hawk within the Indian establishment and not looking, as I am trying to do, beyond the tension between Muslims and other communities and on to intra-Muslim tensions, as in Karachi. The issue really is one of fanaticism being left on the table as the only option for a lot of young, educated folks (and yes, it is the educated ones I am particularly concerned about)–Muslim or not. South Africa, where Mandel himself has never said that their resort to violence was wrong, Ireland and Sri Lanka come to mind.”

varnam on the speculation surrounding Jesus's missing years. “The Jesus in India theory comes from author Holger Kersten who wrote a book about the same. Though without proof the idea comes from the observation that the teachings of Jesus are similar to Buddha who lived in India, 500 years before Jesus. Since there was a trade route to India from the Roman empire which passed through Palestine, it would have been possible for Jesus to travel to India, learn Buddhism and go back to Palestine.”

The Weight of Silence on child labour and trafficking. “The conditions these children are forced into essentially amount to nothing more than slavery, two hundred years after legislation was passed which made the practice illegal. And this is slavery at its ugliest, most evil core, slavery of the most vulnerable among us: children.”

Izzonline writes about race and blogging in South Africa: “Not that it's worrying. But a small concern it is. The SA blogosphere is nearly entirely white - I realised since starting to blog. I went across many blogs on Amatomu, the SA blog aggregator, and you hardly ever come across a blog by a black person. I asked qDot, one black who features reasonably well on the SA blogosphere, what the cause may be.”

Cho discusses corruption wars in Zambia: “I have watched with some amazement at the recent flurry of discussions on corruption following the London judgement on our ex President FTJ. The issue has been much debated on every Zambian blog, forum and newspaper. As always these discussions have been led from the frontline by the Post newspaper, whose daily editorials on “Chiluba the plunderer” has now fuelled unpleasant exchanges between two ex-Presidents : the post columnist KK and the accused FTJ. But is the nation now in danger of losing focus on the issue of corruption?”

A woman from the lake is one of Cho's Zambian art collection.

Dibussi Tande reviews a new Cameroonian movie, Nkuma: “Nkuma is a simple but interesting film which shows that FGM is a complex issue which is more than just about the sexist agenda of patriarchal Africa. It also has the merit of steering away from off-putting preachy and moralistic discourse aimed at shaming traditionalist to change their ways. The film demonstrates the complexity of the fight against FGM by showing that in many instances, the most vocal proponents of FGM are the women folk, and that they, more than the men, need convincing about the demerits of FGM.”

Konfused Kid from Iraq introduces the latest Iraqi blogs here.
They include a blog discusses everything from rock music to Iraqi social glimpses, recent posts include attending a Pink Floyd concert, and an Arabic-language post about the tribulations of a small child; another written in French by a Christian Assyrian and a third about the only Iraqi heavy metal band's Accrasscida's relative ups and downs.

Blogger Michael Totten links to different blogs and writers about the war in Lebanon here.

Israeli blogger Fily discusses myths about the Asian community in Israel.
“Why, I wonder, don’t the Asian students mingle with the locals? Why is it that the Israelis obsessed with Asia don’t make the effort to try to meet the Asian students?
You see, I know that some of my Asian friends in Israel - and their friends - feel somewhat lonely and isolated here and that they want to meet the locals. I also know that some Israelis would die for a good Asian friend or culture/language-exchange.”

In reviewing the top news stories of the week, Trinidadian blogger Jonathan Ali finds a recurring theme - forgiveness.

Aussie Dave from Israel reports that more Qassams have been fired into Israel.
“While there have been no injuries, one of the Qassams started a fire in a wheat field near Sderot,” he adds.

Turkish blogger Murat Altinbasak links to a news article which discusses Tuesday's deadly rush hour bombing at an Ankara shopping district in which at least six people died and more than 100 were injured. His conclusions are: “Turkey plans for attack on Kurds.”

After a domestic squabble turns disturbingly violent, Abeni wonders, “When did it become okay to kill our children, when?”

From Tunisia Subzero Blue gives us a break down of the adherents of different religions.
“The following is the list of the world's major religions ranked by the number of believers adherent to them: 1. Christianity: 2.1 billion, 2. Islam: 1.3 billion, 3. Secular/Nonreligious/ Agnostic/Atheist: 1.1 billion, 4. Hinduism: 900 million, 5. Chinese traditional religion: 394 million,
6. Buddhism: 376 million, 7. primal-indigenous: 300 million, 8. African Traditional & Diasporic: 100 million, 9. Sikhism: 23 million, 10. Juche: 19 million, 11. Spiritism: 15 million, 12. Judaism: 14 million,
13. Baha'i: 7 million, 14. Jainism: 4.2 million, 15. Shinto: 4 million, 16. Cao Dai: 4 million, 17. Zoroastrianism: 2.6 million, 18. Tenrikyo: 2 million, 19. Neo-Paganism: 1 million, 20. Unitarian-Universalism: 800 thousand, 21. Rastafarianism: 600 thousand and 22. Scientology: 500 thousand.”

Geoffrey Philp features Trinidad multi-media artist Elspeth Duncan as she talks about the experience of working on a Leda Serene documentary about Master drummer Muhtadi Thomas: “I asked him if he would open our filming session in the same way that he opens his drumming sessions, with his hands playing a prayer (for centering) on the drum skin. As we watched him do this, I felt drawn in…and there came a point where he and the drum merged, becoming one.”

“14 people have died after an Iraqi bus crashed on the Aleppo to Raqqa highway.
20 others are injured.
The bus had just crossed the border from Iraq, and was travelling on the wrong side of the road.
The Aleppo to Raqqa highway is one of the country's accident hotspots,” reports Syrian blogger Sasa.

‘We go to sleep now waiting for the next round of Israeli attacks against “Hamas targets”. That is what they are calling them now. Last night, I couldn't sleep again. The drones were waxing and waning in intensity overhead. And then of course the Apaches. And the explosions.
But this time, the “target” wasn't some distant building or family gathering hall in Shija3iya or Jabaliya, it was a money changer on my very street, Omar al-Mukhtar, in Gaza's Remal neighbourhood. And the supermarket next door,' writes Palestinian Laila Al Haddad.

Antilles, along with many regional newspapers, stands behind Stabroek News in condemning the Guyanese government's advertising boycott of the newspaper due to editorial content - while Barbados Free Press wonders why The Nation News could not have assumed a similar stance with local freedom of speech issues.

Global Voices Israel author David Bogner won four accolades in the Jewish and Israeli Blog Awards for his blog . Congrats David for winning Best Large Blog (Gold), Best Personal Blog (Gold), Best Slice of Life in Israel (Gold) and Best Overall Post (Silver).

Palestinian Pundit Tony publishes an interview conducted by the Electronic Intifada (EI)with blogger and professor Asa'ad Abu Khalil regarding the latest fighting in Lebanon here.
“EI: What has been the reaction to these events Lebanon and are any groups or parties condemning the bombardment of Nahr al-Bared camp?
ABUKHALIL: As far as reaction in Lebanon this is one of the most painful elements of this story at the personal level. I have never felt more isolation as someone who speaks out on Palestine as I have felt in the past few days. There is an overwhelming, unanimous competition by people and organizations to rally behind the Lebanese army and to pay tribute to the troops. Not a single political party in Lebanon has spoken out, none, against the indiscriminate shelling of the refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared. Hizbullah has taken a position in support of the army, as has the Lebanese Communist Party, and other organizations.”

“It’s taken the best part of 40 years but The Beatles have finally arrived in the part of Cuba where I grew up. Officially, that is,” writes Child of the Revolution, who thinks that the opening of a replica of the tavern where the Fab Four first found fame is “quite a development.”

‘They called it a second nakba (catastrophe). “The first one in 1948 was a black and white nakba, it was easy to know who our enemies were. This one is more colorful.” This is how Palestinian refugees from Nahr al Bared camp described their flight to Badawi refugee camp, about twenty kilometers away. Their escape, as with their experience under fire in the Nahr al Bared camp, was traumatizing. Not only did they escape Fatah al Islam sniper fire and the Lebanese army's heavy artillery shelling, they also encountered a third group along the way, a militia group they identified as a local, Tripoli Sunni group who seems to have been operating inside Nahr al Bared camp as well,' writes Dr Marcy Newman, who calls for urgent aid for the refugees.

Writing from Lebanon Blacksmith Jade says: “After a two-day long truce, fierce fighting in and around the Nahr el Bared refugee camp resumed on Thursday night as the Lebanese Army evacuated journalists, and intercepted a group of Fatah al Islam gunmen as they tried to flee the camp.”

Lebanese blogger Jounoune links to a news article which points fingers to who is responsible for the fighting in North Lebanon.

The Belize Supreme Court has ruled that the police cannot prevent citizens from protesting against the controversial Universal Health Services loan guarantee during today's House of Representatives meeting. Belizean quotes United Democratic Party leader Dean Barrow: “The will of the people obviously cannot be thwarted and the right to dissent must be upheld. It is a glorious victory.”

Iraqi blogger Majed Jarrar links to two videos which show the US troops “destroying Iraq.”

Egyptian blogger Mostafa Hussein links to an AP story which says that police detained a man at Cairo's airport - bound for Saudi Arabia - who was trying to smuggle 700 live snakes on a plane!

Bahraini blogger emoodz posted his second podcast in Arabic and English, lamenting the ‘tasteless' music youth listen to, the political situation in Bahrain and his opinion of some of the local bloggers.

As Suriname announces plans for the construction of a nuclear power facility, Barbados Underground writes, “This affair epitomizes the ineffective organ we call Caricom.”

“Race matters. And we need to talk about it in order to make it matter less.” Nicolette Bethel starts the discussion on race relations in the Bahamas.

After a photo of a Minister of Parliament sunbathing nude is dubbed “Picture of the Year” by an Aruban daily, Arubagirl asks, “What good did it do? How does embarrassing this guy help the public at large? If his only crime is that he had no clothes on, I think there were worse crimes committed on Aruba that deserved to be featured with a full page picture.”

Thanks to Sibil Tala we get information about a “Neo-Con” led conference about Iran.According this information the workshop, entitled “Confronting The Iranian Threat: The Way Forward,” is to include “30 or so leading experts who will analyze the implications of Iran’s activities, the diplomatic challenges, military and intelligence capabilities, the spread of its ideology within and beyond its borders, and other issues, including the prospects for democratization in the Islamic world, energy security and other related issues that face policymakers in the United States, Europe and the Middle East,” according to the invitation letter from FDD’s [Foundation for Defense of Democracies]president, Clifford May. The purpose will be “exploring policy options …and consider solutions to one of the most significant policy issues of our day.”The blogger says[Fa] this conference reminds us 19 century where colonial powers came together to take a decision about Iran. The meeting takes place May 30 to June 1.

After relegating herself to the status of spectator of the recent violence in Lebanon, Marie-Josee takes up her pen, this time to write about how the country's trivialization of the deaths of Lebanese soldiers shows a “fundamental lack of patriotism” (Fr) on the part of Lebanon's government and its people.

France/Maroc à VTT posts hundreds of vivid photographs of his journey back to Morocco, the country of his birth.

Reseau International de correspondants writes about pricing inequalities in the international telecom system (Fr) that place a disproportionate burden of payment on developing countries to the extent that “the South is financing the North” and it is in effect “three times more expensive to connect to the internet” in developing countries.

Roots and Culture posts a Guinean proverb: “When ants work together they carry lift elephants.” (Fr)

Former Seoul Mayor Lee Myung-bak of the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP) formally announced his presidential candidacy yesterday. Matt from Gust of Popular Feeling wrote some background about Lee's creative leadership: “creative leadership” mostly means “throw money at construction companies.”

Japan Probe introduces a new game, cat shooting game, from the Neko Games team. You can click to play here.

SaigonNezumi writes about Vietnamese authorities nabbing under sea fiber-optic cable robbers. The bloggers asks “Who are the ones telling these smugglers the exact locations of the fiber-optic lines?”

Overoften blogs about Japanese spring time with very nice photos of the swallows under his roof.

Bangkok Pundit writes about Thai internet service providers blocking blogs hosted on the popular blogspot.com domain. Seems the domain was blocked as there were some blogs hosted on the domain that were deemed offensive by the Thai ministry of communication and information technology.

ESWN translated Mingpao (local newspapers) feature report on the Chinese University erotic section. The report was recently graded as category II indecent material.

Joel Martinsen from DANWEI translated a blog post by Tu Guowen about a Children newspaper, China Children's Times, published during China's Republican era.

Zuo Ai Chung quotes figure from Federation of Women association research that 5-10% of the rural migrant population in the urban area are children (around 750-2,000 millions) who follow their parent to work in towns and cities [zh].

Xueyong posts a protest letter against a forced land requisition in Hubei. The requisited area is 616.42 hectares, affecting 3,032 people. However, the compensation is just one eighth of the national requirement. (zh)

Robert of Line of Sight had plenty to say about the recent Mayor of Jefe de Gobierno debate for the June 3 elections. The three candidates participated in a forum on the political program “A Dos Voces,” which led to some chaos during the open floor debate.

Our Man in Granada writes a Nicaraguan round-up of English-language blogs. He states that as his Spanish improves, then he will continue to add Spanish language blogs to these roundups.

112 people, including the victims and their families of the 1945 Tokyo fire bombing, are suing the Japanese goverment for an official apology and 1.2 billion yen compensation. On March 24, a trial hearing was held at the Tokyo District Court and blogger tokyodo-2005 urges that more attention should be paid to the case. [Ja]

Marco Chinchero, a local taxi driver, has plenty to say about the direction of his country. At ¡¡¡Cambiemos Ecuador!!! [ES], the blogger asked Mr. Chinero about his views and recorded it as a podcast. Hear his views on various subjects here.

A entrepreneurial neighbor of blogger C.J. Schexnayder aka Kleph collects the refuse from the floors around jewelry stores in Miraflores, and puts it through a process to remove the gold specks. The entire process was also documented on Klephblog and presented in a slideshow titled “Dust into Gold.”