Global Voices Online

Ghomar Asheganheh informs[Fa] us that this week for the fifth time an “International Book Exposition” will be organised in Tabriz,in north western Iran, where 1000 publishers from all over the world will be present.

Hunnapuh [ES] welcomes FMLN presidential candidate, Mauricio Funes, “to hell” in reference to the following 18 months where he will be under the microscope of the opposition party ARENA prior to the next election in El Salvador.

Blog de mi Guatemala [ES] comes across a website for the organization Guatemala Miracles, where the agency charges $25,000 and up for honorariums to help couple adopt a child from that country.

Gil C. Schmidt aka Gil the Jenius provides a series of solutions to Puerto Rico's economic (1, 2) and governmental (1,2) woes.

Danny Ayala Hinojosa of El Federalista [ES] criticizes Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa's declarations regarding the International Monetary Fund following a visit with Pope Benedict.

Alejandro of Peru Food writes a in-depth summary post titled “Memories, Re-encounters, Roots” regarding his recent trip to his native Peru.

Iranian government clamps down on bookstores' coffee shops.Kaghz Pareh says[Fa] that he does not understand the reasons of government's decision in a country where not many people read books.

Indonesian blogger Imam Brotoseno has created a fan video for the Indonesian bloggers summit to be held in Jakarta on 27th October. (via Unspun)

Freedom for Baghi covers all news about jailed human rights activist,Emad Baghi. Emad Baghi has been arrested about 11 days ago.

Nikahang, a leading cartoonist and blogger, has published a cartoon about high oil prices and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Egyptian blogger Hatshepsut links to an article which discusses the plight of Iraqi refugee women in Syria, who have turned to prostitution to support their families and children.

Syrian blogger Wassim talks about female circumcision, Hejab (headscarf) and rebels without a clue in this post.

“In an effort to encourage Arab startups, give them a push and spread out some love: I'm offering free banner space on my blog to promote their services,” announces Subzero Blue from Tunisia.

Amerikan Turk discusses a new interest among people to enlist in the Turkish army.

Seabee from Dubai compares prices in Dubai and the UK in this post.

Larry Smith at Bahama Pundit indulges in “a little road rage”.

Dubaiwalla reviews blockbuster The Kingdom in this post.

Ramblings and Reason refers to a controversial song called called Trinidad and Tobago Sucks to illustrate the sentiment of “a certain segment of the under-thirty population who have educated themselves on the issues and find the local brand of politics, which refuses to deal with those issues, more than distasteful.”

Iraq Pundit wonders why Arabs are such a mess in this post.

PeacefulMuslimah, who lives in Qatar, was just divorced via an SMS text message from her husband. She has: “lots of questions rattling around in my head but not a lot of answers…”

Guyana-Gyal tells the fascinating story of Iwokrama, “part of one of the last four intact rainforests in the whole wide world!”

“It's very common for the Western journalists to talk about “Westernized” Lebanese. It seems, however, that with this term they are identifying only one part of what is the West […] In reality they are only identifying those middle class characteristics found across the globe in this globalized world,” writes Tigermarks.

Tunisian blogger Samsoum posts what he describes as the email scam of the year here.

Rebecca, who blogs from Egypt, introduces us to Kushari, a local dish. “It’s a mixture of rice and pasta, and a small amount of lentils and chickpeas, and some dried onion and tomato hot sauce,” she explains.

The Life and Times of Michmac is disturbed about the conditions surrounding a vehicular accident in Grenada that claimed the life of a mother of one.

Bahraini blogger Dawood is thinking of ways of helping Iraqi widows and orphans in this post.

Notes from a small island is all for Trinidad and Tobago's political party leaders having a debate, “fielding specific questions about the real issues affecting the nation.”

Oneworld Multimedia says that it comes as no surprise to discover that support for House Resolution 106 recognizing the Armenian Genocide is waning, with the U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, the latest high-ranking official to urge U.S. lawmakers to drop the bill.

In a region where poverty is still endemic, figures for economic growth are a constant feature of speeches and election campaigns by governments. Georgia is no exception, but TOL Georgia asks if high economic growth rates from a low base mean much when they are compared to lower rates from more developed countries. It's a question, perhaps, that many other countries in the region should be asking.

Steady State posts a link to an article in Russian detailing territorial claims that the Republic of Georgia might have on Russia since medieval times. The blog treats such claims with scorn and sees it more as anti-Georgian paranoia than anything based on historical fact.

Unzipped: Gay Armenia comments on the surprise entry by 19-year-old Sadikj Ragimov into the Mr Gay Europe 2007 contest. This is the first time that any contestant from the South Caucasus has entered the competition, the blogger notes, and was an amazing show of courage from someone living in a deeply homophobic part of the world.

It should also be noted that the blogger himself set an important precedent — being Armenian and able to blog on neighbouring countries, especially on such a sensitive issue as LGBT rights, without resorting to [ethnic] prejudice or bias.

The Whinery 2.0 posts videos for Day of Action for Darfur.

Is China annexing Africa?:”The latest project to hit the headlines is a $5 billion offer from the Chinese government to fund roads, railways, hospitals and clinics in the African Congo. Elsewhere, China is already “the biggest investor in the Sudan,” says the Seattle Times. In Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, office blocks, military headquarters and a refurbished stadium are all the work of planners from Beijing. In Uganda, Chinese money built the new State House.”

The Azamat Report reviews the pre-electoral political situation, saying that Ak-Jol, a newly established party of the incumbent president has pretty low political standing, but “the so called ‘administrative resource' will do its job” and ” if the elections take place with the same violations as the recent constitutional referendum did, Ak-Jol is guaranteed to get the majority of seats in the parliament”.

Beaudi reflects on the recent developments in Kyrgyzstan, including adoption of the new constitution on a referendum and call for new parliamentary elections, saying that these developments indicate rollback from democracy in this country.

Bboyd opines on the pre-election environment in Uzbekistan, predicting the outcome of pre-orchestrated campaign: “the play will be a romance, with the incumbent and the state reunited for another decade”.

Libertad reports on the murder of Uzbek journalist Alisher Saipov, who worked in the neighboring Kyrgyzstan and wrote abot Uzbek minority there.

Afghanistan Watch reports that the country's exports, which are 10 times lower than imports, have shown the upward trend this year.

Rose Lu from my1510 compares the various arrangement for reporting on China space travel (zh). Yesterday, most of the reporters managed to witness the Chang'e-1, the first China's moon orbiter, blasting out to the space, even though they have to enter the Xichang Satellite Launch Center as tourists.

Xueyong suggests that universities in China should adopt the policy of affirmative action for rural students (zh). At present, among the top rank universities, only 20% of the students comes from rural area, although rural population is consisted of more than half of the whole population. As education is a mean to solve cross-generational poverty problem, the blogger suggests the university admission should increase the proportion of rural students according to the ratio of population.

Fons from China Herald brings up into the attention of the drafting of labour arbitration law. One missing element is the collective labour arbitration process.