Global Voices Online

Window on Eurasia reports that the Russian Federation's Muslims make hajj “under the flags of their national republics or even nations.” This may change next year, though.

Sean's Russia Blog writes about the Freedom House's recent verdict on Russia: “not free.”

Mark MacKinnon posts for the first time this year: an update on the news from Russia and elsewhere.

Axis of Evel Knievel writes about Ivan the Terrible.

Interesting insight into the British Council scandal from Dmitri Minaev of De Rebus Antiquis Et Novis - in this post's comments section at Siberian Light: “These attacks never really stopped, but the British embassy managed to keep the offices running till in 2007 Russia finally demanded that some offices be closed. In Sochi, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Tomsk, Samara, Volgograd and other cities, the staff was fired and the libraries were transferred to the local universities. Now, Russia wants to close two more offices, leaving only one in Moscow. I think I can understand why BC decided to try a new tactics of opposing the authorities.”

Ongoing coverage of the British Council row - at A Step At A Time: “An interesting feature of the present crisis, which was obviously prepared in advance by the Russian authorities, is the flooding of British media comments boards (the Mail and Telegraph are the two leading examples at present) with anti-UK and pro-Putin messages posted by Russians posing under English-sounding names.”

“‘The government can do nothing’, should be the slogan for this new government,” writes the beatroot.

Latvian Abroad notes that the lack of borders in the Schengen Zone can be quite a nuisance: “A woman from rural Lithuania tries to catch a ride to Kaunas, the second largest city in Lithuania. A miscommunication with the driver leads to … her being dropped off in Tartu, Estonia!”

Frustration is a good catalyst for change, notes Bahraini Mahmood Al Yousif, who takes a closer look at his country's internal politics.

Kargareemrouz informs[Fa] that Ibrahim Lotfolahi, a university student,was killed under torture in prison in Kurdistan province,in Iran. He had been arrested about ten days ago.

Fateh says[Fa] all Arab leaders in Persian Gulf follow Saddam Hussein's destiny. The blogger says their difference with Saddam is that,thanks to their hypocrisy,they are at the same time a friend of USA and Iran.

Kosoof, a leading photo blogger, has published several photos of Dr.Hormoz Assadi,a pro environment activist and academic,who died in a car accident recently. The blogger adds that Dr.Assadi was transporting yellow deers to a safe natural place, when accident happened.

Kourosh Ziabari says that Hijab (veil) is not an obstacle for women to become active in social life or make sport. He has published a few photos to support his idea.

Orlando Castro [pt] criticizes the contrast implicit in the construction of a 70 floor tower in Luanda, which will be the largest building in Angola and home of luxury houses, hotels, offices and shops. “So this is the way that part of my country's history is written. The other is written by millions of Angolans who carry on being conceived among hunger, born with hunger and dying of hunger.

“If “smog” is portmanteau formed from “smoke” and “fog”, “frog” is the anti-portmanteau I have come up with for “frio” [Portuguese for cold] and “smog”. Leocardo [pt] comments on the coldest day in Macau for many months and on the pollution that China has been trying unsuccessfully to eradicate.

Synchori-Cities narrates an incident that leads the author to reflect on the re-writing of history.

Law and Other Things suggests that Non-Resident Indians should get their own representative in the Indian parliament.

Metroblogging Lahore on a suicide bomb blast in Peshawar, creating even more tension in the country.

Bahas on the current structure of the legal system in Nepal. “The justice and law enforcement in democracy can hardly be transparent nor can they serve justice to the people if their implementations depend on central control.”

Qwaider from Jordan tells us why he can't trust Arab on-line services in this post.

Marc Lynch takes a closer look at the improving relationship between Gulf Arab states and Iran in this post, despite Bush's visit to the region. The Gulf Cooperation Council is made up of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.

Thebookmann features traditional Hosay celebrations in Trinidad and Tobago.

“I never thought I'd be a non-fiction writer. I grew up reading the fantastic. As I grew older, though, I came to realize that fiction is shaped by fact”: Geoffrey Philp features Bahamian writer Nicolette Bethel in her own words.

“We had occasion to drive through Jimmit today, and traffic was being diverted by PetroCaribe signs. Can it be that construction of infrastructure for the benighted Chavez Oil Refinery has begun?” Living Dominica is stunned by the possibility.

African Path will broadcast Africa Cup of Nations: “The games will be online at http://tv.africanpath.com. The Africa Cup of Nations is the premier sporting event on the African continent that occurs on a biannual basis in January and February.”

Mzalendo on the first day of Kenyan parliament: “January 15, 2008, which was the first day of the first session of the 10th Parliament. ODM’s candidate Mr. Kenneth Otiato Marende, 52, was pronounced Speaker in a theatric session that lasted for more than seven hours.”

“Welcome to the future. Most of us newly-active Bajan voters are young and idealistic… and we are online”: Barbados Free Press is not impressed that blogs and new media are not being given their due in influencing the outcome of the Barbados election, adding: “The old Barbados news media can pretend that nothing changed…DLP spokesperson Reudon Eversley can pretend that he never emailed campaign materials and position papers to the blogs, but he did so because he knew the blogs mattered during the election.”

Larry Smith at Bahama Pundit is convinced the Bahamas has reached a tipping point: “If we are not very careful, we stand to lose not only our quality of life but our very existence as a functioning society.”

The Armenian Observer posts a video of an Armenian official arguing that Turkey must return territory once inhabited Armenians before the 1915 Genocide in Ottoman Turkey. While the blogger says that territorial reparations are unlikely, he says that Armenians should demand maximum compensation from Turkey before gradually compromising from a position of strength.

Anna Dolidze at Resistance Georgia has returned to the United States after observing the recent presidential election in her native Georgia. The pro-opposition human rights lawyer says that after the controversial vote which saw most residents in the capital, Tbilisi, vote against the incumbent, it will prove difficult for President Saakashvili to govern the country.

The Armenian Economist argues that various surveys funded and/or conducted by international organizations are very important sources of information which can be monitored and analyzed over time. However, the blog says, there is an urgent need for the full results of such surveys to be made accessible to everyone.

The Armenian Observer posts a digest of translated excerpts from blog posts examining ethnic hatred between Armenians, Azerbaijanis and Turks.

Unzipped says that for many people, new tourism ads promoting Armenia are the first glimpse they have had of the country. However, the blogger concludes, while the adverts are promising, there is the need for Yerevan, the capital, to become more “tourist-friendly.”

Scaliger says that the famous Kazakh hospitality is vanishing into the past and recounts how people are surviving in remote rural areas — extortionate profiteering and traps for strangers are almost the only way to make living there.

Libertad writes about the problems Uzbek migrant workers face while working in foreign countries, refers to a report by an NGO on migrant workers and uploads photos of migrant labor workers leaving Uzbekistan in barrack-like buses.

KZBlog reports that Rakhat Aliyev, former diplomat and president's son-in-law, was found guilty of kidnapping, organizing a criminal group, extortion, robbery, misappropriation of state property, and fraud, and sentenced him in absentia to 20 years in prison along with the confiscation of his property.

Joshua Foust makes a roundup of discussions in the blogosphere and in traditional media concerning the bombing of the Serena Hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan, highlighting a trend that the Taliban's terror attacks are now targeted more on foreigners and expatriates.

Mohammad Fahim contemplates are there any grounds for terrorism in Islam and its traditions, following the suicide bombing at the hotel in Kabul, the capital city of Afghanistan. “The Holy Quran makes it clear NOT to kill yourself”, he says.

Adam Isaacson of Plan Colombia and Beyond is returning from Bogotá, where he accompanied a delegation of U.S. lawmakers that visited Colombia. He provides some thoughts on the visit.

Liberal Colombiano [es] and Jorge Montoya of Fabrica de Cosas [es] are taking note of the interest in the “A Million Voices Against the FARC” citizen's campaign in Colombia.

Diumanpark blogs the transcript of famous actor Li Lianjie or Jet Li's T.V interview, in particular his view about patriotism. To Jet, independent thinking is most crucial (zh).

ESWN translated an article from Wong Onyin, an internet radio host, about the mission of Anson Chan, an icon of democracy in Hong Kong, as a political surrenderer (the giving up of universal suffrage in 2012). Wong's analysis is hated by both pan democratic alliance and the pro-establishment and seldom appears in western media.

Debito has an elaborated comment on the Japan government's proposal on making Japanese language a requirement for long-term visa. Ampotant criticizes BBC's report for creating an impression that Japanese don't like to talk to foreigners.

Newscham has an article on the crisis of a major left wing party, Democratic Labour Party, after the fatal defeat in presidential election.

In a Shanghai survey 76% of the primary and secondary school students said that they had never been to the Arts Museum while 84% said that they like the Arts Museum. Zhang-qing wonders how the two figures can co-exist (zh).

Zenia of Regalado [es] writes about sex education in Cuba.

Clairewy reposted in her blog an article by Teng Biao (a Chinese Lawyer) about Hu Jia's arrest, which re-instated that “without human right and dignity, there is no genuine Olympic; for the sake of China, for the sake of Olympic, we have to defend human right.” (zh)

The oldest bar in Mexico and perhaps, in Latin America, recently closed its doors writes Philippe Seaz of Defecito [es]

Twittmx [es] is the first gathering of “Twitteros” or users of Twitter in Mexico. The hope is that the meetings will become a monthly occurrence.

Konfused Kid from Iraq says Pride of Baghdad is a must read.

According to Alive in Baghdad, goldsmiths are still busy at work in the war-torn city.

Although Arabs generally see the theatre as a recent import from Europe, different forms of performing arts, such as shadow plays, Sufi and Shia miracle plays, and the oral performances of poetry reciters and storytellers, have a long history in the region, writes Daniazad from Libya.

Seabee from Dubai, UAE, is furious the Emirate was closed down for a day during the visit of US president George W Bush.

Seabee from Dubai, UAE, sums up the impact of US President George W Bush's visit to the emirate here.

From Yemen, Omar Busawad shares with us one of his country's marvels - the Dragon's Blood trees of Socotra.

From Lebanon, Summer says Bahrain is freezing. She also posts a video of the country she is moving to here.

Saudi Jeans writes an open letter to jailed Saudi blogger Fouad Al Farhan here.

Yemeni blogger Yemen Eye (Ar) expresses his support for jailed Saudi blogger Fouad Al Farhan in this post.