Global Voices Online

AnTyx writes about the Finnish Muslim Party's protest against Estonia's presence in Iraq - and shares a few Soviet/post-Soviet childhood memories.

Itching for Eestimaa interviews “Estonian blogger Flasher T, author of the lively Antyx.”

Pure Intent writes about Tuzla: “Minus the coal plants and DITA factory, Tuzla would be a pretty groovy place to be.”

Tanchi is guest-blogging at Kosmopolit about the Balkan presence in Brussels.

Krenar Gashi of Balkan Insight offers a Kosovar's perspective on the upcoming election in Serbia - and the campaigning in Kosovo.

Lex Libertas wonders whether Vladimir Putin is really marrying gymnast and Duma deputy Alina Kabaeva - or it is all “a long-running April Fool’s joke by Dmitry Medvedev’s wife, Svetlana.”

Hungarian Spectrum writes about “economic and financial ignorance in Hungary”: “Another thing that people don't seem to understand is that it is indeed proper and perhaps even more just to tax property rather than to rely so heavily on income tax.”

Hungarian Spectrum reports that “we still can't be sure whether or not the coalition is dead.”

Batir Wardam, from Jordan, says the Arab world is starting to get serious about climate change.

Body on the Line marks the International Day of Solidarity with Palestinian Political Prisoners with this post.

Syrian opposition activist Kamal Labwani has been handed a 12-year jail sentence for “contacts with Washington,” reports …Or Does it Explode?

…Or Does it Explode? posts a video and an article about a Saudi basketball team for women called Jeddah United.

…Or Does it Explode writes about a new Kuwaiti law - which calls for deporting expatriate drivers who jump red lights at traffic junctions.

Public transport in Santa Cruz is a big problem, as noted by Professor Miriam Vidal. Bus fare has risen to 33% recently, and many schoolchildren are bypassed by drivers because they do not pay the full fare [es].

Blogian comments on what many consider to be the imminent and effective closure of a regional TV station broadcasting in Armenia's second largest city of Gyumri. The station has been under pressure from the authorities since covering the activities of a former head of state and presidential candidate in the run-up to the disputed 19 February presidential election.

Carolyn & Jesse's Azerbaijan Peace Corps Blog posts an entry answering the most common questions received from readers ranging from inquiries about computer access to attitudes towards single and married women. Intriguingly, concerns about the availability of can openers in Azerbaijan also makes the list.

Kianda [pt] thinks that “the fact that someone was born in one country should not revoke their right to think, criticize, vote or even run for elections [in another country]… we are in the globalisation era, in a world with fewer and fewer boundaries and we should all have the right to participate in societies that we have chose to live for a year, 2, 3 or a lifetime.”

A camera which can see through clothes and is being used to counter terrorism? Zeid Nasser from Jordan has more in this post.

“If you love the TV show, Big Brother, and if it’s been a life-long goal of yours to be a contestant on it, then I’ve got good news for all you die-hard reality TV fans; Big Brother is coming to Jordan and in the most hi-tech of manners,” writes Naseem Tarawnah, from Jordan.

News from Indonesia reports that alert level was raised on Indonesia's Mount Papandayan volcano. The volcano lies 51 Kilometers southeast of Indonesia's third-largest city, Bandung, which is home to around three million people.

Is Malaysia's opposition party using its new found political power to harass a High Court Judge?

The Lost Aborigine believes Malaysia's “flawless democracy should be rejected.” The blogger adds: “It must first begin with the step down of the Prime Minister and equality to the non-Malay Bumiputera.”

Xanana Republic Gazette describes how the East Timor President was greeted by his people when he arrived back in the country. An onlooker described the returning president as “frail but tense.”

bact' is a name writes about the planned Bangkok freeze: Street people will be gathering together in downtown Bangkok to “freeze” themselves for 5 minutes on April 20

Apocalypse Lao notes that in the map of the world’s happiness, Laos has a very low happiness rating.

Our Local Style points out that “the situation in Brunei for those with disabilities is dismal when compared against other nations.”

Freedom in Bhutan on why protecting an individual's rights is crucial for a democracy.

United We Blog! on the perceptions of Maoists in Nepal.

Blogging from Singapore, Blowin' In The Wind describes U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton as “passionate and true to her convictions.”

The Pakistani Spectator on the food crisis which is no longer a “local” issue.

“It has long been a desire of mine to see Parliament pass legislation committing a Code of Ethics for Parliamentarians…”: Rick Lowe at WeblogBahamas.com explains.

Caribbean Beat Blog reveals that on the island of Cubagua, situated between Venezuela's northeastern shoreline and the resort island of Margarita, “researchers reportedly have found archaelogical traces of three distinct periods of human history in the Americas.”

Vexed Bermoothes reports that the government's decision to pull advertising from the Royal Gazette has prompted a letter of complaint from The Inter American Press Association: “It’s really quite an embarrassment for Bermuda to be singled out for this criticism … to be grouped in with countries that sponsor censorship, violence against journalists, and aggression towards free speech.”

Signifyin' Guyana profiles a Trinidad-born writer whose latest work book was a finalist for the 2008 National Book Critics Circle Award for biography: “I owe Arnold Rampersad a great big thank-you for making this West Indian woman feel a lot more comfortable about studying Literature in huge American undergraduate classrooms…”

Jomhour says[Fa] that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iranian President, called 11 September attacks a “suspicious event”. Ahmadinejad says the name of victims never got announced!The blogger writes it is a new illusion of Ahmadinejad and Jomhour invites him to check the name of the victims in this site.

According to[Fa] Change4equality, Khadijeh Moghadam, an Iranian woman activist for equal rights,has been released on bail after 9 days in Tehran. She has been accused of activities against “national security.” Several people waited for her outside of the prison.Watch the photos here.

Alexandre de Sousa [pt] is lending a helping hand to other Brazilian police officers who have or wish to have blogs. In the last post of his series of tutorials, he gives some basic tips and blog optimization hints and says he wants to see even more. “The Public Security Blog [Blog da Segurança Pública, pt] complained about the lack of blogs in the Brazilian Federal district. The Police Approach blog [Abordagem Policial, pt] launched an appeal: Police officers from Bahia, make your blogs. And Stive [pt] began its campaign Make a Blog. And I support them!”

Leocardo [pt] comments on this week's Amnesty International's report that ranked China the first in the world in the number of executions in 2007 (470), followed by Iran (317), Saudi Arabia (143), Pakistan (135) and the US (42). He analyzes the social issues behind death penalty in China and is surprised by the “Amnesty International's hipocrisy”. “I would make it clear, first of all, that I am against capital punishment. But we must try to understand the social and cultural causes behind a punishment that seems to be, for most of us free and democratic souls, an act of desperation.”

Basilio Muhate [pt] talks briefly about the consensus reached by Mozambique's trade unions and the employers' associations in the negotiations for a new statutory minimum wage in eight of the nine sectors defined by the government. “If indeed there has been a consensus, it is a good step from the diplomatic point of view. The big question is whether this consensus will have multiplier effects on individual consumption and on the ability to afford staple foods in Mozambique”.

Adam is exasperated by the US’s one-size-fits-all approach to Central Asia that puts Kazakhstan and Afghanistan in the same category.

Maciula reports and opines on the Turkmenistan government's intention to create a forest in the desert with the help of extensive irrigation.

Unzipped commends the breakaway and self-declared Republic of Nagorno Karabakh for electing its first human rights ombudsperson. Although some concerns still remain with regards to figures working in an official capacity, the blog says that recent experience in Armenia has shown that such positions are necessary for democratic development as well as human rights protection.

A music video called “don't be too CNN” is up at youtube. It compares the fake south China issue with CNN news production.

Huge jokingly said that Carrefour is the winner of the boycott campaign [zh]. 1. free ads; 2. many people suddenly realize that it is a French brand; 3. its discount will win the middle lower class' heart in time of inflation.

How does Jack Cafferty brew more trouble for CNN in China? Take a look at imagethief.

There have been reports about China tightening multiple visa for foreigners to prepare for Olympics. Kenneth Tan from Shanghaiist found out that the Commissioner's Office of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in the Hong Kong and Macau have stopped issuing multiple visa for foreigners living in China.

Lianyue reminded people of the nationalistic demonstration in 2005 with a video and urged people not to act like nationalistic thugs in the Carrefour boycott action [zh].

Three hundred and sixty five versions of one of the most famous tangoes in the world, La Cumparsita, will be played in Independence Plaza in Montevideo, which is the site where it was played for the first time 91 years ago. Café Montevideo [es] has more details.

Ran Yun-fei listed out 17 freedom that Chinese patriots can enjoy in the West but denied in China [zh].

Aw Guo writes in his blog on how to love China: it’s not just an action of updating our MSN signatures.