Global Voices Online

A photo report on the May Day Dissenters March in St. Petersburg - by LJ user alexey_ivanov.

May Day in Moscow - photos by LJ user wg-lj.

Window on Eurasia reports that Saudi Arabia has cut Russia’s hajj quota, “creating problems” for Dmitry Medvedev.

With Moscow in mind, The Turkish Invasion explores Kyiv.

Sean's Russia Blog writes about “the Putin-Kabaeva story” and the “Kremlin infighting.”

Eternal Remont discusses a Russian view on the demise of the Soviet Union and independence.

“Moscow conversations” on Putin, women, Poland and Russia - at Polandian.

Hungarian Spectrum writes about “the provincialism of large segments of Hungarian society” and its effect on the economy.

Wu Wei writes that “speculations are rife about what Russia is planning for Abkhazia at the moment.”

Israeli Daniel Lubetzky writes about the cycle of wealth, education and consumption in this post.

From Israel, Stephanie complains about increasing food prices in this post. “We here in the Promised Land are also feeling the pain of soaring grain prices. According to Hebrew press reports, flour & cooking oil prices went up by 25%, pasta increased by 12.5%, chocolate by 10% and rice went up a whopping 60-80% (!!!) in Israel,” she writes.

To mark the beginning of the Africa's month, Eugénio Costa Almeida [pt] publishes a video of 1985's Michael Jackson's song and explains: “This is because once more the world faces food shortage, this time not because of a drought or natural disasters but because Men (should it really be in upper case?) want to earn millions and countries want to show their non-dependency and self-capacity of energy subsistence producing cereals not to eat but to create bio-fuels.”

Adil Najam raises concerns in All Things Pakistan Blog that Pakistanis read less. He finds out a cause that there is a shortage of functional libraries in Pakistan: “We have no public libraries, beyond what the British left us”.

Kishore Asokan writes from Male on the upcoming presidential election of Maldives on October 10, 2008, its contestants and the presidential system.

Kashyapji writes in Kuzu-Bhutan weblog about “Miss Bhutan” contest, an upcoming beauty pageant which is expected to set a new trend breaking the ice of the protectionist Bhutanese culture.

Unheard Voices Blog analyzes the recent politics in Bangladesh: “After a lot of fumbling, failures and reform buzzwords, the government has come up with its own exit strategy. No, it has nothing to do with continuing reform or fixing our institutes. Its simply about their collective backside getting protected by ensuring their hold in the power for the long term”.

The City Fix publishes a two part interview (Part 1, Part 2) with Mr. Krishnaraj Rao, who is leading a grassroots campaign on behalf of pedestrian rights in Mumbai. Pedestrians often have the lowest priority on the roads in this mega city.

Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, former Prime Minister of Malaysia, is now a blogger.

Myat Thura tackles ah-lhu. It is a Burmese religious donation ceremony. People usually do ah-lhu when they donate food and offerings to the monk or the monastery.

Singapore Angle answers this question: Just how dangerous is Jemaah Islamiyah leader Mas Selamat and what is the threat posed by his escape on Singapore politics?

Fear from Freedom is happy to observe that internet services are now available in Myanmar. But the blogger is disappointed that online censorship and slow connections also exist.

Weburger says[Fa] that a sand storm in Khuzestan province has created a lot of health problems for people on Thursday. The blogger adds government has refused to create a green belt in the area “because of security issues”.Weburger says we are human beings, we need air! Watch a photo of this event here.

The Daily Brunei Resources note that many Bruneians have forgotten that it was coal, rubber and cutch which sustained their country a century ago.

“In our family, her ability to hang on to a penny is legend…we still tease her about that stuff but ironically, it is those very traits that with the spiraling inflation rate, we are now all falling back on”: Trinidadian blogger Coffeewallah writes a tribute to her grandmother.

Antilles, the blog of the Caribbean Review of Books, links to Allan Fenty sharing his memories of the late Wordsworth McAndrew in the current issue of the Guyana Review.

Trinidadian blogger Jeremy Taylor admits: “I don’t normally swell with nationalist pride, but I confess I was very touched to see and hear this young half-Trinidadian commanding the very stage where Tosca was first produced in 1900, and the Roman audience warming to her and giving her long generous applause.”

Elena tells readers about the meeting of Kyrgyzstan President Bakiev and opposition party “Ar-Namys” leader Felix Kulov, who had been a prime-minister right after the Tulip Revolution in 2005.

Maciula deliberates about the chances of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project realization.

Patrick Frost says that Turkmenistan’s ‘opening up’ diplomatically from isolationist and totalitarian Niyazov era has been proven by the nation’s participation in the latest NATO Summit, EU Troika, and warming of relations with Turkey. But religious and personal freedoms still lag behind, he notes.

Blogging from Havana, Circles Robinson Online says: “Cuba’s economy is not easy to understand, especially for those that have never lived under a similar system where government plays a lead role.”

Francis Wade says: “This entire episode regarding Parliamentarians and their dual citizenship has driven up a certain kind of Jamaican pride that I am ambivalent about.”

Litblogger Geoffrey Philp blogs about the “eminent Jamaican author, journalist, and historian” VS Reid, who he says “is usually credited, along with Trinidad and Tobago's V.S. Naipaul and St Lucian Derek Walcott, as shaping modern Caribbean writing.”

Guyana-Gyal couldn't post anything new until a new post appeared. Confused? She explains here.

Aflatoon-Irani writes [Fa] that director of Sahand University in northern city of Tabriz in Iran, finally accepted the most of students' requests. The students had gone on hunger strike for several days. One of the requests was the end of “gender apartheid”.

Kosoof, a leading photo blogger from Iran, has published a couple of photos of birds in movement.Watch here and here.

Thales Barreto [pt] reminds readers that 14 years ago today Ayrton Senna, a Brazilian racing driver and triple Formula One world champion, was dying in a fatal accident in at Imola. “Character, dedication, solidarity, energy, pride. I easily associate Senna's image with some of these words. He had a head of state like funeral. Our last Big Man was buried. The brightness of Senna's sad eyes is eternal. I wish the new generations will never forget the myth. Brazil is poor and petty.”

ԱՅՕ՝ ԱՅԴՊԵՍ ԸՍԻ wonders whether the recent presidential election in Armenia hasn't kick-started the development of a more effective civil society in the country. In particular it says that the amount of online activism that has emerged through blogs is unprecedented and says that it hopes a real pro-democracy movement will emerge by the time of the next parliamentary election in Armenia.

Changing Climates blog writes of the Eduafano Womens' Cooperative in Namibia, and their production of oil from a traditional melon in the region. “The economic diversification and resilience-building implications of the work of EWC are huge. Not only it promotes the reforestation of an endemic tree –which helps combat desertification and soil degradation, but it also provides alternatives for income generation, thus diversifying livelihoods – something crucial for reducing community vulnerability to environmental and socioeconomic fluctuations.”

Carbon Copy considers micro-finance as an idea that could help alleviate the energy problems in South Africa, not just in rural off-grid settings, but also urban squatter settlements.