Peru: A Minister's Departure & War with Chile?

The Balkans: Bloggers Discuss the ICJ Verdict

On Monday, after nearly ten months of deliberation, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) declared that the 1995 Srebrenica Massacre was an act of genocide, but that the pattern of the atrocities committed by Bosnian Serbs during the 1992-1995 war (which claimed more than 100,000 lives) was “too broad” to...

Madagascar: Expulsions in France questioned

(courtesy of sarkostique) Stemming from ongoing racial tensions and amplified by the riots of last summer, fear of immigrants led the French ministry of homeland security to crack down on illegal immigration. Immigrants of Malagasy origins were also affected by the new emphasis on expelling any immigrants without proper accreditation....

Sudan: Diversity And Identity Crisis

Many of the posts on the Sudanese blogosphere during the past 2 weeks discussed Sudan's diversity and also revolved around the issue of identity. Sudanese Thinker had an interesting post entitled “Sudan: Arab or African?” He was responding to a question posted on Sudan Watch: Since Sudan belongs to both...

Arabisc: A Pictorial Tour of North Africa

There is one word to describe this picture taken by American blogger Cory Driver, who is based in Morocco, and it is wow! Not being a photography critic, however, I am reserving my exclamation for the amazing work Driver is involved with in Moroccan villages, including that of Tattiwin, located...

Taiwan: Name-rectification Debate

The two terms “Taiwan” and “Republic of China” ( R.O.C.) has been intertwined together for the last decades. However, after several elections, with the switch in ruling parties from the pro- Chinese- unification party KMT to the pro- Taiwan- independence party DPP, these two terms are now at the focus...

Panama: More Deadly Than War

#1: Panama Guide reports on Charity Expat Social: …We ate dinner with Sister Griselda Rios who has been working with the orphanage for more than three years. They have about 160 children there at any one time. She came to the dinner with Felipe Arosemena (hijo) who has been at...

Meet Sami Ben Gharbia, Global Voices’ new Advocacy Director

Global Voices is delighted to announce the appointment of Sami Ben Gharbia as Advocacy Director, and the attentive reader will already have noticed his posts on anti-censorship and free-speech issues. Sami pictured next to a free-speech campaign slogan Sami is an experienced human rights campaigner, a Tunisian who has lived...

China: Government study tours questioned

Somewhat related to this recent post, Sichuan province Writer's Association member and Strong China blogger Li Hongzhi looks at a recent decision from the organizational department of the provincial Communist Party which limits government leaders’ training trips abroad. Chinese teachers go abroad to experience and learn, as do liberal intellectuals...

Saudi Arabia: Government Cracking Down on Bloggers, New Saudi Ambassador to US, and More

A Press frenzy over Saudi school curriculums, a govermental campaign targeting a number of male Saudi bloggers, Anna Nicole Smith, Kareem Amer, forced divorces, a new government program to fight corruption, and much more are keeping the Saudi blogosphere lively. Khloud did a great job at summarizing a recent BBC...

Turkey is Typing….Food and Music

I'm reaching in a different direction this week. Let's talk Turkish food and music. Zen in the Kitchen talks about the simple pleasures in eating bread with fresh olive oil. Tastes of Mavi Boncuk gives us a background to the history of the Turkish national drink Raki, and Almost Turkish...

Tunisphere: How to blog about politics without being censored?

Tunisian bloggers seem to have found ways to talk about Tunisian politics while avoiding getting caught by the ATI (Tunisian agency of Internet) watchdogs in charge of denying access and filtering out any site or blog that is critical of the Tunisian government and its members. After its last campaign...

Bolivia: The Changing Face of the Flag

Photo taken by Patricia Vargas Claudio and used with permission. National symbols played a role in the presidential elections of December 2005. Jorge “Tuto” Quiroga, the main rival to the eventual winner, Evo Morales, accused his opponent of wanting to change the traditional red, yellow, and green flag to something...

Senegal Elections: Towards Another Wade Term?

“Senegal Wants Its Freedom Back” headline. By R-Nesto. Yesterday was election day in Senegal. A campaign marked by some violent clashes started about a month ago and most of the Senegalese bloggers were hoping to see the incumbent, PDS  [Social Democratic Party] leader Abdoulaye Wade, defeated. Wade has been in...

Maldives: Torture Techniques in Paradise

The blog Groundsix notes some of the torture techniques used on detainees and prisoners in the Maldives. Putting in stocks: The victim is restrained with his or her ankles and wrists locked in tiny holes in a block of wood. The victim remains bent and does not have the use...

Uganda: Special Report on Best of Blogs

Last week, Uganda bloggers descended on Mateo's bar in Kampala for the second Uganda Bloggers Happy Hour. In addition to catching up with friends and discussing the main challenges facing the nation, the group made nominations for the first Uganda Best of Blog Awards. In a way, 2006 was the...

Lebanon: Academia, Agriculture and Construction

Let us begin this week’s roundup of the Lebanese blogosphere with non–political posts. Let us start from a post about two Lebanese salads that are used as appetizers during meals: Skylark shows us (Fr) how to prepare Fattush and Tabboule, which are two delicious Lebanese salads that are usually found...

Syrian Blogsphere: Free Kareem, Towards a Democratic Syria, Arabism and More

The Syrian blogsphere reacted to the news about the sentencing of Egyptian blogger Kareem Nabil Sulaiman with disgust. Abu Kareem from Levantine Dreamhouse wrote… The language of the charges is sickeningly familiar. It is the language that paranoid authoritarian governments use when they feel threatened, when someone tells the TRUTH....

Touring Libyan Blogs: Between history, hair, leadership, cleaning the floor and many more stories

Most of us have studied some history, many of us think we know history, but the majority of us are really ignorant about large parts of our own history. That is why the personal accounts of travellers a la Ibn Battuta style are so important to record the making of...

Street food from Panama, Mandoo from Korea, and a Hot Pot Video from Shanghai

#1: From Korea: Kimchi Mamas and a recipe to prepare Mandoo, the easy to prepare Korean dumplings! If you've never made mandoo before, it really isn't hard. The dumpling-making is the most time-consuming part. Once they are made, you simmer the mandoo gently in a pork-beef-chicken broth (yes, all three)...

Free Kareem: Egyptian Bloggers Speak Out

The sentencing of Egyptian blogger Kareem Nabeel Sulaiman to four years in prison for articles he wrote in his personal blog may have come as a shock to many around the world, but for Egyptian bloggers the lesson is just too close to home for comfort. Kareem was sentenced by...