Global Voices Digest

South Africa: Podcasting Is Taking Off

Grab your headphones and get ready for Tyler Reed’s comprehensive introduction to South African podcasting. With a new competition offering major cash prizes, it seems likely that these early innovators will soon be joined by a new cadre of audiophiles.

Lebanon: Meanings and Consequences

Writes Moussa Bashir: “This week’s summary is a selection of posts that focus on meanings and on repercussions. For example, what does it mean to be a modern man or a leftist in Lebanon and what is the aftermath of not caring for rural communities and of not developing agriculture as a means of production? Other topics involve the new poverty rates in Lebanon and how political bickering is taking its toll on young students.”

Senegal Army: Face of Luxury, Back of Misery

“In its usual deadpan humor,” begins Francophone Language Editor Alice Backer, “Blog Politique du Senegal highlights an architectural anecdote about the military headquarters of Senegal to make a wider point about the army’s budget and priorities.”

Arabisc: A Pictorial Tour of the Middle East

Amira Al Hussaini’s illustrated tour of the Middle East this week begins on a road trip to Riyadh; then to Bahrain where we meet a rare bird that is anything but camera shy; to Egypt for a dose of farm life; and the United Arab Emirates, where “stove-cycles” keep the pizza warm.

South Asia: Cricket Victories and Upsets

I still say that cricket is an insect, not a sport. But who doesn’t love a good upset? Neha Viswanathan says that South Asian cyberspace is abuzz with excitement following Ireland’s upset win over Pakistan and Bangladesh’s unexpected victory over India this past weekend at the Cricket World Cup taking place in the Caribbean.

Egypt: Arrested Bloggers Released Following Constitutional Amendment Clashes

21 Egyptian activists, including three bloggers, arrested at a March 15 protest against recent constitutional amendments have since been released. Amira Al Hussaini has an update, including news that the same Kifaya opposition group has planned another protest for today at noon.

Bolivia: Taking the Coca out of Coca-Cola and Onto the Seal

If a single plant can symbolize national sovereignty, for Bolivia, that plant is surely coca. Though rich in proteins and vitamins, coca is better known throughout most of the world as the raw material in the production of cocaine. Now, a new proposal to add the coca leaf to Bolivia’s national seal has stirred debate throughout the country.

Roundups

Bloggers work together to protect the Losheng Sanatorium in Taiwan, pictures of homes of the wealthy in Armenia, paying tribute to Caribbean intellectual Lloyd Best, and much more can be found in today’s Global Roundups.