Global Voices Digest

The Oldest Blogger in the Balkans

“In the evening, Radmilo Ristic, a 74-year-old retired high school professor, likes to attend theater plays, gallery openings, literary nights, round-table discussions and other similar events that take place around Kragujevac, a city in Central Serbia. When Ristic comes back home, instead of the traditional paper and pen, his computer awaits him.” Find out what Ristic has been writing lately in Ljubisa Bojic’s excellent feature piece.

Egypt: Bloggers Among Egyptian Demo Detainees

In the first of two posts following the fates of Egyptian bloggers detained for protesting recent amendments to the constitution, Amira Al Hussaini describes the mood in downtown Cairo, both online and off.

Egypt: Arrested Activists and Bloggers Released in the Desert

Arrest them downtown and release them in the desert? In her follow-up post, Al Hussaini reveals what life is like behind bars in an Egyptian detention center and how one judge is hoping to silence cyber-dissent.

Mozambique: Blasts Kill Dozens in Maputo

“Citizens don’t seem to trust the media to find out the thruth about the tragedy,” writes Jose Murilo Junior in his coverage of online reaction to the deadly blasts at Mozambique’s largest arms depot in Maputo. As soldiers comb through the capital city’s working class neighborhoods for live munitions, bloggers want to know why 20 tons of obsolete explosives from the country’s civil war era were stockpiled in a dangerous depot.

Armenia off balance: Government resigns over PM’s death

Just a month and a half before parliamentary elections, Andranik Margaryan, Armenia’s longest serving Prime Minister and head of the ruling Republican party, died of a heart attack at a time, according to Artur Papyan, “when stability is crucial for the country.” Here are the initial reactions by local bloggers.

Lebanon: Spring, Art and Dilemmas

In a fitting homage to the rebirth that comes with spring, Mother’s Day is celebrated on the vernal equinox in Lebanon. “Bloggers tend to post more about love, nature and sunshine, reflecting the general upbeat mood,” says Moussa Bashir. “Even the political posts tend to be plans, strategies or analyses about how to make things better.”

Egypt: Free Kareem Rallies and What Kareem Wrote

We return to Egypt one final time today and return to the case of 22-year-old former Al Azhar University student, Abdulkareem Nabeel Sulaiman and his ongoing imprisonment for articles he wrote on his personal blog which allegedly insulted both Islam and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Want to know just exactly what it was that Kareem wrote? Amira Al Hussaini points the way.

Tunisphere: March 20, Mayans and Arabs

Tunisia’s Independence Day fell on the fourth anniversary of the United States’ occupation of Iraq, inviting inspection into modern interpretations of “colonization” and “independence.”

Russia: User Guide

Veronica Khoklova’s brief post focuses on the rallies that took place over the weekend in various parts of Russia, and on one blogger, in particular, who gets hold of a promotional booklet from a pro-Kremlin rally and describes it as “a brief user guide. For an extremely simple device. . . .”

Roundups

Post-election analysis of Hong Kong politics, troubles facing Russian universities, advertisements from Pakistan’s past, and much more can be found in today’s Global Roundups.