Global Voices Digest

China: 7.8 scale earthquake felt across most of China

At 2:28 pm Monday Beijing time, an earthquake registering 7.8 on the Richter scale struck in southwestern China’s Sichuan province, centered in Wenchuan county, and with tremors felt as far away as Beijing and Hong Kong. China’s Seismological Bureau has warned that aftershocks ranging in scale from 2 to 6 will take place later in the evening. John Kennedy provides the means for up to date information on the quake.

Saudi Arabia: Why Are There No Cinemas?

“Why are there no cinemas in Saudi Arabia?” asks Saudi blogger Hayfa [Ar], who offers us her ideas of a workable plan to make cineplexes and movie screenings compliant with her country’s traditional and religious outlook.

Uzbekistan: Unwanted Changes

For the last two weeks, the Uzbek blogosphere has discussed the changes that are happening in the post-Soviet period in Uzbekistan. The changing cultural and political atmosphere was first reflected throughout Uzbekistan through renaming of squares, streets and parks from Soviet-type names into symbols of either independence or national identity. All Soviet monuments have been dismantled, being replaced with the heroes of Uzbek history.

China:Quake damage rising; witness in affected cities

Bob Chen continues the Global Voices coverage of the China earthquake by covering the rising body counts and the difficulties in getting help to those who need to be rescued. Check back to this article for more updates.

Global Voices partners with NewsTrust

Today marks the first day of a week-long ‘news hunt’ between Global Voices and NewsTrust, in search of good journalism on the Middle East. The timing of this partnership is particularly important as this week marks the 60th anniversary of Israel’s founding, or what many Arabs refer to as ‘Al-Nakba, or ‘the catastrophe.’ Iraq and Lebanon are also facing new escalations in their security situations as the region continues to make headlines around the world. Join us in rating our coverage on NewsTrust.

Sri Lanka: Government Wins Eastern Polls

The much hyped Sri Lankan Eastern Provincial council elections were held last Saturday (May 10) with the government winning 20 of the of the allocated 37 seats. While the government hailed this as a major victory in the fight against terrorism, the two major opposing parties and many independent observers complained about rigging and many incidents of tampering. Bloggers were divided in their opinions with some supporting it, some criticizing the violations, and some questioning the validity of Provincial councils.

Kuwait: Elections Getting Closer

Kuwait is gearing up for another round of Parliamentary elections on Saturday (May 17), allowing women to cast votes and nominate themselves for the second time in the country’s history. Abdullatif AlOmar brings us the latest reactions from Kuwaiti blogs in this post, including a call for women to use their votes wisely to safeguard the future of their children.

Moroccan Student in Lebanon Chronicles Life in the Middle of Political Crisis

Manal, a Moroccan student at the American University of Beirut, blogs firsthand accounts of life in the middle of Lebanon’s political crisis.

PangeaDay: an event lived worldwide

Pangea Day took place Saturday, and people from different parts of the world got together to watch movies and be a part of the worldwide event where movies, speakers and music showed us a bit of life on the other side of the globe, uniting people from all walks of life to believe that we aren’t as different as we would believe. It also included a mobile video contest, with an international lineup of winners.

Today on Voices Without Votes: Watching the U.S. from Down Under

A desire for a new attitude by the U.S. to international relations is a subtext in many recent blog posts in Australia. The concern that John McCain will be more of the same is never far from the surface, writes Kevin Rennie, who reviews blogs from Down Under.

Roundups

Get the blog buzz from the world over in the Global Roundups, where today you can find literature of the oppressed in India, an entire town on a protest hunger strike in Armenia, an Estonian garbage clean-up campaign, and much much more!