Victory Day was as much of an event in the Russian blogosphere as it was in the streets of Moscow and other Russian cities on May 9. Veronica Khokhlova reviews some of the posts.

Musical instruments from around the world

Juliana Rincón Parra brings us videos with interesting instruments from different corners of the world, including some made from recycled cans and plastic sodabottles, a record of how didgeridoos are made, and a Russian folk song on a hurdy gurdy.

China: Nationalism vs. nationalism in Korea

It feels like trampling on an already well-trampled Chinese flag at this point, as millions have begun their Olympic host celebrations on the mainland, but carrying on from an earlier post, here is how discussion over the actions of a few Chinese students who resorted to violence as the torch passed through Korea earlier this month.

PangeaDay: Impressions from Brazil

Pangea day took place this Saturday, May 10 2008, and the world watched together a selection of films broadcast via the internet and TV simultaneously to every corner of the planet and with live broadcast in Cairo, Kigali, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai, and Rio de Janeiro. See here a comprehensive wrap up: PangeaDay as seen by a Brazilian blogger.

Cambodia: Advertisement that Attracts

A Cambodia blogger praises the government for the improved press rights and freedom of expression, but wants the Ministry of Culture as well as Ministry of Information to ensure that all commercial TV ads should be properly monitored before going on air.

Tunisia: Sarkozy’s Visit Spurs Blog Reactions

The Tunisian blogosphere was buzzing last week with responses to French President Nicholas Sarkozy’s official visit. Naruto brings us some of the reactions in this post.

Blogger of the Week: Claire Ulrich

Today’s Blogger of the Week may not be known by her blog, but she is widely known by her labour at Global Voices Online in French. Until recently, she has been the only translator for that Lingua site, which owes its existence much to Claire Ulrich’s drive and desire to see the project on track. Juan Arellano catches up with Claire in this interview, who kindly shares with us her views on a number of issues.

Armenia: Blogging Comes of Age

Arguably the most active country in the South Caucasus when it comes to blogging, the content and relevance of blogs on Armenia was at first nothing really worth writing home about. Most posts by foreigners living in the capital almost entirely focused on how good their lives were while others were simply copy and paste exercises reproducing articles without comment. However, that was all to change during and after the recent presidential election.

Myanmar: Survivors of Cyclone Nargis

A week has passed since Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar. The situation on the ground continues to deteriorate: food rationing is inadequate, medical supplies are running out and hundreds of thousands are still without shelter. Bloggers continue to discuss the impact of the cyclone and the relief efforts to help the victims.

Roundups

Get the blog buzz from the world over in the Global Roundups, where today you can find the Amakula Kampala Film Festival in Uganda, cheating in Burma’s constitutional referendum,Syria Blocks the Arabic Wikipedia, and much much more!

Vietnamese netizens got another opportunity to vent their anti-China anger when the Beijing Olympic flame was in Ho Chi Minh city. Caroline Finlay rounds up some of the reactions.

Burkina Faso: Shea butter and other secrets

John Liebhardt invites us into the world and culture of Burkina Faso, a quiet stable country, but one of secrets and wonders like Shea butter– the natural fat extracted from the fruit of the karite nut. Shea is a natural moisturizer and its high levels of vegetable fats allow it to treat a host of skin conditions, from burns to eczema to rashes.

Zambia: Parastatal madness and constitutional debate

This roundup covers Zambian bloggers who are discussing “the parastatal madness,” the debate over the constitution of Zambia, the election crisis in Zimbabwe and the African Forum on ICT Best Practices 2008, which took place in Burkina Faso recently.

Taiwan: April 26th 2008, an Usual Day and a Special Day

190 photographers all over Taiwan took their cameras and pressed the shutter for the photo blogging relay to make a 24-hr record of Taiwan. I-fan Lin brings us these photos and links that were uploaded on May 5th.

Roundups

Get the blog buzz from the world over in the Global Roundups, where today you can find a UNICEF campaign for buckets to use in disaster-torn Myanmar, ripping up your husband’s passport, the mass emigration of Portuguese-descended settlers and white Angolans from Luena, and much much more!

While not bird flu related, the recent outbreak of HFMD (Hand Foot and Mouth Disease) in China gives us an opportunity to see how the Chinese government responds to an epidemic. During the weekend china issued a countrywide alert to control the disease as it is also spreading in many other parts of china. Still, one can’t see the end of that trouble that is on rise with every passing day.

Malaysia: Vigil for jailed blogger Raja Petra this evening

Take note of what’s been happening in Malaysia these past few days since popular blogger and political commentator Raja Petra Kamarudin, 58, was imprisoned on Tuesday after a trial which saw him charged with sedition for having written a blog post.
*This post is cross-posted on the Global Voices Advocacy Project*

Brazil and Orkut: made for each other?

Orkut, Google’s experiment on Social Networking Services, is extremely popular in Brazil. More than 53% of Orkut users is Brazilian — even more, if you take into account the Brazilian’s profiles that don’t show their country information and the profiles of Brazilians living abroad — and more than 70% percent of Brazil’s Internet users are actually profiled and active in the network. Daniel Duende takes a look on what are all these Brazilians doing there.

Myanmar: Slow relief work

The death toll continues to rise in Myanmar days after a deadly cyclone hit the country. Dead bodies are dumped in the rivers. Relief is coming from many parts in the world but the Junta is still restricting the movement of foreign aid teams. The situation is worsening as food and medical supplies are still inadequate.

The Global Voices Summit ‘08 site is live!

We’re thrilled to announce the launch of the web site for the Global Voices Citizen Media Summit 2008, taking place in Budapest, Hungary on June 27-28, 2008. Visit the Summit site for background information on the goals of the meeting, our terrific program of events, registration details and information about the charming city of Budapest, and much more.

Lebanon: Strike Gone Sour

May 7 should have been a day for general strike and demonstration to contest the government’s economic policies, price rise and low wages. The workers syndicate had to cancel the demonstration, although keeping the strike on, because clashes broke out in many places around Lebanon between different factions belonging to the pro–government and opposition camps. Bloggers were quick to comment on the events. Here are some of their reflections from yesterday although the events are escalating very fast into gunfights in the streets of Beirut.

Today on Rising Voices: Voces Bolivianas: The day Bolivia was blogging

The Bolivian Voices day on April 19, 2008 was a nationwide effort to train bloggers and bring more people into the global conversation. Approximately 100 Bolivians from ‘underrepresented’ groups took part in a day long workshop in seven cities of Bolivia. Learn more about that day in this week’s feature.

Today on Voices Without Votes: Iran: US Elections from an Iranian Perspective

Iranian bloggers have launched a far-ranging debate about the elections in the United States at the time when such discussions are not seen in mainstream media. Akbar Chanani tunes into the Farsi blogopshere where Iranian bloggers continue to compare between the elections in the US and Iran and discuss their hopes and fears of how the next president in the Oval Office would react towards their country.

Roundups

Get the blog buzz from the world over in the Global Roundups, where today you can find stuck in Beirut, domestic violence in Pakistan, the question of blogging versus journalism, and much much more!

The South Caucasus has always been a volatile and unstable region riven by ethnic conflict and instability. This is definitely the case in Georgia where tensions with Russia have increased to the extent that Reuters reports that the battle of words between Tbilisi and Moscow might yet turn into war over the breakaway and defacto independent [Georgian] region of Abkhazia.

Japan: Death Penalty Broadcast, 53 Years Later

An audio tape recorded 53 years ago of a death penalty execution in Japan, aired by Nippon Cultural Broadcasting on May 6th and and by Asahi television’s Super Morning show on April 29th, has triggered conversations among bloggers about the country’s death penalty system. The 50-minute audio footage, which features the last moments of one unnamed death row inmate, is the first of its kind to have ever been released.

Russia: Putin Out, Medvedev In

On Wednesday, Dmitry Medvedev became Russia’s third post-Soviet president. Bloggers discuss the outgoing president’s legacy, the political situation in Russia, and the traffic situation in Moscow on the day of Medvedev’s inauguration.

Iraq: Stop the massacre in Sadr City…

… so says Al-Ghad. In the weeks following the high profile attack on Basra by the Iraqi army and its high profile failure something of a low-level war has been going on across Iraq much behind the scenes of the mainstream media. Yet now the situation seems to be coming to a head.

Today on Voices Without Votes- Global: Obama Closes the Deal?

They call it a “big step.” That’s what Barack Obama took Tuesday when he won the North Carolina Democratic Primary hands down and was narrowly defeated in Indiana by Senator Hillary Clinton. John Liebhardt brings us the reactions of bloggers around the world commenting early on the two primaries, who say that the show for the Democratic race is nearly over.

Roundups

Get the blog buzz from the world over in the Global Roundups, where today you can find playing the homophobic card in Azerbaijan, the river Ganga remains dirty, avoiding the political discussions in Cambodia, and much much more!

Mong Palatino continues coverage on the Cyclone Nargis, which hit Myanmar last weekend and devastated five regions. State-run media reported that more than 22,000 people are found dead with another 41,000 missing. The death toll could still rise. Residents and bloggers are condemning the slow relief work of the ruling Junta.

Korea: Chinese students fear for safety after torch relay violence

Following the violence in Seoul during the Olympic torch relay there last week, a lot of Chinese fenqing types are for the most part just seeing what they want to see in how their generation and China is now being perceived abroad, and not only on anti-CNN.com. John Kennedy explains why a lot of people in (and outside of) China, find that it sure is looking difficult to even be Chinese these days.

Bulgaria: Statehood in Crisis

Yavor Mihailov tells the saga of the Bulgarian blogosphere’s humorous, creative, and relentless campaign against the interior minister of the country, and how it helped lead to his resignation.

Macedonia: Sakura - Cherry Blossom Celebration in Skopje

Even though very few ethnic Japanese live in the Republic of Macedonia, many locals took part in the second annual celebration of Sakura - the festival of cherry blossoms in Macedonia’s capital, Skopje. Organizers of the festivals included some prominent bloggers who recently started a collaborative blog, Japan@mk, and initiated spreading the word through the Macedonian blogosphere.

On Somalis in the new Kenyan cabinet

What issues are dominating the Somali blogosphere? Abdurahman Warsame takes us on a tour from the new Kenyan cabinet and the Somali representation within it, to wedding ceremonies, to speaking out against generalizations about Muslims.

Zimbabwe: Using New Technologies to Fight for Democracy

In countries such as Zimbabwe where media freedom is extremely restricted, new technologies have become powerful tools for political campaigning, communication, advocacy and mobilisation. Since Robert Mugabe turned the country into a dictatorship, bloggers and civic organisations have resorted to using new tools and applications such as blogs, Flickr, Facebook, SMS, YouTube and mashups to fight for democracy, media freedom and good governance.

Guatemala: Remembering Bishop Gerardi and His Report “Never Again!”

Ten years ago, Bishop Juan Gerardi released a report called “Guatemala, Never Again!,” which contained powerful testimonies of those forever affected by the armed conflict in Guatemala. The report provided graphic details and specific names of those who committed these crimes, and as a result, ultimately cost Bishop Gerardi his life. He was killed approximately 50 hours after the release of the report. A decade later, Guatemalan bloggers remember the man who brought much of what was happening in the war into the public consciousness.

Russia: “The March, Sort Of”

The Russian opposition was to hold a protest rally on May 6 in Moscow, on the eve of Dmitry Medvedev’s inauguration as president Vladimir Putin’s replacement, but city officials refused to allow it - and leaders of the oppositional coalition ended up canceling the Dissenters’ March at the last minute. Dozens of protesters were detained by police anyway, as Veronica Khokhlova explains.

Roundups

Get the blog buzz from the world over in the Global Roundups, where today you can find twitter jokes from Zimbabwe, Turkish schools in Pakistan, buying computers in Cuba, and much much more!

More than 4,000 people are dead after Cyclone Nargis hit Myanmar last weekend. It was the world’s deadliest storm in ten years. The cyclone could also worsen the food crisis in the world. Relief is arriving but the ruling Junta is putting restrictions on foreign aid teams. Mong Palatino recaps the situation.

Taiwan: What can a baseball do?

I-fan Lin translates stories about how baseball in Taiwan has changed the life of challenged people and students in remote elementary schools. The first story starts when a screen writer, an actor, and a director, Nien-Jen Wu left a message a blog about the Sacred Heart Home for the challenged people. The second story is about funding baseball team programs in remote elementary schools.

Arabeyes: Freedom for Fouad Al Farhan

Saudi blogger Fouad Al Farhan is now a free man, after spending 137 days in detention in Jeddah. While bloggers have all along speculated why he has been held by the authorities for this long, Arab bloggers are unanimously excited over his release. And they also share their hopes for the release of other jailed bloggers.
*This article is cross-posted on today’s Global Voices Advocacy project.*

Haiti: finding relief for hunger in children

The international food shortage and crisis is doing its rounds on the blogosphere, and videos are no exception. Juliana Rincón Parra shows us video from Haiti: people eating dirt to survive, and a plan to help feed the hungry Haitian children.

Global Voices is seeking to hire a Public Health Editor

Global Voices is seeking to hire a Public Health Editor. He of she will be responsible for writing weekly articles which cover the latest discussions and topics related to public health and human rights in the developing world from citizen media like blogs, podcasts, and video-blogs.
*This articles is cross-listed on Global Voices Outreach project Rising Voices.*

Today on Voices Without Votes: The Other “Bill” That Hillary Backed

Victory was declared for the thousands of World War II veterans from the Philippines this past week with the passing of the Filipino Veterans Equity Bill in the US. Democrats pushing the legislation now want a six-decade-long law overturned to give an estimated 18,000 Filipino war veterans who live in the Philippines roughly $300 a month pension. Filipinos have called the delay a great injustice, writes Eunice del Rosario.

Roundups

Get the blog buzz from the world over in the Global Roundups, where today you can find the distribution of OLPC laptops in Nepal, speed kills in Jordan, the high crime in Puerto Rico, and much much more!

One of the Lingua translators from Global Voices in Spanish, Laura Vidal, enjoyed her experience so much, that she wanted to become more involved and try her hand at writing about blogs in her native country of Venezuela. Her recent work has helped showcase much of what Venezuelan bloggers have to offer, and many of her subject matter goes beyond the polarized politics that usually comes to mind.

Bolivia: Autonomy Referendum Raises Questions

Santa Cruz, Bolivia will head to the polls today in a department-wide referendum on a controversial autonomic statute, which would grant more administrative and economic powers to the state government. Not every Cruceño will participate, however, as many share the opinion of the central government that the referendum is illegal and unconstitutional. Bloggers, no matter where they stand on the statute, hope for no incidents of violence.

Malawi: Reactions to former president political comeback

Recently, the United Democratic Front (UDF) of Malawi’s former president, Bakili Muluzi, had a convention and elected him as their presidential candidate in next year’s election. His only challenger was Malawi’s vice president Dr Cassim Chilumpha who is answering treason charges. Lilongwe-based blogger Austin Madinga says he Muluzi’s comeback is for wrong reasons.

Roundups

Get the blog buzz from the world over in the Global Roundups, where today you can find a visit to the Zongo waterfalls, nuclear fashion in Iran, having tea time with the police, and much much more!

The mayor of Dushanbe and Chairman of the Tajik Parliament’s Upper Chamber Mamadsaid Ubaidulloev proposed a strange way to raise funds for construction of Rogun hydropower station - one of the biggest energy projects in Tajikistan - just ask all the people in the city to give up half their salaries for two months. Vadim Sadonshoev elaborates on this new funding venture.

Bangladesh: Bangla Blogs remember May Day

This week Aparna Ray brings us the Bangla blog world as it buzzed with essays and analysis regarding May 1st, remembered the world over as International Workers’ Day or Labor Day.

Bahrain: Lebanese singer causes political storm

Earlier this week the provocative Lebanese singer Haifa Wehbe performed in Bahrain, but not before Bahrain’s MPs protested and tried to ban her concert, in this round-up by Ayesha Saldanha.

Iran: Inflation and Untouchable Tomatoes

The Iranian government has often denied the existence of inflation, even suggesting it is an invention of foreigners and the media, writes Hamid Tehrani. However, inflation is on rise in Iran and bloggers share their ideas and feelings on inflation in daily life.

Jordan: Gearing Up for Strike

Jordan is gearing up for a strike on May 4, according to bloggers. Just like in Egypt, the message to strike was posted on Facebook, and later picked up by blogs, in protest against increasing prices and calling for better living conditions.

Macau: Wild cheers as the Olympic Torch is paraded

Unlike in other countries on the route, the Olympic Torch was met only with smiles today in Macau, its last leg before Mainland China. Runners have already finished carrying the torch through the city with not a single disruption from protesters. On the contrary, it was greatly cheered by flag-waving spectators who could barely contain their excitement as the flame toured the former Portuguese colony that returned to Chinese rule in 1999.

Roundups

Get the blog buzz from the world over in the Global Roundups, where today you can find the balloon festival in Armenia, Brunei’s blog of the year, celebrating World Press Freedom Day in Egypt, and much much more!

This weekend saw two deadly fires, one in a mattress and another in a textile factory, break out in Morocco’s economic capital, Casablanca. Dozens of people died from asphyxia after being locked into their workplace by employers. The Moroccan blogosphere responds with questions and expressions of anger and sadness.

Venezuela: Left in the Dark

More than 13 states and the most important cities of Venezuela were affected by a power outage last Tuesday, writes Luis Carlos Diaz. The subway system of the capital city of Caracas collapsed and left thousands of people having to walk through city streets already crowded with vehicles. In spite of the difficulties, some bloggers were able to record some thoughts on the day’s events through Twitter and their blogs.

Japan: Return of the Gas Tax

Japan’s “temporary” gasoline tax of 25 yen per liter of gas, extended for over 30 years and funding some 5000 road construction programs, has been re-instated after a short-lived battle with the opposition, and people aren’t happy about it. Bloggers describe their experiences trying to fill up at gas stations in the last day before the gas hike came back into effect on May 1st.

Saudi Arabia: Imprisoned in the Office

Have you ever found yourself working late in the office? From Saudi Arabia, Ar6abon [Ar] shares with us this fascinating story about how he was locked up in his office one night.

Hong Kong: Olympic Torch Relay, the Virtual and the Real

The real Olympic torch relay in Hong Kong has been criticized as a political decision as most of the non-athletic torch bearers were from the pro-China political clan. In the street, the Beijing supporters also out-numbered the protesters for human rights. However, in the virtual torch relay organized by local bloggers, the viewpoints are much more diverse.

Americas: Insufficient Actions and Solutions for Food Crisis

Prices and shortages of food can be seen across Latin America, as many people are becoming desperate with the situation. Blame is being placed on the farmers and blame is being placed on the government for their failure to act or failure to act insufficiently. Bloggers are writing about what they are seeing around them, while others are writing about possible solutions.

Kuwait: Activity Filled Week

It was an activity-filled week for Kuwaiti bloggers, who spent time in a shooting range, doing charity work and weighing their options for the parliamentary elections later this month.

Middle East: Police Meet Workers on May 1

May Day is the day workers around the world rally for better working conditions and higher wages. In the Middle East, bloggers mark the day with posts and photographs reporting what happened, what the day means for them, and why it is a reason for celebration.

Global: The price of food, the cost of despair

The crisis of skyrocketing food prices is affecting all economic groups in every corner of the world. Every day, it seems, high-priced food sends another country lurching through some crisis: demonstrations, riots, rumors of hoarding, falling governments, even deaths. Join John Liebhardt as he guides you through a global round-up of the food crisis.

Today on Rising Voices

FOKO: big achievements for a young project

Within six months FOKO Blog Club’s citizen media outreach project successfully completed workshops in three provinces of Madagaskar and brought more than 30 Malagasy youths into blogging about social issues, producing video reports for competitions and posting photographs. Learn more about their success in this week’s feature.

Today on Voices Without Votes

Wronging Wright: Obama Denounces the Reverend

Reverend Jeremiah Wright has been a thorn in presidential hopeful Barack Obama’s side since his controversial comments from the pulpit emerged in March. Although Obama defended his pastor for some time, explaining that Wright’s comments were being taken out of context, he has now altogether abandoned Wright. Jillian York brings us the latest vibes from the blogosphere.

Roundups

Get the blog buzz from the world over in the Global Roundups, where today you can find criticizing the chastity declaration at Nanking University, Haiti to receive food aid from Florida, Israeli dumping of raw sewage into Palestine, and much much more!

Over the past month, several Arab bloggers have been taking a closer look at who follows their blogs and what keywords bring readers. Here’s a review of what bloggers from Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Egypt had to say.

Ecuador: A Weekend of Free Software Throughout the Country

Throughout Latin America, Free Software festivals were held where the general public could bring in their computers and receive installations of free software. In Ecuador, this event received special attention since the government has moved towards the installation of this software in computers of the public administration. Fourteen events were held throughout the country and bloggers were on hand to write about the organization, participation and results.

Uzbekistan: EU to play nice with Karimov’s regime

Uzbekistan’s human rights record has an ugly history, one example is the Andijon events of May 2005, when several hundred of demonstrating civilians were reportedly shot dead by the Uzbek government troops. GV author Tolkun brings reactions from a recent EU statement commending Uzbekistan for the “progress” it has made on its human rights record.

China: Reflection on patriotism

I-fan Lin translates Chinese reflections on patriotism and how the “protection” for the Olympic torch relay provided by oversea Chinese hurts China.

Arabeyes: Looming Food Crisis

Inflation and rising food and oil prices are a reality around the world, and Arab bloggers are not only feeling the pinch, but writing about it too. Here is a snapshot of reactions from Lebanon, Syria, Kuwait and Egypt.

Chile: political messages in online music video stir the population

Inform Yourself, a political critique Hip-hop song and video made from youtube videos and distributed on that same channel, has caused a stir in the Chilean community and unleashed a flood of comments, both in favor of the message it gives of informing yourself and not taking information on TV at face value, and others lashing against certain lyrics which tell people to go throw rocks at foreign company’s windows as a way to protest.

Appearing today on Voices Without Votes

Iran: Clinton’s threat and a controversial photo

Hillary Clinton’s threats to obliterate Iran should it attack Israel did not go well with Iranian bloggers. Hamid Tehrani reviews the Iranian blogosphere for reactions in Farsi and English.

Roundups

Get the blog buzz from the world over in the Global Roundups, where today you can find May Day in Moscow, cutting Russia’s hajj quota to Saudi Arabia, and the former Prime Minister of Malaysia becomes a blogger, and much much more!