Global Voices Online

Madagascar Croissance posts (Fr) a list of the ministers that make up the new government.

Reunion Passion usually blogs on her homeland but recently she focused on nearby Indian Ocean French overseas department Mayotte (Fr): “Many cultures cohabitate in Mayotte, the first, of Comorian origin, constitutes 60% of the population, the second is Malagasy and is heavily influenced by the first and finally the French and Western influences the first two increasingly.” The blogger posts an original slideshow of the featured island.

Due to regained security in the capital, pre-carnival festivities in Port-au-Prince have been about as well attended as carnival itself, says (Fr) HaitiXchange. Adds the site: “Marching bands and the better known DJs were all part of the festivities. People came from everywhere: Petion Ville, Delmas, Cite Soleil, Martissant…in order to enjoy themselves. Important measures were put in place by the authorities to prevent any decline in security during the pre-carnival activities.” (See full post translation to English here.)

Senor Enrique in Manila introduces us to Jun, a Taho seller. Taho is a popular sweet snack in Philippines and it is made with bean curd, liquefied raw sugar and tapioca balls.

Bangkok Dazed takes us to Inle Lake, one of Myanmar's popular tourist destination. Inle Lake is a large fresh water lake in Shan state.

Abeni regrets to report that drive-by shootings have arrived in St. Vincent.

Ryan Patrick at the West Indies Cricket Blog offers up a list of his favourite “dramatic cricketing names” and invites you to submit yours.

Larry Smith offers a useful historic overview of the history of the drug trade in a post that asks the question: can the war on drugs be won?

Alejandro Armengol attempts to make sense (ES) of the reaction of Miami's Cuban exiles to the video of Cuban president Fidel Castro released yesterday.