Global Voices Online

Ana praises Georgia's new higher education entrance exams, which are designed to limit opportunities for corruption and ensure that students entering higher education institutions are adequately educated and prepared for higher degrees.

Zarchka reports on the outcome of “Hye Super Star,” Armenia's version of “Pop Idol.”

Vasili Rukhadze has a detailed and informative post on Georgia's recent capture of the Kodori Gorge from a rebel warlord, noting the significance of the event in Georgian and regional politics. He says that Georgia's success mark the beginning of a new era in Georgian politics.

At neweurasia, Delia explores whether oil revenues will be good or bad for Azerbaijan.

The Long and Winding Road has a report on Uzbek pop musicians losing their licenses to perform in public after a journalist accused their lyrics of not being authentic Uzbek poetry and them of being bad musicians.

Electric Spaghetti, otherwise known as Saaleha, reels in her man after a spontaneous and florid response to a “419″ spam/scam-mail in her Inbox.

“Lagos,” writes Jangbalajugbu, “is a city that habours the hardworking as well as the lazy. The sane and insane. It is a city with different kinds of people from the rich, educated, wealthy, brilliant & intelligent to the dejected, the accursed, the incorrigible, the hopeless, the dead but breathing-walking corpses, the pathetic and the depressed among others.”

Detectives from Scotland Yard have just arrived in Nigeria to help with the investigation into the murder of politician Funsho Williams who died last week in Lagos, writes UKNaija. “If they fail, I can just imagine the Nigerian government crowing ‘Well, even the experts from Scotland Yard couldn't crack it, so you can't blame us, can you?'”

Eddie Cross on Zimpundit posts in its entirety the speech given by former union leader and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai to a National Convention held by Churches in Zimbabwe Saturday to debate the crisis in the country, and the way forward.

Writes Farrel Lifson at politics.za, South Africa's largest trade union COSATU gets a lot of media exposure, but still has fewer than two million members.

“Next year will be 25 years since you were shot ruthlessly and left to die in some ditch,” writes Farmgirl to her much-missed father. “Oh just want to tell you that Raila and his cronies plotted the whole coup thing that led to your death…I wish he would say sorry to the many families that lost loved ones. Daddy I wish he would just take a minute and say he is sorry that I grew up without you.”

Tasneem Khalil reports that Bangladesh is the cover theme for August 2006 issue of the Himal Southasian, South Asia's first and only regional magazine. The magazine's introspective comment: “Bangladesh is set to become a powerful member of the world community, once it deals with its difficult issues of mal governance and confrontational politics”.

Cigay of Bhutan Weblog writes about an age old dating tradition of Bhutan. Young men used to visit a girl's house discreetly at night, to let her know of his feelings and his intention to marry her and have children with her. With the passage of time, this rural practice has been misunderstood and grossly abused by those who are richer or more powerful.

Indonesian blogger Christine Susanna Tjhin, currently a student in China, talks about the traditional Chinese Valentine's Day. This year, the day falls on 31 July.

Reminding readers of Godwin's Law, which says that “as an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one,” Eduardo Arcos posts (ES) recent photos of election protests in Mexico.