So, the Pope’s retired and the North Korea is doing nuclear tests. We’re just having a banner year already. Put it in your diaries, cousins. You’ll want your grandkids to remember this s**t.
Angola
Video of Brutal Beating of Women Shocks Angola (Global Voices)
Antarctica
Lake-drilling team discovers life under the ice (Nature) — Hey, I already knew about this. I watch X-files… Oh, that’s not a documentary? Who knew?
Australia
Australian Sport: Drugs, Match Fixing Linked to Organised Crime (Global Voices) — Are you shocked? I’m not. Seriously, drugs and match fixing. It’s the basis for a goodly number of enterprises for org. crime.
Bangladesh
#Shahbag Protesters Bid Farewell to Brutally Murdered Blogger (Global Voices)
Videos from #Shahbag, Bangladesh’s Generation Square (Global Voices)
Bangladesh Unites at Shahbag for 42-Year-Old War Crimes (Global Voices)
Bangladeshi Women Join Shahbag Protests in Remarkable Numbers (Global Voices)
In Pictures: The Protesting Crowd In Shahbag (Global Voices)
#Shahbag in a 144 Characters (Global Voices)
Bolivia
Bolivia: Indigenous Communities Battle for Territory (Global Voices)
Brazil
With Corruption All Too Common, Brazil Pushes Back (Global Voices)
‘Follow the Pope’s Lead,’ Brazil Tells Senate President (Global Voices)
Bulgaria
Bulgarian Police Attack Anti-Government Protesters (Global Voices)
Canada
One Phone Call is Not Enough: Court Rules You Have the Right to Google a Lawyer (Michael Geist)
Canadian cops can use electronic surveillance without reporting it (Boing Boing)
Canada’s Internet snooping bill is dead (Boing Boing)
China
Beijing Must Punish Pyongyang, But Never Join Anti-North Alliance (Huanqiu, People’s Republic of China) (Moderate Voice)
Citizens Document Extreme Water Pollution in China (Global Voices)
Chinese Planned to Kill Drug Lord With Drone (Moderate Voice)
Colombia
Colombia: Shots Continue to Ring Out in Medellín (Global Voices) — When I wrote that short story, I never expected it to become *real* in any way.
Ecuador
Ecuador: Central Bank President Resigns Amid Forged Degree Scandal (Global Voices)
Finland
Pirate Bay calls cops on Finnish copyright enforcement thugs that ripped off its website (Boing Boing)
France
Horsemeat Scandal Spreads as French Retailers Pull Foods (Moderate Voice) — So, what’s the bigger deal? The fact that the meat is not as advertised, or that people are actually eating horses?
Germany
From Whispers to Outcry: Sexism in Germany (Global Voices)
Honduras
Honduran President vs. Freedom of the Press (Global Voices)
Hong Kong
Hong Kong Activist Jailed for Burning Chinese Flag (Global Voices)
Hungary
Students to Protest Constitutional Amendment (Global Voices)
India
India at the Forefront of One Billion Rising (Global Voices)
Indonesia
Indonesia’s Bill on Mass Organizations (Global Voices)
Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s ice cream budget frozen (ontd_political)
Japan
Japan’s Porn Law is Strangling Artists (Global Voices)
Imposed 66 Years Ago, the Time Has Come to Revise Our ‘Pacific Constitution’ (Iwate Nippo Shimbun, Japan) (Moderate Voice)
Japan’s Conservation Groups Fight to Preserve Wetlands (Global Voices)
Okinawans Will No Longer be ‘Pawned Away’ to Curry American Favor (Ryukyu Shimpo Shimbun, Japan) (Moderate Voice)
Kashmir
Fatwa Snowballs, Kashmir’s First All-Girl Band Calls it Quits (Global Voices)
Kenya
Kenya’s Presidential Elections Go High-Tech (Global Voices)
Kuwait
Targeted by Kuwaiti Police, Stateless Video Blogger Calls it Quits (Global Voices)
Libya
A Second Revolution in Libya? (Global Voices)
Malaysia
Australian Senator Deported for ‘Interfering’ in Malaysian Politics (Global Voices)
Mali
The Idleness of African Leadership in Mali (Global Voices)
Mauritania
Mauritanians Protest Tahrir Square Assaults (Global Voices)
Mexico
Rights group faults Mexico over abductions (Al Jazeera)
Myanmar
Myanmar: Media Freedom Still Under Threat (Global Voices)
E-Mails of Reporters in Myanmar Are Hacked (NYT) – Hmmm… a mostly repressive government reading emails, hmmm…
North Korea
North Korea’s blast: China Holds the Cards (Moderate Voice)
North Korea Stokes Global Fury with Nuclear Test (Moderate Voice)
North Korea Conducts 3rd Nuclear Test (Global Voices)
North Korea conducts third nuclear test in DPRK history (Boing Boing) – Okay, so this likely links back to the same story, but it’s got a better picture.
Pakistan
Pakistan’s Hazara Shias Demand Arrests, Protection After Deadly Bombing (Global Voices)
Peru
Peru: Heavy Rains Affect Arequipa (Global Voices)
Rome <– You did remember that this is its own country right? The Pope's actually the leader of a nation, not just a religion?
Pope’s Resignation Echoes in Africa (Global Voices)
Latin America: Pope Resigns – Hope, Humour and Speculation Follow (Global Voices)
Pope Benedict XVI Resigns (UDATE 2 with ROUNDUP) (The Moderate Voice)
Papal Frontrunners Include Two Africans And One Canadian (The Moderate Voice)
Pope’s Brother Knew of Planned Resignation (Moderate Voice) — Well, God forbid the man talk to his *family* rather than the press first. The nerve.
Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation: Live Report (Moderate Voice) – Well, not so live anymore.
How Will the Catholic Church Handle a Living Ex-Pope? (The Moderate Voice) — Well, hopefully, he’ll retire to a monastery with a bunch of other retired priests and live out his life praying and working in the garden.
A Non-European Pope (The Moderate Voice) — I think it would be cool to have an African pope. I mean, it’s not like it’s going to necessarily change anything in terms of the direction of the church – given the power of the Curiate – but a little new blood in the papacy would be welcome.
The Paradoxes of Pope Benedict (The Moderate Voice)
America’s ‘Pulse’ Is Having a Bad Day (The Moderate Voice)
Russia
Incredible details are emerging about Russia’s Chelyabinsk meteor (i09)
A Fistful of Bloggers: Russian MP Pressured to Resign (Global Voices)
Meteor explodes over Russia (Boing BOing)
“Pedophile’s Guide” Lands Russian Blogging Platform on Blacklist (Global Voices) — I’ve an idea. How about leaving it live and spying on it somehow. Like a little malicious script that will let you see who’s reading it.
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia: Hospital Gives HIV, Minister Gives iPad (Global Voices)
Saudi Women Protesters Arrested for “Impairing Development” (Global Voices)
Senegal
Is Senegal’s Government Spokesman Selling Out? (Global Voices)
South Africa
Pistorius sobs as court hears murder charge (Chicago Tribune)
Spain
Spain: lawmakers want bullfighting to be protected as cultural heritage (Boing Boing) — That’s like saying that America should protect dog fighting. No. Just No. That which was acceptable in the past, is not exactly what is acceptable in the future.
Under Pressure, Spain Opens Door to Foreclosure Reform (Global Voices)
Spain: Bail of 8,1 Million Euro for the King’s Son-in-law (Global Voices)
Taiwan
Taiwanese Writer Finds Poetry in Laid-off Workers’ Railway Protest (Global Voices)
Tajikistan
Journalist’s Stabbing a ‘Warning’ for Tajik Opposition (Global Voices)
Turkey
Turkey: Lynch Attempt on Kurdish Members of Parliament in Sinop (Global Voices)
United Kingdom
TESCO attaches tracking armbands to employees (Boing Boing)
UK “forced labor” welfare scheme nailed in court (Boing Boing) — There’s a huge difference between “prove to us your trying to find a job” and “do this unpaid labor for for-profit companies so I get my kickback.”
Guerrilla Benchers replace street furniture removed to discourage homeless people (Boing Boing0
London mayor praises horse meat (Boing Boing)
Venezuela
‘He’s back!’ Chavez in Venezuela after Cancer Surgery (Moderate Voice)
Yemen
Protester Sets Himself on Fire, Yemen Remembers the Revolution (Global Voices)
A Gaming Girl's Take on Life 