This is not an easy time for the Dalai Lama, who seems to find it easier to trot the globe as a holy man promoting peace than to serve as a political leader of his Tibetan people. Twice in a little more than a week, the Dalai Lama has suggested that he might resign if Tibetans don't stop using violence to press for greater freedom under Chinese rule.
Yoani Sanchez, one of Cuba's most popular bloggers, said Cuban authorities have blocked access from the island to her Web page about everyday life in Cuba. "So the anonymous censors of our famished cyberspace have tried to shut me in a room, turn off the light and not let my friends in," Sanchez wrote in her "Generacion Y" blog Monday.
On a typical workday, Lovemore Vambe will make dozens of clandestine phone calls that lead to a handful of illegal transactions. He'll conspire with colleagues, sidestep police or bribe them if necessary, and come home in the evening with a few dollars in his pocket.