· July, 2007

Stories about Breaking News from July, 2007

China: Released documents implicate Yahoo!

  31 July 2007

A Beijing State Security Bureau document has been released, writes Rebecca MacKinnon at RConversation, which shows Yahoo! was aware at the time the reason why Beijing authorities wanted access to...

Japan: A Historic Election Defeat

  31 July 2007

The overwhelming defeat of the Liberal Democratic Party in Japan's upper house elections on Sunday, historic in its scale, brought about a drastic shift in the Japanese political landscape and sent a clear message to prime minister Abe Shinzo and his government. While media across the world analyze political fallout of the political shift, bloggers are echoing the message and demanding change.

China: Citywide taxi strike

  31 July 2007

It seems the ten thousand taxi drivers in one Chinese city have all gone on strike, bloggers are making this much clear. Local media appears not to be reporting on the incident, so the reasons for the job action have yet to be made known.

Iraq: WE WOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!

Iraq's national football team won the Asian Cup, an event which brought joy to Iraqis at home and around the world. Sufferings, death, sectarian divisions and repercussions against Iraqis celebrating abroad were also captured in the reactions rounded up by Salam Adil from the Iraqi blogosphere.

Touring Libyan Blogs: Health Sector, Old Ladies, Confrontating a Racist Bully, Globetrotting and Another Libyan Writer

The case of the Bulgarian nurses (and the Palestinian doctor) is already fading into history - while speculation rages if they have been bought off, whether they were guilty or not, if they were hostage to a political settlement in the New World Order or who is it exactly that defused the situation? One thing is sure on this side of the world is that their innocence or the lack of it has not been proven 100 per cent. However, in the interest of self preservation Libyans are moving on, writes Fozia Mohamed.

Kurdistance: A Victory in the Turkish Elections

While the Turks have had some mixed reactions to the outcome of the recent Turkish parliamentary elections, Kurds have been rejoicing as potential Kurdish parliamentarians have exploited a loophole in the election system and gained a foothold in the Turkish parliament.

“Following the release of the ‘Benghazi Six,’ Bulgarian president Georgi Parvanov has pardoned and released them. He’s also granted citizenship to the Palestinian among them,” reports Elijah Zarwan from Egypt.

Palestine: Today's Ultimate Sin – Complacency?

"'It is not only for what we do that we are held responsible, but also for what we do not do.' The virtuous amongst us try to identify evil, and not do it. However, how often do we consider the act of NOT DOING as evil?" asks blogger Oranges and Olives. A good question among many from this week's post of prolific Palestinian blogs.

China: Dispossessed farmers beaten

  21 July 2007

The local government wants to build a new administration tower, 240 farmers in Jiangxi province claim, but they don't even have enough to pay us back for the land it will be built on. On July 20 the developer moved on in and the villagers got in the way.

Arabeyes: Saudi Women Fight for Men's Rights

Saudi women are grabbing the headlines once again - this time with a protest to demand the freedom of their husbands and kin arrested under 'terrorism' charges, in the conservative kingdom where women are not even allowed to drive. While newspapers are shying from covering the demonstration, bloggers are coming up with creative methods to spread their demands and concerns.

Cuba: Tobacco Deal?

  19 July 2007

“More than 245 years after the English briefly held Havana, the British are close to becoming a big player in Cuba again. This time it will be all about tobacco.”...

Japan: A Week of Typhoons, Earthquakes, and Nuke Leaks

  19 July 2007

The past week has been rough for Japan. Just as a torrential typhoon finished ripping through Okinawa and Kyushu, massive earthquakes hit Niigata and nearby regions, among other things setting fire to parts of Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, the world's largest nuclear power plant. Video footage and blog translations in this week's post provide a glimpse into what has been happening at ground level.