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12 July 2007

Stories from 12 July 2007

China: 750,000 annual pollution deaths

750,000 premature deaths each year from air and water pollution—a statistic the Chinese government sought to keep secret for fear of social unrest should that be publicly known. Word's out now, and people aren't happy about having been lied to.

Written by John Kennedy
12 July 2007

Uzbekistan: Special prison

Jamiyat writes that the Uzbek government has built a new prison especially designed for “delinquent” civil servants. They are not thrown into the dire facilities where normal inmates serve their...

Written by Ben Paarmann
12 July 2007

Kyrgyzstan: Passport ordeal

Tamara needs to get a new Kyrgyz passport in oder to enter the United States – and she chose not to pay a bribe to speed things up. This might...

Written by Ben Paarmann
12 July 2007

Russia: 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi

It would be, of course, an exaggeration to say that every single Russian blogger has commented on Russia's victorious bid to host the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi last week - but it wouldn't be that huge of an exaggeration. The response to the news has been enormous, and the blogosphere seems to be divided into two camps now: those who think that holding the Olympics in this mountainous Black Sea resort town is a great idea - and those who think it's a disaster in the making. Here are the views of several bloggers involved in the Russian opposition politics in one way or another - as well as some comments from their readers - all translated from Russian.

Written by Veronica Khokhlova
12 July 2007

Expat Ethiopians reflect on the sounds and smells of home

The ties that bind expatriate Ethiopians to their home country dominated the Ethiopian blogosphere over the past few weeks. Ethiopians living in the US, Europe and Asia came up with a series of emotional posts, exploring childhood memories, local food, music and the broader subject of national identity.

Written by Andrew Heavens
12 July 2007

Cuba: Gay Rights

“Following Fidel Castro’s…Cuban revolution, LGBT people were persecuted and imprisoned. Now the Communist Party is set to bring forward a law which would legalise same-sex unions, grant adoption rights to...

Written by Janine Mendes-Franco
12 July 2007

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