13 September 2007

Stories from 13 September 2007

Iran: Dogs arrested

The blogger Dastan reports on the arrest of dogs by Iranian police on September 9th, to rid the country of ‘western influences’ and ‘immodesty’. The dog owners are shocked at...

13 September 2007

Kazakhstan: Energy Twists and Media Tricks

Be it the crisis of the country's biggest oil project or the biases of the national media: Both big stories from Kazakhstan this week demonstrate that power is concentrated in very few hands, while social indicators point at huge income inequalities.

13 September 2007

Japan: Prime Minister Abe Steps Down

After less than a year in office, with approval ratings dropping to record lows after a recent humiliating upper house election defeat, Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo finally took the step many had been demanding on Wednesday and declared his intention to resign. The timing of the move, which brought the prime minister yet more criticism from politicians and the media, doesn't seem to have gone down very well with bloggers either.

13 September 2007

Haiti: Flour Prices Go Up

“The phrase ‘give us this day our daily bread’ suddenly takes on a whole new meaning,” writes Theo at Pwoje Espwa as he talks about the sudden increase in the...

13 September 2007

Barbados: Net Neutrality

Notes From The Margin is concerned about the issue of Net Neutrality and how it affects the Caribbean: “For those of us on the outside of the US we could...

13 September 2007

China: A Censored Lung Cancer Story

Minjian released an exclusive investigative story (as it has been censored by the Propaganda Department) about 4 mysterious deaths from lung cancer (zh). The 4 victims were workers in a...

13 September 2007

China: Zhujian Delta Worker Band

Tang Wei Shan introduces a worker band, Green Band, in Zhujian Delta. The band was started 4 years ago in Shenzhen when two of the members were playing guitars in...

13 September 2007

Taiwan: Losheng 911

Yesterday, Taiwan police forced into Losheng Sanatorium and evicted student and preservation activists. A video, Losheng 911, recording the history of Losheng struggle and the protest and eviction scenes has...

13 September 2007

Panama: Expansion of Panama Canal

Tatiana attended the ceremony that marked the beginning of the expansion of the Panama Canal [ES], which included a speech by former US president Jimmy Carter (in Spanish). She also...

13 September 2007

Japan: Abe's Resignation

Japan Observer was surprised by Abe's resignation and wrote down his first thoughts: The LDP is in trouble, but Mr. Abe's unexpectedly hasty exit gives the party a chance to...

13 September 2007

Japan: Abe down, otaku up?

Roy Berman from Mutant frog comments on the resignation of Japan Prime Minister Abe Shinzo and lists out a colorful history of the potential candidate Aso Taro.

13 September 2007