Democracy & Civics

China: A Million Mutinies Now

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After years of brutally suppressing dissent, China has in recent months faced violent public unrest in a number of different cities and over a wide range of issues, from the government’s handling of the Sichuan earthquake to calls for Tibetan independence to a government crackdown on an Internet health forum. With the world’s attention on the country for this summer’s Beijing Olympics, the anti-government violence tests the Communist Party’s leadership and ability in unprecedented ways. Thousands rioted in southwest China last week, setting fire to police stations, cars and government buildings, after the death of a teenage girl. According to news reports, authorities listed the death as a suicide, but the girl’s family accused police of raping and murdering her. Citing Reuters, the BBC quoted an unnamed official in Guizhou province as saying, “About 10,000 people rushed to the site and totally burned down the county party office building, and burned other offices in the county government.”

Environment

For Forests Under Fire, a Slight Return

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Forests are disappearing from the Amazon to Afghanistan, but the rate has slowed, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reports. A new study by the United Nations found that the world has a net loss of 7.3 million forest hectares annually — down from 8.9 million per year during the 1990s. Although forest regeneration has slowed the rate of loss, the causes of deforestation are varied. The problem of clearcutting for cattle grazing in the Amazon rainforest has been well documented, but oil production is also an issue that threatens trees in Africa’s Congo River Basin. Palm oil production is accelerating deforestation in Indonesia, while Afghan forests are falling to war and drought.

Democracy & Civics

Pumped up for Public Water

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The tide may be turning for water privatization. Water supplies have already fallen out of private hands in developing nations such as Mali, Uruguay and Bolivia — and now the French are following suit. Paris has pushed the trend forward by announcing that its water will go public for the first time in over a century, starting on Jan. 1, 2010. The move follows similar measures enacted in over 40 other French communities in the last decade.

Public Health

Medical Bills Spur India Suicide Plan

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A woman stricken with kidney disease and her husband have petitioned a municipal official in Kolkart, India, to allow them to commit suicide. The Times of India reported that Swapna Das and husband Biswanath Das wrote to the district magistrate asking permission to die together because of health care costs they find staggering. She is on dialysis, which costs 6,000 rupees or U.S.$138, and cannot afford a kidney replacement. Their neighbors financially support them. Biswanath said they wrote to the chief minister and prime minister to no avail.

Environment

Who Resurrected the Electric Car?

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With gasoline prices climbing ever higher, private companies and government agencies are giving the electric car another look. Even Republican presidential hopeful John McCain is getting in on the act, telling supporters this week he would offer a $300 million government prize to whoever invents a better battery for electric vehicles. More timely are plans by the city of Paris for a 4,000-car fleet of electric vehicles to drive a new car-share program. Modeled on a popular Parisian bicycle rental service, the new Autolib program is expected to launch early next year, according to the Web site Inhabitat. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times painted a glowing picture of the Think City, an electric car manufactured by a Norwegian company.

Economy

Australia's Billion-Dollar Land Grab

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Never mind the aboriginal land battles that followed the colonial era — turf wars in today’s Australia are for billionaires. The richest man Down Under, Andrew Forrest, is squaring off against the nation’s wealthiest woman, Gina Rinehart, in an epic conflict over access to the iron-rich Rhodes Ridge territory in Western Australia, Bloomberg News reports. Forrest’s Perth-based Fortalescu Metals Group is claiming improper lease renewals by Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting, and according to The Australian may also be favored by a “use it or lose it” policy that places public interest over tenancy. The legal battle is driven by China’s voracious appetite for iron ore, and whomever wins the mining and export rights will reap vast rewards. Rinehart may be personally enriched by A$500 million if she comes out on top, while Forrest’s company and partners stand to gain A$1.65 billion in royalties if they can take control of the Rhodes Ridge ore.

World

U.K. Journalist Gets Some Source Protection

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A freelance journalist in Manchester, England, may reveal some, but not necessarily all, of his source material on a book about al-Qaida terrorists to police, a panel of judges said. The panel ruled the police order for Shiv Malik to hand over all materials, including an interview with a suspected British operative, was too broad. Malik said the decision was a “victory for common sense” that protects journalists everywhere, The Guardian reports. He will return to court on June 26 to hear specific terms on what he must divulge under Britain’s Terrorism Act. — T.J. Johnston/Newsdesk.org
Source:
“Shiv Malik: Journalist claims victory in terrorism sources case”
The Guardian, June 19, 2008

Democracy & Civics

A Big Year for (Democratic) Drug Deals

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The pharmaceutical industry spent $168 million lobbying Congress in 2007 — a record sum that helped influence legislation and prevented new restrictions on drug advertisements, the Center for Public Integrity reports. Industry spending on lobbying has tripled since 1998, adding up to more than a $1 billion total in that time. CIR reports that 90 percent of the spending was by 40 companies and three industry groups, including Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the Biotechnology Industry Organization, and the Advanced Medical Technology Association. The big spending in 2007 may have been spurred in part by the Democratic takeover of Congress in November 2006, which saw industry critics, such as Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), ascend to leadership positions formerly occupied by Republicans. However, Ken Johnson, a spokesman for PhRMA, told CIR that a “difficult political environment” in Washington was not a result of partisanship.

Democracy & Civics

Philly Police Raid Raises Hackles

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After four residents of a North Philadelphia home passed out petitions criticizing surveillance cameras in the neighborhood, police raided their house and detained them without charges for 12 hours, the Philadelphia Daily News reported. After the police search last week, the house was reportedly inspected by several government agencies — including the Department of Homeland Security — and finally sealed off by the city’s Department of Licenses and Inspections. “This leaves me homeless,” Daniel Moffat, a co-owner of the house, told the Daily News. Police told the press that the occupants had anti-government “propaganda” in the house. “They’re a hate group,” Police Captain Dennis Wilson told Philadelphia’s City Paper.

Environment

Africa's Double Dip of Global Warming

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Africa is already the continent hardest hit by the worldwide food crisis, but according to a new report it’s also the one most threatened by global warming. “The Atlas for Changing Environment in Africa,” published last week by the United Nations Environment Program, is a 400-page publication detailing how climate change is expected to affect the continent — and the outlook is chilling. According to the Atlas, food production is expected to drop by half by 2020, and a quarter of the continent’s people will have no access to drinking water. Much of the Atlas is made up of satellite photos of 100 locations in Africa, showing how climate change has already affected the landscape. In the photos, the famous snow cover of Mount Kilimanjaro appears to be shrinking, and two vital water sources, Lake Chad and Lake Victoria, appear to be drying up.