Democracy & Civics

Communist Chic in the Former Eastern Bloc

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There’s nothing unusual about people returning to the fashions, products and social spots of their youth, but when that youth was spent in communist Eastern Europe, nostalgia takes on new levels of meaning. The Christian Science Monitor reports that young and old alike in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and other countries in the region are engaging in a fashion craze for communist-era clothing, eateries and brands of sneakers and soft drinks. There are even new nightclubs that are explicitly modeled on the infamously gray, institutional look of the old Eastern Bloc. The fad is sometimes referred to by the German term “Ostalgie,” or “nostalgia for the East,” the Monitor reported. Andreas Ludwig, a museum director, said that the trend is a combination of pop culture and a “social critique” of Western-style capitalism.

Democracy & Civics

South Africans March as Crime Wave Peaks

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A planned march against crime in South Africa is highlighting how racial and economic relations have changed in the nation since the fall of apartheid 14 years ago. South African entertainer Desmond Dube plans to hold the Million Person March Against Crime on April 24 to call for the South African government to do more to ensure safety on the streets. He was inspired to action after the slaying of his friend and neighbor, Bashimane “Shimi” Mofokeng, last week, according to South African news reports. The slaying was just one of many that have terrorized parts of South Africa in recent years. Already the rally is generating a good deal of media attention and interest from the public, according to the reports.

Democracy & Civics

New Reparations Call for Philippine "Comfort Women"

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The Philippine legislature is considering a new resolution to ask for apologies from Japan, as well as financial reparations, for “comfort women” held captive by occupying Japanese forces during World War II. According to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the resolution was unanimously passed by a legislative committee, but was met with dismay by the Department of Foreign Affairs, which stated that financial reparations were already dealt with in two previous treaties, in 1951 and 1996. However, an official said the government had no opposition to private claims of “sexual slavery” sought against Japan. Proponents of the measure also stated that the terms of Japan’s surrender required it to maintain “continuing compliance with modern human rights law.” Source:
“House panel OKs resolution on comfort women”
Daily Inquirer (Philippines), March 11, 2008

Environment

From Bike Lanes to "Wildlife Highways"

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The town of Cambourne in the United Kingdom is notable not just for its abundance of bike lanes and pedestrians, but also for the wetlands, woodlands and lakes, which have attracted an unusual variety of wildlife. According to The Independent, Cambourne was developed in the 1990s on what used to be farmland, and built “wildlife highways” to link ponds, forests and other habitats before the local office park or housing developments were approved. By linking habitat fragmented by development, isolated plant and animal species are more able to move around, mingle and propagate. As a result, Cambourne is rich with biological diversity, including numerous bird species, deer, badgers, newts, dragonflies and voles. Although the town is not chock-full of solar houses or wind turbines, it has been lauded by wildlife campaigners for its protection of habitat.

Economy

From Sweatshops to Cotton Fields: Child Labor Goes Rural

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Far from the urban industrial sweatshops, child labor remains widespread in rural parts of the developing world. In the Philippines, advocates say tens of thousands of children are working on farms, in mines, and even in deep-sea fishing. The Philippine Department of Labor and Employment, in a press release late last month, claimed to have rescued 76 children under age 15 from working at a single sugar plantation. The agency plans to send the children back to school, and also to provide them with medical care and economic assistance. Wire services reported last month that the United States has promised $5.5 million to the Philippines to help it with a stepped-up campaign to combat child labor.

Democracy & Civics

Koran in Hand, She Wins Over Mullahs

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Fiery and not yet out of her 20s, Wazhma Frogh has been making waves in Afghanistan by using the Koran to undermine oppression of women and boost her literacy and education programs.
The Christian Science Monitor reports that Frogh’s work is part of a trend among liberal-minded Muslims to use sacred texts to advance women’s issues where secular approaches have failed. Now an employee of a Canadian international development agency, Frogh works at both the policy level and on the street. Her greatest task — to win over the men who predominate both in Afghan government and village life — has been surprisingly successful, given the country’s struggles with the fundamentalist Taliban. Her boosters say among Frogh’s great strengths are her encyclopedic knowledge of the Koran, and her facility with Arabic, both of which often exceed the capacities of local mullahs. Source:
“Inside Islam, a woman’s roar”
Christian Science Monitor, March 5, 2008

Democracy & Civics

Infants and International Incidents

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With regulations tightening in China, Western couples are increasingly looking to Vietnam for overseas adoptions. But the trend is creating new complications, including illegal baby smuggling and diplomatic struggles between governments. Vietnamese police said last week they had busted a baby-smuggling gang who were taking two infants — a one-month-old and a one-week-old — to sell in China. Also detained was a woman in her eighth month of pregnancy who told police she had agreed to sell her unborn child to the group for the equivalent of about $500. “This is the first time we have caught a human trafficking syndicate in a case where the baby was still in the womb,” a police officer told Agence France-Presse.

World

Beijing Olympics: It's the Water

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A senior Chinese official has sharply criticized a multi- billion-dollar government plan to divert water from the Hubei and Shaanxi provinces north to Beijing, the BBC reports. An Qiyuan, a former Community Party leader from Shaanxi province, said that the plan would endanger the livelihood of millions of residents, and that compensation is necessary to prevent what the BBC described as “social upheaval and environmental harm.” The plan — which will cost at least $60 billion, more than the Three Gorges Dam — will build a network of canals and dams to deliver water from southern rivers to the thirsty north, where the Beijing Olympics alone are expected to increase water needs by 30 percent. Drought is already affecting more than 12,000 square miles in Hubei Province, and a quarter-million people are “facing problems with drinking water,” according to the BBC. Source:
“Olympics ‘threat to water supply'”
BBC News, February 27, 2008
Previously on Newsdesk.org:
“Trouble at the Roof of the World”
Newsdesk.org, December 26, 2007
“Cracks at the Seams?

World

London Shifts Gears to Favor Bicycles

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Armed with a proposal to develop 12 major “superhighways” for bicyclists throughout the city, along with a daily “congestion charge” of almost $50 for polluting vehicles, England’s capital city is gearing up to become the world’s newest bicycle utopia. London’s mayor hopes the programs will result in a 400 percent increase in the number of cyclists in the city by 2025. The plan, which will cost approximately $780 million over ten years, will also develop cycling networks in outlying suburban areas, and link London neighborhoods with business and commercial districts. London will also take a cue from Paris, which recently began providing free bicycle rentals for short trips, by developing its own free rental service in the city center. Source:
“City’s Two-Wheeled Transformation”
The Guardian (U.K.), February 9, 2008

Democracy & Civics

Friend of Hostages, or Friend of Hostage-Takers?

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Venezuela’s firebrand President Hugo Chavez has been deeply involved in recent months in trying to resolve the long-running standoff over hundreds of hostages held by Colombian rebels. He was credited last month for gaining the release of two hostages, and he spoke last week with French President Nicolas Sarkozy about working to attain the release of more. But new criticisms against Chavez say he is doing more harm than good — and a former hostage agrees. Geologist Jorge Andres Sierra, who spent two years as a captive of the National Liberation Army, or ELN, Colombia’s second-largest leftist rebel group, said the Venezuelan government has provided safe haven to the guerillas. Sierra’s remarks were reported by the Venezuelan newspaper El Universal, as well as Spain’s EFE news agency, and published in English by the Hindustan Times.