Photos
About a Ballot-Book Broker
Campaigner and City Hall insider David Noyola (right) placed 22 official and paid arguments in San Francisco's voter guidebook for the November 4 elections, working separately as legislative aide for Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin, and later as a campaign professional.
Photo: Copyright (c) Matthew Hirsch
Alphabet Soup
From A to V, Newsdesk.org presents a complete overview of the 22 propositions that San Francisco voters will consider on November 4 -- from public power and Junior ROTC to waterfront redevelopment and legalizing prostitution.
Photo: San Francisco ballot receipt
Under the Influence?
Long before San Francisco voters make it to the polls, they've been subjected to sustained influence-advertising campaigns that even affect the city-sponsored voter guidebook.
Photo: San Francisco polling place/Steve Rhodes
No Place Like Home
Buffeted by gentrification, targeted for redevelopment, San Francisco's black communities are emptying out at an unprecedented rate. The population dropped from 13 percent in 1970 to 6 percent in 2005, a decline that's not expected to slow.
Photo: Juneteenth celebrants/Gretchen Robinette
Recipe for School Success? Add Three Eggs
In India, there apparently is such a thing as a free lunch -- for 140 million students, adding up to the largest school lunch program in the world. Simply adding three eggs per week to the student diet is credited for helping lower the elementary-school dropout rate from 12 to 2 percent since 2002.
Photo: Feuillu
Worked Up For Sick Leave
Proposed laws in California and Ohio would mandate paid sick leave statewide. Businesses decry the plans as "job killing," but advocates say paid sick days would control the spread of disease, and give low-earning workers benefits enjoyed by the highest paid.
Photo: thegirlsmoma
A Maoist Among Us
After years of struggle and the end of its traditional monarchy, Nepal, the world's youngest republic, swore in Maoist and former guerrilla leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal as its prime minister. The ceremony brought dignitaries from around the world, including the United States and United Kingdom.
Photo: Dahal poster/mattlogelin
Cell Phone to the Future
Inexpensive mobile technology is opening doors in the developing world for those who have previously been shut out of the information revolution. Cell phones in India, Africa and beyond are used for banking, credit transfers, even reporting rights abuses.
Photo: India cell user/Tierecke
Fish Doubt
Tuna (right) may be a mainstay of Japanese cuisine, but the country's fishing fleets have agreed to suspend tuna fishing due to sharply declining stocks. It was one of many recent news stories of oceanic declines caused by overfishing, pollution, habitat destruction and climate change.
Photo: Tsukiji Fish Market/tph567
Fished Out
Tuna (right) may be a mainstay of Japanese cuisine, but the country's fishing fleets have agreed to suspend tuna fishing due to sharply declining stocks. It was one of many recent news stories of oceanic declines caused by overfishing, pollution, habitat destruction and climate change.
Photo: Tsukiji Fish Market/tph567
Both Sides Now
Even a society as tolerant of sexual minorities as Thailand struggles with discrimination. Now, a secondary school in the northeast of the country has built a toilet solely for its 200 transsexual students, who fear harassment, groping and more.
Photo: Thai facilities/Pilgrim Steve
Crash Data Must go Public
Government data on auto accidents must be made public, a court has ruled, turning aside opposition from industry groups that wanted to keep information about catastrophic equipment failures under wraps.
Photo: Mind's Eye
Here to Stay?
With plastic waste clogging landfills and choking waterways, degradable bioplastics are raising hopes for a solution. Yet they may not be quite so quick a fix, and even the word 'bioplastic" isn't always what it seems.
Photo: Idiolector
What Makes a Green Beer?
From the Rocky Mountains to Japan and Australia, beer-brewing companies are adopting practices that aim to reduce waste, as well as energy and water use, by tapping into wind power, using spent grains for fuel and livestock feed, and recycling extensively.
Photo: Justin C. Lenk
China Locks Down
In recent months, China has has redoubled its suppression of dissent in the face of public unrest and protests over a wide range of issues -- including the Sichuan earthquake, the Olympics and Tibetan independence, police brutality and even public health concerns such as hepatitis.
Photo: Chinese police officer/mashrom
Big Year for Drug Deals
In 2007 the pharmaceutical industry spent $168 million lobbying Congress -- a record sum that helped influence legislation and prevented new restrictions on drug ads. And for the first time in history, the bulk of the money was spent on Democrats.
Photo: sparktography
Homeland Insecurity
After four residents of the low-income neighborhood of Francisville in North Philadelphia (at right) circulated a petition criticizing security cameras on their block, their home was raided by local police, who detained them for 12 hours without charges.
Photo: trishylicious
Homeland Security, Philly-Style
After four residents of the low-income neighborhood of Francisville in North Philadelphia circulated a petition criticizing security cameras (at right) on their block, their home was raided by local police, who detained them for 12 hours without charges.
Photo: highstrungloner
Food Crisis Sprouts Biotech Debate
As global food prices climb, the debate over genetically modified agriculture is cropping up once again. Farmers are pondering boosted profits, Japan is allowing modified corn in snacks, and companies such as Germany's BASF (right) are developing new products.
Photo: BASF lab/AgWired
Russian Bear Wants a Bite
Russian energy giant Gazprom, predicting oil prices as high as $250 per barrel in 2009, is angling to take over an American company that can deliver natural gas to the United States from its vast reserves in northern Russia.
Photo: Moscow Gazprom billboard/captainchaos
Will Pond Scum Save the Planet?
With corn-based fuels getting the blame for the global food crisis, biofuel boosters are looking for non-food crops to be the next energy source. This includes algae, a plant that few people would rather see on their plates instead of in their gas tanks.
Photo: Algae/mrjingo
Separate But Unequal?
Though a diverse Islamic community thrives in Australia, cultural contrasts persist -- and sometimes turn ugly. In the latest incident, a fight over a proposed religious school has locals accusing their Islamic neighbors of trying to take over the country.
Photo: Australian Muslims, Western tourists/Betta Design
Ban the Bomblets?
Activists and diplomats from around the world are in Dublin, Ireland, this week to try to establish a treaty banning the use of cluster bombs. They say unexploded bomblets pose risks to civilians, who sometimes mistake the devices for humanitarian aid packages (at right).
Photo: globalresearch.ca
Dole to be Canned?
Elizabeth Dole, a household-name Republican senator from North Carolina, appears to be fighting for her political life against a Democratic challenger. In the past month, her double-digit lead in the polls over State Sen. Kay Hagen has evaporated.
Photo: Elizabeth Dole (handout)
Dry Down Under
Drought is hitting the ten-year mark in some regions, hopes for a good soaking from La Niña are rapidly fading, and Australia's government says climate change is at least partially to blame.
Photo: Lake Hume at four percent (Suburbanbloke)
Tea With Apocalypse
Among the many threats to national security during the Cold War, the United Kingdom was particularly worried about the effects of a thermonuclear attack on tea supplies, and released an extensive report on the topic in the 1950s.
Photo: Rooney
Bobo a Go Go
Songbirds, such as the bobolink (at right), fly thousands of miles to return to the northern hemisphere every spring. Or, that's how it's supposed to be -- but the numbers of migratory birds have plummeted in recent years, with everything from pesticides to American dining habits taking the blame.
Photo: Phodge100
Callbacks on Cell Phone Cancer
Two new studies both affirm and refute the link between cell phones and brain cancer, while an Israeli researcher finds a link between wireless gabbing and salivary gland tumors. Time to hang it up? Or just more crank calls?
Photo: Compujeramy
King Tobacco, Balkan Crime Lord
Cheap cigarettes from the Balkans and Southeastern Europe are prized by smugglers, who sell them in the West at huge markups. The illicit trade fuels border-crossing corruption and crime, at the cost of billions in tax revenue.
Photo: Bulgarian cigarettes/Pudpuhduk
Climate Change: Something to Sneeze at
As if deadlier storms, new diseases, compromised agriculture, rising sea levels and endangered polar bears weren't enough to worry about, add hay fever to the list of global warming concerns.
Photo: Hibiscus pollen/Macropoulo
Coal of the Navajo
The Navajo Nation has announced plans to create a new wind-power plant on an Arizona reservation, but is also trying to build a coal-fired plant that critics bitterly oppose. An existing coal plant (at right) has been blamed for giving the area some of the dirtiest air in the state.
Photo: evenprimes
A March from New Orleans
Indians hired by Signal International to work in a Mississippi shipyard are marching to Washington, D.C., claiming they were mislead about permanent residency, and decrying living conditions. The company denies the charges, but the workers are suing, and even accused Signal of human trafficking.
Photo: New Orleans Workers' Center
The Moth From Hell
Fearing billions in agricultural losses from the light brown apple moth (right), California wants to spray pesticide over the entire Bay Area. But previous spraying in Santa Cruz brought hundreds of health complaints, and a pesticide executive's political donations are raising more questions.
Photo: jomike
Child Labor Goes Rural
Far from the urban industrial sweatshops, child labor remains widespread in rural parts of the developing world, including the Philippines, where advocates say tens of thousands of children are working on farms (at right), in mines, and even in deep-sea fishing.
Photo: IRRI Images
London Shifts Gears
Twelve new "bicycle superhighways" and hefty fines for polluting vehicles are the backbone of a new London plan to increase the number of bicycle riders in town (at right) by 400 percent. The city is taking a cue from Paris, too, by creating a free downtown bike-rental service.
Photo: Maz Hewett
Hostage Situation
Venezuela's firebrand President Hugo Chavez (at right) has been making headlines by negotiating the release of hostages held by Colombia's long-running leftist insurgency. But critics say he's doing more harm than good, and one former hostage said Venezuela's armed forces shelter the rebels.
Photo: Handout
Hostage Politics
Venezuela's firebrand President Hugo Chavez (at right) has been making headlines by negotiating the release of hostages held by Colombia's long-running leftist insurgency. But critics say he's doing more harm than good, and one former hostage said Venezuelan armed forces provide safe haven to the rebels.
Photo: quecomunismo
Black and White and Read All Over Asia
Newspapers in the United States may be losing subscribers and laying off employees at an alarming rate, but times have never been better for the press in Asia, home of seven of the 10 best-selling daily newspapers worldwide. But what about censorship?
Photo: Indonesian reader (c) Fabio Sabatini
What's in the Water?
That's a darn good question for nine million people living near the Great Lakes, where industrial pollution (at right) may pose a health risk. But the release of a new U.S. government study on that risk has been blocked, and the lead scientist has been demoted.
Photo: Lake Huron factory/Environment Canada
Sea Cow 1, Navy 0
A federal judge found that a planned U.S. military installation in Okinawa threatens the habitat of the endangered dugong -- a "sea cow" similar to Florida's manatee -- throwing the project's future into jeopardy. More: Okinawans comment on sovereignty.
Photo: Frank Gloystein
Newfound Friends
Critics have called the last election in Uzbekistan unfair, and the 2005 killing of hundreds of peaceful protestors there remain remains unresolved. Yet the ice is melting for Uzbek strongman Islam Kamirov (right), who lately is enjoying more friendly relations with Western democracies.
Photo: ITAR-TASS
Trouble Dutch
Will Geert Wilders (at right) share the fate of Theo Van Gogh? The Dutch conservative's new film, which criticizes the Koran and Islam in general, is raising concerns about civil unrest and extremist reactions in the Netherlands and beyond.
Photo: Tubantia
Where There's Smoke ...
Nigeria has filed a $43 billion lawsuit against three tobacco companies, claiming they target "young and underage smokers" with marketing practices that are banned in other nations. Critics note that the companies only recently enjoyed generous tax breaks in Nigeria.
Photo: Addax
There's a Riot Going On
Tibetan nomads (right, in a tourist's photo) may seem to exist outside of politics and time, but more than 1,000 battled Chinese authorities last month over the detention of three monks. Several more nomads were given 10-year jail sentences for demanding the return of the exiled Dalai Lama.
Photo: Zanzo
All Together Now
The National Solidarity Program in Afghanistan seeks to boost morale and regional stability by directly involving communities with reconstruction programs (at right). Now, the Washington Monthly reports that decreasing U.S. support for the program may undermine gains.
Photo: nspafghanistan.org
Smoke on the Water
Oil trucks on the Napo River (right) are blazing trails into a vast corner of the Amazon, thick with rare species and indigenous peoples in "voluntary isolation." Environment News Service reports that an area there larger than California and Maine has been opened to development.
Photo: drcohen
Frontiers of Medicine
Concurrent outbreaks in Uganda of ebola, meningitis, cholera, bubonic plague and even yellow fever have health officials there on the defensive. Critics say the government has been slow to react, and that clinics in rural areas (right) are short on funding.
Photo: Clinic sign in Uganda (make_change)
Malay Divisions
Riot police (right) greeted thousands of minority protesters in Malaysia's capital, turning back their calls for increased social benefits -- including business licenses, scholarships and other privileges "reserved exclusively for native Maylays" -- with water cannons and tear gas.
Photo: Police line in Kuala Lumpur (Angshah)
Dam in Question
China's Three Gorges Dam cost $15.6 billion, displaced 1.2 million people, and has 19 hydropower generators expected to produce 84.7 million megawatt-hours of electricity each year. Now, reports of landslides around the dam are stoking fears of a super-sized disaster.
Photo: Three Gorges hydropower (Mr. Frosted)
Cash Flow?
Nigeria's oil industry is hugely profitable, but poverty remains widespread. Now, British officials are investigating the potential laundering of $40 million in aid money by a former Nigerian state governor, and direct cash payments by Chevron and Shell to his businesses.
Photo: Shell oil gear, Nigeria (only_e)
Light of the World
Nigeria's oil industry is hugely profitable, but poverty remains widespread. Now, British officials are investigating the potential laundering of $40 million by a former Nigerian state governor, including direct cash payments by Chevron and Shell to his private businesses.
Photo: Gas flares on a Nigerian oil rig (Travelling Steve)
Not OK with Immigration
Immigration opponents (right, in the Oklahoma legislature's public gallery) have advanced a new law that makes it a crime to "hire, transport or house an illegal immigrant." Religious leaders have pledged to disobey, and some Constitutional concerns have surfaced.
Photo: bjmccray
Race is the Place
Discrimination against Israeli Arabs has spurred court rulings and confrontations at all levels of Israeli society, including in the Knesset, Israel's parliament, where Jewish and Arab legislators (such as Jamal Zahalka, lower right) find their disputes are increasingly bitter.
Photo: (c) LisaG
A Site In Question
Leased to the United States by the British in the early 1970s, the island of Diego Garcia is home to extensive U.S. military facilities that include, critics say, a CIA "black site." The Guardian reports that British MPs will investigate the claims.
Photo: Air Force hangars on Diego Garcia (gin_e)
The Right to Publish?
A crackdown on media appears to be easing in Zimbabwe, with the government of Robert Mugabe agreeing to consider a new publishing license for a popular daily newspaper. It could be a ray of sunshine at a time of increasing political repression.
Photo: Political graffiti/benettontalk.com
Nomad's Land?
Africa's struggle with mineral wealth and regional poverty has a new poster child, as Tuareg nomads in Niger take up arms (at right) for a greater share of the booming uranium trade there.
Photo: (c) Sergio Pessolano
A Taste of Old Russia
This young partisan of the United Russia party -- the leading backer of President Vladimir Putin -- may not have to vote at all in the future, thanks to sharp new limits on international election monitors, and new laws that shut the opposition out of Russia's upcoming Dec. 2 poll.
Photo: KRHamm
River of Metal
In Peru, community groups blame 17 active mining operations for the contamination of the Mantaro River (right) with copper, iron, lead and zinc. It's just one of many local environmental battles emerging around mining practices worldwide
Photo: