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Thousands of protesters in the northeastern city of Dalian go on a permitted "group stroll" and force a chemical plant to shut down
MARCH 2008
Shanghai residents worried about noise pollution gather in the streets and successfully block plans to construct an electromagnetic train line
MAY 2007
Brought together by text messages, thousands in the southeastern coastal city of Xiamen march to halt the construction of a chemical plant
Glow in the Dark
3 | AFGHANISTAN
U.S. soldiers prepare to head out on patrol in Afghanistan's Paktika province, along the insurgency-riddled border with Pakistan. Farther to the west, in Helmand province, an Afghan man in a police uniform killed two British soldiers--the latest of the "green on blue" attacks that have been fraying relations between NATO troops and Afghan security forces.
ITALY
'Ours is not a democracy but a dictatorship of judges.'
SILVIO BERLUSCONI, Italian media tycoon and former Prime Minister, upon receiving a four-year jail sentence on Oct. 26 on charges of tax fraud. The billionaire had previously been convicted three times; each time, the charges were dropped
Sandy's First Victims
4 | HAITI
As Hurricane Sandy bore down on the U.S. on Oct. 29, the extent of the devastation it had wreaked in Haiti, the poorest nation in the western hemisphere, was just coming to light. Epic rains and flash floods ravaged the country's southern region, leading to at least 54 deaths, ruining crops and even sparking a new outbreak of cholera. Haiti is still recovering from the devastating 2010 earthquake.
Election Exploitation
5 | UKRAINE
"Democratic progress appears to have reversed." That's how a spokesperson for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe described the most recent parliamentary elections in Ukraine, in which President Viktor Yanukovych's ruling party won 36% of seats amid a sea of controversy. Here are three of the most scathing allegations.
1 CENSORSHIP
Opposition leader and ex--Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, above right, was jailed during the election (she cast her ballot in jail), and minority parties were denied TV airtime
2 LACK OF OVERSIGHT
The election votes were apparently tabulated privately, without impartial observers to monitor the process
3 CORRUPTION
Yanukovych's Party of Regions illegally used state funds as well as electoral bribes to influence voting in its favor, adding to the charges of cronyism fostered under the leader's rule