China Once Again Bans Visits to Tibet

Training exercises in Beijing for Oct. 1st National Day parade [photo by gadgetdan/flickr]

Just days ahead of the 60 year anniversary of communist rule in China, the country has closed Tibet to foreigners and deployed soldiers armed with machine guns into the streets of Beijing. Even kite flying has been banned "as a precaution against aerial hazards" according to the Associated Press. The AP is also reporting the Chinese government has also expanded blocks on social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook, and there has been a marked increase in e-mail spam to foreign journalists that contains spyware.

Prayer flags in Tibet [Photo by Jan-Christian Teller/flickr]

The is not the first sensitive occasion China has closed Tibet to foreign tourists. In March of this year, Beijing banned foreign entry during the 50th anniversary of the failed Tibetan uprising against China that caused the Dalai Lama to go into exile. According to the AFP, state media reports say the strict security controls and travel bans have obliterated Tibet's tourism industry, with visitor arrivals dropping from 4 million in 2007 to 2.2 million in 2008.

Happy Bastille Day

Eiffel Tower, Paris [Photo by Ka13/flickr]

Two hundred and twenty years ago today, angry mobs gathered in Paris to storm the Bastille prison, sparking the beginning of the French revolution and, eventually, the end of the French monarchy. The occasion is being marked in France with a parade through Paris (India is this year's country of honor), and a slew of parties and exhibits across the country (check out BBC photos of the festivities here). On the blog, we're paying homage to Bastille Day and the lovely country of France with a few beautiful pictures from a particularly beautiful part of the world...

St. Cirq- lapopie [Photo by Fr Antunes/flickr]

Colmar, Alsace [Photo by Fr Antunes/flickr]

Montreuil-Bellay [Photo by Fr Antunes/flickr]

White Cliffs of Cap Griz Nez, Wissant [Photo by **Maurice**/flickr]

Happy Bastille Day!

Free Roxana

[Photo by Eustacio Humphrey/ZUMA Press]

Recently, my in-box has been flooded with messages about Roxana Saberi, a 31-year-old American journalist of Iranian descent who is currently being held in Iran on charges of espionage. Roxana is a fellow graduate of the Medill School of Journalism, and several of my former professors and and fellow alumni have set up a blog, freeroxana.net, to keep her case in the public eye and lobby for her release. A former Miss North Dakota, Roxana moved to Iran six years ago to work as a freelance journalist, reporting for NPR, the BBC and other news organizations. She maintains -- along with everyone who knows her -- that the charges against her are completely unfounded. (According to the committee to protect journalists, Iran was the sixth-leading jailer of journalists in 2008.) Please visit freeroxana.net regularly to view updates, sign petitions, etc.

Only in England...

[Photo by Katie Tegtmeyer/flickr]

If you plan on heading to Mansfield, England, anytime soon, better make sure your complexion's in check. In an effort to stop local teens from loitering, residents of the central-England town have installed bright pink fluorescent lights (the kind normally used by dermatologists to make pimples show up) on the streets. In addition to deterring vain teens with the threat of acne embarrassment, AFP reports residents think "surly teenage males might find it 'uncool' to hang around in a bright pink underpass." Apparently, it's working. Gotta love the ingenuity!

Devil May Care

[sfmission.com/flickr]

Rio's Mayor is vowing a "shock of order" campaign to try to quell a rash of violence in the sinful city during this year's Carnival. The mayor's rant comes after more than 40 young travelers visiting Rio for the festival were robbed by men who ambushed their hostle with guns and grenades. At least 23 other revelers have reported robberies in other areas around the city. Mayor Eduardo Paes says he plans to punish even the smallest offenses in an effort to make Rio safer. But, most Brazilians say there's no way that kind of zero tolerance policy will work in Rio, a city where all things are tolerated -- especially during carnival.

[sfmission.com/flickr]

Oh, Mummy!

Saqqara, Egypt [Flickr/liquid.blue.ocean]


Egypt's top archaeologist just discovered a completely preserved mummy inside a limestone sarcophagus sealed 2,600 years ago -- and he's not alone (the mummy, that is). The old guy was resting in what Dr. Zahi Hawass calls a "storeroom for mummies" with seven other -- as yet, unopened -- sarcophagi and 22 more preserved bodies from Egypt's last independent Kingdom. You can check out pics here.

Sweet on Sweden

According to a new report highlighted in Marie Claire, Sweden is the best place in the world to live if you're a woman. (In case you're wondering, the U.S. was ranked #17.) Any country that starts "Sexism Awareness Training" in kindergarten and shows uncut reruns of Sex and The City at 6pm is tops in my book.