Word: pro
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...first few weeks of 2010 as it did last year. In the past week, a court in Sichuan sentenced an activist investigating the deaths of children in schools that collapsed in the 2008 earthquake, a court in Beijing confirmed a lengthy jail term for the author of a 2008 pro-democracy manifesto, and the family of a trailblazing defense lawyer marked the one-year anniversary of his disappearance, which was presumably at the hands of state security officers. "This series of repression against dissent and activism ... I don't know if it's coincidence or reflective of a deeper meaning...
...Tuesday a Sichuan court sentenced Tan Zuoren, a 55-year-old environmentalist and literary editor, to a five-year jail term for subversion in connection with his writings on the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators. Tan was also active in documenting the lives of the schoolchildren who died in the May 2008 Sichuan earthquake, which many parents blamed on school buildings that were built shoddily because of official corruption. While the subversion charges against Tan included his earthquake activism, he was convicted only for his commentary on the Tiananmen crackdown. Pu Zhiqiang, a lawyer for Tan, says the issue...
...failed to effectively tackle Ukraine's rampant corruption as they had promised. When the economy contracted by a massive 15% last year, Tymoshenko's fate was probably sealed. Frustration and disillusionment kept millions of their supporters at home in this month's second round of voting, especially in the pro-Orange West. Yanukovych's core voters in the East and South turned out in force to cast their ballots for his simple message of change...
Whichever path Yanukovych takes, there is little doubt that the unambiguously pro-Western policies of Yushchenko will come to an end. The new President has outlined a vision of a neutral Ukraine and, citing low domestic support, will not push for membership in NATO, although he has said continued cooperation would be "beneficial." But this doesn't necessarily signal a complete end of orange, as many commentators have predicted. After all, the protests five years ago were first and foremost about the people's right to choose their leader. "I think Ukrainians will be embarrassed about their choice," lamented...
...traffic was downtown. Hundreds of thousands of Iranians, nearly a million according to one estimate, surrounded Tehran's Azadi Square on Thursday morning to celebrate the 1979 revolution. The majority of those attending the pro-government ceremony were families, including the elderly and small children. Some had taken free buses, but many took the Tehran metro, which was also free to use. On main streets entering the large public space, kiosks stretched for kilometers showcasing the carnival-like atmosphere, which usually accompanies the Iranian holiday. One booth displayed a youth karate club sparring on gym mats, while another featured...