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This article addresses China's view of education and how it should be implemented. The main political party, the Chinese Communist Party, is attempting to implement a mandatory teachers manual by 2015. The manual gives specific instruction on how and what to teach Chinese students. However, the manual did not experience the same support it did in the Communist party. Heavy criticism of the manual arose from the education Bureau and the students themselves. A hunger strike arose on Friday and a march of 32-90 thousand protesting the manual. The article is important because is it address a nation's view of education and how education should be controlled by politics. The Article also shows how a major political party can not always be the most popular with the people.

Interesting. Of course, China is a communist country, so it is also interesting that citizens feel empowered to protest. Among democratic regimes, France also has a very scripted education program: my understanding is that the daily curriculum for the whole country is set by the Education ministry, so no matter where you are in France on September 4, you will be doing the same thing as all students in your grade everywhere else in the country. Why does this fly there? Why is it much less likely to fly here in the US?

Alaa Abd El-Fattah is a prominent British Egyptian prisoner who recently saw his sentence increased for 5 years after a social media post about torture in prison being deemed "false news" by the Egyptian government. The British government is working extremely hard to free him however he has vowed to not eat or drink during Cop27 in an effort to promote change for the climate and human rights in Egypt.

I found this topic fascinating because it addresses the internal Chinese conflict of democracy and communism. The general public (those not in the communist party and not in control) is not happy with the governments plan to initiate a national education system. With the national education system teachers and schools will no longer have the choice on how to teach their students. This article questions Communism, Democracy, Nationalism, and Patriotism, all of which are important to China.

Belarus is one of the last remaining authoritarian regimes in Europe, and have begun a crackdown on opposition movements in recent years. Freedom House ranks them very low for Political Rights and Civil Liberties, and recently, the main opposition leader was arrested and hospitalized from prison after suffering serious injuries.

Maria Kalesnikava. . . . what guts! "Kalesnikava was arrested last September and taken to the border, where she was told to leave the country. Instead, she reportedly ripped up her passport, risking prison rather than going into exile." She was charged with conspiracy to seize power, calling for action to damage national security, and calling for actions damaging national security using media and the internet. At the same court hearing, the lawyer Maxim Znak, another member of the opposition council's leadership, was given a 10-year prison sentence on similar charges. He had gone on hunger strike while awaiting trial to protest against the charges against him. "We demand the immediate release of Maria and Maksim, who aren't guilty of anything," wrote Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, an opposition leader who ran for president against Lukashenko. She is based in Lithuania and cannot return to the country without facing arrest.