4 March 2008

Stories from 4 March 2008

Ecuador: Breaking Diplomatic Ties With Colombia

  4 March 2008

Ecuadorians are divided regarding the incidents along Ecuador's Northern border with Colombia, when the Colombian army attacked a group of FARC guerrillas, killing a top leader, Raul Reyes. As a result President Rafael Correa decided to break off diplomatic relations with Colombia because the attack occurred on Ecuadorian soil. Some bloggers agree with the president, but others are wondering what the FARC was doing in Ecuador and their relationship with the Correa government.

Japan: The decline of pachinko

  4 March 2008

A staple of the modern Japanese cityscape, pachinko parlors employ a third of a million people in Japan, draw in an estimated 30 trillion yen per year, and entice roughly one quarter of the country's entire population to play at least occasionally, 17 million of them on a regular basis. With plans underway to legalize and regulate casinos in Japan, the status of such pachinko parlors has been put into question, sparking a re-assessment, in comments and blog posts, of the place of gambling in modern Japanese society.