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Global Affairs: The Weekly Outlook for May 25

The Weekly Outlook is an editorial briefing for wejetset’s online magazine. Each week we scan international news and aggregate the stories that will likely impact their respective region and possibly the world. From economic issues to politics, we strive to deliver news that will be useful to our readers as they navigate their local and global spaces.

Weekly Outlook for May 25: This week we bring you news about Brazil’s standing water, Iran’s blocking of Facebook, India’s Coming Out Party, China’s New Deal and a struggling motor show in Tokyo. Click Read More for the entire report.

Brazil is still dealing with standing water from a deluge that overflowed the banks of Mearim. As reported, “Children played in the Mearim River in the flooded town of Trizidela do Vale, in the northeastern state of Maranhao, Brazil. It has been a month since torrential downpours overflowed the banks of the Mearim, forcing 11,000 out of 18,4000 from their homes.”

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Social networking is a no go before elections in Iran. “The Iranian government has blocked access to the social networking site Facebook amid political jockeying for the June 12 presidential elections, according to the semi-official Iranian Labour News Agency.”

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India has a coming out party with their recent election results. “One can date precisely China’s debut as a great power. It was the evening of Aug. 8, 2008—the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics. The event perfectly symbolized China’s rise, a spectacular and expensive feat of mass organization, directed by the country’s highly competent government. We might look back a few years from now and date India’s coming-out party to May 18, 2009, the day its most recent election results were announced. They are also a fitting symbol—in this case of India’s unique strengths, which are defined not by state power but people power, with all the messiness and chaos that implies. With 420 million people voting, the recent polls were the biggest exercise of democracy in history.”

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Time Magazine reports on the modernizing of China’s middle kingdom. “Guizhou province, in southwestern China, is a place of striking natural beauty: jagged peaks surrounded by fields of bright green rape, ridges slashed with limestone outcrops and plunging waterfalls. But these days the region’s grandest sight is man-made: the Baling River Bridge.”

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The auto industry continues to take a hit from the shrinking global economy. “The Tokyo Motor Show, held every other fall at the sprawling Makuhari Messe convention center, is still scheduled to take place Oct. 23-Nov. 4, but the cast of characters shrinks almost daily.The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association confirmed in a news release that in addition to the Japanese automakers, only four foreign companies (Hyundai, Ferrari/Maserati, Lotus and Alpina) remain committed to the show.”

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