· December, 2012

Stories about Breaking News from December, 2012

Amid Syria's Conflict, a Teacher's Struggle in Homs

As part of our effort to highlight civilian stories, here is a conversation between Syria Deeply and a young schoolteacher in Homs. When he’s not in the classroom, he volunteers for a relief organization helping the victims of Syria’s conflict.

28 December 2012

Mexico: Federal Court Halts Controversial Wind Park

The largely indigenous opposition to wind farms in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec of Oaxaca, Mexico won a tremendous victory when a District Seven Federal Court judge granted an injunction temporarily halting the construction of a controversial wind park in San Dioniosio del Mar in the southern state of Oaxaca. While the indigenous Ikojts (Huave) peoples of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec celebrated and called for government and industry to comply with the decision, their grassroots struggle continues.

27 December 2012

Two US Drone Strikes in Yemen for Christmas

Merry Christmas from Yemen! Christmas day was a day of double drone strikes in Yemen, killing five 'suspected' militants. The first drone strike killed two people travelling in a vehicle in a southern town, al-Bayda province on Monday. In the second attack, which also occurred on Monday, the unmanned aircraft fired missiles at three people riding on two motorcycles travelling in Hadramout province, killing all three men.

25 December 2012

Kenyans Wake Up to ATM Fraud Scare on Christmas

Kenyans woke up on Christmas day to fraudulent bank activity alerts alleging that there were "unusual withdrawals" from Standard Chartered, Kenya Commercial Bank and Stanbic accounts. However, some Kenyans were skeptical about the authenticity of these claims. So far there has been no official communication from bank officials about the alerts.

25 December 2012

Assad Airforce Kills Syrians Waiting in Breadline

The Syrian government conducted a deadly airstrike against Syrians - standing in line waiting for bread in a bakery in Halfaya, in Hama. Estimates put the number of those killed between 90 to 300 people in the attack on the town, which rebels say they have recently liberated from Assad forces. Online, activists are livid that the world continues to watch as innocents are being massacred.

23 December 2012

Yemen's Long Awaited Army Restructure

Yemenis were pleasantly surprised yesterday to hear about President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's bold decisions to unify the Yemeni army - and sack the remaining relatives of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who hold prominent positions in the military and security. Netizens react with caution, and some expect retaliation.

20 December 2012

Former Dictator's Daughter Elected As President of South Korea

On December 19, 2012, Park Geun-hye was elected as the next President of South Korea. She is from the ruling conservative Saenuri party and daughter of the former dictator Park Chung-hee. Despite Park's feat in being elected as the first woman president in a largely patriarchal society, young progressives and activists are strongly opposed to Park.

20 December 2012

United States: Occupy Sandy Stands Up to Destruction

Occupy Sandy has proved to be a great help in alleviating the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy. Organized by the group InterOccupy, Occupy Sandy was created as a part of the Occupy movement whose methodology was to organize general assemblies, attracting individuals and groups working to promote mutual communication. As stipulated in its mission, the movement seeks to respond to the needs of the 99 percent.

18 December 2012

Korea: Tracking North Korean Satellite

North Korea Tech blog wrote a detailed post on the North Korean satellite which many news reports claim to have been put into space successfully. The blogger explains how to verify...

17 December 2012

‘The Economist’ Accused of Hacking by Bangladesh's War Crimes Tribunal

The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) is an ongoing tribunal in Bangladesh that was set up to investigate and provide justice regarding the war crimes during the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971. The tribunal has asked The Economist magazine to explain how it got emails and recordings of private Skype conversations between a presiding judge and a diaspora legal expert and put an embargo on publishing the same.

10 December 2012