Stories from 23 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.
Jailed Kuwait Stateless Activist Tweets Torture Ordeal
Over the past two years, people outside the Gulf, have been exposed to the issue of statelessness in the region as the Bedoon (which translates to without in Arabic) communities protest for their rights to education, health, employment, and most importantly, their right to citizenship.
Rohingya Refugees Rejected by Singapore
Singapore turned away 40 Rohingya shipwreck survivors who were rescued by a Vietnamese ship. Singapore netizens and human rights groups reacted strongly to the decision of authorities to send away the refugees.
China's Environment in 2012
From mass protests to trade wars, shale-gas drilling to hazardous cosmetics, chinadialogue has reviewed China's major environmental events in the past 12 months.
How to Say Singapore Correctly?
Is it Sing-GAH-Pore, Sing-GUH-pore, ‘sing-GUH-pawr’, ‘Singgah-pura’, Sinkapore? Blogger gdy2shoez reviews various interpretations on how to correctly pronounce the name of Singapore.
Philippines: Summary of Data Privacy Act
Data subject has the right to know if their personal information is being processed. The person can demand information such as the source of info, how their personal information is being used, and copy of their information. Janette Toral provides the salient features of the Philippines’ Data Privacy Act of...
Reddit Users Debate the Pricing Game Of The Cancer Drug Industry
When the Indian pharmaceutical company Cipla announced last month that it would cut the cost of three drugs used to treat cancers – people around the world responded. Some of the most lengthy conversations took place on the news commenting site Reddit.
Vietnam's Dipping Sauces
Vietnam is a wonderful world of sauces… At Hanoi's bia hơi establishments, for every four or five dishes ordered there will be a corresponding number of sauces coming to table, too. Mark Lowerson or @stickyinhanoi introduces Vietnam's popular dipping sauces.
Pangolin Rehabilitation Center in Cambodia
Half of the world’s species of pangolins are found in Asia where they have been hunted heavily to very low numbers. The Sunda pangolin, Manis javanica, is the only species found in Cambodia and is now very rare due to hunting pressures to supply the international illegal market. A new...
Fatwa Against Santa Stirs Passions in Australia
Online outrage has followed news reports of a fatwa against Christmas allegedly issued by an iman at Sydney’s Lakemba Mosque.
Prank Reveals the Depths of Anti-American Propaganda in the Russian Media
Anonymity affords ordinarily timid individuals the courage and opportunity to behave dishonestly. That, anyway, is the story we typically hear, especially in the context of the Internet. As Oleg Kashin recently pointed out in his column [ru] at openspace.ru, however, it takes two to make a successful prank (the prankster and the sucker)—a...
How the Chinese Government Uses Social Media in China
DANWEI has reported about the statistics and new trends in government use of social media in China based on The 2012 Sina Government Weibo Report[zh]. The report describes what types of government organizations are using Weibo accounts, ranks the most popular ones, and forecasts new trends for 2013.
