Stories from 12 January 2013
New Palestinian Village Bab Al Shams Established in East Jerusalem
As part of the popular resistance movement in the Palestine, a group of about 250 Palestinian activists established the new village of Bab Al Shams or “The Gate of the Sun”, on a piece of confiscated land in Eastern Jerusalem, referred by Israeli authorities as “Area E1“. Despite an eviction notice from the Israeli army, the activists plan to spend the night in the tents they have set up there.
Mourning 13 Expatriates Online in Bahrain
Thirteen expatriate workers were killed in a fire that broke out in a house in Manama. Netizens react to the incident, questioning the status and treatment of foreign workers in Bahrain.
North Korea Broadcasts Google Exec Schmidt's Visit
North Korea Leadership Watch wrote a post (with several screengrabs) on how North Korean state media covered Google’s executive chairman, Eric Schmidt's visit to the country. Members of delegations toured the Korea Computer...
Peru: Discussing “Gastrofascism”
About a month ago, Javier Puente published on Selecting Stones, a critical article about the surge of Peruvian cuisine and, above all, about the role chef Gastón Acurio has in...
Mobile Libraries Help Haitians Overcome Major Earthquake
Mobile libraries are helping Haitians overcome the devastating 2010 earthquake, providing intellectual resources, entertainment and assisting in essential matters such as health. By March 2013, the organisation Libraries Without Borders intends to launch another two mobile libraries to circulate through the most affected neighbourhoods of Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti. Recognition is growing about the value of reading in places suffering from conflicts and natural disasters.
Long Prison Terms for ‘Dissident’ Vietnam Bloggers
Vietnam convicted 14 Vietnamese bloggers and human rights defenders for participating in “activities aimed at overthrowing the people's administration.” The activists were given long prison terms which range from 3 years to 13 years.
Pedophilia & Rape Accusations Flood the RuNet with Cruelty
The Internet, any way you slice it, is a strange place populated by strange people. In the last few weeks, the Russian Internet—often your typical den of online cliques and conspiracy theorists—has boiled over the levees of "strange" and flooded the RuNet with a new intensity of bizarre moral recriminations. In the six days since RuNet Echo first reported on this story, top blogger Rustem Adagamov's situation has developed rapidly.
Cartoonists Inspired by Censorship Protests in China
The Southern Weekly incident became an inspiration to cartoonists. Below is the most popular image posted by an unnamed artist. CHINA DIGITAL TIMES has collected more cartoons from Chinese social media.
Two Kurdish Activists Face Death Penalty in Iran
Two young Iranian Kurd activists, Zaniar and Loghman Moradi are about to be sent to the gallows according to multiple Iranian news websites and human rights organisations.
Jamaica: Debt Storm Coming?
The Jamaican blogosphere has been a bit prickly ever since the Chicago Tribune, in an editorial on January 8, 2013, compared Jamaica’s financial condition to that of Greece, considered by some to be the most precariously perched country in the global economy.
