7 January 2013

Stories from 7 January 2013

Assad's Delusional #DonkeySpeech Scorned

Bashar Al Assad's latest speech, 21 months into Syria's uprising, drew scorn from netizens around the world. Many are also dismayed that not much is being done to alleviate the suffering of Syrians. Around 60,000 people have reportedly been killed, food and fuel are scarce and millions are homeless, either internally displaced by the crisis or living in refugee camps in neighbouring countries.

Pakistan: CNG Withdrawal Hits Energy Sector

  7 January 2013

In Pakistan in 2012, the federal government announced plans to gradually phase out CNG due to gas shortages. Last week as supply to many CNG stations remained suspended, people queued in long lines to buy petrol for their vehicles. Teeth Maestro has more.

Japan: Digital Backyard in Sapporo

  7 January 2013

The three-day conference “Digital Backyards” initiated by smal.jp and berlinergazette.de will take place in Sapporo on January 10-12, 2013. There will be a barcamp-style networking event on January 10 and 11 for journalists, activists, bloggers, researchers, entrepreneurs, cultural workers and programmers to define problems and come up with solutions. The outcome will be...

China's Mass Incidents in 2012

  7 January 2013

China's Legal Daily[zh] published a summary of  the 2012 Mass Incident Research Report, analyzing Chinese social media as an increasingly significant factor in mass incidents. DANWEI has translated some highlights of the report.

Borinquen Brass Play Music in Every Corner of Puerto Rico

  7 January 2013

The brass wind ensemble Borinquen Brass has 13 members, including a percussionist, and six years of experience giving free concerts in Puerto Rico. The ensemble's endeavor is to offer a valuable community and educational service to audiences that otherwise wouldn't have access to this kind of music.

Spain: New Year, New Party, New System

  7 January 2013

“Happy 2013! The year in which we will reinitiate the system." This was the first message that appeared on Twitter on December 31st at midnight from Partido X, Partido del Futuro (Party X, Party of the Future), a new political group that has burst onto the Spanish Internet scene with force.

Yesterday, I Defected from Assad's Army

As part of our collaboration with Syria Deeply; we are cross-posting a series of articles that capture civilian voices caught in the crossfire, along with perspectives on the conflict from writers around the world. Below is a conversation between News Deeply and a 20-year-old man who defected from the Syrian Army’s Sulas...

Dazed & Depardieu'd in Russia

RuNet Echo  7 January 2013

On January 3, 2013, Vladimir Putin signed into law nine pieces of new legislation (mostly dealing with immigration) and one executive order to naturalize French actor Gérard Depardieu. Not shockingly, most Russian bloggers and journalists responded to the latter event, given how utterly bizarre it is indeed. In that daze, however, they missed something.

Unaware, China's Handan City Consumed Toxic Water for Days

  7 January 2013

The people of China's Handan city have been drinking, bathing and washing in toxic water for five days. The city's main water resource - the Zhanghe river - was contaminated by industrial pollutants from neighboring Shanxi Province on December 31, 2012. The local government’s suppression of the news and ignorance of their serious environmental violation has triggered widespread condemnation.