Greater Middle East
Syria: endgame or wider war?
With pitched fighting in Damascus, the Internet is down across Syria. Russia meanwhile protests NATO plans to place missiles along Syria's border in Turkey.
Tag: politics of cyberspace
Watching the Shadows
ACLU urges Obama to close Gitmo in second term
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) called on US President Barack Obama early on the morning after his re-election to shut down the Guantánamo Bay military prison.
East Asia
China: did new Foxconn strike happen?
Reports of new wildcat strikes involving 4,000 workers at a Foxconn plant in Henan province are denied by the company—and harsh control of information bars corroboration.
New York City
NYC: Astoria repudiates ‘Golden Dawn’ fascists
When the Greek neo-fascist organization Golden Dawn tried to open a chapter in New York City’s Greek neighborhood of Astoria, they were quickly met with vocal repudiation.
Afghanistan
Pakistan: Taliban shoot 14-year-old blogger
Young blogger and rights activist Malala Yousafzai is fighting for her life in a Peshawar hospital after she was attacked on her school bus by Taliban militants.
The Caribbean
Cuba: blogger detained as trial starts in dissident’s death
A right-wing Spanish politician with a history of speeding went on trial for allegedly causing a car accident in which the well-known Cuban dissident Oswaldo Payá was killed.
Inner Asia
Tibetan writer self-immolates in TAR
A Tibetan poet, Gudrup, died after setting himself on fire in the Tibet Autonomous Region, leaving a blog post calling for Tibetans not “lose courage” in the struggle for freedom.
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Greater Middle East
Oman blogger imprisoned, fined for slander
Omani blogger Mukhtar bin Mohammed bin Saif al-Hinai was sentenced to one year of imprisonment on charges of slander and violating the country's information technology laws.
The Andes
Peru: toxic mining spill sickens villagers, Anonymous hacks back
More than 100 local residents were sickened by a toxic spill at the giant Antamina copper mine in Peru. Anonymous hackers promptly vandalized the company website.
Iran
GIG
As in the Venezuela crisis, Donald Trump, the great enthusiast for dictators, is making a cynical pretense of concern for democracy in Iran. Fortunately, his latest bit of exploitation of the Iranian protesters has blown up in his face. Noting the anniversary of the 1979 revolution, he issued a tweet featuring a meme with an image of a student protester from the 2017 anti-austerity uprising and the words: "40 years of corruption. 40 years of repression. 40 years of terror. The regime in Iran has produced only #40YearsofFailure." Now, the courageous photographer who snapped the image at the University of Tehran in December 2017, Yalda Moayeri, comes forward to express her outrage at its co-optation by Trump. Alas, Masih Alinejad, the Iranian-American feminist who last week met with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, seems not to get how she is endangering opposition activists in Iran, allowing the regime to paint them as pawns of imperialism. (Image via @realDonaldTrump)
Mexico
mosque162
World oil prices remain depressed despite an uptick this month, driven by the Venezuela crisis and fear of US-China trade war. Yet this month also saw Zimbabwe explode into angry protests over fuel prices. The unrest was sparked when the government doubled prices, in an effort to crack down on "rampant" illegal trading. Simultaneously, long lines at gas stations are reported across Mexico—again due to a crackdown on illegal petrol trafficking. Despite all the talk in recent years about how low oil prices are now permanent (mirrored, of course, in the similar talk 10 years ago about how high prices were permanent), the crises in Zimbabwe and Mexico may be harbingers of a coming global shock. (Photo via Amnesty International)