Social Media
Israel Loves Iran and Iran Loves Israel…It’s True
A burgeoning social media movement by plugged-in Israelis and Iranians is saying “no” to war mongering between the two governments.
India’s Own “Great Firewall?”
India’s tradition of free speech may be facing its biggest obstacle yet, following an end-of-year government push to require Internet giants Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo and Google to filter its users content for “offensive” material.
7 Surprisingly Good Global Health News Sources You Might Not Know About
Some unexpected/uncommon original sources of global health news to add to your RSS reader or digital alerts system:
Nine Twitterers To Follow For News On Libya
Once again Twitter is playing a major role in getting information out about democratic protests in the Middle East.
Russia, Georgia – and Twitter?
Today is the anniversary of the Russia-Georgia conflict over South Ossetia. In preparation, both sides have dialed their rhetoric up to 11. Georgia released a report saying that “Moscow interfered in Georgian politics, supplied separatist militias with arms, ignored its peacekeeping responsibilities, failed to prevent widespread ethnic cleansing of Georgians and, ultimately, sought to annex Georgian territories by means of military force.” And that is just the introduction.
Russia has been doing their part to keep the hostility flowing. The Russian State Secretary is quoted in the Christian Science Monitor as saying “”It is highly regrettable that the Americans are going to pump up Mikhael Saakashvili’s military machine. That’s a strange way to support democracy…” Russia Today features a heart-rending story that opens with “A year after the war with Georgia, South Ossetia is slowly rebuilding itself amid fears of new aggression from Tbilisi.”
If you ask me, Human Rights Watch has it right. “All parties in August/South Ossetia conflict violated laws of war…both governments should ensure accountability and voluntary returns of those displaced”
Aside from the question of right and wrong, however, there is something worrying going on here. Last year, this is how the war started. Escalating words, and a denial of service attack on Georgian websites. I doubt that today’s attacks on twitter and facebook are anything other than a coincidence, but it’s the kind of coincidence that makes me nervous.
UPDATE: CNET reports, “A Georgian blogger with accounts on Twitter, Facebook, LiveJournal and Google’s Blogger and YouTube was targeted in a denial of service attack that led to the site-wide outage at Twitter and problems at the other sites on Thursday, according to a Facebook executive.”
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The SC; HRC; DPRK; South Sudan
The SC: The Security Council today held its last consultations under the Council Presidency of ROK. Tomorrow, Russia will take over the rotating Presidency of the Security Council for March under Ambassador Vitaly Churkin.
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The SG; Mali; Middle East; Palestine
The SG: At the Fifth Global Forum of the UN Alliance of Civilizations in Vienna, Austria today, the SG emphasized the role of youth in ensuring a “prosperous, equitable and peaceful future.”
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The SG; DRC; HRC; Palestinian Prisoner
The SG: In Ethiopia over the weekend, the SG is now in the United Arab Emirates. Today he met with Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashed Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, where the two discussed developments in the region, including Syria, Iran, Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan, and in the Middle East Peace Process.
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