Hundreds of American veterans and peace campaigners chained to the White House fence.

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 USA: ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT

Hundreds of American veterans and peace campaigners chained to the White House fence. This is the latest action carried out by the anti-war movement in the U.S to denounce two unfair wars and encourage President Barack Obama to end American military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan as soon as possible. The movement has recently stepped up the campaigning.

Numerous demonstrations against conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan have been organized recently in the U.S. Former soldiers accompanied by grandmothers gathered in New York as a reminder that too many soldiers and civilians have already lost their lives and it is high time to end the bloodshed. It was the same story in San Francisco where dozens of protestors gathered in front of the Federal Building to express their unhappiness with these endless wars.

The « Answer Coalition » an NGO that campaigns for an end to the two American wars says that these conflicts are financially draining the US and more importantly tax payers. According to the organization 50 % of income tax profits in the country are used to finance the current wars or pay debts linked to previous conflicts. The organization says the situation in unacceptable and is calling upon citizens to mobilise their support and find a better way of spending their money.

Finally, « Veterans for peace » is asking Americans to contact their Congressperson by email or by telephone and demand they immediately stop funding these wars.

 SNOW CAUSES TRAVEL CHAOS IN EUROPE

Endless queues, camping out at check in counters, this is what victims of the chaos caused by the snow have been witnessing in recent days. The situation remains somewhat unpredictable for passengers across the continent. Here’s a look back at a week of misery for travellers.

The travel chaos was caused by the blizzards that hit Northern Europe, making airport runways unusable, as we see in these amateur images filmed at Heathrow airport in London. Many of the flights at the continents busiest airport were either delayed or cancelled, meaning passengers were forced to sleep in the terminal buildings as illustrated in this video filmed by a Brazilian tourist.

And it was above all the lack of information from airport authorities that infuriated travellers. This English woman had two flights cancelled without any warning from the airline and said she had no information on the status of air traffic. As for this American traveller, he could not understand how the snow could bring such a large airport to a standstill .

In view of this influx of stranded passengers, the London airport is using its Twitter account to answer travellers’ questions before they leave for the airport and thus avoid congestion at the check in counters. Airlines like British Airways and Air Canada are now working along the same lines and are communicating with web users directly instead of providing information in a unidirectional fashion.

And as planes were struggling to take off, some travellers decided to get to Paris by train. But Eurostar passengers at St Pancras station were met with endless queues.

 COMMUNICATION IS YOUR RIGHT

British NGO Article 19 fights for freedom of expression and has launched an online campaign on the site “communication is your right.org” Objective : see that the UN protects citizens’ rights to communicate on the Internet. Web users are being asked to sign a petition demanding the UN defends the right to online communication. The petition also warns of the dangers of a high concentration of media groups as, according to the organization, this will weaken universal communication.

YOUTUBE TRENDS

Discover the best YouTube videos on the site YouTube Trends. As over 35 hours of images are uploaded on to the sharing site every day, Google will be displaying web users’ favourite videos in real time. So you can watch the web sensations of 2010 classified by theme and it’s a great way to have another look at the best and the worst of YouTube.

VIDEO OF THE DAY

Use a fighter aircraft to pull you along on your sledge! This was the crazy idea dreamt up by these Swedish soldiers to pass the time during the Christmas period. This astonishing performance makes you see this Scandinavian air force in a different light…