Protests continue in Bahrain

Protests continue in Bahrain

The protest movement continues in Bahrain. The regime is still under pressure from protesters who are no longer satisfied with occupying Pearl Square in Manama. As we see in this amateur footage, thousands of protesters took to the streets of the capital on Tuesday.

College students have joined the movement. These images show how hundreds of youths played truant to gather in front of Bahrain’s Ministry of Education, showing the demonstrators in Pearl Square their support by chanting the same slogans

The Shiite opposition is still rejecting an offer of dialogue from the authorities and has formulated a list of demands on the Internet. It notably insists the current government steps down and asks for a new constitution to establish a constitutional monarchy.

In view of the number of protesters in Pearl Square chanting slogans attacking the King, this request is far from having unanimous support. Some sections of the protest movement have become more radical following last month’s violent repression and some now want the Sunni Al-Khalifa dynasty, which has ruled the country for over 200 years, to step down.

The situation has prompted royal supporters to mobilize, via an Internet campaign in particular. The site “Peace Bahrain” was set up recently to put forward the point of view of Bahraini citizens who remain loyal to their monarch.

Anti-abortion campaign in Macedonia

These videos were posted online by the Macedonian government as part of an anti-abortion campaign launched at the beginning of 2011, and have sparked controversy on the local web. The video clips are intended to point out the potential dangers of terminating a pregnancy and put the country’s women off abortion. The initiative has been condemned by many web users who feel the authorities are questioning a woman’s right to choose. Reactions online.

On her blog "Feministik", Kika a young Macedonian woman says this campaign is quite simply absurd. She says it’s up to doctors and not the government to point out the potential dangers linked to abortion. She also explains that by encouraging women to keep their baby no matter what, the authorities do not have the mothers or their offspring’s best interests at heart.

Mirjana Najcevska is calling upon doctors and gynecologists to mobilize against this campaign which in her opinion is misinforming people. She says that even if abortions can have consequences on a patient’s health, having a child is not without its risks. Instead of discouraging women from having abortions, the blogger would have preferred the government launch a prevention campaign to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies.

Local NGO HERA agrees and says the authorities should focus their attention on educating women and on developing methods of contraception instead of stigmatizing sections of the population.

The Mark Zuckerberg comic book

Following on from the film "The Social Network" which retraces the story of the world’s most popular social network, Facebook, the life of its founder Mark Zuckerberg is now being retold in a comic book. The comic was created by American publishing company Bluewater Productions and fans can get their hands on it for 7 dollars.

Strange Russian wedding photos

There appears to be a craze in Russia for editing and staging wedding photos. And to poke fun at this rather strange trend, the site “Englishrussia” is publishing dozens of photos of the happy day, each one kitschier than the next. The pictures are sometimes in doubtful taste…

Video of the day

These men succeeded in the unlikely feat of changing two tires on a moving car, and their exploits were filmed in this trip across the desert. This impressive performance illustrates both the acrobat talents of the mechanics and the driver who seems to have no problem with keeping the jeep moving on just two wheels.