Syrian refugees testify about the repression

Syrian refugees testify about the repression

Women in tears denounce the repression inflicted by armed forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, claiming soldiers burned down their homes and kidnapped their children… These poignant images were filmed in a refugee camp on the Syria-Turkey border and bear witness to the situation in the country since Syrian authorities launched a mass offensive against the north western town of Jisr al-Shughour this weekend. Many residents were forced to flee, seeking refuge in neighbouring Turkey.

Dozens of videos made by citizens who have escaped the unrest have appeared on sharing sites in recent days. Some voice their anger over the violence of the Syrian authorities, whilst others describe the scenes they witnessed before fleeing the country. This man says the army attacked his village, located close by to Jisr al-Shughour, with heavy artillery and no-one was spared, not even children or the disabled.

As we can see in this online footage, hundreds of refugees responded by organizing a demonstration on the Turkish border on Friday, calling on the Syrian authorities to put an end to the repression of the Syrian people.

Frightened citizens are leaving veritable ghost towns behind them. Several videos like these ones are circulating on the web, and help illustrate the atmosphere in the streets of Jisr al-Shughour since the weekend. Residents have literally abandoned the city, the vast majority of shops are closed and the streets are totally deserted, as we can see in these images.

Syria: "Gay Girl in Damascus" blog is a hoax

The female blogger Amina, one of the voices of the anti-government uprising in Syria never actually existed. Tom MacMaster, an American student living in Scotland has confirmed he is the real identity behind the “Gay Girl in Damascus” blog. Last week, a person claiming to be Amina’s cousin announced the blogger had been kidnapped by armed men in the Syrian capital. Thousands of web users had been campaigning on social networks to obtain her release.

Anger grows in China against social injustice

Police cars over turned by angry crowds... Riots broke out over the weekend in a town near to Canton in Southern China. Some of the many migrant workers in this industrial area were reportedly angered by the mistreatment of a woman street hawker by security guards. These are the latest in a series of violent rallies which have recently rocked a number of cities across China.

Last week residents of Lichuan, in Hubei province in central China, took to the streets to protest the death of Ren Jianxin, a local official who had once fought forced expropriations in the region. He was accused of corruption and died in detention, photos of his dead body, showing signs of torture, were broadcast on the Internet, enraging citizens.

The growing anger against social injustice in China has also been conveyed in other isolated incidents. On the 26th of May, 3 people were killed when three blasts hit government buildings in the eastern city of Fuzhou. One of the dead was the Qian Mingqi, the man behind these homemade bomb attacks. He had written on his blog that after spending ten years trying to seek redress for his home which he said was destroyed by local government authorities; he had finally decided to take action.

China’s dazzling economic growth tends to heighten social tensions which are notably fueled by corruption. Web users are trying to tackle this scourge via forums like this one, where citizens can confess to buying off officials from all levels.

Google's Les Paul doodle becomes online phenomenon

The interactive logo displayed on the Google welcome page last Thursday has stimulated web users’ creativity. This “doodle” was uploaded as a tribute to guitarist Les Paul who would have celebrated his 96th birthday that day. The virtual guitar was a great hit with online musicians, so much so that the American giant has decided to set up a page to permanently host this new type of instrument.

Video of the day

Croatian cello duo Luka Sulic and Stjepan Hauser became an online hit a few months ago with their version of the Michael Jackson song “Smooth Criminal”. And here we see the cellists are back performing their own original arrangement of the Guns n Roses track “Welcome to the jungle”.