China censors internet rumors on Jiang Zemin's death

China censors internet rumors on Jiang Zemin's death

The question on many peoples lips at the moment is whether or not former Chinese president Jiang Zemin dead? But China appears to be censoring any online discussion on this subject, and the state news agency has denied rumours that the retired head of state has died.

A Hong Kong television channel announced Jiang Zemin’s death during a news broadcast on Wednesday night. The information had not been confirmed by authorities in Beijing, but the news spread across the net like wildfire. 

And across state owned news portals, like this one based in Shandong province, which had set up a special tribute page for the former president. It was then removed as the subject soon became banned on the web.

And the words Jiang Zemin have been banned from social networks, as have the majority of nicknames given to him by the country’s web users. Even the name of the military hospital in Beijing where he was reportedly admitted, has been blocked. Web users had in fact noticed the increased security around this establishment in recent weeks, a hospital where China’s top officials are treated.

Speculation about Jiang Zemin’s health has been rife and was fueled by his conspicuous absence from the Communist Party’s 90th birthday celebrations on July 1st. and the subject appears to be a sensitive one, as China is preparing to transition to a new generation of leaders next year. 

Election reform movement in Malaysia

Bersih means clean in Malaysian and it’s also the name of a major election reform movement in Malaysia ahead of the general Elections which will be held in or before 2013. The electoral reform coalition includes members of civil society and political opposition parties and is organizing a rally on Saturday in a stadium in the capital, Kuala Lumpur.

The movement, which has adopted the colour yellow, is making great use of social networks, news is circulated via this Facebook group in particular, which has over 50 000 members.

Activists began a nationwide tour on the 19th of June to convince the people of Malaysia of the importance of electoral reforms.

The awareness campaign is also taking place online. This video looks at the coalition’s main demands, like the updating of electoral lists, the use of indelible ink in polling stations and also equal access to news media for all political parties.

And the singer Az Samad has composed this song, stressing the peaceful character of the movement.

The authorities however, do not appear to be cooperating. A hundred or so activists have already been arrested. This video shows the police stopping campaigners who were giving out leaflets in a small provincial town.

But supporters of the movement say they are determined to take part in the rally, raising fears of a repeat of 2007, when security forces brutally dispersed a similar demonstration organized by the same coalition.

WikiLeaks sues Visa, MasterCard over payment ban

After having taken on Mastercard in a parody of one of their ads, Wikileaks is now taking them on in the courts. Julian Assange’s company is to lodge a complaint with the European Commission against MasterCard and Visa for abusing their dominant market position. Last December the two credit card companies imposed a ban on all online payments made to Wikileaks. The web site’s lawyers say this ban cost Wikileaks 130 000 euros per day.

Spam volumes show massive drop

According to a Symantec study, worldwide Spam levels are the lowest they have been since 2008. This company which specializes in computer security says the number of Junk emails has dropped by over 80 % in one year. The decline is largely down to the dismantling of the massive botnet networks, compromised computers that are controlled by someone other than their owner to send out these spam messages. 

Video of the day

Phoenix disappears from view within a few seconds, this could be a scene straight out of a disaster film but this is actual footage of a massive sand storm which engulfed the Arizona city on Tuesday. Photographer Mike Olbinski caught this apocalyptic scene on camera, and put together this accelerated video.