Russian ex-paratroopers lead chorus of anti-Putin protest

Russian ex-paratroopers lead chorus of anti-Putin protest

Here, these Russian ex-paratroopers sing the lines "you are just a public servant, not a tsar, or God", they have formed a band and in this song they label the Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, a tyrant and ask him to step down from power.

The song was uploaded onto the blog of activist Rustem Adagamov last week, and has since become increasingly popular. It has been viewed over 780 000 times on YouTube and the group was even asked to appear on a private television station. It may indeed seem somewhat surprising the former soldiers are protesting against Vladimir Putin, who comes from the ranks of the KGB.

But the Prime Minister, who remains the favourite to win the Presidential election on the 4th March, is facing mounting opposition. Protesters took part in fresh demonstrations in the capital on Sunday: this time behind the steering wheel. Thousands of cars circled central Moscow flying white balloons or the white ribbons which have become a symbol of opposition in Russia. The rally was coordinated via social networks.

The web is playing a predominant role in this anti-government movement, with intrepid bloggers leading the way. Journalist Anastasia Karimova for example posed in a bikini urging her fellow citizens to take part in protests on Saturday. The slogan “we are not afraid of the cold”.

Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich attack each other online

With the Republican nomination race in full swing in the US, the two favourites, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich continue to attack each other online. The two Republican hopefuls are out to smear their opponent and prove themselves as the only candidate capable of beating the current president Barack Obama.

Newt Gingrich’s campaign team has posted several videos online; outright attacks on Mitt Romney. This first campaign is called “Which Mitt is it?", once again comparing him to a weather vane and highlighting how he has contradicted himself on various issues. Romney is accused for example of not always voting for the Republican candidate in presidential elections gone by. And in this other ad, the former governor for Massachusetts is called a liar portrayed as a man that cannot be trusted.

The somewhat aggressive swipes at Romney are par for the course in the Republican nomination race. Newt Gingrich’s communication team already caused a buzz online at the beginning of January with this video slamming Mitt Romney for being too moderate, he is sarcastically congratulated for being able to speak a bit of French and is blasted for being “a Massachusetts moderate”.

The Mormon candidate has now decided to respond to this growing number of derogatory videos. A number of anti-Gingrich videos have emerged on sharing sites. They are equally antagonistic and accuse the former Speaker of the US House of Representatives of having no ethics, claiming that as most Americans were bearing the brunt of the financial crisis, Newt Gingrich was cashing in through his work with Washington’s lobby groups.

The Daily Mail is the world’s most popular news website

According to the website Buzzfeed the "Daily Mail" is now the world’s most popular online news platform, pushing the "New York Times" into second position. The British tabloid apparently reached over 45 million people in December with the American daily reaching just 44.8 million. Taking home the bronze medal is “USA Today”. The report illustrates how English language websites dominate the online news platform sector.

Now trending on social networks

If you are about to visit the United States then avoid writing about “destroying America” on social networks. This is something Leigh Van Bryan and Emily Bunting found out the hard way. According to tabloid newspaper” The Sun” the two British tourists were taken in for questioning by armed guards when they landed in Los Angeles. Why? Before leaving England the young man had posted a tweet saying he was about to “destroy America”, the Twitter post was taken literally, but destroy is also slang term for partying. The two friends spent twelve hours in jail before being put on a flight back to Britain.

Video of the day

As we can see in this video which is currently doing the rounds on sharing sites, residents of New York were recently lucky enough to get a glimpse of people flying through the sky above Manhattan. The people behind the illusion used remote controlled machines which had been made to look like human bodies. This is in fact part of a viral campaign promoting fantasy film “Chronicle” scheduled for release in cinemas across France on the 22nd February.