PhD Research Documentation

UK paper prints 'private Assad emails' - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 19:09:30 +0300

UK paper prints 'private Assad emails' - Middle East - Al Jazeera English:

Thousands of emails reportedly leaked from the private accounts of Bashar al-Assad and his wife, Asma, show the Syrian president took advice from Iran on how to handle the uprising against his rule and bypassed US sanctions to shop on iTunes, the UK Guardian newspaper has reported.

The London-based newspaper reported on Wednesday that it received 3,000 emails from “a source in the Syrian opposition” who intercepted them between last June and February.

There was no immediate response from Damascus.

Al Jazeera obtains secret Syria files - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 19:08:34 +0300

Al Jazeera obtains secret Syria files - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

Business : Cultural Analytics: A New Field That Combines Arts, Media And IT

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 11:46:41 +0300

Business : Cultural Analytics: A New Field That Combines Arts, Media And IT:

17 April 2009 THE impact of the digital revolution is unmistakable. Emails have replaced letters and memos; IP telephony and instant messaging have replaced telephone calls; audio and video content are now “broadcast” online on channels like YouTube, and friendships are maintained and built over social networks like LinkedIn and Facebook. With many of life’s tasks now taking place within the digital realm, a complex amalgamate of our thoughts, emotions, connections, photographs and other personal details are captured  in cyberspace. A looming challenge is to track and make sense of the growing volume of the data, as the world experiences major social, technological and cultural developments, according to Lev Manovich, professor of visual arts at the University of California, San Diego. “The developments are already happening in business, digital media and government agencies,” he said at the Internal Symposium of Electronic Art, a conference recently co-presented by the Singapore Management University and the La Salle College of the Arts. Not only do we now have to handle the explosion in the volume of data, there is a significant shift in the way that we approach and use data. For one, we are now living in what Manovich describes as a data mining society. Information is gathered at a fanatical pace by all kinds of users, ranging from number-crunching financial institutions, to government agencies engaged in anti-terrorism. Other businesses and organisations, large and small, are also active collectors of data of all kinds. At the same time, there has been significant growth from the “supply” side too, with various content providers adding to the trove of data already out in the digital realm. Within the past decade, there has been a “massive digitisation of existing cultural assets”. For instance, the Google books project digitises some 3000 books per day; the BBC Motion Gallery has hundreds of hours of videos; and websites such as Artstor.com feature digital images of art and architecture. Clearly, growth is coming not just from quantifiable data, like figures and statistics. “For the first time in human history, there is an unprecedented amount of cultural content available in digital form, so culture is going to become another (type of) data and hence would be data mined,” he said. “Our ability to capture, store and analyse data is increasing exponentially, and this growth has already affected many areas of science, media industries, and the patterns of cultural consumption. Think, for instance, of how search has become the interface to global culture, while at the same time recommendation systems have emerged to help consumers navigate the ever-increasing range of products,” wrote Manovich in an earlier paper. But despite technological advancements, Manovich calls the approach and access to such data “archaic” and full of “19th century metaphors”, such as photo albums, grids and timelines. Nevertheless, he believes “a systematic use of large-scale computational analysis and interactive visualisation of cultural patterns will become a major trend in cultural criticism and culture industries in the coming decades.”

BBC Arab spring coverage to be examined for impartiality

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 08:49:35 +0300

BBC Arab spring coverage to be examined for impartiality:

Review for BBC Trust will look at reporting of events in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Syria and Yemen

The impartiality of the BBC’s coverage of the Arab spring is to be examined by the former UN director of communications, Edward Mortimer, in an independent review for the BBC Trust.

The trust’s review will look at the BBC’s coverage of events in Tunisia and will then focus in particular on reporting of events in Egypt, Libya, Bahrain, Syria and Yemen.

Pro-democracy rebellions erupted across north Africa and the Middle East after a young Tunisian man set fire to himself in December 2010.

All coverage on BBC national TV and radio, online and from its World News operation will be examined and a report will be published in the autumn of 2012.

The review will be led by Mortimer, who is senior vice-president of the Salzburg Global Seminar and a Middle East affairs expert.

It will be the fourth examination of the corporation’s impartiality. Previously the trust has looked at BBC business coverage, its news and current affairs reporting of the four UK nations and the “impartiality and accuracy” of its science coverage.

Alison Hastings, BBC trustee and chair of the trust’s editorial standards committee, said: “The events that came to be known as the Arab spring were extremely fast-moving and complex. That makes it a difficult story to cover.

“The challenge for the BBC, as with all controversial areas, is to ensure that it maintains the high standards of impartiality and accuracy that audiences expect, both in the UK and around the world, where many rely on the BBC’s international news services.”

BBC coverage of the region is a delicate subject, as its Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen has previously highlighted.

In 2010 he attacked a BBC Trust ruling that found him guilty of inaccuracies in a report about Israel, saying: “As Middle East editor for the BBC, I’m under pressure from lobbyists. I am recognised by my peers as also being able to stick to my guns.”

He said he was attacked from all sides relentlessly, adding, “the BBC Trust, wrongly in my view, found me guilty of some inaccuracies, because of [complaints from] a campaign group in the USA, and in this country, who are the enemies of impartiality. They got through to the BBC Trust. I was found guilty.”

CNN Dialogues: Perspectives on the ‘Arab Spring’ and What Comes Next

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 08:47:51 +0300

February 09 Forum to be moderated by CNN International Anchor Hala Gorani at Atlanta’s Emory University

The political uprisings ignited in 2010 and 2011 in North Africa and the Middle East, labeled the ‘Arab Spring,’ have altered history and upended the balance of power in the region. The uncertainty and struggles that continue to unfold are the focus of “The ‘Arab Spring’: A Path to Democracy?,” a CNN Dialogues event that will be held at the Glenn Memorial Auditorium (1652 North Decatur Road) at Emory University in Atlanta on Thursday, Feb. 09 at 7:00pm ET.

CNN International anchor Hala Gorani will moderate a dynamic evening forum, exploring issues of democracy, women’s rights, the role of Islamists, and the role of social media in the uprisings from Tunisia to Egypt to Bahrain to Yemen with scholars, journalists, and activists. Gorani is based in Atlanta, but has reported from every country in the Middle East and North Africa, including Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Israel, and Saudi Arabia. She spent much of 2011 covering the tumultuous political uprisings in the region, particularly the Egyptian revolution.

The panelists for this discussion are:

Lamees Dharif is an award-winning journalist and activist who has been active in the Bahraini resistance campaign. She has been banned from writing by the Bahraini government since the beginning of the democracy movement there;

Nic Robertson is a senior international correspondent, based in CNN’s London bureau. Robertson has been with the network for twenty years and covered every major global news event since that time, including war and conflict. Robertson has continued to provide key coverage for events associated with the ‘Arab Spring,’ including reporting on the democracy demonstrations and conflict in Libya, Egypt, Yemen, and Tunisia.

Ahed Al Hendi is a founder of the Syrian Youth for Justice and has worked as a journalist for publications including The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, andThe Daily Beast. He lives inthe United States.

Carrie Rosefsky Wickham is an associate professor of political science at Emory University, specializing in political opposition movements and political integration in the Arab World. She is the author of Mobilizing Islam: Religion, Activism and Political Change in Egypt: 1st Edition (2002).

Dalia Ziada is director of the Egypt office of the American Islamic Congress which focuses on building interfaith and intercultural understanding. She is a published poet and active in pro-democracy politics.

This is the first CNN Dialogues event of 2012. Admission for this program is free, but pre-registration is required by visiting CNNDialogues.com, or by calling the James Weldon Johnson Institute for Race and Difference at 404.727.2515, or the National Center for Civil and Human Rights at 404.991.6988.

About CNN Dialogues

CNN Dialogues represents a partnership between CNN, Emory University’s James Weldon Johnson Institute for the Study for Race and Difference and the National Center for Civil and Human Rights for a series of community discussions on major topics shaping our times, led by leading thinkers of the day. The planning committee for CNN Dialogues includes writer Pearl Cleage, Morehouse College President Robert Franklin, president and trustee of The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation Penelope McPhee, vice president for communications and marketing for Emory University Ron Sauder, executive vice president and director of programming for Atlanta’s World Affairs Council Cedric Suzman,president and CEO of the Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Tisha Tallman, and Eric Tanenblatt of the Atlanta-based law firm of McKenna, Long, and Aldrich.

Syrian Conflict Poses the Risk of Wider Strife

Sun, 26 Feb 2012 18:04:51 +0300

Members of the opposition Free Syrian Army relaxed at a makeshift checkpoint last week in Kafar Taharim, in northern Syria.

By STEVEN ERLANGER

Published: February 25, 2012

PARIS — More than a year after it began, the Arab awakening has had its seasons. After a world-shaking spring, then on through summer, autumn and winter, one country after another — Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen — has toppled autocrats, with varying amounts of blood. Some governments have stamped out revolts, like Bahrain. Others have tried modest reforms, like Morocco, or idled on the sidelines (think Algeria and Saudi Arabia).

Women and the Arab uprisings: 8 ‘agents of change’...

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:09:00 +0300

Women and the Arab uprisings: 8 ‘agents of change’ to follow

By Lauren Bohn, Special to CNN

(CNN) — Women have been at the forefront of the uprisings that started in Tunisia and soon cascaded west to Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Syria and across the Gulf. Over the past year, Arab women have relished the promise of a change — and found a new sense of equality long suppressed under sclerotic patriarchal regimes.

But many women activists fear that promise is now receding; and that women’s rights are being left on the political back-burner. In Egypt’s first post-Mubarak parliamentary elections — largely seen as the nation’s first free and fair vote — only nine of the newly elected 498 parliamentarians are women.

Popular Egyptian activist blogger Dalia Zaida says shortly before the elections, she conducted an informal poll of 1,400 voters across Cairo and found not a single person, male or female, who said he or she would vote for a female presidential candidate. Women across the region worry about this growing chasm between the reality of women’s unyielding participation on the streets and their stark absence from the formal political process.

Some secular female activists also fear that the rise of Islamist parties, whatever their professed moderation, will curtail their political space.

In Egypt, women have faced brutal treatment at the hands of the caretakers of the revolution — the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. Activists describe its handling of protests as incompetent at best, and malevolent at its worst. Back in March, when the military forcibly expelled protestors from Tahrir Square — the epicenter of pro-democracy protests — 18 female activists were arrested, 17 of whom say they were forced to undergo “virginity tests,” (the military has claimed the tests were done to protect the army from possible allegations of rape).

Recently, hundreds of women from across the Middle East attended a conference in Egypt to discuss how technology and the Internet, namely social media, can be used to protect and advance women’s goals in the region. The Egyptian-American pundit Mona Eltahaway moderated the conference, taking the stage with both arms in casts. In November, she was sexually assaulted and beaten by soldiers near Tahrir Square. The plaster didn’t preclude her from articulating her message: “The most revolutionary thing a woman can do is share her experience as if it matters.”

As countries across the region struggle to dismantle inequitable systems and build civil society anew, these are just a few of the female “agents of change” who are sharing their experiences and have no intention of backing down.

Syrians decry 'warzone' conditions in Homs - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:32:56 +0300

Syrians decry 'warzone' conditions in Homs - Middle East - Al Jazeera English:

UN debate

Russia has made clear it would veto any UN resolution it finds unacceptable, and block any statement paving the way for foreign military intervention.

The draft, put forward by Morocco, the only Arab member of the council, has been under debate for days. It does not call for Assad to step down, as proposed in the Arab League plan.

Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani said on Thursday that the Arab League will not accept any further concessions.

“The version which we have is the minimal which we can accept,” he told Al Jazeera. He said that if Russia did not support the current version, it should use its veto.

Vitaly Churkin, the Russian ambassador to the UN, told Al Jazeera that he was not asking for any more changes to the draft, but declined to answer a question on whether Moscow would veto the resolution.

Al Jazeera’s Cath Turner, reporting from the UN headquarters in New York, said it seemed that the council had seceded to Russia’s requests.

“Russia has been able to include the phrase “without foreign military intervention”, she said.

“They have taken out paragraphs which said that the Security Council supports transfer of power from President Assad to his deputy, the forming of a unity government, and free and fair elections.”

Tunisia’s media – a year of change | euronews, world news

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 06:34:00 +0300

Tunisia’s media – a year of change | euronews, world news:

“At last we feel that we can freely publish our papers, that there will be no censorship, we won’t be told from upstairs to, for examply, reprimand a journalist for his independence or to write a paid-for story,” said Oulfa Benhassine of La Presse.

The Dar Assabah press association was founded by journalists in 1951 and its members have differing views.

“Now readers want to see their own problems exposed in the Tunisian media. Each day we are witnessing new positive things brought by this revolution,” said independent media critic Khémaïss Khayati.

However, freelance journalist and blogger Thameur Mekki maintains there are huge problems.

“This great wave of freedom isn’t yet followed by a rise in professionalism, impartiality, or objectivity, so the media are still torn between different influences, and different political factions,” he said.

Our correspondent in Tunisia, Adel Dellal said:

“Tunisia’s revolutionary media is not about to let new government supervisors take them back to the bad old days. La Presse has done more than just criticise the nominations, and most feel the idea could undermine press freedoms.

No-one in the business wants any sort of external control, even if the ruling Ennahda party says media management is within its powers.”

Syrian tanks seen leaving Homs as Arab monitors arrive | euronews, world news

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 15:06:02 +0300

Syrian tanks seen leaving Homs as Arab monitors arrive | euronews, world news:

Syrian army tanks have been seen pulling out of Homs, as Arab League peace monitors arrive to inspect the flashpoint protest city.

The Arab Spring, by Rashid Khalidi

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 11:53:25 +0300

The Arab Spring, by Rashid Khalidi :

This article appeared in the March 21, 2011 edition of The Nation.

Arab spring: an interactive timeline of Middle East protests

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 14:00:25 +0300

Arab spring: an interactive timeline of Middle East protests

Art and revolution – Filming the Arab Spring - Bikya Masr

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 12:28:21 +0300

Art and revolution – Filming the Arab Spring - Bikya Masr:

The art – and the films – that will tell the history of Arab Spring will not be Hollywood-style films scripting the lives of Mohamed Bouazizi and Khaled Said but rather, those films that will confront us with the real questions that can change and define life as we know it: What is our identity? How do we respond to questions of sexuality and gender? Can we lead a meaningful life without religion? What happens when the traditional values of the home break down?

Gaddafi: The Endgame is a series of films exploring the fall of...

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 14:55:20 +0300

Gaddafi: The Endgame is a series of films exploring the fall of the Gaddafi regime from the perspective of those who helped to bring it down

When Libyans rose up against the 42-year rule of Muammar Gaddafi, Libyan exiles living abroad were confronted by questions about who they are and what role they should play in their country’s struggle for freedom. For many, the answer was clear: they wanted to be a part of their country’s revolution.

The revolution would bring together Libyans from all walks of life. The Long Road to Tripoli is two one-hour documentaries that tell the story of a successful Libyan businessman who left the safety of London to go home, his son who had never before seen war and a property developer who became a revolutionary.

They joined a force of thousands of other ordinary Libyans fighting for freedom. Some had never before held a gun or come under fire. The road they all shared led to the same place and the same hope: to free Libyans from 42 years of Gaddafi’s tyranny.

It is a story of extraordinary courage by ordinary people.

Written and directed by Anne Reevell of Moonbeam Films, these films offer a revealing behind-the-scenes account of a revolution, a slice of history in which people took back power.

“It’s very rare that you get a ringside seat in history. I was lucky enough to see a revolution through the eyes of a remarkable group of people,” says Reevell.

Syria uprising: Key events - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 14:46:28 +0300

Syria uprising: Key events - Middle East - Al Jazeera English:

In the early stages, protesters were calling for reform and an end to corruption, but as demonstrations were met with live bullets, the rallies changed tone, calling for the fall of the government.

The movement in Syria against the government of Bashar al-Assad first started following protests in the southern city of Deraa in March and has since spread across the country.

The United Nations says more than 4,000 people have been killed in the uprising and thousands of others arrested.

Key events in Syria’s protest movement:

Dec 7 - Assad denies ordering his troops to kill peaceful demonstrators, telling the US broadcaster ABC that only a “crazy” leader kills his own people.

Dec 5 - Syria says it has conditionally approved an Arab League peace plan. In a letter to the League, Syria rejects foreign interference and demands the annulment of sanctions plus reinstatement in the regional bloc.

Nov 27 - The Arab League agrees to impose economic sanctions on Syria.

Nov 21 - UN General Assembly’s Human Rights Committee condemns Syria for the crackdown, with 122 votes in favour, 13 against and 41 absentions.

Nov 20 - Rocket-propelled grenades hits a Baath Party building in Damascus. Syrian Free Army claims responsibility.

Nov 19 - Assad vows to pursue a crackdown on protests demanding his removal and says there will be parliamentary elections in February or March.

Nov 16 - Army defectors attacked an intelligence complex in the Damascus suburbs in what appears to be one of their boldest assaults so far against government security forces, Syrian activists said.

Nov 9 - Syrian protesters pelt four opposition leaders with eggs outside Arab League headquarters in Cairo, preventing them from entering the building for talks. The protesters were apparently against the men agreeing to a dialogue with the government.

Nov 2 - The Syrian government accepts several measures suggested by the Arab League aimed at halting the violence in the country, including the removal of tanks and armoured vehicles from the streets, the release of prisoners, and allowing the Arab League and media access to report on the situation.

Nov 1 - NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen rules out the possibility of military intervention in Syria.

Oct 30 - Assad warns of an “earthquake” if the West intervenes in his country. In an interview with Britain’s Sunday Telegraphnewspaper, he says international involvement would risk transforming Syria into “another Afghanistan”. He also stresses Syria is key to keeping the peace in the region.

Oct 16 - The Arab League announces that it plans to bring together Syria’s government and opposition groups to seek ways to end the violence in the country.

Oct 11 - Syria’s most senior Sunni Muslim cleric warns the US and Europe that his country would unleash suicide bomb attacks in their countries if they launched military strikes against Syria.

“I say to the whole of Europe, I say to America: We will prepare our suicide bombers who are already with you if you
bombard Syria or Lebanon,” Mufti Ahmad Hassoun, whose son was shot dead a week earlier, told a Lebanese delegation.

Oct 7 - Syria says that a national investigation is under way into killings, including those of 1,100 security forces, but denies allegations that loyalist forces had shot soldiers refusing to fire on protesters.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev says Syria’s leaders should step down if they cannot enact reforms, but warns the West not to try to push President Assad from power.

Oct 4 - Russia and China join forces and veto a European-drafted UN Security Council resolution condemning Syria.

Oct 3 - Syrian opposition groups meet in Istanbul and reject foreign intervention but urge international action to stop what they call indiscriminate killings of civilians by the authorities.

Sep 29 - Assad supporters throw stones and tomatoes at US ambassador Robert Ford who is visiting centrist politician, Hassan Abdul-Azim, who has demanded an end to the crackdown.

Syria accuses the US of inciting violence against its security forces and says it will confront what it described as attempts to interfere in its domestic affairs.

Sep 15 - A group of Syrian activists form a Syrian National Council in Istanbul, Turkey, representing a united front in opposition to the Syrian government, marking the six-month anniversary of the beginning of the uprising.

Sep 10 - Nabil el-Araby, the head of the Arab League, says he has reached an “agreement on reforms” in Syria following talks with Assad.

Sep 2 - The EU adopts a ban on crude oil imports from Syria.

Sep 1 - The attorney general of Hama province says he has resigned over the crackdown on protesters. The authorities say his statement is “pure lies”.

Aug 21 - Assad warns against foreign military intervention in his country in an interview broadcast on state TV, saying: ”Any action against Syria will have greater consequences [on those who carry it out], greater than they can tolerate”.

Aug 27 - Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo urge the Syrian government “to follow the path of reason before it is too late”.

Aug 23 - Opponents of Assad meeting in Istanbul launch a “national council”.

Aug 19 - A group of “revolutionary blocs” announces the formation of a coalition called the Syrian Revolution General Commission.

Aug 18 - US President Barack Obama and the EU call on Assad to step down.

Aug 9 - Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkey’s foreign minister, meets Assad in Damascus and calls for an end to the bloodshed.

Aug 7 - Saudi Arabia recalls its ambassador from Damascus, followed by Kuwait and Bahrain.

Aug 4 - Assad issues a decree authorising political parties.

Aug 3 - The UN Security Council condemns the crackdown in a statement.

July 31 - Security forces reportedly kill nearly 140 people, including 100 when the army storms Hama to crush dissent on the eve of Ramadan.

July 25 - The government adopts a draft law authorising the creation of political parties alongside the ruling Baath party.

July 18 - Qatar closes its embassy in Damascus after it is attacked by Assad loyalists

July 15 - More than a million people take to the streets, according to activists.

July 10 - The main opposition groups boycott talks with the government and say they will not negotiate till Assad stops the violent crackdown and frees thousands of political prisoners.

June 27 - Syrian intellectuals call for sweeping political change at a rare conference allowed by the authorities.

June 20 - In his third speech since protests began, Assad pledges to pursue a national dialogue on reform. Assad says dialogue could lead to a new constitution and even end his Baath party’s monopoly on power, but refuses to reform Syria amid “chaos”.

June 17 - Syrian tycoon Rami Makhlouf, a cousin of the president who to many Syrians give the widespread corruption a face, says he is quitting business.

June 12 - Armed forces take control of Jisr al-Shughour as thousands of residents flee to Turkey. More than 12,000 people flee to neighbouring Turkey in the following week.

June 6 - State television says 120 security personnel have been killed in an ambush. Activists later say the deaths were a result of a split within the security forces.

June 3 - Security forces kill at least 63 protesters around Syria, including 53 in Hama, human rights groups say.

Apr 29 - The US decides to impose new sanctions on Syria’s intelligence agency and two relatives of Assad.

Al Jazeera journalist Dorothy Parvaz goes missing upon arrival at Damascus airport. She is later deported to Iran, where she is held until May 18.

Apr 25 - Syrian troops backed by tanks begin and 11-day siege of Deraa.

Apr 23 - At least 75 people are reportedly killed in Syria in the bloodiest day since the uprising began.

Apr 21 - Assad issues decrees to end nearly five decades of emergency law and to abolish much-criticised security courts. Opposition figures, however, are sceptical.

Apr 16 - After swearing in the new cabinet, Assad gives a televised address for the second time since protests began, pledging further reforms.

Apr 14 - Adel Safar, a former agriculture minister, is named as prime minister in the new government.

President Assad orders the release of hundreds of protesters detained over the past couple of weeks but says those who committed crimes “against the nation and the citizens” would remain in jail.

Apr 7 - Assad issues a decree granting nationality to thousands of Kurds.

Apr 6 - The president announces decisions to close the country’s only casino and to scrap a ruling that banned teachers from wearing the niqab.

Apr 1 - Four people are reportedly killed after government forces use live fire against protesters in the Damascus suburb of Douma.

Mar 29 - The government resigns.

Mar 30 - Assad delivers a speech for the first time since the protests began. He blames foreign conspirators for the unrest but declines to elaborate on major reforms.

Mar 23 - Syrian forces reportedly kill six people in an attack on protesters in the Omari mosque complex in Deraa, and later open fire on hundreds of youths marching in solidarity.

An official statement says later that Assad has sacked Faisal Kalthoum as governor of Deraa.

Mar 22 - Hundreds of people march in Deraa and nearby Nawa demanding freedom. It is the fifth straight day of demonstrations challenging the government.

Mar 20 - Crowds set fire to the headquarters of the ruling Baath Party in Deraa. Marchers chant “No, no to emergency law. We are a people infatuated with freedom!”.

Mar 18 - Security forces kill three protesters in Deraa, residents of the southern city say. The demonstrators were taking part in a peaceful protest demanding political freedoms and an end to corruption in Syria. The protest was triggered by the arrest of teenagers writing anti-government graffiti on walls.

Smaller protests take place in the central city of Homs and the coastal city of Baniyas.

Mar 16 - Security forces break up a silent gathering in Marjeh square in Damascus of about 150 protesters who hold up pictures of imprisoned relatives and friends. Witnesses told rights group Amnesty International at least 30 people were arrested.

Mar 15 - Dozens march in Damascus after a Facebook page call for a “Day of Dignity”.

Egypt’s new cabinet has been sworn in with the key post...

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0300

Egypt’s new cabinet has been sworn in with the key post of interior minister going to Cairo ex-police chief Mohammed Ibrahim Yusuf.

The ruling army council also handed presidential powers to interim PM Kamal al-Ganzouri, but kept control of military affairs, officials said.

Mr Ganzouri’s appointment followed violent protests last month.

In the wake of the unrest, Amnesty International has called on the US to stop the export of tear gas to Egypt.

Amnesty accused Egyptian authorities of using excessive and often lethal force against protesters.

Sensitive role

Mr Ganzouri named the majority of his new cabinet on Tuesday.

However, correspondents say he had difficulty selecting a new interior minister to oversee the police.

Mr Yusuf is the former chief of police for the district of Giza in the capital Cairo.

The post is sensitive because police were accused of brutality during recent protests against the military. More than 40 people died in the trouble.

Many Egyptians also complain that crime has soared since the ousting of former President Hosni Mubarak in February.

The swearing in of the new cabinet took place in front of military council leader Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, state TV said.

“The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces delegated presidential powers to Kamal al-Ganzouri according to the law, but not the armed forces and the judiciary,” the official Mena news agency reported.

Earlier, the Muslim Brotherhood said its Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) has won a majority of run-off contests in the first round of Egypt’s parliamentary election.

Official results are not due until Thursday, but the Islamist FJP said it had won 36 of the 56 seats awarded to individual candidates.

Voting in the remaining two-thirds of electoral districts is scheduled to take place later this month and in January 2012.

Twenty-four seats were contested by the FJP and the ultra-conservative Salafist al-Nour Party, which came in second place.

Many supporters of liberal and secular parties are concerned that Islamist parties will have too much power in the next parliament.

The parliament must select a 100-member panel to draft a new constitution that will be put to a referendum before a presidential election in June.

Egypt’s military, which took over the running of the country after the fall of Mr Mubarak, has been accused of trying to safeguard its interests from civilian oversight and slowing down the transfer to civilian rule.

Egypt’s elections: A new era for the media? Last week,...

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0300

Egypt’s elections: A new era for the media?

Last week, we returned to Tahrir Square, where the world watched Egyptians rise up for the second time since Mubarak’s fall. This week we have stayed put - to make sure we chronicle media coverage of the country’s first parliamentary elections in the post-Mubarak era - and to keep up with the changing landscape of the media itself, including: a state owned broadcasting powerhouse losing credibility fast; an explosion of new private channels with their own agendas; the activists still driving the revolution online; and the warnings to women reporters to stay out of Egypt that were politely ignored. Our Newsdivide this week keeps its focus on Egypt, as the country and its media undergoes transition.

In our Newsbytes this week: A cable TV operator in Pakistan threatens to drop foreign news channels airing “anti- Pakistani content” - the first in the firing line: the BBC; Julian Assange is awarded Australia’s version of the Pulitzer and a DC journalist is temporarily suspended from a press club after asking a member of the Saudi royal family some uncomfortable questions.

Our feature this week: Should the state control what society wants to see? These days it seems hardly a week goes by without the authorities in Beijing issuing some new rule dealing with the media. The latest is a ban on advertising during TV dramas - the idea being to keep viewers from hitting the remote during the programme. Before that, the government announced the end of a wildly successful talent show. Among the other changes to what the government calls its ‘Cultural Development Guidelines’: internet companies being told to keep a closer eye on online content and journalists told they cannot report news stories found online or via phone networks without first getting official verification. Listening Post’s Meenakshi Ravi reports on China’s new media campaign and how the party is tightening its control over television and the web.

This week’s video of the week: the perils of modern media culture. A video production company based in South London have put together a video involving a plastic desk toy who sees the world through the computer. Some of us see it as an eloquent metaphor for people who spend too much time online and should get out more. Others in the team think it is a great excuse to end the show with a beautiful flight of fancy - instead of a reference to news. It is called Address is Approximate, it was made by Theory Films - and it is our Internet video of the week.

UN says Syria death toll more than 4,000 - Middle East - Al Jazeera English

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 14:43:00 +0300

UN says Syria death toll more than 4,000 - Middle East - Al Jazeera English:

The United Nations says the death toll in Syria’s nine-month-old uprising has reached “much more” than 4000, characterising the situation as a civil war.

Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, gave the latest figure on Thursday, a day before the global body is due to hold an emergency meeting on the crisis in the country.

“We are placing the figure at 4,000. But the information coming to us is that it’s much more,” she said during a conference in Geneva.

“I have said that as soon as there were more and more defectors threatening to take up arms, I said this in August before the Security Council, there was going to be a civil war.

“At the moment that’s how I am characterising this.”

Later in the day, Rupert Colville, Pillay’s spokesperson, said Syria is on the cusp of civil war, clarifying the human rights chief’s earlier remarks.

“It is definitely heading that way, with more and more reports of armed resistance to the government forces. It is on the cusp, but in these circumstances it is hard to say definitively at what point it becomes civil war.”

In its report on Monday, the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry said Syrian forces had committed crimes against humanity, including the murder and torture of children, following orders from the highest levels of President Bashar al-Assad’s government.

A previous toll issued by the UN earlier this month put the number of estimated deaths at 3,500.

On Thursday, the Local Co-ordination Committees activist network reported that at least 23 people were killed across the country, including two children. Most of the dead were in the central province of Hama.

Tightened sanctions

In a separate development, the European Union tightened sanctions against Syria’s energy and financial sectors in response to Assad’s crackdown on dissidents.

“The EU reiterates its condemnation in the stronget terms of the brutal crackdown by the Syrian government which risks taking Syria down a very dangerous path of violence, sectarian clashes and militarisation,” the foreign ministers said in a statement after talks in Brussels.

The sanctions target “the energy, financial, banking and trade sectors and include the listing of additional individuals and entities that are involved in the violence or directly supporting the regime”.

Diplomats said the measures include bans on exporting gas and oil industry equipment to Syria, trading Syrian government bonds and selling software that could be used to monitor Internet and telephone communications.

They also added that 12 more individuals and 11 more entities to a blacklist of people and companies hit by assets freezes and travel bans over the government’s crackdown on protesters.

In response, Syria suspended its participation in the Mediterranean Union, Syrian state media said.

“Syria is suspending its membership in the Mediterranean Union in response to European measures taken against it,” a statement carried by the official SANA news agency said.

The Mediterranean Union, an initiative of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, was inaugurated in 2008 to bolster cooperation between Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

Also on Thursday, the US Treasury Department blacklisted Muhammad Makhluf, an uncle Assad, and Aus Aslan who was described as a general in the Syrian military and said Americans are banned from any dealings with them.

It also named the Military Housing Establishment as a Syrian government-controlled company that provides financing to the regime and Real Estate Bank, which the US department said handles borrowings by the government.

‘Against intervention’

Meanwhile, the Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi has rejected on Thursday any foreign intervention in Syria as he joined European Union talks aimed at ramping up pressure on Damascus.

“We reject any accusation that the Arab League is inviting any intervention,” Arabi said.

“Every decision taken by the Arab League rejects an intervention,” he added, days after the pan-Arabic body imposed its own unprecedented sanctions against Assad’s government.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem had accused this week “some League members” of “pushing to internationalise the conflict”.

Separately, a member of the Syrian National Council (SNC), the country’s main political oppostion bloc, said that the council and Syrian army deserters have agreed to co-ordinate their struggle against Assad’s rule.

The first meeting between the SNC and the Free Syrian Army earlier this week in Turkey appeared to mark a change of tack from the SNC’s previous reluctance to back the armed struggle.

“It is agreed that it would be a coordinated movement, there would be co-ordination,” the SNC’s Khaled Khoja told AFP news agency.

“The council recognised the Free Syrian Army as a reality, while the army recognised the council as the political representative” of the opposition.”

He did not specify how organic the links between the two movements would be but the meeting marked a new step in efforts to unite opposition to Assad.

theatlantic: Qaddafi Killed, Say Libyan...

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 16:38:59 +0300

theatlantic:

Qaddafi Killed, Say Libyan Officials

Reuters adds new information about Qaddafi, with no confirmation from the U.S. State Department about the news. “He was also hit in his head,” and National Transitional Council official told the news outlet. “There was a lot of firing against his group and he died.”

(Image: Philippe Desmazes/AFP/Getty Images)

Online deception and the Arab Spring - Listening Post - Al Jazeera English

Sat, 01 Oct 2011 08:57:15 +0300

Online deception and the Arab Spring - Listening Post - Al Jazeera English:

On Listening Post this week: Online hoaxes and the dilemma for journalists trying to cover the Arab uprisings. And Rwanda’s media 17 years after the genocide.

When it emerged that a gay, female blogger had been detained in Syria, the story drew massive interest online and was quickly carried by the mainstream media. Activists were outraged and there were vociferous calls for the release of the blogger, Amina Abdallah. But when the pictures on her blog turned out to be fake, the story quickly started to unravel. Soon journalists realised that no one had ever actually met Abdallah or even spoken to her and questions were raised as to whether she even existed. Those suspicions were confirmed when the blogger behind A Gay Girl in Damascus turned out to be a straight man in Scotland. Our News Divide this week looks at this case of online deception and how difficult it is for journalists to verify information in a country they are locked out of.

In News Bytes this week: Suspected Anonymous activists arrested in Turkey and Spain; a prominent Indian crime reporter is gunned down in Mumbai; Bahrain sues a British newspaper for what it calls ‘defamatory’ coverage; after 40 years, the Pentagon Papers are finally released; and South Africa’s best-known political cartoonist, Jonathan Shapiro, takes on President Jacob Zuma, again.

Seventeen years ago ethnic tension in the small East African country of Rwanda boiled over into one of the bloodiest genocides the world had ever seen. Approximately 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in around 100 days. What helped to trigger those events was the hate speech broadcast on Rwandan airwaves, by one station in particular - Radio Mille Collines. Fast-forward to 2011 and Rwandan journalists are still burdened with that legacy. Their government still uses the media’s complicity in 1994 as justification for its restrictive and punitive media laws and governments across the continent use what happened in Rwanda to clampdown on their own media. Listening Post’s Nick Muirhead looks at the Rwandan media landscape and how the sins of the past still haunt it today.

Source:Al Jazeera