International

Arab League observers headed by Sudanese General Mustafa al Dabi, accompanied by government representatives, returned to Homs, epicentre of anti-government protests, for a second visit. Based on first statements to the press, Dabi said that the situation is Homs appeared “reassuring”, bur “further investigations” are needed, and that “20 experts will remain for some time”.

While Europeans were busily preparing for the festive season, Brussels quietly published a document that will have far-reaching consequences for everyone’s ability to see what they want on the internet. Plans contained in the CleanIt Project are supposed to create a clean internet without any terrorists/extremists. The new blueprint for the internet is a dangerous development.

Members of the hacking group Anonymous have claimed credit for hacking into the website of the global intelligence company Stratfor and then making donations to charities using credit card information found unsecured on the Stratfor website. The hacking group also released the information on 4,000 credit cards owned by subscribers of Stratfor’s products.

Rome – Damaged crops combined with conflict and insecurity are threatening to leave some 2.5 million people in South Sudan – the world’s newest country – in critical conditions unless food assistance is provided immediately, the UN warns.

New York – The UN General Assembly approved a budget of $5.15 billion for all its activities, including mostly humanitarian aid and peace missions, over the period of 2012-2013. Meanwhile, nuclear powers spend more than 90 billion dollars a year on atomic weapons. The U.S. alone spends over 50 billion dollars annually on this weapon of mass destruction.

Fifteen years under house arrest has been used by Daw Suu to develop a spiritual way of life that is the core of her being. As others have observed, this is why she always talks of a ‘revolution of the spirit’. Her insistence on non-violence and non-confrontation, compassion and equality are not mere adjuncts to her political stance, they are part of her spiritual path.

Accused whistle-blower Pvt. Bradley Manning turned 24 Saturday. He spent his birthday in a pretrial military hearing that could ultimately lead to a sentence of life … or death. Manning stands accused of causing the largest leak of government secrets in United States history. More on Manning shortly. First, a reminder of what he is accused of leaking.

The documents were found among scores of other classified material at a junkyard outside Baghdad as an attendant used them as fuel to cook his dinner

See video: [http://www.nationofchange.org/us-military-discards-trove-documents-2005-haditha-massacre-iraqis-1324477793](http://www.nationofchange.org/us-military-discards-trove-documents-2005-haditha-massacre-iraqis-1324477793)

2011 in figures: 66 journalists killed (16% more than in 2010), 1,044 journalists arrested, 1,959 journalists physically attacked or threatened,
499 media censored, 71 journalists kidnapped, 73 journalists fled their country, 5 netizens killed, 199 bloggers and netizens arrested, 62 bloggers and netizens physically attacked, 68 countries subject to Internet censorship

Reporters Without Borders expresses its deepest sympathy to the family
and colleagues of the journalist Abdisalan Sheikh Hassan, shot dead
yesterday by a man in military uniform in the Hamar Jajab district of
Mogadishu.