Europe

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.

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

A tiny courtroom was yesterday the scene of the first of a four day hearing to decide if the City of London can evict the Occupy LSX campsite by St Paul’s Cathedral. At the same time a breather was given to the protesters as the Judge dealing with UBS (which used to mean Union Bank of Switzerland) request to vacate the Bank of Ideas postponed the case till January.

The world will remember Mr. Vaclav Havel as a great man who took several personal great risks to improve the situation in his country, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on Sunday, the day that the Czech playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and politician died died in his sleep at dawn after a lengthy illness, at the age of 75.

About two hundred Arabs of different nationalities attended the First Forum for The Awakening of the Arab Peoples. They analyzed the ‘Arab Spring’ and decided to start generating an environment of sharing and joint proposals that can help, somehow, the revolutions that are now taking place in their respective countries.

Paris – The Palestinian flag was raised for the first time at the Paris headquarters of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as the agency marked Palestine’s admission as a full member.

Geneva – “In 2011, the very idea of ‘power’ shifted,” High Commissioner for Human Rights said on the occasion of this year’s Human Rights Day on December 10. “We know there is still too much repression in our world, still too much impunity, still too many people for whom rights are not yet a reality,” Navi Pillay said.

We are used to working out in our minds which side is speaking when politicians or the media talk about “guerrillas” or “freedom fighters”. The simplicity of the bipolar Cold War is no more. A study carried out by the Guardian and the LSE showed that in some cases the recent UK riots was a protest of sorts, whilst the police qualify the Occupy protesters as terrorists.

They are more than 370 million, that’s 120 per cent of U.S. population; they speak 4.000 of 7,000 languages spoken today all over the world; they contribute extensibly to Humanity’s cultural diversity, and they know more than any body else on Earth how to preserve water, land, biodiversity, and the whole cycle of life.