The council has denounced the Lebanese Hezbollah movement for supporting the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad, but stopped short of calling for a halt to the flow of weapons into the country. The text, which was passed Friday, had been presented by Britain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States, which all back the opposition forces in the two-year conflict. “The resolution is biased and counterproductive,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in statement on Saturday. “It is directed against the government of Syria and ignores the crimes committed by the radical opposition.” “The document condemns the involvement of Hezbollah in the conflict. But its authors aren’t concerned that thousands of well-trained, armed and lavishly paid mercenary-terrorists from abroad are fighting in the war. The atrocities of jihadists are ignored, including those against religious minorities, women, and children.” The ministry stressed that an attempt “to legitimize the Syrian National Coalition” is made in the resolution, while many other moderate opposition groups, which pledged to respect human rights and expressed willingness to participate in the Geneva Conference on Syria, are left aside. There was no consensus over the document in the Human Rights Council itself, as Venezuela voted against the text and nine other nations abstained. The Russian statement also pointed out that several Arab states, which previously backed the resolution, in the end refused to become the co-authors of the document. Moscow sees it as direct evidence that “an increasing number of countries don’t intend to put their signatures under the confrontational endeavors of the HRC, which work against the political and diplomatic settlement in Syria and aren’t aimed at improving the situation with human rights in this country.” The UN Human Rights Council resolution was adopted a day after the US announced that it will arm rebels after having obtained what it said was proof the Syrian government using chemical weapons in the conflict. … Read More
Internet companies in deal with US government
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What information which you post online is safe from prying eyes? Facebook and Microsoft have announced they have struck agreements with the US government to release limited details about the number of surveillance requests they receive.
The move comes on the back of Facebook revealing it received between 9,000 and 10,000 requests from the US government for user data in the second half of 2012.
The agreement is seen as a modest victory for the internet giants after the fallout from recent revelations about a secret government data-collection programme.
In Hong Kong activists and lawmakers showed their support for Edward Snowden the former National Security Agency contractor who blew the whistle on the fact the US had hacked into Hong Kong’s networks. The rally’s organiser said people like Snowden were necessary for democracy. The activists argued that his revelations showed Washington had violated basic human rights.
A test flight by a balloon in the heart of New Zealand’s South Island could lead to yet more information being exchanged in cyberspace. The Google experiment is aimed at taking high speed internet to remote parts of the world. The balloon’s equipment can provide internet coverage over an area of 1200 kilometres.
More about: Facebook, Hong Kong, Internet, Microsoft, New Zealand, USA
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