“Israel’s secret police are pressuring Palestinians in Gaza to spy on their community in exchange for urgent medical treatment, according to a report released today by an Israeli human rights organisation … International law forbids the use of civilians in conflict to damage an enemy state and collaboration in the Palestinian community is a crime punishable by death.”

Yet again, Israel demonstrates a disgusting disregard for human life. Physicians for Human Rights report that Shin Bet have been forcing Palestinians to choose between informing on friends and family, or be barred treatment for life-threatening medical conditions. Unsurprising given Israel’s track record, but absolutely sickening nonetheless. From The Guardian, here.

Black America study as reported in the Washington Post, here.
New evidence about extent of America’s HIV problem on BBC News, here.

“China has opened crevices in the Great Firewall that blocks access to many internet sites, allowing the public to see some quarters of cyberspace that it has long blocked … The issue had caused a major stir and created dissension within the top ranks of the IOC because the move reneged on previous pledges of full free access during the August 8-24 Games.”

Many other human rights violations aside, any country which denies journalists full and free access to the Internet during a worldwide sporting event is really not a suitable choice to host the Olympics. China has unblocked some sites - but many remain off-limits. Appalling. Times article here.

“Yet the one slogan you never hear at the Olympics is that with dreams come responsibilities … And in the global neighborhood, any city’s treatment of its local problems is suddenly a matter of everyone’s concern. So evicting roughly 3 million of the capital’s residents, as Beijing has done, while spending perhaps $200 billion on reconstructing the city (more than 300 times as much as it spent on rural health care for the entire nation in 2006) raises terrible questions about what costs are legitimate in the pursuit of social and sporting acknowledgment.”

The Olympics may bring China many economic benefits and possibly even longer-term social ones, but in the short term it comes at great cost to those most vulnerable and oppressed by the state. Pico Iyer writes in Time, here.

Full story from BBC News, here.

“This is voting as handheld therapy to make us (and politicians) feel better. No one – not the Putney Debaters nor the Suffragettes – put their lives on the line for the right to be patronised madly by an aloof and idea-lite elite. They wanted the right to engage in serious politics on an equal footing, not to have their self-esteem massaged by someone like Hazel Blears or to get an ‘I’m special’ badge for using a biro to tick a box.”

James Panton quite rightly rallies against ridiculous and offensive government suggestions on how to get more people to vote. They include prize draws and stickers for those who take part in the democratic process. From Spiked.

From Washington Times, via the Open Rights Group mailing list.

Via The Times, here, and the New York Times, here.

BBC story here. The Times reports on Africa’s democracy defecit here.

Reuters article here.

By Balakov on Flickr - original here. I love this pic, though I had a hard time choosing which one to post as the whole Classics in Lego set is class

“The upshot is that if Yahoo, AOL, Microsoft, or so on received a wiretap order for text or voice flowing through their IM networks, they could (and would) be able to comply because the services are centralized … [Skype couldn't] Which means that it’s the most privacy-protective mainstream method of communicating through voice or instant messaging.”

A survey by News.com shows that Skype is by far the best IM network if you wish to protect your conversations. It’s a sad reflection on society, but with companies subject to laws such as the US Patriot Act, users with nothing to hide may nevertheless wish to protect their data. Full story here.

BBC News report here.

Full article on the BBC News website, here.

“Burma is still exporting rice even as it tries to curb the influx of international donations of food bound for the starving survivors of the cyclone that killed up to 116,000 people … The continuing rice sales looked like just another facet of the Burmese regime’s insensitivity to the suffering of its own people as it continues to block international relief to cyclone victims and pressed ahead with the constitutional referendum yesterday.”

The humanitarian crisis in Burma is desperate. However much they may need the help of the outside world, the regime continue to reject aid, condemning tens of thousands of their population to death. Observer article is here.

Most definitely worth a read. Article here.

“The EU started with the premise of a ‘right to a private life’ and allowed only limited data collection exceptions to that right. Search engines can only hang on to European user data for six months, must generally treat IP addresses as ‘personal information,’ and must comply with the rules even if they are based outside the EU.”

With the US increasingly implementing a policy of voluntary self-regulation by the major search companies, it’s good news that the EU is willing to argue for tougher privacy laws to protect its citizens. The full Ars Technica post is here.