My Blog

The Facebook Resisters Steve Dykes for The New York Times Tyson Balcomb, a college student in Oregon, stopped using Facebook, saying its effects were maybe “a little unhealthy.” By JENNA WORTHAM Tyson Balcomb quit Facebook after a chance encounter on an elevator. He found himself standing next to a woman he had never met — yet through Facebook he knew what her older brother looked like, that she was from a tiny island off the coast of Washington and that she had recently visited the Space Needle in Seattle. Todd Heisler/The New York Times Erika Gable refuses to use Facebook. She does use social media applications such as Twitter and Spotify. The New York Times “I knew all these things about her, but I’d never even talked to her,” said Mr. Balcomb, a pre-med student in Oregon who had some real-life friends in common with the woman. “At that point I thought, maybe this is a little unhealthy.” ...

China protest in Guangdong's Wukan 'vanishes from web'   Images supplied by villagers show massive rallies in Wukan China's internet censors have blocked searches relating to an ongoing protest in the village of Wukan, web users say. Users of Sina Weibo, the country's Twitter-like micro-blogging site, say searches for Wukan return no results. Instead, a message appears saying: "According to relevant law, regulations and policies, search results for Wukan cannot be displayed." A land dispute in the Guangdong village intensified this week when a villager died in police custody. Hundreds of villagers are now locked in a stand-off with security forces. Roads into the village have been closed and are being guarded by heavily armed security personnel. 'What's going on?' China's village unrest 14 Dec 11: Stand-off in Wukan after a villager dies in custody 21-23 Sept 11: Three days of rioting in Wukan Nov 0...

Supermassive black hole will 'eat' gas cloud   Simulations suggest that the cloud will be ripped to bits and partially swallowed by the black hole Researchers have spotted a giant gas cloud spiralling into the supermassive black hole at our galaxy's centre. Though it is known that black holes draw in everything nearby, it will be the first chance to see one consume such a cloud. As it is torn apart, the turbulent area around the black hole will become unusually bright, giving astronomers a chance to learn more about it. The cloud, which is described in Nature, should meet its end in 2013. Researchers using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope estimate that despite its size, the cloud has a total mass of only about three times that of Earth. They have plotted the cloud's squashed, oval-shaped path and estimate it has doubled its speed in the last seven years - to 2,350km per second. It should spiral in to within a...

US flag ceremony to mark end of Iraq war role Most US troops have already left Iraq to fly home via Kuwait The US flag is to be lowered in Baghdad, formally marking the end of US military operations in Iraq after nearly nine years of war. Most of the 5,500 remaining soldiers have now left Iraq, with security in the hands of the Iraqi authorities. President Barack Obama, who came to office pledging to bring troops home, said the US left behind a "sovereign, stable and self-reliant Iraq". Some 4,500 US soldiers and more than 100,000 Iraqis have died in the war. It has cost the US some $1tr. Republicans have criticised the pullout citing concerns over Iraq's stability, but most Americans support the move. In a speech to troops just returned from Iraq in North Carolina on Wednesday, Mr Obama hailed the "extraordinary achievement" of the military and said they were leaving with "heads held high". "Everything that American tro...

India toxic alcohol kills 80 in West Bengal   Relatives gathered at the Diamond Harbour hospital after the news broke At least 80 people have died after consuming toxic alcohol in India's West Bengal state, police say. Several residents of the Magrahat, Usthi and Mandirbazar areas in South 24 Parganas district fell ill after drinking the alcohol on Tuesday night. Four people have been arrested. Some 100 others are being treated in hospital in the Diamond Harbour area, with fears the death toll could rise. Toxic alcohol deaths are a regular occurrence in India. Last week, the state of Gujarat brought in a new law making the illegal manufacture and sale of toxic alcohol there punishable by death. Ransacked The BBC's Amitabha Bhattasali in Calcutta says that 32 people have died overnight, pushing up the death toll from 48 from Wednesday evening. A large number of people were also admitted to hospitals overnight with symptoms of alcohol poisoning ...

Hong Kong 'most developed' financial market, says WEF   Hong Kong's rise to the top spot is because of non-banking services such as IPOs and insurance Hong Kong is the world's most developed financial market, according to a World Economic Forum report, overtaking the US and the UK for the first time. The US slipped to second place, as financial stability remains a concern there, said the report. "Hong Kong's ascent to the top of our index marks a major milestone," said Kevin Steinberg, of the World Economic Forum. The WEF's Financial Stability Index ranks 60 countries' financial systems. Mr Steinberg added that it was the first time in the report's history that the United Kingdom or the US were not in first place. Leadership challenge Hong Kong's rise was attributed to non-banking services such as IPOs or initial public offerings and insurance, the report said. Launched in 2008, the ranking is based on eff...

Can China keep its workers happy as strikes and protests rise? By Mukul Devichand BBC Radio 4, Crossing Continents Riot police clashed with protesting workers in the city of Zengcheng, Guangzhou province, in June There has been a wave of strikes and riots among migrant workers manning production lines in southern China, but can the government keep the "factory of the world" running smoothly? Chinese officials are not renowned for giving straight answers. But in Guangzhou, China's manufacturing megacity, they are quite candid about the need to give equal rights to migrant workers. Is this one of the biggest challenges China is facing, I ask Chen Hou Tian, an official representing the government of China's third city. "Yes," he says simply. Migration from the countryside has provided the cheap labour that has fuelled China's boom . ...