Blogs are becoming increasingly popular in Lebanon as they cover the political and social landscape, expressing society's demands. As a result, blogs and online groups have become a true political tool in the hands of civil society to promote causes online.

The lawyer Ni Yulan has been making the rounds on microblogs and the magazine world. Her story began when Beijing successfully won the bid to host the 2008 Olympics - and the municipal government promptly started to 'beautify' the city by razing houses and independently owned property. Then working part-time for the China International Trading Corporation, Ni took on sensitive cases for petitioners and those who rebelled against the forced demolition of their homes. Jailed twice for her actions, and paralyzed from police beatings, she was released from jail in April 2010. Ironically, her own house in Xicheng district had been razed, and together with her husband, Dong Jiqin, they were left homeless. An independent filmmaker has chronicled the couple's time staying at the Huangchenggen heritage park (皇城根遗产公园).

The two undercover police officers seemed unfazed by the bystanders, who watched as the officers beat a 28-year-old man in the lobby of a building here last month, one witness said. Ahmed Kassem held a picture of his brother, Khaled Said, who died after an encounter with the police. After public outrage, the police were charged. One of those bystanders, Amal Kamel, stood at the top of a short flight of marble stairs in the lobby, watching the officers punch and kick the man, Khaled Said, smashing his head against the bottom step until his body was still and he stopped begging for his life. The officers dragged Mr. Said to a car, Ms. Kamel said, and returned 10 minutes later to leave his body at the bottom of the stairs.

New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof writes this week about the growing trend toward self-conscious nonviolent resistance among Palestinians against Israeli occupation. But he is also quick to point out its shortcomings, as in his account of one action in Bilin:

Members of ‘Pygmy’ communities in Cameroon have issued a clear message in the wake of the Copenhagen climate change talks: their rights to their forests must be respected. According to the Forest Peoples Programme , the Baka, Bagyeli and Bakola peoples fear that climate change mitigation projects will further exclude them from their forest homes and that climate change is already affecting their forests.