This is our new Friday Digest! Every Friday, this weekly news round-up gives us the occasion to share with you news from various topics: politics to arts, entertainment, media, science, sports, fun and less fun news… This digest is a list of news published this week on the Internet (Friday to Friday), selected by the Sama Team, and it is by no means exhaustive.

If you want to suggest a news to be added in the next Friday Digest, contact us.

Haitians face crucial choice in presidential run-off
Haitians Saturday faced a crucial decision over who will lead their quake-ravaged country — a popular singer or a former first lady — as campaigning ended in the presidential election. Sunday’s vote ends a long and turbulent election season that sparked fraud charges and deadly violence after a first round of balloting in the race to succeed President Rene Preval. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon reminded Haitians it was…
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/haitians-face-crucial-choice-in
-presidential-runoff-20110320-1c1qh.html

Excerpts of Gadhafi’s letters to world leaders
Excerpts of letters Moammar Gadhafi sent to President Barack Obama and others involved in the international coalition supporting the uprising against him: Letter to Obama: To our son, the honorable Barack Hussein Obama, As I have said before, even if, God forbid, there were a war between Libya and America, you would remain my son and I would still love you. I do not want to change the image I have of you. All of the Libyan…
http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/633c954da7d9434f9de7ed15f38075aa/Article
_2011-03-19-AF-Libya-Gadhafi%27s-Letters/id-68878facfd7c49c3b7d02d411ceb5f09

At Qaddafi Compound, a Human Shield
Even as the Allied intervention began, a group of foreign journalists were bused on a rare visit inside Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s compound — a labyrinth of concrete barracks, fortified walls and barbed wire designed to deter potential military coups. There, hundreds of supporters offered themselves up as human shields, cheering to newly minted dance songs about their adoration for their leader. “House by house, ally by ally,”…
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/20/world/africa/20tripoli.html

Does the World Belong in Libya’s War?
By employing genocidal threats to “cleanse Libya house by house,” Col. Muammar al-Qaddafi forced the world community’s hand in taking strong action to protect the human rights of all Libyans. The Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine — which requires the U.N. Security Council to take action when a country fails to protect its citizens and was unanimously adopted by all countries of the U.N. General Assembly in 2005…
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/03/18/does_the_world_belong
_in_libyas_war

Google Accuses Chinese of Blocking Gmail Service
Google has accused the Chinese government of disrupting Gmail in the country, making it difficult in the last few weeks for users here to gain access to the company’s popular e-mail service. Google said that it was not having any technical problems with Google’s main Web site or Gmail service in China. “There is no issue on our side; we have checked extensively,” Google said in a statement released Sunday. “This is a government blockage…
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/21/technology/21google.html

Girls in the Spotlight: A Lesson from Rwanda
When I try to get people interested in the education cause in Rwanda, they often tell me that they’re up to their eyeballs in work on public or charter schools in their own neighborhoods – Upper West Side, Noe Valley, wherever. Some people, though, have a broad definition of “neighborhood.” A couple of years back, two women from Seattle approached me about the possibility of establishing a girls’ school here in Rwanda. I’ve grown…
http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/21/girls-in-the-spotlight-a-lesson
-from-rwanda/

Explosion at Jerusalem bus stop kills 1, wounds 25
A bomb exploded at a crowded bus stop Wednesday in central Jerusalem, killing one woman and wounding at least 25 in what appeared to be the first militant attack in the city in several years.  The blast could be heard throughout Jerusalem and blew out the windows of two crowded buses. There was no claim of responsibility, but Israeli police blamed Palestinian militants, calling the bombing a “terrorist” attack. A woman died…
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42228970/ns/world_news-mideastn_africa/

China activist Liu Xianbin jailed for 10 years
A Chinese democracy activist has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for inciting subversion of state power. Liu Xianbin was charged after writing a series of articles calling for democratic reforms. He was convicted after a trial lasting only a few hours; the third time he has been sent to jail for his activism. Dozens of lawyers and activists have been arrested or detained in China recently following calls for…
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12859050

Sudan opens airspace to us jets
Sudan is reported to be trying to get itself back into western Nations good books by granting permission to nations enforcing the Libyan No fly zone use of its air space. Reuters news agency quoted an envoy revealing that Sudan had made the deal quietly. The United Nations has said nearly a dozen countries have notified Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon they would be involved in the Libya operations to protect civilians under siege…
http://pressrelease.co.ug/pressuganda/?p=3847