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.

Controversy erupts over removal of Blu’s antiwar mural at MOCA
Has MOCA, which bills itself as the artist’s museum, engaged in some large-scale preemptive censorship? Street art blogs were buzzing this weekend with word that the L.A. museum had commissioned an Italian artist known as Blu to do a mural on the north wall of the Geffen Contemporary, only to paint over the work before it was officially unveiled because of its political content. As seen in this image from…
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2010/12/controversy-erupts
-over-removal-of-blu-antiwar-mural-at-moca-.html

10 days in Sweden: the full allegations against Julian Assange
Documents seen by the Guardian reveal for the first time the full details of the allegations of rape and sexual assault that have led to extradition hearings against the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange. The case against Assange, which has been the subject of intense speculation and dispute in mainstream media and on the internet, is laid out in police material held in Stockholm to which the Guardian received unauthorised…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/dec/17/julian-assange-sweden

Frigid weather blasts Europe
A blast of harsh winter weather socked Europe Saturday morning, causing travel chaos and sending temperatures into a deep-freeze. From Northern Ireland to Bulgaria, blizzard conditions left airports with heavy delays or shut them entirely on Friday, and many delays and cancellations continued into Saturday. Ireland braced for an icey Saturday as the Irish Meteorological Service, Met Eireann, forecast widespread frost…
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/12/18/europe.winter.weather
/index.html

Sudan WikiLeaks reveals “Western” connivance in African corruption
According to C O N F I D E N T I A L USUN NEW YORK 000306 leaked cable on Sudan “International Criminal Court Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo told Ambassadors Rice and Wolff on March 20 that Sudanese President Bashir needed to be isolated. Ocampo suggested if Bashir’s stash of money were disclosed (he put the figure at possibly $9 billion), it would change Sudanese public opinion from him being a “crusader”…
http://www.myweku.com/2010/12/sudan-wikileaks-reveals-western-connivance
-in-african-corruption/

Your Apps Are Watching You
Few devices know more personal details about people than the smartphones in their pockets: phone numbers, current location, often the owner’s real name—even a unique ID number that can never be changed or turned off. These phones don’t keep secrets. They are sharing this personal data widely and regularly, a Wall Street Journal investigation has found. An examination of 101 popular smartphone “apps”—games and…
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100014240527487046940045760200837035
74602.html

Ivory Coast president orders U.N. troops to leave country
Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo on Saturday ordered all U.N. peacekeeping forces out of the country a day after Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon called on the disputed re-election winner to step down. Gbagbo’s reaction to Ban’s statement coincides with an increase in pressure Western governments are imposing on the Gbagbo government and a report of an overnight attack on a U.N. peacekeeping patrol. European Union leaders…
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/12/18/ivory.coast.un/

The President on the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010: “An Historic Step”
Today, President Obama released a statement on the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010. Today’s historic vote would not have happened without the tireless efforts of many, including leaders in Congress, advocates, and the clear leadership provided by the President. As recently as this morning, the President has been reaching out to Senators from both sides of the aisle to help secure votes. It was only 11 months ago…
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/12/18/president-dont-ask-dont-tell-repeal
-act-2010-historic-step

Oslo ignores Nobel row to sign oil deal with Chinese
A Chinese state-owned oil company has won a contract with Norway’s Statoil to drill in the North Sea, despite Beijing’s fury over the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to jailed dissident Liu Xiaobo. China called the Oslo-based Nobel Committee “clowns” for honouring Mr Liu and threatened “consequences”. Attention since the award last Friday has been on what long-term effect China’s anger will have. The announcement of the oil…
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/oslo-ignores-nobel-row-to-sign
-oil-deal-with-chinese-2160627.html

Google TV Faces Delays Amid Poor Reviews
Google TV has just enacted its first programming cancellation. The Consumer Electronics Show next month in Las Vegas was meant to be the great coming-out party for Google’s new software for televisions, which adds Web video and other computer smarts to TV sets. Although Google already has a deal with Sony for its Internet TVs, other television makers — Toshiba, LG Electronics and Sharp — were prepared to flaunt their versions…
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/20/technology/20google.html

The Continuing Decline Of The Web 2.0 Sites
We are all obsessed with sites like Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin at the moment but rewind a few years to when the term Web 2.0 first popped up and a whole host of different sites were the hot young startups destined for great things. It’s amazing what a couple of years do though because as we can see below some of the biggest sites from the Web 2.0 generation are either on a massive decline, facing huge competition or…
http://www.simplyzesty.com/technology/the-continuing-decline-of-the-web-2-0-sites/

Distinguished Iranian Film Dir. Jafar Panahi Receives Preposterous Sentence
Jafar Panahi is one of the most acclaimed film directors in the world. Admirers like myself were horrified and astonished at the news, announced yesterday, that Jafar Panahi had been sentenced not only to six years in prison, but to an unimaginable twenty-year total ban on all his artistic activities—including film making, script writing, traveling outside the country and speaking with the media…
http://blog.amnestyusa.org/middle-east/distinguished-iranian-film-director-jafar-panahi
-receives-preposterous-sentence/

West African leaders hold emergency meeting on Ivory Coast
West African leaders were huddling in Nigeria on Friday over how best to defuse an escalating crisis in Ivory Coast, where President Laurent Gbagbo refuses to concede power. The 15-member Economic Community of West African States has already urged Gbagbo to acknowledge the results of a presidential election and hand over power to his challenger, Alassane Ouattara. But Gbagbo continues to defy international criticism…
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/12/24/ivory.coast.conflict/