Israeli cyclist Roei “Jinji” Sadan, who has spent the past four years crossing 42 countries on six continents, reached his final destination. Sadan, 29, arrived at the Sydney Opera House Thursday afternoon on his 27-gear, custom-built, blue-and-white bicycle sporting the Israeli and Australian flags.

“It’s very clear that the public wants a real state, not just a state in name. The public is willing to pay the price.” Palestinian pollster Khalil Shikaki explains why a unilateral declaration of statehood may be the last chance Palestinians give to their current leadership...

From the moment he took office, Chávez deployed himself across existing platforms, using every available communications resource to present himself, his ideology and his policies directly to the public. Now, as his idiosyncratic rule runs up against limitations imposed by serious health problems, Chávez has found that...social media, is a most useful tool.

The mainstream western media has willfully ignored the continued abuses in Bahrain, and al Jazeera...has also been conspicuously silent...Fortunately, courageous activists on the ground have linked up with concerned citizens from around the world to create awareness for ordinary people removed by thousands of miles and blinded by the smokescreen of media obfuscation.

Social media allowed an ''unprecedented'' two-way exchange of information between the public and those given the task of preparing for and responding to major events such as earthquakes, floods and infection pandemics, said researchers. The technology allowed officials to ''push'' information to the public while at the same time ''pulling'' in valuable data from bystanders.

APDS Blogger: Kimberly DeGroff Madsen

Britain knows it will never be Hollywood, but the domestic film industry has carved out a unique niche in the movie world, cemented by the success of The Kings Speech. In short, a good British film is often low budget with a gripping narrative and featuring British acting royalty. British history, literature or culture often play a key role – it is these films that are...the biggest successes in the US.