A governments intentions and commitment to it's people can be easily gauged by how it treats the opposition. In democracies, free speech is paramount and criticism of the government by the people and opposition is a liberty we take for granted. If  you needed any further proof of how undemocratic and evil the Chinese regime is we just need to look at it's handling of an academic who made a call for reform of the political system. Today, he was sentenced to eleven years. ELEVEN years.

Anderson Cooper, covering the Haiti disaster for CNN did more than just bring viewers the events as they unfolded - he jumped in and helped drag a young boy to safety. Reporters, especially those covering harrowing and dangerous scenes are often caught in a moral dilemma - keep filming and capture the news or jump in and miss capturing the news. It's not an easy choice to make, particularly when scenes of innocents being injured are unfolding before you.

In the first truly epic battle for the Christmas Number one in five years, fans have beaten the might of the x-factor to drive Rage Against the Machine to the top position in the charts, making it the Christmas No. 1. It truly is a case of a grassroots campaign taking on the might of Goliath and slaying him with hundreds of thousands of 60p downloads, despite all the hype and publicity surrounding the x-factor winner Joe McElderry.

In what will have every conspiracy theorist raging, every freedom activist hopping and anybody that likes the depth and breath of the internet to be at their fingertips, Australia is set to become the latest country to impose web filtering on all internet requests coming from within the country. It means that the Government will have the ability to block any site it deems 'illegal' or of questionable taste. All under the guise of helping parents.