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.

The list goes from oldest to newest news.  See you on Sunday, for our weekly Twitter Sunday!

Myanmar Votes in Election Controlled by Military
Polling places appeared nearly empty around Yangon on Sunday as the rest of the city went about its business in the first election in this closed and tightly controlled nation in 20 years. The process was expected to cement military rule behind a civilian facade but also to open the door slightly to possible shifts in the dynamics of power. “It was an empty room,”…
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/world/asia/07myanmar.html

Christian areas targeted in Baghdad attacks
A series of bombings and mortar attacks targeting Christian areas has killed at least three people in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, security sources say. Six districts with strong Christian majorities were hit, and at least 24 people have been injured. The attacks come days after more than 40 people died when Islamist militants seized a Catholic cathedral. The violence…
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11724378

Pentagon can’t explain apparent mystery plume off California coast
The Pentagon is unable to explain images of what witnesses took to be a high-altitude rocket launched off the coast of southern California at sunset Monday, officials said. But John Pike, a defense expert who is director of GlobalSecurity.org, said he believes he has solved the mystery. “It’s clearly an airplane contrail,” Pike said Tuesday afternoon. “It’s an optical illusion…
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/US/11/09/california.contrails/index.html

Canada mining firm sued over role in DR Congo conflict
Relatives of victims and survivors of a massacre in the Democratic Republic of Congo have filed a class action suit against the Canadian company Anvil Mining. More than 70 civilians were allegedly killed by Congolese troops when they recaptured the town of Kilwa in 2004. Anvil Mining is accused of providing logistical support to the military. The company says it has not…
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11725651

SWAN denounces Burma Army build-up and rape in central Shan State
SWAN strongly denounces the Burma Army build-up around the Shan ceasefire area in Ke See township, central Shan State, which led to the rape of a young disabled woman on the eve of the November 7 election. Since November 3, more than 1,000 new troops have been deployed from other parts of Shan State to areas adjacent to territory of the Shan State Army-North…
http://www.scribd.com/doc/41989974/SWAN-denounces-Burma-Army-build-up-and-rape-in-central-Shan-State

Motorola fires back at Microsoft with patent suit
Motorola is returning fire in a legal battle with Microsoft, suing the software maker for infringing on 16 of its patents. Motorola said Wednesday that Microsoft’s PC and server software, Windows mobile software and Xbox products infringe on its patents. The complaints were filed by its Motorola Mobility unit in the U.S. District Courts for the Southern District of Florida…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/10/AR2010111008562.html

‘Call of Duty: Black Ops,’ US Video Game, Slammed By Cuba For Fidel Castro Death Sequence
Cuba is condemning the release of a new video game in which players are challenged to assassinate Fidel Castro, the BBC is reporting. Titled “Call of Duty: Black Ops,” the controversial new game went on sale this week and is expected to be one of the holiday season’s best-sellers. Set during the Cold War, the game’s players take on the role of a U.S. special operative…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/12/call-of-duty-black-ops-us_n_782407.html

Release of Myanmar Dissident Near
An ally of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi said an order for her release has been signed by Myanmar’s ruling generals, as hundreds of supporters gathered Friday at her political party headquarters and near her residence in anticipation. Suu Kyi’s house arrest officially ends Saturday, but rumors swept Yangon that she might be freed as early as Friday. Riot police…
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/11/12/world/asia/AP-AS-Myanmar-Election.html