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North Korea "publicly executes 80 people"



SEOUL: North Korea publicly executed around 80 people earlier this month, many for watching smuggled South Korean TV shows, a South Korean newspaper reported Monday.

The conservative JoongAng Ilbo cited a single, unidentified source, but at least one North Korean defector group said it had heard rumours that lent credibility to the front-page report.

The source, said to be "familiar" with the North's internal affairs and recently returned from the country, said the executions were carried out in seven cities on November 3.

In the eastern port of Wonsan, the authorities gathered 10,000 people in a sports stadium to watch the execution of eight people by firing squad, the source quoted one eyewitness as saying.

Most were charged with watching illicit South Korean TV dramas, and some with prostitution.

Several of the cities, including Wonsan and Pyongsong in the west, have been designated as special economic zones aimed at attracting foreign investment to boost the North's moribund economy.

The Seoul-based news website, Daily NK, which is run by North Korean defectors and has a wide network of sources, said it had no information on the executions.

But another defector-run website, North Korea Intellectual Solidarity, said its sources had reported several months ago on plans for a wave of public executions.

"The regime is obviously afraid of potential changes in people's mindsets and is pre-emptively trying to scare people off," said one website official.

Watching unsanctioned foreign films or TV -- especially those from the capitalist South -- is a serious offence in North Korea.

However, efforts to control their distribution have been circumvented by technology, with an increasing number being smuggled in on DVDs, flash drives and mp3 players.

As well as South Korean soap operas, US shows like Desperate Housewives are believed to have a small but avid following.

Source: channelnewasia.com

The 93-year Italian veteran Francesco Brambilla never forget the first time I discovered YouTube. And no wonder. Search in his first video platform , he found himself an anonymous video just two minutes , filmed the day before the departure of his regiment to the Russian front in 1942 during World War II .

He was the son of Francesco , Fausto Brambilla , who approached his father the search . I wanted to see how that screen " just type a name of what you want to look and she finds him ," says the son in a story published Thursday the Italian newspaper ' Corriere della Sera ' . "Since my father would have left the forces and confined living space of your home, traveling to the depths of their memories , especially ' those years." Years of war , from the front, from the long confinement in Russia , "says the report . Therefore, given the sober Google screen with the promised chance of finding what one wants , tells how her father Fausto was direct with him : "Try Sforzesca , my regiment during the war."

The most striking result was a video , from 1942 , under the title ' Caserma Passalacqua ' images anonymously shot where you can see , in black and white , hundreds of soldiers dressed for battle and waving to their relatives . "Dad that's you , exactly like that picture you made me see so many times," said Fausto relates that by watching the images. There, he explains, his father appeared , sitting , waiting for the departure of his division to the Russian front , damn point of no return for millions of people who do this Italian could return .

The Russian Campaign , one of the most important World War II , received Italy sending over 230,000 soldiers , of which 114,000 were killed. " Look at us there. 's Us, are those sent to die . I am the only one in my town who returned home alive," she managed to say Brambilla , born in Bellinzago Lombardo , a municipality in Milan now living some more 3,800 people . " Seventy years later, in the midst of a normal life of a common man : Francesco Brambilla , for everyone Mario always , out of the 54 largest infantry regiment . A normal man with a special history , thanks to Youtube live in the future " concludes the story .

Paul Walker died yesterday in a car crash. RIP Paul.

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