蜜芽传媒

James Reynolds introduces personal reflections, wit and analysis from 蜜芽传媒 correspondents around the world. In this edition, Mishal Husain in Beirut meets the cyber-activists who want to change Syria, while Fergal Keane finds a new realist streak in Irish patriotism.

The revolution will not be televised - but tweeted

Earlier this year, two young men from Syria, Rami Nakhle and Omar Edilbi, began to campaign for change in their country.

They are members of the Facebook and Twitter generation which has led the Arab Spring.

But there's more to their struggle than coding and communicating. It's turned into a dangerous, personal war.

The two have been forced to flee to Beirut, in neighbouring Lebanon, and are continuing their activities from there.

Mishal Husain has been to meet them.

Snapshot from a vanished age; hopes for a new one

A single picture can make you stop and think.

That's what happened to Fergal Keane this summer when he went back home to Ireland on holiday, as he does each year.

He came across an old black and white photograph of a stern-looking policeman - triggering a reflection on his country's mood, and the real meaning of patriotism in times of crisis.

Show less