Friday Protests in Syria Turn Violent

We're seeing a number of videos coming in from large demonstrations that broke our across Syria Friday, a day of the week that commonly sees an uptick in protests in that region. Security forces have reportedly opened fire in a number of locations, leaving nearly 20 dead.

More footage of the protests is being aggregated as it emerges at CitizenTube.

The clips below are said to have been captured today:

On the Scene Footage: Protests in Malaysia

A reported 1,600 protesters were arrested over the weekend by riot police in the crackdown of an electoral reform protest in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia. A number of videos were posted of the protest, which depict events from the street and from the buildings above.

The clip below is said to show tear gas being used in to control protesters rushing forward:



The collection of videos from CitizenTube provides a broader perspective on the size and scope of the weekend protest.

(Use the arrows to navigate between videos or watch them all here.)

On the Scene Footage: Arizona Dust Storm

A major dust storm blanketed parts of Arizona, including the Phoenix area, late Tuesday and some residents were able to capture plenty of video of the unique event. The storm -- also known broadly as a "haboob" -- is a top rising search today on YouTube and over 1,000 videos tagged "dust storm" have been uploaded in the past 24 hours.

We've collected a number of incredible, recently-uploaded videos of the sand storm in the playlist below:

(Use the arrows to navigate between videos or watch them all here.)

Top Rising Search: 'Casey Anthony Not Guilty'

The top rising searches on YouTube this afternoon all have to do with the Casey Anthony trial, which came to a close today in Orlando. In particular, the highest spike queries are for the verdict and, seemingly, for the reaction video of Anthony as she learned of the murder charge aquittal. A number of news organizations have posted both raw video of the announcement and packaged reports of the news.



A number of YouTube users have also begun posting their own reaction videos to the verdict, a sampling of which can be seen in the playlist below via CitizenTube.

On the Scene Footage from Athens

Dramatic footage from Athens, Greece this week as some demonstrators clashed with police outside the country's parliament while protesting austerity measures. More than 300 people were reportedly injured in the two days of protesting.

Below is a playlist of footage from amid the clashes this week. The first two videos have spread particularly quickly.

(Use the arrows to navigate between videos or watch them all here.)



UPDATED with numerous newly uncovered videos from the situation over the past few days.

Nearby Footage of the Las Conchas Fire

A wildfire flared up in Las Conchas, New Mexico Sunday, and we've been seeing video posted by residents in the area depicting the plumes of smoke coming from the blaze. The fire was less than one mile from the Los Alamos National Laboratory, which focuses on nuclear science, and a voluntary evacuation has been ordered for the lab and area.

Below are a collection of videos from the past 24 hours taken from nearby locations (and even up above).

(Use the arrows to navigate between videos or watch them all here.)

Protests in Wake of Syrian President's Speech

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad delivered a much-anticipated address today in which he blamed his country's civil unrest on foreign-backed saboteurs. New videos are emerging that purportedly depict protests in the nation's streets in reaction to al-Assad's speech. We've collected a handful in the playlist below:



See them all here. Follow more breaking news video around the events in Syria at CitizenTube.

On the Scene: Canuck Fans Riot

Numerous videos are being posted of the scene in Vancouver last evening following the Canucks loss to the Boston Bruins in game seven of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals. The playlist below depicts of the destruction and confrontations with police that took place in the hours after the game. Warning: Some adult language.

(Use the arrows to navigate between videos or watch them all here.)



Check out more breaking news video at CitizenTube.

On the Scene Footage: Strike in Greece

A nationwide strike against government spending cuts is taking place today in Greece, where videos are quickly emerging from protests in Athens. Clashes between protesters in police have been reported outside of the parliament in Syntagma Square, where many of the videos are purported to have originated.

Below is a playlist of videos said to have been uploaded today from the protests. We will update with additional video if and when it becomes available.

(Use the arrows to navigate between videos or watch them all here.)



Check out more breaking news video at CitizenTube.

Aftershock Tremors in Christchurch Caught on Camera

Roughly five months after the devestating earthquake that rocked Christchurch, New Zealand in February, the region was struck by two aftershocks today causing several injuries.

Below, you can see how the event was accidentally captured on camera by a number of people in the area who just happened to be rolling when the tremors struck:

(Use the arrows to navigate between videos or watch them all here.)



Check out more breaking news video at CitizenTube.

Syrian 'Ghost Town'

There have been conflicting reports of what exactly happened in the Syrian town of Jisr al-Shughour earlier this week. The government has said it would respond forcefully leading to protests in the area and in other cities. Some are said to be fleeing to Turkey to escape.

Footage has emerged of completely empty streets in the town of 44,000:



Learn more and follow updates on the situation at CitizenTube.

Dramatic Video from Bahrain Protest

A video said to have been filmed earlier today spread across twitter this afternoon, particularly among activists. It claims to depict an incident that occurred during protests as martial law was lifted in the country's streets. In the brief clip, protesters can be seen approaching and confronting what appear to be security forces:



A number of other clips from events today in the small nation have also been posted.

Meanwhile, footage of escalating violence in Yemen and protest crackdowns in Syria has also been appearing and is highlighted at CitizenTube.

Footage of Deadly Clashes in Hama, Syria

As protests continue in Syria, dramatic footage has been coming out of cities like Hama, where a number of protesters were reportedly killed earlier today. The playlist below contains clips uploaded today said to depict clashes between protesters and Syrian forces in that area Friday. The first shows a soldier firing directly toward the camera.

Warning: some of the videos contain graphic violence:



(Use the arrows to navigate between videos or watch them all here.)

On-the-Scene Footage of Huge Crowds in Yemen

Reported tens of thousands of citizens gathered in Yemen capital Sana'a today. Large demonstrations in opposition of President Ali Abdullah Saleh were held and Friday prayer sermons were given. A number of videos have been posted showing wide views of the massive crowds gathered on the highway in the city:



More videos of the scene are available in the playlist below. Researchers at Storyful suggest that the footage below comes from a rough location that can be viewed on Google Maps.

Inside YouTube Search: Looking Back at a Major News Week

Last week was a major week for news involving the President, with Obama delivering two starkly contrasting, yet incredibly popular speeches.

We already analyzed how popular his correspondents' dinner remarks have been -- and since then, they've been viewed roughly 8 million times total. The official White House version of his address on the death of Osama bin Laden, which he delivered the following night, has been viewed over 5 million times.

Today, we've gone back and looked at last week's search data for some perspective. Searches around the world for "Obama" on YouTube so far this month were at their relative highest since January 2009, when the President was inaugurated. The term "bin laden" is the top rising U.S. search on YouTube of the past thirty days, and if you look back at searches for "osama" globally over the past few years, weekly interest essentially charts like a hockeystick:



In the United States, searches for "osama" spiked higher than searches for "tsunami" did in March, making this one of biggest news stories in terms of U.S. interest so far this year.

Osama bin Laden News Draws YouTube Reaction from Across the Country

UPDATED

Sunday night, President Obama announced that Osama bin Laden had been killed in Pakistan by U.S. forces. As the news broke, searches for videos about the story -- "osama bin laden dead" -- were by far the top rising terms on YouTube. Other top searches were for songs including Toby Keith's "Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue," "Good Bless America," and Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the U.S.A," among others.

One of the top trending videos on Twitter was President George W. Bush's famous bullhorn speech from ground zero in 2001.

After the announcement, YouTube began seeing a surge in videos uploaded of both YouTube user reactions and on-the-scene videos from gatherings and celebrations around the country, including at the United States Naval and Air Force academies, Ground Zero, and a number of universities, which can be seen in the playlist of clips below.

Update 9amET: Now with more, clearer videos from the service academies and with clips from Time Square, Boston, and other locations:



(Use the arrows to navigate between videos or watch them all here.)

WE WILL CONTINUE TO UPDATE AS MORE VIDEOS ARE POSTED

On the Scene Footage: Friday Protests Across Syria

Earlier in the week, we highlighted videos coming out of the Syrian city of Homs, which purported to depict large-scale protests as well as gunfire from government forces. Today, we have new footage said to be from cities across Syria of the many Friday protests that broke out in another day that is reported to turn violent.

Here is some of that footage, which has been curated on CitizenTube in partnership with Storyful. It's been labeled by the city it was said to have been shot in.

Damascus:	Zabadani:
Banias:	Homs:

There is also footage of reported gunfire and tear gas used to disperse crowds that's begun to draw some attention:

Gunfire Breaks Up Protest in Syria

Tensions have risen again in Syria, where government forces today broke up a sit-in involving thousands of people that took place in a square in the city of Homs. The videos below were all said to be captured in Homs in the past 24 hours and are curated on CitizenTube through our partnership with Storyful.

Protesters chanting in the square at night	Shots are fired at what appears to be the same location.
Protesters dodge reported fire at dawn	Another video of gunfire in the street said to be from this morning.

New Dramatic Video from Japan

On March 11, Japan was struck by a major earthquake and tsunami, a catastrophic event that drew major global attention here on YouTube where hundreds of on-the-scene videos were posted as events were unfolding there.

Yet over a month later, we are still seeing incredible footage come in with dramatic first hand accounts of the disaster. The video below is said to have been captured near a school in South Sanriku City. The videographer indicated that he was initially hesitant to post the footage:



Here's another recently posted dramatic clip that's drawn a lot of attention.

You can see a full collection of on-the-scene video from Japan at CitizenTube.

Footage from the Scene: London Protests Turn Destructive

Anti-spending cuts protests, which are said to have been attended by up to 500,000 people, went from peaceful to destructive Saturday in London after the demonstrations were reportedly hijacked by "violent anarchists." Many attendees and bystanders uploaded hundreds of on-the-scene accounts depicting both sides to the day's events. A sample of that footage is available in the playlist below:



(Use the arrows to navigate between videos or watch them all here.)

Related: In another form of protest, a UK rapper has targeted Britain's Health Secretary with a viral rap video that's drawing a lot of buzz. It's currently one of the Most Viewed videos on the country. Here's some backstory.