The Queen and her husband are busy looting Jordan. They do not care at all for the poor in Jordan or for the Palestinians either. The rich are getting richer and the poor much much poorer. “Her Majesty” is busy in New York with actors and celebrities and polishing her image in the American media. But behind this facade the truth is very ugly. Also it does not look like she wrote the blog herself. It looks like the work of a PR firm. Ya Rania, instead of wasting money on handbags, private jets and public relations, why don’t you spend on the poor? How many houses could be built in Jordan for poor families with just the cost of your last trip to New York?
Krista, from the collective blog Muslimah Media Watch, shares her family's passion for “ridiculous and tacky” salt and pepper shakers. Their latest acquisition, a gift bought in Dubai, has raised a lot of questions in Krista's mind.
How do international media represent cities in South America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East? Is it fair or helpful to development? A symposium of scholars from the London School of Economics in London, United Kingdom explore this topic. See video.
As the situation in Syria worsens, and more terrifying reports arrive from the Homs district of Houla, Foreign Policy-hosted blog Turtle Bay summarizes a report [PDF] from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the UN observer mission. This “gloomy” account clearly shows that measures recommended by Kofi Annan have not been implemented, and a viable peace plan is not yet in place despite diplomatic pressure. Ban Ki-moon notes that “while many fear the implications of a further militarization of the conflict, some have doubts that peaceful change is possible.”
Local open governance activists in Tunisia have launched the first open data website showing the municipal budget [ar, fr] of the city of Sayada for the current fiscal year. The Tunisian open governance community [ar, fr] has had some success in increasing the government's transparency; they have already convinced the Tunisian presidency to reveal its budget.
The Queen and her husband are busy looting Jordan. They do not care at all for the poor in Jordan or for the Palestinians either. The rich are getting richer and the poor much much poorer. “Her Majesty” is busy in New York with actors and celebrities and polishing her image in the American media. But behind this facade the truth is very ugly. Also it does not look like she wrote the blog herself. It looks like the work of a PR firm. Ya Rania, instead of wasting money on handbags, private jets and public relations, why don’t you spend on the poor? How many houses could be built in Jordan for poor families with just the cost of your last trip to New York?