25 April 2013

Stories from 25 April 2013

Saudi-American View on Boston Bombings

Nora Abdulkarim shares a Saudi-American perspective on the Boston Bombings. She explains: I won't try to simplify what is inherently complex. I will simply present and reflect, and nothing more. No fancy theorizing, no overarching message. This post is only meant to be a glimpse at personal identity – that...

Arabic Hashtag Trending Worldwide on Twitter

Kuwaiti Hamad Al Sabah tweets: @hmalsabah: Twitter is finally allowing Arabic hashtags to trend worldwide #كلام_مصري_مترجم pic.twitter.com/tb84Nkrk94 Netizens are using the hashtag, which translates to Egyptian Talk Translated, to translate Egyptian expressions and idioms.

‘Farmers Know Better’ in Turkmenistan

  25 April 2013

When will [the Turkmen leader] finally understand that the planned economy is not working? In order for the cotton sector to develop, cotton should be grown by private farms. Wouldn't farmers be able to decide better how much cotton they should sow? Does the [president] sitting on a golden toilet in [the Turkmen capital] Ashgabat really know better how much cotton can be grown in the country than a person working on a field?

‘Addictive’ Social Network is Back in Uzbekistan

  25 April 2013

After going offline for about a week, the top Russian-language social network service Odnoklassniki has become available again to tens of thousands of users in Uzbekistan. Blogger Doch’ Bukhari (Bukhara's Daughter) explains [ru] why Internet users in the Central Asian country choose this social network over other ones and why the network...

Iran: Facebook is ‘the most disgusting US spyware’

  25 April 2013

A high commander in Iran cyber police says Facebook is ‘the most disgusting spyware and the most dangerous warfare of the U.S.’ which is also ‘responsible for one third of divorces in Iran’. Facebook and other famous social networking websites are blocked by Iranian authorities. They blame this services as...

Hungarian Students Blog on Freedom of Information Requests

  25 April 2013

Hungarian grassroots student union Hallgatói Hálózat (Student Network) started a blog that curates freedom of information requests related to higher education. The blog, titled Transparent Education [hu], is using the Hungarian public freedom of information request service KiMitTud [hu] to track down the allegations of misuse of funds by university student governments. The blog's author...

Chinese and Western Media Bias Claims in Xinjiang “Terrorist Attack”

  25 April 2013

A terror incident took place in Bachu County of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region on April 23 2013, in which 15 police officers and community workers were killed and 6 suspects were shot dead. Chinese media outlets depicted the incident as a terrorist attack and criticized western media for not using the term "terrorists" to describe the suspects.

Hundreds Killed and Trapped in Bangladesh Garment Factory Collapse

  25 April 2013

Yet another factory disaster in Bangladesh, this time a nine story building collapsed killing more than 142 and injuring close to a thousand people. Many more are still trapped, and rescue operations continue. The tragedy is man-made as the factory management forced labors to work in an unsafe building.