What will the rich have to cope with next? Fuel prices have grounded an unexpected frequent-flyer: US hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs. Combs complained about the “too high” price of fuel and pleaded for free oil from his “Saudi Arabia brothers and sisters” in a YouTube video posted on Wednesday.
Showing all posts in June 2019
Time for re-education camps
Beijing, you have a nation of addicts: Around four million Chinese youngsters are addicted to the Internet, mainly attracted by “unhealthy” online games, state media reported Friday, citing a top legislator. “Internet-addicted teenagers” account for around 10 percent of China’s Web users under the age of 18, the Beijing Times said, quoting Li Jianguo, a…
Don’t mention the ‘I’ word
The Independent’s Robert Fisk recalls a telling story: As one of the Arab world’s most prominent commentators put it to me this week, “[Joseph] Biden’s being set up to protect Israel while [Barack] Obama looks after the transportation system in Chicago.” It was a cruel remark with just enough bitter reality to make it bite.…
We can’t ignore modern Islamism
This week marks the 42nd anniversary of the execution of Sayyed Qutb, one of the most prominent figures in contemporary Islamism. What is his legacy today, by an young Egyptian member of the Muslim Brotherhood (who features in my new book, The Blogging Revolution.)
The other side of the gender divide
Human rights for women in Saudi Arabia – and no, that’s not a contradiction – through blogger’s eyes.
Please help with our repression
The United States says Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank threaten any peace between Israel and the Palestinians – yet it also encourages Americans to help support settlers by offering tax breaks on donations.
Ditch the web
Is the internet ignoring the important details in life? Internet mapping is wiping the rich geography and history of Britain off the map, Britain’s most senior cartographer warned yesterday. Churches, cathedrals, stately homes, battlefields, ancient woodlands, rivers, eccentric landmarks and many more features which make up the tapestry of the British landscape are not being…
The Independent Weekly examines Blogging book
The following book review of The Blogging Revolution, in Adelaide’s Independent Weekly, was published by Kate Lockett on August 29: Did you know that Iran has around one million bloggers, that Farsi is in the top five languages used on the internet or that 20 per cent of Saudi Arabians are now online? Australian journalist…
A deadly legacy
Who was responsible for dropping cluster bombs during the recent war between Russia and Georgia?
Not trusting its own citizens
I discuss in my new book, The Blogging Revolution, about the political and social realities in Cuba, and gradual liberalisation of the country under new President Raul Castro. And then this: Cuba has ordered jailed punk rocker Gorki Aguila, an outspoken critic of Fidel Castro and the communist government, to stand trial on Friday for…