First, a couple of popular culture items that caught my interest:
Christian Science Monitor, A comic about truth, justice, and the Islamic way, 25 Apr 07: "Since October, youngsters throughout the Middle East have been discovering the legend of the Noor Stones in a new monthly comic book called "The 99." The series is inspired by Islamic culture and history – the title refers to the 99 names and traits attributed to God in the Koran – and aims to spread a universal message of teamwork along with plenty of action, adventure, and "kapow!"" Visit
Teshkeel Comics website for more info. I have previously blogged on this.
As I catch up with my reading, here's a useful story about music in Iran that was in The Observer at the weekend, which had a distinct tech edge to it:
Observer, Iran's other face, 22 Apr 07 "Popular music started to reappear in the late 1990s under the relatively liberal Khatami presidency. Unable to release records at home, more and more rappers and rock bands are using the internet to promote their music."
Trial update:
Life Style Extra, 'Sixth former Planned To Join Jihad', 25 Apr 07 "A teenager bunked off school to join Muslim extremists he met in an internet chatroom who were planning to go to al-Qaeda terror training camps, a court heard.
"However, the horrified parents of sixth former Mohammed Raja found a letter left by the 17-year-old on his computer and contacted police which led to the smashing of the "sect," the court was told."
Reuters, Somali Islamists claim attacks on Ethiopians-Web, 25 Apr 07, "An Islamist militant group on Wednesday claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing and a car bomb attack on Ethiopian forces in Somalia.
"The group, calling itself the Young Mujahideen Movement in Somalia, also said in an Internet statement that its fighters detonated a car bomb near an Ethiopian military convoy in the Somali capital, destroying two trucks."
albawaba.com, Maktoob group showcases Araby the world's first Arabic search engine at GITEX 2007, 24 Apr 07 "To optimize user-friendliness, Araby has a number of different search categories such as news, politics, and sports, in which the information is sourced from the most reliable and trustworthy Arab news sources. In addition, there is the facility to start a search under 'Islam' which covers topics such as: the Holy Quran, Islamic seminars and Islamic research, a feature which will be of benefit to millions of Muslim users all over the world." Refers to the recent upgrade of
Araby, which is increasingly useful.
AFP, Malaysian govt to counter Internet lies, 25 Apr 07 "The move comes amid attacks on Malaysian bloggers and Internet users by ministers, including Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who accuse them of spreading slander and gossip."
The Guardian, Global outcry at Taliban's use of boy in filmed beheading, 25 Apr 07, "The Taliban's use of a young boy to behead a man drew international criticism yesterday, with Unicef condemning the incident as "a terrible example of how children can be used by adults to commit heinous crimes in times of conflict"."
AP, Iraq students show Virginia Tech support, 24 Apr 07, "Students in Baghdad, where universities have been hard-hit by violence, said they were saddened by last week's massacre at Virginia Tech and hung up a banner to express their solidarity with "our brothers in humanity and in pursuing knowledge.""
Ealing Times, Appeal to find missing teen, 24 Apr 07 "A teenage girl who recently converted to Islam is still missing after a month despite appeals in local press newspapers and on the internet." Refers to Krystina Winter.
arabcrunch.com, 7 Arabic Tools From Microsoft Afkar Innovated by Cairo Microsoft Innovation Lab useful review. Maren Morph looks handy for specialists.
