Family Business – The New York Times explores at length how China’s so-called ‘Princeling’ generation — the descendants of Communist Party leaders — use family ties to gain jobs, wealth and influence. “Evidence is mounting…[they] have also amassed vast wealth, often playing central roles in businesses closely entwined with the …
Must-Reads from Around the World, May 16, 2012
Arming Rebels – The Washington Post reveals Syrian rebels battling President Assad’s regime have begun receiving “significantly more and better weapons in recent weeks.” Opposition activists and foreign officials say the arms are paid for by Persian Gulf nations and coordinated in part by the U.S., according to the newspaper. But, “Obama …
Must-Reads from Around the World, May 4, 2012
Mid-Term Blues – The U.K.’s two ruling coalition parties, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, both suffered setbacks in local elections Thursday. The Guardian is live-blogging the results — including for the London …
Must Reads from Around the World: Feb. 6, 2012
Turkey’s Earthquake: Social Media to the Rescue
The following is a guest post from TIME’s Turkey correspondent Pelin Turgut.
The last devastating earthquake Turkey experienced was in 1999, back when it was still largely an analogue world, email was in its infancy and Mark Zuckerberg was just another high school dreamer. As a reporter I had to lug a satellite phone around to …
Facebook Revolution in Israel Takes the Form of Cottage Cheese
When Tahrir Square was going full steam, I spent an afternoon asking Israelis their thoughts on the matter in a sleek shopping mall in Ra’anana, north of Tel Aviv. The first question was whether, watching the events in Cairo, they felt inspired? I should have said “sympathetic,” because several people thought they were being asked if …
Wael Ghonim at the TIME 100 Gala
Wael Ghonim, the Egyptian Google exec turned revolutionary, spoke at last night’s TIME 100 Gala, beginning with a moment of silence to mark those killed in protests around the Arab world. Watch his full speech here:
Will Facebook Censor for a Shot at the Chinese Market?
The story is headlined “Facebook Seeking Friends in the Beltway,” but one quote seemed destined to make the social-networking giant a few enemies. In a story today about Facebook’s efforts to expand its lobbying efforts in Washington, the Wall Street Journal quotes a lobbyist saying the company may censor some content
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Global Briefing, April 11, 2011: Fatwas, Facebook and Fear
Revolution, Interrupted — Two months after the uprising, the Egyptian revolution is having trouble figuring out what to do next. Abigail Hauslohner explains why its old friend, the army, may be getting in the way.
Fatwas and Facebook— In a Tom Friedman-esque essay for Newsweek, Niall Ferguson argues that social media help …
Chinese Writer Loses Facebook Account, While Zuckerberg’s Dog Gets Own Page
He’s known as Michael Anti to Harvard and Hillary Clinton, among others. But in January, Facebook deleted the account of the Chinese media commentator because he didn’t use his legal name, Zhao Jing. Anti says Facebook’s decision cost him a profile with more than 1,000 friends and professional contacts. At first Anti says he …
Harvard-Educated Facebook Activist Detained in Azerbaijan
The ripples of the Arab revolutions have reached the Caspian Sea. Inspired by youth-led uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt, activists in the oil-rich, former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan used Facebook to announce Azerbaijan’s own “day of rage” on March 11. It’s unclear how many people will heed the call, but, as in other authoritarian …
Zimbabwe: Virtually No Revolution
There’s been much speculation about whether Egyptian-style uprisings might spread south across the Sahara into Africa, particularly to the seat of the continent’s most notorious despot, Robert Mugabe. Mugabe’s regime has been particularly paranoid about the possibility, arresting 46 people for watching news reports of the rebellions in …
Can Facebook Rescue the Palestinian Authority?
Israel’s deputy foreign minister meant it as a put-down a couple of months ago when he said the Palestinian Authority was on its way to establishing a “Facebook state.” At the time a flurry of governments, many of them South American, were giving a calculated boost to Palestinian aspirations by upgrading PA diplomatic missions …