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Future

Coming Soon: Islamic Facebook

JAKARTA GLOBE, ANTARA NEWS (Indonesia), AAP (Australia)

Worldcrunch

JAKARTA - A new Islamic social networking site will be launched in Indonesia in November, and will offer “better protection” for young Muslims from “harmful content” reports the Jakarta Globe.

According to the Indonesian newspaper, the Beta version of the site is currently being tested by 1,000 users around the world.

New Islamic Social Network Salamworld Offers Halal Content to be Launched Soon bit.ly/PQn8rK

— The Jakarta Globe (@thejakartaglobe) August 13, 2012

Salamworld, as it is called, will have an option that allows users to ensure the content they view is Halal -- material allowed under Islamic law -- and filter out indecent subject matter such as pornography or illegal drugs, writes the AAP. It will be available in eight languages, including English, Arabic, Turkish, Urdu and Russian.

On Islamic Facebook, no pictures of food items will be displayed during Ramadan. #SalamWorld

— Free Indian (@praddee) August 14, 2012

"Salam World is a social networking platform, which will be based on Islamic values and explore the true potential of the global Muslim community. The website can eliminate communication barriers for Muslims around the world," Erol Toksoy, Salam World's Brand Manager, told Antara News.

He added non-Muslims could also join Salamworld.com: "They may have an account, as long as they can appreciate the values of Islam here."

In the coming three years, says Antara News, Salam World plans to target 300 million users worldwide. "The Muslim community has tremendous potential to change the world, for example, the way it did in Tunisia and Egypt. If we can connect them to each other, great things can be achieved. We want to create an Islamic brand that Muslims can be proud of," said Toksoy.

The Islamic social network is expected to be well received in Indonesia, says the AAP. The world's most populous Muslim nation is also the second-largest market in the world for Facebook and the third-largest for Twitter.

Watch a presentation video in English:

As-Salamu Alaykum, Islamic Facebook!

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Geopolitics

Why The Latin American Far Left Can't Stop Cozying Up To Iran's Regime

Among the Islamic Republic of Iran's very few diplomatic friends are too many from Latin America's left, who are always happy to milk their cash-rich allies for all they are worth.

Image of Bolivia's ambassador in Tehran, Romina Pérez Ramos.

Bolivia's ambassador in Tehran, Romina Pérez Ramos.

Bolivia's embassy in Tehran/Facebook
Bahram Farrokhi

-OpEd-

The Latin American Left has an incurable anti-Yankee fever. It is a sickness seen in the baffling support given by the socialist regimes of Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela or Bolivia to the Islamic Republic of Iran, which to many exemplifies clerical fascism. And all for a single, crass reason: together they hate the United States.

The Islamic Republic has so many of the traits the Left used to hate and fight in the 20th century: a religious (Islamic) vocation, medieval obscurantism, misogyny... Its kleptocratic economy has turned bog-standard class divisions into chasmic inequalities reminiscent of colonial times.

This support is, of course, cynical and in line with the mandates of realpolitik. The regional master in this regard is communist Cuba, which has peddled its anti-imperialist discourse for 60 years, even as it awaits another chance at détente with its ever wealthy neighbor.

I reflected on this on the back of recent remarks by Bolivia's ambassador in Tehran, the 64-year-old Romina Pérez Ramos. She must be the busiest diplomat in Tehran right now, and not a day goes by without her going, appearing or speaking somewhere, with all the publicity she can expect from the regime's media.

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