The Washington post today published an article headlined “Russia instructs 5 big companies to help ruble out”, saying that Russia has ordered five of the country’s major state-controlled exporters to sell excess currency reserves in its latest attempt to shore up the ruble, which has endured big losses this year in the wake of sliding oil prices. Gas giant Gazprom, oil companies Rosneft and Zarubezhneft and diamond producers Alrosa and Kristall are instructed to reduce their foreign currency assets to October levels and not to raise them again until March. In response to the falling ruble, writes the Washington Post, the country’s central bank has raised interest rates sharply in an attempt to stem the selling tide. Last week, it increased its key interest rate to a whopping 17 percent. Though it may shore up the ruble, it’s likely to hurt Russian businesses and households
Navalny’s case made a resonance in social media, which is also discussed in today’s press. The New York times wrote an article named “Facebook Page Goes Dark, Angering Russia Dissidents”. A decision by Facebook to block a page used to rally Russian opponents of President Vladimir V. Putin has engulfed the world’s largest social-networking site in political controversy and raised accusations that it censors content on behalf of the authorities there.
Facebook removed a page promoting a rally in support of Aleksei A. Navalny, an opposition figure, at the request of the country’s Internet monitor. Supporters of Mr. Navalny accused Facebook of yielding too quickly to government pressure.
The ensuing uproar may force Facebook, and its chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, to make a clearer choice between the free flow of information that social media promises and the risk of lost market-share
While the decision to block the page in Russia was particularly sensitive because of Mr. Navalny’s high profile, Facebook routinely gets requests from governments around the world to block content, typically on the basis that it violates local laws.
Mr. Durov was particularly harsh in his reaction to Facebook’s decision to grant the government’s request.
“Facebook has no guts and no principles,” Mr. Durov wrote on Twitter. “A shame they keep spreading their lack of values by growth and acquisitions.”
Turkey never goes away from the pages of the world press. Today the New York Times in its article “Turkey’s President Accuses Advocates of Birth Control of Being Traitors” continues to discuss the policy of Recep Erdogan. “He has called women unequal to men. He has demanded that some high school students learn an Ottoman-era script scrapped nearly a century ago. Now, he has described birth control as treasonous,” says Ceylan Yeginsu in his story. In his campaign to buttress what he sees as Turkey’s rightful place in the world, the president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has offended many who view his assertions as sexist, paranoid or outdated.
The latest came on Sunday, when Mr. Erdogan upstaged a wedding couple with a speech in which he described birth control as a threat to the country’s lineage.
"As a witness to the newlyweds, the president urged them to have at least three children, and blamed contraception advocates for hindering the country’s growth," the author continues.
Explaining his position, Mr. Erdogan said: “Some people can understand this, while others can’t. You cannot explain this to feminists, because they don’t accept the concept of motherhood.”
His comments set off a wave of criticism from women’s rights advocates, who warned that such remarks undermined the role of women in society, which leads to discrimination and violence.
According to The New York Times “Mr. Erdogan’s critics say that the president sometimes resorts to inflammatory comments about women to divert attention from pressing issues in the political agenda.” Critics called Mr. Erdogan a throwback to the sultan
The Guardian today published an article about the the Washington Post’s Jason Rezaian, who was arrested under dubious circumstances in July and jailed at Evin prison in Tehran, where he has been held for the past 153 days – the longest any western journalist has been detained in Iran
The 38-year-old reporter was arrested with his Iranian wife, Yeganeh Salehi, who is also a journalist, and an American couple, who have not been identified.
Of the four, Rezaian is the only one still in prison. He was not formally charged until 6 December, and, even now, the nature of those charges has not been disclosed. Rezaian has been denied bail, a translator or access to an attorney. He is allowed brief visits from his wife, who was recently allowed to bring him warm clothes.
“He wanted people to know that Iranians have the same aspirations and hopes and dreams for their families that people all around the west and everywhere else do, and to get rid of this one-dimensional view of Iran,” Rezaian’s brother said.
“The Iranian government has never explained why Jason was detained or why he has been held for more than four months without access to a lawyer,” the Post’s executive editor, Martin Baron, said in a statement on 6 December, the day charges were brought against Rezaian.
This situation has caused much embarrassment to the president, who has sought to cast himself as a reformer,” the article reads.
The family of the journalist said they will continue to fight unwaveringly for Rezaian’s release. Until then, they are doing their best to keep up their spirits and not lose hope.
