Bangladesh: blogger’s death sparks massive protests

Bangladesh: blogger’s death sparks massive protests

Tens of thousands of protesters in Bangladesh returned to the streets of the capital Dhaka this weekend: this time to denounce the death of one of the key figures and leaders of their protest movement, anti-Islamist blogger Amhed Rajib Haider, who was murdered on Friday.

An architect by trade, and better known under his pseudonym “Thaba Baba”, he had recently received online threats from Jamaat-e-Islami, the country’s largest Islamist party. And his murder comes at a time when several of the political group’s leaders are being tried before a special tribunal for war crimes in the independence conflict with Pakistan at the beginning of the 1970s.

And many Bangladeshi protesters are angered by the life-sentence handed down to one of the leaders who was found guilty of murder, rape and torture; they feel the punishment is far too lenient. Campaigning began on social networks around two weeks ago, and now they are staging streets protests on a daily basis, demanding the death penalty for those found guilty.

Ahmed Rajib Haider was instrumental in organizing these rallies. And as tributes for the murdered blogger continue to pour in on social networks; demonstrators have vowed to continue campaigning until their demands are met. 

Is Ramzan Kadyrov’s private photo album on Instagram?

Over the past few weeks, one account on photo sharing service Instagram has really got web users wondering. Under the name “alihan777”, the page in question has posted scores of photos of the head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov, many of them of his private life. Interesting pictures that portray the leader in a different, more human light, and the majority of social networkers believe they have been published by the dictator himself of someone close to him in a bid to boost his online reputation.

The famous Instagram page features dozens of photos Kadyrov with his children. Others illustrate his love for animals; there are a lot of shots showing the Chechen leader stroking horses, deer, birds and even tigers. Images that suggest he loves nature, and nature loves him…

And although Kadyrov is portrayed as a family man and animal lover, his role as militia leader has not been ignored. There are several photos on the account showing Chechnya’s president in military fatigues and posing with guns.

And there are also photos of Kadyrov in his personal time among the hundreds of photos posted to the alihan777 page. We see the dictator playing sports, dressing up, having fun with friends, and some well-known faces: like Jean-Claude Van Damme. 

Web users protest decision to drop wrestling from Olympics

Web users the world over have been protesting the International Olympic committee’s decision to drop wrestling from the 2020 summer games. In fact thousands have been campaigning online, urging the IOC to change its mind. 33 petitions have been started on the site change.org and have garnered thousands of signatures in just a few days. But whether this will be sufficient to win wrestling a reprieve remains to be seen, the final decision for the 2020 Olympic sports has not yet been made. 

Online vote to name two of Pluto’s moons

The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence or SETI institute is asking web users for help in naming two newly discovered and the smallest moons of Pluto which are currently referred to as P4 and P5. There are some twenty names to choose from on the site “Pluto Rocks” and voting ends on the 25th of February. All of the names, which include Hercules, Vulcan and Orpheus, come from Greek and Roman mythology. 

Video of the day

With the fifth and final installment in the "Die Hard” film series hitting American cinema screens last week, Lee Hardcastle, who produces short animated films, decided to pay tribute to the famous action movies in this highly charged video. It’s called “A good clay to Die Hard” and is available to view on all good sharing platforms.