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‘Bangkok Shutdown’ Begins in Thailand · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Protesters pose near a train station with the theme ‘Occupy Bangkok’. Photo by Camille Gazeau, Copyright @Demotix (1/13/2014)
Tens of thousands filled the major intersections of Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, as opposition groups intensified their bid to topple the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. The protest led by former lawmaker Suthep Thaugsuban aims to ‘shutdown’ Bangkok for several days or until Yingluck is removed from power.
Yingluck is accused of being a puppet of her elder brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Thaksin was ousted by a coup in 2006 but his party has remained victorious in the polls. He is in exile after being found guilty of plunder by a local court.
Protesters were able to occupy several government buildings last November and December aside from mobilizing thousands in the streets of Bangkok. To defuse tension, Yingluck dissolved the parliament to make way for an election next month. But the opposition said they will boycott the polls and instead they wanted to set-up an unelected People’s Council.
Despite the planned shutdown, Bangkok was not entirely paralyzed. Matt reported what he saw on the ground:
At the Bangkok Shutdown thousands of people have occupied various busy parts of Bangkok, complete with tents and sleeping mats. It's not really a shutdown, though. Bangkok more or less functioned as normal Monday with the exception of a number of mall closures. About 140 schools also had to close and many people worked from home. The streets in central Bangkok quiet and there were fewer cars on the road, which if anything was a good thing. How many people were out there is difficult to gauge.
Asian Cinema enjoyed the ‘festive atmosphere’ of the protest:
Thousands upon thousands of people, but at least so far it is a very festive atmosphere. A giant street party where people are singing, blowing whistles, clapping, eating, sleeping, smiling, holding up signs and just basically having fun. This could go on for weeks or perhaps only days so it will be interesting to see how long the good mood lasts.
The Twitter hashtag #BKKShutdown is useful to monitor the situation in the country. Bangkok's major streets were occupied with protesters as shown in this photo
Aerial photo looking down on protesters in front of Central World (Via @RujTH) pic.twitter.com/45vtFyz59V #Bangkok #BKKShutdown
— Richard Barrow (@RichardBarrow) January 13, 2014
A ‘half-road shutdown’
Scene now outside BACC / MBK junction – half road shutdown #BangkokShutdown pic.twitter.com/LPa3zjYWuP
— georgehenton (@georgehenton) January 12, 2014
Even those on wheelchair joined the protest:
RT @veen_NT: Rally on wheels in front of Siam Center #BKKShutdown pic.twitter.com/BBeWGGyyw8
— tulsathit (@tulsathit) January 13, 2014
Many young people were also supportive of the protest:
Bangkok Shutdown pic.twitter.com/QujpcpXa9Q
— Ruj Krongbhumin (@RujTH) January 11, 2014
Whistle was used by protesters as symbol of their fight against corruption:
I predict that there will be an unusual number of hearing problems in Thailand because of the whistle protests. #bbkshutdown
— Stewart Perry (@bangkokpastor) January 13, 2014
On Day 2 of the shutdown campaign, expect more flag waving and whistle blowing in the streets.
Interestingly, numerous ‘survival’ apps were developed to help Bangkok residents cope with the protest.
But the demand of the protesters to cancel the February election was criticized as ‘undemocratic.’ They were told to respect the choice of the voters instead of pushing for the creation of a so-called ‘People's Council’
Hundreds of thousands if not a million came out to say NO 2 Thaksin/Yingluck. But they must recognize that millions more said YES.
— Pravit Rojanaphruk (@PravitR) January 13, 2014
Maybe if protestors'd stop acting like #BKKShutDown is some kind of big party at the expense of others, I'd take them more seriously. #sad
— siree sivapetchranat (@iamsiree) January 12, 2014
Despite the varying opinion on the protest, many agree that it solved Bangkok's notorious traffic problem:
If for no other reason, Suthep must be commended for solving the Bangkok traffic crisis. #bkkshutdown #shutdownbkk pic.twitter.com/H68Jrt0Kpj
— Speℕcer Moℕt∆gue (@SpencerMontague) January 13, 2014
Meanwhile, in the north part of the country where Prime Minister Yingluck continues to enjoy popular support, thousands joined a candle lighting event
Nonviolent, pro-election, anti-#BKKShutdown candlelight rally in Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand (pic @ThaiElectionNow) pic.twitter.com/tpTc9JZmtN
— Alessio Fratticcioli (@fratticcioli) January 13, 2014

author: Mong Palatino


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Candidates Face Off in First Presidential Debate in El Salvador · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Tim's El Salvador Blog summarizes the first presidential debate ever held in El Salvador:
The three leading presidential candidates Norman Quijano (ARENA), Salvador Sánchez Cerén (FMLN), and Antonio Saca (Unidad), were joined on the stage by two minor candidates, Óscar Lemus (FPS) and René Rodríguez Hurtado (PSP). The debate had four rounds of questions, touching on the topics of education, citizen security, healthcare and the economy.
He concludes:
In the end, I doubt that many minds were changed by this debate, but the fact that the debate took place is yet another step forward for Salvadoran democracy.

source: news-globalvoices

license: Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

author: Silvia Viñas


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How Online Platforms Are Working to Save Angola’s Languages · Global Voices
Mário Lopes

[All links lead to Portuguese-language webpages unless otherwise noted.]
“On average, a language disappears every two weeks, and Africa is the continent most at risk”, wrote the author José Eduardo Agualusa in a 2011 article on the evolution of languages in Angola. However, during the past year a number of online platforms have been created with the aim of protecting Angola's national languages.
Angola is a plurilingual country [en], with six African languages recognised as national languages as well as Portuguese as the official language. Besides this, it is estimated that there are 37 languages and 50 dialects in use in the country. At the end of October 2013, the blog Círculo Angolano Intelectual (Angolan Intellectual Circle) reported that 30 percent of the Angolan population (almost 8.5 million Angolans) “only speak national languages which are not featured in any educational or social program”, adding that:
isto é mais um dos factores que gera exclusão social.
this is another of the factors that provoke social exclusion.
In an article [pdf] by Agualusa, published by Casa das Áfricas, a Cultural Institute for Training and Study on African Societies in São Paulo, the prizewinning author considers a “proposal for peace” for the coexistence of the national languages with the Portuguese language (“mother tongue versus stepmother tongue”) and poses the question:
Porquê que é que em Angola, país de muitas línguas, os escritores apenas utilizam o português?
Why is it that in Angola, a country of many languages, writers only use Portuguese?
In an attempt to counter the phenomenon, various online initiatives were created during 2013 by young people who view the new technologies as a tool for the promotion and protection of national languages.
Five ways to ask questions in Kimbundo, courtesy the Evalina Facebook page.
One project, still in its initial phase, which aims to promote learning of the Angolan national languages in an innovative way, free of charge and accessible to everyone with access to the Internet, is Evalina.
Created in May 2013 by Joel Epalanga, an IT project manager in the telecommunications sector, the primary motive for the creation of the platform was the observation that there is a gap faced by many young people with regard to the national languages. The proposal was explained in an interview in the magazine Jovens da Banda:
[para que] os jovens, que hoje em dia gastam boa parte do seu tempo livre na internet, pudessem dedicar algumas horas para aprender um pouco a (sua) língua nacional de preferência.
[so that] young people, who these days spend a large part of their free time on the Internet, could dedicate a few hours to learning a little of (their) preferred national language.
Evalina consists of a Facebook page where content such as incentives to learn and lessons on national languages are shared. At the date of publication of this article, the page featured lessons on Umbundu [en], the second most-spoken language after Portuguese, and on Kimbundo [en].
In February 2013, a platform for Angolan slang, Kallun [pt], already warranted a note on Global Voices. The project aims to “create a space where [Angola's] slang and colloquial language is explained so that everyone can understand it”, and uses social networks to promote sharing and learning in an informal manner.
Another project which stands out is the Ngola Yetu Dictionary, a dictionary and online translator for Angolan national languages “developed with the goal of reinforcing Angolan culture and increasing its use among young people”. With a simple and intuitive design not unlike Google, it works as a search engine between the Kikongo, Kimbundo, Umbundo and Portuguese languages. The project has used Facebook and Twitter to interact with web users.
For the preservation of mother tongues
The importance of the inclusion of national languages in teaching is recognised by institutions and academics alike. In the middle of June 2013, the Angolan portal Mwelo Weto published an interview with Daniel Peres Sasuku, an Angolan linguist and lecturer in the Faculty of Arts of the Agostinho Neto University, who advocates for the prioritisation of national languages in teaching:
Pensamos, de igual modo que a implementação dessas línguas no ensino é uma forma mais concreta de seu resgate e preservação enquanto patrimônio cultural dos angolanos
We think, equally, that the inclusion of these languages in teaching is a more concrete means of rescuing and preserving them as part of the cultural heritage of the Angolan people.
The Regional Forum for University Development (FORDU) also supports the idea that national languages should be a compulsory discipline in schools. Of the recommendations which were made following a debate organised by FORDU last April, 2013, under the theme “the national languages as true identity heritage of the Angolan people”, the following stands out:
Angola continua uma sociedade plural do ponto de vista das línguas, tradições, cultura (diversidade cultural) tal situação faz de Angola um País rico em cultura, mas precisa política séria de promover as Línguas todas e dar maior grandeza nas Línguas Nacionais, principalmente as mais faladas como Umbundo.
Angola continues to be a plural society from the point of view of its languages, traditions and culture (cultural diversity). This situation makes Angola a country rich in culture, but serious policies are necessary to promote all languages and give a greater importance to the national languages, above all the most widely spoken such as Umbundo.
Between 2004 and 2010, a trial was carried out to introduce seven national languages in a series of schools in the country. The Ministry of Education declared in September 2013 that it plans to expand the teaching of national languages into all primary schools. A bill on the Statute of National Languages in Angola “to promote social inclusion and strengthen unity in ethnolinguistic diversity” is in its concluding phase.
Meanwhile, artists – in this case singers – have also recommended the use of national languages in their songs.
Do you know of any other online initiatives for the preservation or teaching of Angola's various languages? Leave us a comment!

author: Mário Lopes


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Virtual Secret Santas – the Global Voices Way · Global Voices
Solana Larsen

One of the sillier traditions of Christmas is to delight someone (anonymously) with surprises throughout the month of December.
A secret message from one GV virtual secret Santa in Bangladesh to his “victim” in Germany
Around 20 Global Voices authors and translators signed up to become a virtual “Secret Santas” this year for another GV'er. We had cheerful vibes traveling across the Internet from Egypt to Ethiopia, Pakistan to Brazil, Bangladesh to Germany.
But how do you keep someone virtually in suspense for a whole month, sending messages without revealing your identity? Here are a few tips from those who tried and succeeded!
Create a new email address and/or Twitter handle for Santa messages to your “victims”. Then think of both tangible and intangible things to send them. Surprise them with a playlist of songs, poems or an award certificate by email.
Give your victim witty hints of Santa's identity. Send them messages in different languages to throw them off your trail. Buy gifts from a local online retailer to mask your location. Send them a ringtone. A hand-drawn portrait. E-cards. Retweet their tweets.
And of course, there's always the option of sending a card or gift in the mail. But watch out for relying 100% on the international postal services, or you might see a message like this one:
Solaaaaa, my santaaaa forgot meeee
In the end, the whole thing has less to do with Christmas (which several Santas don't even celebrate) and all to do with inspiring friendship and community across borders and enjoying an opportunity to be creative.
From all who were not “forgotten” GV Santas got rave reviews:
My Santa was extremely witty and kept sending me cool hints about herself and where she comes from. Very very creative. Loved the entire experience :)
My Santa is the most amazing one I've ever had. Made me smile with thoughtful gifts and messages. Thing is… I still don't know who she/he is!!! Come out dear Santa! :)

author: Solana Larsen


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4 Arrested after White Powder Attack on Guatemalan Vice President · Global Voices
Renata Avila

Picture by Surizar under a Creative Commons Attribution License
Four university students were arrested in Guatemala City after one of them threw an unidentified white powder at Vice President Roxana Baldetti as she was leaving the National Theater, where President Otto Perez Molina delivered his state of the union address.
Prensa Libre shared a video of the incident on YouTube:
The media immediately searched for social media profiles of the students involved, releasing pictures and information [es] about their political affiliations and current academic institutions.
Meanwhile, rather than cause outrage or solidarity for the Vice President or the students, the incident sparked suggestive comments among the Guatemalan Twitter community, as “polvo” (the Spanish word for powder) has a sexual connotation, meaning a one night stand.
Twitter users also joked about the harmless nature of the attack and at the authorities’ overreaction, as the students might be charged with attempting to assassinate the President, a crime that could send them to prison for fifteen years if found guilty.
Roxana Baldetti Sin harina / con harina pic.twitter.com/1QfLAsAAu2
— Omar DLTN (@omardltn) January 14, 2014
Roxana Baldetti without flour / with flour
Others suggested that the Vice President should be nominated for Best Actress at the Oscars or even open her own acting company:
Baldetti debería fundar una escuela de actuación. xD
— Herald Hernández (@HeRalD_13266) January 15, 2014
Baldetti should found an acting school
In one of her first declarations, the woman accused of the attack said she didn't do it because she wanted to become famous, but rather to exercise her freedom of expression and dissent. She wasn't treated seriously by Guatemalan Twitter users either, who modified a photo saying “I did it because I wanted to appear on Twitter searches”
Otras declaraciones de Sayra Cristal Cottom Florián, quien lanzó polvo blanco a vicemandataria. Roxana Baldetti pic.twitter.com/GSRetH5gWM
— Puchica Mucha (@PuchikaMucha) January 14, 2014
Other statements by Sayra Cristal Cottom Florián, who threw the white powder at the Vice President, Roxana Baldetti.
The government reported that the incident was condemned by a diverse range of people. However, the general feeling is that if anyone does anything against the people in power, he or she will face terrible consequences and a display of force, as journalist José Ruben Zamora suffered a few weeks ago when he was barred from leaving the country and had his assets frozen after the President sued him for “coercion, extortion, blackmail, violating the Constitution, and contempt,” as reported by the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas. If the target of a prosecution is someone in power, however, different rules seem to apply, as the world learned after the verdict against former dictator Efrain Rios Montt was declared void and the trial rescheduled for 2015.

author: Renata Avila


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China’s Train Ticket Website Sparks Fury Again  · Global Voices
Abby Liu

As millions go online to buy train tickets home for Chinese New Year, which falls on Jan 30 this year, users are shocked again at how inconvenient and inefficient the site is. Many have been complaining about the site since its debut in 2010, but it hasn't been improved. Many have attributed the site’s problems to the corruption at China’s railway authority, a state-owned monopoly. Find out more on TeaLeafNation.

author: Abby Liu


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China’s Viral Sex Education Videos · Global Voices
Abby Liu

A small team has released a collection of one-minute childhood sex education videos on China's youku, China's YouTube. The videos, involving topics such as “Why Are Boys Different from Girls” and “Where Do Babies Come From?”, have become the second most popular search on Baidu and have drawn over one million views online. TeaLeafNation has more details. Check one of the videos below:


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Haiti, Four Years After  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Four years after this tragedy, what have we done to change the living conditions of the people who are still living under makeshifts tents? What we have done to effectively rebuild a better country?
Wadner Pierre reflects on the 2010 earthquake in Haiti and considers the best way forward.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Intonaspacio: a New Digital Musical Instrument Made in Portugal · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Mailis Rodrigues, a young talented Portuguese women has invented a new musical instrument and now needs help to show it to the world in an annual event to find the world’s best new ideas in musical instrument design:
Hi, I was selected as one of the 20 semi-finalists of the Margaret Guthman competition with my PhD work. This competition chooses the best new music instrument. I have to travel to Atlanta in February to present Intonaspacio, the music instrument that I designed (you can take a look on how it looks like in the photos), to a juri. But I need some help to pay my trip to Atlanta. Please contribute, even if it's just 5 euros it would help me a lot. I can promise to send you a postcard from Atlanta. Thank you so much!
She explains what Intonaspacio is, and shows the instrument in action in the video below:
She has raised so far €1.275,00 out of the €1.500,00 she needs to cover the costs of her trip. To contribute, check her Go Fund Me campaign.

author: Paula Góes


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Jamaica: Measuring the Effect of Shaggy’s Charity Concert  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Jamaicans got a good show with this year's edition of Shaggy and Friends, but Cucumber Juice wants measurability:
This applies to any organization, but especially to charities and public organizations.
It’s called transparency.


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New Global Voices Podcast in Portuguese · Global Voices
Solana Larsen

The prolific team of Global Voices in Portuguese have launched a new monthly podcast, Vozes Globais, with alternative news gleaned from the internet in all Portuguese speaking countries.
Portuguese journalist Vanessa Rodrigues (@lunacronica) is heading up the podcast in partnership with community radio station RadioManobras.pt. The goal is to partner with community radios in more Portuguese language countries to see the show re-broadcast internationally.
The idea for the podcast was born at a #GVMeetup event in Porto, Portugal in December 2013. For more information on the podcast or other activities of Global Voices’ Portuguese language teams, please contact Sara Moreira.


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Panama Canal Expansion Faces a New Challenge · Global Voices
Ariel Moreno

Panama Canal. Photo shared on Flickr by dsasso, under a Creative Commons license (CC BY-SA 2.0)
The company in charge of the expansion of the Panama Canal has threatened to suspend work, demanding a multimillion dollar payment for cost overruns which the Panama Canal Authority refuses to pay.
The Panama Canal, inaugurated August 15, 1914, is one of the most important engineering works in the world and it is the engine that drives Panama’s economy. With increased trade and the size of the ships, it was necessary to think about expanding the waterway. Thus, in a national referendum on April 24, 2006, Panamanians voted in favor of expanding the canal, with an approval margin of 76.8%.
Panama budgeted the expansion at US $5.25 billion, which included the third set of locks, as well as a number of ports and other interconnections required for the amplification of the new route.
The contract for building the third set of locks was granted through a bid by GUPC, a multinational comprised of Sacyr Vallehermoso of Spain, Impregilo of Italy, Jan De Nul of Belgium, and Constructora Urbana SA (CUSA) of Panama.
GUPC won with the lowest bid of US $3.1 billion. The bid was lower than the reference established by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP).
According to wires from the U.S. Embassy in Panama released by Wikileaks, the U.S. company Bechtel (a competitor in the bidding), warned that the bid from Sacyr (GUPC leader) wasn’t enough to even pour the concrete, which would force renegotiation of the contract.
As prophesized, on January 1, 2014, GUPC demanded a payment of US $1.6 billion and threatened to suspend construction if payment was not received or the contract renegotiated within 20 days.
The ACP is sticking with the contract and has asked GUPC to do the same and complete construction within the terms already established. The group claims $1.6 billion in overruns and blames the ACP for providing inadequate information and requiring the use of materials not contemplated in the budget, according to El País. [es]
The ACP has expressed confidence that it can finish the expansion if the GUPC decides to completely pull out. La Nación [es] reports that the Panama Canal has insured the project for $600 million, which would allow it to finish the project (plus the difference not yet paid to the GUPC).
The same source says that “Sacyr and Impregilos’ methods, allowed in Spain and Italy, of securing contracts at a low price, and then raising them with addendums and presumably unexpected cost overruns, didn’t work this time and they have been unable to invalidate the contract, limiting their claim to $600 million.”
In an interview with El País, the administrator for the Canal, Panamanian Jorge Quijano, was upset with the GUPC:
Panama has given the Spaniards an opportunity to do business at a time when in their country there are no business opportunities. The same goes for the Italians and the Belgians, and look how they pay us back! How do you think the Panamanians feel? They really think that we still wear feathers on our heads; that they can twist our arms because they are big-time construction companies and instill fear by convincing us that we won’t be able to finish the project or that it is going to cost a lot more with another firm. Maybe it will cost a bit more with another partner — we don’t know that yet. We have a great plan of action under which, we hope we will complete this project without any additional expense.
It didn’t take long for reactions on social networks, and they go from those who blame the Spanish company for being unfair, to those who preach the inevitable ‘I told you so.’
Alfredo Mota, for example, tweets a picture of an article in the Spanish newspaper El Mundo and brands the companies as arrogant:
Impregilo y Sacyr. Arrogantes y prepotentes! Se creen el último vaso de agua en el desierto. (Hoy en diario Español) pic.twitter.com/7yRlXpXnnw
— Alfredo Motta (@AMOTTAPTY) January 9, 2014
Sacyr and Impregilo. Arrogant and pushy! They think they are the last glass of water in the desert.
(Today in the Spanish daily)
Teresa Yaniz de Arias advises that, in the same way that Panamanians fought once for the canal, they will do it again to defend it against foreign interests:
Q Sacyr e Impregilo se enteren de que ese Canal que tanto nos costo volveremos a defenderlo. Viva Panamá. Viva el 9 de enero
— tere yániz de arias (@tdearias) January 10, 2014
Sacyr and Impregilo will find out that we will once again defend this canal that has cost us so much. Long live Panama. Long live the 9th of January.
The cartoonist Hilde shares an image comparing the looting of the original inhabitants of Latin American by European colonizers with the attempts of companies from the same continent to get more than the agreed upon amount of money:
Estos son in-SACYR-ables. Ni un real más. pic.twitter.com/vjtDpum1un
— HILDE (@hildesucre) January 7, 2014
They are in-SACYR-able. Not another dime.
The blog Mira en Panamá [es] shares an article by the Spanish journalist Paco Gomez Nadal where he claims to have known ahead of time that these delays and demands for money were going to happen, and compares it with other government tactics:
Es casi hilarante ver ahora cómo algunos se rasgan las vestiduras. Lo que está ocurriendo con el Grupo Unidos por el Canal ya lo sabíamos. Martinelli, que ahora interfiere y rofea para mostrarse como la salvaguarda de los intereses del país, no ha tenido ningún problema en multiplicar por 2.5 los costos iniciales de su proyecto insignia (el Metro), ni parece muy asustado por el incremento en los precios iniciales establecidos para la construcción de hospitales, ni tembló en adjudicar a dedo la cinta costera o las ampliaciones de la vía Tocumen o de la autopista Arraiján-La Chorrera a precios por kilómetro que marean a cualquier ingeniero menesteroso. Su preocupación por Sacyr, como mínimo, es sospechosa.
It’s almost funny watching now how some are tearing their hair out. We already knew what was going on with GUPC. Martinelli, who now insinuates himself and circles around to prove he’s the safeguard of the country’s interests, has had no problem increasing the initial costs of the flagship project by 2.5, nor is he very upset by the increase in the initial cost established for the construction of hospitals, or hesitate to give out no-bid contracts for the coastal strip for the Tocuman road or the Arraijan-La Chorrer highway at prices per kilometer that would make any destitute engineer dizzy. His concern for Sacyr is at least suspect.
User “The Truth” comments on an article from La Prensa [es]:
DEJA VU!!! Otro país europeo fracasa estrepitosamente en Panamá. Francia y España hermanados en el fracaso. El Canal de Panamá es la tumba de estos dos wannabes. Llamen al Tío Sam para que resuelva una vez más. Obama, el Teddy Roosevelt del siglo 21.
DÉJÀ VU! Another European country fails miserably in Panama. France and Spain united in failure. The Panama Canal is the tomb of these wannabes. Call Uncle Sam to fix it again. Obama, the Teddy Roosevelt of the 21st century.
What is certain is that the issue has Panamanians on tenterhooks waiting for the resolution of the conflict that has paralyzed this project which promised to propel the nation’s economy once and for all.
While the ACP and GUPC argue the issue, the president of Sacyr has given his assurance [es] that they intend to finish the expansion: “Sacyr is not going to abandon the project, work will continue and will finish, because we don’t contemplate any other scenario than agreement.”
Seven days before the deadline given by the GUPC, the conversations seem to be stalled.

author: Ariel Moreno


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Russia’s Foreign Ministry Opines on “Queers” · Global Voices
Daniel Alan Kennedy

The Russian Government's never-ending conflict with gay rights. Images mixed by Kevin Rothrock.
On January 14, 2014, for the second year in a row, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs published its report [ru] on human rights in the European Union. The initiative was most likely started as a symmetrical reply to similar (often critical) reports on human rights in Russia that the European Union has published over the years. Entitled “Report on the Human Rights Situation in the European Union”, the report was made available as a Word document on the Ministry's website, in both Russian and in an “unofficial translation” into English.
The majority of the report dealt with cases of police brutality, refusals of asylum and discrimination on racial and gender grounds. In what was most likely a barbed reply to sustained western criticism of Russia's “gay propaganda” law, the report criticised the European Union for:
Attempts […] to enforce on other countries an alien view of homosexuality and same-sex marriages as a norm of life and some kind of a natural social phenomenon that deserves support at the state level.
The Russian version of the report continued and noted:
Подобный подход встречает сопротивление не только в странах, придерживающихся традиционных ценностей, но и там, где всегда существовало либеральное отношение к людям с нетрадиционной ориентацией.
A similar approach encounters resistance not only in countries maintaining traditional values, but also in those, where there has always existed a liberal attitude to people with non-traditional orientations
The English translation of the report, however, was phrased somewhat differently.
Screenshot taken from report by Daniel Kennedy on January 15, 2004
While the translation is labelled as “unofficial”, Russia watchers were somewhat taken aback that a homophobic slur could end up on a government website. Author Oliver Bullough commented:
Why did the Russian foreign ministry translate “к людям с нетрадиционной ориентацией” as “towards queers”? Are they asking to be mocked?
— Oliver Bullough (@OliverBullough) January 15, 2014
The gaffe seems likely to overshadow the contents of the report, which contains detailed information on alleged human rights abuses in each EU member state. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not yet commented on the matter.

author: Daniel Alan Kennedy


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Understanding Human Rights in Portuguese-Speaking Countries · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

[All links lead to Portuguese language pages, except where otherwise stated]
The Portuguese language version of the educational manual for human rights “Understanding Human Rights” is available online. The website provides the complete manual in pdf format or divided into chapters, as well as training material, bibliographical references and institutional information specifically aimed at countries with Portuguese as an official language.
Originally [en] developed by the European Training and Research Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Graz, Austria, the Portuguese language version was produced by the Institute of International Law and Cooperation with Lusophone Countries and Communities at the Faculty of Law of the University of Coimbra – “IUS Gentium Conimbrigae” (IGC), also known as Human Rights Centre (CDH):
Com este projeto pretende o IGC/CDH contribuir para uma difusão de informação teórica, prática e de acesso fácil relativa aos direitos humanos, na senda do artº 1º, nº 1, da Declaração das Nações Unidas sobre Educação e Formação em Direitos Humanos, de 2011, segundo a qual “Todas as pessoas têm direito a saber, procurar e receber informações sobre todos os direitos humanos e liberdades fundamentais e devem ter acesso à educação e formação em matéria de direitos humanos”.
With this project, the IGC/CDH seeks to contribute to a dissemination of easily accessible theoretical and practical information relating to human rights, complying with Article 1, nº 1, of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training 2011, according to which “Everyone has the right to know, seek and receive information about all human rights and fundamental freedoms and should have access to human rights education and training”.
In addition to Portuguese, the manual has already been published in 15 other languages [en].

author: Sara Moreira


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Video: Music Parody about Food in China · Global Voices
Abby Liu

“Rice, Rice baby” is a recent parody about the food culture in China from the expats’ point of view. The video is about how expats in China love the food but also are a little nervous of its effects.
The lyrics says: “Love it or leave it, you better gain weight. You better just down it, lick that plate If they serving Chinese, yo, I’ll eat it! Take it dao bao(take away),tomorrow reheat it. “
Watch the video below:


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A Papuan Woman’s Love Letter to an Indonesian Soldier · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Photo from Papuan Voices
EngageMedia has uploaded a video about a Papuan woman's love letter to an Indonesian soldier who was once stationed in the border patrol unit in a village near Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. The video also highlighted the sexual assaults allegedly committed by some Indonesian soldiers in the border. The video is available with subtitles at Amara.


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BBC’s North Korean Broadcast Plan Hit a Snag · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

It is not the first time BBC's ambitious plan to reach out to one of the world's most reclusive countries has been thwarted. Back in June 2013, BBC World Service’ plan to air programmes in North Korea was curbed by government cuts to its budget. This time, BBC has concluded ‘it is not currently possible’ for them ‘to offer a meaningful, effective and cost-effective service.’ North Korea Tech blog went over each possible hurdle  North Korean broadcast service would face, including the jamming issue, regulations and more.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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Chinese Mum Buys Ad to Urge Her Son to Come Home for New Year · Global Voices
Abby Liu

Chinese New Year is a time for family reunion. For many Chinese singles, returning home during Chinese New Year can be a real headache as the attention and pressure surrounding personal matters from the whole family is simply unbearable.
Earlier this week, a Chinese mom bought a whole page of ad on Chinese Melbourne Daily to beg her son to come home for the New Year after her repeated attempts to force her son into marriage had scared him away.
The ad reads:
To my son Peng,
I’ve made many calls to you, but you never picked up. This ad is probably the only thing that can reach you. Mom and dad won’t force you to get married any more. Please go back home for Spring Festival this year!
Loving you
Mom
The ad was soon picked up by many Chinese netizens who can relate to the son themselves. Offbeat China has translated some netizens’ comments.


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Day 3 of ‘Bangkok Shutdown’ Campaign · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Stickman Bangkok posted photos and crowd updates of day 3 of the ‘Bangkok Shutdown’ campaign.
Forget what I said about dwindling numbers.  Wednesday night saw at least as many supporters out as Monday.
These are the sorts of scenes you can expect in downtown Bangkok if you are out and about at this time – and you just don't know when and where.  As per today's previous update, Asoke was very quiet even late afternoon, and then early evening it was chaos.  Like I said, the situation is fluid.
The political action is mean to pressure the incumbent prime minister to resign and establish a ‘People's Council.’


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Facebook Teams Up with Russia’s Top Search Engine · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

Yandex gets to drink from Facebook's firehose. Images mixed by Kevin Rothrock, pulled from YouTube captures.
Scholars and researchers of the Russian Internet can rejoice this week, for Russia's leading search engine, Yandex.ru, is now the second website in the world, after Bing in the United States, to gain access to Facebook firehose data [ru]. This means that Yandex can now search Facebook's streaming API and provide live results for all public posts. The new deal with Facebook is limited to users based in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Turkey. Currently, only Yandex's blogs-specific search feature is capable of returning Facebook results, but the company's spokesperson told TechCrunch on January 13, 2014, that Yandex hopes to incorporate Facebook links in its general Internet search results soon.

author: Kevin Rothrock


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Hydroelectric Projects in Panama: “Promised Development But Created Disaster” · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Although dam developers and governments insist that local communities benefit from these projects, the reality on the ground in Panama suggests the opposite: communities are plunged further into poverty, environments are destroyed and irreparable harm is caused. As one witness who is living in the wake of the Chan 75 project said: “The government and the company [AES, a US-based energy global company] promised development but instead they have created a disaster.”
In Intercontinental Cry, Jennifer Kennedy writes about the effect of hydroelectric dam projects on Panamanian Indigenous communities. She concludes:
Both the human and environmental cost of large dam development is undeniable. And communities will continue to defend their livelihoods, environments and resources, staunchly resisting destructive dam development projects.


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Is Pakistan’s Much-Needed Gas Pipeline a Pipe Dream? · Global Voices
Aisha

People queue with their vehicles in front of a compressed natural gas filling station. Image by Jamal Dawoodpoto Copyright Demotix (24/9/2013)
About 1.3 million people live without electricity, and one-third of them live in Asia and Pacific, according to the United Nations. Pakistan, marred by a deteriorating economy and security situation, is one of the countries facing a severe energy shortage. Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Pakistan’s Minister for Water and Power, calls the country's energy crisis “a bigger challenge than even terrorism”.
The Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project, currently under construction, aims to help fix the situation. But the project hit a serious snag in early December when Iran cancelled a loan worth 500 million US dollars to help Pakistan finance its part of the pipeline. Former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had promised the money, but Iran's oil authorities now say they don't have the funds, especially after pumping two billion US dollars into their own part of the pipeline.
The cancelled loan could jeopardize the timeliness of the project's completion, which would be disastrous for Pakistan in itself: a penalty clause in the two countries’ agreement stipulates that withdrawing or delaying the pipeline will result in a daily fine of up to three million US dollars.
National interests are supreme to every nation. RT”@yasmeen_9: Iran cancels IP gas pipeline loan. http://t.co/8UOlr1MCtR via @sharethis“
— Altaf Sheikh (@redmax_) December 14, 2013
Iran's decision has been a devastating blow to Pakistan, but officials are still determined to forge ahead with the project, for which half the work has already been completed. Following Iran's suggestion, Pakistan is looking to European firms to help with the financing or even act as a middleman and sell the gas to Pakistan, while an Iranian construction company has offered to fund the Pakistani side of the pipeline, but would need the green light from the Iranian government.
Very bad news. #Iran Cancels #Pakistan Gas Pipeline Loan – ABC News http://t.co/LL6jZ7fp08 (via @ABC)
— farahnaz ispahani (@fispahani) December 14, 2013
One of the major impediments to the pipeline for Pakistan has been international sanctions against Iran. The US especially has warned Pakistan to back down on the project and advised the country to utilize Central Asian routes instead. As a result of this immense pressure, unavailability of financing, and to appease the US, Pakistan has also been aggressively pursuing the Turkemanistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan pipeline, which is scheduled to be completed in 2017.
However, according to Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the country is up against a wall when it comes to energy:
“The US must consider that we’re going through a very tough time . . . We do not have choices. If the international community doesn’t want us to deal with the Iranians then they should have given us some alternatives.”
The Iran-Pakistan pipeline was inaugurated on 11 March 2013 by then Presidents Asif Ali Zardari and Ahmadinejad, for the purpose of providing gas supply for the production of electricity and meeting other energy needs. A brain child of Malik Aftab Ahmed Khan, the idea originally was for an Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline to transport gas to India and Pakistan from Iran, which has the world's largest reservoir of natural gas.
The project is forecast to bring about savings of around 2.4 billion US dollars by replacing furnace oil-run units with the imported gas. As the nation depends on gas due to the influx of cars that run on compressed natural gas (CNG), there has been extreme demand on the individual level in addition to household consumption. Around 65 percent of the CNG stations have remain closed in Punjab for three months starting in November 2013. The situation is further exacerbated in the fertilizer sector, which has experienced extreme shortages of gas and suffered heavy losses.
Passengers travel on an overloaded bus during a transportation shortage due to a lack of compressed natural gas (CNG)in Karachi, Pakistan. Image by ppiimages Copyright Demotix (2/1/2013)
Former member of Pakistan's Parliament, Senate and National Assembly Sana Baloch commented on the cancelled loan on his Twitter account:
Very blunt diplomatic slap. Iran cancels Pakistan gas pipeline loan http://t.co/csn41AFhfv
— Sana BALOCH (@Senator_Baloch) December 14, 2013
Pakistan People's Party member Malik M Ali Awan replied:
@Senator_Baloch Pakistan should stand with Nato powers in dealing with Iran. More friendlier close relations r not good for Pakistan.
— Malik M Ali Awan (@MalikMAliAwan1) December 14, 2013
Commenting on a story about the cancellation on Pakistani news website Dawn, user “shirin” argued:
If its in Pakistan's interest to have the pipeline built, it needs to come up with 2bn and stand up to US and its sanctions that hurt Pakistan's interest.
User “independentthinker” chastised Pakistani leadership:
Why would Pakistan even consider entering into any contract when a) it doesn't have the means to finance it and b) the other party (Iran) is facing severe sanctions from the West and it is very possible, Pakistan can face serious repercussion from the U.S., if it carried through? It amazes me how our politicians think […]
It is expected that in order to meet the surging demand for gas, concrete action will be taken by the government despite the ramifications of the project. It could be done via engaging Iran in bilateral trade or negotiating for a deferred payment on the project. Otherwise, Pakistan should be prepared to pay the hefty penalty per day and possibly face wave of strikes, violence and discord again in 2014.

author: Aisha


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Jamaican Winner of The Voice Sings for Haiti · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Just another reason to love Tessanne Chin: she's singing to support a housing programme in Haiti. Repeating Islands republishes the details.


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More Money, More Problems? Taiwan Opens Door to More Chinese Business · Global Voices
I-fan Lin

Protest against the Service Trade Agreement in July 2013. Photo from the coolloud.org. CC: NC.
The Taiwanese and Chinese governments have signed a number of bilateral agreements on economic cooperation since 2010, with the latest Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement signed in June 2013. As the negotiation between the two governments have taken place in a black-box, many are worried that unrestricted entry of mainland capital poses a threat to Taiwanese culture, freedom of expression and even national security even though China is a huge market for Taiwanese businesses.
To address the concerns, civic group Democratic Front Against Cross-Strait Trade in Services Agreement has led several protests and convinced the Legislative Yuan to hold public hearings [zh] on the latest Service Trade Agreement signed [zh] in June 2013.
The public hearings have started in the Legislative Yuan in November 2013. So far more than 14 rounds have been held and more people from different service sectors will be invited to offer their view. The open discussion has raised public awareness on the political consequences of the economic cooperation. Indeed and many concerned citizens have picked up the discussion on their own blogs and websites.
Unequal agreement
Upon reviewing the terms in the latest trade agreement signed between Taiwan and China, professor Show-Ling Jang from the economics department of National Taiwan University pointed out [zh, pdf] that due to the huge difference in the scale of each country's economy and the “hidden rules” embedded in the terms, the agreement is neither fair nor equal:
中國還有各式各樣的潛規則，讓外國競爭對手無法在中國公平競爭。例如服貿協議明定中國人須擁有股權，未來勢將強迫我國企業進行技術轉移，將智慧財產權交給中國合夥人。
There are tons of hidden rules in China and foreign competitors cannot play a fair game in China. For example, in the Service Trade Agreement, the terms require [foreign investors] to build partnership and share holdings with their mainland business partner. Such an arrangement will force our corporations to transfer their technology and intellectual property to their Chinese partners.
此外，中資來台並非單純商業考量，還夾雜政治戰略目的，我方竟開放攸關國家安全的服務業（如通訊服務業、交通運輸業等）， 十分離譜!
In addition, Chinese capital is not purely commercial when entering Taiwan. There are political and strategic considerations. It is outrageous that the Taiwanese government has opted to open up services that concern national security, such as communication and transportation services [for Chinese capital and investment].
Political satire of the “black box” agreements signed between Taiwan and China governments by etblue
Censorship practice erodes freedom of speech
The authoritarian nature of the Chinese government and its censorship of expression has worried publication industries in Taiwan. During the public hearings, many publishers and bookstore owners believed that the agreement will end up eroding freedom of expression in Taiwan. For example, the owner of a small bookstore, Shiao-Shiao, pointed out [zh] in the hearings that unless the publishers were submissive to China's censorship, their books would never be distributed in mainland China:
中國政府對於出版管制嚴格，中國的出版業由國營企業掌握，少數小型出版者也要向國營企業買「書號」，中國不可能開放台灣出版業者進入中國市場。政府在政策上有利財團化經營模式，將影響現行多元的文化環境。
The Chinese government has very strict control over publication as the publishers in China are all national corporations. The few small independent publishers need to buy “book numbers” from the national corporations to publish their books. There is no way that China's government will allow Taiwanese publishers to enter China. Whereas in Taiwan, our government's policy favors big publishers, [once the publication industry is open to China capital] the cultural diversity in Taiwan would be affected.
In fact, as pointed out by movie director Hong-Hong, upon entering mainland China, Taiwanese cultural industries have started to self-censor their work:
中國並不是自由民主國家。近年來台灣的文化業進入中國之後，已經出現言論自我審查的現象。
China is not a free and democratic country. In recent years, many Taiwanese working in culture-related industries have entered China, and we can see how they have started to self-censor their works.
Fu-Yi Chou, the CEO of Laiho Culture Foundation and Museum, made a suggestion during the public hearings regarding the exemption of culture-related industries from trade agreements:
「文化例外」已成為世界共識：二○○五年，在法國、加拿大主導下，聯合國教科文組織UNESCO通過「文化多樣性公約」。「文化例外」早已是國際周知的事，為何我們的政府完全置之不理？為何文化部也完全沒聲音？那麼又何必談文化立國、文化興國？
“L’exception culturelle” is a worldwide consensus now. France and Canada led the discussion in UNESCO and passed the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions in 2005. While “l’exception culturelle” has already been put into practice worldwide, why does our government ignore it? Why didn’t the Ministry of Culture say a word about it? If so, why do we talk about a nation based on our culture?
Political motivation and security threats through trade
Indeed, the relationship between businesses and government in mainland China is so close that quite often economic activities are closely connected with political aims. Yu-Tsang, an engineer and a blogger, followed the discussion in the hearings and expressed concern on his blog over the political intention of China's investment in Taiwan:
如果中國政府考慮到政治利益，對中國企業進行大規模補助，其實還是有可能會有大批中資企業為了政治目的進攻台灣。因此如何避免來自中國政府的補助？這將會是服貿協議很重要的一點。
Taking into account political considerations, the Chinese government may subsidize their corporations to invest in Taiwan. In fact, it is possible that politics is the main objective for Chinese corporations coming to Taiwan. Therefore, it is very important to prevent political subsidy when we discuss about the Service Trade Agreement with China.
Some even worried that when Chinese corporations enter the Internet service industry, personal privacy and national security would be endangered. Professor Ying-Dar Lin from the National Chiao-Tung University gave a warning to the Taiwan government:
可能會發生設備業者透過後門, 在服務業者不知情的情況下盜取用戶通聯與監聽特定用戶通訊.
It is possible to create a backdoor in the network's facilities [for intelligence agencies] to get around Internet service providers to steal user data and monitor specific users’ communication.
Putting aside political speculations, as Taiwan's economy is composed of predominantly small- and medium-size enterprises while their mainland counterparts are giant national corporations, the difference in economic scales makes it impossible for an equal playing field. Professor Show-Ling Jang explained [zh]:
我國服務業約有93.5萬家，非知識密集型服務業就占86％；且相較美、日平均每家企業員工15人及8.6人，我國只有4.2人，顯示台灣服務業大都是微型企業。
台灣與中國的語言共通、距離又近，經濟規模及勞動條件卻相差甚大，面臨中國龐大資金、低成本的競爭，將對我國的整體就業市場、薪資所得帶來不利影響……
In Taiwan, the service sector is composed of 935,000 enterprises. 86 percent provide non-knowledge-intensive services and the average number of staff in these enterprises is 4.2. Compared to the US (15 staff) and Japan (8.6 staff), most of our enterprises are very small.
Taiwanese and Chinese speak the same language, and we are geologically close to each other. However, the size of the economies and labor conditions are so different. China's huge capital flow and low labor costs will bring an adverse impact to our employment market and labor income structure.
Backdoor for immigration
As the agreement allows China corporation to recruit a certain number of overseas staffs according to their investment scale, some are worried that it will create a backdoor for mainland Chinese immigration to Taiwan. Professor Show-Ling Jang explained how the agreement will serve as a migration channel:
法規明定中國企業投資台灣只要二十萬美元以上，即可申請二人來台，且每增加投資五十萬美元，則可申請增加一人，最多不得超過七人。跟各國的技術移民限制相較，台灣的限制明顯寬鬆。[…]由於無專長限制，加以總居留期間無上限，將成變相移民管道。
Based on this agreement, a Chinese corporation can arrange two staff members to stay in Taiwan if their investment reaches 200,000 US dollars, and they can arrange more employees to stay in Taiwan if they invest 500,000 US dollars for each person up to seven people. Compared to the rules for skilled immigration in other countries, the rules adopted in this agreement are quite generous… Since there is no restrictions on their expertise and no limitation on the period of residency, it functions as a de facto migration channel.
The Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) between Taiwan and China was signed in June 2010, followed by the Bilateral Investment Agreement signed in August 2012. The latest Service Trade Agreement was signed in June 2013. According to an online survey conducted by a civic group, Big Citizens Is Watching You, among the 61.6 percent of the 2,259 respondents who have some knowledge about the Service Trade Agreement, more than 97.4 percent do not support it, 38.1 percent of the respondents have no knowledge of this agreement, 0.3 percent do not have an opinion, and only 1.6 percent who know about it support it.

author: I-fan Lin


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Russia’s Parliament Prepares New “Anti-Terrorist” Laws for Internet · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

Graffiti in Moscow, June 2013. Photo by Victor Grigas via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Another Internet crackdown appears to be looming in Russia, where the Duma is reviewing three new pieces of proposed “anti-terror” legislation that could place hefty restrictions on the activities of website operators and civil society organizers.
Two of the bills address government surveillance powers—one would create new requirements obliging website operators to report on the every move of their users, while another addresses penalties for terror-related crimes. The third would set new restrictions for individuals and organizations accepting anonymous donations through online services like PayPal, a measure that could have an especially strong impact on small civil society groups.
The first of the three bills (Legislative initiative 428884-6 [ru]) creates new requirements for mandatory archives and notifications, granting the federal government wide jurisdiction. The most concerning article of the bill stipulates that “individuals or legal entities” who “[organize] the dissemination of information and (or) the exchange of information between Internet users are obligated to store all information about the arrival, transmission, delivery, and processing of voice data, written text, images, sounds, or other kinds of action” that occur when using their website. At all times, data archives must include the most recent six months of activity.
It appears that this obligation would apply to the owners and operators of websites and services ranging from multinational services like Facebook to small community blogs and discussion platforms.
Website “organizers” must also “inform” (уведомить) Russian security services when users first begin using their sites, and whenever users “exchange information.” Taken literally, this requirement could create a nearly impossible task for administrators of blogs, social media sites, and other discussion platforms with large quantities of users.
The legislation also includes an ambitious note about jurisdiction, claiming applicability to all websites that Russian citizens access: “In the event that the communication service organizer is located beyond the borders of the Russian Federation, but the user of the services is located within Russian territory, the location of services rendered is the territory of the Russian Federation.” Jurisdictional inconsistencies and international human rights norms would make such a policy nearly impossible to implement.
Finally, the legislation proposes fines for website owners who do not comply with the law, threatening legal entities (e.g., Facebook, Vkontakte, Twitter) with penalties as high as six thousand dollars per offense. It is also difficult to imagine how such a scheme could be implemented across international borders.
The second bill (Legislative initiative 428889-6 [ru]) would broaden police powers and raise penalties for terrorism. This legislation grants the Federal Security Service (post-Soviet Russia’s successor to the KGB) rights to inspect travelers that currently only regular police enjoy. It also increases the maximum prison sentences for several terrorism-related crimes.
Finally, the third piece of legislation (Legislative initiative 428896-6 [ru]) would place new limits on online money transfers. This draft law would raise limits on anonymous online financial transactions and ban all international online financial transactions, where the electronic money operator (e.g., PayPal, Yandex.Dengi, WebMoney) does not know the client’s legal identity. The legislation also raises operating costs for NGOs, requiring them to report on every three thousand dollars spent in foreign donations. (Currently, NGOs must report on every six thousand such dollars.)
The proposed restrictions on anonymous online money transfers could be significant. Currently in Russia, one can deposit up to 1,200 dollars into a single anonymous online wallet, and one can pay out almost 450 dollars from that account in a single transaction. Under the new legislation, Russians wouldn’t be able to spend more than 450 dollars in a whole calendar month from any one anonymous online money account, and single-day transactions would be limited to just under 30 dollars (1000 rubles).
How much money do Russian netizens typically send when they transfer rubles online? Consider Alexey Navalny’s August 2013 Moscow mayoral campaign, which he funded largely with online donations through Yandex.Dengi  (a service similar to PayPal). Navalny’s public audit [ru] of his online donations is still accessible, and it’s clear from just a glance that a sizeable number of the transfers were well above 1000 rubles.
Perhaps anticipating today’s backlash to the new crackdown on anonymous RuNet money transfers, the Duma actually raised the allowed maximum balance [ru] for identified (non-anonymous) online money accounts in late December 2013, increasing it from 100 thousand rubles (3 thousand dollars) to 600 thousand rubles (almost 18 thousand dollars).
Arkady Babchenko in an interview, 18 March 2012, YouTube screen capture.
Indeed, the legislation’s potential impact on crowd-funded projects (like Navalny’s mayoral campaign, his anti-corruption organizations, and others’ grassroots efforts) has alarmed many in the Russian blogosphere. Writer and activist Arkady Babchenko, who runs a civic group called “Journalists without Intermediaries,” published an emotional blog post [ru] on Echo of Moscow, declaring that the new legislation would destroy any efforts to fund his project, which he promotes unceasingly in his online social media (always directing his readers to the group’s Yandex.Dengi account). “Now I can close down the project with a clear conscience,” he announced fatalistically.
RuNet guru Anton Nosik blogged [ru] in a similar tone on LiveJournal, claiming that Russians who order pizzas online costing over 1000 rubles run the risk of being labeled “terrorists.” With even greater hyperbole, economist and city council member Konstantin Yankauskas proclaimed in a Facebook post [ru], “Under the pretext of fighting terrorism, the Federal Duma is preparing to shut down Yandex.Dengi.” Like Babchenko, Yankauskas manages his own crowd-funded civic group—a local newspaper in the Moscow suburb of Zyuzino.
Curiously, Babchenko, Nosik, and Yankauskas all downplay the fact that the proposed limitations on Internet money transfers apply exclusively to anonymous accounts. Presumably, their panic is rooted in the assumption that Russians will donate to civic initiatives only if they can do so anonymously, without alerting the authorities to any ostensibly “oppositionist” leanings.
These intended reforms may have been designed to force Russian civic society’s supporters into the open, thereby thinning their numbers. Even now, while the legislation is not yet law, civic groups like Babchenko’s and Yankauskas’ are far from wildly successful. “Journalists without Intermediaries” has just 110 “likes” on Facebook, and “I Live in Zyuzino” has fewer than 300 followers on Vkontakte. As the proprietor of the former rushes to announce a closure of operations and the head of the latter concludes immediately that “Yandex.Dengi will be shut down,” it seems that some struggling online initiatives might use the latest RuNet crackdown to save themselves from the ordinary disgrace of unpopularity.
According to Vedomosti newspaper [ru], work on the bills has been underway for some time, but a recent string of terrorist attacks in the city of Volgograd accelerated the process. Four of the laws’ sponsors are former professionals in Russia’s security apparatus (including one former prosecutor, two former FSB agents, and a former deputy chairman of the federal “Information Policy Committee”). The legislation was drafted in closed meetings with representatives of Rosfinmonitoring (an anti-money-laundering agency), the Federal Security Service, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Whatever the ulterior motives of Russian lawmakers and the fundraising strategies of civic groups, this move to peel back the privacy offered by online exchange will have an inevitable chilling effect on the country’s netizen self-organization. One of the bills’ authors, Oleg Denisenko, even admitted [ru] to Kommersant newspaper that the legislation “will be unpopular.” As the Duma discusses and revises the bills over the coming weeks, Denisenko will learn whether his colleagues agree that the fight against terrorism warrants such sacrifices. The initial reactions from the RuNet, however, indicate that the proposed measures will never be popular with the country’s bloggers.


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Shall We Start with the Good News? · Global Voices
Solana Larsen

They say every cloud has a silver lining. Photo by Matthew Perkins on Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Here's the good news: Throughout the years, Global Voices has brought you countless stories of human hope, bravery and creativity from all over the world. And here's the bad: Like other news sites, we're often guilty of focusing on negatives and perhaps even of depressing you.
Do you look forward to reading Global Voices? Or are you put off by the seemingly endless stream of stories of injustice and human suffering? In 2014 we're planning on pursuing more solution driven journalism, and hopefully showing more light and humanity than darkness and despair.
This does not mean we will ignore the bad things, like violence or poverty. But we do want to highlight more positive developments. In fact we’ve already started doing it, by posting stories about good news you never heard from Yemen, or millions of children in Bangladesh receiving free textbooks, or how Angolans use the internet to preserve their languages.
So many of our stories are centered on online social movements and citizens mobilizing to improve their societies. We want to tell this news in a way that inspires hope, rather than falling back on the more negative framing of regular mainstream news media.
For starters, we've created a new Good News category on Global Voices.
At the end of December, we hosted a conversation on GV Face about this idea between our co-founder Ethan Zuckerman, our deputy editor, Sahar H. Ghazi, advocacy editor, Ellery Biddle, and myself. It's going to be a long term effort to gradually change the way we tell stories together with our authors and editors.
We're following the lead of many other websites and news organizations who are pioneering this type of reporting under the headings like positive news, solutions-driven journalism, constructive reporting, and similar. Even the Huffington Post has a Good News section (though you'll probably find more cute pet stories there than you ever will on Global Voices).
The world we want you to experience on Global Voices is beautiful. It's inhabited by brave and creative individuals who believe in making the world a better place. Maybe we can even give our readers a sense that there's something they can do to help too.
Take a look at our Good News and let us know what else you’d like to see on Global Voices.


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Unethical Practices In A Bangladeshi Private Hospital  · Global Voices
Rezwan

Emma Clare Burton-Chowdhoury, an Englishwoman (married to a Bangladeshi) living in Dhaka, Bangladesh, blogs about her experience in giving birth to a daughter in a Bangladeshi private hospital:
The pediatric team at Apollo welcomed the premature delivery of our daughter with open arms as conveniently her special care boosted our hospital bill.

author: Rezwan


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Urging Indians to ‘Take the Poo to the Loo’ · Global Voices
Aparna Ray

A village school in Uttar Pradesh, India with toilet facilities for boys and girls. Children are also encouraged (through visuals and written instructions) to wash hands with soap before meals and after using the toilet. Image by author.
Using innovative outreach programmes, UNICEF India's ‘Take the Poo to the Loo’ campaign has been trying to raise awareness and calling upon Indians to end both open defecation and the use of make-shift (dry) toilets which are cleaned by manual scavengers.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimates [pdf], about 620million people in India still practice open defecation – which is over 50 percent of the population. Even the latest government of India (GOI) Census data puts the figure around 50 percent. While the GOI has had a continuous slew of sanitation related schemes, the latest Census data has revealed that more Indian households have telephones/ mobiles than toilet facilities.
It's more than just the absence of toilets
Government officials handling sanitation projects understand that in order to end the age-old practice of open defecation, people must first of all feel the need to have and use a hygienic toilet – an uphill task especially in rural communities where traditionally, there was not much social shame associated with going to fields, woods etc., to answer nature's call and/or defecate. It was simply something that ‘everyone did’. In fact, people shrank away from having a toilet within their home premises on both religious and ‘hygienic’ grounds, their argument being that a toilet, being something ‘unclean’, could not co-exist within the same premises that held the kitchen as well as space for worship.
Screenshot from the “Take the poo to the Loo” campaign website
Malathy M, a young professional working with Maharashtra State Rural Livelihoods Mission, reflected on the issue after seeing people using the sides of a highway as an open toilet. She tweeted:
Open defecation is a reality in India and there are no easy solutions..it isn't merely a lack of toilets #sanitation #health
— MaalsUnwinded!! (@malathy_86) January 14, 2014
Use of available toilets itself is a question..how important is it for a rural family considering the cultural or social context?
— MaalsUnwinded!! (@malathy_86) January 14, 2014
But children bear the severest brunt of this practice
Children are the most vulnerable when it comes to health hazards resulting from poor sanitation and hygiene associated with open defecation. According to a report [pdf] published by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine,
Diarrhoeal diseases caused by inadequate sanitation and unhygienic conditions put children at multiple risks leading to vitamin and mineral deficiencies, high morbidity, malnutrition, stunting and death.
In India, that problem can be acute, because,
Less than 12% or rural children in #India use #toilets; urban rate better, but still less than half (47%) http://t.co/AmAWIC9P9M #Sanitation
— Project Sammaan (@ProjectSammaan) January 13, 2014
28 million children do not have access a proper toilet. That's just 5 million less than all Twitter users worldwide. pic.twitter.com/KTBkbPiZvq
— Take Poo To The Loo (@poo2loo) January 15, 2014
Realizing the gravity of the situation, , the government of India has sought out UNICEF India as a key partner in it's fight against the practice of open defecation. While UNICEF has been partnering the initiative at various levels, the current #poo2loo campaign aims to engage even the urban populace and raise awareness about open defecation, not only in rural areas but in urban areas (including slums) as well.
UNICEF India is using innovative methods to engage citizens and raise awareness about open defecation.
In the next two posts of this series, we will look at a) how dry toilets and the associated evil of manual scavenging continues to persist stubbornly in some corners of India and b) how some brave ‘Toilet Warriors’ are ushering in change within their communities and creating demand for hygienic toilets and better sanitation facilities – creating hope that open defecation and manual scavenging will slowly but surely be a thing of the past.

author: Aparna Ray


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Being Gay in Nigeria Now Means Arrest, Prison · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Nigeria has arrested dozens of gay men under the country's new anti-gay law, signed by President Goodluck Jonathan on January 7, 2014. The Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act criminalises homosexual relationships, bans gay marriage, gay organisations, societies, clubs and events, and imposes prison terms of up of to 14 years.
The bill was passed by Nigeria's Senate in November 2011, the same Senate that approved child marriage in July 2013
Pew's Global Attitudes Project shows that Nigeria is the least tolerant country in the world when it comes to homosexuality.
A map showing penalties targeting gays and lesbians in Africa. Image source: http://ilga.org/
Homosexuality is outlawed in 38 African countries and it can be punishable by death in Mauritania, Sudan and northern Nigeria. The parliament of Uganda passed a controversial anti-homosexuality bill on December 20, 2013 that would punish gays and lesbians with life in prison in some cases as well as jail anyone who did not report gay people to authorities.
The Nigerian government has started arresting gay men since the president signed the bill into law.
Nigerian blogger Ayo Sogunro reacted to the news by explaining why Nigerians should be worried about the anti-gay law. He countered most common arguments put forward by anti-gay groups in Nigeria. One of the arguments is that homosexuality is not part of “our culture”:
A common argument in support of the prejudicial legislation—and one infamously and misguidedly utilized by Mr. David Mark, the Senate President, states that homosexuality is not part of our “culture”. Let us ignore the obvious fact that Nigeria has over 250 ethnic groups with diversified cultures out of which at least one involves a woman “marrying” another woman, another involves a husband “gifting” his wife to a male guest, another approves raiding a neighboring nomadic camp to kidnap a wife, and several involve a brother or son taking the surviving wives of a deceased as inheritance—let’s ignore all of these disparate sexual and marital cultural phenomena and focus instead on the nature of culture. What we call “our culture” is not a set of fixed, written rules handed down by our forefathers in a leather bound book. Instead, “our culture”, like any other culture, is an interwoven set of constantly changing practices. Culture, a student of sociology will tell you, is constantly in a state of flux: it grows new ideas, it borrows from other cultures, it ceases some long-held beliefs, and it is forever changing. You see, the only permanent culture is a dead culture. Jackets and fast cars are not the African culture, but I am yet to see a black man going to jail for perfectly stringing a Windsor knot.
He concluded by saying:
And now, here’s the worst part: if this law is allowed to sail through, it could be your affairs that will be considered criminal tomorrow. You use your left hand to write? Criminal. You squeeze your paste from the bottom of the tube? Criminal. You wear your wristwatch on the right hand. You criminal! The facts may be different, but the principle is the same. This law is a test by the legislature, a measurement of how much nonsense can be dumped on the public. Of course, it is general public opinion that there is a number of clowns seated in the legislature—some whom attained their claim to lawmaking solely by affiliation with their political party and not through a personal resume—and there is a tendency to just ignore them. However, when clowns begin to create dangerous precedents, then it is time for the audience to get serious and put them in place.
Ayo's post has attracted over 100 comments. Reader Uju, who admits being extremely homophobic, said the law is harsh, stupid and wicked:
though i’m extremely homophobic, I can’t help but reason with your article. Criminalizing homosexuality is very harsh. However, I just don’t wish for time when two men will be publicly displaying their affection. I can’t also help but feel like a hypocrite since I know I have my sins but in my defence, it’s my private sin. My point is most of us may never come to term with homosexuals being born that way but we will try not to cast our hypocritical stones at the born that ways as long as they keep their ‘born that wayness’ in private. That being said, I vehemently believe that making homosexuality a criminal act is sheer stupidity and wickedness.
Despite being a Christian who considers homosexuality a sin, Osemhen thought it is not up to the state to decide on a moral issue:
[…]I’m Christian, and I consider homosexuality a sin. I think it’s absolute nonsense to hurt someone because they’re gay. I think it’s outside the jurisdiction of the state to decide on what is so obviously a moral matter, and not a legal one.
I’m not sure of the origin of this bill but I think it started with someone wanting to legalize gay marriage. Talk about back-firing. This is what happens when you invite the government into your bedroom.
Another reader, spacyzuma, observed that:
[…]Homosexuals didn’t delay my civil service salary; the oga employer at the top of my employee organization did. He also reduced my salary; homosexuals didn’t. Homosexuals didn’t raise fuel prices; aren’t the ones who keep crippling our power, educational, agricultural, petroleum, transport sectors. […] These legislators who wanna pass this anti-gay law will never support a bill that says looting our Treasury should be punishable by public flogging or decades of years in jail. They will completely ignore a bill that requires adulterers and fornicators to be jailed and punished.
Ashiwel wondered why there are lots of pending bills demanding urgent attention:
It worries me that there are a lot of pending bills before the Legislature, some since 2005– like the bill to deal with cybercrime– which demand the urgent attention of Nigeria’s lawmakers; and yet they choose to focus time and resources on criminalizing sexual orientations.
Should we take that to mean they lack the intellectual capacity to focus on and deal legislatively with these issues?
And if both religions claim to preach and practice love, peace and tolerance, where did the storied tolerance go?
American blogger David Mixner wrote a post explaining the reason behind the signing of the bill into law:
With all the dramatic problems facing Nigeria (including an insurgency that threatens its very existence as a nation state) why would President Jonathan be using political capital to pass and sign such legislation? It is exactly because of the Boko Haram insurgency that the President has signed the law. With his signature, he distracts his Christian followers from his failure to stop Boko Haram in the Islamic northern provinces.
He warned:
Ironically, the anti-gay law only deepens the division in this frail nation state and in the end won't make a damn bit of difference in the direction of the emerging civil war. Don't be surprise to see political opponents arrested for ‘homosexual conduct’.
Below is a sample of reactions on Twitter:
There are surely more important matters than Nigeria's Anti Gay Law. For one. Who is David Moyes Signing? [Manchester United manager]
— Dizzy Corleone (@Odd_Dizzy) January 15, 2014
I'm just *shocked* that Nigeria's anti-gay law hasn't attracted as much criticism as Russia's
— Mark Adomanis (@MarkAdomanis) January 15, 2014
Nigerian leaders take a break from stealing to ban gays. Child marriage ok. I was actually born in a place like that http://t.co/tRjijmMpQQ
— Dele Olojede (@DeleOlojede) January 13, 2014
Everyone going to Bafana Bafana v Nigeria at CT Stadium on Sun [during the Orange African Nations Championship]: You're encouraged to wear rainbow flags to protest new Nigerian anti-gay law
— Rebecca Davis (@becsplanb) January 15, 2014
Not all tweeps are against the new law:
If polygamy is wrong and is an offence in US and UK, then homosexuality is wrong in Africa. #NoToSameSexMarriage“
— Crown Hanifimoneyshe (@a_g_a_l_iGCFR) January 16, 2014
It Beats Me, How The Foreign Community Is So Concerned About Our Decision To Say #NoToSameSexMarriage In Nigeria.. Its NEVER In Our DNA.
— 9JΔ OLOFOFO (@9ja_olofofo) January 15, 2014

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Call for Better Crime Fighting Policy in the Bahamas · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The government has failed…the prime minister…continues to pass the buck, throwing words and rhetoric at the cycle of violence, instead of mustering common sense and workable responses.
Bahama Pundit takes on what it calls the Prime Minister's “disastrous leadership on crime”.


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Creating Japanese Food With Ingredients from Crete · Global Voices
Keiko Tanaka

Five prominent Japanese chefs and five of their Greek counterparts got together at a hotel in Crete on January 14, 2014 to create ten dishes representative of the respective origins using local products. At the culinary event dubbed “CRETE delicious” [el], Japanese chefs demonstrated how Cretan products can be incorporated into Japanese popular dishes, and exchanged their healthiest recipes. More about the event including the menu can be found here [ja/en/el].
Chania, Greece. 15 January 2014 – Group photo of Cretan and Japanese cooks after the “Japan meets Crete” event, an initiative of Japanese and Greek entrepreneurs, star cooks and hoteliers. Japan's most famous chefs met with Cretan chefs and prepared foods using local fish and agriculture. Photo taken by Wassilis Aswestopoulos, ©Demotix

author: Keiko Tanaka


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Enforced Disappearances in Sri Lanka: 2006-2013 · Global Voices
Rezwan

Groundviews highlights a report (pdf), which aims to facilitate the criminalization of enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka during 2006-2013, recognize and uphold the rights of the victims families.


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Fireworks Set Off Online Protests in Trinidad and Tobago  · Global Voices
Jason Nathu

The Animal Welfare Network (AWN) has begun a campaign to end the sale of illegal fireworks in Trinidad and Tobago.
Via a Facebook event page, the organisation is conducting a survey about the effects of fireworks on animals, which it says it will submit to the relevant authorities.  AWN has asked netizens to leave comments on the page if they noticed any adverse affects of fireworks on their own pets or any other animals.  The venture has gained the support of the Trinidad and Tobago Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (TTSPCA), which works closely with the AWN in public education campaigns.
While some participants in the survey have noted that the responsibility of pet owners to secure their animals should not be ignored, the majority of comments have been in support of a permanent ban on the sale of illegal fireworks.  There has been heated debate about the fireworks issue in the country for years now, given the level of noise pollution associated with privately launched fireworks on occasions such as Independence Day, Christmas Day and New Year's Day.  There is a widespread perception that the use of fireworks is illegal, but this blog post clarified the boundaries:
The use of fireworks isn’t illegal, but they must be used in accordance with the law.
**“Fireworks” is specified under the Summary Offences Act 1921, as amended to include bombs, torpedoes, squibs, rockets and serpents;
Where it can be used:
The Summary Offences Act 1921, as amended
99. (1) Except as prescribed by **Regulations under this Act, any person who throws, casts, sets fire to, or lets off any fireworks within any town is liable to a fine of one thousand dollars ($1000).
(2) In this section and in sections 100 and 101, “town” includes the City of Port-of-Spain, the City of San Fernando, and the Borough of Arima, and every part of the area within two miles of the boundaries of such City or of either of such Boroughs, and also any place or area declared by the Minister, by Order, to be a town or to be deemed to be included within a town for the purposes of the said sections.
100. Any person who throws, casts, sets fire to, or lets off any fireworks into, in, or upon any street not being in any town, or into, in, or upon any place being within sixty feet of the centre of any such street, is liable to a fine of four hundred dollars ($400).
This means that the use of fireworks without a permit can legally only occur in the most rural of areas.
**Permission to set off fireworks: Fireworks Permits Regulations (made under s. 101 of the SOA)
If someone wants to set off fireworks in one of the ‘banned’ areas, permission must be obtained at least forty-eight (48) hours prior, from the Commissioner of Police or a Superintendent with the authority, which  will be in writing, prescribing the time and place.
The administrators of the TTSPCA's South shelter made a passionate contribution to the debate by posting:
Even if pets are secured, what about their suffering and distress not to mention HUMANS who have heart conditions, anxiety, epilepsy etc. I think people who support fireworks are hypocrites, they want people to tolerate them but they themselves are intolerant and inconsiderate of others!
The issue of pet owners administering sedatives was also discussed. Veterinary Assistant Christian Gosein posted:
For the month of December alone, I'd estimate that we have sold well over one thousand sedative tablets at our clinic for the specific purpose of preventing dogs from panicking and injuring themselves during fireworks. This is more than we sell in the other 11 months combined for any purpose whether it be Divali sedation, Independence Day sedation, epilepsy management or sedation for transport.
Normally, most people would come in once and request a dosage for Old Year's Night only. This past December in particular, we've seen an increase of customers requesting additional doses for multiple days and nights, of which we have to discourage as multiple sedations are putting your dog at risk for death.
This is a measure of how much worse the situation has gotten and how desperate and helpless our customers felt this year.
We currently are taking care of a dog that sliced her leg open due to panic caused by fireworks.
Over the course of my 12 year old pompek's life, when fireworks go off he has panicked and managed to squeeze through areas he would normally never think of trying to go through and has damaged his neck, ribs and legs. In his life, he has ran away twice, both times during peak firework hours, and was only found because we have nice neighbours.
Other Facebook users commented on the legality of fireworks in Trinidad and Tobago and the enforcement of laws relating to fireworks.
Denise Indalsingh noted:
We can get EMA to stop a fete in some isolated location because of noise pollution but we can't get anyone to stop/ban the fireworks et al which go on day/night for days throughout the entire country. Everyone I spoke to said that last Old Years was the worst they have experienced in terms of noise from fireworks, scratch bombs, etc. You think it ‘s going to get any better this year? Definitely not! The lawlessness and disregard for fellow citizens grow daily. That's why it is imperative that something be done about this nuisance ASAP.
The survey runs until January 31st, after which the comments will be sent to law enforcement and government authorities.

author: Jason Nathu


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GV Face: Bangkok Shutdown and the Way Forward · Global Voices
Sahar Habib Ghazi

Tens of thousands filled the major intersections of Bangkok, the capital of Thailand this week, as opposition groups intensified their bid to topple the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
The protest led by former lawmaker Suthep Thaugsuban aims to ‘shutdown’ Bangkok for several days or until Yingluck is removed from power.
Yingluck is accused of being a puppet of her elder brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Thaksin was ousted by a coup in 2006 but his party has remained victorious in the polls. He is in exile after being found guilty of plunder by a local court.
In this episode of GV Face we speak to Saksith Saiyasombut, a Thai political analyst and journalist based in Germany, our Thailand author Aim Sinpeng  and SE Asia Editor Mong Palatino.

author: Sahar Habib Ghazi


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Japan Scores Well on Internet Freedom Status Report · Global Voices
Keiko Tanaka

U.S. based watchdog organization Freedom House compiled a report on Freedom on the Net 2013 and included the report on Japan for the first time.
Japan was evaluated as “Free”,  where the constitution protects all forms of speech and prohibits censorship, and Internet and digital media freedom are generally well established. For key developments during May 2012 to April 2013, Freedom House reported that:
You can read the full report here.


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Job Market Trends in the Mobile Phone Industry of Côte d’Ivoire · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Alain François Loukou, a research fellow and teacher at the Alassane Ouattara University in Bouaké, Côte d’Ivoire, wrote an extensive report on the evolution of IT in Côte d'Ivoire [fr]. He shares the following table on the recent evolution of the mobile phone market in his country in terms of mobile penetration, jobs, turnover and investment [fr]:
Job market in mobile phone industry in Côte d'Ivoire – Public Domain

author: Lova Rakotomalala


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Looking Back at Russia’s Divided New Year Celebration · Global Voices
Valentina Lukin

Putin's New Year address cat-bombed. Anonymous image distributed online.
As Russia finishes celebrating the Old New Year (a tradition that comes from calendar confusion in the early 20th century), we take a look back at how some Russian netizens reacted on December 31, 2013 when President Putin added a twist to his customary New Year's Eve address. Putin recorded two addresses — one that ran in Russia's Far East [ru], which celebrated the New Year eleven hours ahead of western Russia, where the second address [ru] ran.
The first address made no mention of the terrorists attacks which took place only days earlier and killed 31 people in Volgograd [Global Voices report]. However, Putin also failed to mention last year's destructive floods in the Far East. These omissions provoked netizens, who thought that perhaps this was in bad taste. This tweet, for example, got 157 retweets:
в новогоднем поздравлении Путина ни слова про Волгоград, в котором у него 4 марта 2012 г было 63,41% голосов.
— Brigita Grohman (@BrigitaGrohman) December 31, 2013
In Putin’s New Year address, there was no mention of Volgograd, where on March 4, 2012 he got 63.41% of the vote.
A commenter on the Echo Moskvy article on the first speech wrote [ru]:
Вот подонок, как будто не было череды терактов. Только и говорит, как в этом году Россия(ОН САМ) стала богаче.
The lowlife, as if there wasn't a string of terrorist attacks. All he's saying is how Russia (HIMSELF) got richer this year.
Not everyone was as unchartable however. LiveJournal user old_den pointed out [ru] that the address was likely recorded well ahead of the New Year:
Все плюются и негодуют, потому что он не вспомнил о терактах. …Обращение было записано около месяца назад.
Everyone is spitting and being indignant because he didn't mention the terrorist attacks. …The address was recorded about a month ago.
Even though some people doubted that the New Year address would be changed, soon came reports of a second address, recorded in Khabarovsk, Siberia. This address, covered blasts in Volgograd and floods in the Far East. Later it became known that Putin flew to Khabarovsk [ru] with the family of Bair Banzaraksaev, the only man who died during the flooding, in order to celebrate the New Year with victims of the flood.
Stanislav Belkovsky commented on the double addresses [ru] on TV-Rain:
Если раньше был тандем Путин-Медведев, то сегодня есть тандем Путин-Путин. Один Путин озвучивает одно обращение, другой Путин – другое. Это свидетельствует о мощном переходе власти в … систему двойников.
If before we had the pair of Putin-Medvedev, now there is another pair — Putin and Putin. One Putin makes one address, anther Putin a different one. This speaks to a forceful move by the government to a system of doubles.
Still, Other Russia's Eduard Limonov wondered [ru] why Putin chose Khabarovsk instead of Volgograd:
Зачем было ехать в Хабаровск, ВВП, где тяжёлое время уже миновало? Ошибка. Нужно было высадиться в Волгограде. И обнимать родственников погибших.
Why go to Khabarovsk, V(ladimir)V(ladimirovich)P(utin), where the difficult times are in the past? A mistake. Should have landed in Volgograd. And hugged the relatives of the victims.
Other bloggers criticized Putin for the expense of flying around the country, presumably to improve his public image:
Интересно, во сколько обошлось налогоплательщикам России это однодневное путешествие Президента из Москвы в Хабаровск? Одного керосина сожгли тонн 30….
I wonder how much Russian President’s day-trip from Moscow to Khabarovsk cost the taxpayers? They burned 30 tons of fuel alone…
As 2013 approached its end, some bloggers waited in vain [ru] for a third address from Putin, hoping he would take a page out of Boris Yeltsin's book:
Ждем третьего обращения с заветным: “Я устал, я ухожу…”
We are waiting for a third address with the coveted “I'm tired, I'm leaving…”

author: Valentina Lukin


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Mauritius Tops Index of Economic Freedom Ranking in Africa  · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

the 2013 Index of economic Freedom in Africa via Heritage Foundation – Public Domain
The Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal published the latest Index of Economic Freedom and Mauritius ranks highest among African nations [fr]. It also ranks in the top ten worldwide. The index cites the following reasons for Mauritius high ranking:
Efficient and transparent regulations underpin a dynamic entrepreneurial environment and support diversified economic development


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Mexican Filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón Nominated for Oscar for ‘Gravity’ · Global Voices
J. Tadeo

Image shared on Facebook by Gravity's official page.
Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón Orozco has been nominated for Best Director in the upcoming Academy Awards for the feature film Gravity, in which he also worked as producer, editor and writer.
In the same category, David O. Russel, Alexander Payne, Steve McQueen and Martin Scorsese were also nominated. The winner will be announced at the official ceremony to be held on Sunday 2nd March, 2014 in Los Angeles, California.
Entertainment news presenter, René Franco [es] had the following to say about Cuarón's work in the director's chair:
Gravity es extraordinaria, impecable en su dirección. Y Cuarón se merece el Oscar. Pero no solo dan Oscares por eso.
Gravity is extraordinary, impeccable in its direction. And Cuarón deserves the Oscar. But they don't give Oscars only for that.
Franco also reminded us [es] that the filmmaker is not the only one to have stepped into the spotlight of U.S. cinema in the last few months, at the same time as mentioning another of the reasons for which Cuarón should be given the statuette:
Además, es un gran año para los mexicanos en el cine gringo: Eugenio Derbez les llenó los bolsillos de dinero, y dejó muy en claro que en los centros comerciales de todo Estados Unidos, los mexicanos (legales o no) son los que llenan las salas comprando boletos para familias numerosas. Así que a Hollywood le conviene quedar bien con nosotros, no solo porque sean unos liberales que odian a los republicanos de Arizona y se suben medio borrachos a recibir sus premios, sino porque esos millones que genera un público tan agradecido y comprador, merecen una recompensa.
Furthermore, it's a great year for Mexicans in U.S. cinema: Eugenio Derbez filled their pockets with cash and left it very clear that in shopping centers all throughout the United States, Mexicans (whether documented or not) are who fill the movie theaters buying tickets for their numerous families. So it benefits Hollywood to get along with us, not because they're Democrats who hate Republicans in Arizona and who go up half drunk to the podium to receive their award, but because those millions of dollars that generate a thankful audience with buying power deserve a bit of compensation.
The blog Cine más pod [es] reminded us that Cuarón has already been recognized for his work on Gravity, with nothing less than a Golden Globe:
Apenas el domingo Alfonso Cuarón recibió el premio a mejor director en la entrega de los Globos de Oro y hoy ya tiene posibilidades de llevarse también el codiciado Oscar.
Just on Sunday Alfonso Cuarón won best director at the Golden Globes and today he's got the chance to pick up the much sought-after Oscar as well.
Enrique Lores on the blog CarlosDragonne [es] had this to say about Gravity:
Aunque algunos me dijeron que es una película lenta, a mí no me lo pareció en lo absoluto. De hecho se me pasó bastante rápido y terminó antes de que me diera cuenta. Y sí, estuve en la orilla de mi asiento, emocionado y angustiado, en más de un momento. También me hizo pensar sobre la fragilidad de la vida, la confrontación del duelo y dónde está el verdadero valor de la existencia en este universo del que somos sólo una pequeñísima parte.
Even though some people told me that it's a slow film, it didn't seem that way to me at all.  In fact, it went by quite quickly and finished before I knew it. And yes, I was on the edge of my seat, excited and anxious, in several moments. It also made me think about the fragility of life, confrontation [we face] in duels and where the true value of existence is in this universe in which we are such a miniscule part.
Reactions to Cuarón's nomination were also expressed in Twitter. The user Posmoderno (@LuisMendezPosmo) talked about his interest in seeing the filmmaker's work:
Ahora que estrenen de nuevo la película de Alfonso Cuarón iré a verla, quizá tenga algo interesante, quizá la grabaron en el espacio #Cuaron
— Posmoderno (@LuisMendezPosmo) January 16, 2014
Now that they're premiering Alfonso Cuarón's new movie again, I'll go and see it. Perhaps it'll be interesting, perhaps they filmed it in space #Cuaron
For his part, Arturo balboa (@arturo_rdz94) made mention of the lack of opportunities for other filmmakers in Mexico:
Enorme lo conseguido hasta ahorita por #Cuaron un claro ejemplo de que sí no te dan la oportunidad en tu país, la busques en otros lugares
— Arturo Balboa (@arturo_rdz94) January 16, 2014
[It's] huge what #Cuaron has achieved until now. A clear example of how if they don't give you opportunities in your country, you look for them in other places.
Luis Castro Salgado (@Wicho_kstro) spoke ironically about the fact that Eugenio Derbez wasn't nominated in the upcoming Oscars:
#Cuarón va por 10 Oscar… Derbez va por unas palomitas para ver la ceremonia en su casa. #Oscars2014
— Luis Castro Salgado (@Wicho_kstro) January 16, 2014
#Cuarón goes for 10 Oscars…Derbez is off for popcorn to watch the ceremony at home. #Oscars2014
Rodrigo Dominguez (@rodrigodomm) showed his pleasure at the news:
Me da mil gusto ver las 10 nominaciones para Gravity #Oscars #Gravity #Cuaron #OscarNominations
— Rodrigo Dominguez (@rodrigodomm) January 16, 2014
Really glad to see the 10 nominations for Gravity #Oscars #Gravity #Cuaron #OscarNominations
On a national level, Alfonso Cuarón has stood out for works such as Sólo con tu pareja [es] (1991) and the famed Y tu mamá también (2001). On an international scale he's known for his direction of Great Expectations (1998), Harry Potter And the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) and Children of Men (2006).
Gravity will compete for more golden statuettes in the 86th Academy Awards, including Best Cinematography, Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Film Editing and Best Film.

author: J. Tadeo