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Ex-FIFA Exec Jack Warner Unintentionally Strikes ‘Comedic Gold’ With His Response to John Oliver · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Screenshot of Jack Warner's response to British comedian John Oliver.
The comedy continues in Trinidad and Tobago. It took Jack Warner two days, but the former FIFA vice president finally posted a video response to British comedian John Oliver's Trinidad and Tobago television debut. Earlier this week, the host of American TV program Last Week Tonight asked Warner, via a paid national broadcast in the twin island republic, to make good on his threats and reveal allegedly incriminating FIFA documents which he has in his possession.
Warner, with a serious face, sits directly facing the camera and begins:
It is really incomprehensible how […] a national TV station could allow a foreigner — more so an American foreigner — to come into this country to embarrass its citizens […] to be critical of the way we speak, to be critical of the way we look, to be critical of our culture…and if that is what a local TV station wants to propagate on our population, I say heaven help us.
He then addresses Oliver's request:
I don't need any advice from any comedian fool who does not know anything about this country to tell me what files to release or not to release. That is not his business; I take no instructions from him. And worse yet, I don't take any instructions from an American at this point in time.
Trinidadian artist Darren Trinity Cheewah had no words — so he drew a cartoon:
Social media exploded…mostly in peals of laughter. Netizens were widely sharing the video and commenting on its inaccuracies (Warner called Oliver an American, when it is common knowledge that the comedian is British), production values and content. Facebook user Franz Gillezeau posted his own (verbal) response to Warner:
Hi Uncle Jack. […] By now I'm sure your PR manager has berated you for posting that muddled mess of a response video […]
Not only have you allowed yourself to be drawn into this war of words, thereby giving Mr. Oliver EXACTLY what he wanted (more fodder for his show), you elected to attempt to duel a man who is MUCH better suited to the task. […] Not to mention that your feigned outrage is pathetically transparent to all but the greatest sycophants (of which I do not doubt you have an abundance).
Long story short, […] you did more to embarrass our country in your video series than the goodly Mr. Oliver could do in an hour of paid time on TV6. All that being said, keep them coming! It's comedy gold!
Oh, and lest we forget what all this is about in the first place, good luck with those indictments!
Many thought that the video's melodramatic and poorly mixed soundtrack was not helping Warner in getting across his message. On Facebook, Lesley-Ann Noel quipped, complete with shocked face emoticon:
Who advised Jack on that background music?
CNC3 Television, which posted the video on its Facebook page, was not taking any responsibility for the soundtrack or the mix (which must have sounded even muddier in broadcast) saying:
Please note the underlying music is how the video was posted by Mr Warner's staff.
Update: It has since been revealed that the music in question is by an American composer and was used without his permission.
In the video, Warner's stance against Americans may be an attempt to reframe his situation (the United States has issued an extradition request for the former football executive on various corruption charges) as a David versus Goliath face-off between the global north and south. In sharing the video on Facebook, Jamaica-based blogger Annie Paul wrote:
So now its all about ‘furrners’ and the nation…us and them…was waiting.
Curiously, Warner also took the “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” stance, saying:
However much we may disagree as a people, however much we may fight among ourselves, we do it among ourselves, between our borders — but against outsiders, we have to stand united.
Some netizens took this statement as a veiled message to the country's ruling political party, which he named as potentially being involved in the FIFA “funding” scandal, to not comply with the extradition request. Towards the end of the piece, Warner confirms that it was Oliver who “embarrassed” the country — a claim which didn't go over so well on Facebook, with most netizens insisting that Warner himself was the one who brought shame on Trinidad and Tobago.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Francophone Africa Is the New Land of Opportunity for the French Media Industry · Global Voices
Parker

A woman in tears in a screen capture of a scene from the trailer for the film Timbuktu
The Francophone film industry has experienced a nice boost recently thanks to the success of a few recent films, including “Timbuktu” by Mauritanian filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako and the Malagasy documentary “Ady Gasy“. Other successful projects have showcased the undeniable growth of the sector in the region: “Les Chevaux de Dieu” (God's horses) from Morocco, “La Pirogue” (The Boat) from  Senegal, “The River” from Algeria and “Angano Angano” from Madagascar.
While the France-based film industry is having a hard time finding prosperity worldwide, the African continent may turn out to be its saving grace. In fact, that observation could be expanded to the entire French media industry. Still, while the continent is a land of growing opportunities for the sector, the media market still has a few shortcomings that hinder its development.
By 2050, an estimated 85% of French speakers will reside in Africa. Africa is home to a very young population with a growing enthusiasm for screens. French media producers quickly understood the potential for success in this market, one where almost everything is still in need of structure from a communication technology standpoint: The continent is still lacking a solid legal structure in information technology (World Bank report PDF) and needs to grow its Internet network (PDF ITU report) in order to provide fast connections to its growing middle class.
French media producers realized the potential as early as the 2000s and have tried to develop the market. Several collaborations emerged between French channels TV5 and CanalSat and West African TV channels. Following the steps of these pioneers, other French TV networks such as the music channel Trace TV decided to install a local agency in the region. That decision proved to be judicious for Trace TV as Africa represents one-third of its turnover today. Trace TV is even looking into expanding its network into mobile phone and radio.
Screen shot of documentary “Ady Gasy” by par Lova Nantenaina via YouTube
Despite these successes, there are still very few French companies that have dared to fully embrace the opportunities the continent has to offer. The window might be closing soon though because media groups from China and North America have seized the opportunity.
So why the hesitation from French entrepreneurs? While French media seems like a natural linguistic fit for the region, the potential hurdles seem to have given them reason to pause: political instability, corruption and missing infrastructure are some of the reasons that leading groups have mentioned.  But the opportunity loss might be too great to ignore now. Jérôme Bodin, a French media analyst, opines:
Si la France souhaite accroître son influence et son rayonnement, elle doit rapidement engager une réforme de ses médias et faire enfin émerger une puissante industrie audiovisuelle.Un pays ne peut pas prétendre exercer une influence sur les affaires du monde sans des groupes audiovisuels forts et exportateurs. La compétitivité des groupes de télévision français s'est effondrée depuis le début des années 2000, tout particulièrement par rapport à leurs pairs allemands et américains.
If France wants to increase its global influence, it must promptly initiate a reform of its media in order to emerge as an impactful media player. A country cannot claim to have an influence on world affairs without a strong media and cultural strategy to boot. The competitiveness of French television network has collapsed since the early 2000s, especially compared to their German and US peers.
Even French politicians have chimed in with solutions. On September 11, 2014, the French National Assembly conducted a session on what policies to apply in order to have better penetration in the African audiovisual market. French member of parliament Bernard Chaussegros suggested that the current business model needs rethinking. He opined that instead of subsidizing organizations and businesses, France should promote cooperation between locals and French groups. This approach might allow for a faster introduction in the region, he argued.
But it seems that the French media have finally awakened from their stupor and have overcome their hangups. For instance, the Lagardère media group has set up a television production office in Dakar, Senegal. In October 2014, Canal+, a French media consortium, launched  A+, a channel dedicated to the African continent with the ambition to become “the Top African Channel.” Following this lead, Euronews will propose in 2015 Africanews, a pan-African multilingual information channel.
At a time when European economies are stagnating, Africa seems to be the continent to invest in for broadcasting companies. France also has to overcome a dubious past. Its influence on the African continent has been often scrutinized and filled with controversy. It comes to reason that France's attempt to expand its cultural influence in Africa casts doubts on its agenda. Either way, the competition for media market will be fierce, especially in IT, and it will require a great deal of work to find a place in this new gold rush.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Parker


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Indonesian Groups Rally Online to Demand Justice for Slain Environmentalist · Global Voices
Arpan Rachman

Jopi Peranginangin, an environmental activist from Indonesia who was killed last May 23, 2015 by a person who claimed to be a soldier. Photo from Facebook page of Solidaritas4Jopi
Friends of Jopi Peranginangin, an Indonesian environmentalist who was stabbed and killed in a bar in south Jakarta, are asking the government to lead a quick and transparent murder investigation. They fear the murder is related to his activism. To monitor the case, his friends and supporters have launched a campaign called “Solidaritas4Jopi” (Solidarity for Jopi).
Based on the narrative released by Jopi’s friends, the suspect in the killing is a person who claims to be a soldier:
On the morning of Saturday 23 May 2015, in South Jakarta, following a night out to see Navicula, a band who supports the work of Sawit Watch, Jopi was stabbed to death with a bayonette knife through his lungs. He was not stabbed because he created any trouble or started any fight. He was murdered when he went to the assistance of a friend who had been approached by a person claiming to be an Indonesia soldier who then killed him.
Photo from Facebook page of Solidaritas4Jopi
Peranginangin was a student activist in the University of Tadulako's Law faculty. He finished his Bachelor's Degree in 2003.
After college, Peranginangin became an active member and leader of various non-governmental organizations. He was a coordinator in the Division of Education and Advocacy at the Legal Aid Institute in Palu, Central Sulawesi. He also served as coordinator of the Litigation Department at the People's Education Foundation, also in Palu. He was head of campaigns at the Forum for Environment Central Sulawesi and the chief editor of a bulletin published by Tanah Merdeka Foundation. For ten years, he was the director of information and communication at the Alliance of Indigenous Peoples of the Archipelago.
In 2012, he became the country manager for mass mobilization of Greenpeace Indonesia. Before his death, he was also working as a campaign staffer at Sawit Watch, an organization that monitors forest fires and the impact of palm oil plantations.
Peranginangin was also a volunteer who campaigned for Indonesian President Jokowi in the 2014 elections.
Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla has personally ordered the police to investigate Peranginangin's murder.
Sawit Watch, meanwhile, has asked an Indonesian military commander to help ensure that justice will prevail. The group urged the police to investigate everyone who may have been involved in the attack and to guarantee protection to witnesses who can testify about the stabbing. Sawit Watch also called on the National Commission on Human Rights to help monitor the investigation process.
The murder suspect is allegedly a sailor in the Navy. Responding to this allegation, the chief of Indonesia's Naval Information Office urged the public to wait first for the findings of the probe, also adding that the killing could have been an act of self-defense, or that the murder possibly wasn't premeditated.
This statement prompted various groups to form Solidaritas4Jopi. They immediately issued a press release to refute speculation that Peranginangin's killer could have acted in self-defense.
Peranginangin's friends and supporters are using the Twitter hashtag #Solidaritas4Jopi to mourn his death and to call for justice. One of those who expressed solidarity is a man named Rahung, a rising celebrity chef:
Tangkap, pecat dan adili!!! “Oknum Anggota TNI AL Akui Tikam Jopi Peranginangin” http://t.co/W2FXyw6mZs #PembunuhJopi
— rahung nasution (@rahung) May 29, 2015
Arrest, fire, and prosecute!!! “Unscrupulous members of the Navy admitted stabbing Jopi Peranginangin”
Below are some tweets from Peranginangin's friends:
#Solidaritas4Jopi #JopiDibunuh – Ripet Ayud! – [pic] — https://t.co/lCjwzwWepB
— Ega. (@mpokgaga) May 29, 2015
Hanya transparansi hasil penyidikan sementara #PembunuhJopi ke publik yang akan membuat publik percaya! #JopiDibunuh pic.twitter.com/awwioM4GuL
— Ratri Kusumohartono (@tawangratri) May 26, 2015
Only the transparency of the results of the temporary investigation on #Jopi's Killer will restore public trust
A petition calling for justice in the Peranginangin murder case has already accumulated more than 17,000 signatures.

author: Arpan Rachman


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Mexico’s Independent Media Crackdown Threatens Indigenous Radio in Oaxaca · Global Voices
Giovanna Salazar

The Mexican government has, once again, limited indigenous peoples’ access to their own information media.
Community radio stations “provide the population the opportunity to create a reflection of their own image and that of the environment that surrounds them, independent of outside sources, and thereby construct their own account of their community and their culture.” Image fom Libertad-Expresión.org.mx, published by the magazine Voces Étnicas [Ethnic Voices], a space dedicated to the visual and textual recovery of the traditions and customs of Mexico's indigeous communities.
In this instance, federal authorities acted against four community radio stations located in the Isthmus of Tehuántepec, a Oaxacan region where community radio plays a fundamental role by, among other things, providing indigenous communities access to information in their own languages and in an oral format—something fundamental in rural zones where illiteracy is not uncommon. Likewise, due to the fact that they do not require great startup or operating costs, community radio stations enable community participation in issues of collective interest, promoting these peoples’ cultural identity.
In this way, community radio plays a social and political role of great importance in this and other rural regions of Mexico, as a statement issued by community radio station Regeneración Radio in 2013 exhibits:
Ante la invasión de empresas trasnacionales que sufrimos los pueblos indios del Istmo de Tehuantepec, Oaxaca, las radios comunitarias han sido un medio de información fundamental en la defensa de los territorios, ello ha provocado que las empresas eólicas y sus complices los caciques locales y los funcionarios de gobierno hayan venido desarrollando en los últimos meses una agresiva campaña represiva que busca acallar esta voz.
Faced with the invasion of transnational businesses inflicted upon the native peoples of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Oaxaca, community radio has been a fundamental medium of information for territorial defense, which has caused the wind energy companies and their local chieftain accomplices as well as government officials to develop an aggressive campaign of repression over the last few months seeking to silence this voice.
Currently, this strategy also serves political interests linked to Mexico's recent elections, according to La verdad del Istmo, la voz ciudadana (The Isthmus Truth, Voice of the Citizens):
[La intención es que las radios comunitarias] no den a conocer la situación crítica y precaria que se vive en la Regional del Istmo de Tehuantepec, como la malversación de fondos, lavado de dinero, ejecuciones, levantones, asaltos a mano armada y delincuencia organizada, favoreciendo al gobierno federal.
[The intention is for community radio] not to make known the critical and precarious situation the Istmo de Tehuantepec Region is experiencing, such as the mishandling of funds, money laundering, executions, kidnappings, armed assaults, and organized crime, in favor of the federal government.
This is particularly relevant in the context of communications in Mexico, where due to the great media concentration enjoyed by conglomerates like Televisa and TV Azteca, there are few outlets for autonomous and independent media and, consequently, limited diversity and a lack of plurality when it comes to the news. In this way, commercial interests wield particularly damaging influence over traditional outlets like radio and television, imposing certain editorial lines on Mexico's biggest media companies (often in ways that benefit the political strategies of the country's powerful.
In the latest example of this phenomenon, the Mexican Attorney General's Office carried out raids in late May on three indigenous radio stations operating in Salina Cruz, dismantling La Explosiva 93.7 FM, Stéreo 99.9 FM, and La Joya 106.1 FM, as well as a fourth station in Santo Domingo Tehuantepec, La Joya 107.5 FM.
During the raids, federal agents decommissioned the radio stations’ transmission equipment, even arresting Edwin Meneses, who owns and reports for BMM Noticias, and Samuel López, an announcer at the radio station Tehuantepec. Police accused both men of making illegal use of the radio-electric spectrum, according to the magazine Regeneración.
Both reporters were freed on May 21, after each paid a 70,000-peso ($4,500) bond. Their trials are still pending. According to news outlet Página 3:
Edwin Meneses y el locutor Samuel López estuvieron resguardados en las instalaciones de la PGR durante aproximadamente doce horas y fue tras el pago de la fianza que los dejaron en libertad; sin embargo, ahora tendrán que seguir el proceso administrativo judicial en la Ciudad de México por ser un delito de índole federal.
En entrevista con Edwin Meneses, resaltó que fue una experiencia “horrible” la que vivió durante ese tiempo que fue detenido, porque al ser detenido no le permitieron realizar ninguna llamada telefónica a nadie, mucho menos a sus familiares o algún abogado que lo auxiliara.
Edwin Meneses and announcer Samuel López were held at the AG's facilities for approximately twelve hours and they were only freed after paying bail; however, they must now be tried by an administrative judge in Mexico City for a federal crime.
In an interview, Edwin Meneses emphasized that his arrest was a “horrible” experience, because upon being arrested he was not allowed to make a single telephone call to anyone, let alone his family or any lawyer to help him.
Referring to his arrest, Edwin Meneses also stated:
Los elementos de la PGR llegaron armados y con un barrote quisieron abrir la puerta, en ese momento salí y se identificaron, dijeron que venían por todo el equipo, se llevaron todo y de ahí me dijeron que también me llevarían en calidad de detenido, querían esposarme como un delincuente, pero no quise y me defendí, me dijeron groserías, realmente fue una experiencia horrible que no se lo deseo a nadie.
AG agents arrived armed and ready to ram the door, and when I came out and identified myself, they said they had come for all the equipment. They took everything and then said that they were also taking me into custody. They wanted to handcuff me like a criminal, but I resisted and they cursed me. It was really a horrible experience that I would not wish on anyone.
According to a statement by Radio Comunitaria Ayuujk (Ayuujk Community Radio), the government dismantled another four community radio stations in the port of Salina Cruz and two in the City of Tehuantepec—all in a single month, last September. In November 2014, federal police decommissioned the equipment of community radio stations Órbita Digital, Radio Bola lari, and Estéreo Ranchu Gubiña. In light of these events, members of the Organización Istmeña de Radios Comunitarias (Isthmus Community Radio Organization) (OIRC) declared:
Nosotros no somos delincuentes ni extorsionadores, nos dedicamos a informar diversos programas radiofónicos de forma local y regional, pero sabemos que hay intereses económicos de dueños que han monopolizado en este ramo que no les ha gustado que les quitemos sus ganancias y ellos son los que no quitan el dedo del renglón, sin embargo, les decimos que estamos en resistencia social, porque no nos callarán las voces.
We are not criminals or blackmailers, but are devoted to providing information through diverse local and regional radiophonic programs. But we are aware that there are economic interests involved on the part of business owners who have monopolized the field and are not pleased that we have cut into their profits, and they are the ones who won't give up. However, we tell them that we are in social resistance, and that's why we won't stop speaking out.
OIRC representative Rafael Chiñas Terán decried recent occurences and called on the federal government, addressing the Federal Institute of Telecommunications, to stop dismantling community radio stations in Oaxaca.

author: Giovanna Salazar


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The 2010 FIFA World Cup Started 5 Years Ago. South Africa Remembers the Good Times. · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Soccer fans holding vuvuzelas watching the opening game of the World Cup. Photo by Marcello Casal Jr. Published by Agência Brasil under Creative Commons.
Five years ago on June 11, the 19th FIFA World Cup began in South Africa. It was the first time the tournament had ever taken place on African soil. Using the hashtag #2010Memories, South Africans on Twitter remembered the day Vuvuzelas took over the soccer world.
Vha Musanda shared a photo of the moment that sent South Africa into tears. It was the first goal of the tournament by South African striker Tshabalala in the match against Mexico, which ended 1-1:
The moment that brought tears to SA'ns. We were United. S/O to my government for that dispora donation #2010memories pic.twitter.com/muGzcdQSLv
— Vha Musanda (@freedom_ride) June 11, 2015
The YouTube video below shows Shakira singing Waka Waka, the song for 2010 World Cup during the opening ceremony:
While everyone was crazy about the tournament, Khulekani Mathe remembers that he was crazy about something else:
This day in 2010 I was in India. When everyone was going crazy about the opening match I was going crazy with nowhere to watch #2010memories
— Khulekani.Mathe (@knmathe) June 11, 2015
Twitter user King Billy never felt so safe in the streets of Johannesburg, which is considered one of the most violent cities in the world:
I had never felt so safe in the streets of Johannesburg that month in my WHOLE LIFE #2010memories and it felt so great to be alive!
— King Billy⭐ (@itsmissbilly_) June 11, 2015
Vuma Augustus said he'd never seen people so united in all his life:
#2010memories@encanews I've never seen people so united in my life,missing the vibes #2010 siyabangena
— Vuma Augustus (@vuma5) June 11, 2015
Few South Africans appear to be overly distraught by the allegations that the country paid a $10-million bribe to win its World Cup bid.
Twitter user Yang and Reckless said the scandal doesn't bother him:
#2010memories #IwasThere to witness a beautiful country united. Bribe or no bride the 2010 World Cup Legacy lives on pic.twitter.com/UH7g2t9z1B
— Yang and Reckless (@CosteMayang) June 11, 2015
Other people online are event more indifferent:
#2010memories#FIFAscandal WTF***k who cares there was a bribe or not..we got beautiful stadiums..tourists ar still coming so wht
— Lucky 1Xap sentence. (@LuckylLucky) June 11, 2015
Other countries, says Nkateko Baloi, are jealous of South Africa's success in 2010t:
@UvekaR why must we dwell on the past when the other countries r jealous of how awesome the world cup was #2010memories
— ★₦ĸαƫΣк̲̣̣̥o̲̣̥♡̬̩̃̊ (@NkatekoBaloi) June 11, 2015
According to Kabwe Songolo, the conduct of the South African government and FIFA shouldn't detract from the fun of the sporting event itself:
#2010memories@EconFreedomZA @MbuyiseniNdlozi The conduct of RSA and FIFA officials mst nt be confused with World Cup Event. Delink them pls!
— Kabwe Songolo (@KabweSongolo) June 11, 2015
Some Internet users addressed US federal investigators, who are responsible for the recent high-profile arrests in Switzerland.
But one things the FBI cannot take away from #SouthAfrica is the pride and #2010memories!
— King Billy⭐ (@itsmissbilly_) June 11, 2015
However, Charlie Langa's memories are not as positive as many South Africans on Twitter:
The legacy of Corruption. Bribery, Racketeering, Money Laundering, Tax evasion.The list is too long=783. #2010memories.
— Charlie Langa (@CharlieLanga) June 11, 2015
While Tom Moultrie wonders how much innocence South Africans have lost since the World Cup:
#2010memories all over my social media today. How much innocence have we lost in the last 1826 days?
— Tom Moultrie (@tomtom_m) June 11, 2015

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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The Newly Updated Indic Keyboard App Now Supports 22 Asian Languages · Global Voices
Subhashish Panigrahi

The Indic Keyboard in action with the list of all supported languages. Image from Swathanthra Malayalam Computing's official blog. Used with permission.
The Indic Project, which belongs to the Indian non-profit Swathanthra Malayalam Computing (SMC), has released a new and significantly upgraded version of its input app “Indic Keyboard” for the Android mobile operating system. This major update comes roughly one year after the app's initial release in March 2014.
Indic Keyboard now supports 22 Asian languages, including 18 Indian languages apart from English, and 54 input layouts. The 23 supported languages are Assamese, Arabic, Bengali, Burmese, English, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Malayalam, Manipuri, Maithili, Marathi, Mon, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Santali, Sinhala, Tamil, Telugu, and Urdu. On its company blog, SMC lists the various features included in the new update:
So far, the updated keyboard is enjoying a warm response from users:
20,000 people upgraded Indic Keyboard in first 2 days after its new release.
— Jishnu (@jishnu7) May 30, 2015
Brilliant for #Android users interested in writing in their mother tongue. Indic Keyboard v 2.0 supports 23 languages http://t.co/ZVoWuMPFai
— Karthik Subramanian (@chennaikat) May 29, 2015
One commenter writes:
Vernacular computing is a blocker for the complete roll out of computers and Internet to the world. Projects like these are welcome patches to fix that issue.
Typing on touch-screens can be rethought. Especially when it comes to Indic languages which have about double the number of characters compared to English. We shouldn’t constrain our minds to think in traditional layouts. Transliteration is a very good idea. But it puts the dependency back on English. We need radicalize the input methods for non-English languages and avoid the dependence of English altogether.
Anivar Aravind, Executive Director of Indic Project at SMC, and Jishnu Mohan, a Project Administrator at SMC, recently sat down with Rising Voices to discuss the updated app.
Rising Voices (RV): What was the objective behind bringing this mobile app for Indian languages? What has been Indic Project's core motivation?
Anivar Aravind (AA): Indic project focuses on community powered Research and Development of  free and open source Indian language information infrastructure  for majority of India that does not speak English. “It is pretty clear that unlike most other countries, India will be a “mobile-first” country because the first computing device for most Indians will be the mobile and not the PC.
RV: Why you think language display and input are important for Indian users?
AA: Unavailability of Indian Language interfaces, keyboards and fonts limits freedom of expression of people in their native languages and prevents them from tapping the full potential offered by smart phones and Internet. We believe all mobile users must able to read and write in their native language using their choice of layout. Indic Keyboard is coming as a part of our effort for digital inclusion on the mobile frontier.
RV: What is the reach of the app at this moment?
AA: Indic Keyboard received good user base of 168K+ downloads so far, primarily based on user reviews, without any advertisements and promotions.
RV: Can you share how Indic Keyboard was conceived and has grown?
AA: Indic Keyboard was started as a personal project by Malayalam-language computing advocate and developer Jishnu Mohan in 2013, is later upscaled into a community project collecting Indian language layouts suitable for mobile devices, updated and maintained by the free and open source community.
RV: Jishnu, as the core developer on this project, can you tell us how you overcame major roadblocks while designing Indic Keyboard?
Jishnu Mohan (JM): Absence of fonts in Android operating system was the major roadblock in increasing the language coverage. Android 4.4 supported only few Indian scripts, but some vendors like Samsung included more Indian language scripts. So we decided to go with 16 language support in Indic Keyboard 1.0 version last year. Since Android 5.1 has increased script coverage, we were able to support more languages in this 2.0 release.
RV: What were the other major challenges you faced, Anivar?
AA: The initial challenges of bringing a mobile input layout were many; from building dictionaries to the user interface. Google's  Android Open Source Project (AOS) was used as a base for building this app where the keyboards that were integrated came from various sources. Keyboard layouts are not copyrighted and this was very useful for us to use a popular layout like Tamil99 for Tamil or another popular layout like Lekhani that was developed by the Odia Wikimedia community.
Happy to see Script support for Odiya , Saurashtra , Meetri Mayek, Lepcha, Limbu, Ol chikki (Santhali), Sylheti Nagari In Android 5.1
— indicproject (@indicproject) March 15, 2015
RV: How was Indic Project started and what have been its major accomplishments, so far?
AA: During 2005-2008 major ground work was done for localization support in Indic languages and overall improvement of communication using Indian languages. By 2009 web based technology were became our focus which oriented towards building and improving mobile applications for more users reading and writing in their native Indian languages. The  project upscaling  and 1.0 release of project was part of with the SMC-ICFOSS collaboration as a part of Department of Telecommunications (DIT) Android R & D Project of the Government of India. The project also received another grant from ICFOSS via Government of Kerala's Malayalam Computing project.
RV: What can you tell us about your work in policy-level lobbying and negotiations?
AA: We have done some work in policy front and recently submitted a policy brief requesting the government to mandate the inclusion of at least one Indian language font and one keyboard layout of all 22 official languages recognized as per 8th schedule of the Indian constitution in all smart phones and tablets selling in India.
RV: How did you reach so many users? What are your future promotion plans?
AA: The most important reason why Indic Keyboard reached out to 200k users with over 100k downloads is because of it not bringing up new keyboard layouts where as almost all other mobile input apps have their own proprietary layouts that users take time to learn and use.
RV: What are the difficulties of reaching out to masses of people?
AA: Many of the layouts were already popular and it was an added benefit for the primarily targeting people who know about inputting in their languages. Partnerships with mobile manufacturers and integrators this year for adoption of these keyboards. So users can get Indian language experience via vendor firmware itself without any extra download. Indic Keyboard liberated Indian language input in mobile devices and we want to port the same experience to all emerging mobile platforms.
RV: Are there any final comments or bit of information you'd like to share?
AA: Continuing research and development in this domain including ability to download of dictionaries for user preferred languages, increasing coverage to all 22 official languages in India, developing an free software library for gesture typing and building support for predictive input will be our main focus in the future.
As a promoter and developer of free and open source language technology, SMC plans to focus more on cross-platform mobile input-library-building and policy-level adoption for language input and other language technology advancements in the near future. SMC says it's currently in talks with the Indian government about mandating native keyboards on smart phones.
The keyboard can be downloaded from the Google Play store at http://j.mp/indicmal and also from the software repository at Gitlab at https://gitlab.com/smc/indic-keyboard.

author: Subhashish Panigrahi


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Argentinian Football Fans Travel 1,500 Kilometers in a Refurbished Bus to Cheer on Their Team · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón Orbe

La Serena, Chile. Image on Flickr by user Ronald Woan (CC BY-NC 2.0).
Five very loyal fans of the Argentinian national football team traveled over 1,500 kilometers by land to cheer on their favorite team in the Copa América, to be hosted in Chile between June 11 and July 4, 2015.
The fans departed from Mar del Plata, southwest of Buenos Aires Province, and arrived in La Serena, in Chile. To do that, they refurbished an old bus they used as transport and shelter during the adventurous journey:
Un periplo de más de 1.500 kilómetros en “El Perro Vago”, una máquina de los años 70 que en la actualidad cuenta con cinco camas y baño portátil, un esfuerzo familiar que estos hinchas nos invitaron a conocer.
The over 1,500 kilometer tour in “El Perro Vago” (The Lazy Dog), a vehicle from the 1970s that currently holds five beds and a portable bathroom, these fans invited us to discover this family effort.
The innovative name of the vehicle comes from Marcelo Gali's father, one of the fans that just arrived to La Serena:
Viajamos ahora yo, papá, mi hermano, un tío y un amigo de papá. Paramos primero en Buenos Aires, después en San Luis y luego en Mendoza. […] Por la albiceleste nos bancamos todo y seguimos donde sea.
Now it's me travelling with my dad, my brother, an uncle and a friend of my dad's. We stopped first in Buenos Aires, then in San Luis and then in Mendoza. […] For the Argentinian national team (known as the albiceleste for its white and light blue colors), we'll endure anything. We'll follow them wherever they'll go.
On Twitter, some users shared the fans’ story, along with images:
El Perro Vago: La historia de los sacrificados hinchas argentinos que llegaron a La Serena http://t.co/hvrg00USFP pic.twitter.com/cXgvfZmAsg
— CA3CMR (@crimunro) junio 10, 2015
El Perro Vago: The story of the self-sacrificing Argentinian fans who arrived in La Serena.
The truth is that all is fair when it comes to team loyalty.
The Copa América is the most important football tournament of the South American continent and gathers ten national teams plus two guest teams.

author: Gabriela García Calderón Orbe


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Ugandan Authorities Jail Facebook User for “Offensive” Comments About President Musveni · Global Voices
Prudence Nyamishana

Yoweri Musveni at a meeting with the US Department of Defense, 2013. Photo by Glenn Fawcett for DoD, released to public domain.
A Ugandan man has been jailed for comments made on the politically-charged Facebook page of Tom Voltaire Okwalinga, aka TVO-Uganda. Robert Shaka, an information security consultant, was arrested on June 8, 2015 after posts appeared on the TVO-Uganda Facebook page suggesting that Ugandan President Yoweri Musveni is sick.
Shaka spent three days in a police custody before he was sent to prison and has been denied bail. But according to multiple sources, including the still-active TVO-Uganda Facebook page, authorities have the wrong man.
A popular Facebook account that posts exclusive messages and news updates casting a decidedly critical eye on the president and his administration, TVO-Uganda identifies as a “public forum dedicated to good governance and democratic dispensation in Uganda.” TVO-Uganda says that his goal is to “encourage free speech.” TVO-Uganda has also released multiple leaked state documents implicating government officials in wrongdoing.
The logo of TVO-Uganda Facebook page. Source: TVO-Uganda cover photo.
It now appears that courts and Ugandan police are not completely sure whether Robert Shaka is in fact working under the alias of Tom Okalinga Voltaire/TVO-Uganda, leaving authorities in a potentially embarrassing situation. Local news and gossip site Red Pepper quoted Okwalinga speaking out on the arrest:
The wrongful arrest of Robert Shaka is an attempt to account for all the millions that have been wasted in the futile effort to catch me. Both the police and special forces command have chewed this money in huge amounts.
Statement of offence for Robert Shaka posted by Twitter user @Ougasam.
Shaka was charged with disturbing the privacy of President Museveni under the “offensive communication” section of Uganda's Computer Misuse Act. Passed in 2011, the law addresses the “offensive communication” as follows:
Any person who willfully and repeatedly uses electronic communication to disturb or attempts to disturb the peace, quiet or right of privacy of any person with no purpose of legitimate communication whether or not a conversation ensues commits a misdemeanor and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding twenty four currency points or imprisonment not exceeding one year or both.
This vaguely-worded measure is consistent with a growing global trend in legislation that attempts to tackle online crime, but often implicates what human rights advocates argue should be protected speech.
Before Shaka's arrest, NTV Uganda filed a report entitled “The “TVO” enigma: Police interrogate cyberspace expert” where Shaka sarcastically advised the government on how to take on social media critics:
It is unclear whether authorities may have targeted Shaka in connection with his television appearance.
Facebook's Global Government Requests transparency report shows that Uganda was one of six African countries that requested user information from the company. Uganda made requests for information on two accounts, both of which were denied by the US-based social media company.
With Uganda's ‘biggest threat’ in prison, the country is safe, Omar Luyimbazi joked:
We can now listen to the budget reading safe with the knowledge that Uganda's biggest threat Robert Shaka is in police custody
— Umar Luyimbazi (@Umarl) June 11, 2015
Timothy Kiwagama claimed Shaka mistreated him when they were in school, but asserted support for his freedom:
As much as i dnt care 4 Shaka Robert coz of how he treated me during his “reign” bk in sch, he shd NOT b imprisoned on some bullshit charge
— Timothy Kiwagama (@Kiwy23) June 12, 2015
Kampala-based news outlet The Observer quoted opposition party parliamentarian Wafula Oguttu speculating on the identity of TVO:
I actually don’t think TVO is an individual. He may have started as an individual but now it has become a medium where everybody is a reporter. TVO can’t be everywhere but you realize that he gets correct information from many places. So, even if they arrested and jailed or killed someone, another TVO will come up.
Oguttu makes an important point: Even if authorities could successfully stifle such critiques on Facebook, this would hardly prevent entities like TVO from posting news and opinions elsewhere. But as one Twitter user noted, the broader objective here may be to instill fear in the minds of curious and critical Ugandans when it comes to writing about the President.
Lesson from Robert Shaka's arrest: rant as much as you want, but don't comment about the President's health, wife & family. Okay? #FreeShaka
— Fredrick Tumusiime (@tufre80) June 12, 2015

author: Prudence Nyamishana


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Activists Claim the UK Government Has Sent Deported Pakistani Student Majid Ali to His Death · Global Voices
Faran Rafi

City of Glasgow College protesting to stop the deportation of Pakistani student Majid Ali. Photo by  Andrew Perry and NUS Scotland on June 9, 2015. Used with permission.
Majid Ali, a Pakistani student in Scotland seeking asylum, was deported from the United Kingdom on the night of 9 June on a chartered plane. Following his deportation, activists and politicians are seeking assurances of his safety from the UK government. They have been unable to get in touch with him since Tuesday.
Majid's campaigners believe the UK government has sent Majid “to his death” and called for a reformation of the asylum system. Majid's application for asylum was rejected multiple times since 2010. The UK Home Office, in charge of reviewing asylum cases, has declined to comment on Majid's case.
Member of Parliament (MP) Chris Stephens, who tabled a motion on Majid's behalf in the UK parliament, has warned the deported student could face death upon his return because of his family’s political activism in Pakistan's troubled southwestern province Balochistan.
Corresponding with Global Voices over email, he said, “There is no evidence that Majid was either a criminal or involved in activity that was a threat to the UK. I consider the current treatment of those seeking political asylum to be barbaric.”
On Twitter, campaigners tried to raise awareness of Majid's case by tweeting #DontDeportMajid.
NCAFC, a coalition of students and workers dedicated to fighting fees, cuts and privatisation in education, tweeted in support of Majid:
Majid's family were killed in Pakistan for political activity. The Home Office have just sentenced him to the same fate. #DontDeportMajid
— Against Fees & Cuts (@NCAFC_UK) June 9, 2015
Megan Dunn, vice president of higher education at the National Union of Students, tweeted:
Disgraceful actions from @ukhomeoffice in deporting a student facing persecution #DontDeportMajid
— Megan Dunn (@megandunn116) June 9, 2015
Members of Ali's family are reported to have been a part of the pro-independence Baloch Republican Party, which was banned by the Pakistani government in 2012. According to human rights groups, pro-independence activists in Balochistan are being targeted by the Pakistani state. Some have accused the government of being behind thousands of forced disappearances in Balochistan, including Majid’s brother, who went missing in 2010. Campaigners say the Pakistani state was behind Majid's brother's abduction and the killing of his father and uncle.
Maya Goodfellow, a journalist and political commentator, writes about UK's tough asylum rules in Media Diversified:
These instances, in which asylum seekers’ lives are disregarded, don’t seem to be isolated ones. Five years ago the Institute for Race Relations found that between 1996-2000, the UK’s asylum and immigration policies led to the deaths 77 asylum seekers and migrants. Over one-third of these people are thought to have killed themselves because their asylum applications were rejected, showing the desperation of their situation. This is all the result of an uncaring asylum system, where people seeking refuge are nothing more than numbers on a page that must be erased from the UK at all costs.
Before he was deported, dozens of students with the National Union of Students (NUS) Scotland protested in Edinburgh and London, holding signs that said “Don't Deport Majid”. This video is from a demonstration in Edinburgh:
When contacted through Facebook, Sanjay Lago, the student president of City of Glasgow College, where Majid was taking classes before he was deported, told Global Voices:
Stephens tabled a motion in the parliament about Majid after the NUS approached him for assistance. He told Global Voices:
On Tuesday morning, I received correspondence from the home office rejecting my request for an urgent review [of Majid's case].  I then raised the issue in the chamber at 12 noon asking the Home Secretary to make a statement, and sought a meeting with the immigration minister thereafter. These requests were ignored.
Photo by Andrew Perry and NUS Scotland on June 9, 2015. Used with permission.
Gary Paterson, the vice president (communities) of NUS Scotland, told Global Voices when contacted through Facebook:
We were absolutely encouraged by the massive public response to this and we can’t thank enough the Members of Parliament who in large numbers challenged the decision that was made largely in the shadows with no statement or response to our concerns, no opportunity for review, and a deportation carried out on a charted non-commercial flight from London.
Paterson added:
The fight goes on, and we'll be working to ensure that this never happens again, there absolutely must be a review into these decisions, and we need to keep an eye on Majid to ensure awareness of his story and his ongoing safety.
When asked about Majid Ali’s case, a spokeswoman with the Scottish government explained to Global Voices via email:
We expect the Home Secretary to ensure that all claims for asylum are thoroughly assessed, and that people are only returned to their countries of origin if their safety can be assured.
The spokeswomen mentioned Member of Scottish Parliament Humza Yousaf, who is of Pakistani origin and represents Glasgow, when asked if any of the 10 UK MPs of Pakistani origin were taking up Majid's case:
“[He] has written to the Home Secretary to seek urgent clarification on Mr Ali’s situation and assurances about his safety, following his removal from the UK.

author: Faran Rafi


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Djibouti: At the Heart of the Fight Against Islamic Extremism in the Horn of Africa · Global Voices
Alassane ndoumbe

Djibouti: Corporal Darojo Daher via Africacom CC-BY-20
Djibouti, a small state bordering Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, is playing a major role in the West’s fight against jihadism. A haven for both foreign military bases and refugees — especially from Yemen — the strategic importance of the country situated in the Horn of Africa continues to grow.
Djibouti is a land of paradoxes. Bordered by Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia, the economically depressed state is one of Africa's smallest, yet it is also one of the most coveted by larger powers. The country has been ruled by President Ismael Omar Guelleh since 1999 and although the government’s official line has been largely pro-American, the broader populace has increasingly distanced itself from this stance.
In fact, Djiboutians are growing more and more skeptical of the fight against jihadism in the form of US-led assaults on both the Al-Qaeda terror group once controlled by Osama bin Laden, and ISIS, a growing radical fighting force that has conquered large swathes of Iraq and Syria.
As these conflicts drag on with no end in sight, Djiboutians fear that violence might flourish on their soil as they have in neighbouring Yemen. But it is from the fight against “terrorism” that a country with very few natural resources draws its lifeblood.
Djibouti, a hub in the fight against jihadism
Fighters from Al-Qaeda affiliated Al-Shabaab. Wikipedia image.
As a bridge between Africa and the Middle East, great powers are jostling to get their troops and equipment into Djibouti.
While France’s presence in the country is by far the most longstanding — Djibouti gained independence from France in 1977 but has remained close to Paris ever since — the September 11 attacks put Djibouti firmly on the United States’ military radar.
In 2014, the US, which has maintained a military presence in Djibouti since 2002, renewed the lease on its military installation in the country for another ten years at a cost of $40 million per year.
The Pentagon now plans to spend more than $1 billion over the next 25 years to enlarge the US base there. As President Obama explained when President Gulleh visited the White House last year:
There’s a significant presence of soldiers from Djibouti who are participating in the multinational force that has been able to push back [Al-Quaeda-affiliated] Al-Shabab’s control over large portions of Somalia.
Japan and Germany followed the lead of France and the USA by building military facilities in Djibouti and now it is China’s turn to stake a claim. While Beijing might be motivated primarily by economic concerns — its economic influence in the region has been growing exponentially in recent years — it is also alarmed by the growing jihadist threat in the Middle East. With ISIS jihadists controlling important petroleum resources in Syria and Iraq, Xi Jinping’s government will be hoping to secure its oil supply in the broader region.
Djibouti, a refugee safe haven
While the foreign military presence in Djibouti brings Omar Guelleh’s government significant revenue (about $200 million annually), this money rarely filters through to the country’s people.
But corruption in the country ranked 107th out of 175 countries in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index only partially explains the deep resentment felt by ordinary Djiboutians towards the international military forces in their country.
Public bitterness is also driven by the country’s growing role as a safe haven for refugees fleeing the many conflicts raging in the region. As jihadists — whether from the ranks of Al-Quaeda, IS, Ansar Allah (the Shiite movement fighting in Yemen) or Somalia’s Al-Shebab — commit more and more barbaric acts, more and more refugees pour into Djibouti. The country is one of the few to accept the thousands of refugees fleeing Yemen and many people feel over-burdened.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the coming six months there will be over 15,000 Yemenis crossing the Gulf of Aden to take refuge in Djibouti.
Frederic Van Hamme, a UNHCR spokesman warns of the risks for the region:
Il est certain que cela va mettre la pression sur l'Etat. C'est un petit pays qui doit déjà faire face à la sécheresse, à un fort taux de chômage et une grande pauvreté.
This will certainly put pressure on the government. It is a small country that already faces drought, a high unemployment rate and widespread poverty.
Economic conditions such as these throughout the region have given rise to a worrying trade over the years: people smuggling from the Horn of Africa into the Arabian Peninsula. The Yemeni conflict, however, has caused the smugglers to suspend their operations.
As a result, masses of people that wanted to use Dijibouti as a stepping stone to the Middle East are now piling up in the country with nowhere to go. Faced with excessive crowding and a poor economy, Djibouti, a key node in the fight against jihadism, might collapse if the foreign forces stationed there fail to act.

author: Alassane ndoumbe


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If Online Comments Are Any Evidence, China Has an Anti-African Racism Problem · Global Voices
Ayo Awokoya

Screen capture of Apple Daily's video report from 2012 of Africans protesting in Guangzhou over the suspicious death of a Nigerian while in police detention.
As racial injustice makes headline after headline around the world, with a particular emphasis on the American city of Baltimore, a dialogue has been opened on issues of race and xenophobia within mainstream media.
And it’s not just within the US. Chinese Internet users have also posted countless racist remarks against people of African descent when commenting on the incident.
China is experiencing a huge wave of African migration into major industrial areas such as Guangzhou, and as such tensions have arisen as Africans attempt to assimilate into Chinese society.
Gordon Mathews, an expert in the study of African diaspora in China, pointed out in a recent interview with a magazine that more and more Africans were married in China. He found in his research that about one-tenth of the Africans had Chinese wives or girlfriends and they on average give birth to 200 African-Chinese children every year in Guangzhou.
One of the obstacles to African assimilation stems from China's strict control of the foreign population, which also indirectly helps the spread of racial stereotypes. In September 2013, new visa and residence permit regulations for foreigners took effect, which made it more difficult for individuals without corporate or institutional affiliations to work and do business in China than before. Once they overstayed without a valid visa, they would be subjected to a 500 yuan (approximately 80 US dollars) daily fine. According to a widely quoted media report in August 2014, the Guangzhou authorities have only issued about 30,000 resident permits to Africans, while there were around 300,000 undocumented Africans residing in the city, many of them in the trading business.
In the Guangzhou case, 90 percent of Africans are undocumented because they failed to obtain a visa. They are frequently seen in the police station detention cells and hence the stereotype that Africans are associated with criminal activities is commonly shared among Chinese.
Conversations about Chinese xenophobia and overt racism towards African immigrants have emerged, and despite the greater economic partnership between China and African countries, socially, there is still progress to be made.
Attitudes expressed online and through social media have suggested a deep xenophobia amongst Chinese citizens towards Africans within China. Apart from the Baltimore riots in the US, another recent case that stirred racist remarks online was the reaction towards the arrest of a “foreign” triad gang called “freedom fighters” in April. Comments from users honed in on the race of the triad members:
外国人在中国撒野真是软弱.中国坚决不能容忍任何黑恶势力的存在！是时候对那些非法滞留的黑人采取措施了
Foreigners bullying around in China reflects their weakness. China should not tolerate the existence of such evil forces. It's now high time for us to take action against the illegal black people residing [in China].
The above comment is liked by more than 1,670 users.
The majority of the comments were nationalistic with a strong sense of territorial claim, while a few were virulently racist, claiming Africans were of an inferior race, like this one with 14 likes:
黑非就是一群被上帝遗弃的人民。什么埃博拉，什么艾滋。都是黑非开始的。基因中除了暴力还有什么。亚人类的身体结构。大脑容量比我们中国人少个400c。
Black Africans are a group of people that God has forsaken. Ebola, AIDS, etc. all originated from black Africans. Their genes are full of violence. They have sub-human body structure. Their brains are 400cc smaller than we Chinese.
The explicit tone and underlying xenophobia displayed online is disturbing; the implication that such views speak for the entirety of the Chinese people is highly questionable.
Emmanuel, a Ugandan student who has been studying in Beijing since 2010, told Global Voices in an interview via WeChat that Chinese xenophobia tends to be exaggerated on the internet:
People tend to be much braver online where there's no fear of identification or retribution. Most people that spout racism online are generally people who've had no contact with black people or have been slighted by one and then hate all of them.
He pointed to a herd mentality that exists online — people influenced by current trends and opinions have a tendency to absorb popular views even if they don't hold that same bias deep down:
Many will spew hate online to feel better about themselves but will genuinely be excited to meet a black person in real life.
He did, however, acknowledge there were those who held a “subconscious bias” towards Africans and foreigners in general, but these were not people he came across in his daily life. Indeed, what proves to be the most influential in Chinese perceptions of Africans is the media and the internet at large:
It would need the global image of Africans to improve first. The perception could change in places with many Africans but not elsewhere.
It then becomes a question of time as to whether greater integration between the African communities within China will bring about a more positive perception of Africans and foreigners at large. If the economic partnership between China and Africa is to prosper within the coming years, then domestically social cohesion between the two groups is of the upmost importance.

author: Ayo Awokoya


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In Search of Integrity in Trinidad and Tobago · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

President's House. Photo by Flickr user globewriter. CC BY-NC 2.0
As difficult as it might be for most Trinidad and Tobago netizens to divert their attentions from the spectacle that is disgraced FIFA bigwig Jack Warner, other political issues have begun to take precedence.
The attempt by President Anthony Carmona to appoint members of the flailing Integrity Commission – allegedly without proper consultation with the opposition leader as is constitutionally required — has prompted concern in the national blogosphere. While Carmona did send the relevant correspondence to opposition leader Dr. Keith Rowley, the latter is arguing he was not given enough time to conduct due diligence on the proposed appointees, and that the process was therefore not truly consultative.
The Integrity Commission, a constitutional anti-corruption organ, has long been plagued, ironically, by a demonstrative lack of integrity.
Scandals at the commission reached their peak in 2009, when Father Henry Charles, a Roman Catholic priest, was one of three members to resign over the course of a week. While Fr. Charles cited a conflict of interest with Canon Law as the reason for his exit, there was actually broad public pressure for him to step down following revelations that he had committed plagiarism.
Like a pack of cards, appointees to the commission have been shuffled around over the years. Most recently, the president accepted the resignations of Justice Sebastien Ventour, who had been the commission's deputy chairman, and Dr. Shelly Anne Lalchan, who was also a member. The two resigned over claims that Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar had allegedly interfered in the commission's probe into ‘Emailgate’, a scandal in which the government sought to pass legislation that could have spared two of the ruling party's financiers from corruption and money laundering charges.
In this latest debacle, the president, who maintains he followed proper protocol, was forced to defer on naming the two proposed members of the commission until the opposition leader could weigh in.
The president's official correspondence was delivered to Dr. Keith Rowley on June 9; Rowley's office said it was received on June 10, a few days before the would-be-members’ swearing-in was due to take place.
Two hours and counting… #IntegrityCommission #swearing-in #delayed President's House
— Richard Lord (@Lordrich6) June 12, 2015
#Rowley: My concern is the way it is being done. I have not even looked at the persons #newappointments #IntegrityCommission #President
— Richard Lord (@Lordrich6) June 11, 2015
Facebook user Alyson Myers-Capstick, supported Dr. Rowley's stance on the issue, saying:
Very well said Dr. Rowley. Waiting to see if President Carmona does the right thing and allows for time for relevant background checks and consultation.
Also on Facebook, The Eternal Pantomime blog posted:
Do not take this development lightly.
The President's job is to uphold our Constitution.
The Constitution requires that he consult first and appoint only AFTER consultation.
The President waited weeks before hustling a consultation in a few hours.
Is the President [Prime Minister] Kamla's creature?
The blog added:
Without consultation with the Opp Leader the President makes these appointments at 9 and and then flies off to South Africa.
#Powers
In a hilarious satirical jab, The Late O'Clock News responded with a post that pitted Ian Alleyne, the controversial host of a local TV crime show famous for making morally questionable decisions, as a candidate to the discredited Integrity Commission:
Reports coming in to the Late O’Clock News’ office at this very moment relay a shocking new development. Ian Alleyne, the nation’s self-appointed crime fighter and expert pathologist, has been appointed to the Integrity Commission.
President Anthony Carmona was carded […] to swear in two new members to the Integrity Commission to replace former deputy chairman Sebastian Ventour and member Shelly-Ann Lalchan who both resigned following the end of the Commission’s investigation into ‘Emailgate’. However, Dr Keith Rowley complained yesterday that he was not consulted for the new appointments and demanded that the President scrap and replace the entire Commission since their handling of the Emailgate investigation came under suspicion.
President Carmona, being a man of integrity himself, said it ‘honestly slipped my mind. I completely forgot that I had to consult the Opposition Leader about these new appointments. You all have to forgive me, I am doing so much work it is easy to forget things sometimes.’
The post continued:
President Carmona said that choosing Ian Alleyne to be on the new Commission was not the ideal decision. Avoiding eye contact for the entire interview, the President said, ‘After going through the entire list, we had one more page left. We turned the page, and there was one name remaining. Only one […] Ian. Who has done more for the country that Mr Ian Alleyne? Not even I have.’
‘I hope that Ian and the new appointments carry on the Commission's legacy of wasting paper on meeting minutes and letters of resignation,’ said the President.
Dr Rowley quipped: ‘The Integrity Commission has a higher staff turnover than Curepe KFC. If Mr Alleyne does not come through for us, we would have to start recycling people like Fr Henry Charles.’


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Japan Expecting a Summer of Weird, Wild Weather · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Thanks to the El Nino meteorological phenomenon all predictions point towards wild and unusual weather in Japan this summer. An El Nino event occurs when the surface waters of the western Pacific Ocean along the Equator become abnormally warm, disrupting typical weather patterns.
Caption: [KUMAMOTO] More than 30,000 people evacuated from 13 municipalities (in Kyushu). Screencap: ANN official YouTube Channel
Look at the Equatorial Pacific, Gulf of Alaska, Arctic Ocean: this is what a strong El Niño looks like. pic.twitter.com/swumagsJgP
— Peter Gleick (@PeterGleick) June 12, 2015
For Japan this can mean cooler temperatures in early summer:
日本では、冷夏や暖冬になりやすくなります。具体的には、夏は低温、多雨、日照時間が少なくなる傾向があります
As a result of El Nino, Japan will experience a cooler than normal summer and a warm winter. Summers will feature cool temperatures and heavy rain, with fewer than normal sunny days. Source.
Japan experienced its hottest month of May on record, with many regions across Japan reaching temperatures in the mid-30's — temperatures not normally seen before mid-summer.
天気ニュースアップしました。ぜひご覧ください。 天気ニュース – 記録的高温 エルニーニョが影響 – Yahoo!天気・災害 http://t.co/QggiaPS1Ig @Yahoo_weatherさんから pic.twitter.com/TY6XkMDzm3
— 気象予報士　河津真人 (@makotokawazu) May 27, 2015
I've uploaded the weather forecast – please take a look. “Return of El Nino causes record temperatures across Japan (in May 2015)” – Makoto Kawazu, Meteorologist at  TBS Weather Map
As of mid-June, while the Japan Meteorological Agency is predicting normal temperatures for much of Japan, there should be higher than normal amounts of rainfall for the island of Kyushu in the southwest. The rest of Japan will probably experience lower than normal amounts of precipitation for June and July.
This is because the El Nino phenomenon is influencing the traditional “rainy season” weather pattern the Japanese archipelago experiences each June and July. The weather pattern, known as tsuyu, or the the baiu zensen, typically begins in late May in Okinawa and the far southwest of Japan.
The rain front gradually travels north from east to west, dousing the entire archipelago in rain in June and early July. The predictability of the rainy season and the progression of the rain front has played a key role in Japanese rice cultivation for more than two thousand years.
This year the baiu rain front has remained stuck over the island of Kyushu in southwest Japan, refusing to budge, hammering the island with heavy rains. Kumamoto and Nagasaki prefectures, located midway up the island have been hit especially hard, with some regions receiving 50 to 80 millimetres of rain every hour.
Caption: Increasingly active baiu zensen. Screencap from ANN official YouTube channel.
The steep mountainous terrain of much of Kyushu has turned the runoff from all of this rainfall into raging cataracts that are overflowing onto city streets and causing mudslides. So far more than 30,000 people have been evacuated due to flooding and landslides.
The torrential rains are providing spectacular television footage:
Kumamoto, which lies on the western slope of steep, high hills that are right in the path of rainclouds, is dealing with serious flooding:
【熊本県内の天草市や八代市などで大雨、道路冠水や浸水】 http://t.co/TuXFfBkTio 活発な前線の影響で、西日本の広範囲で大気の状態が不安定となっており熊本県や長崎県では局地的に非常に激しい雨が降っている。 pic.twitter.com/euA2AbbPqk
— 日刊時事ニュース (@nikkan_jijinews) June 11, 2015
[The cities of Amakusa and Yashiro are experiencing heavy flooding.] http://t.co/TuXFfBkTio
Due to an extremely active baiu rain front, a large area of western Japan is experiencing unsettled weather. Kumamoto and Nagasaki prefectures are receiving exceptionally heavy rainfall. – JiJi Nikkan News Service.
Besides the threat of natural disasters such as flooding and devastating landslides, a cooler summer in Japan thanks to El Nino will likely result in poor agricultural production. For Japanese consumers, this means higher prices at the supermarket:
やはり今年の夏野菜は高騰しそうだな
— かも　カモ (@c_a_m_o_) June 11, 2015
It looks like vegetables are going to suddenly cost a whole lot more this summer.
県内、野菜値上がり／レタス、先月の３倍に | 香川のニュース | 四国新聞社 http://t.co/4F8QhcciMW らりるれレタスも http://t.co/e451UHLZtq 影響受けているんかなぁ？
— 詠み人知らず (@yomi_bito) June 7, 2015
I wonder if our own Rarirureru Lettuce is going to be affected??? [NOTE: Kagawa Prefecture on the southern island of Shikoku is an agricultural powerhouse providing high-quality produce throughout Japan.]
- “In Kagawa Prefecture the price of a head of lettuce has tripled since last month. | Kagagawa News | Shikoku Shimbun”
While natural calamities are nothing new in Japan, recent years have seen increasingly wild weather. Last summer torrential rains caused a massive landslide in Hiroshima Prefecture that killed 74 people in one neighborhood.
広島市の土砂災害で亡くなられた方のご冥福と、早期の復興をお祈りします。 pic.twitter.com/K4dzPDFYa3
— 美酒乱三世_みちのく一人旅 (@bishuran3rd) August 22, 2014
We pray that the victims of the [2014] Hiroshima landslides enjoy peace in the next world, and that there will be a quick start to reconstruction.

author: Nevin Thompson


text:
Palestinian Hunger-Striker Khader Adnan Struggles for Freedom · Global Voices
Elia J. Ayoub

Khader Adnan plays with his daughters on his first day out of Israeli jail in the West Bank village of Araba, near Jenin, April 18, 2012. (Photo: Activestills/ Oren Ziv)
Khader Adnan has entered his 40th day of hunger strike after nearly a year in an Israeli jail in the occupied West Bank. Adnan — who is among an estimated 5,591 Palestinian “security detainees and prisoners” who were being held in Israeli prisons, according to Israeli human rights group B'Tselem — became the symbol of Palestinian ‘administrative detainees’ held by Israel after going on hunger strike for 66 days in 2011.
According to Israeli daily Haartez, Adnan “is in Assaf Harofeh Hospital in Tzrifin with one hand and one leg cuffed to the bed 24-hours a day and three policemen in his room around the clock.” This is the ninth time he is put “under administrative detention.”
Budour Youssef Hassan summarized Adnan's journey for the Electronic Intifada (EI):
Khader Adnan’s experience of persecution and arrests stretches back to 1999, when the then undergraduate mathematics student at Birzeit University was arrested by Israeli occupation forces on charges of affiliation with the Islamic Jihad political party.
It was the first in a series of detentions — amounting to a total of more than six years in Israeli jails — during which Adnan has never been handed any formal charges or been given a trial even by the Israeli military courts which are notorious for failing to meet minimum international standards.
The circumstances of his last arrest were highly suspicious. As Yael Marom, former spokesperson for Physicians for Human Rights, wrote for 972 mag:
Adnan was re-arrested last summer during the IDF operation in the West Bank following the murder of three Jewish teenagers. The former administrative detainees — who were released after a successful hunger strike — were the first to return to Israeli prisons. Adnan was once again placed in administrative detention, without knowing what he was charged with, without the chance to prove his innocence, all while the state has the power to perpetually extend his detention every six months. On May 6, when his administrative detention was extended for the third consecutive time, Adnan announced that he would use the only nonviolent tool at his disposal and go on hunger strike.
Marom also documented official Israeli responses in the article linked above.
The Palestinian former prisoner Khader Adnan works at his bakery in the West Bank Village of Qabatiya near Jenin, June 21, 2013. Adnan is a former administrative detainee in Israeli jails. He was released on April 18, 2012, after being on hunger strike for 66 days. He inspired more than 1,200 Palestinian prisoners to start their own hunger strikes. For the Palestinians, he became the symbol of the hunger strike strategy. (Source: Ahmad Al-Bazz/ Activestills.org. Caption: 972mag)
An official statement by Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, released upon the arrest of Palestinian Legislative Council member and feminist Khalida Jarrar on April 2, 2015, condemned Israel's practice of administrative detentions as a clear violation of international law:
Israel continues to systematically use administrative detention in blatant violation of international law, as a mechanism of deterrence and punishment against Palestinian society. It is imposed with the deliberate goals of instilling fear and disrupting social and political life in the OPT [Occupied Palestinian Territories], as well a means of disrupting the political process given the continuous targeting of Palestinian Legislative Council members. As the Human Rights Committee has observed in previous concluding observations, this type of indefinite administrative detention constitutes arbitrary detention and violates.
In a statement released in 2012, as well as in a report entitled “Starved of justice: Palestinians detained without trial by Israel“, Amnesty International also denounced Israel's practice of detaining Palestinians without charges, stating that:
For decades, the Israeli authorities have held Palestinians without charge or trial under renewable detention orders, denying them any semblance of justice. In the first half of 2012, detainees such as Khader Adnan and Hana Shalabi engaged in prolonged hunger strikes to protest their incarceration without charges as well as ill-treatment during interrogation, denial of adequate medical care, and denial of family visits. Other detainees began their own hunger strikes to highlight the plight of the hundreds of administrative detainees and the routine violations endured by Palestinian prisoners. The protest grew, and a mass hunger strike began on 17 April 2012, with an estimated 2,000 prisoners and detainees demanding improved detention conditions, an end to solitary confinement, family visits for all detainees, and an end to administrative detention.
Palestinians held by Israel have used hunger strikes over the years to protest detention conditions and demand respect for their human rights, but in the wake of the wider protests which have taken place since early 2011 across the Middle East and North Africa, this recent wave of hunger strikes have had a greater resonance. Their non-violent protests – which brought several detainees close to death – drew global attention to the fact that Palestinian prisoners held by Israel continue to be starved of justice. Whether the protests have secured greater respect for Palestinian prisoners’ rights from the Israeli authorities remains to be seen, but the signs were not encouraging at the time of writing of this report in late May 2012.
“Call for Action as Khader Adnan Enters his 63rd Day of Hunger Strike” (February 18, 2012) . Cartoon by Brazilian cartoonist Latuff.
The statement continues:
Administrative detention is a form of detention without charge or trial. Its use may result in arbitrary detention and if prolonged or repeated can amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment. Other violations to which administrative detainees – as well as other Palestinian prisoners held by Israel – are routinely subjected include the use of torture and other ill-treatment during arrest and interrogation; poor prison conditions, including inadequate medical care; detention in prisons inside Israel rather than in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT); and prohibitions on family visits. Since 1967, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the OPT have been arrested – some of them repeatedly – by the Israeli security forces. At the time of writing, well over 4,000 – considered by the Israeli authorities to be “security prisoners” and thus held under harsher conditions than “criminal prisoners” – are detained or serving sentences in Israeli prisons. Over 300 of these “security prisoners” are held under administrative detention orders, with no intention to try them for any criminal offence, a violation of their right to a fair trial.
As the hunger strikes escalated, the Israel Prison Service (IPS) took systematic measures to punish hunger-striking prisoners and detainees and pressure them to end their strikes, putting their lives at risk. These measures included solitary confinement; preventing the detainees from contact with family members and lawyers; refusing to transfer hunger strikers whose health was in danger to hospitals suitable for their condition; and preventing detainees from seeing independent physicians so that they could receive accurate medical information from doctors they trusted. Some hunger striking detainees even reported physical assaults by IPS staff.
Adnan's family have been relentlessly speaking up against the injustice he's forced to endure. As Budour Hassan wrote in the EI article mentioned above, “Two people who have been with him on this arduous journey are his parents, Adnan Mousa and Nawal.” Speaking to EI, Randa Adnan explained how her husband uses hunger strike as a weapon: “He used the hunger strike as a weapon, both in Israeli prisons and in the Palestinian Authority jails where he was arrested twice and on both occasions resorted to hunger strikes.”
One of Khader Adnan’s daughters protests in the family’s West Bank village of Arraba on 23 May. pic.twitter.com/aAUNwjv1k2
— Ramy Jabbar رامي (@Ramdog1980) May 31, 2015
Adnan has become a sturdy symbol of Palestinian steadfastness, evidenced by the waves of support he receives both online and offline. We recently learned that a group of activists, institutions and prominent figures in Gaza have announced a hunger strike in solidarity with their fellow citizen in the West Bank while staging a protest in front of the International Red Cross (ICRC)'s headquarters in the strip. Online, Palestinian activists and institutions have taken to Twitter to express their solidarity with Adnan's struggle.
#KhaderAdnan is on his 33th day of Hunger Strike protesting his illegal Administrative detention.. #FreePalestine pic.twitter.com/XeQtsW0BIA
— Said Shoaib | Gaza (@saidshouib) June 6, 2015
Hashtag translates as “We are all Khader Adnan”
Free #KhaderAdnan, the husband, father, baker & freedom fighter on day 28 of hunger-strike protesting renewal of administrative detention
— Budour Hassan – بدور (@Budour48) June 1, 2015
Palestinian prisoners #KhaderAdnan continues his hunger strike for 37th day amid serious deterioration in his health #Palhunger
— Maram Humaid (@MaramGaza) June 10, 2015
A young Palestinian artist, Mohammad Quraqie, even drew Adnan:
Artist Mohammad Quraqie drawing of prisoner #KhaderAdnan who entered his 26th day on hunger strike. #Palestine pic.twitter.com/OEuiLARBIx
— Palestine Social (@PalestineSocial) May 30, 2015

author: Elia J. Ayoub


text:
Photo Project Documents Life in Post-Earthquake Nepal · Global Voices
Sanjib Chaudhary

A date none of us will forget, sketched on a wall in Pokhara. The quake spared Pokhara, but aftershocks have hit in the form of cancelled bookings and empty hotel rooms. Photo by @paavan11 via Nepal Photo Project. Used with permission
Three catastrophic earthquakes have devastated Nepal in the past few months. More than 8,000 people have been killed, twice as many are injured, 2 million people have been displaced, and an estimated total of 8 million have been affected in some way. (For more information, see Global Voices‘ special coverage page.) The Nepal Photo Project is working to capture this historic catastrophe in pictures.
The project belongs to a team of ten photographers in and around Kathmandu, led by photographer Sumit Dayal and writer Tara Bedi, who launched the initiative shortly after the April 25 earthquake. So far, it has more than 61,400 followers in Instagram and more than 7,600 followers on Facebook.
Using crowdsourced photos, contributing photographers retell the story of life after the earthquakes: the devastation, rescue, relief, reconstruction, and the rays of hope for the future.
The increasing popularity of the project is due primarily to its simplicity: contributors merely add a hashtag to their images, writing #nepalphotoproject, and include a short caption about the photo's context and characters. Organizers want to keep it more functional and personal in nature.
The project's recent posts show how life in Nepal is returning to normal and how people are rebuilding.
This is Manju Gurung. Whenever I try to take her picture, she giggles and runs away. She and her family have been living together with two more families in a chicken shed since April 25. At least the school is on for her and she is happy to be with her friends. She told me they have no classes, they only play to pass their time. From next week she is hoping the regular school will start. Photo by @sachindrarajbansi via Nepal Photo Project. Used with permission
Sikrighyang, Nepal. Mann Bahadur inquiries from Bilong the dimensions of wood required for the frame work of his house. Bilong, 31, is from India and has a seven year experience in building bamboo houses. In spite of the difference in their linguals, they understand each other well and are working together to build Mann Bahadur's house which was destroyed by the earthquake. Photo by @ujwalgarg0412 via Nepal Photo Project. Used with permission
Now, finally after 46 days of constant threat of tremors, it seems the ground is settling down. We got one 4.1 magnitude tremor today 2 in the morning after two days gap. People have started to live their lives normally now. People are now sleeping in peace, switching off lights in the night time. Traffic is back. Kathmandu is getting back to normal. Photo by @saagarchhetri via Nepal Photo Project. Used with permission
Memories in the rubble – As I was walking through a rubble filled alley of Sankhu, I came across this photograph. Looking closely, I saw people basking in the sun. These were the scenes and habits of local people you could see everywhere along these village towns. Now seeing rubble all around, the photograph surely is a distant memory. Photo by @sachindrarajbansi via Nepal Photo Project. Used with permission
Students of Dibya Jyoti School in Bungamati inside a makeshift hut prepared by KUArt #RebuildingBungamati team. Some of the classes are still running inside old school building and team is preparing for more such shelters nearby.
Most of the schools in Nepal re-opened last week after devastating earthquake of April. Since many school buildings are not safe, classes are run out in the open and in some places, even inside risky buildings. Photo by @kishorksg via Nepal Photo Project. Used with permission
As if pulled from a Steven Speilberg movie scene, I saw this boy pushing his hand made toy designed from a simple stick and two metal wheels through the rubble and carnage that was once his neighbors home. I watched him push his toy through the rubble and rock. Photo by @kevinkuster via Nepal Photo Project. Used with permission
During the Nepal Tibet war between 1855 to 1856 lots of lives were lost on both fronts. After the war the soldiers of Haibung returned to their village and planted this tree to remember their fallen warriors and to mend their sins of killing thousands of their counterparts. The tree still stands on the edge of ward no. 1 of Haibung village. Photo by @sachindrarajbansi Used with permission
Making a small #dharahara at #sahidgate. Two men working to build small dharahara in memory of the fallen one. The historical dharahara was broken down by earthquake on 25th April. Photo by @inspiredmonster via Nepal Photo Project. Used with permission
Sulochana Maharjan, 16, spins wool in Chapagaon, Nepal. At the time she and her family were sleeping in a tent near their home, uncertain whether their home was safe to stay in after the quake. Amidst rubble and grief, life goes on. Photo by @eliegardner via Nepal Photo Project. Used with permission
Nepalese are pitching in all possible ways to rebuild their country. And artists are using their talent to campaign and raise funds. These are artists associated with an eclectic group called Art Lab that's based in Kathmandu. And they're using the public walls to spread the message of hope, peace, compassion and courage. This is also part of their effort to use art as therapy for all the people who are in trauma after the earthquake. Photo by @prach_is_here via Nepal Photo Project. Used with permission
Schools reopen this week in #Nepal after the 25 April #NepalQuake. This one, under the cool shade of a majestic banyan tree in Salyantaar, close to Gorkha. Photo by @mikaness via Nepal Photo Project. Used with permission
Police constable and judo player Pramila Khadka gives self defence classes with her team to women and children at a camp in Kathmandu. “Living in a camp is not like living at home, there are so many strangers around us. But now if a boy teases me, he won't be safe,” a participant tells me. Kudos to Nepal Police! Loving their work. Photo by @paavan11 via Nepal Photo Project

author: Sanjib Chaudhary