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What Are We Doing to Our Children’s Brains? · Global Voices
Ensia

Tehmina Shekh photographed at the Chingari Clinic in Bhopal, India — the location of one of the world's worst chemical disasters. Photo by Flickr user Bhopal Medical Appeal. CC-BY-NC-SA 2.0
This post by Elizabeth Grossman was originally published on Ensia.com, a magazine that highlights international environmental solutions in action, and is republished here as part of a content-sharing agreement.
February 16, 2015 — The numbers are startling. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 1.8 million more children in the U.S. were diagnosed with developmental disabilities between 2006 and 2008 than a decade earlier. During this time, the prevalence of autism climbed nearly 300 percent, while that of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder increased 33 percent. CDC figures also show that 10 to 15 percent of all babies born in the U.S. have some type of neurobehavorial development disorder. Still more are affected by neurological disorders that don’t rise to the level of clinical diagnosis.
And it’s not just the U.S. Such impairments affect millions of children worldwide. The numbers are so large that Philippe Grandjean of the University of Southern Denmark and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Philip Landrigan of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York — both physicians and preeminent researchers in this field — describe the situation as a “pandemic.”
While earlier and more assiduous diagnosis accounts for some of the documented increase, it doesn’t explain all of it, says Irva Hertz-Piccioto, professor of environmental and occupational health and chief of the University of California, Davis, MIND Institute. Grandjean and Landrigan credit genetic factors for 30 to 40 percent of the cases. But a significant and growing body of research suggests that exposure to environmental pollutants is implicated in the disturbing rise in children’s neurological disorders.
What, exactly is going on? And what can we do about it?
Some chemicals — lead, mercury and organophosphate pesticides, for example — have long been recognized as toxic substances that can have lasting effects on children’s neurological health, says Bruce Lanphear, health sciences professor at Simon Fraser University. While leaded paint is now banned in the U.S., it is still present in many homes and remains in use elsewhere around the world. Children can also be exposed to lead from paints, colorings and metals used in toys, even though these uses are prohibited by U.S. law (remember Thomas the Tank Engine), and through contaminated soil or other environmental exposure as well as from plastics in which lead is used as a softener. Mercury exposure sources include some fish, air pollution and old mercury-containing thermometers and thermostats. While a great many efforts have gone into reducing and eliminating these exposures, concerns continue, particularly because we now recognize that adverse effects can occur at exceptionally low levels.
At early stages of development — prenatally and during infancy — brain cells are easily damaged by industrial chemicals and other neurotoxicants. Photo by Flickr user Jason Corey. CC-BY-NC-SA 2.0
But scientists are also now discovering that chemical compounds common in outdoor air — including components of vehicle exhaust and fine particulate matter — as well as in indoor air and consumer products can also adversely affect brain development, including prenatally.
Chemicals in flame retardants, plastics, and personal care and other household products are among those Lanphear lists as targets of concern for their neurodevelopment effects.
Chemicals that prompt hormonal changes are increasingly suspected to have neurological effects, says Linda Birnbaum, director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and National Toxicology Program. Among the chemicals now being examined for neurological impacts that occur early in life are flame retardants known as PBDEs that have been used extensively in upholstery foams, electronics and other products; phthalates, widely used as plasticizers and in synthetic fragrances; the polycarbonate plastic ingredient bisphenol A, known commonly as BPA; perfluorinated compounds, whose applications include stain-, water- and grease-resistant coatings; and various pesticides.
As Grandjean and Landrigan explain, the fetus is not well protected against environmental chemicals that can easily pass through the placenta. There’s evidence from in vitro studies, they say, that neural stem cells are very sensitive to neurotoxic substances.
In the past 30 to 40 years, scientists have begun to recognize that children and infants are far more vulnerable to chemical exposures than are adults.
An infant’s brain is also vulnerable to such contaminants. At early stages of development — prenatally and during infancy — brain cells are easily damaged by industrial chemicals and other neurotoxicants. Such interference can affect how the brain develops structurally and functionally — effects that lead to lasting adverse outcomes.
“The brain is so extremely sensitive to external stimulation,” says Grandjean.
Historically, chemical neurotoxicity was examined in adults — often through cases of high levels of occupational exposure. In the past 30 to 40 years, however, scientists have begun to recognize that children and infants are far more vulnerable to chemical exposures than are adults. It has also been discovered that very low levels of exposure early in life can have profound and lasting effects. Another important discovery is that understanding how an infant or child is affected by a chemical exposure involves far more than simply calculating potential effects on a physically smaller person. Stage of development — and timing of exposure — must also be considered. Early stages of brain development involve “a very precise choreography,” explains Frederica Perera, professor of Environmental Health Sciences at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. “Any chemical that can disrupt [brain] chemistry at this stage can be very damaging,” she says.
For example, explains Deborah Kurrasch, an assistant professor at the University of Calgary’s Cumming School of Medicine who specializes in neurological research, during the early stages of brain development — when cells are becoming neurons — “timing determines destination.”
Results of Kurrasch’s latest study investigating neurodevelopmental effects of BPA illustrate what she means. In a study published in January 2015, Kurrasch and colleagues examined the effects on neurodevelopment of BPA and a common BPA substitute, bisphenol S. Specifically, they investigated how exposure to BPA and BPS — at levels comparable to those present in her community’s local drinking water supply — might affect neuron development in zebrafish at a stage comparable to the second trimester of human pregnancy, when neurons are forming and moving to the correct location in the brain.
Many of the chemicals under scrutiny for their effects on brain development appear to act by interfering with the function of hormones essential for healthy brain development.
“It’s as if they’re getting on a bus to where they need to be,” Kurrasch says. After exposure to BPA and BPS it was as if, explains Kurrasch, “twice as many neurons got on an early bus and half as many got on a late bus.” The researchers found that these exposures appeared to alter nerve development — neurogenesis — in a way that caused the fish to become hyperactive. Such an alteration, produced in this case by a “very little bit of BPA,” can cause permanent effects, Kurrasch says.
Many of the chemicals under scrutiny for their effects on brain development — BPA, phthalates, perfluorinated compounds, brominated flame retardants and various pesticides among them — appear to act by interfering with the function of hormones essential for healthy brain development. Among these are thyroid hormones, which regulate the part of the brain involved in a variety of vital functions, including reproduction, sleep, thirst, eating and puberty.
During the first trimester of pregnancy, the fetus is not making its own thyroid hormone, says Thomas Zoeller, director of the Laboratory of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Endocrinology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. If an environmental exposure to a substance such as a polychlorinated biphenyl or perchlorate interferes with the mother’s thyroid hormones in this period — as could happen through water pollution, for example — that could in turn affect her child at a critical stage of brain development.
Another thing to consider in the context of endocrine-disrupting chemical exposures, says Zoeller, is that a substantial portion of women of childbearing age in the U.S. have some iodine deficiency that may be suppressing their thyroid hormones. While these deficiencies may not be prompting clinically adverse effects, they may be sufficient to impair fetal neurodevelopment. “Impacts can happen at levels far below safety standards,” says Zoeller. And there are a great many chemicals to which such women may be exposed environmentally with the potential to affect thyroid hormones, among them PBDEs, PCBs, BPA, various pesticides, perfluorinated compounds and certain phthalates.
One particularly concerning source of exposure to chemicals that are suspected to harm children’s brain development is air pollution, which is a complex mixture of various chemicals and particulate matter.
Research increasingly suggests that airborne contaminants can have subtle but significant effects on early neurological development and behavior.
Perera and colleagues recently investigated the links between exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, a fossil fuel–related component of air pollution, and incidence of ADHD in 9-year-olds. Their study found that mothers who were exposed to high levels of PAH during pregnancy were five times more likely to have children with ADHD and to have children with more severe ADHD symptoms than those who did not have such exposure. While this study is the first to make such a connection, it joins a growing body of research pointing to links between outdoor air pollutants, including PAHs, and adverse impacts on children’s brain health and development.
Looking at air pollution’s effects on brain health is relatively new, explains Kimberly Gray, health science administrator at the National Institutes of Health. Research increasingly suggests that airborne contaminants can have subtle but significant effects on early neurological development and behavior, she says. In addition to links between prenatal PAH exposure and impaired brain function, researchers are also now investigating potential connections between black carbon, volatile organic compounds and fine particulate matter — among other components of air pollution — and impairments such as autism and lowered IQ.
In a study published in December 2014, Marc Weisskopf, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health associate professor of environmental and occupational epidemiology, and colleagues looked at children whose mothers were exposed to high levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5, particles 2.5 microns in diameter or smaller), particularly during the third trimester of pregnancy. The study, which involved more than 1,000 participants living all across the U.S., found that these children appeared to be twice as likely to be diagnosed with autism as children whose mothers had only low levels of such exposures. Exposure to larger particles — between 2.5 and 10 microns (what’s known as PM10) — did not appear to be associated with increasing risk for autism.
“This is very important from an epidemiological point of view” because it “places a spotlight on the mother’s exposure,” says Weisskopf. It also highlights the importance of timing and neurodevelopmental effects. Although many other factors may contribute to autism, Weisskopf explains, this study strengthens the suggestion that environmental exposures can play a role. That it appears it is the very small particles that are associated with these effects adds to what other research is finding: What might seem quantitatively small can “be quite important” when it comes to affecting brain development, Weisskopf explains.
Columbia University researchers recently published an additional study linking common air pollutants to cognitive and behavioral impairment in children.
As Grandjean and Landrigan point out, one of the disturbing recent realizations concerning environmental exposure to developmental neurotoxicants is how widespread exposure appears to be and the ubiquity of such compounds. “More neurotoxic chemicals are getting into products,” says Landrigan.
Phthalates, which are used as plasticizers — including in polyvinyl chloride plastics — and in synthetic fragrances and numerous personal care products, comprise one category of widely used chemicals that appear to have adverse impacts on brain development. Researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health recently found that children exposed prenatally to elevated levels of certain phthalates had IQ scores that were, on average, between 6 and 8 points lower than children with lower prenatal exposures. Children with reduced IQ scores also appeared to have trouble with working memory, perceptional reasoning and information processing speeds.
“Pretty much everybody in the U.S. is exposed.” — Robin Whyatt
The phthalates examined in this study, known as DnBP and DiBP, are used in numerous household products, including toiletries and cosmetics, among them shampoo, nail polish, lipstick, hair styling products and soap, as well as vinyl fabrics and dryer sheets. Exposure levels associated with reduced IQ in the study are within the range that the CDC reports finding in its National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a nationwide ongoing biomonitoring assessment of chemical exposures. “Pretty much everybody in the U.S. is exposed,” says study co-author Robin Whyatt, professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University Medical Center.
While such a drop in IQ may sound small, Pam Factor-Litvak, the study’s lead author and associate professor of epidemiology at the Mailman School, notes that at the population — or classroom — level, this means fewer children at the high end of the intelligence scale and more at the less capable end. “The whole curve shifts downward,” she explains.
“Five or six IQ points may not sound like much, but it means more children requiring special education programs and fewer that are gifted,” says Maureen Swanson, Learning Disabilities Association of America’s Healthy Children Project director. “The potential economic impact is huge,” says NIEHS’s Birnbaum.
What prompts neurological disorders in children is “very complex,” notes Frederica Perera. Adding to the challenge of disentangling the various contributing factors is that while research on — and regulation of — chemicals typically looks at one substance at a time, people are exposed to multiple chemicals concurrently. Further adding to this complexity when it comes to brain development are social stresses that “act on the same part of the brain region,” explains University of Rochester professor of environmental medicine Deborah Cory-Slechta. She and others are finding increasing evidence that nonchemical stressors such as maternal, domestic and community distress can prompt adverse effects on early brain development, either on their own or in combination with neurotoxic chemicals.
Birnbaum says this apparent interaction between chemicals and nonchemical stressors is “very concerning and very important.”
Epidemiological studies, Cory-Slechta explains, typically correct for what are called confounding factors — other conditions that might influence the condition being measured. Many studies, she says, “are clearly not modeling what is going on in the human environment.” What she and her colleagues hope to do is “reproduce in animal studies what goes on in human communities,” particularly in communities that are most vulnerable to adverse social stressors and most exposed to chemical contaminants, including lead, pesticides and air pollution.
Lead and stress affect the same part of the brain, she says, and so can act synergistically very early in life to produce permanent changes in brain structure. These changes can result in lowered IQ, learning and behavioral problems.
Cory-Slechta’s lab is now working on replicating conditions of stress and chronic deprivation in animal models that would mirror those experienced by communities of poverty. The aim is to better understand how these effects cross the placenta and become the fetal basis of lifelong disorders. She and her colleagues are investigating, not only associations between exposures and neurodevelopment, but also the mechanisms by which effects occur.
Assuming we want to stop harming our children’s brains, how do we proceed?
An important step is to improve our ability to determine which chemicals have neurodevelopmental effects. A rapid screening system would be ideal, says Birnbaum, because there are so many chemicals — including newly invented ones — to which people are exposed. While such a program to test large numbers of chemicals quickly using robotics has been launched by NIH, EPA and other federal agencies, there are tens of thousands that may be in use, most of which have not been fully tested for these effects.
When it comes to reducing existing exposures, some chemicals can be avoided through consumer choice. But it’s often difficult, given that many of these substances are used — like BPA on receipts — in products that don’t carry ingredient labels. Others, including air pollutants, are much harder given their ubiquity or lack of available alternatives. And, as Maureen Swanson notes, such choices are not necessarily feasible for people at all economic levels, which raises environmental justice issues.
Grandjean and Landrigan point out that the U.S. system of chemical regulation, which lacks requirements for full premarket toxicity testing, does not do a very good job when it comes to proactive chemical safety. “Untested chemicals should not be presumed to be safe to brain development, and chemicals in existing use and all new chemicals must therefore be tested for developmental neurotoxicity,” they wrote in an article published in The Lancet.
While some sources of neurotoxicity might appear to have been adequately addressed, they have not. For example, considerable progress has been made in curtailing lead exposure through policy and public health education in the U.S. and elsewhere. However, current understanding is that virtually any amount of lead exposure can cause damage, and harmful exposures continue — especially in countries where leaded paints and gasoline are still used . And in the U.S., CDC funding for lead prevention programs was dramatically reduced in 2012.
When it comes to protecting the exquisitely sensitive developing brain, the measures currently used to assess chemical risk and set safety standards fall short, says Cory-Slechta.
Meanwhile, children around the world — especially in less well-off countries — continue to be exposed to dangerous neurotoxicants released in industrial emissions, from waste sites and through child labor. Examples abound, and include exposures to chemicals released in electronics recycling in various locations in Asia and Africa, to lead and mercury from mining activity, to agricultural pesticides, to products contaminated with heavy metals, including food and candy.
When it comes to protecting the exquisitely sensitive developing brain, the measures currently used to assess chemical risk and set safety standards fall short, says Cory-Slechta. “It should be about primary prevention, but it’s not,” she says.
In the absence of what many environmental health advocates feel is adequate U.S. federal regulation of chemicals, many individual U.S. states have recently passed their own laws to protect children from harmful chemical exposures. Many address chemicals with neurotoxic effects, particularly those of heavy metals such as cadmium, lead and mercury. And even though some states are beginning to include language in their legislation to protect pregnant women from chemical hazards, this timing of exposure is left largely unaddressed.
While we now know a great deal about developmental neurotoxicants, more such exposures appear to be occurring than ever before. And there appears to be wide agreement among researchers that these exposures are taking a toll on the world’s children.
“To me it is very clear we have to set up a different system to better protect the brains of the future,” says Grandjean.

author: Ensia


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Head to the US-Mexico Border and Find a Chinese Food Scene Like None Other · Global Voices
PRI/PRX's The World

In the Fortune Garden kitchen in El Centro, California, near the Mexican border, chefs speak to each other in Cantonese, and waiters give orders in Spanish. Credit: Vickie Ly. Published with PRI's permission
This article and radio report by Lisa Morehouse for The World originally appeared on PRI.org on April 14, 2015, and is republished here as part of a content-sharing agreement.
Taquerias and Mexican restaurants are old hat along the California-Mexico border.
Look harder, though, and spot another type of cuisine that dates back more than 100 years — a kind of fusion from before fusion was a thing.
You'll find it at a restaurant in the California city of El Centro, just north of the Mexican border. Families wait to be seated while others line up for takeout. In one booth, the Salcedo family digs into their first course: a huge plate of light yellow, deep-fried chilies. Next, a salt-and-pepper fish, which the family describes as “Baja-style,” with lots of bell peppers, chilies and onions.
Yes, Baja style. But this isn’t Mexican food. We’re at Fortune Garden, a Chinese restaurant that mixes Mexican ingredients into its dishes.
“It’s very different than if you go to any other Chinese restaurant, Americanized Chinese restaurant,” says Mayra Salcedo.
Rumors are that some chefs around here marinate pork in tequila.
The Salcedo family drives over an hour from Yuma, Arizona, to Fortune Garden restaurant, near the Mexican border. Credit: Vickie Ly. Published with PRI's permission
Robert Chao Romero, an associate professor of at the University of California, Los Angeles, explains the reason for this culinary twist. “The restaurants that you see now are the remnant of the Chinese population that used to fill the US-Mexico borderlands,” he says.
Why? Because of the Chinese Exclusion Act. The 1882 law banned people from China from entering the US. So tens of thousands went to Cuba, South America and to Mexico. Many settled along the Mexican border, becoming grocers, merchants and restaurant owners. Others managed to cross into the US.
“The Chinese invented undocumented immigration from Mexico,” Romero says. “Smuggling with false papers, in boats and in trains, the infrastructure for that was all invented by the Chinese.”
In fact, today’s Border Patrol grew out of a group of mounted guards hired to stop Chinese migrants.
That’s the cross-border history that makes restaurants like Fortune Garden possible. Carlos and Jenissa Zhou own it. He worked in Chinese restaurants just across the border, in Mexicali. She came to the US from southern China and says, even food orders here show a mix of cultures and languages. Her customers are mostly Latino.
“When they order they don’t say BBQ pork,” she says. “They say carnitas, carnitas colorada.”
Carnitas is Spanish for pork. And you have to be a little trilingual to work in the kitchen, where cooks speak to each other in Cantonese, and waiters give orders in Spanish and English.
This food is even more prominent on the Mexican side of the border, as I learn taking a drive across the border with George Lim. He lives in the US, but commutes every day across the border to Mexicali, Mexico, home to as many as 200 Chinese restaurants. Lim helps run one of the city’s oldest: El Dragon.
Why cross the border every day to run a restaurant? Lim explains that Mexicali’s population is nearly a million, which dwarfs the rural population on the California side of the border
“Just doing the math, you’re going to have a lot more customers here in Mexico,” he says. “And I hate to say it but Mexicans are just more sophisticated about Chinese food.”
The restaurant’s another world from Mexicali’s gritty streets. There are white tablecloths, chandeliers — and widescreen TVs showing soccer.
Fried yellow chilies are ubiquitous in restaurants on both sides of the Mexico border. They’re served in a lemon sauce with lots of salt. Credit: Vickie Ly. Published with PRI's permission
In the kitchen, George Lim’s father, Canuto, holds court. He came to Mexicali in the 1950s and developed many of the restaurant’s inventive dishes. “Most people who open or work in the restaurants came to Mexicali with previous experience cooking and serving Chinese food,” Canuto says.
The cooks experimented with the Mexican ingredients they had on hand, things like chilis, jicama and certain cuts of meat. That’s why here you can order rare combinations like beef with asparagus and black bean sauce. Lim calls the beef “arrachera,” its Spanish name. “Arrachera is the best meat for tacos, asparagus could be both Chinese and Mexican, but the sauce, the black bean, that’s Chinese,” Lim says.
It’s a surprising mix of ingredients, like avocado in fried rice, which sounds like it shouldn’t be good, but is. I bite into an egg roll filled with shrimp, cilantro and cream cheese, a Chinese, Mexican, and American combo found along this little part of the border.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: PRI/PRX's The World


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Mexican Women Are Being Called on to Help Transform Their Portrayal in Mexican Media · Global Voices
Patricia Carolina Saucedo Añez

WACC, SocialTIC, WITNESS, La Sandía Digital, and Subversiones have called on women interested in telling the stories of strong women in their communities with the purpose of changing the way women are represented in the media.
As one of the representatives of the project told Global Voices, in Mexican media there is not only a lack of production and distribution of content produced by women, but lack of nuanced content, which only serves to replicate dominant stereotypes that do not reflect or promote diversity.
Women's Voices. Photo take from SocialTIC's Facebook page. Used with permission.
What does the project consist of?
The project consists of an audiovisual laboratory caravan where women will learn about photography, video, and text creation. The laboratory caravan will last six months, holding four three-day sessions in different Mexican communities during May, June, July, and August.
What are the participation requirements?
Women must be 18 and over, residing in central Mexico, involved in community projects, capable of dedicating 8 hours a week from May to September, available for travel during the scheduled dates, commited to sharing with the commuity what has been learned, and have access to a portable computer. Twenty applicants will be chosen.
The registration period for this project expired on March 27, 2015. Organizers are selecting the eligible entries from the ones received from all over Mexico and will soon publish the results. If any questions or inquiries please direct it to voces.mujeres@gmail.com.

author: Patricia Carolina Saucedo Añez


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‘We Walk Around Death,’ Tweets a Yemeni Blogger About the Horrors of War · Global Voices
Noon Arabia

Buildings targeted in Saudi-led air strikes on Yemen. Photograph shared on Twitter by Sana'a-based blogger @Omeisy
Eighteen out of Yemen's 22 governorates have been attacked by the Saudi-led alliance since the war on Yemen began on March 26, says the United Nations. The trail of destruction has left hundreds of people dead, thousands wounded and a nation of 24 million people living in poverty, horror and the lack of basic life essentials.
Although Operation Decisive Storm airstrikes are intended to bomb military facilities and weapon depots to quell the Houthi rebels supported by ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh, the strikes have resulted in a lot of death, displacement and destruction across the country. Despite the massive number of strikes over the past three weeks, the Houthi/Saleh brutal aggression has spread to the south and intensified, particularly in Aden, killing many civilians and destroying residential neighbourhoods as well.
Backed by its Gulf Arab allies, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Sudan and Saudi Arabia launched an airstrike operation against Houthi fighters who took control of Yemen in January. The effort is also being supported by the US, which is providing its Saudi partner with intelligence and logistical support.
The United Nations estimates that around 150,000 people have been displaced, and the World Health Organisation, citing Yemeni Health Ministry sources, reports 767 people had been killed and more than 2,900 wounded in less than a month.
The latest report published by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian gives an overview of the infrastructure that has been destroyed, damaged and disrupted as a result of the fighting.
Those stuck at home have no fuel, cooking gas or water. Food is scarce, and electricity is non-existent.
Living Amid Continuous Air Strikes and Bombardments
Residents in the capital Sana'a and in Aden have been tweeting day and night about the horrors they are facing during the war.
From Sana'a, Osama Abdullah describes life in the capital as “walking around death”:
We sleep & wake up on KSA strikes, everyday we lose a dear friend or family,we walk around death & our life no longer has a meaning #Yemen
— Osama Abdullah (@PoliticsYemen) April 11, 2015
Hisham Al-Omeisy shares photographs of the damage caused by the air strikes in Sana'a:
Pictures from past 2hrs in Sana'a #Yemen showing bombardment of coalition airstrikes..which haven't ceased yet.. pic.twitter.com/uqh5EF6yXA
— Hisham Al-Omeisy (@omeisy) April 17, 2015
And Amal Suqaf describes how scary it is to live such conditions on a daily basis:
Heavy heavy explosions in Aser, Attan & behind Abduraboh's house in 60 m road, it's soo scary, I'm deaf #yemen #KefayaWar #OpDecisiveStorm
— amal suqaf (@amalsuqaf) April 16, 2015
Life has come to a standstill as a result of the constant aerial bombardment. Ammar Al-Aulaqi tweets about fuel shortages and power cuts:
Sanaa city's largest food retailers are empty. Streets are empty due to fuel shortage. Garbage pileup.Widespread power outages.”I Am Legend”
— Ammar Al-Aulaqi (@ammar82) April 13, 2015
Rooj describes living in constant fear, with one meal a day, in the dark:
2 know what it is like in #Yemen, turn off electricity, water, heating, eat once a day, live in the dark, fear for ur life. #KefayaWar
— Rooj (@Rooj129) April 12, 2015
Haykal Bafana, from Sana'a, says Yemenis are deprived of basic life essentials as well as peace:
No electricity for 34 straight hours in #Yemen capital Sanaa. No petrol, no diesel, no cooking gas, no water and no peace either.
— Haykal Bafana (@BaFana3) April 14, 2015
And Ibrahim Alhemyari shares what the weather report should read to Yemenis instead of the standard highs and lows of the day:
This is what I should really get when checking the weather in Yemen on my iPhone. #DecisiveStorm pic.twitter.com/BZmLOXWfX1
— Ibrahim Alhemyari (@brrhom) April 5, 2015
And while Sana'a is being bombed by the Saudi-led coalition, this horror is resonated in the south, where the Saleh/Houthi alliance is fighting in Aden. Yet it hasn't been getting as much coverage.
Ammar Al-Aulaqi points to this:
In all honesty, residents in Aden are getting the worst of this, civilian deaths there is tenfold, yet Sanaa gets the most coverage. Fact.
— Ammar Al-Aulaqi (@ammar82) April 18, 2015
And he says schools and universities have been shut since the start of the war:
Let the world know: All schools, universities, & education institutions are closed in #Aden since Mar 26th. #AdenBleeding #Yemen #KefayaWar
— Ammar Al-Aulaqi (@ammar82) April 10, 2015
Spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Yemen, Marie Claire Feghali, said the humanitarian situation across the country was “very difficult … [with] naval, air and ground routes cut off”. Yet she described the situation in Aden as “catastrophic to say the least”. She added: “The war in Aden is on every street, in every corner … Many are unable to escape.”
A British-Yemeni man also recounts to BBC World Service Radio about the difficulty and danger people in Aden are facing.
Other residents in Aden tweeted about the hardship they face.
Nisma, a 20-year-old university student in Aden, describes to BBC World Service Radio the dire living conditions there:
My everyday life no #Electricity no #water no #food no #security. Living in a jungle would be better. #aden #Yemen pic.twitter.com/qL2kHTjm1X
— Nisma Alozebi (@NismaAlozebi) April 16, 2015
Fakhuus Hashim says Aden is suffering in a war it did not start:
Aden is suffering from a war they didn't start or get involved with in anyway. But bodies dropping so fast. Allah Ya3een ! #Yemen
— AlQubaty (@FakhuusHashim) April 10, 2015
Aden is suffering from a war they didn't start or get involved with in anyway. But bodies dropping so fast. May God have mercy.
Hussain Al-Yafai is reporting snipers shooting at women and children and killing them in Aden:
Houthi snipers are now killing women & children in #Aden! There have been many children & women reported killed by Houthi snipers! #Yemen
— Hussain Al-Yafai (@crazyyafai) April 15, 2015
And Sala Mohammed describes the dire humanitarian situation on the ground:
#Aden #Dhalea #Lahj humanitarian aid is needed urgently , shortage of water,food,fuel and health services . #SouthYemen #Decisive_Storm
— Sala Mohammed (@SalaAden) April 5, 2015
To sum up, Al-Omeisy notes that all Yemenis are united in their suffering:
Just to put into perspective, Sana'a suffers coalition airstrikes. Aden same but + Houthi shelling, Navy shelling, PCs shelling..etc #Yemen
— Hisham Al-Omeisy (@omeisy) April 17, 2015
Stay tuned for more coverage from Yemen.

author: Noon Arabia


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GV Face: Breaking Pakistan’s Silence on Balochistan · Global Voices
Sahar Habib Ghazi

Last week a leading private university in Pakistan was forced to cancel an academic discussion on human rights in its southwestern province Balochistan “due to state intervention“.
Balochistan, Pakistan's largest, least populated and poorest province is witnessing its fifth separatist movement since 1947. Public discussions on Balochistan's war are rare. Nationalists think silence on Balochistan is their patriotic duty, others self-censor out of fear of Pakistan's powerful military.
But few really understand what is going on in the province, because media coverage and reporting from there is thin.
In this episode of GV Face, we break the silence on Balochistan by talking to Pakistani and Baloch activists and journalists who dare to speak out and report on human rights abuses in the province. Theses activists and journalists walk a thin dangerous line. Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur (@mmtalpur), a veteran human rights activists who was a part of the cancelled LUMS talk will join us. We will also have Fahad Desmukh (@desmukh), who heads PakVoices, a news site that reports on communities in Balochistan's coastal areas, Adnan Aamir (@iadnanaamir), who heads the online publication Balochistan Point, and Ali Arqam (@aliarqam), an activist and reporter with Newsline magazine.
Facts about the Balochistan conflict are hard to verify. What we do know is that Baloch nationalists are seeking independence from Pakistan, and Pakistan's armed intelligence operatives are trying to suppress them, sometimes through extrajudicial “forced disappearances”. According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, since 2010, the bodies of hundreds of Balochistan’s “missing people” have turned up dead bearing torture marks. In 2013 alone, 116 bodies were found across the province, 87 of which were identified by families who accused Pakistan’s security agencies of abducting their loved ones.
The government maintains that separatists are funded by “outside forces”.
Various sectarian and Islamist militias also use the area for recruitment training to fight wars in Iran and Afghanistan, both of which border Balochistan. These groups also launch attacks within Pakistan.
Sometimes these groups join forces in pursuit of money and resources. The result is the people living in Balochistan have to protect themselves from several different dangerous ideologies.
Since 2001, thousands of ethnic Shia Hazaras, Balochistan's largest minority, have been killed by militant groups. Many more have been forced to leave a province they've called home for generations.
Some Baloch nationalist groups are trying to drive all non-Baloch and the Pakistan military out of the province. Military convoys are bombed. Punjabi families who have lived in Balochistan for decades are now branded by some groups as unwanted “settlers”, hundreds have been killed in attacks and thousands forced to flee the violence.

author: Sahar Habib Ghazi


text:
In Hong Kong, a Beer With a Side Order of Learning · Global Voices
Tang

Professor Jason Ng discussing Hong Kong’s food culture at the Kee Club. Photo from Raising the Bar. Use with permission.
On a Tuesday night, March 31, 2015, ten scholars came down from their ivory towers to give lectures in ten pubs across central Hong Kong to audiences of tipsy “students”.
The event is part of a worldwide initiative called “Raising the Bar“, which aims at making education a part of popular urban culture. The goal, as stated on the campaign's website, is to raise the bar on the quality of the content people consume in their daily lives.
The event was started in New York City in 2014. Fifty academics gave lectures in in fifty venues, ranging from coffee shops to pubs. One of the scholars was Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, who talked about the price of inequality. The initiative spread across the world and Hong Kong is the first Asian city to host this event with ten academics in ten venues on one night:
We want to revolutionise how the city operates and interacts after sundown by embedding education as part of the city’s popular culture and changing the reputation and misconceptions of Hong Kong’s nightlife by raising the quality of content consumed daily.
With the slogan “Revolutionise the City,” it's no surprise that one of topics of the event's inaugural program was “Long Live Revolution! As Seen in Let the Bullets Fly“. Dr. Kristof v.d. Troost from the Chinese University of Hong Kong shared his thoughts on revolution as depicted in the Chinese movie.
With one discussion devoted to revolution, other pub talks carried titles like “Is the Free and Open Internet Dying?” (by Prof Lokman Tsui from the Chinese University of Hong Kong), “Honour, Shame,and Empowerment: The Journey to Equality for Victims of Domestic Violence” (by Prof. Puja Kapai from the University of Hong Kong), “Translating Music: How Computational Learning Explains the Way We Appreciate Music and Language” (by Prof. De Kai from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology), and “Hong Kong Food Culture in the Shadow of Gentrification” (by Jason Ng from the University of Hong Kong).
One night 10 talks in 10 venues. Photo from Raising the Bar. Use with permission.
Global Voices interviewed Elson Tong, one of the event's organizers, who explained why the initiative is important to Hong Kong:
Raising the Bar thrives in the context of a large number of grassroots public education initiatives recently launched in Hong Kong. Naturally, political events have been the main catalyst. Each initiative has its own focus, but they all respond to a growing awareness that the city has the potential to become a hub for culture, education and innovative ideas.
Another important aspect is that we’ve brought the event from the grassroots level up, without a blueprint and without any funding. A lot of generous people have helped us out at different stages. In the end we’ve built ‘Raising the Bar’ around a ‘sustainable consumption’ model, where part of our revenue goes back to the local community, in particular local artists and designers.
Indeed, the organizers of Raising the Bar Hong Kong have partnered with a number of NGOs and start-ups to promote the event and build its community. Among the partner-organizations are EnrichHK, which aims to enrich and empower migrant women in Hong Kong and improve their lives, and Project Little Dream, which is a charity that designs, builds, and runs rural village schools in Takeo, Cambodia.
Professor Lokman Tsui, one of the speakers for Raising the Bar Hong Kong, told Global Voices that he decided to participate because he believes education is a public good and should not be confined to university classrooms.
I believe that a healthy society is one where ideas can freely flow, where people can debate, discuss and learn from each other. I also believe education doesn't have to be formal or stiff, but can be engaging, empowering and enjoyable — so it wasn't a hard decision for me to accept when ‘Raising the Bar’ asked me.
In the long run we need to start thinking of education as a conversation, rather than just a lecture. This is a cultural transformation, and something Raising the Bar is helping us realize and move forward on.
Louie, a participant at one of the talks, said he is ready to embrace this new use of a familiar space:
When I used to think about a pub, I think about drinking, picking up girls, and getting into a fight after getting drunk. I never imagined that a pub could be a place to have intellectual conversations.
It is events like this that make a truly dynamic and creative city stand out. Hong Kong, despite the troubling news that recently filled the airwaves, is a city that still shines at night with exciting ideas and inspiration, especially from young people.

author: Tang


text:
How Blogging is Held Hostage by Ethiopian Politics · Global Voices
Endalkachew Chala

A crowded street in Addis Ababa. Photo by Sam Effron via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 2.0)
It takes a great deal of time to travel anywhere in Addis Ababa. The traffic requires you to be enormously patient. Using Ethiopia’s telecom services requires a similar level of patience. You send a text message to someone you’re supposed to meet, to let her know you’re running late, likely because of a traffic jam. But you might well arrive long before the message shows up on your friend’s phone, which could be hours or even days later. In Ethiopia, more than 40 percent of text messages are not delivered on time, or simply never reach the recipient.
Calls often drop in the middle of a conversation, and the airtime on pre-paid mobile phone cards is usually less than what’s advertised. During the rainy season, it’s not unusual to experience extended network outages for hours at a time, even in the capital. In the first half of 2014 alone, state media reported that more than 25 network outages occurred nationwide. And when the networks are up, they’re painfully slow: to upload a file as small as 2 MB or less on standard Gmail can take up to five minutes.
EthioTelecom, the country’s sole, government-run telecom company, has cycled through at least three CEOs, offered multi-million dollar service expansion contracts to Chinese companies, and made countless public promises to improve service “very soon” since 2010. Despite years of EthioTelecom getting increasingly favorable news coverage, there has been no major improvement in the service—if anything, their service has worsened.
Yet when the Ethiopian government wants to communicate with the public, telecommunications services work very well. An ordinary citizen needs an official permit to broadcast an SMS message to more than 10 people, but on occasions like the 40th anniversary of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF), celebrated on Feburary 18, countless Ethiopians received mass pro-government text messages marking the occasion.
The government also exercises tight control over access to Internet services. Solomon, a good friend of mine and recent graduate in political science, wanted to start a personal blog with his country’s domain name, .et. He applied to buy a domain under .et, but was told he needed to register as a business before the state administrator of top-level domains would consider his application. When Solomon expressed frustration with EthioTelecom’s customer service, an employee called security and had Solomon removed from the building.
Why is there just a single—and poorly functioning—Internet service provider for Ethiopia’s 90 million people? We know better than to ask this of public officials. Such questions will only be seen as an attempt to undermine national sovereignty, or to sell the country to foreign neoliberal capitalists.
Horn of Africa map from the UN. Released to public domain.
The control exerted by the state over Ethiopia’s telecommunications services is usually justified in the name of preserving Ethiopia’s economic  sovereignty. To a large extent, Ethiopia exploits its position as western powers’ stable ally in the volatile Horn of Africa. Bordered by Sudan and Eritrea, and with a genuine terror threat emanating from neighboring Somalia, the government can use a sweeping and abusive anti-terrorism laws as a tool to suppress any hint of dissent.
Mobile text message services were suspended for three years following the 2005 election, the only contested election in the nation’s entire political history. In May 2011, the entire country was disconnected from the global Internet for hours, because the government feared the Internet would fuel an Egyptian-style “revolution” in Ethiopia. At that time, state-controlled media outlets routinely depicted social media as being “bad for the health of society.”
More than a century ago, when Emperor Menelik II connected the palace and the treasury through a telephone line, the sound of disembodied voices frightened the nobility and the priests. They tried to banish the telephone line, calling it the work of demons. It sometimes feels as if the current rulers are re-enacting these scenarios by putting telecom technologies out of the reach of most Ethiopians and shrouding their efforts in political ideology.
For Ethiopians like my friend Solomon, who experiment with expressing themselves online, punishment by the state or by EthioTelecom is a familiar pattern. In 2012, I got together with a few colleagues and started a collective blog called Zone9. After just three weeks we found out that our blog was not accessible in Ethiopia. We never believed the government would consider our blog a serious political threat—we were simply trying to form an identity as one voice in Ethiopia’s post-civil war generation with an engaged heart and a thick skin.
And we wanted to give our government the benefit of the doubt, despite the fact that we received lots of advice to the contrary from journalists who had experienced the regime’s brutality first-hand. We refused to be co-opted by the various Ethiopian political forces, which tend to be divided along ideological, ethnic and religious lines. Our objective was not to confront the government, but to use Ethiopia’s tiny web space as much as possible to kindle genuine public discussions at the grassroots level. We were writing about issues of public interest.
In a bid to lengthen the lives of our blogs we tried to generalize our criticism, rather than focus on specific wrongdoings of the government. In the space of just a few months we launched more than ten blogs, moving each time, tweaking their web addresses to bypass censorship. We alternated between platforms, from Blogger to WordPress and back to Blogger. This was of course a poor digital media strategy, but it was no child’s game. And then we overstepped the limit. This resulted in some of us being beaten by the police and charged with inciting violence, and even terrorism. This is what happened to nine of my friends, who are currently suffering in prisons in Addis Ababa.
We learned that we were wrong to assume that the government would not touch us, that they knew our vulnerabilities and would not arrest us. The most significant thing we did was to ask the government to start respecting the country’s constitution and to rectify poor telecom service issues like the ones I described at beginning of this piece. Our campaigns were able to attract many from Ethiopia’s relatively small online community, but our activities were never criminal.
On my colleagues’ charge sheet, the prosecutor presented a full transcript of the wiretapped phone conversations I had with my friends while I was still in Ethiopia, as evidence of a “crime” we committed. They recorded telephone conversations we had about our private lives, about our training in digital security, and everything in between. The government accused us of collaborating with political groups of whom we had been openly critical.
The Zone9 bloggers were simply grasping for a bit of agency through the Internet. But we are now trapped between the local greedy power circles of those who run the Ethiopian government who are using global anti-terrorism rhetoric to crush anything they fear could threaten their power and stability as leaders. Meanwhile, nearly a year after their arrest, my friends continue to live behind bars, with little ability to see family, no access to the outside world, and no clear legal justification for their continuing detention.
This essay won third prize in the #GV2015 Summit competition, “How Do Internet Policies Affect Your Community?” Endalk Chala is a PhD student in Media Studies at the University of Oregon and a founding member of the Zone9 blogging collective in Ethiopia. He joined Global Voices in 2011.

author: Endalkachew Chala


text:
Lesbian Fleeing Persecution in Cameroon Finally Receives Asylum in Spain · Global Voices
Lourdes Sada

Photo of Christelle Nangnou taken in Cameroon. Retrived from eldiario.es under license CC BY-SA 3.0
Christelle Nangnou, a young lesbian from Cameroon, arrived in Madrid on March 25 asking for political asylum due to the persecution of gay people in her home country. She is currently being sought out by the Cameroon government, and if captured, could spend five to 10 years in prison because of her sexual orientation.
According to a statement on eldiario.es, she arrived at Barajas airport with false documentation and an article cut out from a newspaper reporting that the Cameroonian police were searching for her because they accused her of being “the ringleader of a lesbian group”. The article also stated that homosexuality is seen as a “satanic practice.” Spanish authorities refused her request for asylum; they claimed doubts as to the truth of her story and ordered that she be deported.
Christelle Nangnou presents this article cutout to authorities to show that she is being victimized due to her sexuality.  Image from eldiario.es under license CC BY-SA 3.0
Christelle received assistance from lawyer Eduardo Gómez of the Red Jurídica law firm, who was the only person authorized to visit her whilst in confinement. Gómez appealed her case to the National High Court, but it was denied. Therefore, he turned to the European Court of Human Rights, which halted deportation until the case was resolved and established a April 17 deadline for submitting evidence corroborating Christelle's story. It's possible this suspension came just in time thanks only to her unwavering resistance against extradition:
Han intentado expulsarme y meterme en un avión tres veces, pero me he resistido. Tengo un golpe en el ojo derecho, una uña arrancada, me duele todo el cuerpo y estoy mareada por todo el trajín. Les he dicho que no puedo volver a mi país porque allí no puedo tener vida.
Three times they've tried to put me on a plane and deport me; but, I've resisted. I hurt all over, I have a bruise on my right eye, a nail ripped out, and I feel faint from all the commotion. I've told them that I can't go back to my country because there I can't have a life.
Meanwhile, several media outlets spread the news. La Federación Estatal de Lesbianas, Gais, Transexuales y Bisexuales (National Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Transexuals and Bisexuales) started a petition on Change.org asking the minister of the interior to consider asylum for the young Cameroonian. Red Jurídica sent out a tweet reporting that the petition accumulated 21,000 signatures within the first six hours, ultimately leading to more than 67,700.
Several members of Spain's parliament from various political parties put pressure on government institutions to rectify their decision on deporting Nangnou:
Representantes de los grupos parlamentarios del PSOE, Amaiur, Izquierda Plural, PNV, CiU, UPyD y ERC han mantenido este miércoles una reunión en la Subdirección General de la Policía con responsables de la Oficina de Asilo y Refugio y expertos de la Comisión Española de Ayuda al Refugiado (CEAR) para buscar una solución, y han determinado que se acoja a la posibilidad de una autorización de entrada y estancia en España por motivos humanitarios, trámite que han encomendado a CEAR.
This Wednesday, representatives from the parliamentary groups PSOE, Amaiur, Izquierda Plural, PNV, CiU, UpyD, and EC had a meeting at the Sub-Directorate General of Police with the heads of the Asylum and Refuge Office and experts from the Spanish Refugee Aid Commission (known in Spanish as CEAR) in search for a solution; and they have determined the possibility of authorizing entry and stay in Spain on humanitarian grounds; a process that has been entrusted to the CEAR.
All of the efforts finally paid off. On April 15—after 24 days of being retained at the airport—the Spanish government granted Christelle Nangnou a special resident permit on “humanitarian grounds.”
Although Spain is one of the world's more tolerant countries in regards to LGBT rights, its governmental institutions are not as inclined to granting asylum. According to the website Cáscara amarga (The Bitter Peel):
Patricia Bárcena, de la Comisión Española de Ayuda al Refugiado (CEAR), ha denunciado la mala praxis en cuanto a la gestión de las peticiones de asilo político en España. Bárcena lamenta que, a pesar de que la ley no exige una prueba plena de la situación de peligro, en la práctica sí que se está exigiendo. “Para aceptar la solicitud no hace falta que haya una amenaza concreta justo contra la persona demandante de asilo, sino una situación de guerra o persecución contra un grupo de gente que implica riesgo para esa persona”, ha explicado.
Patricia Bárcena of the Spanish Refugee Aid Commission has reported malpractice in regards to the management of political asylum petitions in Spain. Bárcena regrets that despite the fact that the law does not require proof of a dangerous situation, in practice, that is exactly what is being done. “In order to approve the request, there does not need to be a specific threat against the aslyum-seeking individual, but rather a situation of war or persecution against a group of people that puts that person's life at risk,” she explained.
Colegas, a collective of several Spanish gay associations, issued a press release asking the Spanish government “for greater flexibility in granting asylum to LGBT persons fleeing persecution.” Its president, Paco Ramírez, stated:
Las pruebas exigidas a los solicitantes de asilo deben tener en cuenta que muchas veces tienen que huir sin tiempo para recabar documentación probatoria de la persecución y amenaza de la que son objeto. Resulta desde todo punto de vista incongruente que tengamos una Ley de Asilo que reconoce la persecución por orientación sexual e identidad de género, y luego se lo pongamos tan difícil a muchas personas que han atravesado todo un infierno, muchas veces arriesgando su propia vida, para llegar a un país como España que creen un oasis de libertades y derechos y luego se encuentran con esta cruda realidad de una burocracia decimonónica.
Those who demand evidence from asylum seekers should take into account that often these individuals, in the midst of fleeing, do not have time to collect evidence demonstrating the persecution and threats that target them. It is wholly incongruous that we have an Asylum Law recognizing persecution on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity, but yet make it so difficult for those who have gone through hell and back, many of them risking their own lives, to arrive to a country like Spain believing there to be an oasis of liberties and rights, only to find themselves amidst the grim reality of a 19th-century bureaucracy.
The authorization granted by the Spanish government is valid until the National High Court decides whether or not to reverse the deportation order and grant Christelle Nangnou final asylum. Cáscara amarga says this process can last up to a year. In the meantime, she has been under the guardianship of the Red Cross because although now she can legally reside in Spain, she is not authorized to work.

author: Lourdes Sada


text:
Russian Siberia, Five Years Later: Still Neglected, Still Burning · Global Voices
Aric Toler

Only so-and-so can prevent wildfires. Images edited by Kevin Rothrock.
Massive wildfires are burning across Siberia, most notably in the regions of Khakassia, where 23 have perished, and the Zabaikal region further east. It's been almost five years since Russia witnessed this kind of destruction, when summer wildfires in 2010 killed at least 56 people. RuNet Echo covered those fires, as well as the response online, which included impressive efforts to crowdsource volunteer work, and considerable criticism of the government's response to the crisis. In 2015, Russians are reacting to the new wildfires much as they did in 2010, with several important distinctions.
Much like the response from many Russian bloggers in 2010, there has been growing criticism of both the central government’s handling of the wildfires and the national media’s coverage. A central difference between the 2010 and 2015 wildfires is that the earlier crisis included large fires near Moscow (as well as in faraway regions), while the 2015 wildfires are, so far, only in Siberia. As a result of Russia's Moscow-dominated news cycle, the Russian media has devoted far less attention to what remains an eastern problem, leading many locals in Siberia to resent Moscow, and by extension the Kremlin, for distorting the nation's priorities.
The online community “Typical Chita” (Tipichnaya Chita), where members share memes and information about local events, captures some of this popular sentiment. In the group, a public appeal from the residents of Zabaykalsky Krai (where Chita is located) addressed to the federal government is gaining some attention:
Эээй, правительство, мы Забакайльский край, мы не отделялись. Мы Россия и мы горим! Хватит обсуждать Украину, помогите сначала своему народу!!!
Yo, federal government! This is Zabaykalsky Krai calling. We didn't secede or anything. This is still Russia and we're on fire! Stop discussing Ukraine, start saving your own people!
Russians affected by the ongoing wildfires in the Zabaykalsky Krai have also launched a petition asking President Putin for additional assistance. More than 10,000 people have signed, leaving hundreds of comments.
Вчера, 13.04.2015 года в непосредственной близости к г.Чита полностью сгорели несколько дачных кооперативов, погибла 3х летняя девочка. Люди тушили пожар практически своими силами. Пожарные машины прибывали на место без воды. Электроснабжение было отключено, жители поселков даже не могли использовать собственные скважины.
При этом губернатор Забайкальского края К.К. Ильковский заявил ранее что край готов к пожароопасному периоду, а также заявил телеканалу Россия 24 что сил и средств для ликвидации пожаров в Забайкалье достаточно, хотя это фактически не так. Чита задыхается, с неба падает пепел. Забайкальцам не остается ничего как только продолжать тушить пожары своими силами и надеяться что Вы не оставите преступные действия Ильковского без внимания.
Yesterday, April 14, 2015, not far from the city of Chita, several housing complexes burned down completely, killing a three-year-old girl. People basically had to put out the fire by themselves. Firefighters arrived on the scene without any water. The power supply was cut off, so locals couldn't even pump the water from their own wells.
All this comes after Zabaykalsky Krai Governor Konstantin Ilkovsky announced earlier that the region is ready for the wildfire season, even telling national television that we have enough men and supplies to fight wildfires, when in reality we've got nothing. Chita is suffocating; ash falls from the sky. We're left with no choice but to keep putting out these fires ourselves, hoping you won't let Ilkovsky's actions go unanswered.
Perhaps the pleas of those in Khakassia and Zabaykal were heard. During Putin's annual call-in show on April 16, he laid out a $100-million aid package that is primarily aimed at assisting those whose property was damaged by the wildfires.
That said, it's not just disgruntled netizens who are unhappy with how the national media has covered the wildfires. Representatives of at least one provincial government—the Twitter account belonging to the Republic of Khakassia's Ministry of Construction Industry, Housing, and Utilities—criticized the news agency Vesti for inaccurate reporting:
Вести России пишут, что “удалось отстоять более 60 тыс. домов”. У нас вообще-то всего 16 тысяч вместе с многоквартирками… Откуда???
— Минстрой Хакасии (@minstroy19) April 13, 2015
Vesti writes, “they succeeded in saving more than 60,000 homes.” We've only got 16,000 homes—and that's including the apartment blocks. Where's [this information] from???
In contrast to the 2010 fires, there has been no real upsurge in technological innovations to crowdsource volunteer efforts for wildfire victims. This is likely due in large part to the brief amount of time that the recent wildfires have burned (the 2010 fires burned for months), and the 2010 fires’ proximity to Moscow, which gave that disaster greater visibility and urgency in Russian society.
Nevertheless, people in Siberia have leveraged social media to facilitate volunteering efforts for victims in Khakassia and Zabaykalsky. Members of the “Typical Chita” online group, for instance, have shared the contact information of people who need assistance in areas affected by the fires, such as individuals and families who are stranded somewhere or need fresh drinking water delivered. Internet users elsewhere on VKontakte, too, are sharing the locations of areas in need of volunteers, along with driving directions and phone numbers for anyone who wishes to help with the relief effort.
Additionally, a VKontakte group for volunteer fire fighters in the Zabaykalsky Krai has been extremely active since the beginning of the fires. The group's volunteers trade information about whom to contact, where to gather humanitarian aid, where to meet to fight the blazes, and more.
The most obvious difference between Russia during the 2010 fires and Russia during its current crisis has nothing to do with the fires, and everything to do with the ongoing war in Ukraine. While the connection between the wildfires and the Ukrainian conflict might not seem obvious at first, the people of Siberia have made the link easily enough. According to an alleged dispatch from pro-Russia separatist forces in eastern Ukraine, some fighters are returning home to Russia, in order to join the understaffed firefighting effort:
Горит Сибирь и Дальний Восток. Ополченцы-сибиряки временно возвращаются на малую родину, чтобы помочь землякам в тушении пожаров. Горят тысячи гектаров леса, сотни людей лишились крова. Ветеран иловайской кампании, прибывший к местам тушения пожаров, заявил, что когда он прибыл на пепелище, то по привычке подумал, что по поселку прошлись украинские каратели, настолько сильный был ущерб, нанесенный огненной стихией.
Siberia and the Far East are burning. Siberia's militiamen are returning home temporarily to help their countrymen put out the fires. Thousands of hectares of forest are burning, and hundreds of people are left without a roof over their heads. A veteran of the campaign in Ilovaisk [in eastern Ukraine], who visited the area where some of the firefighting [in Siberia] is happening, said he stepped onto the ashes and was ready to believe the Ukrainian fighters had marched through the village, so devastating was the wildfire.
So far, reports like these of Russian volunteers returning home to Russia to fight wildfires remain unverified. One Russian Twitter user noticed the irony of a recent humanitarian convoy shipment from Khakassia to the war-ravaged Donbass:
Хакасия, которая сейчас горит, в лучшем стиле многоходовочек отправляет гумконвои на Донбасс. http://t.co/6h32kWNA8H pic.twitter.com/Yf5SZNmkot
— Хьюстон, у нас п (@my_sitcom) April 13, 2015
Khakassia, which is now on fire, is sending more humanitarian aid to the Donbass, in what is surely part of someone's masterful game plan.
Even though five years and a far different geopolitical climate separate the two major wildfire outbreaks in Russia, they share common traits: dissatisfaction with the government's response, as well as crowdsourcing and volunteer efforts organized through social media. Because the 2015 fires are so far localized in Siberia, Russia's Moscow-dominated state and media have showed relatively little interest in this crisis.
Indeed, even the locals themselves apparently view the fires, at least in part, through the prism of the conflict in Ukraine.

author: Aric Toler


text:
The ‘Beauty’ of Russian Homophobia · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

This man threatened to attack random homosexuals. Image via Lena Klimova.
Lena Klimova, the founder of Children-404, an online support network for LGBT teens in Russia similar to the It Gets Better campaign in the United States, has launched a new project meant to shame the Internet users who send her death threats.
On April 20, Klimova unveiled a photo album, titled “Beautiful People and What They Say to Me,” where she posted publicly available pictures of individuals in their everyday lives, overlaid with the threatening messages they’ve sent her on VKontakte, Russia’s largest social network.
The photos show the individuals in situations that are casual and intimate: a man poses with a goat, a woman hugs a bouquet of roses, and so on. The text, however, is vicious and obscene, creating a violent juxtaposition between these people’s identities as private individuals and public homophobes.
Klimova’s photo archive currently contains 29 different images. RuNet Echo is republishing a handful of these photos, with the individuals’ identities obscured and the vulgar messages to Klimova translated into English.
Reader discretion is advised, as the language is obscene.
Image via Lena Klimova. VKontakte.
Sasha: When are you finally going to close your fucked-up group. I hate this shit. Gunning you down, you little bitch, is just the beginning of what you deserve.
Image via Lena Klimova. VKontakte.
Aisha: I, for one, think you’re a stupid bitch. You think you’re helping anything with this holy crusade?? Go and fucking kill yourself before they come for you!!! People like you should be locked up!
Image via Lena Klimova. VKontakte.
Alexander: You fucking slut! Why the fuck are you propagandizing fags? Sure, nobody wants to fuck you, but that’s your problem. Just close this disgusting group. Or else I’ll go and catch myself one of these fags, and I’ll beat the shit out of him. :) And on his stupid fucking face, I’ll inscribe the name of your group, and the whole thing will be YOUR fault!
Image via Lena Klimova. VKontakte.
Maxim: I’ll be one of the first to set fire to the stake you’re gonna burn on. You’ve even got the eyes of a druggie, you vomit-stained piece of shit.
Image via Lena Klimova. VKontakte.
Elizaveta: They’re gonna lock you up any day now. What you’re doing can’t go unpunished. I hope you burn in hell a long time in agony for propagandizing the homosexuals! Die, you shitty scum. Leave our country, you piece of shit. Sooner or later, you’re gonna pay for this!
Image via Lena Klimova. VKontakte.
Kristina: Burn in hell, all you perverts! If I saw you, I’d strangle you with my own hands.
Image via Lena Klimova. VKontakte.
Roman: Ahah, I get it: nobody wants to fuck you, and now you’re taking it out on Russians? People like you are the ones killing Slavs! There’s no place for you in society. Fine, go and promote this shit in other countries, but why here? My great grandfather died for you, you fucking beast! LGBT will never be tolerated! And the people who have supported you will regret it for the rest of their lives.
Image via Lena Klimova. VKontakte.
Kolya: Lena, I hate you. You are disgusting and, if I had the power, I would shoot you dead. I hope they ban your project and ostracize you from society. Nobody needs you, except freaks like you.
In November 2014, Russian police first started targeting Klimova’s group, Children-404, for spreading “gay propaganda.” In late March 2015, a court in St. Petersburg ordered the group blocked on VKontakte, where it’s most popular. The court order takes effect on April 25.

author: Kevin Rothrock


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Yerevan Prepares for the Armenian Genocide Centennial · Global Voices
Elia J. Ayoub

Armenian students walking towards Genocide Museum, surrounded by the Centennial emblem. Photo taken by Joey Ayoub.
This Friday, April 24, is an important date to Armenians worldwide. It will mark 100 years from the day when Ottoman authorities began rounding up around 250 Armenian intellectuals and community leaders in Constantinople, paving the way for the Armenian Genocide in which an estimated 1 to 1.5 million Armenian citizens of the Ottoman Empires were systematically exterminated between 1915 and 1918.
All around Yerevan, the purple colors of the aptly-named Forget-Me-Not Flower can be seen everywhere. From schoolchildren carrying it in the form of a pin on their chests to coffee-drinking university students displaying it in the form of a sticker on their laptop. Everywhere, streets, homes, hospitals, supermarkets, restaurants, shops and hotels are all displaying the flower with a simple message: “I Remember and Demand.”
Yerevan woman sitting at a public park with a living statue of a piano with Forget-Me-Not flowers on it. Photo taken by Joey Ayoub.
Remembering the Genocide and demanding recognition from the Republic of Turkey, the legal successor to the the Ottoman Empire, have been part of virtually every Armenian's life and identity for the past century. Generation after generation, the survivors of the Armenian Genocide and their descendants have been campaigning for the international community to recognize the fact. To date, only 21 countries have fully recognized the Armenia Genocide including France, Italy, Lebanon and Russia.
The Forget-Me-Not flower can be seen planted all around Yerevan. As The Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America explained, the Forget-Me-Not “expresses the theme of eternal remembrance, and is also meant to symbolically evoke the past, present, and future experiences”.
Source: Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of American
As for the upcoming days, several events from concerts to conferences are planned to commemorate the Genocide. This Global Voices author will be participating in the Against the Crime of the Genocide Global Forum, which is bringing together more than 500 participants from all over the world, including political, religious and public figures, journalists and editors.
Further posts about the event will be appearing on Global Voices. Stay tuned.

author: Elia J. Ayoub


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Bulgaria’s First Crowdfunding Journalism Project · Global Voices
Ruslan Trad

Bulgaria, a member of the European Union, has a big problem with freedom of the media. The Balkan country is ranked 106 out of 180 countries in the 2015 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders.
Against this unpleasant background, a new media project was established with the ambitious task of opposing the media empires of local oligarchs and providing an alternative way to access information to the public.
KlinKlin.bg, founded by journalists, designers and bloggers, aims to establish an independent crowdfunding journalist project similar in spirit to those established by colleagues in the Netherlands (decorespondent.nl), Germany (krautreporter.de) and Canada (ricochet.media). But KlinKlin faces a major challenge: 86.5% of the population has no confidence in the local media.
KlinKlin is in the early stage of collecting support and funding. For now, the site is in Bulgarian, but the team is considering an English version too. In less than a week, the Facebook page of KlinKlin has just under 2,700 fans. Below is the group's promo video complete with English subtitles.

author: Ruslan Trad


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Egypt Sentences Former President Morsi to 20 Years in Prison for “Intimidation and Violence” towards Protestors · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

A banner which reads: “The revolution continues; Morsi will be back,” seen in Giza this morning. Photograph shared on Twitter by @Ikhwanweb, the Twitter account of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt
Egypt sentenced its first democratically elected president Mohammed Morsi to 20 years in prison today, found “guilty of intimidation and violence” towards protestors in 2012. He was acquitted of charges related to killing protestors.
Morsi, who is a Muslim Brotherhood member, was the president of Egypt for one year after the revolution, which overthrew Hosni Mubarak, who ruled Egypt for more than 30 years. Morsi's reign was cut short in July 2013, following massive protests calling for his ouster. Then, the Egyptian Army took command, under the leadership of Commander-in-Chief of the Egyptian Armed Forces and Minister of Defence General Abdul Fattah El Sisi, who was later on elected as the new president of Egypt.
Cairo-based journalist Bel Trew tweeted court proceedings:
Brotherhood leaders Mohamed El-Beltagy,Essam El-Erian &Abdel-Arty grinning,waving,doing Rabaa salute in caged dock #Egypt #MorsiTrial
— Bel Trew – بل ترو (@Beltrew) April 21, 2015
#Morsi is in now furtherest caged dock from journalists near to the judge desk,cameraman straining to see him past police presence #Egypt
— Bel Trew – بل ترو (@Beltrew) April 21, 2015
Jailed Brotherhood leaders who are separated from toppled president Morsi are chanting to him through soundproof walls #MorsiTrial #Egypt
— Bel Trew – بل ترو (@Beltrew) April 21, 2015
She adds:
Mohamed #Morsi – and all defendants acquitted of incitement to murder – instead found guilty of intimidation, violence #EGypt
— Bel Trew – بل ترو (@Beltrew) April 21, 2015
For The Big Pharaoh, Morsi's faith should be a lesson for those in power today. He notes:
2 yrs ago, MB was ruling, sent cadets to attack sit-in. What's happening should be lesson to supporters of injustice done by today's regime.
— The Big Pharaoh (@TheBigPharaoh) April 21, 2015
He adds:
Every court verdict has nothing to do with true justice, it has to do with vengeance and existential war between 2 entities. #Egypt
— The Big Pharaoh (@TheBigPharaoh) April 21, 2015
And continues:
In Dec 2012, I saw MB cadets fight protesters while protected by police vans. yet I will not support verdict born out of political rivalry.
— The Big Pharaoh (@TheBigPharaoh) April 21, 2015
Tamer El-Ghobashy casts doubt on Egypt's judiciary. He says:
Egypt's judiciary has made the facts of cases irrelevant. Impossible to see any trial as approaching anything resembling due process. #Morsi
— Tamer El-Ghobashy (@TamerELG) April 21, 2015
And the plot is not lost on Tweet Palestine, who draws parallels:
So Mubarak walks free after 30 years of Tyranny and #Morsi gets 20 years in prison what madness in the Egyptian unjust courts
— Tweet_Palestine (@Tweet_Palestine) April 21, 2015
This is not all for Morsi, as the trial continues. Journalist Hafsa Halawa tweets:
Bear in mind the more "serious" charges of espionage and jail break are still to come throughout the spring. #morsi #Egypt
— Hafsa Halawa (@HafsaHalawa) April 21, 2015
Stay tuned as the Morsi saga continues in Egyptian courts.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Electricity, Food and Fuel Shortages Increase Suffering of Yemenis as Saudi-Coalition Bombs Continue to Fall · Global Voices
Noon Arabia

“#Yemen is deep into the humanitarian disaster. Monitors can't see the reality & won't. People are starving in #Aden,’ tweets @yemen-updates, who shares this photograph of Yemenis in Aden queuing for food
Yemenis have always suffered from a lack in basic services such as electricity cuts and water shortages, but the war causing consecutive days of electricity outage has intensified their suffering and put the lives of patients at hospitals at risk.
Hundreds of people have been reportedly killed in fighting in Yemen since Saudi Arabia launched a military campaign against the country on March 26. Backed by its Gulf Arab allies, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Sudan and Saudi Arabia started an airstrike operation, dubbed Decisive Storm, against Houthi fighters who took control of Yemen in January.
Although Operation Decisive Storm airstrikes are intended to bomb military facilities and weapon depots to quell the Houthi rebels supported by ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh, the strikes have resulted in a lot of death, displacement and destruction across the country. Despite the massive number of strikes over the past three weeks, the Houthi/Saleh brutal aggression has spread to the south and intensified, particularly in Aden, killing many civilians and destroying residential neighbourhoods as well.
The United Nations estimates that around 150,000 people have been displaced, and the World Health Organisation reported 944 people had been killed and 3487 injured in less than a month.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs the “conflict has taken a significant toll on civilians.”
It adds:
Food insecurity is rising. The World Food Programme (WFP) estimates that the number of food insecure people in Yemen has increased to 12 million people – a 13 per cent rise since the start of the crisis. Prior to the escalation of the conflict, over 90 per cent of Yemen’s staple food was imported, but the closure of ports and other restrictions on imports have decreased availability.
[…]
Fuel has run out in many areas. Where fuel is available, prices have skyrocketed – Oxfam estimates that fuel prices have quadrupled in some locations. Fuel is urgently needed to pump water from the ground and to maintain services at hospitals and other critical facilities facing frequent power outages.
Even before this war started, Yemen has been facing a humanitarian crisis. About 16 million people, or more than 61 per cent of the population, required humanitarian assistance by the end of 2014.
The UN report explains:
The current escalation will significantly exacerbate needs among many of these already vulnerable people, in addition to affecting people who were not previously in need of humanitarian assistance.
Basic services in Yemen are on the verge of collapse. The Government is largely unable to pay civil servant salaries, which is having a direct impact on the provision of basic services. Increasing reports have been received of health and nutrition facilities closing or drastically curtailing services in affected areas, particularly in the south and in Sa’ada. Schooling has also been suspended for over 1.5 million children since the crisis began.
Oxfam condemned the Saudi led coalition airstrikes for bombing its warehouse containing vital humanitarian aid and drinking water. Oxfam's country director in Yemen said in a statement:
This is an absolute outrage particularly when one considers that we have shared detailed information with the Coalition on the locations of our offices and storage facilities. The contents of the warehouse had no military value.
On Twitter, Yemeni netizens share snippets of their lives to show us life under war.
From Sana'a, Hisham Al-Omeisy says power cuts and the lack of gas has effected backup generators in hospitals, putting the lives of patients at risk:
Doesn't get more morbid than this..with no gas to power hospitals backup generators, many ppl will die soon #Yemen https://t.co/e3Q6G88AUA
— Hisham Al-Omeisy (@omeisy) April 13, 2015
Yemen Updates explains:
Sanaa like other cities sinks in total blackout.#Houthis don't care & #Saudi coalition won't give up. Both kill #Yemenis in their own ways.
— Yemen Updates (@yemen_updates) April 13, 2015
And Nisma Alozebi adds that “living in a jungle would be better”:
My everyday life no #Electricity no #water no #food no #security. Living in a jungle would be better. #aden #Yemen pic.twitter.com/qL2kHTjm1X
— Nisma Alozebi (@NismaAlozebi) April 16, 2015
In Aden, Yemenis complain of similar hardships. Mohammed Alsalafi tweets:
The situation in #Aden is very dire! Family member tells me:"no water, no electricity & it's hot" he adds "corps all over the streets"
— Mohammed A. A. (@Moalsalafi) April 18, 2015
Charging Phones:
Mobile phone communication and sharing the horrors of war with themselves and the outside war is at the back of many Yemenis minds, as electricity cuts leaves them completely cut off.
Ammar Al-Aulaqi shares this photograph showing a line up of phones waiting for their turn to be charged:
Funny pic going around. Impacts of power outage  pic.twitter.com/UPhsYvrhob
— Ammar Al-Aulaqi (@ammar82) April 15, 2015
Akram Al-Akhali shares a similar photograph of a “recharging party”:
lucky friend got fuel 4 the generator,invited frnds 4 a'recharging party'50hrs no electricity&counting,#Sanaa #yemen pic.twitter.com/d7GHynotsl
— Akram Al-Akhali (@alakhali) April 14, 2015
Food, Fuel and Water Shortages:
Amid an air, land and sea blockade on Yemen, no imports have been reaching the country which heavily relies on imports for fuel and food supply. Yemen has an import dependency for 90pc of its wheat and 100pc of its rice. The shortage caused a spike in food and fuel prices also causing a paralysis in mobility nationwide. Fuel is also needed to generate electric power and keep water systems running and necessary for operating hospital generators. Some water sources have also been damaged further by the conflict, either by airstrikes targeting a military base next to a water source or by Houthi/Saleh militias destroying a major pipeline, serving 1 million in the city of Aden.
Rasha Jarhum explains:
Main water distribution system in #aden is in Jabal Hadid where ammunition storage is exploding #yemen #HumanitarianCrisis
— Rasha Jarhum (@RashaJarhum) March 28, 2015
A video uploaded by SamaYemen reportedly shows damage to a drinking water pipe in the district of Mualla, in Aden:
And Yemen Updates warns of a “humanitarian disaster”:
#Yemen is deep into the humanitarian disaster. Monitors can't see the reality & won't. People are starving in #Aden. pic.twitter.com/z6RWUIuvBm
— Yemen Updates (@yemen_updates) April 13, 2015
Wesam Qaid says bakeries in Aden have run out of flour:
Worsening #humanitarian conditions as bakeries in #Aden close & those open run out of flour #KefayaWar @WFP pic.twitter.com/ReGOKqeEtp
— Wesam Qaid (@Wesamqaid) April 12, 2015
And the Twitter account of Yemen Post Newspaper posts photographs of Yemenis in lines, waiting for bread:
Hunger crises in #Yemen: Hundreds line up hoping to get bread. Bakery never opens due to shortage in flour. #اليمن pic.twitter.com/mCaNH3dNL8
— Yemen Post Newspaper (@YemenPostNews) April 11, 2015
No Water:
Yemeni netizens report serious water shortages. From Aden, Unicef Yemen shares this poster:
#Aden water system serving 1 mln people has been damaged by fighting double by fuel shortage. #YemenChildren #Yemen pic.twitter.com/7rtzggWVrw
— UNICEF Yemen (@UNICEF_Yemen) April 5, 2015
Fatik Al-Rodaini shows children waiting in line for water in Aden:
Queues in Yemen are everywhere but in Aden children staying in a line to get water for their families #KefayaWar pic.twitter.com/zF7f5WOk0P
— Fatik Al-Rodaini (@Fatikr) April 15, 2015
And Muraisi RedDevil explains the trouble people go through to get water:
Massive water shortage in #Aden. People travelling far and wide to get basic amenities. #Yemen pic.twitter.com/POAtqE5oXn
— Yemeni_UK (@MuraisiRedDevil) April 7, 2015
No Fuel:
The food and water shortage is being exacerbated by the lack of fuel for cars, and generators. From Sana'a, Ala'a Assamawy plots a 2.6km long traffic jam of cars waiting at a petrol station:
New record of #suffering in #Yemen.. a 2.6KM long queue of cars to pump fuel in #Sanaa #now WTH#OpDecisiveStorm pic.twitter.com/FwFUFCIcbO
— Ala'a Assamawy (@assamawy) April 5, 2015
Ahmed Sayaghi, from Sana'a, shares this photograph:
photo: the longest queues in petrol station #sanaa #yemen #suffer صورة : أطول طوابير محطات البترول في صنعاء – اليمن pic.twitter.com/K1n5fXMbQN
— ~• A. Sayaghi •~ (@AhmedSayaghi) April 7, 2015
And the Yemen Post Newspaper tweets:
Hundreds of vehicles surround a gas station for days…. no petrol… #Yemen #اليمن pic.twitter.com/chSupCs3CB
— Yemen Post Newspaper (@YemenPostNews) April 15, 2015
The same newspaper's Twitter account shows an enterprising Yemeni, eager to charge his phone using a portable solar energy charger:
Desperate to charge his mobile phone.Portable Solar energy…Thanks to 6 days of electricity blackouts in #Yemen pic.twitter.com/fw4n7c0mWc
— Yemen Post Newspaper (@YemenPostNews) April 18, 2015
And car — or motorbike —  pooling is another viable option facing many Yemenis.
No petrol? Here is the #Yemen solution!!! #اليمن pic.twitter.com/VDbFzYrTPt
— Yemen Post Newspaper (@YemenPostNews) April 16, 2015
Stay tuned for more coverage as the drums of war continue to beat in this war-ravaged country.
Also Read:
“We Walk Around Death,” Tweets a Yemeni Blogger about the Horrors of War


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Lebanon Celebrates its Armenian Heritage in Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide · Global Voices
Elia J. Ayoub

Source: Derian Armenological Library of Haigazian University
While the world's focus will be on Yerevan, Armenia's capital, on April 24 for the commemoration of the Armenian Genocide Centenary, another nation, Lebanon, is celebrating its rich Armenian heritage.
Lebanon was among the nations that welcomed Armenian refugees fleeing the genocide of 1915, and for the past 100 years Lebanese Armenians have been at the forefront of Lebanese culture, with great contributions to the Arts and Sciences. Today, Lebanese Armenians live primarily around Beirut, notably Bourj Hammoud, which was founded by survivors, with smaller groups elsewhere. Lebanon has the only Armenian university outside of Armenia, Haigazian University, which was the seat of an incredible Space Program in the 1960s. There are three major Armenian dailies published in Beirut that speak on behalf of the three Armenian political parties represented in the Lebanese parliament.
Lebanese Stamp featuring the Armenian Genocide Monument in Bikfaya, Lebanon. Source: Armenians in Lebanon
To celebrate their contribution, Audio Kultur is having a special focus on Lebanese Armenians. They released a short movie called ‘Still Here, Still Bleeding‘, documenting “the printing of the magazine in real blood drawn from 5 Lebanese-Armenians who decided to give blood as a symbolic gesture of remembrance for the blood that was spilled by the Armenian people.” The five people who gave blood include two designers, a photographer, a conductor of the the Lebanese Philharmonic Orchestra and a singer/songwriter.
In addition, they highlighted Lebanese-Armenian recording artist Eileen Khatchadourian, celebrated Armenian resistance to the Ottoman Empire in Anjar, published a City Guide to Bourj Hammoud, hosted a playlist of selected Armenian songs as well as selecting a list of Armenian movies to watch. There will also be a Blood Drive hosted by Blood Donation NGO Donner Sang Compter this Sunday, April 26, as well a ‘Ride To Remember‘ bike rally.
In Bourj Hammoud, Lebanese-Armenians and other Lebanese commemorated the genocide under the hashtag #AgainstAllGenocides by releasing sky lanterns on the night of April 19.
And this happened last night in #Lebanon. #AgainstAllGenocides pic.twitter.com/IDyNW5UBoj
— Mike Shaldjian (@LAFNGUY) April 19, 2015
500 Lanterns were released in the sky of Beirut, in the event #AgainstAllGenocides #ZavarianStudentAssociation pic.twitter.com/gVJskxaQJQ
— Aline Demirjian (@AlineDemirjian) April 19, 2015
The featured image was taken from Aline Demirjian's Twitter account.


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Protecting Personal Data in Argentina Is a Work in Progress · Global Voices
Milton Ramirez

Cloud Computing – Photo by Quinn Dombrowski on Flickr. (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).
In an article for online magazine Digital Rights: Latin America & The Caribbean, No.21, Argentinean lawyer Valeria Milanés explains that even though the United States is a world leader in data processing, it does not have legislation for the protection of personal data. The US is also considered to have “an inadequate level of protection in relationship to national and international standards.”
Unfortunately, in North America and other countries, the evolution of technology has outpaced the development of legal regimes intended to govern their use. Milanés explains the case of Argentina and mentions National Directorate for Personal Data Protection and the Law of Personal Data, D.N.P.D.P., (Laws 25.326 and 26.343), which is among the “most advanced on the issue of data protection.” The problems lie in its implementation:
…en 2012, y luego de doce años de funcionamiento, la D.N.P.D.P. tenía registradas 20.000 bases de datos, contra 1.600.000 que tenía registradas a la misma fecha y en similar plazo la Agencia Española de Protección de Datos.
…in 2012, after twelve years in service, the D.N.P.D.P. had registered 20,000 databases, compared with 1,600,000 databases registered by that date and within the same period with the Spanish Data Protection Agency.
Milanés says that cloud computing presents new challenges:
…las grandes empresas multinacionales prestadoras de los servicios de nube pública se caracterizan por utilizar contratos de adhesión, que por lo general no contienen las especificaciones requeridas en la ley 25.326 y en los que hasta la ley aplicable y jurisdicción prefijada corresponde al país en los que estas empresas tienen sus domicilios legales –por lo general, ciudades de Estados Unidos–. Es más, inclusive los servidores en los que se almacena la información pueden no encontrarse en Argentina.
…large multinational public cloud service providers are known for using adhesion contracts, which generally do not contain specifications established by Law 25.326 and in which the applicable law and predetermined jurisdiction are that of the country where these companies are legally domiciled, mainly US cities. Furthermore, even the servers that store the information are sometimes not in Argentina.
Thus, the Argentinean experience is no different from other countries in the region, who despite having laws protecting the personal data of individuals and corporations still have a long way to go.
Milanés concludes that the issue needs “actions towards effective implementation and compliance with current laws and adoption of responsible and sound business practices to allow, to the extent possible, for personal data privacy and security guarantees to be preserved.”

author: Milton Ramirez


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Saudi Arabia Announces End of Airstrikes on Yemen · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

‘Breaking – Coalition's SP: “End of OpDecisiveStorm doesn't mean ceasefire” ..what did I just tell ya! #Yemen ,” tweets @omeisy
Saudi Arabia announced today that it is ending its airstrikes on Yemen after “achieving its military goals.”
This comes after 944 people have been killed and 3,487 injured in fighting in Yemen since Saudi Arabia launched a military campaign against the country on March 26. Backed by its Gulf Arab allies, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Sudan and Saudi Arabia started an airstrike operation, dubbed Decisive Storm, against Houthi fighters who took control of Yemen in January.
Although Operation Decisive Storm airstrikes were intended to bomb military facilities and weapon depots to quell the Houthi rebels supported by ousted president Ali Abdullah Saleh, the strikes have resulted in a lot of death, displacement and destruction across the country. Despite the massive number of strikes over the past month, the Houthi/Saleh brutal aggression has spread to the south and intensified, particularly in Aden, killing many civilians and destroying residential neighbourhoods as well.
Saudi Arabia announced it was now leading Operation Restoring Hope, which aimed at finding a political solution in the country it had just bombed.
Yemeni Nasser Maweri is not mincing his words when it came to his initial reaction to the news:
So wait a min! Coalition only destroyd #Yemen‘s millitary forces = prevent houthis from harming KSA! How is that war “TO SAVE YEMEN”?
— Nasser Maweri (@NasserMaweri) April 21, 2015
PT : So this war was only to save Saudi's ass from Houthi threat! There was nothing abt it for Yemen! U killed Yemenis to save urselvs only
— Nasser Maweri (@NasserMaweri) April 21, 2015
And Yemeni blogger Noon Arabia says the change of the operation's name is just a marketing gimmick:
الحرب في #اليمن يجري تغيير اسمها التسويقي من #عاصفة_الحزم الى #اعادة_الامل ، “لكن هذا لا يعني انه سوف يعلن وقفا لإطلاق النار”
— نون عربية (@NoonArabia) April 21, 2015
The war on Yemen is getting rebranded from Operation Decisive Storm to Operation Restoring Hope. This doesn't mean there will be a ceasefire
In another tweet, she shares the death toll from the war so far:
Enough war in #Yemen because every life matters. #KefayaWar #AdenBleeding https://t.co/hBtQ9jRDIT
— نون عربية (@NoonArabia) April 21, 2015
Journalist Adam Baron, who covers Yemen and has lived there from 2011 to 2014, says it is too early to say what tomorrow brings. He tweets:
In my opinion, its far too early to say that this is the end of the war in #Yemen. Time will tell how things unfold.
— Adam Baron (@adammbaron) April 21, 2015
And he explains:
Rather than the end of war, a very strong possibility (likelihood?) today's announcement only signals a new phase–and a new form. #yemen
— Adam Baron (@adammbaron) April 21, 2015
Palestinian Lina Alsaafin tweets:
Saudi announced end of military op on #Yemen. Comforting to know they havent achieved any of their goals but left hundreds civilians dead.
— لينة (@LinahAlsaafin) April 21, 2015
From Bahrain, Abu Omar Al Shafee notes:
#عاصفة_الحزم بدأت فجأة وانتهت فجأة ..
— أبوعمر- الشافعي (@ALSHAF3EE) April 21, 2015
Operation Decisive Storm: It started suddenly and ended suddenly
This situation shouldn't confuse anyone, says Ammar Al-Aulaqi:
Those who started following Yemen lately &feel very confused; chill,I'm from there & I've been living this drama my whole life.Still as lost
— Ammar Al-Aulaqi (@ammar82) April 21, 2015
However, Yemeni netizens are still tweeting about hearing airstrikes in the skies of the capital Sana'a.
Journalist Baron tweets:
Well, reports of airstrikes over Sanaa at this very moment…50 minutes from the official end of Decisive Storm…
— Adam Baron (@adammbaron) April 21, 2015
Mazen Al-Hebshi says:
Antiaircraft guns began firing now in #Sanaa #Yemen #OpRestorationofHope
— Mazen Al-Hebshi (@MazenAlHebshi) April 21, 2015
And Mohammed Al-Assadi adds:
Big booms & intensive air defence selling and fire now in western parts of #Sanaa. One more hour to go for the new phase? #Yemen #Peace
— Mohammed Al-Asaadi (@alasaadim) April 21, 2015
Will this change in the operation's name bring hope to Yemenis?
Also Read:
Electricity, Food and Fuel Shortages Increase Suffering of Yemenis as Saudi-Coalition Bombs Continue to Fall
‘We Walk Around Death,’ Tweets a Yemeni Blogger About the Horrors of War