text:
Do Japanese People Really Have a Low Opinion of Americans? · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

The relationship between Americans and Japanese has evolved since the end of WWII. Image: “Teahouse of the August Moon,” courtesy Wikimedia.
A recent article in American newspaper USA Today took an unusual slant when reporting on a new Pew Research survey comparing Japanese and American attitudes about each other.
USA Today's main takeaway of the Pew survey? “Japanese have low opinion of Americans.”
Pew Research's own in-depth summary of the results of the poll is almost the polar opposite of USA Today's interpretation:
About two-thirds of Americans trust Japan a great deal or a fair amount and three-quarters of Japanese say they trust the United States, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.
According to Pew Research, attitudes seem to have improved:
The animosity of the 1980s and 1990s, when U.S.-Japan relations were marked by a series of trade wars, has all but vanished. Just 8% of Americans cite that period of intense trade friction as the most important event in modern U.S.-Japan relations. The number of Americans calling Japanese trade practices unfair has fallen from 63% in 1989 to just 24% currently. More than half think that Japan’s trade policy toward the U.S. is fair.
In fact, Pew Research documents a previous 2014 survey indicating “overwhelming” support in Japan for greater economic ties with the United States, rather than China, soon to eclipse the US as the world's number one economic power:
Nearly eight-in-ten Japanese (78%) say it is more important to have strong economic connections with the U.S., while only 10% cite China. Young Japanese are more likely than their elders to back a deeper economic relationship with the U.S., but the preference for the U.S. among all age groups, and among all demographic subgroups in Japan, is still overwhelming.
The survey result USA Today chose to highlight in its headline here is more of a footnote Pew's news release:
On a personal level, Americans associate positive personality traits with the Japanese, but do not associate negative stereotypes with people in Japan. Americans overwhelmingly see Japanese as hardworking, inventive and honest.
The Japanese offer a more mixed assessment of Americans. A majority of Japanese voice the view that Americans are inventive, but half also say Americans are aggressive. And relatively few think of Americans as hardworking and honest.
The main conclusion of the Pew survey?
China looms large in the minds of both Americans and Japanese in their consideration of the U.S.-Japan relationship. Just 30% of Americans and 7% of Japanese trust China.
It's hard to determine way USA Today chose to zoom in on the supposed negative Japanese perceptions of Americans. There is the perception in Japan, according to the survey, that Americans are not honest or as hardworking as Japanese, even though Americans officially clock more hours than their Japanese counterparts according to the OECD.
However, there is quite a bit more to digest in the Pew Research survey. The summary can be read here.

author: Nevin Thompson


text:
How Not to Write About Smartphones and Spain · Global Voices
L. Finch

“Comunicando” (Communicating). Madrid, Spain. Photo by Flickr user FXW. CC BY-SA 2.0
While doing a spot of fact-checking on a Global Voices story the other day, I found myself scrolling through the profile of media mogul and personal source of accent envy, Arianna Huffington. As I browsed through the Huffington Post editor-in-chief’s feed, a recent tweet about Spain, where I've set up shop for the past few years, caught my eye. “Why nobody in Spain is talking about smartphone addiction—they're talking to each other instead,” it romantically declared.
It’s not often that I speak in Internet, but an incredulous O RLY? escaped my lips. The tweet linked to a column in Pacific Standard magazine, which covers social, economic and political issues in the United States, asserting that “the biggest difference” between how Americans and Spaniards use technology is “that no one seems to be on their phones” in Spain. “What locals were doing instead was talking to each other, loudly and heatedly, continuously,” the Brooklyn-based author writes, his observations based on a trip through Spain and Portugal. “It struck me as the kind of socializing we desire when we bemoan our smartphone ‘addictions.’”
To me, the piece almost read like a satire of a Western correspondent parachuting into an “exotic” locale and reporting back sweeping generalizations about the place. It portrayed Spain—still known to many as the land of the midday siesta, even though only about 16% of the population still take a nap every day—and greater Europe as some sort of 21st-century noble savage, in tune with the natural art of conversation and uncorrupted by the same technology that is turning Americans into bleary-eyed zombies.
But when it comes to technology and smartphone addiction, that's not the case. “Nobody over there seems to be talking about addiction to technology,” you say? Sure, if you don’t pay any attention to Spanish media and haven’t spent more than a holiday’s worth of time with Spaniards, you could say that. A quick Google search returns more than a few mainstream discussions of the issue (in Spanish, of course).
Spain is said to have the highest rate of young people addicted to smartphones in Europe. Turns out more than half of Spaniards have an irrational fear of leaving home without their phone. For people 18 to 24 years old, the number rises to 75%. According to one survey, 40% of people between 18 and 30 years old in Spain say they couldn't live without their smartphone.
Spaniards, who rank fourth in the world when it comes to use of messaging platform WhatsApp, are connected to an average of 2.9 devices, one of the highest rates worldwide. Last year, two Spaniards created an app called FaceUp, specifically to stem smartphone addiction. Last month, “Smartphones,” a play written by a US-based Spaniard about the ways the titular technology has changed human relationships, opened in Madrid.
Not to mention the countless times I've casually seen parents chiding their children (and vice versa!) to put the smartphone away at the dinner table, or friends at a bar scrolling through Facebook photos on a smartphone.
Does this mean Spain is actually some sort of technology-addicted wasteland? Absolutely not. Spain is a land brimming with warmth, passion, charm and culture, and I adore living here. So if I love Spain so much, why take the time to dismantle this false, albeit rosy characterization?
Because articles like the one mentioned above betray a certain journalistic arrogance, and a lack of humility in which the conclusions lead us to the facts, not the other way around. Readers are told authoritatively what an entire country or even continent is all about, based not on in-depth experience or research, but on some wistful notion and a few superficial observations.
A good journalist or traveler leaves the broad brush at home. They’re open-minded and careful with their judgments. They're eager to learn and observe the so-called good along with the so-called bad. It’s the difference between the childhood crush whom you idealized from afar and the adult partner whom you love deeply, even if their habit of slurping soup drives you a little nuts.
Like the rest of the world, Spain isn't perfect. It may struggle to turn off its smartphone just like the US does, and it may slurp its gazpacho every now and then, but that's all part of what makes Spain—the real-world Spain, not the technology-free fantasy—such a lovely, quirky and complex place.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: L. Finch


text:
One Month on, China Ignores International Calls for Release of Detained Feminist Activists · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Free the Five by Badiucao. Via China Digital Times
More than a month has passed since five feminist activists, who planned to protest against sexual harassment in public transportation ahead of International Woman's Day, were detained.
One of their lawyers, Yan Xinwen, revealed that the police have reported the case to the Procuratorate of the People's Republic of China seeking official approval for their formal arrest and indictment. The fate of the five will be revealed by April 13, in accordance with Chinese law. [Update April 9, 2015: A New York Times report says the lawyers checked with the prosecutor’s office in the Haidian district of Beijing and found out that no applications had been filed, which means the five activists are now detained illegally as the police are required to file a request for formal arrest with prosecutors within 30 days of the detention of suspects.]
Meanwhile, feminists and human right activists from all over the world continue to demand for the women's release. In an Academic Conference at Brookings Institution on April 3, a number of feminist scholars commented on the arrests. Professor Wang Zheng from University of Michigan pointed out that the last time a Chinese government had arrested a women's right activist was 1913. With Xi Jinping due to visit the US in September, she also called on President Barack Obama to speak up on behalf of the five.
Pressure from US politicians has not made much of a difference so far. After former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton denounced the women's detention as “inexcusable” on her Twitter account, China's Foreign Ministry responded with their standard answer that the incident was an internal affair and that other countries had to respect the China's judicial sovereignty.
Despite international outcry, Chinese authorities have extended their crackdown on domestic feminist networks. They've interrogated women who have taken part in flash mobs in the past, such as Occupy Men's Toilets in 2012, and raided the Beijing Yirenping Center, which is a moderate NGO against all forms of discrimination.
Many have wondered why the Chinese government is taking such harsh action toward young activists who have done nothing to challenge the regime. China Director at Human Rights Watch Sophie Richardson described the crackdown as a telling display of “the combination of power and paranoia”.
He Qinglian, a China observer, believed that the arrests are related to a wider crackdown on NGOs in China, in particular those with strong overseas connections:
关于北京抓捕女权五姐妹，我仔细分析资料，她们的主张活动除爱滋话题之外，其余本不在政治禁忌之内。但今年遇到北京整肃NGO，因此被拿来试刀。《海外背景被调查，境外NGO面临监管严冬》 http://t.co/lgYXiPNc1W 希望海外谴责起作用。
— He Qinglian (@HeQinglian) April 7, 2015
Upon analyzing all the related material concerning the arrest of the five feminists, their actions did not touch on any political taboos except their advocacy work related to AIDS. Yet against the backdrop of the crackdown on NGOs, they became a testing ground for authorities. See: “NGOs with overseas background are facing a tough winter” http://t.co/lgYXiPNc1W I wish more pressure from the international community could change the situation.
Currently, Beijing is drafting a law on “Management of Overseas NGOs” to prevent NGOs with foreign connections from involvement in political activities. It has been estimated that there are more than 6,000 NGO projects that have overseas connections, and Beijing fears that they could eventually trigger a so-called Color Revolution in China.
Prominent mainland Chinese sexologist Li Yinhe described the current situation as absurd:
男女平等是我国的基本国策，属于主流意识形态，中国在提高妇女地位方面一直属于做得不错的，在全世界100多个国家的评比当中，中国排名很靠前，在第28位。今年两会上，反家暴立法已经被排上议事日程，很快就会出台，中国政府怎么会站在支持性骚扰（反对反性骚扰）的一边呢？这不是太过荒诞的一件事情吗？
Gender equity is our country's national policy and is the mainstream ideology. China has been doing great in lifting women's status and has ranked as high as 28 among the 100 plus countries in [gender equity] ratings. In the two congresses this year, the law against domestic violence was put on the agenda and would be introduced soon. How can the Chinese government align itself against those who fight sexual harassment? Isn't this absurd?
She tried to address the issue from the perspective of the government's concern about stability:
是想把所有的群聚事件消灭在策划阶段是不可能的。中国有13亿人，有几个人在屋子里策划一件事情，准备上街去做，这种事情每时每刻都在发生，如果全都要抓，全都要防范，那行政经费实在难以负担。
It is impossible to eliminate protests in their planning stages. There are 1.3 billion people in China. Things such as a few people sitting together in a house and planning for something in the street take place every minute. If you have to prevent that from happening by arresting them, how much would it cost?
She argued that the government's tactics are actually undermining its desire for stability:
这件事给人的感觉就像蝴蝶效应，在世界的某个角落有一只蝴蝶呼扇了一下翅膀，结果在世界的另一个地方竟演变成一场风暴。太不应当让事情沿着荒诞的方向愈演愈烈。只要把人放了，这场风暴就可以避免。同时，一定要通过这个事件检讨维稳的总体思路和做法，否则只能事倍功半，甚至适得其反：初衷是维稳，结果使社会更加动荡不安。
This is like butterfly effect, a butterfly flaps its wings in one corner of the world and it turns into a storm on the other side of the world. Absurdity evolves by itself and intensifies. Once the five are released, the storm can be prevented. Moreover, it is necessary to evaluate the logic of stability control or else it could turn against its purpose: what you want is stability, but the result is instability and restlessness.

author: Oiwan Lam


text:
Tajik Migrants in Russia: Life Is a Queue and Then You Die · Global Voices
Censored Voice

Public sentiment in Russia is often hostile towards migrants from Central Asia and the Caucasus. Demotix ID: 3139485. Photo by Nickolay Vinokurov.
Millions of Central Asian labor migrants leave their home countries for Russia every year. In Tajikistan — the most remittance-dependent country in the world — the payments they send back equate to almost half of GDP.
Whilst official employment numbers grow annually, most of Tajikistan's industries remain inactive and half of Tajikistan's working-age males seek jobs in Russia. Russia's economic crisis and its pedantic migration bureaucracy littered with corruption opportunities have made it harsher for migrants to keep afloat and provide for children and elderly parents.
Given this context, it is unsurprising that the story of a 48-year-old Tajik migrant dying in the early hours of April 6 shortly after completing the arduous process of obtaining a work permit at a migration center just outside Moscow has resonated deeply with social media users in the country.
After submitting documents and fingerprints for work permission, Komiljon Esanov and his 18-year-old son Murod decided to spend a night in a special room for migrants at the center and go back to Moscow the following day.
But Esanov grew ill in the room and died waiting for an ambulance to arrive.
While the cause of his death has not yet been identified or reported by the Russian media, Karimjon Yorov, the head of the Tajik community in Russia, said that the hours Esanov — father to three sons and a daughter — spent queuing to submit documents undoubtedly contributed:
Эсанов вақте бисёр дар берун меистад ва якбора ба гармӣ медарояд, дилаш қувват накарда, ҷон медиҳад.
Esanov stayed too long in the queue outside  [in the cold] and suddenly entered a warm place. His heart failed and he died.
Esanov's fellow villagers told RFE/RL's Tajik service, Ozodi, that they are collecting money in order to repatriate his body to Panjakent, a city in northern Tajikistan.
They claimed that they have had to pay almost $400 for the services of the Botkin morgue in Moscow, where the body was transferred from the migration center. According to Tajik legislation, if the deceased citizen has no relatives and friends in Russia ready to take on the costs of transporting the body back to his or her homeland, Tajikistan's state airlines can provide free transport. This leaves only the shipping costs from the morgue to the airport, customs clearance and coffin costs to be paid for by the family.
In a strongly worded Facebook post, Izzat Amon, a Tajik migrants’ rights activist in Moscow, compared the cruelty of Russian migration centers to the Holocaust.
He criticized the Tajik government for persecuting Muslims at home instead of looking after migrants abroad:
Хукумати Тоҷикистон бошад хамаш думболи ришу эзори занхои мардум. Эй кош шумо нисбати мушкилоти мардум хамон тавре харис мебудед ки бо риш мубориза мебаред.
The Government of Tajikistan spends a lot of time scrutinising men's beards and their wives’ clothes [referring to Hijab]. I wish you were as active in dealing with people's problems as you are in fighting against beards.
Readers of Ozodi also assailed Russia's migration service.
Gharib, a reader of the service wrote:
ман чанд маротиба шуд меравам ба ин фмс дар он чо одамонро ба мисли рамаи гусфанд мешуморанд ин муомилаи нави русхо мебошад мо точикони хору зор дар рох ба суйи сархад дар скучаю бозор истгоху чангалхо ва дар сохмонхою дигар чойхойи ифлос аз дуне чашм мепушем уффффф сохиб надорем мо..
I have witnessed how the Federal Migration Service treats people as a flock of sheep. This is the new behavior of Russians. We poor, desperate Tajiks die on the way to state borders, in the streets and bazaars, on building sites and other dirty places. Alas, no-one takes care of us.
Whilst the authorities of the Moscow migration services did not allow people to take pictures of the scene, some Tajiks called on their countrymen to record the chaos at Russian migration centers.
Эй точикони баномуси Маскав ин шармандабозорро ба навор гирифта ба расонахои ахбори умум фиристед шояд уфмс Русия ба ягон хулоса ояд. Ин киёмат дар хеч дунёи давлати демократи нест. Ягон шароити хучатсупори нест.
Dear Tajiks of Moscow, record this onerous process and send to the media. Maybe the Russian migration service will come to a conclusion. No other democratic country in the world has this kind of a problem. Submitting [migration] documents is almost impossible.

author: Censored Voice


text:
The Gambia Sentences Failed Coup Participants to Death, Life in Prison  · Global Voices
Demba Kandeh

Modou Njie,, one of the Gambian soldiers who were found guilty in a secret court. He is sentenced to death. Photo used with permission from Kibaaro News.
On 30 December 2014, a group of disaffected soldiers launched a coup against the government of Yahya Jammeh, which was foiled by forces loyal to the Gambia's president. The pre-dawn attack against the State House was led by Lieutenant Lamin Sanneh, an army deserter, and former Commander of the State Guards Battalion. Lt. Sanneh and two of his colleagues were killed in the attack while another (Private Modou Njie, now sentenced to death) was captured.
Later on, two Gambian-Americans were charged under the Neutrality Act for their alleged involvement in the botched coup. Cherno Njie, 57, a U.S. businessman of Gambian descent living in Austin, Texas, and Papa Faal, 46, a dual U.S.-Gambian citizen from Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, were charged “for their role in a recent attempted coup”, the Justice Department said in a statement. Both men had reportedly traveled to the Gambia in connection to the coup, but escaped back to the United States via Senegal.
Authorities in Banjul have now confirmed the conviction of up to six soldiers with sentences ranging from death to life imprisonment. The sentences were handed down by a secret court martial constituted shortly after the abortive coup on 30 December 2014. The soldiers have been tried on a number of charges including treason and mutiny related offenses.
According to state broadcaster, Gambia Radio and Television Services (GRTS), Lt. Col. Sarjo Jarju and Private Modou Njie are sentenced to death while Capt. Abdoulie Jobe, Capt. Buba Bojang, Lt. Amadou Sowe and Capt. Buba Sanneh all have life sentences. The director of public prosecution, SH Barhourn, led the prosecution team while the accused were represented by two unnamed lawyers from the National Agency for Legal Aid (NALA).
Human rights groups have raised concern over the trials and have called on the Gambian government not to carry out the sentences immediately. In 2012, the government executed nine of the 42 death row inmates at the time, turning against 29 years of moratorium. However, President Yahya Jammeh later agreed to a “conditional moratorium” after domestic and international pressure.
The Gambia absents itself from the UN's Universal Periodic Review. Amnesty International notes that the government of Gambia has only accepted 93 of the 171 recommendations at the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva.
In November 2014, the United Nations said that two UN human rights experts were forced to suspend an integral part of their visit to the Gambia when they were denied access to parts of a prison and prevented from completing a torture and killing investigation during the first trip ever to the country by such an independent fact-finding team, according to a press release from the UN rights office.
“Death sentences imposed on soldiers accused of participating in December’s attempted coup d’état in Gambia are a cruel violation of the right to life and the right to a fair trial,” Amnesty International said.
“Gambia’s justice system is deeply flawed and we have concerns about the fairness of the trial, given that it was held in secret. Amnesty International is calling for the death sentences to be commuted to terms of imprisonment, pending a re-trial which meets internationally accepted fair trial standards and does not include the possibility of a death sentence,” it noted.
Commenting on Amnesty International's statement on Facebook, Ebrima Manneh said:
The Amnesty International statement said it all. In a flawed justice system, a verdict is always questionable especially in a trial done in secrecy. The international community must act swiftly and sternly against this regime that continues to terrorize the citizens.
A spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Rupert Colville said they are deeply concerned about the death sentences. “We hope that the six detainees will be allowed to appeal, as is their right, and we call upon the Gambian Government to maintain its moratorium on the use of the death penalty.”
Commenting on the UN's reaction, Kairo news website reader Karamo asked the UN to be more forceful with President Jammeh, who has been in power for more than 20 years:
the UN should be more blunt and forceful with Jammeh’s regime. This is not the first time he is being sending innocent people to their deaths for no good reason. He should be made to know that he is only human in one way or the other for a start. The Gambian people need external help to free themselves from Jammeh. God help them…
Wondering how such an important case could be held in secret, Malick Njie wrote on Gambia's online news site JollofNews:
Gambia is an interesting country. How come a vital trial like this held in a closed door military court? May Allah save the people of this great country from monster Yahya Jammeh…..
Another Kairo News reader, Maxs, said the selfless sacrifices of those challenging dictatorship in Gambia will be honored and remembered:
The criminal enterprise in Banjul should be removed by any means necessary . The innocent soliders should be freed . While most Gambians continue to approve the dictatorship through complete silence and nonengagement to savage the country , those who sacrifice their lives and families to the cause of freedom and liberty will always be remembered as true and patriotic sons of The Gambia . Their selfless sacrifices will be honored in the smiling coast in very near future.
Amadou Maneh commented:
No one and no place deserves jammeh. I bet even hell would be coerced to accommodate him.
On Twitter, Sam Phatey simply asked:
Is the #Gambia‘s military saying secret court martial was free & fair trial? Afraid of executions resuming, serious! http://t.co/PCM5n2aPvp
— Sam Phatey™ (@samphatey) April 7, 2015

author: Demba Kandeh


text:
What Does Airbnb’s Cuba Launch Mean for US Citizens and Cuban Homeowners? · Global Voices
Elaine Díaz

Trinidad, Cuba. Photo by ArsenalFreak, released by its creator for public use.
Vacation rental site Airbnb has announced that over 1,000 private houses in Cuba now appear in the company's list of rental properties, which spans more than 190 countries.
“For the first time in decades, licensed American travelers will have the chance to experience authentic Cuban hospitality at homes across the island,” says the company on its blog.
Airbnb defines itself as “a community marketplace that connects people with spaces available in their homes with others learning for a place to stay.” This way, guests and hosts engage in personal relationships with people from all over the world. By the time founders Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia came up with the idea for the site in 2007, primarily because they needed help paying their rent in San Francisco, California, Cubans had already been renting out rooms in their homes for more than two decades.
“Hospitality isn’t a commodity in Havana —it’s a way of life. Cubans have been welcoming visitors into their homes for decades,” Airbnb says.
These are the friendly faces of Cuba ready to share their world with our Airbnb community: https://t.co/0BYGbdsxMw
— Airbnb (@Airbnb) abril 2, 2015
The start of the economic crisis in 1990 in Cuba, following the collapse of the so-called socialist camp, accelerated the search for individual solutions for obtaining additional sources of income. In 1993, a decree was issued authorizing self-employment — or private initiatives — in over 55 activities, but it was not until 1997 that leasing rooms was permitted as a response to the difficult housing situation in Havana, and as an alternative to gaining foreign currency from tourism.
In 2010, the Cuban government sponsored new measures to strengthen self-employment as an alternative to employment in the state sector. As of March 2014, almost 30,000 Cubans were licensed to practice this activity, and at least 10,000 were located in Havana.
Cienfuegos, Cuba. Photo by the author.
Any citizen can list his or her property on Airbnb. However, the terms and conditions for hosts clearly state that they must comply with current legislation in their respective countries regarding zoning and regulations on renting out residential or other properties. Additionally, they must take into account the tax requirements, rules and regulations that may apply to any accommodation, including obtaining all required permits, licenses, and registrations.
In the case of Cuba, Legislative Decree 184 of 2011 states that tenants must pay a monthly tax of 150 Cuban convertible pesos (CUC), roughly equivalent to 150 US dollars, for renting a room to foreigners, regardless of whether they manage to rent it or not during this period. In the event that more than one room is rented, the tax increases by 75 CUC for each additional room.
After Law 113 of the tax system went into effect, self-employed workers that perform acts of leasing homes, rooms, or spaces pay a minimum monthly fee of 30 CUC for each room, and can deduct up to 20% of their revenue for tax payments on personal income.
One of the basic problems that interested parties will find is the limited Internet access on the island. The latest statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics and Information of Cuba reflect that in 2013, only 26% of the Cuban population had access to Internet services or a home network, which provides email and allows for the use of websites located in the country.
Nonetheless, unlike streaming video provider Netflix, which requires a real-time connection to use the service, homeowners would be able to use alternatives such as hiring a third party to review reservations and keep rent calendars up to date.
In this regard, Cuban journalist and blogger Javier Ortiz told Global Voices:
Llevo varios meses buscando sitios web para anunciar mi casa. Me he inscrito en más diez, pero hasta ahora solo uno de ellos funciona, y me cobra una comisión del 20%. En cuanto me enteré que existía algo llamado Airbnb y que estaba abierto a Cuba, entré y publiqué los datos de mi casa. Quiero aprovechar la primera avalancha de visitantes estadounidenses que vendrán e Internet es una herramienta clave en ese propósito.
For several months, I have been looking for websites to advertise my house. I've registered on more than ten, but as of now only one of them worked and they charged me a 20% commission. As soon as I found out that something called Airbnb existed and was open to Cuba, I went on and posted the information for my house. I want to take advantage of the first flood of US visitors that will come here and the Internet is a key tool for that purpose.
In Airbnb's payment system, guests pay the company to book accommodations and the company makes this money available to the hosts 24 hours after the guests’ arrival.
“This way, both parties remain protected by the terms and conditions, the cancellation policies, the reimbursement policy for the guest, and other protective measures,” the company explains.
To cover the costs of running the system, Airbnb applies a series of service fees for each transaction, as well as taxes determined by the authorities in each location (such as the value-added tax, for example).
The average price of rooms in Cuba is currently around 40 US dollars.
Airbnb hired a money remitter in the United States to make the payments in their name. The company chose VaCuba, a corporation based in Florida that specializes in sending cash and gifts to families in Cuba. The agency has over 45 years of experience and also offers ticket and consular services, and charges cell phones.
To date, most of the properties are in Havana, with over 600 homes, followed by Pinar del Río, Trinidad, and Cienfuegos. The average price for a room in Havana hovers around 51 CUC, and is approximately 30 CUC in the rest of the locations. One of the areas most frequently visited by tourists is the beach in Varadero, located in the province of Matanzas, where rooms tend to cost an average of 45 CUC.

author: Elaine Díaz


text:
Did Pakistani Spies Just Kill a University Debate on Balochistan? · Global Voices
Qurratulain (Annie) Zaman

Flyer from the academic event that was cancelled.
The Lahore University of Management Sciences or LUMS, a leading private university in Pakistan, says it was forced to cancel an academic discussion on human rights in Balochistan, “due to state intervention“.
According to a LUMS faculty member who spoke to PakVoices, a delegation from Pakistan's top spy agency the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) “presented a letter calling for cancellation of the talks. They said that Balochistan is a sensitive issue and that the moot could be used to malign Pakistan.”
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 southwestern province, because media coverage and reporting from there is thin.
What we do know is that armed Baloch nationalists are seeking independence from Pakistan, and Pakistan's armed intelligence operatives are trying to suppress them and unarmed political activists, sometimes through extrajudicial “forced disappearances”. 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. Since 2001, Shia Hazaras in Balochistan, have routinely been targeted by militant groups.
The roundtable on remapping justice in Balochistan, organised by the Department of Humanities and Social Science at LUMS consisted of academics and human rights activists including I.A. Rehman, the director of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). According to the HRCP, 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 panel also included Mama Qadeer, a 72-year old Baloch who led the 700 kilometre non-violent long-march from Balochistan to the capital Islamabad to speak up against forced disappearances, and Farzana Majeed, the general secretary of International Voices for the Baloch Missing Persons. Last month, Farzana Majeed and Mama Qadeer were prevented from traveling outside Pakistan to attend a human rights conference in the US.
A change.org petition has been started by Taimur Rehman, a faculty member of LUMS:
We, as students, staff and faculty at LUMS, are most concerned about this cancellation, and the gross lack of democratic freedom and political pluralism that it manifests. It is all the more unacceptable that Balochistan has witnessed important human rights violations for the past decades, notably enforced disappearance of citizens. Persecution of religious minorities has also become commonplace in Balochistan, which has led to migration by non-Muslims and minority Muslim sects in large numbers to other regions of the country as well as abroad. The targeting of the Shia Hazaras of Balochistan is one of the most violent and persistent persecution of any community.
Rehman is also the lead singer of a social-justice oriented band Laal. Rehman says he was forced to remove a status update about the cancellation of the event from Laal's popular Facebook page, because he received “warnings” from Facebook. Rehman's page was taken down twice by Facebook last year, allegedly on directives of the Pakistan government. Rehman told Global Voices that “the ban was an attempt to demotivate Laal’s efforts to spread awareness about freedom of speech and social justice.”
Tanqeed, a left-wing social and political magazine reports that the LUMS faculty say they repeatedly tried to email a press release to editors and journalists about the cancelled event, but for unknown reasons the press release has “not gone through on e-mail to those it was sent to”. Tanqeed reproduces the press release here:
In short, a serious, informed, academic debate on Balochistan is not only important, it is urgently needed to address the issues that adversely affect the state of Pakistan today. After the Peshawar attack in December 2014, the government vowed to put Pakistan back on the track of the rule of law and the respect for human rights. Informed debate on the human rights issues affecting Pakistan is a precondition thereof. Sadly, today, the State did not allow this to happen.
Twitter seems to be divided on this issue. Many protested the cancellation of the event.
When educational institutions become partner to establishment's oppression tactics: #LUMS cancels #UnsilencingBalochistan. Shame!!
— Nudrrat Khawaja (@NudrratKhawaja) April 8, 2015
Why this is such an impt issue #unsilencingBalochistan – #Storify http://t.co/Y7frg46ZRJ and blog post http://t.co/NhOUc1LLV2 by @iFaqeer
— beena sarwar (@beenasarwar) April 8, 2015
Press release from students,faculty and staff of #lums. Wonder if it would be published. #UnsilencingBalochistan pic.twitter.com/uzAt3AOUh6
— MIR (@MirSanaullah) April 8, 2015
A Twitter user tagged the chief military spokesman Asim Bajwa asking:
Dear @AsimBajwaISPR, are we even allowed to speak about #Balochistan anymore? #LUMS #UnsilencingBalochistan pic.twitter.com/2pLAcK2sA1
— Mehlab (@mehsheikh) April 8, 2015
However, some defended such measures:
Lecture of #MamaFradiya has been stopped on Govt’ order… I dont know why rebel, insurgent like him got permission by LUMS #ShameOnLUMS
— Hadiya Shah (@hadiyashah1) April 9, 2015
#ShameOnLUMS for inviting those people who are enemies of Pakistan to poison young minds! via @FarhanKVirk pic.twitter.com/QykCEhwpgX
— Fatima Ali (@FatimaAli52) April 9, 2015
One Twitter user even brought up the Pakistani Taliban chief Mullah Fazlullah:
Rest assured after seeing #ShameOnLUMS trend on top, LUMS will definitely rethink about inviting Mullah Fazlullah as guest speaker next time
— Farhan Khan Virk (@FarhanKVirk) April 8, 2015

author: Qurratulain (Annie) Zaman


text:
Guinea’s Opposition Comes Out Swinging Before Presidential Elections  · Global Voices
Abdrahmane Diallo

The opposition leaders met in Paris – via Guinee360 with permission
Ahead of presidential elections later this year, the leaders of the Guinean republican opposition met in Paris on 22 and 23 March, where they declared that they are taking steps to stifle the “dictatorship” which is “emerging” in Guinea.
The opposition had already raised a few flags regarding the transparency of the voting electoral lists. In Paris, the three opposition leaders, Cellou Dalein Diallo, Sidya Touré and Lansana Koyauté, accompanied by Bah Oury, Hadja Tété Nabé and Baidy Aribot, reviewed President Alpha Condé's four years in office.
In addition to some aspects of his rule that the opposition called detrimental to the country, their assessment mostly accused the president of “repeated violations” of the constitution:
La gouvernance d’Alpha CONDE s’est illustrée depuis son installation comme Chef de l’État guinéen par un mépris total de l’Autorité de la loi et une violation systématique des dispositifs de la Constitution fondant les principes de l’État de droit.
Since his installation as Guinean Head of State, Alpha CONDE's governance has been characterised by a total contempt for the authority of law, and a systematic violation of the provisions of the constitution on which the principles of state law are founded.
The opposition blames Condé for being the president of his party only and “refusing” to set up and consolidate specific national constitutional institutions:
La déclaration de ses biens et patrimoines (cf article 36 ), la démission officielle de son poste de Président du RPG (article 38), la délivrance du message annuel de l’Etat de la nation (article 50), l’installation de la Haute Cour de Justice (articles 117 à 120) et les mises en place de la Cour Constitutionnelle et de la Cour des Comptes (article 160) ne sont pas effectives tout au long du mandat présidentiel.
The declaration of wealth and assets (cf article 36), the formal resignation from his position as President of the RPG [Rassemblement du Peuple Guinéen, the ruling political party in Guinea] (article 38), the delivery of the annual State of the Nation address (article 50), the installation of the High Court of Justice (articles 117 to 120), and the establishment of the Constitutional Court and the Court of Auditors (article 160) have not been put into effect during the presidential term.
In addition, they accused Condé of human rights violations and “interfering with the proceedings” of the National Independent Institute of Human Rights (INIDH), which has records of various assassinations taking place mainly at political demonstrations during his administration (although the opposition leaders didn't offer details of what those violations were).
A street scene in Conakry; by Soman CC-BY-30
In the eyes of the Guinean opposition, national laws are not the only ones which have been violated by Condé's government, particularly when it comes to the central authority's monitoring of decentralization. Condé's opponents point out that the installation of special delegates is illegal after they have been in place for longer than six months:
Ces attitudes politiciennes méconnaissent également l’article 2 point 2 du protocole de la CEDEAO sur la Démocratie et la Bonne gouvernance, signée et ratifiée par la Guinée, qui stipule ‘’les élections à tous les niveaux doivent avoir lieu aux dates et périodes fixées par la constitution et les lois électorales’’.
Equally, these political attitudes disregard article 2 point 2 of the CEDEAO [Economic Community of West African States] protocol on democracy and good governance, signed and ratified by Guinea, which stipulates “elections at all levels must take place on dates and in periods decreed by the constitution and electoral laws”.
According to the opposition, the government's violation of article 13 of the code on private and state-owned land has also discouraged foreign and Guinean investors from pursuing their activities in the country.
In light of their grievances with the president, opposition leaders released a statement on 6 March 2015, that outlined certain steps they would take. “In view of all of these abuses: M. Alpha CONDE loses all legitimacy to preside over Guinea's destiny,” the statement read. “His continuation in power would constitute a serious threat to peace and unity in Guinea and the stability of the sub-region. With regard to everything which has gone before, the opposition leaders have decided“:
De renforcer l’unité et la cohésion de l’opposition qui va s’atteler dès maintenant à l’élaboration d’un programme commun de gouvernement ;
De rentrer immédiatement en Guinée pour mener avec les autres partis politiques et toutes les forces vives du pays la lutte pour le respect de la Constitution, des lois de la République et des accords.
To reinforce the unity and cohesion of the opposition, which with immediate effect will commit to establishing a shared programme of government;
To return immediately to Guinea and, together with the other political parties and all the driving forces of the country, lead the battle to respect the constitution, treaties, and the laws of the Republic.
It remains to be seen if the opposition will follow through. A significant number of citizens have accused it of being too “flexible” in the face of a power, only concerned with safeguarding its own advantages.

author: Abdrahmane Diallo


text:
Meet One of the Few American Women Married to a Japanese Man · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Graphic from “Vital Statistics in JAPAN -The latest trends,” by Japan Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare, via Tracy Slater.
In Japan, by far most “international marriages” (where one spouse is not from Japan) feature a Japanese husband married to a non-Japanese wife (see graph above).
However, for marriages between Japanese and Americans, couples where he's Japanese and she's non-Japanese are much more rare.
Quoting Nippon.com and the Japanese Ministry of Health, Tracy Slater reports:
In 2013 there were 21,488 international marriages in Japan (1 in 30 of all marriages). Of those, 6,046 were between Japanese women and foreign men, and of these, 19.2%, or about 1,161, involved American men marrying Japanese women.
On the other side, 15,442 marriages involved Japanese men, out of which 1.2%, or about 185, involved an American wife.
Tracy Slater, from Boston, is in fact happily married to a Japanese man has written a book about the experience so far.
Tracy Slater, courtesy the author.
The “Good Shufu: Finding Love, Self, & Home on the Far Side of the World” will be published by Penguin Random House in June 2015. The author, Tracy Slater, left a successful professional career in Boston as a prolific writer, university lecturer and PhD recipient to marry a Japanese man.
Now residing in Osaka, Slater says:
In 2005, within a matter of months, I went from being a highly independent woman in Boston with a Ph.D., a job teaching writing to graduate students, and a great circle of like-minded friends, to a woman who couldn’t read, write, have a conversation with the neighbors, drive a car, or go to the bank myself.
In other words, I became a foreign wife in Japan: a gaijin shufu.
On her popular blog that accompanies “The Good Shufu” promotional website, Slater says “strangely, my new role as ‘traditional Japanese housewife,’ didn’t bother me, despite my history of feminism.”
A few months after our marriage, I sat one night on the floor of my father-in-law’s living room, the worn but tidy rug rough under my limbs. I’d begun to call my father-in-law Otōsan, “respected father,” bowing low when he came for dinner three times a week, serving tea to him and Toru on the nights we ate at his house, just down the road from ours. Strangely, my new role as shufu, or “traditional Japanese housewife,” didn’t bother me, despite my history of feminism. This is not my culture, I thought. This is something I just do out of respect to Otōsan, when we’re with him. I surprised even myself by how easily I could play the part, as long as it was only for a few hours a week, in a country and language I knew I’d never call my own.
Besides providing insights into marrying across cultures, Slater also documents her experience with korei-shussan, or giving birth after the age of 40.
After several years of trying, Slater gave birth to a healthy baby girl at the age of 46. On her blog, Slater humorously recounts visits with her prenatal nurse who declares that “Japanese men are no good” despite the fact Slater mentions her own husband helps with household chores.
Slater also describes what it's like to be a pregnant woman in Japan. There are plenty of comments about the size of her pregnant belly, for example.
As the publication date nears, Slater continues to update her blog and can be followed on Twitter here.
Note: This story has been updated with correct information about international marriages in Japan. Many thanks to Robert Moorehand of JAPANSociology.com.


text:
Peruvian Web Users Take the #LanguageChallenge · Global Voices
Patricia Carolina Saucedo Añez

International Mother Language Day was celebrated on February 21, as a commemoration of the right every nation has to keep its own language, a key element of cultural identification. In Peru, there are 47 native languages, spoken by about 4 million people.
To mark the occasion, the Office of Indigenous Language of the Vice Ministry of Interculturality of the Ministry of Culture invited Peruvians to participate in the #LanguageChallenge:
¡Participar en el #RetoDeLasLenguas es muy fácil!…te enseñamos —►http://t.co/MvBit5WRlb pic.twitter.com/j9NASVS4uf
— Ministerio Cultura (@MinCulturaPe) febrero 19, 2015
It's very easy to participate in the #LanguageChallenge!!… We show you how.
The blog La Mula reported what the second edition of the Challenge of Languages was about:
Este sábado 21 de febrero se celebra el Día Internacional de la Lengua Materna y la Dirección de Lenguas Indígenas del Viceministerio de Interculturalidad ha lanzado la campaña Reto de las Lenguas (#RetoDeLasLenguas). En realidad, es un desafío creado el año pasado en las redes sociales de diversos países. Quien lo acepta debe grabar un video en una lengua indígena y retar a otra persona a que haga lo mismo. A la fecha han participado hablantes de lenguas indígenas norteamericanas y europeas, pero aún es poca la participación de lenguas sudamericanas.
On Saturday, February 21, we celebrate International Mother Language Day and the Office of Indigenous Language of the Vice Ministry of Interculturality [of the Ministry of Culture] has launched the campaign the Language Challenge. It's really a challenge created last year on social networks from various countries. If you accept it, you have to record a video in an indigenous language and challenge another person to do the same thing. Until now, indigenous speakers from many North American and European communities have taken part, but we still have a small participation of South American languages.
On Twitter, various users rose to the challenge, such as Quechua speakers Qorich'aska Qespi Puma and Jorge Alejandro Vargas:
Excelente video de #Retodelaslenguas de Qorich'aska Qespi Puma y Jorge Alejandro Vargas. Ahora esperemos que… http://t.co/rPCNZ8yhHa
— Cusco en Positivo (@CuscoenPositivo) febrero 20, 2015
Excellent video from #Retodelaslenguas by Qorich'aska Qespi Puma and Jorge Alejandro Vargas. Now, let's hope that…
This video shows Culina, spoken in Peru and Brazil Amazon regions:
Otro #Retodelaslenguas del Perú! El bastante sexy Nehemías Pino hablando en culina! tenemos 47 idiomas!… http://t.co/We5FozNljQ
— Jorge Vargas Prado (@jorgicha) February 20, 2015
Another Language Challenge from Peru! The so-sexy Nehemías Pino speaking Culina! We have 47 languages!
There is even a video with sign language:
Mensaje en lengua de señas peruana por el #retodelaslenguas reto a los modelos lingüísticos del C. Beethoven http://t.co/UPdMmj37Zn
— Susana Stiglich (@sustiwa) febrero 20, 2015
Message in Peruvian sign language for the Language Challenge, I challenge linguistic models from C. Beethoven.
Another video from Cusco:
A video from abroad by a speaker and academic of Shawi, an Amazonian language:
To follow the challenge, which is still going on, follow the hashtag #Retodelaslenguas on Twitter.

author: Patricia Carolina Saucedo Añez


text:
All Eyes on Cuba, Venezuela and the US at the Summit of the Americas · Global Voices
Mary Aviles

Logo of The Seventh Summit of the Americas. The Summit will be held in Panama City, Panama on April 10-11, 2015.
The Seventh Summit of the Americas will make history with Cuba's participation for the first time in 50 years, after the suspension of the island from the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1962. In Panama, US President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro will meet for the first time since the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Una de las viñetas de la prensa panameña sobre #CumbreDeLasAmericas pic.twitter.com/AWrzFgXpN7
— Rafael Uzcátegui (@fanzinero) April 8, 2015
One of the cartoons from the Panamanian press about the #SummitoftheAmericas
This year, 35 heads of state will attend the meeting on April 10 and 11 under the motto “Prosperity with Equity: The Challenge of Cooperation in the Americas.” However, the new US-Cuba relations and the crisis in Venezuela are expected to steal the spotlight as well as be a source of conflict. As GV contributor Elaine Díaz pointed out in an article on Medium, Cumbre de las Américas: El impacto de las relaciones Cuba-Estados Unidos en las dinámicas hemisféricas (Summit of the Americas: The Impact of the US-Cuba relations in the hemispheric dynamics):
El contexto económico y político de América Latina, los cambios en los escenarios institucionales de las organizaciones intrarregionales y el deshielo de las relaciones entre Cuba y Estados Unidos constituyen factores imprescindibles para comprender el desarrollo de la Cumbre de las Américas a celebrarse en los próximos días en Panamá.
The economic and political context of Latin America, institutional changes within intraregional organizations and the thaw in Cuban-US relations are essential factors to understanding the development of the Summit of the Americas, which will take place in the coming days in Panama.
So, what can we expect from the summit?
While there, a group of Latin American ex-presidents will denounce what they see as a “democratic disturbance” in Venezuela, in order to find an “alternative” to the Venezuelan crisis.
Last month, the American government suspended visas and froze the US accounts seven senior Venezuelan government officials accused of human rights violations during the protests of February 2014. These protests, which challenged Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, left 40 people killed and opposition leaders in jail.
However, the sanctions had a different effect. Declarations saying that Venezuela was “a menace” to the security of the United States generated concern in the region regarding possible interference in internal issues. The Venezuelan government took the opportunity to launch a campaign in order to collect 10 million signatures asking US President Obama to repeal the sanctions. People joined the campaign on social media under the hashtags #ObamaDerogaElDecretoYa (“Obama, repeal the decree now”) and #VamosXLos10millones (Let's get those 10 million):
Trabajando sin descanso por la Seg. Alimentaria #VamosXLos10Millones que rafitican nuestra voluntad de ser libres pic.twitter.com/2Yhyb8PVGM
— PDVAL (@PDVAL_OFICIAL) April 8, 2015
Working non-stop for food security. Let's get those 10 million, which ratify our will to be free
Delegación diplomática de Cuba en Venezuela estampa su firma contra decreto gringo http://t.co/7Wstgu48MA pic.twitter.com/7ObKgOx2XU ‘
— LaIguanaTV (@la_iguanatv) April 8, 2015
Cuban diplomatic delegation in Venezuela sign against the [American] decree
In the middle of all these tensions, Obama will meet with Maduro while in Panama.
The issue of alleged human rights violations in Venezuela and the letter that more than 20 presidents wrote denouncing the status of democracy in the country will only be discussed in private meetings at the summit. Moreover, these meetings will only take place if Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela proposes it and the proposal is approved by the rest of the leaders.
While Venezuela will surely capture a lot of attention during the summit, many netizens think like Twitter user La Divina Diva:
De hecho en una cumbre americana no deberia hablarse de ningun pais en particular sino de los problemas generales de la region #MiOpinion
— LaDivina Diva (@LaDivinaDiva) April 7, 2015
In fact, during a Summit of the Americas they shouldn't talk about a country in particular, but about the general problems of the region #MyOpinion
Panama will also be visited by business people at the II CEO Summit of the Americas, held at the same time as the summit in which participants will discuss commercial opportunities and investment possibilities that could be beneficial to Latin America's social and economic growth.
Mark Zuckerbeg, creator of Facebook, is also expected to attend:
Mark Zuckerberg, dueño de Facebook estará en #CumbreDeLasAmericas. Lanzará http://t.co/iiJhhzv3qK http://t.co/1rqkjKsuQR
— Rocío San Miguel (@rociosanmiguel) April 7, 2015
Mark Zuckerberg, owner of Facebook will be at the Summit of the Americas, and will launch Internet.org http://t.co/1rqkjKsuQR
As pointed out by Rodrigo Pardo, the head editor of Semana magazine, there will be ex-presidents, journalists, political prisoner's wives and CEOs in Panama, but the situation regarding human rights, political prisoners, limitations on freedom of speech and the growing authoritarianism in Venezuela (or in Nicaragua, or in Bolivia, o in Ecuador) will not be key agenda points during the official summit.
Rodrigo Pardo (Semana) subraya que lo importante en la cumbre de las Américas ocurrirá bilateralmente lejos de la celebración oficial.
— M. A. Bastenier (@MABastenier) April 8, 2015
Rodrigo Pardo (from Semana magazine) underlines that what's important in the summit will happen far from the official celebration
The summit has an account on Instagram, where pictures and videos will be shown. On Twitter, conversations can be followed through #SummitoftheAmericas or #CumbreDeLasAméricas in Spanish. More information can also be found through the link recommended on TeleSur's Twitter account, as well as on other media that have followed the history of the summit chronologically:
#InfografíateleSUR | Todo lo que necesitas saber de la VII #CumbreDeLasAméricas  http://t.co/1Tjqwwb233 pic.twitter.com/sctjk5jUOE
— teleSUR TV (@teleSURtv) April 7, 2015
Everything you need to know about the VII Summit of the Americas

author: Mary Aviles


text:
Are Google and eBay Bowing to the Kremlin’s Data Localization Demands? · Global Voices
Sergey Kozlovsky

Based on Ilya Repin's seminal “Volga Boatmen.” Images remixed by Andrey Tselikov.
Google and online marketplace eBay may be caving to Russia's controversial new data retention law that requires Internet companies to store Russian users’ data in Russia. Shifting data centers into Russian territory could leave Google and eBay customers vulnerable to greater levels of surveillance.
On April 10, RBC news agency reported that Google allegedly agreed to comply with the new law and had already moved some of its user data storage facilities to data centers on Russian soil.
RBC said the announcement was made at a conference hosted by the Communications Ministry in late March, and noted that a representative of Rostelecom, one of Russia's leading telecommunications providers, claimed they were hired by Google to store their data at a “high-security data-server facility with close ties to the state” in Russia. Later, Rostelecom refused to comment on the matter and said it does not disclose its clients’ information without their consent.
The policy would mark a big shift for Russian Google users, creating new vulnerabilities when it comes to personal data that they send and store using services like Gmail. At present, if Russian authorities wish to access Google user data, they must present a court order to the United States Department of Justice, which will determine its legitimacy. Google's Law Enforcement guidelines explain that if the order satisfies US law and Google's policies, it will be fulfilled — but if not, the user's data will remain undisclosed. As the company is located in the US, Google is beholden to US law.
Under the new policy, there would be a much lower threshold for Russian authorities to obtain user data. Although Google presumably would still require a court order, the order would not have to meet the standards of the US judicial system.
Global Voices contacted Google policy staff for comment, but they had not responded at the time of this story's publication.
On April 7, the Russian newspaper Kommersant reported that eBay is taking steps in the same direction. Russia eBay representative Vladimir Dolgov met last week with officials from Roskomnadzor, the Russian Internet regulator. Dolgov added that this was the first face-to-face meeting with the Russian authorities about the law, though the company has been part of the working group for a while.
Основной целью eBay было получить ответы на ряд вопросов по закону о персональных данных, который вступит в силу с 1 сентября 2015 года. По итогам встречи eBay подтверждает готовность собирать и хранить требуемую информации в полном соответствии с законом.
The main purpose [of the meeting] for eBay was to receive answers about aspects of the data retention law, that comes into effect on 1 September, 2015. After the meeting eBay confirms its willingness to collect and store required information in full accordance with the law.
Independently, a spokesperson for the media watchdog Vadim Ampelonsky confirmed to Kommersant that eBay agreed to comply with the law.
According to Kommersant sources, eBay has already begun to transfer user data from Switzerland to Russia. A representative for the online payment system PayPal, owned by eBay, was also present at the meeting and said they were “in touch with the regulators and working on an optimal solution” in regards to the data law.
Signed by Russian president Vladimir Putin in July 2014, the data localization law comes into power on September 1, 2015. Representatives of Internet businesses working in Russia previously criticized the data localization law, saying it was an unreasonable restriction that could make working in Russia impossible for many popular Internet services, including travel websites, ticket agencies and e-commerce sites.
Some MPs and officials in Russia have been pushing for “Internet sovereignty” for quite a while. The idea got a second wind when the confrontation between Russia and the West, fueled by the conflict in Ukraine, intensified. According to Forbes, the Russian Ministry of Communications prepared a report about the sovereignty of the Russian Internet that includes measures allowing the government to prevent “external attacks” on the RuNet. Indeed, the policy cuts in the direction of isolating the Russian Internet and its users from the rest of the world.
In particular, the ministry suggests tightening regulation of Internet companies and even establishing direct state control of some entities, including major traffic exchange points. According to Forbes, the report also recommends prohibiting Russian Internet companies from transferring data out of Russian territory. This could mean, for instance, that Yandex would not be able to use its data center in Finland, because the government wouldn't be able to control data once it leaves Russia's jurisdiction.
On April 7 in Moscow, officials, businesspeople and various Internet personalities came together for the Russian Internet Governance Forum. The most remarkable speech was given by a former Kremlin youth group organizer and senator Ruslan Gattarov, who now works as deputy governor of Chelyabinsk region. He said he actually liked that the Ministry of Communications had become less liberal—”in the best sense.”
Gattarov claimed the Internet was currently “ruled” by the West, citing the example of recent US economic sanctions imposed on Crimea in protest of Russia’s annexation of the peninsula. These restrictive measures obliged all American companies to cease “import or export of goods, services, or technology” to or from “the Crimean region of Ukraine.” In compliance with the sanctions tech companies like Apple and Google suspended the accounts of web developers in Crimea and blocked the use of many of their products in the region.
Speaking at the Forum, Gattarov said he was sure that the West is preparing for a cyber war against Russia.
Мы ведь все понимаем, что Запад не дремлет. Он проводит учения у наших границ с какими-то экспертами, которые копаются в Эстонии. Великобритания хочет использовать соцсети для информационной войны. Мы, может, это тоже делаем, но хотя бы не говорим об этом публично.
We understand that the West does not sleep. They hold military exercises near our borders with some experts who rummage about in Estonia. UK wants to use social networks for information war. We might be doing the same, but at least we are not talking about it publicly.

author: Sergey Kozlovsky


text:
Are Ugandans as Satisfied With Their Government as This Opinion Poll Shows? · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

Voters line up at a polling station in Nyendo Masaka, Uganda, on February 18, 2011. Photo by Peter Beier. Copyright Demotix
American think tank International Republican Institute (IRI) released the results of an opinion poll at the end of March, which revealed that a majority of Ugandans are generally satisfied with government performance. Over two-thirds of respondents (69 percent) said the country is headed in the right direction.
In particular, those polled thought the government was performing well or very well in managing the economy, reducing crime and delivering basic services in terms of health, clean water, roads and education. However, the government did register poor marks on fighting corruption, with 69 percent of respondents thinking that authorities were handling corruption badly or very badly.
The findings prompted a lively debate in social networks and on mainstream media, with many commenters questioning how so many Ugandans could think the country, where President Yoweri Museveni has ruled for nearly three decades, was headed in the right direction.
According to the 2013 Millennium Development Goals Report for Uganda, the country under Museveni has succeeded in “halving the number of people living in absolute poverty and achieving debt sustainability” – and was on track to achieve another eight of its targets. The country registered real gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 5.2 percent in 2013 due to strong exports and public investment, and was expected to continue growing even more in 2014 and 2015, according to African Development Bank data (although severe drought may have changed this forecast).
However, international organizations have over the years denounced human right abuses and attacks on freedom of expression in Uganda, where the regime uses ready-made laws to target activists and opposition leaders. In October 2014, Amnesty International expressed concerns that Ugandan people were “unable to challenge their political rulers, speak freely and dispute a group of new human rights-denying laws.” Human Right Watch lists similar concerns, including the “deaths of at least 49 people during protests in 2009 and 2011.”
Readers commented widely on an analysis of the poll results published on the website of the Uganda's Monitor, a highly respected private daily. SagInc, taking examples of dictators laundering, wrote:
The question is who requested for and subsequently paid for the research to be carried out? You will be surprised how much money has exchanged hands and from whom. Former dictators: Ben Ali of Tunisia, Suharto of Indonesia, Yakubu Gowan of Nigeria, Nicolae Ceaușescu of Romania all engaged in social-engineering at the height of their dictatorships to try and conceal the true state of affairs but all in vain. History tells us that people DO NOT grow to love and cherish dictatorships but rather the opposite.
IRI says the poll was conducted in December 2014 and funded by the foreign aid arm of the United States, the US Agency for International Development.
Ugandans have reason to be skeptical. A few days after the poll results were released, Ugandan media revealed that the government had reportedly paid a US public relations firm 614 million Ugandan shillings ($206,000, 174,000 euros) “to prop up Uganda's image” after it took a hit internationally thanks to a law that criminalized same-sex relations with life in prison in some cases. The Anti-Homosexuality Act was struck down by the country's Constitutional Court in August 2014.
Infographic courtesy International Republican Institute.
In Uganda, 65 percent of respondents in this poll support the respect of term limits, an issue that grows more relevant by the day. Museveni has already been chosen by ruling party National Resistance Movement to run once again in the 2016 elections, despite controversy over his eligibility because of a constitutional age limit (Museveni is 70, and would pass the cap — 75 — during another five-year term served). In January 2015, Museveni said he is not ready to hand over power to the opposition leaders, calling them “wolves lurking to tear Uganda apart.”
James commented:
Election reform and terms limit reflect the views of many. The rest of the survey is pure fuzzy maths.
On the same site, commenter Jomo wondered if the respondents were informed enough:
I don't know whether the researchers took into account the fact that a large number of Ugandans (un-researched street wisdom!), both urban and rural, are largely uninformed, and depend on either here-say, or information handed down by government agents/representatives, to form their opinions.
Augustus Karube thought the poll provides useful information for political parties and wondered how their leaders are going to use it:
What really matters most, to opposition parties is, how best they can use this information, to prepare themselves, to develop strategy, to address and focus on key issues, which were sited in this quick/short poll. They should take a particular note of respondents disagreements or dismay or disapproval, but not to read too much into it. Never the less, do not dismiss it all together, as rubbish.
At least, it is a document, which provides a sort of overview of the political, economic and social issues, under this regime, as seen through the lives and experiences of voters, minus the untold truth. Use it wisely. Nothing out of it, should be taken for granted, to be or not to be the absolute truth. What is your view? If you were to be asked, but you were not?
Uganda's opposition parties have threatened to boycott presidential and parliamentary elections due in February 2016, arguing that the Electoral Commission is biased in favor of Museveni and his ruling party and demanding it be replaced.
An analysis by Moses Khisa, a PhD candidate in political science at Northwestern University in Illinois, USA, on Uganda's Observer criticizing the poll results as “self-deception” received a lot of comments from netizens. mungu wrote:
MK you also have to concede that your concept of ‘right direction’ vastly differs from that of most Ugandans.
For them all those failures of M7 [Yoweri Museveni] regime are in fact sweet music and the right direction. In my village they will tell you he has actually helped reduce the dust on their roads because ever since he came to power none of their children has excelled academically, got a well paying job and bought a car. So they are not interested in a tarred road either. A resistance to Western civilization may be? Think about it
Francis, another reader, wrote:
What can you write home about M7/NRM/NRMO [Museveni/National Resistance Movement/National Resistance Movement Organisation] other than Dictatorship, Murders, Lies, Nepotism, Cronyism, Land grabbing, Coercion, Militarism, Robberies, Thefts, Impunity, domineering, Threats, Poverty, Rotten Education system, Tribalism, sectarianism, deception.
Among the readers of that daily newspaper, Peter was the only one to express a positive comment:
If the country is going in the right direction and Museveni achieves high marks, the logic is there is no problem. Other problems created does not arise, they have no base. Let those who want to come to power wait for 2016, to see Uganda continuing in aright direction.
Bambalazaabwe Ssemakula represented the opinion of many readers:
Survey or no survey, nothing is gonna change as those in leadership do not see this as credible information as long as it does not wholly suit NRM [Museveni's National Resistance Movement]
Ugandans went to Twitter, too, to comment on the results, with hashtag #IRIUgandaPolls. Twitter user T.Ddumba and journalism student kemigisa jacky pointed out unrealistic promises from politicians:
@tomddumba Many promises no action, many visions, no work on ground, but 69% of Ugandans believe the country is going in the right direction
— kemigisa jacky (@JackyKemigisa) March 21, 2015
Water and sanitation specialist Fredrick Tumusiime, based in Kampala, responded to their tweets, saying:
@JackyKemigisa If right direction means going to bed and waking up the next day, the country is on course. Expectations are low. @tomddumba
— Fredrick Tumusiime (@tufre80) March 21, 2015

author: Abdoulaye Bah


text:
Could #IranTalks Signal a New Deal for Iran and the US? · Global Voices
Tori Egherman

At the negotiating table in Lausanne, Switzerland. Photo from the US State Department
This post originally appeared on Harry's Place.
Eight years ago when I last lived in Iran, the slogan: “Nuclear energy is our indisputable right” had become the punchline to a joke. When I shopped for fish at a popular market on Jordan Street in Tehran, the staff greeted me by chanting it in a friendly manner. On a trip to Kermanshah, a Kurdish family asked me: “Is nuclear energy only your indisputable right, or is it also ours?”
When then-president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited the provinces, he was met by people chanting, “A public swimming pool is our indisputable right.” During the 2009 election campaigns, people sent text messages to each other that read: “Sorry I woke you up at this time of night. It’s nothing special – I just wanted to say that nuclear energy is our indisputable right.”
The woman with the video camera is asking me about the author right to nuclear energy. Image provided by Tori Egherman.
On April 2, as Iranians were celebrating the closing day of their two-week New Year’s holidays, the news broke that negotiators had at last come to an understanding about the framework for a nuclear agreement. That framework includes replacing the core at the Arak heavy water plant and decreasing its stockpile of low-enriched uranium by 95%, as well as intensive inspections. It also means that Iran won’t leave the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.
Vocal hardliners have been quick to point out the framework’s weaknesses, with some in the US and Israel arguing that it is too soft and those in Iran claiming the country is surrendering. Some have interpreted the celebration of Iranians as meaning that the P5+1 negotiating team cut a bad deal. This shows a lack of understanding of Iran. People there take to the streets to celebrate World Cup losses. Any opportunity for public celebration is welcomed.
What many in Iran seem to particularly long for is rapprochement with the West and with the United States in particular. According to an article by Narges Bajoghli, the majority of those in Iran’s Basij and Revolutionary Guards also look forward better ties to the West. She writes:
In over nine years of on-the-ground research with different factions of the Revolutionary Guard and Basij, I have found that an underlying concern for many, regardless of political leaning, is a desire to create an Iran with more opportunities for their children, and that means the removal of sanctions and better relations with the world.
Tough sanctions may have brought Iran to the negotiating table, but what kept them there was the knowledge that the people of Iran wanted engagement with the West. This was made clear in 2009 in the wake of the disputed and flawed presidential elections and again with the election of current president Rouhani. Iranian voters overwhelmingly rejected the candidate seen as representing the Supreme Leader’s foreign policy, then nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili. Jalili ran for office specifically on his record of standing firm on Iran’s right to its nuclear program.
There is a strong sense of nationhood and national pride among most Iranians inside and outside the country. The nuclear program, which has been a cause of so much pain and deprivation in Iran, represents accomplishment and security even to those who would seem to be its natural detractors. For a final agreement to be successful, the people of Iran need to have some evidence that their suffering under the sanctions regime was not for nothing. This means lifting sanctions that hurt them the most and making sure to do it with great fanfare. For instance lifting the sanctions on refined petroleum, which have contributed to a dramatic increase in pollution in cities like Tehran, may immediately contribute to cleaner air.
Sanctions also camouflage corruption. They allow profiteers to drive up prices on items such as medicines, and create false shortages. They give power to the corrupt and dangerous in society. I saw this every day when I lived in Iran. I saw how poorly the US and Europe communicated both the scope of and the reason for the sanctions to the Iranian people.
While most human rights advocates and Iran’s civil society welcome a negotiated agreement, there is concern that hardliners will seek to establish their control by increasing oppressive measures. Hadi Ghaemi of the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran says:
Iran could be roiled in political tension in the wake of the agreement, and even more so if a more permanent agreement is reached in June. Hardliners will push to maintain political relevancy, while pent up demand for basic rights, long frozen as Iran locked horns with the West, will rise to the surface.
The Iranian government’s record on human rights is disastrous. Ethnic minorities face severe discrimination and suppression of their rights. The rate of execution per capita is the highest in the world. Religious minorities, particularly the Baha’i, suffer. The Baha’i face arrest, harassment, and barriers to education. The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, Ahmed Shaheed, stated that pressure on Iran is especially important: “Iran is the country in the region with the biggest gap between potential [for respect for human rights] and reality.” People in Iran are ready to claim their own rights and are chipping away at the structure that limits them. As one Tehran professor recently wrote in an open letter to the spokeswoman for Iran’s foreign ministry, defending Dr. Shaheed:
The fact is, even if in all of the almost 200 member states of the UN, human rights are violated, and Western countries keep silent against all of them, violations of human rights in the 201st country are still unjustifiable.
A successful agreement that relieves the state of near-war means that civil society and human rights defenders will gain more space. The state of conflict with other powers and the isolation of the country are often used as excuses for tamping down dissent and arresting human rights defenders. They face charges such as “compromising national security” and “spreading propaganda against the state.” With a final agreement, these spurious charges will become more and more ridiculous and harder to defend. A successful agreement also means that human rights defenders can lobby other powers for support without hearing the response: “All we care about is a nuclear agreement.”
Some of you may think I’ve been “irantoxified” as a result of my four-year stay in Iran. I can tell you that I was, indeed, fundamentally changed by the experience. I felt real oppression for the first time in my life. I had to learn to control myself emotionally, physically and verbally. I also became passionate about human rights, not just in oppressive countries like Iran, but in free countries like the United States and the Netherlands. I saw what war does to family and friends and watched as my sister-in-law trembled uncontrollably at the news that American warships were in the Persian Gulf. I met Basiji who valued democracy, a judge who opposed the nuclear program, observant women who railed against forced hijab, a transgender man who read tea leaves, and ruthless profiteers. I was met with kindness and hospitality that were both unexpected and comforting. I buried people I loved there. I left the country wanting nothing less than the best possible future for the people who had welcomed me so unabashedly.
There will not be a linear path to reform and an opening of society. There never is, anywhere. Iranians will have high expectations that an agreement will solve their economic and social woes. This is true even as they make jokes about expectations of buying whiskey in supermarkets and going into the streets in shorts.
In summation, if this agreement is to work and if the government of Iran is to be persuaded to permanently give up any efforts to build a bomb, the people of Iran need to be convinced they’ve made the best of all possible agreements. In the wake of the agreement, sanctions need to be lifted quickly and loudly. By publicly clarifying what is no longer sanctioned, the US and Europeans can give the people of Iran the information they need to hold their own government accountable for economic malaise. The sanctions will no longer be cover. The benefits of being part of the international community must be made clear to the people of Iran. They are certainly aware of the suffering that comes from isolation.

author: Tori Egherman


text:
Defending Internet Free Speech and Anonymity in Ecuador · Global Voices
Alfredo Velazco

Signatories to the Manifesto for the Freedom of Expression, Anonymity, and Online Privacy in Ecuador.
In the face of government condemnation of anonymity and satire on the Internet, several national and international organizations have signed the Manifesto for the Freedom of Expression, Anonymity, and Online Privacy in Ecuador.
Domestic signatories include Usuarios Digitales and Fundamedios, while some of the international and foreign groups to join the manifesto are Access, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Derechos Digitales (Chile), Oficina Antivigilancia (Brazil), Fundación Karisma (Colombia), TEDIC (Paraguay), Acceso Libre (Venezuela), ContingenteMx (Mexico), and Enjambre Digital (Mexico).
The joint statement stresses that anonymity on the Internet is not a crime:
Check here to read the Manifesto for the Freedom of Expression, Anonymity, and Online Privacy in Ecuador.

author: Alfredo Velazco


text:
KaiKai News Trains Young Sierra Leoneans to Make Documentaries · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Training to make documentaries. April 4, 2015. KaiKai News Facebook page.
KaiKai News is a media organisation in Freetown, Sierra Leone, that hires and trains young Sierra Leoneans to produce documentaries that focus on the country's creativity and culture.
Rising Voices Director Eddie Avila spoke to the founder KaiKai News, Trevor Young, who said:
We don't have a detail training system in place right now. We are putting together a plan as we execute. Right now have a team of four reporters/producers/editors. We used mini docs from Vice News as our model and watch one everyday and discuss various elements we like and dislike. The four members of the team have no video editing experience so we started training on Moviemaker, which is very user friendly. At the pace the four are learning we will very likely progress to Adobe Premiere for editing within the next two months.
Young's project has posted several finished videos to YouTube:
Dominic Monrovia shows how Sierra Leone's traditional “country cloth” is made:
Rugiatu Jenneh Sesay, a young reporter with KaiKai News takes a look at how Sierra Leone's cooking stove, better known as the “coal-pot”, is made:
Dominic Kalokoh from KaiKai News spotlights a young agriculturist in Freetown.
Salifu C. Kamara and a news crew travel to the east end of Freetown to document a juice-producing company:
Dominic Kalokoh travels to Dwazark in Western Freetown to document the making of Kanya, a Sierra Leonean snack made from gari, groundnuts, sugar, and salt.
Apart from their website, KaiKai News is also on Twitter and Facebook.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


text:
The Kremlin Declares War on Memes · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

A declaration of war on Internet memes. Edited by Kevin Rothrock.
Russian censors have determined that one of the most popular forms of Internet meme is illegal. According to Roskomnadzor, the Kremlin’s media watchdog, it’s now against the law to use celebrities’ photographs in a meme, “when the image has nothing to do with the celebrity’s personality.”
The new policy comes on the heels of a court decision in Moscow, where a judge ruled that a particular photo meme violates the privacy of Russian singer Valeri Syutkin. The court’s decision targets an article on Lurkmore, a popular Wikipedia-style Russian website that focuses on Internet subcultures and memes.
The meme in question is an image macro built on a lyric from an obscene Russian song from 2005. The phrase, “Bei Babu po Ebalu” (usually shortened to “BBPE”), translates roughly to “Smack the Bitch in the Face.” The song belongs to an obscure musician named Nambavan (“Number One”), and appeared on an album titled “Sex, Drugs, and Russian Girls.”
According to Lurkmore, the meme based on Nambavan’s offensive lyrics first emerged in 2008 on the Russian imageboard 2ch.ru, where users posted links to the music video, as a way of insulting each other. 2ch users then toyed with different image macros, overlaying the “BBPE” phrase on photos of pop star Philipp Kirkorov and actor Aleksey Panin, but singer Valeri Syutkin eventually became the face of the meme.
“Bei Babu po Ebalu,” featuring Valeri Syutkin.
The meme seems to work best with Syutkin because of the singer’s reputation for saccharine, romantic music that is especially popular among women. In other words, the joke is that he is perhaps the last person anyone would expect to attack a woman.
An image macro is “an image superimposed with text for humorous effect.” Even if you’ve never seen this term before, chances are you’ve already encountered more than a few image macros.
One of the most common ways to get laughs with this type of meme is juxtaposition. The obscene sexist lyrics of Nambavan’s song are basically the opposite of what you’ll find in a song by Valeri Syutkin.
In this sense, it would be fair to compare the “BBPE” meme to something like “Advice Dog,” where Internet users start with a photograph of an adorable puppy and attach advice that is often unethical or deplorable.
“Advice dog.”
Roskomnadzor’s vague new policy threatens to do more than crack down on potentially defamatory juxtaposition, however. By saying it is illegal to add celebrities’ images to memes that “have nothing to do with the celebrity’s personality,” the Kremlin could be opening the door to banning a whole genre of absurdist online humor.
Jeff Goldblum is, well, you know the rest.
Consider some other popular image macros, like “Jeff Goldblum Is Watching You Poop” (a bathroom joke based on a screencap from the 1986 horror remake The Fly) or Eduard Khil’s “Trololo” (another music-based meme), which use celebrities to make jokes that are so senseless or obscure that it would be easy to conclude such memes “have nothing to do with the celebrity’s personality.” If Roskomnadzor wants, it could use this new policy to ban a wide variety of Internet memes.
RuNet Echo spoke to Lurkmore‘s founder and chief administrator, Dmitry (David) Homak, who said one of the problems with challenging the court decision against the article about “BBPE” and Valeri Syutkin is that he’s received no official documents from the Russian government:
They evade the defendant [Lurkmore] by any means necessary. ‘You can’t challenge it,’ they tell you. ‘We don’t know if you’re the guys who own the site, and we don’t want to hear from you.’”
Homak says he now has to choose between three unappealing alternatives: (1) he can try to find a way to establish standing and challenge the ruling in court, (2) he can block the article for Internet users based in Russia, or (3) “there’s always the option of telling them to fuck off, which would get us blocked in Russia, but that’s probably not the smartest move.”
If history is any indication, Lurkmore will probably opt to block the “BBPE” page for Russian users, which is the strategy it’s taken several times already, when Roskomnadzor has blacklisted or threatened to blacklist the website for content about suicide and illegal drugs. Homak has until early May to decide what to do.
Besides musicians with hurt feelings, it’s not unthinkable that Roskomnadzor might one day apply its new policy on memes to other kinds of public figures, like politicians. If this ever happens, it could theoretically become illegal to photoshop a shirtless Vladimir Putin onto a bird, or a bear, or any of the other dozens of animals you can find the Russian President riding in a cursory search on Google Images.
Vladimir Putin, as the Internet knows him.
Banning all shirtless Putin memes, let alone trying to close down the “BBPE” photo of Syutkin, is an impossible task, of course. Roskomnadzor’s pressure on Lurkmore, like much of its policing of the RuNet, is meant instead to scare other websites into censoring their own content.
As for Syutkin, he says his mother is the one who convinced him to take Lurkmore to court over the meme. “I know I’m not alone here,” he told the newspaper Izvestia. “I want to help instill some order on the RuNet, so personal data is used with respect.”
Given that the “BBPE” meme is more than six years old, however, many RuNet users—including most people in the Lurkmore community—suspect that Syutkin’s concerns have less to do with Russia’s Internet culture than with promoting his name to rescue sales of his latest album, which debuted last month.

author: Kevin Rothrock


text:
‘This Is Not Our War’: Pakistanis Want Nothing to Do With Saudi Arabia in Yemen · Global Voices
Qurratulain (Annie) Zaman

Citizens staged a protest against the involvement of Pakistan in the current Saudi-Yemen dispute, during a demonstration in Karachi. Image by ppiImages Copyright Demotix (6/4/2015)
After days of debate, Pakistan's parliament has decided unanimously in favour of a resolution that “Pakistan should maintain neutrality” in Yemen. That means Pakistan won't be contributing its military might to the Saudi-led military offensive against Houthi fighters, who have been in control of large parts of Yemen since January.
Well done Pakistan parliament for asking government to remain entirely neutral in the Yemen conflict.
— Nadeem F. Paracha (@NadeemfParacha) April 10, 2015
Saudi Arabia had formally requested that Pakistan join its efforts in Yemen, putting democratically elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a serious bind at home.
Their request came after news reports indicated that Pakistan wouldn't participate in the fight, but would help Saudi Arabia defend its own territory if necessary.
Third-time Prime Minister Sharif has good relations with the Saudi monarchy and was their guest while in exile after a coup toppled his government in 1999. The gulf's main Sunni power Saudi Arabia is a long-term ally of Pakistan and donor to Sunni-majority Pakistan. The Saudis gave Pakistan $1.5 billion in 2014.
On the demand of main opposition parties, Sharif called a joint session of parliament on Monday, April 6. The Pakistani public has openly criticised the war and any involvement by Pakistan — “this is not our war” is a common phrase one hears on mainstream TV channels and at tea stalls.
#PakistanArmyOnlyForPakistan We are not involved in Yemen war This is Not Our War @teamUDPTI @AnilaButtPTI @gr8hafsa pic.twitter.com/40fLafgY6E
— Mian Hussain (@MianHussainPTI) April 7, 2015
Citizen in Karachi and Lahore holding demonstrations against Pakistan's possible involvement in war on Yemen. pic.twitter.com/MIVt8sRuS0
— Faizan Lakhani (@faizanlakhani) April 6, 2015
This is NOT our war! #Pakistan pic.twitter.com/KUhBnkfdsz
— 3rd Option® (@The_3rdOption) March 29, 2015
This is not our war ….. We only fight for our #Saudi masters. #YemenUnderAttack #SaudiaAttacksYemen
— Jimmy (@A_Rizvi110) March 28, 2015
Sales trainer Ashraf Chaudhry claimed on Facebook that six lies were being fed to Pakistanis to legitimise the attack on Yemen and send Pakistani troops on Saudi Arabia's call.
Malik Siraj Akbar, a Pakistani journalist and activist argued in his blog, ‘Pakistan's Yemen Gamble’, that Pakistan would be blundering by joining the eight-nation coalition:
While some see the crisis in Yemen as a proxy battle between the Sunni and Shia camps led respectively by Saudi Arabia and Iran, the people in Pakistan have already seen the glimpses of this war, although in a different form, for nearly three decades. The Pakistan-based religious schools, which are allegedly substantially funded by Saudi Arabia and several other oil-rich Arab states, have been blamed for churning out Islamic terrorists and providing sanctuary to similar local and foreign fugitives. In addition, hundreds of Shias are killed each year in Pakistan in sectarian violence.
The possibility of sending Pakistani troops provoked immense pressure from political parties as well civil society on this issue. Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan's party Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) returned to the parliament after six months of boycott and joined the joint session on Monday to address the Yemen issue.
Cartoonist Sabir Nazar portrayed the debate in a cartoon, which was shared by Facebook user Khurram Zaki:
Pak-Saudi ties on Yemen Sabir Nazar
Posted by Khurram Zaki on Friday, April 3, 2015
Members of civil society opposed to Pakistan's involvement also started an online Change.org petition:
We are already cleaning the mess created in 1970's. It's been four decades and another century and it doesn't seem to end. We have already lost thousands and thousands of Pakistanis because of policies of the few. We are a much informed and politically engaged nation now and we will not let our government fight other's wars. We will not let our forces to get dragged in the self-created mess of Middle East. PM Nawaz Sharif don't try to pay back to Saudi Arabia at the expense of 180 million people.
On Twitter, people spoke out against the idea:
Wider war: Pakistan’s entry to Yemen would be a mistake http://t.co/S6Hoho1z4X via @pittsburghpg
— Marium Asher (@MariumAsher) April 8, 2015
Since #Pakistan sending forces into #Yemen appears to be engraved in stone…lets get the right price. Start from asking $65 B and free oil
— Syed Bakhtiyar Kazmi (@LeAccountant) April 8, 2015
In Yemen crisis, Pakistan had more to leverage between warring sides, either Nawaz is shy by nature or is not being properly advised..!!
— Moeed Pirzada (@MoeedNj) April 7, 2015
Before Pakistan made its decision to remain neutral on April 10, the Pakistani prime minister said a few days before that Pakistan was “not in a hurry” to move one way or another.


text:
Boy’s T-Shirt Pokes Fun at Ecuadorian President · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón Orbe

Detail of image widely shared on Twitter.
When Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa agreed to take a photo with a boy, he probably didn't imagine it would go viral — and he would end up being the butt of the joke. The boy was wearing a T-shirt printed with the phrase “I’m with stupid” and an arrow that pointed toward the head of state.
The image's publication resulted in the hashtag #IAmWithStupidMashi on Twitter. “Mashi” is part of President Correa's handle on Twitter: @mashicorrea (“Mashi” means colleague or teammante in Quechua).
Una foto pe’ tío @MashiRafael pa’ estrenar mi polo.. ja! #IAmWithStupidMashi #Ecuador cc. @omar_gavidia pic.twitter.com/9QbY2mtf8K
— Walter tz (@WalTer_tz) abril 10, 2015
A picture with you, man, so I can wear my T-shirt for the first time. LOL!
#IAmWithStupidMashi #WeAreWithYouMashi todos los estupidos contigo oh!! Mashi oh!! Mashi!! https://t.co/2cShxYhcYU
— Saquisili-Cotopaxi (@saquisili69) abril 10, 2015
#WeAreWithYouMashi all the idiots with you, oh!! Mashi, oh!! Mashi!!
Y esta es la foto que está causando revuelo en el mundo: #IAmWithStupidMashi pic.twitter.com/S9Y0NQSLyX @dl_nice30 @makiger @augusto9011
— Danny Puccio (@danny_puccio) abril 10, 2015
And this is the photo that's causing a stir around the world.
@danny_puccio @makiger @augusto9011 queda claro q necesita de urgencia unas clases con #openenglish @c_angeles20 @LuzBeRue @Lily_Flores
— Debby (@dl_nice30) abril 10, 2015
It's clear he urgently needs some lessons with #OpenEnglish.

author: Gabriela García Calderón Orbe


text:
Are Zuckerberg and Internet.org Genuinely Good for Panama? · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg took advantage of his invitation to attend the Summit of the Americas in Panama City and met with his CEO counterparts in the region to promote Internet.org, a partnership he initiated between big business, non-profit organizations, and communities, the goal of which is to connect more people to the Internet.
Many media outlets are reporting the announcement made jointly by Zuckerberg and Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela that, thanks to Internet.org, Panamanians will now have free access to the Internet. According to the Spanish daily El País, the aim is to “facilitate free access to essential services related to health, safety, transportation and education. The project's implementation has the support of the government.”
But Richard Armuelles, writing for El Blog de Machinarium021, opines that the news may not be as good as it's cracked up to be. According to Armuelles, the public is being sold the “erroneous idea that all Internet will be free in a given country, which is not true. Only certain services that have formed partnerships with Facebook will benefit from this initiative, so my dear fellow blogger or local entrepreneur, you will still have to pay for users to have access to your website.” He adds that:
esto rompe la neutralidad de la web. desde hace mucho tiempo, fundaciones como Mozilla hablan de lo peligroso que es una web en donde no tengamos igualdad de oportunidades. Básicamente, esto no es diferente a un carrier que da “data gratis”, para navegar en Facebook y Whatsapp, haciendo que sea imposible una libre competencia.
this conflicts with net neutrality. For a while now, companies like Mozilla have talked about the dangers of a Web in which users don't enjoy equality of opportunity. Basically, this is no different from a carrier who provides “free data” so users can navigate on Facebook and WhatsApp, making a free market impossible.
Richard also argues that business interests are being served under the guise of providing charity, concluding that:
Internet.org en Panamá es todo menos beneficioso. Resuelve un problema de conectividad, pero a un precio mayor y lamentablemente sin muchas soluciones que realmente sean neutrales y justas para todos.
Internet.org in Panama may be many things but it is no free lunch. It solves a connectivity problem, but at a higher price and unfortunately without the kind of solutions that are truly neutral and equitable for everyone.

author: Juan Arellano