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Eight Years of Global Voices in Spanish · Global Voices
Juan Arellano

Spanish Global Voices: The world is talking, are you listening?
This January marks eight years since Global Voices began publishing articles on Global Voices in Spanish. Since then, although many things have changed internally, and sometimes externally as well, the website's goals and essence remain the same: giving underrepresented voices from various online communities around the world a platform, defending the rights of netizens threatened for expressing themselves, and helping reduce the digital divide.
Moreover, the work of Global Voices in Spanish would not be possible without the invaluable daily contribution of its volunteer translators, many of whom have been volunteering for several years, who bring together their knowledge and enthusiasm so that we can meet our goals. In line with that effort, all of us within the community do our part and as such learn, teach, and even have fun doing something we like and, above all, believe in: working toward an inclusive Internet that is not foreign to the political and social dynamics of the world.
Below, some of the members of the Global Voices in Spanish volunteer community share various experiences from this year.
Claudia Mercado from Mexico joined Global Voices in Spanish in August 2014 and has already translated 20 posts. This is what she has experienced so far in the community:
Me gustaría compartir la emoción que sentí al ver mi primer traducción publicada. Al principio entré al grupo para practicar mis habilidades y técnicas de traducción y poder adquirir experiencia para entrar al campo laboral. Sin embargo con el tiempo me di cuenta que no sólo estaba logrando mi cometido, sino también efectuando un trabajo de gran valía al mantener comunicados e informados a cientos de personas que acceden a la página.
Ver que mis post son retuiteados me llena de emoción pues me doy cuenta de la dimensión que alcanza el proyecto, además encontrar mi nombre y verme ya cómo traductora y participando con una comunidad tan amplia y heterogénea es algo que no pensé lograr este año. Agradezco mucho poder colaborar con todos.
I would like to share how excited I felt when I saw my first translation published. At first I joined the group to practice my translation skills and techniques and to try to get experience in order to enter the workforce. With time, however, I realized that I was not just reaching my goal, but also doing work of great value, helping inform the hundreds of people who access the page.
Seeing that my posts are re-tweeted fills me with excitement because I realize the dimension that the project reaches. In addition, finding my name and seeing myself as a translator participating in such a wide and diverse community is something that I did not expect to accomplish this year. I am very grateful for being able to collaborate with everyone.
Romina Navarro from Argentina has been with us since 2012 and has translated just over 100 posts. She tells us:
Llevo un poco más de dos años traduciendo para Global Voices en Español, una tarea que me apasiona y jamás me aburre porque los temas y contextos de las noticias son extremadamente diversos. Cada artículo que traduzco presenta un pequeño desafío, un problema de traducción, una duda lingüística, una necesidad de investigar algún detalle, y con ello la oportunidad de aprender y crecer un poco más como profesional del idioma. Y en 2014 agregué un nuevo matiz a mi voluntariado y di mis primeros pasos como autora.
Ojalá estos diez años de GV sean sólo un comienzo y que vengan muchos más, y espero con ansias la oportunidad de conocer personalmente a algunas de las personas maravillosas que dan vida a esta rica comunidad y la hacen crecer cada día. ¿Qué mejor forma puede haber de empezar el 2015?
I have been translating for Global Voices in Spanish for a little over two years, a job that fascinates and never bores me because the topics and contexts of the news are extremely diverse. Each article I translate presents a small challenge, a translation problem, a linguistic doubt, a need to research some detail, and with it the opportunity to learn and grow a bit as a professional of the language. In 2014 I also added a new twist to my volunteer work and took my first steps as an author.
Hopefully these 10 years of GV are just a start and that many more are to come, and I look forward to the opportunity to personally meet some of the wonderful people who give life to this rich community and make it grow each day. What better way can there be to start 2015?
Axel Haefele from Chile is completing his practicum, or professional internship, with the Global Voices community since the end of November 2014 and comments:
Llegué a este sitio en busca de una pasantía, pensando más en lo cómodo de traducir desde la casa que en la importancia de un proyecto de esta magnitud. Así empecé a traducir noticias de temas que ignoraba (algunos vergonzosamente) como las elecciones en Japón, los atunes en peligro de extinción y, quizás uno de los que más me interesaron, sobre la guerra de información que lidera un bloguero anónimo de Ucrania con el gobierno ruso.
Lo que primero aprendí de esta experiencia fue a analizar el texto, me explico: en mis estudios me había acostumbrado a traducir textos más técnicos, como instructivos, contratos, etc., pero en Global Voices se trabaja con noticias, por lo que el enfoque al momento de traducir un artículo es uno muy distinto al que me había acostumbrado. De esta manera, creo que he aprendido a adecuarme mejor a cada texto.
I arrived at this site in search of an internship, thinking more about the comfort of translating from home than the importance of a project of this magnitude. So I started translating news stories on topics that I ignored (some embarrassingly) such as the elections in Japan, the tuna in danger of extinction, and perhaps one that was most interesting to me, about the information war that an anonymous blogger from Ukraine led against the Russian government.
What I first learned from this experience was to analyze the text. Let me explain: in my studies, I had become used to translating more technical texts, like instructions, contracts, etc., but in Global Voices we work with news, so the focus when translating an article is very different from the one I had been accustomed to. Therefore, I think I have learned to adapt myself better to each text.
Cecilia Cárdenas from Argentina has been with us for less than a year, but she has translated an incredible number of posts — 348, more than one per day! She tells us about what she learned:
Hasta este año los gentilicios para mí eran una pregunta típica de crucigrama pero como ustedes saben en GV son algo cotidiano, así que más de una vez tuve que chequear antes de traducir, con algunos me llevé sorpresas, descubrí por ejemplo que malayo es un idioma y una etnia pero los aviones que se caen últimamente son malasios. Indio, es un natural de la India e hindú un devoto al hinduismo. Bangladesí es el natural de Bangladesh y bengalí es el idioma que ellos hablan, pero bengalí también puede ser gentilicio, referido a la región de Bengala. Israelí, es el gentilicio e israelita tiene más que ver con la religión o el origen hebreo. Gazatí todavía no figura en la lista de gentilicios reconocidos x la RAE pero se aplica a los nativos de la ciudad de Gaza y a los de la Franja.
A veces la duda estaba en cómo deletrearlos, por ejemplo algunos colegas usan pakistaní, que es correcto pero también se escribe paquistaní. Los kirguizos también pueden ser kirguíes, como los nacidos en Trinidad y Tobago pueden ser trinitenses o trinitarios, y alguna vez leí trinitobaguenses también. Como se imaginarán esto es sólo una muestra. Si quieren verificar sus conocimientos en la materia o aprender gentilicios por mero placer pueden consultar esta lista.
Up until this year, places of origin for me were a typical crossword puzzle question, but as you know in GV they are an everyday thing, so I had to check this several times before translating and sometimes I was surprised. For example, I discovered that Malay is a language and ethnicity, but the airplanes that recently crashed were Malaysian. An Indian is someone native to India and Hindu is a devotee to Hinduism. Bangladeshi is the person from Bangladesh and Bengali is the language that they speak, but Bengali can also be a place of origin, referring to the region of Bengal. Israeli is the place of origin and Israelite has more to do with religion or the Hebrew origin. Gazan is still not on the Royal Spanish Academy's list of recognized places of origin, but applies to natives of the city of Gaza and those from the Gaza Strip.
Sometimes the question was how to spell them, for example some colleagues spelled Pakistani with a “k” [in Spanish], which is correct but it can also be written with a “qu”. The Kyrgyz could be “kirguizos” but also “kirguíes”, as those born in Trinidad and Tobago could be Trinidadians or Trinitarians, and once I even read “Trinitobagans” too. As you can imagine, this is just an example. If you want to test your knowledge on the subject or learn places of origin for mere pleasure, you can refer to this list [in Spanish].
Carolina Pirola from Spain has been with us since 2012 and currently assists in evaluating and reviewing the interns’ translations. She says:
Ha sido una experiencia muy enriquecedora. Aportar mi granito de arena a esta comunidad resulta muy gratificante, puesto que la conforman personas entregadas a la causa, que no buscan más que difundir informaciones que normalmente no tienen cabida en los medios tradicionales internacionales. Global Voices hace un servicio muy valioso para la sociedad en este aspecto, y poder contribuir de alguna manera a que estas voces e historias lleguen a más gente es algo que valoro mucho. Además, en este caso he podido echar una mano a un estudiante que recién empieza en el mundo de la traducción. Esto es algo que considero importante puesto que muchas veces en las escuelas se centran mucho en la teoría y no tanto en la práctica, por lo que esta experiencia es para ellos fundamental para el futuro. Por ejemplo, hay matices de una lengua que no siempre se captan en la versión traducida o que puede tener dos acepciones, por lo que poder ofrecer una segunda opinión desde la experiencia puede ser enriquecedor para el proceso de aprendizaje del pasante.
It has been a very enriching experience. Adding my two cents to this community has been very rewarding, since it is made up of people dedicated to the cause who do not look for anything more than to spread information that normally does not make it to traditional international media outlets. Global Voices provides a very valuable service for society in this regard and being able to contribute in some way so that these voices and stories reach more people is something I value a lot. Additionally, in this case I have been able to lend a hand to a student that was recently starting out in the translation world. This is something I consider important since many times schools focus on theory and not so much on practice, making this experience fundamental to their future. For example, there are nuances of a language that are not always captured in the translated version or there's the possibility of having two meanings, so being able to offer a second opinion from experience can be enriching for an intern's learning process.
And so, we hope that this year, as well as in those to come, the community continues to grow so that we can bring more stories to our readers sooner and in more languages.

author: Juan Arellano


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Fact-Checking the Hype Surrounding FireChat in Hong Kong’s Protests · Global Voices
88 Bar

Mobile phones are held aloft during a pro-democracy protest on September 30, 2014 in Hong Kong. Photo by Flickr user Pasu Au Yeung. CC BY 2.0
Below is an edited version “Fact checking the hype around mesh networks and FireChat“ by Jason Li, originally published on the blog 88 Bar and republished here as part of a content-sharing agreement.
Being based in Hong Kong, my tech friends and I still occasionally get asked, “So what’s the deal with FireChat?” In case you missed it, FireChat, a smartphone chat app with basic mesh support, made headlines during the recent Occupy Hong Kong protests demanding citizen nomination of the candidates for the city's top leader. Protesters on the ground here turned to it in late September when rumors began to circulate that the government would shut down the Internet. It never did, but plenty of people, myself included, downloaded FireChat anyway.
Hearing about this, many publications then used FireChat to tell a techno-utopian story about the future of mesh networking. Yet in the same stories, many publications pointed to faulty evidence of, or simply speculated about, people using its mesh features. The sole exception seems to be TechPresident’s Rebecca Chao, who actually found real evidence of its use). As the hype has subsided, we at 88 Bar have decided that it’s a good time to review the facts and figures around FireChat.
The app wasn't designed to be a protest tool.
Compilation of press images from FireChat's listing in the iTunes store.
The full quote that FireChat gave Wired last June is:
People need to understand that this is not a tool to communicate anything that would put them in a harmful situation if it were to be discovered by somebody who’s hostile. It was not meant for secure or private communications.
That is, of course, months before they went on the speaking circuit to market its use during the recent Hong Kong protests.
The University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab ran a full, tech analysis and concluded:
Messages sent in any of the application’s three messaging modes are sent in the clear without encryption. All messages sent and received, as well as a list of chat channels the user has joined, are stored unencrypted on the device. It is also possible for anyone (regardless of whether they have installed the app or not) to visit an IP address associated with the service in a web browser to see the most recent messages sent by users of the application.
Sign up figures for FireChat in Hong Kong during the protests range from 100,000 to 500,000. Assuming only a small number of “troll” accounts and that not every protester would have downloaded the app, this would imply that there were at least 100,000 to 500,000 people who downloaded it to support the protest. (Estimates say roughly 200,000 people took part in the Hong Kong protests at its peak.)
And according to FireChat’s Twitter account, people are still using it: their stats show 208,000 chat sessions on December 16, 2014.
Not only are messages unencrypted, but it encourages the use of real names. From Global Voices: “Once installed, the app requires the user to sign up with her real name (which will be pre-filled with the name she eventually configures on her iOS or Android phone), a username and an email address.”
This is especially troubling because police have arrested at least two people in Hong Kong who posted protest-related messages online. See Quartz’s “Police are using Hong Kong’s computer crime law to crack down on pro-democracy organizers.”
Of the dozens of articles published on FireChat during Occupy Hong Kong, I only found one report that found evidence of mesh network usage. From Rebecca Chao on TechPresident:
As a volunteer, Ip was among a group of roughly 60 to 120 that monitored the supply stations. He used FireChat to recruit more volunteers. While verification is an issue in the app’s anonymous chat room settings, Ip says that given the proximity needed for off-grid use, “we could meet up instantly to confirm who I was and what volunteers we wanted and to ensure they got the right information.”
The other reports sadly only pointed to evidence of use of its Internet (not mesh) chatrooms:
As Nathan Freitas and Oiwan Lam write in Global Voices, “FireChat is not a messaging app. FireChat is a chatroom, a platform to send insecure and public messages to people over the Internet or within your geographical vicinity.” As such it is not a replacement for Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Line or WeChat.
For an idea of what it looks like in action, here's a 12-second clip of FireChat (as of 11 a.m., January 12, 2015). The picture is shrunk in order to conceal usernames and locations:
During the Hong Kong protests, everyone I spoke to said that Facebook and WhatsApp were by far the most commonly used communication tools. This isn’t to say FireChat wasn’t used, but it’s good to put its popularity into perspective.
Nellie Bowles writes in Recode that “during the recent enormous pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, the city’s cellular networks got so jammed they collapsed.” I have seen no reports to that effect (congestion yes, collapse no). As one protester stated in TechPresident, “I found that my LTE [4G] connection was pretty solid in most cases, even with tens of thousands of protesters around me.”

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: 88 Bar


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Twitter Mocks Anti-Muslim Comments with #FoxNewsFacts after ‘Expert’ Says Birmingham, England is ‘Totally Muslim’ · Global Voices
Maya Norton

Source: Pundamentalism on Twitter.
There is nothing the Brits do better than dry humor and Fox News, America's most watched cable television news channel, provides ample opportunity for England to enjoy its national pastime.
In January, the Twitter hashtag #FoxNewsFacts swung into action following a broadcast with terrorism expert Steve Emerson, where he remarked:
“In Britain, there are actual cities like Birmingham that are totally Muslim where non-Muslims just simply don't go in. And parts of London, there are actually Muslim religious police that actually beat and actually wound, seriously, anyone who doesn't dress according to religious Muslim attire.”
Host Jeanine Pirro opines, “What's happening is [that] this is metastasizing into a simple takeover,” calling Muslim communities “a caliphate within a particular country.”
Highly credentialed, Emerson is an award-winning investigative journalist, author of the acclaimed film “Jihad in America,” and founding director of the Investigative Project on Terrorism. Pirro is the Emmy-winning television host of “Justice with Judge Jeanine,” a judge, and legal analyst.
Responding to the segment, British Prime Minister David Cameron reported:
“When I heard this, frankly, I choked on my porridge and I thought it must be April Fool’s Day. This guy’s clearly a complete idiot.”
Not to be outdone by their fearless leader, Twitter users quickly got into the game, trending #FoxNewsFacts globally. Social search engine Topsy reports that the tag has been tweeted more than 400,000 times this week.
Dear @FoxNews Your ineptitude is now being mocked worldwide. Now THAT's news. You could report it as one your #foxnewsfacts. #JeSuisBrummie
— Barry Butler (@barryjbutler) January 12, 2015
User Grill Griliopoulos posted a screenshot of Emerson's Wikipedia page, showing that its open source content had been tampered with for the sake of ridicule. Wikipedia's revision history reveals that content was removed due to usage violations as it was considered “partisan,” scolding, “stop using the encyclopedia to vent your anger. DISPASSIONATE TONE.”
Enjoying the amazing #FoxNewsFacts that have appeared on Steven Emerson's Wikipedia page… pic.twitter.com/mWdU133snS
— Grill Griliopoulos (@GriddleOctopus) January 11, 2015
Other users got into the act, professing their ignorance and purported job skills.
If @FoxNews are on the lookout for international experts, I know remarkably little about Belarus. #foxnewsfacts
— Josie Fraser (@josiefraser) January 11, 2015
And the comical:
Birmingham is entirely populated by muslims. Unlike nearby Wolverhampton, which is entirely populated by wolves. #foxnewsfacts
— Ian Rennie (@theangelremiel) January 11, 2015
The city is now called Birming because Ham is not halal. #foxnewsfacts — Kamila Shamsie (@kamilashamsie) January 11, 2015
Rabeb Othmani, who identifies herself as a Muslim Tunisian Brit, leverages #IllRideWithYou (I'll Ride With You), a hashtag that trended worldwide on December 15, 2014, in the wake of the Sydney, Australia café attack.
If you are a non-muslim and would like to visit Birmingham #illridewithyou #FoxNewsFacts
— Rabeb Othmani (@Rabeb_Othmani) January 11, 2015
Following the incident, Muslims reported feeling unsafe in public spaces, fearing backlash due to the high scale visibility of the Islamic flag that was hung in the storefront window during the 16-hour siege. The I’ll Ride With You Movement started when non-Muslim Australians began posting their locations and destinations on social media, offering to accompany and protect anyone who felt unsafe. The movement garnered huge popular support, marking 150,000 tweets in its first 12 hours, and offered a clear statement against racism and Islamophobia.
Othmani's tweet has been shared over 5,000 times.
On the trend of commentary about Muslim traditional dress, the hijab played a starring role, challenged only by the burka.
Oh man the hashtag.. “@axlreznor: Queen of England forced to convert to Islam. Seen here in her hijab. #foxnewsfacts pic.twitter.com/M4WIW3mfZs”
— YasminWaQahwa/Dima S (@YasminWaQahwa) January 12, 2015
British citizens respond to new sharia laws ordering #hijab on tableware, with flair and imagination. #foxnewsfacts pic.twitter.com/aWdc6tnvEF
— Ahmad Fraz (@Ahmad_Fraz9) January 12, 2015
#Islam‘s spread into outer space started many years ago, as can be seen by this inter galactic #burka. #foxnewsfacts pic.twitter.com/4LQJ7EOWGc — Ahmad Fraz (@Ahmad_Fraz9) January 12, 2015
Not to be outdone, classical and pop culture asserted their rightful role, invoking both Shakespeare and the 1980s British Invasion rock band Duran Duran.
Residents of Stratford-upon-Avon are forced to speak in iambic pentameter. Those who fail to do so are fed to angry swans #foxnewsfacts
— Jen Evans (@JenElizaEvans) January 11, 2015
The top selling Birmingham music act of all time is 80s halal pop supergroup Qur'an Qur'an #foxnewsfacts
— Chris Kehoe (@MrKehoe79) January 12, 2015
A bit of espionage was added into the mix.
Secret map of Pentagon(USA) through underground passes tattooed on Muslim girl's hand. #FoxNewsFacts pic.twitter.com/dpsYhhpOvt
— Sir. Mad (@Sermadd) January 12, 2015
Spaghetti junction in Birmingham is modelled on the logo of jihadi propaganda channel, “Al Jazeera”. #FoxNewsFacts pic.twitter.com/JvNnWBi9dI
— kristyan benedict (@KreaseChan) January 12, 2015
A British man named “Lawrence”, seen in Arabia is suspected to be the latest homegrown, ISIS recruit #foxnewsfacts pic.twitter.com/I3HUmB2knV
— Darcy Byrne (@MayorDarcy) January 12, 2015
And we would never deign to discuss Britain without a mention of its sunny (or is it Sunni?) climes.
#Muslims are controlling the weather in Britain. In some places it's Sunni, but mainly Shi'ite. #foxnewsfacts pic.twitter.com/fXzpIPXofa
— Ahmad Fraz (@Ahmad_Fraz9) January 12, 2015
Lastly, the BBC has been leveraging the #FoxNewsFacts tag throughout, positioning itself as a credible source in the commentary. Here they note that the Muslim population of Birmingham, one of Britain's largest cities, is less than a quarter of its population, featuring a piece that promotes the “real people of the city.”
As #FoxNewsFacts reaches over 250,000 tweets, here's some #BBCNewsFacts about Birmingham pic.twitter.com/Bbt0uLLmUc
— BBC Trending (@BBCtrending) January 12, 2015
As #FoxNewsFacts protests Birmingham's “Muslim-only” label, meet the real people of the city http://t.co/IPUigJKO2A pic.twitter.com/jI2ykccB8H
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) January 12, 2015
After that, dear friends, we leave you to your own devices. Quips of your own are welcome in the comments.
Recommended reading for more humorous posts from the Middle East:

author: Maya Norton


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ISIS Claim Their Kazakh Children Are Murdering Russian Spies [UPDATED] · Global Voices
Zukhra Iakupbaeva

ISIS have made a boy who calls himself Abdullah the star of two of their propaganda videos. Image from the first video widely shared.
On January 13, Al Hayat, the media arm of the self-styled Islamic State (often referred to in media as ISIS) published a video in which two men supposedly confess to their interrogators that they are undercover agents of the FSB (Russia's Federal Security Service) sent to penetrate the radicals’ camps in Syria. The two men are subsequently shot dead by a young boy.
Online, Internet users have argued over whether the video is genuine or in some way staged.
The child who executes the men towards the end of the video appears to be the same child that referred to himself as Abdullah from Kazakhstan in a previous Al Hayat release, a fact the makers of the video reinforce with an eery flashback to that footage as the camera fades to black.
The video, which is shot in Russian with subtitles in English and Arabic, begins with a condemnation of the apparent attempts of Russian spies to penetrate ISIS strongholds:
After the Khilahaf [Caliphate] had become a land of hijrah [pilgrimage of the prophet Muhammad] and jihad [holy war], its enemies thought they could dispatch spies and agents to plot against the Islamic state, but Allah disgraced their efforts and thwarted their plans. The following presentation is a portion of confessions of two agents recruited by Russian intelligence.
The first of the two alleged agents, Jambulat Mamayev, claims to be a Kazakh national working for the FSB. The footage of the interview with Mamayev has sound gaps in those moments, which seem to be of most importance. Mamayev can not be heard saying the name of the person — presumably from the ISIS — that he was supposed to get close to in his mission. He does not mention the name of his FSB handlers:
My mission was to come to Sham [Syria] and get close to (—) and inform the FSB about it. And also gather information about fighters from Russia and send the information to Russia.
The second interviewee, Sergei Ashirov mentions a handler called Ildar and notes his brief was to “work against Muslims,” despite identifying as a former Muslim himself. Finally he begs others not to do the same in halting Russian:
And I want to direct my message to those who want to come here and spy. I say to them, repent to Allah now before it's too late.
How real?
Eliot Higgins, founder of the Brown Moses blog initially cast doubt on the authenticity of the shooting:
Watched that new ISIS video frame by frame but I don't see an impact nor any blood.
— Eliot Higgins (@EliotHiggins) January 13, 2015
Before changing his mind:
There does appear to be some blood coming out the the 2nd victims nose just as it fades to black, so it could be genuine (unfortunately) — Eliot Higgins (@EliotHiggins) January 13, 2015
Another Twitter user made a valid comment in response:
@EliotHiggins If they are so keen to show that a child did this, why the tricky camera angles and edits. Why not just go for it?
— DariusBazargan (@DariusBazargan) January 13, 2015
Comments below the video uploaded anonymously on vid.me were of a similar questioning essence, albeit in the coarse tone associated with video-sharing websites:
hey losers, that kick was so non-existent it wasn't even a blank. there is no way that kid can fire that gun and keep the tip down without a recoil. FUCKING FAKE! will somebody please fire this pathetic Turkish film company? damn! They always do this
All eyes on Russia and Kazakhstan
Recently Russian President Vladimir Putin has been talking up the ISIS threat and has been supportive of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who ISIS opposes, in the past. But many believe that Russia is not nearly as concerned with the ISIS threat as it makes out, and is instead fear-mongering among former Soviet states to consolidate its influence there. The Kremlin's response to the footage — if any — will be worth watching.
What Kazakhstan will make of the video is another matter. Having suffered the initial embarrasment of ISIS showing Kazakh children training in extremist camps, Astana must now counter the notion that one of its nationals has been caught trying to infiltrate those same camps while working for the secret service of another country.
If Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev was familiar with Internet slang, he might accuse the radical group of ‘trolling’ his country.
UPDATE 08.50 GMT, JANUARY 14:  A man sharing the name and likeness of Sergey Ashimov — but sporting a beard — has profiles on both Facebook and the Russian social network VKontakte.
His second Facebook name, Abdullah ibn Nikolai, denoted in brackets, sounds like the name Ashimov mentioned in in the video. Ashimov's profile appears to have been dormant since 2011, a date predating the rise to prominence of ISIS. On his profile, Ashimov writes (November, 2010):
я думаю отом чтоб попасть по милости Аллаха в рай и чтоб он простил меня за все мой грехи
I am thinking about entering Allah's grace in heaven and that he will forgive me for all my sins
He also discloses that he would like to start a business but is in significant debt. He registers his city of birth as Kazan, the capital of Russia's semiautonomous federation of Tatarstan. His profile photo is a young boy kissing what appears to be the Koran. Other images include a human face with a balaclava seemingly superimposed and another graphic captioned ‘In Turkey [during] Ramadan’.
As of 2013 Ashimov appears to be using the Russian social network VKontakte to advertise a service transporting cars between Tartastan and Asia.
Global Voices could not find specific information about the man in the video that claims to be Jambulat Mamayev.

author: Zukhra Iakupbaeva


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Stories We Told About Latin America in 2014  · Global Voices
Mary Aviles

A bike ride in Costa Rica, by Marissa Strniste. Photo from Flickr and published under a Creative Commons licence.
There was no scarcity of stories from the Latin American region in 2014. Amongst all the important news items followed by our readers of citizen media, the one which had the most impact was probably the news that the United States and Cuba had put an end to their cold war; a historic rapprochement after which nothing will be the same.
Reactions to this were forthcoming from the continent, especially in Venezuela, a country which during the Chavista government had strengthened communication with Cuba, the biggest country in the Caribbean, and whose anti-imperialist discourse was first questioned in a humorous manner and then with hard criticism following the announcement. For many, this makes the independent positions of the two countries clearer, for others it means that Venezuela is losing influence.
The football World Cup in Brazil exploded into the sporting event of the year and for the first time a European team, Germany, snatched the title from a Latin American team, Argentina. At the same time, many jumped on the opportunity during the event to denounce the economic and social problems in South America's largest country.
In Mexico, we've followed the disappearance of 43 education students from a rural school, who were reportedly ambushed by police from the town of Iguala. The tragedy has provoked numerous demonstrations in Mexico and elsewhere against the government of President Enrique Peña Nieto. Global Voices dedicated a special coverage page to these stories, which were described on social media as the #Ayotzinapa case.
This year, Venezuela also experienced unrest after insecurity in the country led to numerous protests in various Venezuelan cities, eventually spreading to the capital, Caracas. Conversations online followed how a sector of the political opposition capitalised on these protests under the hashtag #lasalida (the exit) as well as the consequences of clashes with police — the street protests resulted in more than 40 dead, the arrests of hundreds of students and civilians, who were later harassed in custody. In addition, the leader of the opposition ended up behind bars.
Towards the end of the year, we lost the brilliant Mexican comedian Roberto Gómez Bolaños, better known as Chespirito, whose characters were known by generations of adults and children throughout Latin America. Gabriel García Márquez, the Colombian writer and Nobel prize winner for literature, also left us in addition to the Venezuelan singer and composer Simón Díaz and the singer-songwriter Gustavo Cerati. To the rest of the world, they were seen as cultural icons.
Other figures who left us include Huber Matos, an ex-revolutionary major in Cuba who later distanced himself from Fidel Castro; Peruvian playwright Sara Joffré; Argentinian sports manager Julio Grondona; Mexican poet José Emilio Pacheco; Cuban musician Santiago Feliú; Uruguayan artist Carlos Páez Vilaró, Dominican fashion designer Oscar de la Renta; and Uruguayan actress China Zorilla.
¿Se perdió nuestras mejores 14 historias del 2014? http://t.co/sQO6oIEPFn
— Global Voices (@gvenespanol) December 30, 2014
Did you miss our 14 best stories of 2014? https://globalvoicesonline.org/2014/12/26/did-you-miss-our-top-14-stories-of-2014/
— Global Voices (@gvenespanol) December 30, 2014
In Nicaragua, a report about the construction of an inter-ocean canal project caused controversy, and hundreds of Central-American children arriving in the United States without parents raised alarms about a phenomenon which, although previously known about, had not been sufficiently dealt with.
And if this doesn't seem like a lot, five Latin American countries went to the polls to elect presidents: Colombia, Uruguay, Brazil, Panama and Chile. All were re-elected except Uruguay's Tabaré Vázquez, who had in any case occupied this post before, and Panama's Juan Carlos Varela Rodríguez, who had previously served as vice-president.
Peru was the seat of the COP20, the conference of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and also the centre of a controversy following accusations suggesting Greenpeace had caused damage to the thousand-year-old Nazca lines as part of one of their protests.
As for the stories which moved us most, that of Arturo the bear stood out; a polar bear in Argentina held in poor conditions in captivity and whose cause rallied support from many people.

author: Mary Aviles


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The Original Santa Claus is Under Threat from the Turkish Construction Industry. So is Much of Turkey’s Unique Heritage · Global Voices
John Lubbock

Ceiling Fresco, St Nikolaos’ church, Demre by Jiuguang Wang
Fictional Christmas mascot Santa Claus may have wrapped up his annual festive mission for the season, but the 1,700-year-old Saint on which he is based may be about to fall victim to the Turkish government’s quest for economic development at any price.
Anatolia, the heartland of the Turkish Republic, has been part of numerous empires. The Akkadians, Trojans, Hittites, Assyrians, Phrygians, Cimmerians, Scythians, Greeks, Persians, more Greeks, Romans, Armenians, Byzantines, Mongols and Ottomans have all occupied parts of Asia Minor at various times, and their cultural legacy is strewn about the landscape. The Turkish government is now trying to capitalise on this rich legacy to drive its booming tourism industry.
Turkey’s economy has expanded rapidly in the past decade, with construction and tourism at the forefront of growth. Istanbul's population is now more than 15 million, and the city was voted Trip Advisor's most popular travel destination for 2014. The government wants to capitalise on the revenue from tourism, and is seeking to repackage Anatolia’s ancient cultural heritage as a modern tourist attraction. Unfortunately, the rapid and obsessive drive for development has often come at the cost of preserving that same heritage.
The rock cave houses of Demre. Photo by Caleb MacLennan (CC BY-SA 2.0).
Saint Nikolaos, the inspiration for Santa Claus (via Norse mythology and Coca-Cola), was a 4th century Greek Bishop of the Turkish town of Myra, now called Demre, on the Mediterranean coast. In his lifetime, Nikolaos attended the Council of Nicea, was a strong backer of religious orthodoxy and had a reputation for secret gift-giving.
Most of the physical remains of the Saint were plundered from the church in 1087 by pirates, who transported them to Italy as the Seljuk Turks advanced on the declining Byzantine Empire. In 2012, the government enlisted the help of the head archaeologist of Myra to support its case for the repatriation of St Nikolaos’ bones to Demre.
The Greek Orthodox Church, which, naturally, wants to preserve the Greek character of the Saint, is particularly unhappy about the Turkish government’s attempt to expropriate Nikolaos as a part of Turkish history.
As well as ancient sites such as the Hellenic and Roman amphitheatre and necropolis cut into the rock cliffs, the area is famous for its orange and pomegranate cultivation. Now, local authorities are preparing to give permission for construction companies to build hotels and other buildings up to 6 stories tall, and to make exceptions to rules that usually restrict construction within 200m of the sea.
President Erdoğan and his AKP party, for their part, have denied accusations of over-development and government corruption in the construction industry. However, AKP's support for huge and controversial infrastructure projects like the Third Airport and Third Bridge in Istanbul, and the activities of the state housing body, TOKI, have alarmed Turkish civil society.
Ruins of the Temple of Apollo in Side, Turkey. Photo by Heribert Pohl (CC BY-SA 2.0).
Hotel development in Side, Turkey. Photo by Samuel Schultzberg (CC BY-SA 2.0).
Erdoğan's government is not the first to prioritise economic development over cultural heritage. Successive Turkish administrations have looked to downplay the role of other cultures in contributing to that heritage. However, an overt policy of Turkification has receded in the past decade, as the AKP has sought to build a political base around religious identification rather than ethnicity. Until the 1950s, approximately 30% of Istanbul’s population was not Turkish, and there are numerous examples of historical churches which have since been repurposed as mosques. Apart from the well-known Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, there are two other churches of the same name in Trabzon and Iznik which have recently been converted into mosques. Even the name “Istanbul” comes from the Greek phrase for “in the city”.
During the construction of one high profile development project, the Marmaray tunnel, historical artefacts dating back thousands of years were unearthed, leading to long delays so the findings could be conserved. President Erdoğan said at the time that construction should not be delayed for the sake of some “archeological stuff”. The Istanbul metro has also expanded considerably, and UNESCO criticised local authorities for failing to take into account the effects of construction on the local area.
Many other construction projects like the Halfeti Dam have come under criticism for their impact on the environment and cultural heritage. Anatolia has thousands of native plant and animal species which are also threatened by these huge projects. Another dam on the Tigris river at Ilisu threatens to flood the entire town of Hasankeyf, destroying hundreds of archeological sites and displacing 25,000 people. Then there is Göreme in Cappadocia, with its famous cave houses, Sümela monastery on the Black Sea coast and Phaselis on the Mediterranean—all under threat from new tourism-related development.
The documentary below argues that the town of Hasankeyf should be a UNESCO world heritage site, and explains the archeological and environmental damage done by the creation of dams on the Tigris river.
There is also the ancient site of Side, which has already been rapidly developed with hotels, and the ancient temple at Gobeklitepe, which heritage groups want to designate a UNESCO world heritage site. How long will it be before sites like this, Çatalhöyük or Hattusa are surrounded by hotels, becoming a Disneyland of history like the area surrounding the Kaaba in Mecca?
Excavations of the ancient city of Çatalhöyük. Photo by Scott Haddow
The current evidence suggests that any value the Turkish government has placed on the ancient history of the Anatolian region is underpinned by the desire for short-term profits. They are abetted by mainstream media's indifference to the costs of over-development. A recent BBC report on Demre’s Santa Claus industry failed to raise any concerns about the possible negative environmental and social impacts of exploiting the legacy of St Nikolaos.
Sülüklü beach, for example is one of the last sandy beaches in the town of Demre, where St Nikolaos’ church is located. The beach was recently given by the Culture and Tourism ministry to Andriake Beachclub, who began constructing a 5-star hotel in 2013. Local residents, who were initially happy about the prospect of employment opportunities in the area are now angry at the way large companies have acquired land at the expense of local residents. Six more hotels are due for construction in the same area.
The paradoxical nature of the Turkish government’s commitment to developing a tourist industry based around its largely non-Turkish cultural legacy reveals much about the modern Turkish state. Society supports  conservatism, nationalism and religiosity; but above all, it is committed to a form of state-directed capitalism that has brought significant economic progress. Nowhere is this paradoxical marriage of religious conservatism and capitalism better exemplified than in the thousands of new mosques which contain shops.
Erdoğan and the AKP have now been in power for 12 years, and even columnists from pro-government newspapers are beginning to ask how a transition to any future government will be handled. At this year’s general election, the party will seek a big enough majority to pass constitutional reforms that would introduce a Presidential system, giving Erdoğan extensive powers over the judiciary and legislature, two of the last remaining checks on his power. For those that oppose the madcap development that has become the AKP's trademark on environmental and heritage grounds, 2015 could prove a very significant year.
Mosque with shops in Kaş – photo by John Lubbock

author: John Lubbock


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Pro-Russian Forces in Eastern Ukraine Apparently Fire on Another Civilian Vessel by Accident · Global Voices
Aric Toler

A rebel fighter stands in front of a damaged pedestrian crossing in separatist-controlled Horlivka, Donetsk region. Photo by Petr Shelomovskiy from Demotix.
A shelling attack in Eastern Ukraine hit a civilian bus driving near a Ukrainian army checkpoint and resulted in over a dozen casualties. Online, pro-Russian rebels boasted of hitting an enemy target in the area, but then claimed it was the Ukrainians who did the shelling.
At  4:09pm Kyiv time today, the “Novorossiya First operative” VKontakte page posted a message reporting that a “Ukrainian checkpoint at the exit from Volnovakha to Donetsk has been destroyed,” with information received at 3:53pm Kyiv time (4:53pm Moscow time). Soon after, tragic news emerged: at approximately 2:30pm, a shell had struck a passenger bus near the Ukrainian military checkpoint at Volnovakha, Donetsk region, killing at least 10 people and wounding at least 13 others.
The tweet separatists sent on #Volnovakha about "Ukrop's roadblock being destroyed" – screenshot via @euromaidan pic.twitter.com/51YeD0eBfa
— Myroslava Petsa (@myroslavapetsa) January 13, 2015
As soon as the news emerged, the finger pointing began. Ukrainian authorities immediately blamed separatist forces for shelling the bus while attacking the Ukrainian army-held checkpoint with a Grad multiple rocket launcher. The “Donbass News” independent news website also accused pro-Russian fighters of attacking the Kyiv-2 battalion checkpoint and killing civilians.
Трагедия с автобусом стала следствием обстрела блокпоста «Киев-2» боевиками pic.twitter.com/0UVhqcgo2R
— Новости Донбасса (@novostidnua) January 13, 2015
The tragedy with the bus came about as a result of shelling of the “Kyiv-2” checkpoint by fighters.
In response, Donetsk People’s Republic authorities departed from the initial messages on affiliated social media accounts and said that they had not opened fire. A DPR representative later told pro-rebel media that an “out of control” Ukrainian battalion has been shelling Donetsk and was “provoking [rebel] militia to respond.” In other words, Donetsk authorities accused Ukraine of carrying out a false flag attack on its own location in order to then blame separatist forces.
This is not the first time we have seen a declaration, or perhaps even boasting, of an attack by separatists online, quickly followed by an assertion that the attack was actually carried out by the Ukrainian military. Thirty minutes after the tragic downing of flight MH17 last summer, the “Strelkov Info” VK account—ran by pro-Russian separatists, but not Igor “Strelkov” Girkin himself—posted a message bragging about shooting down a Ukrainian AN-26 transport plane. The post warned Ukrainians to “not fly in our skies.”
Soon after, the separatists denied their role in shooting down the MH17, instead pointing to Ukraine, claiming that Kyiv used an air-to-air missile, SU-25 machine guns, a combination of both, or even their own Buk anti-aircraft missile system to shoot down MH17. When the bus attack news spread, many RuNet users found immediate parallels between the boasting-turned-retraction in the two events:
В сбитом автобусе "Богдан" трупы оказались несвежие
— Перзидент Уркаїни (@persident_urk) January 13, 2015
The bodies in the destroyed “Bogdan” bus were not fresh. (referring to an absurd claim from rebel leader Strelkov that the 295 passengers on MH17 were dead long before it was shot down)
Возможно, автобус на блок-посту возле Волновахи этот то же самый "Богдан", который пропал в Киеве полгода назад
— Перзидент Уркаїни (@persident_urk) January 13, 2015
It is possible that the bus at the checkpoint near Volnovakha is the same Bogdan that disappeared in Kyiv a half-year ago. (referring to conspiracy theories that MH370 and MH17 were the same plane)
— мы накрыли блок пост карателей!— это был гражданский автобус— тогда не мы! pic.twitter.com/H4hTfcvV7s
— Максим Кац (@max_katz) January 13, 2015
‘We hit the occupants’ checkpoint!’
‘That was a passenger bus’
‘Then it wasn’t us!’
Стреляли по украинскому транспортнику – сбили Боинг. Стреляли по украинскому блокпосту – взорвали автобус. Терроризм или дебилизм?
— Николай Полозов (@Moscow_advokat) January 13, 2015
They shot at a Ukrainian transport plane—hit a Boing. They shot out a Ukrainian checkpoint—blew up a bus. Is this terrorism or idiocy?
In the same way media and citizen journalists worked to uncover clues in the MH17 tragedy, the evidence from this shelling—the trajectory of the artillery, the type of shell used, any intercepted communications—will reveal the culprits of the attack that led to the loss of civilian lives. But once again, the initial online messages, social media posts, and subsequent reaction of the Donetsk separatists on social networks may be a giveaway of how and why the incident occurred.

author: Aric Toler


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Croatia Makes History With First Woman President, But Her Politics Worry Some Voters · Global Voices
Marinella Matejcic

Kolinda Grabar Kitarović: “Hahaha, everybody is saying that we don't get along, and in the meantime, we're treating ourselves.”
Ivo Jospović's reply: “Thank you! Here, have a cookie!”
Cartoon by Nik Titanik, republished with permission.
Former NATO Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy Kolinda Grabar Kitarović has been elected Croatia's first woman president, defeating the incumbent president in the first presidential elections since the small southeastern European country joined the European Union last year.
Grabar Kitarović won in a tight race against incumbent President Ivo Jospović in the runoff in January 2015, netting 50.74% of the votes, according to preliminary results. She will be inaugurated on February 18, 2015.
As Croatia's first woman president, and the country's fourth elected president since independence, she will undoubtedly leave her mark on both the country and region. But despite her historic win, many citizens who would have preferred a different political representative are worried as to how their views and needs will be represented with her at the helm.
“Teacher, the test is over, but Bosnia is still writing!”
This meme has widely circulated following Croatia's presidential runoff. The diaspora is often called out for favoring right-wing political parties, while not living and paying taxes in Croatia.
A member of the Croatian Democratic Union, the party instrumental in Croatia gaining independence in 1992, Grabar Kitarović is eager to bring what she has called “the Croatian spirit” back, as well as re-enforce “traditional” values. The country is highly divided between the available center-left and center-right political options, and she only defeated Josipović by only a few thousand votes.
Josipović becomes the first Croatian president since the country's independence who didn't win reelection for a second term, as both Franjo Tuđman, Croatia's first president, and Stjepan Mesić were both reelected for two full terms each. In the eyes of many voters, Josipović hasn't done much for Croatians during his mandate as president.
The road to a runoff
The race seems to have been dirty and expensive. The first round of elections was held on December 28, 2014, with four candidates for its presidency: Ivan Vilibor Sinčić, a young political activist, who was the biggest surprise and managed to take 16.42% of the vote; Milan Kujundžić, a right-wing politician, who won only 6.30% votes; Grabar Kitarović, representing the center-right Croatian Democratic Union, who took 37.88%; and incumbent President Josipović, who won 38.48% votes. The president can't be elected unless he or she secures more than 50% of the votes.
Because none of the four managed to surpass the 50% threshold (only 47.14% of the total electorate voted in first round), Grabar Kitarović and Josipović went head to head on January 11.
During the campaign, the candidates offered up many plans for the country, still struggling with a troubled economy, high unemployment, low GDP and corruption. However, despite the amount of money poured into the elections, presidential power is actually very limited within the Croatian government, with the president mainly acting as a representative within the country and abroad and performing ceremonial duties such as awarding important individuals.
Koliko god se mi dijelili na ovim i budućim izborima u postocima, oni loši gospodarski postoci su isti za sve #izboriprh
— Bruno Zupan (@komacore) enero 11, 2015
No matter how divided we are in these or future electoral percentages, the bad economical percentages are the same for everyone #izboriprh (#electionscroatia)
Nevertheless, candidates sought votes through television debates, which often left the average voter wanting for a concrete reason to give either candidate their vote. Debates did, however generate some humorous tweets from Croatian social media users under the hashtags #izboriprh (#electionscroatia), #izbori2014 (#elections2014), #debataRTL (#debateRTL), and #HRTizbori (#HRTelections).
Između Ive Josipovića i Kolinde Grabar Kitarović mogu izabrati samo nevažeći glasački listić. #izboriprh #izbori2014
— Vencislav Jularic (@VJularic) enero 8, 2015
Between Ivo Josipovića and Kolinda Grabar Kitarović I can only choose an invalid voting ballot. #izboriprh #izbori2014
Nitko ne očekuje španjolsku inkviziciju #izboriprh #izbori2014
— Ivan (@Setka_i) enero 8, 2015
No one expects the Spanish inquisition #izboriprh #izbori2014
Debate topics such as WWII war crimes and war profiteering during and after the Croatian War of Independence were inevitable during the televised face-off between Josipović and Grabar Kitarović, who also previously was ambassador of Croatia to the United States. History very much plays a role in Croatia today — politicians seem take any opportunity they can to focus on historical topics in public instead of more pressing, modern-day topics that directly affect the everyday citizen.
A deeply divided country
Grabar Kitarović is favored by the right-wing electorate and the Croatian diaspora, especially Croatian citizens living in Bosnia-Herzegovina. In both Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, polling stations were open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. on January 11, but by 7 p.m. in Mostar, Bosnia, hundreds of people were still waiting in line to vote, so the polling station there stayed open until each vote was cast. Voters queued up in long lines and traveled from all over Bosnia-Herzegovina to vote in Mostar, and many social media users in Croatia are joking that Grabar Kitarović is in fact the new Mostar mayor.
Croatia has always been divided politically, but it seems that the country has now hit a new peak in this divide. Regional media are quick to point out the trend of neo-nationalism in Croatia, which is, some say, a powder keg waiting to blow.
Although Grabar Kitarović said that she will be “working for a better Croatia” and would not discriminate or exclude citizens based on their political beliefs, some on the left remain skeptical. One tweet summed up the general sentiment:
Najtuznije je sto ovaj povijesni dogadaj za jednu patrijarhalnu drzavu vjerojatno ni jedna feministkinja ne smatra pobjedom. #izboriprh
— ena (@bluperception) enero 11, 2015
What is saddest is that this historical event, in a patriarchal state, is probably not seen as a victory by any feminist. #izboriprh
Libela.org, an independent portal on gender, sex and democracy in Croatia, asked whether Grabar Kitarović is capable of uniting the nation and working in favor of women's rights, despite the fact she did not play the “female card” during the elections.
A nation is made of people, and the people of Croatia have chosen Kolinda Grabar Kitarović to be their next president, as is supposed to happen in a democracy. Time will tell how much good the people's choice will bring the country.

author: Marinella Matejcic


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Documenting the Struggles of Papuans in Indonesia · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Papuan Voices is a video advocacy initiative that highlights the struggles of the people of West Papua, a province of Indonesia. West Papua has been struggling to be an independent state although this conflict from Indonesia is not widely reported in the media.

author: Mong Palatino


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Is Syria Ready for TEDx Damascus With Its Free Thinkers Dead, in Jail or Exile? · Global Voices
Leila Nachawati Rego

A Syrian from Ghouta sends a message against the celebration of TEDx in Damascus. Source: Kesh Malek's Facebook page
“Please don't do it in Damascus,” was the message shared by a Syrian from the besieged area of Ghouta regarding the celebration of a TEDx conference in Damascus on January 29. This event has sparked many online reactions, both in favor and against.
Ghouta is one among the many Syrian towns that have been subjected to siege, bombing, destruction and starvation since the beginning of the popular uprising in March 2011. The unbearable situation of a large part of the Syrian population contrasts with the attempts to project an image of normality in areas under regime control. The celebration of TEDx is, for many activists, a step towards normalization of the ruling regime.
Among the most vocal against the event is civil group Kesh Malek, which has highlighted the voices of those opposing its celebration.
Others argue that the event offers a much needed opportunity for Syrians to look out of the horror the country faces. Web developers Milad Kawas Cale and Harout Ekmanian, members of the TEDx Aleppo team, highlight the need for Syrians to find windows:
The sufferings of our people should always be taken into account, at least from a moral and humanitarian point of view.

 Having this said, life must not stop at here. The attempts to seek a window to look out of the mayhem that our people is living in should be only welcomed. In this spirit, we encourage the  TEDx YPU  and we wish them the best of luck. We believe there should be more  #TEDx  initiatives in other locations in  #Syria, as long as it doesn’t risk the lives of the organizers, speakers and attendees.
In the words of the organizers, students from the Yarmouk Private University, the event will bring together 25 university students and 10 high profile speakers around the theme “ideas out of the box”.
TEDxYPU is the first TEDx event in Syria, as we succeed to get the TEDx university type organizing license from TED international organization. All organizers and volunteers are university students. This TEDxYPU’s most important goals are to spread inspiring ideas, encourage dialogue, and form a TEDx community in Syria.
However, as developer Anas Maarrawi pointed, innovation can hardly flourish while innovators like Bassel Safadi remained imprisoned, and when the majority of Syrian free thinkers have been killed, detained or forced to leave the country.

author: Leila Nachawati Rego


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Nigerians Blast Government’s Response (or Lack Thereof) to Boko Haram’s Baga Massacre · Global Voices
Nwachukwu Egbunike

A screenshot from a propaganda video showing Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau. Public Domain photo from Voice of America.
In recent weeks, Boko Haram has intensified its campaign of violence in Nigeria. The Islamic jihadist militant movement based in northeast Nigeria, northern Cameroon and Niger, responsible for thousands of deaths in the last several years, attacked Baga, a small town in Borno State, northeast Nigeria.
Amnesty International describes it as the deadliest in Boko Haram's history, with about 2,000 killed:
“The attack on Baga and surrounding towns, looks as if it could be Boko Haram’s deadliest act in a catalogue of increasingly heinous attacks carried out by the group. If reports that the town was largely razed to the ground and that hundreds or even as many as two thousand civilians were killed are true, this marks a disturbing and bloody escalation of Boko Haram’s ongoing onslaught against the civilian population,” said Daniel Eyre, Nigeria researcher for Amnesty International.
However, the Nigerian Defense Headquarters countered that the death toll was exaggerated. Major General Chris Olukolade, spokesman for the military, said in a statement that the Baga deaths did not exceed 150 people:
…As you might be aware, there was another terror attack on the town of Baga in Borno state last week which left a number of people dead. Following that unfortunate attack, a lot of speculations and conjectures have been peddled by a section of the press particularly the on-line media regarding the casualty rate. Some claimed that over a thousand people were killed while others wrote with certainty that 2000 people lost their lives in that singular attack. […] From all available evidences, the number of people who lost their lives during that attack has so far not exceeded about 150 in the interim. This figure includes many of the terrorists who were bearing arms and got killed in the course of their attack and battle with troops.
The general also took to fact-checking images circulating on social media, claiming to be of Baga following the attack:
Ignore fake #BAGA pics circulated across the web by mischievous politicians. They're from a DRCongo Oil Spillage 2010 http://t.co/8WxwojefGf
— Gen. Chris Olukolade (@GENOlukolade) January 13, 2015
The news of the Baga massacre, the delayed response by the government and the subsequent contention on the actual number of deaths drew the ire of Nigerian netizens. Chxta thought the number of deaths are inconsequential as long as its human life:
150, not 2000 died in #Baga. Numbers or humans? No, in these parts we don't live in Ground Hog Day. We live somewhere in Dante's Inferno. — Chxta of Greece (@Chxta) January 13, 2015
Chxta's position was concurred by Jeremy Weate, a Lagos-based publisher:
Its unfathomable that there has been no communication from the Presidency on the Baga atrocity. A complete and utter lack of humanity — jeremyweate (@jeremyweate) January 12, 2015
Blossom, a blogger, was equally irked with the lack of empathy by the government:
If you support President Jonathan as I do and has failed to condemn the #Baga massacre, I worry for your acute lack of empathy. — Blossom Nnodim ™ (@blossomnnodim) January 10, 2015
Author, Chika Unigwe, was angry that the authorities were more concerned about the number of deaths rather than protecting her citizens:
if you treat the atrocities committed on your own people like a mere inconvenience, don't blame everyone else for following your lead #Baga — chika unigwe (@chikaunigwe) January 12, 2015
Gege was muffled by the late response from the military:
I am sorry but the Baga incident happened about 2 days ago. But DHQ spokesman is only releasing a statement today. It is ridiculous. — Gege (@nigeriasbest) January 11, 2015
Musician elDee lampooned the media aides of the presidency:
The comments on #Baga so far by GEJ’s crew —> pic.twitter.com/641JvsJn5W — eLDee 엘디 (@eLDeeTheDon) January 11, 2015
Onye Nkuzi flayed President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan:
There's the “reasonable person” concept in law Would a “reasonable leader” behave the way GEJ behaved during Chibok & now Baga? I doubt it
— Onye Nkuzi (@cchukudebelu) January 10, 2015
AyoDee thought the opposition APC (All Progressives Congress) is playing politics with the tragedy:
#Baga is not viewed as a tragedy for many in APC [All Progressives Congress], it's viewed as a political ammo aganist GEJ. Ghoulish to say the least.
— Mr. Aye Dee (@MrAyeDee) January 10, 2015
Babajide dismissed the politics of the ruling the Peoples Democratic Party and the opposition All Progressives Congress, pointing rather to the lives lost:
PDP/APC our dead innocent neighbours in #Baga can't tell the difference any longer #IAmBaga pic.twitter.com/adfNyZLRx0 — #Vote4Jimi (@BabajideFadoju) January 10, 2015
Tunji Landers captures the sentiments on the horror and numbness of the continuous killings of innocent Nigerians by Boko Haram:
#Baga Can't fully emotionally process this ongoing slaughter of our people.The death of thousand & not a blip on our national consciousness!
— Tunji Lardner (@TunjiLardner) January 9, 2015
Boko Haram controls towns and villages in an area the size of Belgium. The town of Baga happens to be the location of the military base used by a multinational force set up to fight them.

author: Nwachukwu Egbunike


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Kremlin-Owned Internet Search Engine Filters Out ‘Charlie Hebdo’ Results · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

Image edited by Kevin Rothrock.
The latest issue of Charlie Hebdo, the French satirical magazine attacked last week by terrorists, is fetching hundreds of dollars on eBay today. But if you're searching for a glimpse of the magazine's new cover art on Sputnik, a search engine released in beta last year by the Russian government, you won't find much at all.
Earlier today, Russian Internet users discovered that Sputnik returns almost no image-search results for “Charlie Hebdo” (in Latin script or Cyrillic), regardless of the searcher's moderation settings. Searches on Google and Yandex for the same queries, meanwhile, deliver dozens of images of Charlie Hebdo’s cover art over the years.
“Unfiltered” search results for “Charlie Hebdo” on Sputnik.ru.
The decision by the Kremlin-owned search engine comes a day after a regional branch of Russia’s media watchdog, Roskomnadzor, threatened newspapers with criminal liability for publishing caricatures of religious figures. In a special letter to the local media, Kamchatka’s Roskomnadzor office warned that it would prosecute anyone who published such content as an “extremist.”
Search results for “Charlie Hebdo” on Google.
Meanwhile, in the predominantly Muslim republic of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov has labeled Echo of Moscow Chief Editor Alexey Venediktov and exiled oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky “enemies of the Muslim faith,” after the two men encouraged journalists to continue Charlie Hebdo’s brand of satire. Today, the Chechen government announced plans to hold a mass demonstration of “hundreds of thousands of people” in Grozny against “anti-Islamic publications in the Western media.”
According to the Russian website TJournal.ru, Sputnik’s parent company, Rostelekom, is refusing so far to comment on its apparent filtration of Charlie Hebdo cover art.
In September 2014, the news agency Inferfax published a study of Sputnik’s “first 100 days” online, finding that the search engine’s initial audience shrank by 90 percent in that time. “In its first 100 days, interest in Sputnik has fallen almost to zero,” the report concluded.

author: Kevin Rothrock


text:
Saudi Arabia to Erect a 600 Mile “Great Wall” to Fend off ISIS  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Photo taken in Saudi Arabia by Flickr user Edward Musiak on Jan 13 2013. CC- BY.2.0
Saudi Arabia is planning to build a 600-mile buffer wall to separate itself from Iraq, and to protect itself from invading IS forces, it was revealed today.
According to The Telegraph, the “Great Wall” will include a wall and a ditch to protect the Wahabi state from ISIS militants who control “much of the area on the Iraqi side” of the border and whose eyes are set on “the ultimate capture of Saudi Arabia, home to the two holy mosques of Mecca and Medina, as a key goal.”
Last week, two Saudi guards and General Oudah al-Belawi, commander of border operations in Saudi Arabia’s northern zone,  were killed when ISIS suicide bombers attacked the Suweif border post, some 40 kilometres away the Saudi city of Arar and 80 km from Al Nukhayb, in Iraq.
Many see the Islamic State as the doing of Saudi Arabia, its ideology and its funding. From Pakistan, Farrukh Hussaini is quick to point out:
#KSA buliding a huge and heavily fortified 600-mile wall – to keep out the Monster it created #ISIS – http://t.co/CngaFv5r0i
— Che ☭ ™ (@FarrukhHussaini) January 14, 2015
Lebanese Tala shares a similar view:
Instead of seizing the financing & Wahhabia indoctrination, Saudi Arabia to build a ‘Great Wall’ to keep out ISIS http://t.co/bgLWBRg3d5
— ر Tala ن (@Taltool11) January 14, 2015
And Nooran, from Jaffa, Palestine, notes:
Saudi Arabia building a 600 mile wall to shield itself from ISIS? So they finally realize their creation will come back for them?
— نوران (@levantina_) January 14, 2015
ISIS follows its own interpretation of Islam, which stems from the Wahabi creed, the state ideology of Saudi Arabia. In June, the group, formerly known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, changed its name to the Islamic state, headed by a Caliph, Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi. A group of 140 prominent Sunni Muslim scholars responded to ISIS with an open letter telling them they had no right to use Islam or State in their name because their self-proclaimed goals of statehood or Caliphate and brutal acts of destruction and violence are forbidden in Islam.
In a recent article, Newsweek writes:
Saudi officials don’t like to talk about it, but experts who closely follow developments inside the kingdom say ISIS enjoys growing support among ordinary Saudis, who see the group as the true champion of embattled Sunnis in their sectarian struggles against the Shiite-led governments in Iran and elsewhere. For many Saudis, ISIS also stands for a righteous, austere brand of Islam, while the royal family, they believe, is irredeemably corrupt.
Now, after years of condemning yet turning a blind eye to jihadists fighting against the Bashar Assad regime in Syria, the kingdom’s leaders are increasingly worried about support for ISIS at home.
Many wonder how a wall would protect the Saudi regime from the “enemy within.”
From Yemen, Haykal Bafana reminds us about the Great Wall of China, and how it failed to protect Beijing from falling.
Great Wall of China? Yes, the one that failed to stop the Mongols? Well, Saudi Arabia is building one to keep out IS. http://t.co/CRUHnqoNeD
— Haykal Bafana (@BaFana3) January 14, 2015
And Shami Analyst concludes:
They're way more afraid than i thought: pic.twitter.com/xMHj0hUU0X
— أبو إسماعيل (@ShamiAnalyst) January 14, 2015
Saudi Arabia is also in the process of constructing a 1,000 mile border with its Southern neighbour, Yemen.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


text:
‘So Many Kids Lost in Such a Small Place’: St. Vincent Mourns Bus Disaster · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“On the road near Fancy”; photo by Ian Usher, used under a CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 license.
This week began with tragedy in St. Vincent when a bus plunged off a cliff and into the sea on Monday, killing several children. The accident reportedly happened between Owia and Fancy, the country’s northern-most village.
Thanks to its hilly terrain, this part of the country, which has a sizeable Amerindian population, enjoys spectacular views of both the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Reports suggest that children from the area were on their way to school in Georgetown (located within the same vicinity, but on the flat) when the accident occurred.
One Facebook user, Skye Hernandez, who is based in Trinidad and Tobago but has visited St. Vincent on several occasions, was saddened by the news, saying that “so many kids [were] lost in such a small place.” She also noted that the area where the accident occurred is “a terrifying but beautiful drive”, explaining:
it's a very spectacular area, like much of St Vincent, and there are surprisingly few accidents, but this one is heartbreaking.
Rescue efforts have been hampered by rough seas, to the point where hardly any new information about the accident is being released. Monday's reports suggest that at least four children are dead and another eight missing. A later report said that officials have since verified five fatalities. Ten survivors are reportedly being treated in hospital for their injuries and the country's Ministry of Health has confirmed that approximately 21 passengers, among them 14 secondary school students, were in the bus when the incident occurred.
Citizen media sources who knew villagers who were on the scene reported that eyewitnesses were trying to help retrieve bodies from the water. Every time a wave dashed a body onto the rocks, the entire crowd would cry out in pain. The seawater at the crash site was apparently so rough that it hampered the country's coast guard from reaching the bodies. Thankfully, a fisherman managed to rescue a few people.
As the nation grappled with the tragedy, the government put everything else on the back burner, even delaying the delivery of its annual budget presentation, which was due to be read in parliament that afternoon.
Twitter was soon flooded with comments about the disaster. West Indian cricketer Darren Sammy, who hails from St. Lucia, called St. Vincent his “sister island”:
May God be with our sister island #StVincent during this tragic time. I pray for for the families who've lost their love ones #GodIsInCharge
— Darren Sammy (@darrensammy88) January 12, 2015
Some local businesses used social media to express their shock and sadness:
#Update on bus crash… http://t.co/NWPOevKTo3 Our hearts are heavy for all impacted… Stay strong #StVincent
— St. Vincent YP (@StVincent_YP) January 13, 2015
One Twitter user, Richard Hung, made the point that when tragedies like this happen, the entire region stands in solidarity:
Damn!! One island suffers, all islands suffer. RIP to these young kids smh #stvincent #westindian… http://t.co/JXp3uUDiUv
— Richard Hung (@jus_b_cool) January 13, 2015
Our sincere condolences goes to all the families who have lost a loved one(s) during this tragic incident #StVincent pic.twitter.com/GtuDNydbpR
— careergrenada (@careergrenada) January 14, 2015
The news quickly reached the Caribbean diaspora, as Trinidadian Phil Simmons, who lives in the UK, tweeted:
Extremely sad news coming out of #StVincent my prayers are with all the families involved
— Phil Simmons (@Coachsim13) January 13, 2015
Another Twitter user, Abka Fitz-Henley, was supposedly privy to the cause of the accident:
JUST IN: around 12 children dead in a bus accident this morning in #StVincent. Brakes on a bus cut going down a hill, bus went into ocean
— Abka Fitz-Henley (@AbkaFitzHenley) January 12, 2015
In trying to make sense of the loss, Elma Gabriel-Mayers wrote a poem, “In Times Like These”, which was published by one of St. Vincent's news outlets:
It is so very sad to hear,
And I know it is your pain to bear.
But be assured that I am near,
With you and yours, I shed some tears.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


text:
The French Media’s ‘Charlie Hebdo’ Narrative Isn’t for Everyone in France · Global Voices
Claire Ulrich

Children from Saint Denis paying tribute to victims. Image tweeted by @leducentete. Used with permission.
The March for Unity drew 1.7 million people to the streets of Paris on January 11. Many parents brought their children, who carried posters and drawings, apparently made at home. France is still trying to grasp the meaning of recent events, which makes explaining it the younger generation a difficult task. Yes, the satirical cartoons were sometimes offensive; yes, defining the freedom of expression is a constant struggle that requires nuanced discussion; and, yes, the French need to get better at living together and understanding each other.
One testimonial blog post from Marie, a school teacher in Saint-Denis, a northern suburb of Paris that's home to many minorities, hit a chord with many readers. In her text, Marie reacted to a report in the newspaper Le Monde that claimed children in Saint Denis welcomed the attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo because of the blasphemous nature of its cartoons. Marie worries this approach to reporting discriminates against minority children. Of her students’ reactions to the Charlie Hebdo murders, Marie writes:
Ils m’ont demandé de regarder des dessins publiés par Charlie Hebdo. Je les ai projetés au tableau, nous les avons analysés ensemble. Celui-là il est marrant madame. Celui-là, il est vraiment bête. Celui-là, il est vraiment abusé.
Le dessin de presse, la caricature, comme les textes de satire, reposent sur la nécessité impérieuse d’une réflexion, sur une recherche de l’implicite qui s’acquiert avec le temps, avec l’esprit critique, avec la lecture. J’ai rappelé à mes élèves quelque chose que je leur dis chaque semaine, que l’intelligence est ce que nous avons de plus précieux, que c’est grâce à elle que nous pouvons comprendre non seulement les mots et les images, mais aussi ce qu’ils cachent, ce qu’ils suggèrent, ce qu’ils ne disent pas d’emblée.
Toutes et tous ont compris. Aucun ne m’a dit : « C’est bien fait », « Ils l’ont bien cherché », « Je suis bien content-e ». Aucun. Je n’ai pas eu besoin de les mener à dire quoi que ce soit. Ils l’ont dit eux-mêmes. Les enfants de Seine Saint-Denis ne sont pas des idiots.Et moi non plus, enseignante, je ne suis pas idiote. Je ne baigne pas dans la démagogie dégueulasse dont on nous pense souvent coupables.
Lorsque je vois qu’un quotidien national, quelques jours après l’attentat contre Charlie Hebdo, part investiguer dans le 93 pour savoir comment ont réagi les élèves, je m’interroge, parce que l’odeur qui émane d’une telle démarche n’est pas très agréable à sentir.
Pourquoi le 93 ? Aucun de ces terroristes ne venait de Seine Saint-Denis. Aucun. Pourquoi le 93 ?
Pourquoi, tiens, n’allons-nous pas enquêter pour savoir les horreurs qu’ont dû proférer les collégiennes et les collégiens dont les parents votent Front National ? Pourquoi les journalistes ne sont-ils pas allés se poster devant les écoles de Béziers ? De Fréjus ? D’Hayange ? D’Hénin-Beaumont ? Pourquoi ne nous donne-t-on pas le droit de nous indigner des propos qu’ont très certainement tenus ces enfants qui, malheureusement pour eux, sont tout aussi imprégnés des idées de leurs parents et de leur milieu que la poignée d’élèves séquano-dionysiens ?
Je regrette vraiment qu’aujourd’hui les élèves du 93 soient stigmatisés, au lendemain de l’attentat terroriste, et je ne comprends pas pourquoi les médias choisissent de titrer, dans un geste racoleur qui me fout sérieusement la gerbe, « Les élèves de Seine Saint-Denis ne sont pas tous Charlie ».
Les élèves de Seine Saint-Denis n’ont surtout rien demandé. Ils aimeraient bien qu’on leur foute la paix, pour une fois, qu’on arrête de braquer les projecteurs sur eux dès qu’un bas du front islamiste vient dire ou commettre quelque chose d’effroyable.
Enfin, je suis triste parce que je sais que vous allez en prendre plein la gueule. Non, tous les enfants de Seine Saint-Denis ne sont pas d’accord avec l’intégrisme islamiste. C’est même le contraire. Certains ont écrit spontanément des plaidoyers pour la liberté d’expression. D’autres ont eu des remarques plus intelligentes que certains adultes. D’autres ont lu « Liberté » de Paul Eluard en sanglotant.
En braquant les caméras et les dictaphones sur une poignée de crétins, on oublie l’intelligence des autres et la sienne.
My students asked to see some of the cartoons published by Charlie Hebdo. I projected some on the board and we analyzed them together. The reactions varied from:  “This one is funny, teacher.” “That one is really stupid though.” “They might have gone too far with this one.”
For any newspaper's cartoons, caricatures, or satirical texts to work, they must be based on the understanding that a superficial layer is being be peeled off, and the readers are willing to look for the implicit meaning behind the drawings. This analytical process only works over time, with a critical perspective on what we read. That day, I reminded my students of something I tell them every week—intelligence is what we should value most because, without it, we cannot understand not only words and images, but also the concepts they conceal and suggest, or what they imply only after some consideration.
Everyone nodded in agreement. No one said to me things such as the victims “had it coming,” or “I'm glad it happened.” No one. I did not have to steer them to saying anything. They said it all themselves. The children of Saint-Denis are not stupid. I'm not stupid either. I do not believe in the disgusting naiveté that we teachers are often accused of. When, just a few days after the attack on Charlie Hebdo, I see a national newspaper publish an investigation of the minorities living in the 93 [the administrative denomination of the Saint Denis area] to find out how the students reacted, I know what they are looking for. I cannot help but wonder because this kind of journalism stinks like rotting fish.
Why the 93? None of these terrorists came from Saint-Denis. None. So why the 93?
Why not inquire about the horrific comments by students whose parents supported [right-wing political party] Front National? Why don't journalists go stand in front of the schools in [cities with right-wing mayors like] Béziers, Fréjus, Hayange or D'Henin-Beaumont? Why are we deprived of the right to be outraged by comments from kids who are as influenced by their parents's ideas and their environment as the handful of students of Saint Denis?
I really regret that the students of Saint Denis are being stigmatized in such manner, the day after the terrorist attack. I do not understand why media outlets would choose to pull on such a sensationalist thread. Seeing the newspaper headline, “Students of Saint-Denis Are Not All Charlie,” just made me so sick.
Students in Seine Saint-Denis didn't ask for any of this. If at all possible, they would just like to be left alone for once, without the media turning the spotlight on them the moment a group of terrorists does something terrible.
The article's headline saddened me because I knew when the tragedy happened that my students would be facing a wave of hateful comments. No, the children of Saint Dennis are not on the terrorists’ side—quite the contrary. Some students wrote texts and poems about the freedom of speech; some expressed comments that were far wiser than the many adults in this country. Some read “La Liberté” from Paul Eluard and wept.
When the media put the spotlight on the comments of a few idiots, we insult the intelligence of the other children and our own.
Below are more drawings collected by Global Voices constributor Sara Abrougui from schoolchildren in Strasbourg, in tribute to the victims:
A drawing by a student showing a machine gun surrounded by blood stream in the shape of a heart – via Sarra Abrougui
“Killed for drawing tolerance and freedom” children drawing from Strasbourg
” it is the ink that should flow, not blood”
“A pencil against a rifle”

author: Claire Ulrich


text:
The Internet Takes Down Fox News’ ‘Terrorism Expert’ for Saying Birmingham Is a No-go Area for Non-Muslims  · Global Voices
Morgan Meaker

Fox News stand at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, 2006. Taken by Rae Whitlock. Licensed under Creative Commons.
The Twitter hashtag #FoxNewsFacts continues to poke fun at the American news channel Fox News after its “terrorism expert” Steve Emerson declared Birmingham a no-go area for “non-Muslims”, live on air.
In the aftermath of the Paris attacks, Emerson told Fox News presenter Jeanine Pirro;“In Britain… there are actual cities like Birmingham that are totally Muslim where non-Muslims just simply don't go in.”
Although the religious make-up of Birmingham is diverse, Muslims are not in the majority. The BBC reports: 46.1% of Birmingham residents say they are Christian, 21.8% Muslim and 19.3% had no religion.”
Pirro and Emerson were talking about no-go areas for non-Muslims or what they refer to as “caliphate(s)” within Western countries. This is not the first time Birmingham has been held up as an example of ‘Britain’s Islamization’. A Daily Mail article used the city to illustrate “the changing face of Britain” and the British Nationalist Party’s (BNP) website calls it an unravelling “multi-cultural experiment”.
However Brits on Twitter laughed off Emerson's comments. The hashtag #FoxNewsFacts has been used over 400,000 times (according to Topsy), mostly to poke fun at the channel's anti-Muslim inaccuracy.
Jam jars across Britain are becoming radicalised. #FoxNewsFacts pic.twitter.com/0O4Cfv1DIo
— Parvez Anwar (@pavanwar) January 12, 2015
In birmingham, buildings wear the burqa #foxnewsfacts pic.twitter.com/S7fMfYkUht — Malcolm Coles (@malcolmcoles) January 11, 2015
Islam's spread into outer space started many years ago, as can be seen by this inter galactic burka. #foxnewsfacts pic.twitter.com/mMRH6aTVXO
— Anas Abbas (@Anas_Abbas1) January 12, 2015
Birmingham's refuse collectors are all Bin Laden #FoxNewsFacts — DaveHill (@DaveHill) January 11, 2015
In Birmingham, the local death squads go by the name of Quran Quran. #foxnewsfacts pic.twitter.com/xHXFtPUHxZ
— David Jack (@DamJef) January 11, 2015
BREAKING: Patriotic Americans being forced by Muslim jihadists to wear burqas and burn their crosses. #FoxNewsFacts pic.twitter.com/q8PIAeJLhG
— Barracks O'Bama (@P0TUS) January 12, 2015
queen of england forced to convert to islam. seen here in her hijab. #foxnewsfacts pic.twitter.com/tl1GsZ8G4g — daley blind (@b4dderman) January 12, 2015
Concrete proof of the Islamification of Birmingham? #foxnewsfacts pic.twitter.com/t8fnD6gKX8
— Rob Sinclair (@RSinclairAuthor) January 12, 2015
British children are able to purchase these little confectionary mosques at any corner shop. #foxnewsfacts pic.twitter.com/hDcMYpvT8i
— Jack Tindale (@JackTindale) January 11, 2015
Scott Lucas, professor of American Studies at the University of Birmingham told the BBC that Emerson's comments might appeal to some in the US: “Some people want to hear it's us versus them, it's America versus the rest of the world, that it's white Americans versus – let's be honest – those who aren't white and those who profess a different faith.”
Fox News, which was created by Rupert Murdoch, has a reputation for its attitudes towards race. In the past, its presenters have compared an African-American lecturer at Columbia University to a coke dealer and articulated worry that those protesting over the death of Eric Garner may disrupt Christmas.
Emerson has since apologized for his comments on Fox. He also said that bearing the brunt of public outrage was “like being water boarded, I guess”.  His comments come soon after December's report on the CIA, which said the American security services used water boarding, among other torture techniques, as part of their “advanced interrogation”. However, speaking on Radio 4's, Mr Emerson said: “I don't want people to use this to claim there's no such thing as radical Islam.”
Emerson also said he would donate £500 to Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
British Prime Minister, David Cameron told ITV News that Emerson is “clearly a complete idiot”. He went on to praise Birmingham as a “world class, brilliant city” which brings “people together of different faiths and different backgrounds”.  3,200 people have signed a petition calling for Emerson to apologize live on air. Maryam Snape, who started the petition, told the BBC: “The fact of the matter is the American people saw this story and they are still going to believe it is the truth until he puts it right.”
On his website, Emerson describes himself “as the Executive Director of The Investigative Project on Terrorism, one of the world's largest storehouses of archival data and intelligence on Islamic and Middle Eastern terrorist groups.”
He then quotes Robert Blitzer, former Counterterrorism Chief at the FBI, who praises him professionally: “Steve has been on the cutting edge of [investigating terrorism] for many, many years… he has provided an extremely valuable service.”
In the same news interview on Fox, Emerson also said, “In parts of London, there are actually Muslim religious police that actually beat and actually wound seriously anyone who doesn't dress according to Muslim, religious Muslim attire.” He said he “absolutely” stood by comments about “vigilante Muslim groups” in the UK capital.

author: Morgan Meaker


text:
What Snow Can Tell You About Russia’s Local Politics · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

Image edited by Kevin Rothrock.
Local politics in St. Petersburg can confound one's expectations of a Russian city. In a country notorious for its moribund civil society and oppressive state, St. Petersburg citizens have a habit of challenging the authorities in small, but significant ways. In November last year, a team of ecologists used GPS trackers to sniff out the city’s polluted waterways, discovering rivers of untreated sewage flowing into Neva Bay.
This month, one journalist, Pavel Smolyak, launched a public campaign against the local lieutenant governor, Igor Albin, accusing him of failing to manage the city's snow cleanup during the winter holidays.
Do it yourselves
The trouble started for Albin, who recently changed his surname from Slyunyayev to reclaim his more “sonorous” roots, with a January 9 Facebook post, where Smolyak described an evening spent looking out his window, waiting in vain for Albin and the city’s workers to dig him out from beneath the snow. The issue might have died there, but Albin took it upon himself to respond to Smolyak’s post, writing ungraciously:
Павел, а может вместо прослушивания очередного сериала и ожиданий манны небесной стоило пригласить друзей, взять лопаты и навести порядок хотя бы в своем дворе? Это и для здоровья полезно ,и мысли в порядок приводит… Труд облагораживает человека. Равнодушие и иждивенчество убивают и отдельную личность и целые государства. […]
Pavel, maybe instead of binging on another TV show and waiting for manna from heaven, you ought to invite over some friends, grab a few shovels, and start cleaning up [the snow], at least in your own yard? It’s good for your health and it will help put your head in order… Manual labor makes a man stronger. Indifference and dependency can kill single individuals and entire nations alike. […]
Albin’s riposte inspired dozens of responses, most of them criticizing his reluctance to hold state officials responsible for their apparent failure to remove snow from the streets during the holidays. “A brilliant idea!” Mikhail Shevchuk wrote sarcastically. “And if there’s a fire, you don’t need to call the fire department,” Shevchuk added, “you need to call on your friends to bring buckets and start pouring.”
The public backlash
A day after angering many with his “grab-a-shovel” advice, Albin wrote on Facebook again, trying to defuse the situation, saying he was “surprised by what a stir one private conversation [sic] has caused in the media.”
On January 13, city council member Boris Vishnevsky also complained on Facebook about Albin’s management of St. Petersburg’s snow removal, saying the city’s workers come too late in the day, if they come at all. “My aide’s grandchildren,” Vishnevsky wrote, “were late to kindergarten and missed their breakfast.”
Oleg Nilov, another council member, is trying to capitalize on Albin’s publicity misfortunes by challenging him to a “Snow Shovel Challenge,” in the spirit of the “Ice Bucket” phenomenon, daring the lieutenant governor to hit the streets himself and help shovel snow somewhere that needs it (or pay 4,000 rubles to a local charity).
Some citizens are calling for Albin’s job. In fact, a petition on Change.org demanding Albin’s ouster has attracted more than 5,000 signatures in roughly 24 hours. That document accuses Albin of “blatant disrespect for the city’s residents,” and describes a broken social contract:
Мы считаем, что Игорь Албин, проявил вопиющее неуважение к жителям города, которые не только оплачивают уборку улиц и благоустройство города, но и платят из своих же карманов зарплату самому Албину. Мы не готовы и далее продолжать платить зарплату этому работнику по причине не только серьезных сомнений в его профессиональных компетенциях, но и неуважения проявленного в отношении реальных работодателей Албина.
We feel that Igor Albin blatantly disrespected the city’s residents, who not only pay for street cleaning and the city’s beautification, but also pay out of their own pockets Mr. Albin’s salary. We’re not prepared to continue paying the salary of this [state] employee not only because of serious doubts about his professional competence, but also because of his disrespect toward his real employers [St. Petersburg taxpayers].
Meanwhile, elsewhere
For contrast, consider Ingushetia, where the republic’s head, Yunus-bek Yevkurov, recently visited a town and fired two chief officials in the local government for failing to clean the streets of snow. Yevkurov made a show of it, reporting the dismissals with snarky messages on Twitter:
Вчера проехал по Магасу, хотел посмотреть как работают коммунальщики. Оказалось, что никак. pic.twitter.com/42vrSqxldf
— Юнус-Бек Евкуров (@JunusBekEvkurov) January 11, 2015
Yesterday I drove through Magas. I wanted to see how much work the city’s crew is managing. None, it seems.
У коммунальщиков Новогодние каникулы. Уволил руководителей ЖКХ. Пусть отдыхают дальше!!!
— Юнус-Бек Евкуров (@JunusBekEvkurov) January 11, 2015
The city’s cleanup crew is on Winter Vacation. I’ve fired the local public utilities heads. Let them relax a bit longer!!!
Yevkurov’s response to the snow-removal problem was traditional: a staged publicity stunt, catalogued in the media, perpetuating his reputation as a caring executive who chases off negligent bureaucrats. In the short-term, Magas residents can probably expect safer streets, until Yevkurov turns his attention elsewhere, and the snow again begins to pile.


text:
‘Africapitalism’: Africa’s New Way Forward? · Global Voices
Kofi Yeboah

Nigerian economist and philanthropist Tony Elumelu. Facebook.
The economic philosophy “Africapitalism” says the African private sector has the power to transform the continent through long-term investments in strategic sectors, creating both economic prosperity and social wealth.
Tony Elumelu, a Nigerian economist and philanthropist, coined the term five years ago. As a show of his dedication to the concept, Elumelu now says he's ready to invest $100 million in young African entrepreneurs. In a blog post on his website, he stated earlier this month:
Generally speaking, Elumelu's programme has been received well online, where many are hopeful that Africapitalism will unlock Africans’ economic potential.
Joycee Awojoodu, a power sector specialist and curator of the World Economic Forum in Abuja, argued on Twitter that the private sector is key to Africapitalism:
At the heart of #africapitalism are two things 1. Realizing that private sector is key 2. We cannot leave … http://t.co/juEzDob4f2
— Joycee (@MsCEO101) January 7, 2015
Amir Ben Yahmed, vice president of Groupe Jeune Afrique, suggested:
Africa we will be economically on the right track the day presidents will have more CEOS than minister in their delegation #Africapitalism — Amir Ben Yahmed (@AmirBenYahmed) January 7, 2015
Meanwhile, Sankalp Forum, an initiative that puts entrepreneurs in dialogue with impact investors, corporations, and governments, identified certain barriers to Africapitalism:
@GuardianGDP #Africapitalism has many barriers: insecurity, connectivity, infrastructure – but those are also opportunities #globaldevlive — Sankalp Forum (@SankalpForum) June 19, 2014
Valentine Rugwabiza, Rwanda's East African community minister, suggested some pressing measures:
“Removing investment barriers is paramount to promoting Africapitalism” #Africapitalism #ACF2014 #RDB #Rwanda #africa — Valentine Rugwabiza (@VRugwabiza) March 18, 2014
The global financial firm KPMG South Africa tweeted:
The concept of #Africapitalism has caught the imagination of African commentators and policy analysts http://t.co/5bW6p0qIhU — KPMG South Africa (@KPMG_SA) August 24, 2014
Cabmagnet.com.ng, Nigeria's number one cab-hailing platform, also showed its support:
Making every youth in Africa aware of #Africapitalism solves a whole lot of problem. #PostUsAfrica — cabmagnet.com.ng (@ChigozieOkwara) August 20, 2014
A Cameroon-based financial analyst pledged to join the effort:
“@MsCEO101 In 2015 I pledge & plan to be an entrepreneur that empowers others & works to develop this nation” and continent #Africapitalism” — eddie (@efultang) January 7, 2015
With 200 million people between the ages 15 and 24, Africa has the youngest population in the world. Unfortunately, youths account for 60 percent of all unemployed people in Africa, too, according to the World Bank. If Africapitalism is to become a reality, investing in young people is necessary, if monumental, step in the right direction. Tony Elumelu promises to walk that path for the next ten years.

author: Kofi Yeboah


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Sketch Comic Faces Accusations of ‘Glorifying’ Terrorism in Spain · Global Voices
Violeta Camarasa

Screenshot from YouTube.
Catalan-Uruguayan satirist Facu Díaz is being taken to court for questioning over a satirical sketch from his online TV comedy show, Tuerka News.
Entitled “The PP is Breaking up,” the sketch mockingly suggested that the ruling Spanish Popular Party (PP) was on the brink of collapse.
Spain's National High Court ordered Facu Díaz to appear in court on January 15, 2015. The satirist could face charges under a Spanish law that criminalizes the “glorification of terrorism” with a punishment of up to two years in prison. The summons was issued after the terror victims’ association Dignity & Justice filed a complaint about the sketch on November 8, 2014.
In an official statement published by La Tuerka online, Facu Díaz said he suspected that the case may have been prompted by his connection to Pablo Iglesias, spokesman and Secretary General of Spain's new alternative political party, Podemos, who is also a host of the La Tuerka show. Díaz stated that he did not intend to offend anyone, but apologised nevertheless. He explained further: “I think a satirist must take you to places where you've never been,” and added: “Is there any topic about which we shouldn't make jokes? No, there is nothing we shouldn't joke about, it all depends on what the joke is.”
La Tuerka's popularity has grown, as has that of Pablo Iglesias as a political figure. Though it is mostly broadcast online, it also can be watched on TDT through Tele K, an independent channel with a strong social and activist connection.
In the three-and-a-half-minute sketch, Facu Díaz covers his face with a black balaclava, in reference to traditional spokesmen put forth by the Basque Euskadi Ta Askatasuna separatist militant organization, commonly known as the ETA. Díaz announces the end of the Popular Party due to “all that has happened in the last 20 years,” referring to the many corruption cases of its members. The video includes statements like “we have decided to stop our armed activity and hand over our weapons,” and the demand to move the PP corruption prisoners to places “like Andorra or other places with good food,” alluding to ETA's demands of transferring their members to prisons in the Basque Country. The fake PP's spokesman also asks for “a ceasefire from far left-wing political groups,” in a clear reference to Podemos.
The sketch does not make any reference to individuals who have been killed by the ETA. However, the terror victims’ association that filed the complaint argues that it “clearly constituted humiliation, harassment, contempt, detriment and ridicule of terror victims and their families.”
It is ironic that Facu Díaz received the news just one day after the attack on French satiric magazine Charlie Hebdo, while Spanish President Mariano Rajoy was showing his “support of freedom of expression” on behalf of the Spanish government and people. On Twitter, the hashtag #YoConFacu (I’m With Facu) is being used to show support for the satirist and defend freedom of expression. Díaz has stated that he will continue to make satire in the future.

author: Violeta Camarasa