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Bangladeshis use social media to tackle a dengue outbreak · Global Voices
বিজয়

Aedes albopictus mosquito, a carrier of Dengue fever. Image via Wikipedia by James Gathany, CDC. Public Domain.
In the past few years, especially during the monsoon season, the number of dengue fever cases has risen in Bangladesh. This year, it took an alarming turn with a total of 7,179 cases recorded – nearly 2800 of them from the first half of July alone.
As government resources are seemingly overwhelmed by the severity of this recent spike in dengue cases, people are turning to social media to voice their complaints, share information about the spread of the virus, and to spread awareness about how people can protect themselves.
Dengue in Bangladesh: Nearly 2800 cases in first 16 days of July – Outbreak News Today https://t.co/Ey7qUZ6HNR
— Tahsin Ahmmed (@tahsinaf) July 17, 2019
22 July saw record highs as 403 new dengue patients were admitted to hospitals in a 24-hour period. According to some experts, the effects of climate change, intermittent rain, unusual weather patterns, and lack of cleanliness are the main culprits for the rise in dengue cases. Others also shared that this year's strain of the dengue virus is deadlier than in previous years. According to Twitter user Md. Saif:
এবারের ডেঙ্গু জ্বরের ধরন ও আকৃতি পাল্টে গিয়েছে, তাই জ্বর হলে ডাক্তারের সাথে অবশ্য যোগাযোগ করবেন > বঙ্গবন্ধু হাসপাতালের মেডিসিন বিশেষজ্ঞ।
এবারের ডেঙ্গুজ্বরে আক্রান্ত বেশিরভাগ রোগীর বিভিন্ন অঙ্গ দ্রুত অকার্যকর হয়ে (মাল্টি অর্গান ফেইলিওর) পড়ছে। যা আগের বছরগুলোতে দেখা যায়নি।
— ❣ Mr. MD-S A I F..???⚽ (@S_Alam1999) July 20, 2019
“This year the strain and symptom of the disease have changed so you need to go to your doctor immediately after catching the fever” – according to an expert physician at the Bangabandhu Medical Hospital. Severely affected patients are having multiple organ failure – this was unheard of in the previous years.
In an interview with the Bangla Tribune, Dr. Gulzar said that people who were previously infected with dengue have a greater risk of reinfection.
“এবার ডেঙ্গু ভাইরাস তার ধরন বদলেছে। আগের চেয়ে আরও বেশি দুর্ধর্ষ হয়েছে। ডেঙ্গু শক সিন্ড্রোম করছে বেশি। আরেকটা কারণ হতে পারে বিগত বছরগুলোতে ডেঙ্গুতে আক্রান্ত হয়েছেন অনেকেই। অনেকে হয়তো জানতেও পারেননি তিনি আগে আক্রান্ত হয়েছেন। দ্বিতীয়বার তারা যখন আক্রান্ত হচ্ছেন, তখন ব্যাপারটা ভয়াবহ হয়ে উঠছে।”
This year Dengue has a new strain, deadlier. It is inducing Dengue shock syndrome. There may be another cause – many were infected in the previous years, many perhaps did not notice. When they are being infected the second time, it is becoming deadlier.
Reports about new infection cases are spreading on social media and many users are becoming increasingly worried. Shofiq Ahmed shared a Tweet about a newly reported case:
ডেঙ্গু জ্বরে আক্রান্ত জাতিসংঘের আবাসিক সমন্বয়কারী https://t.co/KeZz8rocoT
— sofiq ahmad (@sofiqahmad) July 22, 2019
Even the Resident coordinator of the United Nations have been infected.
Twitter user Shorbo Bosonto mentioned:
ডেঙ্গু জ্বরে ২ চিকিৎসকের মৃত্যু, বাড়ছে আতঙ্ক; প্রধান স্বাস্থ্য কর্মকর্তাকে হাইকোর্টে তলব
বাংলাদেশে ডেঙ্গুর আক্রমন এখন গুরুতর জন আতংকের কারণ হয়ে উঠেছে। বাড়ছে আক্রান্ত ও মৃত্যুর সংখ্যা। pic.twitter.com/aMbGufjomB
— সর্ব বসন্ত (@Shorbobosonto) July 22, 2019
Even two doctors died in Dengue fever, and people are afraid now. The Dhaka Highcourt has summoned the Chief Health Officers of the government. The death toll is incereasing.
BBC Bangla Facebook page asked its readers to report back about any efforts by city officials in Dhaka to combat the spread the mosquitos. User Mohammad Mynuddin reported astonishing delays on the part of government officials to address the outbreak:
Nothing has been seen. A (City Corporation) worker has said that it would take a few weeks to import the protective drugs to decrease mosquitoes. He added that within October we would have the drugs. I was astonished ??
With what many see as a lack of government response to the spike in dengue cases, citizens are taking to social media to raise awareness about the virus. Citizen media news outlet Health Barta uploaded a YouTube video detailing what to do when someone has dengue fever:
Many are resorting to social media to collect blood for patients. User Sajid Islam Khan tweeted that he needs blood for his brother who is suffering from dengue. Hannan Gazi posted a similar message:
#ঢাকার_রক্ত_যোদ্ধা_ভাইয়া_দের_দৃষ্টি_আকর্ষণ_করছি#মানবতার_সেবায়_এগিয়ে_আসুন।
খুব জরুরী রক্তের প্রয়োজন ? ডেঙ্গু রোগীর জন্য
?রক্তের গ্রুপ: A- এ নেগেটিভ
?রক্তের পরিমাণ: ২ ব্যাগ
?রক্তদানের তারিখ: আজকে
?রক্তদানের স্থান : শান্তিনগর, ঢাকা।
☎যোগাযোগ। 01758410473
— Hannan Gazi (@ha_finer) July 18, 2019
All the blood warriors of #Dhaka
Come Forward to save lives
We need blood urgently ? for a Dengue patient
￼?Blood Group: A- A Negative
￼?Blood required: 2 bags
￼?When: Today
￼?Where: Shantinagar, Dhaka।
￼☎Contact: 01758410473
Independent media The Chittagong Post tweeted:
ডেঙ্গু জ্বরের লক্ষণ ও করণীয় https://t.co/pzu0zKBe7K pic.twitter.com/cvP71YJw19
— TheChittagongPost (@TheCtgPost) July 23, 2019
The symptoms of dengue fevere and what to do..
Amidst the outbreak, the Mayor of Dhaka City North has canceled holiday leave for waste disposal and mosquito deterrent teams. However, to protect people from dengue fever, a lot more effort may be needed.

author: বিজয়


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The faces of the Cuban drought · Global Voices
Periodismo de Barrio

Deivi grows sunflowers near the sanctuary of the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre (Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre). Photo by Periodismo de Barrio. Attribution-Non Commercial-Egual Share.No.3.0 Front Page (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0).
This story is part of our collaboration with the Cuban digital media project Periodismo de Barrio. Through this partnership, our readers will be able to gain a perspective on Cuba different from that presented by traditional media.
In southeast Cuba there is a dry corridor extending over 11 municipalities in the provinces of Santiago de Cuba and Guantánamo. The 1.3 million people living there have been directly or indirectly affected by drought. The progressive depopulation of rural areas has a more critical aspect in this region: that of climate migration. These are the life stories of those who have decided to stay.
Reinaldo Mestre. Photo courtesy of Periodismo de Barrio. Attribution-Non Commercial-Egual Share. No.3.0 Front Page (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0).
For too long Reinaldo Mestre had wanted to plant coffee or bananas in his plot of land, but people told him not to do it. And he didn't, because there, right where he has his crops, the main transport route of the island was supposed to be built.
Reinaldo arrived at El Socorro, one of the settlements along the Carretera Central, between the villages of Songo and La Maya, in Santiago de Cuba, in 1981, when the plan to build the great National Highway A1, which would unite Cuba, was still being developed.
But in the early 90s and after the collapse of socialism in Europe, Cuba had to stall the construction of the A1. In El Socorro, parcels of land were given to farmers so they would not be idle and could produce food during the economic crisis the country experienced. Reinaldo received one of those plots.
At that time, people were told that the location would be temporary, until the construction work was resumed. And since the news about this decision could come at any moment, they should not plant crops that would take time to harvest, like coffee. At least this is what they told him then, and Reinaldo followed these instructions.
But this “temporary” situation has endured, and the unfinished road is at the same stage where it stopped almost 30 years ago: about 12 kilometers from Songo. In all that time, on the small plot of land that—without irrigation systems and without water to make them work—depends entirely on rain, Reinaldo has resigned himself to waiting and dreaming of a coffee plantation. His life has been spent waiting.
Nowadays, at 85 years old, missing a kidney and with an income of 200 pesos, Reinaldo is still in El Socorro—on the same small parcel of land that sometimes does not produce enough to sell; in the same wooden house, with its tile roof and a dirt floor, where running water does not reach.
Far from there, the unfinished dream of the National Highway is just a line on the map, a project of unspecified prosperity for which Reinaldo delayed his dreams.
Adela Pantoja. Photo courtesy of Periodismo de Barrio. Attribution-Non Commercial-Egual Share. No.3.0 Front Page (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0).
Adela Pantoja wanted to be a nurse. But after she graduated from high school in Isla de la Juventud, in the 80s, she had to go back to La Loma, where she was born, about 20 kilometers from Madrugón, in Santiago de Cuba. She returned to take care of her old and sick parents. She started working in the coffee fields at 19. She gave birth at 20. When she was 30, and with 2 children, she met Mayito, a 42-year-old divorcé. They got together and she went to live with him. To work in the fields.
Since then, Adela's days are all alike. Wake up at 5:00 a.m., make breakfast, go to the farm. At 11 a.m. she leaves the hoe and goes to have lunch. She brews coffee, cleans the garden, sweeps, waters the animals. At 3:30 p.m. she returns to the field until dusk. Her only free time is at night, when she sits for a while and watches TV.
I try to get her to explain how the land is cultivated in one of the driest regions in Cuba, but it is Mayito who speaks, who corrects the dates and who ends up dominating the conversation.
He says that they have survived the three-year drought (which ended up killing almost all the sheep and cattle) thanks to the well. This well is the heart of the seven-hectare farm, which allows one and a half tons of beans to be harvested every year, or 60 bunches of banana to be cut in one afternoon and sent to the markets in Santiago de Cuba.
It took a little more than three months to build the well. Ninety-seven days to dig a hole 17 meters deep. “A real feat,” he repeats in order to emphasize the family accomplishment. Adela explains in a low voice that there used to be another well that dried up; they dug the new one about ten meters from the previous one. She says that with the mule she pulled a huge amount of dirt. The inscription on the well's curb reads:
“Start date, 10/12/2011. Completed on 03/15/12, on the birthday of my daughter Mayelín. This work was done by Osmay Tejeda, Yordanis Tejeda, Clavel the mule, Coronel the bull … “.
- And you, Adela …? I ask.
- Ah, and us…
But her name is not there.
Nieves Mojena. Photo by Periodismo de Barrio. Attribution-Non Commercial-Egual Share. No.3.0 Front Page (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0).
Around 6 a.m. the farmers make their way to the coffee plantation and Nieves hears steps and murmurs, the sounds of dawn. Then she gets up and starts boiling water to bathe and make coffee.
Nieves Mojena arrived in Arroyo Llano in 1984, to visit her sister. She got married and stayed. She worked for the local television station, then as custodian of the school. After taking some culinary courses, 12 years ago, she took upon herself the tiring task of cooking for the Cooperativa de Créditos y Servicios Romárico Cordero (Romárico Cordero Cooperative of Credits and Services), which does the catering for almost every occasion in the village. In her 50s, redheaded, anxious, Nieves brews coffee, trying to estimate how many people went to the coffee plantation so that she could prepare the exact amount of food. Today, for example, she cooked eight pounds of rice (a large cauldron), three pounds of peas (two pots), boiled bananas, and a piece of chicken for each, thighs or drumsticks. Sometimes she cooks goat chilindrón [a type of stew], pork, or mortadella in sauce.
At 11:30 a.m. the harvesters weigh the collected grain and rest. It's Nieves’ time: she clocks in. She likes to do it on time because, she says, “this is how production goes forward. I like to pick coffee beans, too, to avoid a surplus in the supply.” She can receive extra money for each can. Her salary as a cook is 500 pesos per month.
“We are thinking about building a house on the coffee plantations to cook there. It would be easier, because I set the pot and go with the basket, pick for a short time, then go back to check the pot … So they could eat a hot meal.”
On busy days, Nieves returns from the field at about 3 p.m. On slow days, when it gets dark. “When I arrived this afternoon I made congri [a dish of black beans and rice], and with the chicken I cooked for the house, I already have the meal prepared.” In the evening, she prepares a snack and watches TV. At 10 p.m., the electric power generator is turned off, the town gets dark, Nieves goes to sleep; then listens once more for the farmers on their way to the coffee plantation.
Nena. Photo courtesy of Periodismo de Barrio. Attribution-Non Commercial-Egual Share. No.3.0 Front Page (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0).
Nena is about 60 years old—she's not sure—and owns a dirt plot planted with bananas, beans and sweet potatoes almost a kilometer from El Socorro, a village on the way to Alto Songo. Nena planted alone, harvested alone, and through that work she fed her children. One day, Nena found her husband with another woman; they had a fight, and the man left Nena and the five boys. “Since then, I do not have a husband, nor do I want one.”
The farm where she lives has electricity and an outhouse. She has to find water or wait for the rain. Nena goes to the well every day and chops wood that she carries on her head. She cooks with the kerosene that she receives every three or four months, 12 gallons each time. Her children are 40 years old and they have already left. Now Nena recounts her life. “I wake up in the morning and if I want I go to the field, otherwise don't go. I make repairs to the house: the roof tiles, broken-down furniture, cracks in the tables, a light bulb, the dirty places, dirt floor, and my sorrows.”
Georgina Castillo, Nena's mother, has a small hut in front of the banana plantation, and she is supposedly 60 years old, but she does not remember exactly. According to Nena, she must be 80. A magnificent black woman, hunched but still strong, and noble. With seven children. Until recently, Georgina worked in her garden, but she is not able to do it anymore, so Nena takes care of it now. They live in separate houses.
Nena hasn't gone to her plot in the last two days. Last time she weeded the crops. Now she is taking care of two free-range pregnant sows. She is happy that one of her children comes to visit her from time to time. The rest of the time Nena and Georgina are alone, not sure of what day it is, and what they did the day before.
Kikito, a middle-aged man, lives in the community of El Caney, Santiago de Cuba. He delivers water to homes, and nowadays his work is in demand due to the drought that affects the province.
Very close to the sanctuary of El Cobre, Deivi grows sunflowers, one of the most demanded offerings for the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre (Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre). In this video he explains how it is possible to cultivate in the eastern region, despite the drought that affects this area.
* This article is an exclusive excerpt for Global Voices. Read the original version of “The faces of drought” here.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Periodismo de Barrio


text:
Twitter campaign by Pakistani ruling party warns media against anti-state criticism · Global Voices
R Umaima Ahmed

Screenshot from YouTube Video by Naya Daur.
Pakistani Journalists are grappling with increased censorship and repression by State authorities. In early July, a recorded interview of former Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari was taken off air and many journalists began sounding the alarm against what is seen as an infringement on press freedom.
Most recently, journalists critical of the government and military have been targeted by the ruling political party via Tweets that warn the media to refrain from the “abuse of freedom of expression”.
The 2018 general elections, which brought Imran Khan and ruling party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) to power, also brought with it policies that independent watchdogs like Reporters Without Borders are calling “censorship” tactics. Other groups have also noted the general deterioration of the country's once-vibrant media environment.
On 16 July 2019, the ruling party's official Twitter handle,@PTIofficial, sent over two dozen tweets stating that critical coverage by the press may be deemed anti-state and has the potential to be seen as “treason”:
Media houses & journalists must take care that in their quest for criticism on State, they intentionally or unintentionally do not end up propagating enemy’s stance. Freedom of expression is immense power. And with great power there is great responsibility!#JournalismNotAgenda pic.twitter.com/YdxD9Al5Pb
— PTI (@PTIofficial) July 16, 2019
Freedom of expression is the beauty of democracy but if used for ill purposes, it loses its charm #JournalismNotAgenda pic.twitter.com/U6BjQmR0V7
— PTI (@PTIofficial) July 16, 2019
The ruling party’s Twitter account @PTIofficial put out at least 19 tweets this week warning journalists against what it called abuse of freedom of expression. This comes amid persistent complaints by Pakistani journalists of censorship and threats https://t.co/6lJCmdqHB0
— Saeed Shah (@SaeedShah) July 18, 2019
Ramsha Jahangir wrote in the Dawn:
At least four hashtags targeting journalism emerged on Twitter on Tuesday — two of the trends became top trends in Pakistan.
Analysis of one such trend #JournalismNotAgenda reveals that besides the PTI’s official verified account, other accounts participating in the campaign were also several factions of the PTI’s social media wing. The top tweets in the hashtag (over 20 tweets per account) were sent out by PTI’s Lahore wing and PTI West Punjab chapter.
According to her report, the prime minister's focal person on digital media, Dr. Arslan Khalid, said that PTI's official tweets were being blown out of proportion. According to him, the idea behind the series of tweets was not to ridicule but to ‘educate’ the media.
The Twitter campaign launched by PTI's Twitter account focused on what they called “responsible reporting” and was widely shared with the hashtag, #JournalismNotAgenda. A series of tweets both in English and Urdu asked journalists to “Be responsible and Build The Nation”.
Media is one of the most important pillars of a state. Irresponsible action can lead to destructive conclusions. #JournalismNotAgenda pic.twitter.com/kyRpCxLw2N
— PTI (@PTIofficial) July 16, 2019
The PTI Official account even tweeted about how freedom of speech should not ‘hurt’ national interests or the State. Some of the tweets accused journalists of spreading partisan agendas and profiting at the same time:
The part time journalists and full time propagandist and social media activists are getting desperate to pay off their master’s favours showered to them in past but it must not come at the cost of the future of this country. #JournalismNotAgenda pic.twitter.com/s78xSk3D84
— PTI (@PTIofficial) July 16, 2019
The official PTI account also criticized journalists who spoke about PM Imran Khan’s personal life:
Media is often considered a pillar of state. It is sad to see certain media factions & seasoned journalists who also scrutinize Prime Minister Khan’s personal life in the name of freedom of media later accuse the State for curtailing media freedom. #JournalismNotAgenda pic.twitter.com/fHCzqaQJae
— PTI (@PTIofficial) July 16, 2019
Recently Pakistan’s print and electronic media has faced economic losses, as a result, a large number of newspapers have closed down and journalists have been laid off. PTI Official cast blame for these economic losses on a lack of “quality reporting”:
In the age of digital media, print media had to bear the brunt. Media houses should have focused on quality reporting & strong business models. Blaming the death of print media on government is downright hilarious & misguided!
#JournalismNotAgenda
— PTI (@PTIofficial) July 16, 2019
Some ministers have jumped on the bandwagon and began actively shared the hashtag on social media, criticizing journalists for being irresponsible and demanding that they not hurt national interests.
PTI’s Central Information Secretary Omer Sarfaraz Cheema tweeted:
PTI support and have struggled for independence of media with a responsible role
The media plays a powerful role in shaping public perception
it should be fair, truthful and objective
Pak media is our partner in change and we respect its contributions #JournalismNotAgenda pic.twitter.com/XYXESszbeH
— Omar Sarfraz Cheema (@OmarCheemaPTI) July 16, 2019
MNA and Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Kashmir Affairs & Gilgit Baltistan Sobia Kamal Khan also told journalists to be ‘loyal to Pakistan’
#JournalismNotAgenda Those claiming freedom of press, have to remain loyal to Pak. Journalists pursuing Anti Social agenda of #SharifMafia & RAW don't deserve privilege of free speech at the cost of national security & public safety. Spreading dospondency & hatred is unwarranted.
— Sobia Kamal Khan (@SobiaKamalKhan) July 16, 2019
Besides the PTI official Tweets, another Twitter campaign was initiated with the hashtag #layofflifafaJournalists asking media outlets to lay off journalists who are allegedly getting paid to further the agenda of other parties – including what they are calling a ‘foreign agenda’.
We are @TeamPakZindabad Launching a trend against the Lifafa Journalists, Join us at 1 PM and expose these journalists #LayOffLifafaJournalists
— ♏ Ghazi Abbas ❕?? (@Gh_abbas1988) July 16, 2019
Media houses paying millions to few anchors but can’t afford to pay few thousands to small workers?
Stop exploiting poor for your own benefit.
Remember you can blackmail an individual but not the State.
Trending #LayOffLifafaJournalists at 1PM. Please join all to expose them. https://t.co/z78a1CRrjj
— Imran A Raja® (@ImranARaja1) July 16, 2019
In a response, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemned the tweets by the PTI official handle:
In #Pakistan, pro-gvt trolls are launching a new campaign against independent journalists! Dear @PTIofficial, don't you know that identifying the leader, the party and the State is typical of totalitarian regimes?#JournalismIsNotACrime pic.twitter.com/glfng0z35k
— RSF (@RSF_inter) July 17, 2019
Journalist Benazir Shah told The Hindu that these Twitter messages are not just “irresponsible,” they are outright “dangerous” for Pakistani journalists, putting them and their organizations at risk.

author: R Umaima Ahmed


text:
From Nigeria to Zanzibar, Africa quietly played a critical role in US moon landing  · Global Voices
Amanda Lichtenstein

In Kano, Nigeria, a boy rides a camel against the backdrop of NASA's space station, one of 18 Project Mercury space stations strategically placed along the Earth's orbital track. The stations were part of a vast global communication network necessary to track spacecraft and relay information back to Mercury Control Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA. Picture released by NASA on May 21, 1962.
On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 made world history when it landed on the moon. But to this day, few people know about the space stations in Kano, northern Nigeria, and Tunguu, Zanzibar, that helped lay the groundwork that ultimately made the Apollo 11 mission possible.
The Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States played out dramatically in the great space race. Before a successful moon landing could happen, the US needed to test manned and unmanned spacecraft. In October 1958, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) launched Project Mercury, a five-year, $400 million project designed to test the viability of human space travel.
Launching a spacecraft into orbit required ground controls in countries located along the Earth’s orbital track. NASA built a total of 18 stations in strategic, global locations including Nigeria, newly independent from British rule, and Zanzibar, then governed by the Omani Sultanate along with a British administration.
Figure 8-1. Map showing the locations of the selected Mercury stations, NASA archival records.
Project Mercury vetted seven astronauts known as the “Mercury 7″ and ultimately completed several orbital flights in the early 1960s: 20 unmanned, including the Mercury-Atlas-4, two with chimpanzees onboard (“Ham” and “Enos”), and six manned orbits including MA-6 through MA-9) — proving that human space travel was possible.
In 1960, NASA constructed the satellite tracking space station in Tunguu, Zanzibar, just under 10 miles outside of Stone Town, the capital. The following year, they completed the last of 18 stations in Kano, Nigeria, each at an estimated cost of $3 million.
The British, along with then-Sultan Khalifa bin Harub, showed great support for the American space station and approved the sale of rural land in Tunguu for the project site in 1960.
Throughout the project, the US processed more than 1,000 tons of cargo through specially-designated US depots that organized shipments to Nigeria and Zanzibar, along with the other sites, including two on ships. Stations housed electronic equipment, cooling towers, water chillers, hydropneumatic tanks and diesel generators for power backup.
NASA Satellite Tracking Space Station, Tunguu, Zanzibar, 1961. Photo via the collection of Torrence Royer, used with permission.
NASA contracted with US and British engineers as well as local specialists and builders in Kano and Zanzibar, surveying the land to establish the most precise angles for radar antennae used to communicate with spacecraft as they passed above and below the horizon line, according to NASA historical records.
Kano, home to the ancient Kingdom of Kano, and Zanzibar, the hub of Indian Ocean trade for millennia, were now vital links in a global network to reach the stars.
Before there was the internet, there was Project Mercury. The race to space demanded that the world’s first global communication network have the ability to communicate between and among space stations, spacecraft and astronauts. The Mercury communications network included 102,000 miles of teletype lines, 60,000 miles of telephone lines, and 15,000 miles of high-speed data lines, according to NASA historical archives.
NASA equipped stations with “telemetry, tracking, and computation functions” as well as “flight control and monitoring” capabilities and  “a multi-frequency air-to-ground reception and remoting provision.” An intercom system allowed several people to talk while others listened.
Communication between space station staff and the spacecraft was a highly orchestrated dance. After a spacecraft launched, 5 to 90 minutes would elapse before the vessel passed over a station, depending on the location. The Mercury Control Center at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, USA, would send a teletype message to stations with the time and coordinates, using data crunched from the spacecraft's passage over a prior station.
Figure 8-20. MA-9 orbital charts via NASA archival records.
Torrence Royer, an American whose stepfather, Roger Locke, worked at the Zanzibar space station and who spent a few years in Zanzibar as a young boy, writes:
The high-tech equipment, and the ‘reach-for-the-stars’ attitude’  intrigued many young Zanzibaris. I recall students in my school learning the schedules of the satellite launches and I remember young people would lay on the beach at night, on schedule, looking up, waiting for the spacecraft to pass overhead. One friend who had just heard about this phenomenon joined the beach-watchers … only to be somewhat disappointed by the small, slow-moving, star-like object that he witnessed. He expected a close fly-by of a ‘flying saucer’ perhaps.
Leading up to Zanzibar's 1961 general elections, doubts about the intentions of the US space station began to surface and a small resistance against its presence began to brew. Some feared Zanzibar could become a potential target for nuclear war.
In Zanzibar, graffiti shows a rooster (associated with the now-defunct Afro Shirazi Party) pushing an American cowboy (representing American imperialism) off the island, shouting “I have no need whatsoever [for you]! Get out of here!” in Swahili. Photo via the collection of Torrence Royer, used with permission.
Yet, the space station remained open, and on May 15, 1963, the final Mercury-Atlas 9 mission launched from Cape Canaveral, completing 22 Earth orbits lasting a harrowing 34 hours before landing in the Pacific Ocean, piloted by astronaut Gordon Cooper. The unprecedented success of this final mission essentially completed Project Mercury and set the stage for more ambitious projects like Gemini and, later that decade, Apollo.
That year, Zanzibar had a brief moment of independence when, in December 1963, the British left the islands as a constitutional monarchy under the Sultans of Oman.
But on January 12, 1964, a violent revolution in Zanzibar overthrew the Sultans, ending over two centuries of rule. When the dust settled, the new revolutionary government claimed the US-funded space station indeed posed a national security threat and demanded its removal.
Anti-Project Mercury protests on the streets of Stone Town, Zanzibar, April 12, 1964. Photo via the collection of Torrence Royer, used with permission.
On April 7, 1964, the US government announced that it would shutter the space station in Zanzibar upon the new Zanzibari government’s request. “We regret very much this necessity since the station was used strictly for peaceful purposes which would further man's scientific knowledge,” said NASA, adding they would look for new locations in East Africa along the Earth's orbital track. They settled on Madagascar.
After years under British and Arab influence, Zanzibar had begun to consider alliances with Chinese, East German and Soviet Union governments — and its socialist leanings became a diplomatic flash point. At the same time, newly independent mainland Tanganyika merged with Zanzibar in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania, with Zanzibar as a semi-autonomous region.
Today, the former space station is a rusted, graffiti-filled shell with no important markers to indicate its global role in the space race. But Zanzibar's spot along the Earth's orbital track means that star-gazers can still sneak peeks at the International Space Station as it passes over the island. The last sighting was on Tuesday, July 23, 5:11 a.m., and was visible for one minute.
The abandoned Project Mercury space station in Tunguu, Zanzibar, 2004. Photo via the collection of Torrence Royer, used with permission.
Kano space station remained open for two more years and closed in December 1966. But the Nigerian government went on to launch its own space program with satellites in space since 2003.
Nigeria plans to send an astronaut into space by 2030.

author: Amanda Lichtenstein


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Guy Fawkes makes cameo appearance on hacked Trinidad and Tobago government websites · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Screenshot of the defaced Trinidad and Tobago Ministry of Tourism web site shared by hacker VandaThe God.
On July 25, key Trinidad and Tobago government web sites, including those belonging to the Ministry of National Security, the Immigration Division and the Attorney General's office, were hacked.
Many of the hacked pages displayed a graphic of an individual wearing a Guy Fawkes mask and carrying a placard reading: “Join the Revolution: tell Your Corrupt Government to F**K OFF!” and the headline “Hacked by VandaTheGod.”
Four more Trinidad and Tobago Government websites defaced https://t.co/VdiPlc02ZC pic.twitter.com/hepcE5dXQF
— Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society (@ttcs) July 25, 2019
An internet search reveals VandaTheGod to be an established and prolific black hat hacker who has authored scores of page defacements. A VandaTheGod Twitter account tweets links and screenshots of their hacking exploits. Items retweeted by the account yesterday include a link to a statement made by Trinidad and Tobago's minister of national security Stuart Young confirming the hacking.
The Trinidad and Tobago Guardian ran a front-page story describing VandaTheGod as a “Brazilian-based cyber team that specialises in hacking Web sites and posting political messages.”
Brazilian government and other web sites do figure prominently on the list of pages defaced by the hacker, which includes examples from other countries, including Bhutan, Germany, Italy and Portugal. Dev Anand Teelucksingh, founder of the Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society (TTCS), which tracked the exploits, confirmed in a telephone interview with Global Voices that the hacker was running a Portuguese-language version of the Ubuntu Linux operating system, but that it was not possible to verify the location from which the hacker was operating.
Teelucksingh said TTCS members noticed the hacking—the first of this magnitude they have seen in Trinidad and Tobago—around noon on VandaTheGod’s Twitter account. The TTCS reported that as of 9:30pm Trinidad and Tobago time on July 25 that 11 government web sites had been defaced, and Teelucksingh said that a several others had been affected since then.
In Minister Stuart Young's statement, he offered assurances that there was “no real damage done.” He said that:
“these web sites don't get into our operating systems, these web sites are not going to affect the records of national security and not the records of immigration either. So there is no reason to be overly concerned about intentional attacks on data that exists in those two very important places.”
Teelucksingh said he didn’t believe the government was being targeted for any specific malicious purpose. “I think it’s a case where they detected a vulnerability and exploited it,” he said. “It’s a cookie cutter operation.”
Teelucksingh observed that all of the hacked sites were running Windows Server 2012 and were developed by a Trinidad-based company called Digital Business, whose web site Teelucksingh said had momentarily displayed the same generic blue Windows IIS Server page that the hacked government sites were showing during the first half of the day on July 26. Some of the government web sites were hosted in Trinidad and Tobago, others in the USA and Canada. None of the affected Trinidad and Tobago government web sites appear to be using HTTPS, a widely used protocol for secure communication that is currently considered best practice.
At of 4:00 pm Trinidad and Tobago time, the web sites of the Ministry of National Security and the Immigration Division remain offline.

author: Georgia Popplewell


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Nigerian schoolgirl abducted by Boko Haram allegedly dies in captivity · Global Voices
Nwachukwu Egbunike

Screenshot of aid worker Grace Taku (center) in a video taken while in captivity by Boko Haram in Borno. Taku says in this video that Leah Sharibu, a schoolgirl who was also abducted by Boko Haram, is dead.
On July 18, Nigerian aid worker Gace Taku and her colleagues with Action Against Hunger, a nongovernmental organization, were kidnapped by Boko Haram, an ISIS-affiliated militant group. In this video, Taku's testimony generated a lot of ruckus in Nigeria. She states in the video that Leah Sharibu, one of the schoolgirls kidnapped last year by Boko Haram, is dead.
Apparently Leah Sharibu is dead. https://t.co/bplDnerIjT
— bigBaDwolF (@theofficialFEMI) July 25, 2019
Taku pleads that she does not want to be killed by Boko Haram. She says Boko Haram militants killed Sharibu along with an unidentified person referred to as “Alice,” because of the Nigerian government's refusal to accede Boko Haram's demands.
The transcript of her appeal by SaharaReporters reads:
My name is Grace, I work with Action Against Hunger, an NGO in Borno State; my base is Damasak. We went to work on Thursday, July 18, 2019. On our way back to Damasak, by Keneri/Chamba ward, we were caught by an army called the Kaliphas and they brought us here. We don’t know where we are … I am begging, on behalf of all of us. I don’t want such things to happen to us and it also happened again with Leah and Alice, because Nigeria could not do anything about them — they were not released; they were also killed.
Boko Haram has been responsible for thousands of deaths including suicide bombings and violent, militant attacks in northeast Nigeria, northern Cameroon, and Niger. The kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls in 2014 by Boko Haram in Chibok, northeast Nigeria, led to global outrage expressed in the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls.
Nigerian netizens have been reacting online to the purported death of Sharibu:
A question for the government to answer, said Oby Ezekwesili, former vice president of World Bank and co-founder of #BringBackOurGirls Movement:
It is a question that @NGRPresident @MBuhari ‘s government @AsoRock must URGENTLY answer if it retains any shred of empathy for her family which must be terribly distressed by such disconcerting news. I pray that this news is not true and merely speculative as we want on FG. https://t.co/ITzHhNr3AF
— Oby Ezekwesili (@obyezeks) July 25, 2019
And for those blaming Sharibu’s death on her refusal to convert to Islam, Nigerian journalist David Hundeyin decried the lack of empathy and sensitivity:
We've graduated from blaming 17 year-old Busola Dakolo for someone's decision to rape her to blaming a 15 year-old girl for being killed by the world's 2nd deadliest terror group.
Great job guys.
We're coming for the infants whose mothers infected them with HIV next?? https://t.co/dr4zOhTUcW
— David Hundeyin (@DavidHundeyin) July 25, 2019
Tears as captured Dapichi schoolgirls return. Screenshot from CNN video.
Last year, February 19, 2018, Boko Haram kidnapped 110 schoolgirls from Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State, northeastern Nigeria. Sharibu was one of the girls abducted.
Critiques blamed the Nigerian military for the kidnapping. SaharaReporters published an intelligence memo sent to the military high command dated February 6, 2018 – one week before the Dapichi girls were kidnapped – which warned of a “large-scale Boko Haram attack” targeting public places like schools, mosques, markets and parks in Borno and Yobe states. The military not only disregarded the warning but also withdrew troops from Dapchi, Yobe State.
Many of the girls were forced to convert to Islam while in captivity. On March 21, 2018, a little over a month after the girls were kidnapped, Boko Haram released “106 children – 104 schoolgirls, a girl who did not go to the school, and a boy,” according to the BBC.
A United Nations report stated that the schoolgirls were released in exchange “for a large ransom” paid by the Nigerian government. The UN report added that this “cash economy, without controls, is conducive to terrorist groups” because it fosters more terror.  The Nigerian government denied paying a ransom to secure the girls’ release.
Sharibu, however, remained in captivity.
“Leah Sharibu, the lone girl who refused to pledge allegiance to Islam, was denied her freedom.” Screenshot from this video via YouTube.
Boko Haram militants did not release Sharibu, allegedly because she refused her captors’ demands to change religions. The Nigerian Guardian newspaper described Sharibu as “the lone girl who refused to pledge allegiance to Islam” for which she was “denied her freedom.” Displeased by “her insistence to stick to her Christian faith,” her abductors “drove triumphantly into Dapchi town to drop off the other girls.”
On August 28, 2018, five months after the other schoolgirls were released — audio surfaced online with Sharibu speaking from captivity.  In a transcript by CNN, Sharibu, speaking in her native Hausa language, begged Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari to secure her release:
I am Leah Sharibu, the girl that was abducted from Government Girls Science Technical College, Dapchi. I am calling on government and people of goodwill to get me out of this problem. I am begging you to treat me with compassion, I am calling on the government, particularly, the president, to pity me and get me out of this serious situation.
The Nigerian government paid no heed to Sharibu's heart-rending appeal.
Nothing happened.
On the one-year anniversary of Leah Sharibu’s captivity – February 11, 2019 – her mother, Rebecca Sharibu, broke down in tears pleading for her daughter's release.
Screenshot from this YouTube video in which Leah’s mother, Rebecca Sharibu, calls for her daughter's release in tears.
Rebecca Sharibu, speaking in Hausa, said, according to a transcript from the Nigerian Guardian newspapers:
I am the mother of Leah and I am here begging the government not to forget my daughter. I want the government not to forget the promise made to us that my daughter would be set free. The president called me and we spoke on phone. He assured me that Leah would come back and that the government was working hard on it. He also sent three ministers who came and assured me that my daughter would return. After that, it was silence because we haven’t seen Leah. By next week, my daughter would have spent a year in captivity. That is why I am begging the president … not to forget the promises made to me by ensuring that my daughter is freed.
And again, there was silence — until the video by Grace Taku, the aid worker, broke online.
“And don't fear those who kill the body but can't kill the soul” – Matthew 10:28
No matter what, Leah Sharibu’s soul remains intact & spotless: (more alive than the dead souls of the evil hypocrites who failed her).
Say a prayer for brave Leah Sharibu wherever she may be ?
— Chimeka Garricks (@MrGarricks) July 25, 2019
The Nigerian government said that negotiations for the release of all those in Boko Haram captivity were still in progress.

author: Nwachukwu Egbunike


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Poland’s artistic and architectural contributions remembered in 2019 commemoration of the 1963 Skopje earthquake · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

Monument to the victims of the 1963 earthquake in Skopje. Photo by GV, CC BY.
Every July 26, citizens of Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia, remember the earthquake that shook the city in 1963, and express gratitude for the international action that helped rebuild the city. The 6.1-magnitude earthquake reduced much of the city to rubble, killing 1,100 people, leaving over 200,000 homeless and thousands suffering from serious injuries. At the time, Skopje was the capital of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia, a constituent state within federative Yugoslavia.
A massive humanitarian effort to help the survivors and rebuild the city mobilized all the republics of the Yugoslav federation as well as the international community, which at the time was otherwise divided due to the Cold War. US President John F. Kennedy personally intervened to cut through the red tape and expedite US humanitarian aid, while USSR PM Nikita hrushchev visited the ruined city with Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito. Within days of the disaster, American and Soviet soldiers flew in to work side by side to provide humanitarian aid.
Architects, engineers, and construction workers from across the world worked under auspices of UN to rebuild the city into a model modernist metropolis. As a result, Skopje was nicknamed ‘the city of international solidarity.’ The UN's plan for the city was only partially implemented, but many of the brutalist-style buildings from the era remain today, and many streets still carry the names of the countries, cities or individuals who helped, including Algiers, Mexico and Prague.
This year's commemoration of the earthquake is enhanced by an exhibition in Krakow, Poland that displays the artworks donated by Polish artists at the time as part of the relief effort.
Poland was a major contributor to the disaster recovery efforts, harnessing the experience gained through the reconstruction of cities like Warsaw which were devastated during World War II. Top Polish architects helped build the iconic Museum of Modern Art, and there's still a street bearing the name of architect Adolf Ciborowski.
After Ambassador Jacek Multanowski arrived in Skopje in 2014 as Poland's highest diplomatic representative, he and his wife Kinga Nettmann-Multanowska researched the Polish legacy and discovered, at Skopje's Museum of Modern Art, a unique collection of 20th-century Polish art donated by the artists after the earthquake as a gesture of solidarity. This ‘time capsule’ had been virtually forgotten in Poland. Over time, the couple uncovered many other cultural links, leading to further public discourse through exhibitions and  publishing of books and other works. Some of that work is documented in the short film “Skopje. The Art of Solidarity.”
In an email to Global Voices, Mrs. Kinga Nettmann-Multanowska and Ambassador Jacek Multanowski explained the drive behind their efforts that have connected countries and time periods:
Kinga Nettmann-Multanowska and Jacek Multanowski during his tenure as Polish ambassador to Macedonia. Courtesy photo, used with permission.
Skopje must look familiar to people who have lived or spent some time in Warsaw. Destroyed and rebuilt. The same mix of styles, a similar urban space. And, on top of that, scattered around the two cities are the “islands” of modernist architecture, which we, Poles, began to rediscover just a few years ago. Post-war architecture (after 1945) has become a fashionable topic in Poland – redefined, mainly by young people. Today, some of these buildings, until recently abandoned and neglected, are considered examples of functionality and elegance. They are receiving a second life, and with that comes their new function: cafes, galleries, centers of culture and urban activity.
The 1963 earthquake that destroyed Skopje moved the whole world, including Poles, whose great engagement should not be surprising. Only 18 years before WWII had ended, leaving Warsaw totally destroyed. The rebuilding of the Polish capital started immediately, with great devotion and enthusiasm.
We are too young to remember the emotions accompanying the gestures of solidarity shown by Poles in Skopje, but we met people who told us about it. In their memories Skopje, the city that attracted professionals from all around the world, was cosmopolitan, open and modern. And it was in that spirit that the city was created anew after the earthquake.
We, thanks to our Warsaw experience, have been able to find this spirit in today's Skopje. The Polish heroes of the reconstruction: Adolf Ciborowski (Manager of the UN Skopje Urban Plan Project), “Tigers” (a team of Warsaw-based architects: Wacław Kłyszewski, Jerzy Mokrzyński, and Eugeniusz Wierzbicki; designers of Skopje’s Museum of Contemporary Art), Stanisław “Agaton” Jankowski (head of the “Polservice” team elaborating the Skopje urban plan), alongside numerous artists who donated their works to the city in a gesture of solidarity, are no longer alive. But it was they and the others who gave Skopje its identity – “the city of solidarity”, which is and should be its authentic and natural “brand”.
Ambassador Multanowski's posting to Skopje ended in 2018, but the family has continued to educate the public about this remarkable connection. As a result, the International Cultural Centre in Krakow is currently hosting an exhibition titled Skopje: City, Architecture and Art of Solidarity, presenting the forgotten heritage directly to the Polish citizens in their ancient capital. The multimedia display is open between 7 July and 20 October 2019, featuring 70 works of painting, sculpture, drawing, and printmaking. The unique value of the exhibition lies in its large selection of photographs, documentary films, architectonic models and urban plans.
Part of the exibition Skopje: City, Architecture and Art of Solidarity. Photo by International Cultural Centre in Krakow, via Meta.mk.
Skopje was one of the key cities featured in the New York Museum of Modern Art's 2018 show Towards Concrete Utopia, an exhibition that investigated a” unique variety of architecture in Yugoslavia in the period 1948–1980 and its specific yet multidimensional character.” Several buildings and models displayed in the New York show are part of the Krakow exhibition.
Between 2006 and 2017 the right-wing populist government of the VMRO-DPMNE party, led by current fugitive from the law Nikola Gruevski, tried to re-brand Skopje by imposing so-called baroque as the city's signature style, in keeping with  their particular brand of narrow nationalism and perceptions of what a European capital should look like.
Gruevski's regime minimized the cosmopolitan character of the city, instead turning it into the ‘capital of kitsch”, as it was called in various international publications, under the aegis of a rebuilding project named Skopje 2014. Even a monument to the earthquake victims that stood in a park in next to the city museum was relocated to a the periphery of the city center to make room for ‘baroque’ buildings that the then prime minister claimed would ‘beautify’ the area.
Restoring Skopje's legacy as international city open to the world would become a rallying point for the pro-democracy resistance movement. Activists organized protests to save landmark buildings like the City Shopping Center from the government's plan to retrofit them with ‘baroque’ facades. It became an annual tradition within the wider Macedonian online sphere to mark the anniversary of the earthquake and reconstruction period by sharing photos and information using the hashtag “Skopje remembers” (#СкопјеСеСеќава).
Skopje remembers the earthquake | 26.07.1963 – 05:17 am#СкопјеСеСеќава pic.twitter.com/JvCdm2r5B3 pic.twitter.com/KzqhYG9qNg
— Vasilka Dimitrovska (@Arheoblog) July 26, 2018

author: Filip Stojanovski


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Video of the military using violent methods divides public opinion and highlights gravity of the attacks in northern Mozambique · Global Voices
Alexandre Nhampossa

Homes destroyed by fire during the attacks. Photo: Borges Nhamire, 2018. Used with permission.
A video being shared on social media (WARNING: graphic imagery) shows men dressed in the uniform of the Armed Defence Forces of Mozambique (FADM) torturing and humiliating a presumed civilian. This incident takes place in the context of the fight against attackers who have been terrorizing the northern Cabo Delgado province since October 2017.
The video shows the men beating a victim apparently for not having given a satisfactory answer when questioned about what he was doing in the vicinity of the military position. One of the uniformed men even suggests that the victim be shot, while another looks for water, possibly for the torture practice known as waterboarding.
The Mozambican newspaper CanalMoz wrote on Facebook that the video was recorded by one of the soldiers during a patrol against the extremist attackers and that this is in fact their modus operandi:
Cidadãos são torturados sem que ninguém lhes defenda, numa cruzada de brutalidade sem paralelo.
Citizens are tortured without anybody defending them, in a campaign of unparalleled brutality
Scenes like these are repeated daily, according to Omardine Omar, a journalist with Carta de Moçambique, who has criticized the kidnapping of traders in the areas hit by attacks, allegedly because they are thought to be supplying the attackers.
In late 2018, Human Rights Watch reported arbitrary arrests, ill-treatment and summary executions of dozens of individuals suspected of belonging to armed groups.
Online reactions have varied, with one side condemning the military’s aggressive methods, while another backs it, arguing that the attackers have also been barbaric and have been been responsible for the deaths of more than 200 people, the majority them civilians, as well as burned homes, ambushed vehicles, and looted public and private property.
Recently, the Mozambican president, Filipe Nyusi, called the attacks acts of terrorism and promised the military would continue the combat on the ground and would not rest until peace is restored.
Meanwhile, in their messaging the Mozambican Minister of National Defence, Atanásio Ntumuke, and the police have been conveying the impression that the situation is under control. This, though, is contradicted by local reports. Journalists trying to cover the conflict are being intimidated and arrested by government forces, as reported by Human Rights Watch.
In a letter written in the context of Pope Francis’ visit to Mozambique, the Bishop of Cabo Delgado Diocese, Dom Luiz Fernando Lisboa, questioned the effectiveness of the government's policies in combatting the terrorist group, as well as the reasons for the secrecy around the subject:
A imprensa fala do encontro de autoridades com jornalistas, como um encontro de intimidação e ameaça. Fala-se de agentes que estão infiltrados entre a população para não deixar passar nenhuma informação. O que pretendem as autoridades civis e militares, criando este clima de secretismo e silêncio? Qual é o segredo que não querem revelar nem que seja revelado? Porque não se deixam ajudar nas investigações por jornalistas corajosos, sérios e responsáveis?
The press speaks of the interaction of authorities with journalists as an interaction of intimidation and threats. There is talk of agents infiltrating the population in order to prevent information from passing through. What do the civil and military authorities intend by creating this climate of secrecy and silence? What is the secret they do not want to reveal, or to be revealed? Why don’t they let themselves be aided in their investigations by courageous, serious and responsible journalists?
As part of their efforts to combat the attacks, government forces have arrested various national and foreign citizens suspected of belonging to the extremist group. The Cabo Delgado Provincial Court sentenced 37 people in April and 23 more in June. Now, 26 accused are facing trial pending the conclusion of the public prosecution's investigation of three more cases.
The charges laid describe the crimes as being motivated by the group’s aim of destabilization and preventing people from availing themselves of the national education and health services. The public prosecutor's accusation as cited in the Jornal Savannah newspaper, says that the attackers intended to create an independent state, politically aligned with radical Islamism, which would annex districts of the province’s northern region and southern parts of Tanzania.
Meanwhile, Mozambique’s Muslim community is distancing itself from the attacks claiming the label of Islam. President Nyusi described the attackers are men who afraid to show their faces, and who are trying, through their messaging, to confuse public opinion so as to pass themselves off as defenders of Islam.
Cabo Delgado province borders Tanzania and shares the same local language — Swahili. In an attack on the night of 26 June, at least 11 people died, two Mozambicans and nine Tanzanians. The situation prompted the two countries’ security forces to agree to conduct joint operations in the border area to deal with the attacks.
An interactive map tracking ISIS activities marked the extreme north of Mozambique as another point of conflict after the jihadist organization claimed responsibility for at least two attacks.
However, the alleged presence of ISIS in Mozambique has been questioned. The consultancy Risk Advisory, which follows the group's attacks, considered the claim on the first attack to be “misleading”, as their presence in the country is not proven. The Mozambican police also denied the claim’s veracity.
In the second case, the security specialist of Zitamar News, Samuel Ratner, noted a discrepancy between the reported attack and the claim made by ISIS.
The discrepancies between the actual attack and ISIS's claims are instructive: the attacks seem to be conceived according to the CD insurgents’ strategy but claimed according to ISIS's strategy. Co-option without coordination. https://t.co/Dy4FFRpTfB
— Sam Ratner (@samratner) 6 juillet 2019
Cabo Delgado province is rich in timber forests, graphite, rubies and gold. Attacks have taken place near one of the world‘s largest natural gas reserves, located in the deep waters of the Rovuma basin, which straddles the northern border of Mozambique with Tanzania.
Several large oil companies, notably the Italian ENI and Anadarko and ExxonMobil from the US, are preparing to extract natural gas, which is predicted to spark sharp economic growth.
Mozambique’s National Petroleum Institute admits it is concerned about the violence, saying that the situation should be controlled “as soon as possible” to facilitate the projects’ development. Meanwhile, media have revealed that the multinationals have hired security companies with reconnaissance, information gathering, and combat capabilities in order to protect their business interests.
It is not clear whether this was done in partnership with the Mozambican government, but President Nyusi has confirmed the use of “extraordinary measures” by multinationals to deal with the attacks.
During his recent visit to Mozambique, the United Nations Secretary General António Guterres assured the government of the UN Counter-Terrorism Unit's availability to help the country combat the armed groups.
In mid-July this year, security ministers of the member states of the Southern African Development Community, including Mozambique, approved its policy and action plan to combat terrorism:
The meeting deliberated on the alarming threats posed by terrorism and transnational cross border crime, and approved the SADC Regional Counter Terrorism Strategy and its Action Plan, and Member States were urged to implement the Terrorism Strategy and Plan, and to continue devising preventive interventions against, radicalisation, terrorism and transnational organised crime.

author: Alexandre Nhampossa


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Haitian president proposes 4th prime minister as public trust plummets · Global Voices
Joseph W. Alliance

A screenshot of Haitian president Jovenel Moïse after he was confirmed the winner of the presidential election in 2017. Video uploaded by Africa News and published on January 4, 2017.
Haitian president Jovenel Moïse is looking for a new prime minister again. This will be his fourth during his two years in office.
The day after a July 21, 2019 meeting at his private residence with the president of Haiti's Senate and the president of the Lower Chamber, Moïse nominated Fritz William Michel, a civil servant with the Finance Ministry, as the new prime minister:
Les Présidents des deux branches du parlement rencontrent le Chef de l’Etat @moisejovenel, ce soir, autour du choix d’un nouveau PM et de la formation d’un gouvernement d’exception capables de répondre aux préoccupations de l’heure.#Haiti
— Gary Bodeau (@garybodeau) July 21, 2019
The presidents of the two branches of parliament meet the Head of State @moisejovenel, tonight, about the choice of a new PM and the formation of an exceptional government able to answer the concerns of the hour. #Haiti
Pour faire face aux urgences de l’heure,et suite à la démission de M. Lapin, j’ai fait choix,en consultation avec les présidents du Sénat et de la Chambre des Députés,du citoyen Fritz William Michel comme PM, en attendant la ratification de sa Déclaration de politique générale.
— Président Jovenel Moïse (@moisejovenel) July 22, 2019
To cope with the urgencies of the day, and following the resignation of Mr. Lapin, I chose, in consultation with the Presidents of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, the citizen Fritz William Michel as PM, while waiting ratification of his policy statement.
Nomination du 4ème Premier Ministre de Jovenel Moïse!
Fritz William MICHEL! pic.twitter.com/qQY1JEDsPx
— Jean-Junior JOSEPH (@jeanjuniorj) July 22, 2019
Appointment of the 4th Prime Minister of Jovenel Moïse!
Fritz William MICHEL!
Michel will replace Jean Michel Lapin who, since his nomination in April, has never got the opportunity to present his general policy or get it ratified by Haiti's parliament. Because of several boycotts of the ratification sessions by a group of four senators, Lapin was unable to demonstrate that he had a good grasp of the country's socio-economic reality, security challenges or gang violence issues.
Moïse has had a hard time keeping his prime ministers. His first, Jacques Guy Lafontant, was sacrificed a year ago in July 2018, after a series of violent protests began over an ever-deepening socio-economic crisis that tested the Moïse administration.
President Moïse then brought Jean-Henry Céant on board, who only lasted about six months as prime minister. Céant had announced measures to tackle the crisis, especially after the intense February protests, but before the country could feel the slightest impact of his measures, his uneasy cohabitation with the president, rooted to divergence on key political issues, led to the sudden revocation of his position in March 2019.
Now, Moïse is obliged to let go of Lapin, whom he initially believed could be a better collaborator than Céant. The question of whether Moïse's next candidate is more fit to face the current challenges — and has more of a chance to be ratified by parliament — is already a question many citizens are asking:
I’m told that #Haiti president Jovenel Moise wants former finance ministry employee Fritz William Michel to lead the country’s next government. Will he be able to get the votes in parliament? And will new government be same faces or new?
— Jacqueline Charles (@Jacquiecharles) July 22, 2019
Lapin confirmed that he submitted his resignation:
Le Premier ministre Jean Michel Lapin a confirmé au Nouvelliste en milieu de journée avoir remis sa démission au président Jovenel Moïse, le lundi 22 juillet 2019. « « J’ai fait un choix pour Haïti », a dit Lapin au journal. Cette démission ouvre la voie au choix d'un nouveau PM
— Frantz Duval (@Frantzduval) July 22, 2019
Prime Minister Jean Michel Lapin confirmed to La Nouvelliste mid-day to having resigned to President Jovenel Moïse, Monday, July 22, 2019. “I made a choice for Haiti,” said Lapin to the newspaper. This resignation paves the way for choosing a new PM
Dommage que Jovenel Moise ne peut pas faire « un choix pour Haïti » en donnant sa démission également https://t.co/C75sAgpDXT
— Monique Clesca (@moniclesca) July 22, 2019
Too bad that Jovenel Moise cannot make “a choice for Haiti” by giving his resignation too
The newly nominated prime minister has already submitted his documents to the Lower Chamber as he awaits the opportunity to present his general policy. In fact, he has already formed a gender-balanced ministerial cabinet, but has, in the past, sparked serious controversy regarding poorly worded tweets that allegedly attacked members of the opposition and influential media personalities and lauded far right or conservative leaders such as US President Donald Trump, French politician Marine Le Pen and former Haitian president Michel Martelly.
Michel has rejected those allegations, but, his ability to get votes in the parliament aside, the Twitter controversy has already weakened his image and undermined his chances to be able to function in the prime ministerial role.
While Moïse puts this new government in place, the nation's trust in his leadership continues to spiral downward. His administration weathered significant protests in June 2019, after the release of a second report from Haiti's High Court on PetroCaribe, which provided further details on the president's involvement in the corruption surrounding this regional energy programme spearheaded by Venezuela.
Haitians were also incensed over a July 12 op-ed that Moïse published in the Miami Herald, talking about the challenges of his administration. Some netizens felt Moïse addressed an international audience to polish Haiti's image rather than directly address Haitian citizens’ concerns.
In the same vein, citizens questioned Moïse's priorities when he hired a new lobbyist from Washington, DC, while the country's socio-economic crisis continues to deteriorate and the government is unable to pay its civil servants and diplomats:
Shame on the #Haiti government that hires a lobbying firm rather than pay its employees, feed its children, give health services to its population, provide justice to its citizens and ignores its population cries for accountability, yes SHAME Minister @BocchitEdmond https://t.co/8pexQcre1G
— Monique Clesca (@moniclesca) July 18, 2019
18,6% c’est le chiffre pour l’inflation de Juin 2019. La hausse des prix continue dans l’économie haïtienne. Le pays n’a pas connu une inflation annuelle aussi élevée depuis la période des Emeutes de la Faim de 2008. Les autorités perdent le contrôle. Il y a raison de s’inquiéter
— Etzer Emile (@etzeremile) July 19, 2019
18.6% is the figure for inflation in June 2019. The rise in prices continues in the Haitian economy. The country has not experienced such a high annual inflation since the 2008 Hunger Riot period. The authorities are losing control. There is reason to worry.
Challenged at home, Moïse seems to put more faith in international institutions. In June, feeling the heat from #PetroChallenger street protests, Moïse invited a mission from the Organization of American States (OAS) to calm the crisis. When citizens realized that the OAS did not mandate the mission, the invite was seen as an embarrassment. But Moïse boasted that Haiti is working with the OAS to create an independent group of international experts to do an audit of PetroCaribe, which some see as a blatant disregard of the Cour des Comptes report and Haitian institutions in general.
Moïse has promised a more open government that would include members of the opposition. Vocal sectors in the opposition and other groups such as the PetroChallengers, however, see Moïse's departure as the only way to resolve the crisis and move the country forward.

author: Joseph W. Alliance


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Thai folk singer and activist Tom Dundee released after five years in prison for insulting monarchy · Global Voices
Prachatai

Tom Dundee released a music video after his release from prison. Source: YouTube
This edited article is from Prachatai, an independent news site in Thailand, and is republished on Global Voices as part of a content-sharing agreement. It is about a popular singer-activist who was imprisoned for Lese Majeste or anti-royal insult law. Thailand enforces a strict Lese Majeste law which the military government used as one of its legal tools to persecute critics after it grabbed power in 2014.
Tom Dundee, or Thanat Thanavacharanon, was released from Bangkok Remand Prison at dawn on 17 July 2019. The singer had served 5 years for lèse majesté.
After the military coup in May 2014, Tom Dundee was arrested on 9 July 2014 for not reporting to the NCPO [National Council for Peace and Order – name of the military-backed government]. He was sentenced to 10 years and 10 months in jail on two charges under Article 112 of the Criminal code, the lèse majesté law.
He received a royal pardon on the occasion of the coronation of King Vajiralongkorn, with his sentence reduced to 5 years.
Four cases had originally been filed against him under Article 112, but two cases were dismissed. The dismissal was unusual because he had confessed. The court reasoned that since he was not found guilty, his confession was invalid.
Two cases for which he was imprisoned were based on two speeches he gave on a red-shirt protest stage which were posted on YouTube between 2013-2014, but the cases went through different procedures. One was prosecuted in a civilian court, while the other went to a military court under an NCPO Order that crimes relating to national security which occurred after the coup must be heard by a military court. The difference was quite arbitrary as the dates of the crimes were based on when the authorities became aware of them.
The first case was based on a speech he gave on 6 November 2013, and posted online the same day. The authorities claimed to have found the video clip on 22 June 2014, a month after the coup, so the case went before a military court. The second case was based on a speech given on 13 November 2013 and posted online the same day. This was discovered by the authorities on 26 April 2014, so the case went before a civilian court.
The NCPO Order on national security cases was cancelled once the cabinet was sworn in on 16 July 2019.
Born in a poor family, Tom Dundee made his way to study in France for 6 years, and came back to Thailand as a popular artist. He joined the red-shirt movement in 2010 when many protesters were killed. The political violence drove him to give speeches in different provinces until he was imprisoned for violating the lèse majesté law.
In an interview last year, he said he had composed more than 3,000 songs in prison to kill time, sometimes composing 4-5 songs a day based on his experiences in prison and the stories which other prisoners told him. He wrote the songs in letters and sent them out, but they were intercepted by the prison’s screening process. So far, we have been unable to reach anyone to learn what happened to them.
After his release, Tom Dundee said he was thankful for the support and democracy needs everyone to fight for it.
Thanks to the media, thanks to the prison, thanks to all the people involved and friends who came to encourage me and made the effort to get up early. Thanks to everything in the past, thanks to the obstacles, problems, and thanks to suffering, because I believe that happiness comes from suffering. If there is no suffering, you cannot find happiness. Thanks to everybody who has fought alongside me.
If a beach has only one grain of sand, it cannot be called a beach, because a beach must be full of grains of sand. Democracy must be created from the people, mustn’t it? Democracy cannot come from only one person. All the people in the country must be democrats. Just as beach must have many grains of sand, democracy, too, needs the people.
Tom Dundee sang on his release until he cried so much he could not sing.
I am many years in prison. Oh my dear, my heart almost breaks. I miss my little baby I used to hug. I miss its mother so much.

author: Prachatai


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A brief history of Taiwan’s indigenous Seediq tribe · Global Voices
Abhinash

A traditional Seediq House. Image by Kaisanan Ahuan. Used with permission.
Human history is full of examples of the struggles between indigenous peoples and colonial powers. The Seediq tribe, one of the aboriginal tribes of Taiwan, has a similar history of fighting for their rights against the Japanese colonial power that occupied the island from 1895 to 1945.
Today the Seediq tribe population is limited to only 8994 and their language is classified as a critically endangered language.
The term “Seediq” refers to both the people and their language. The Seediq language is a part of the Austronesian language family and it is made up of three major dialects: “Truku”, “Toda” and “Tgdaya”. The Truku dialect is also shared by the Truku (or Taroko) tribes.
Betcha didn't know Taiwan has many indigenous tribes. Here is one, the Seediq 賽德克族AboriginalTribeTaiwan.jpghttp://buff.ly/2mfk2qU pic.twitter.com/t1quoChoO5
— Celia Xavier (@IndieInFilms) March 7, 2017
Before the Japanese invasion of Taiwan in 1895, the Seediq people lived in the mountains of Wushe where they lived a life of independence and isolation from the outside world. The Seediq people were known for their unique facial tattoos and features.
A village in the Wushe mountains. Image by Kaisanan Ahuan. Used with permission.
The tribes maintained autonomous and self-governed lives without any outsider’s interruption; however, this was disrupted when the Japanese invaded Taiwan. The relationship between the Japanese colonizers and the indigenous peoples of Taiwan was marked with conflict as many tribal communities resisted the island's occupation. One of the more significant confrontations is known as the Wushe incident (or Musha incident).
In 1930, the Seediq people, lead by Mona Rudao, decided to attack the Japanese during a sports event being held by the Japanese in the village of Wushe. On that day, the revolters broke into an unguarded weapon storage area and killed 134 people, including women and children. The response from the Japanese troops was fierce as they sent in troops to quell the uprising. The Seediq fought, and ultimately lost, the battle against the Japanese in December 1930; however, the resistance became a symbol of the fight for indigenous people's rights.
In an interview on YouTube, Takun Walis, a descendant of Seediq tribe, explains how his people took a stand in history:
The Wushe incident has also been immortalized in film. The film “ Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq-Bale” (Seediq Bale means “real Seediq or a real person”) directed by Wei Te-sheng, is based on the Wushe Incident. What makes this film especially unique is that the actors speak the Seediq language. The film gained popularity in the Seediq community and was eventually nominated for a Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 2012.
Wall painting in Wushe incident memorial park, Nantou. Image by Kaisanan Ahuan. Used with permission.
In the last seven decades, ever since the Kuomintang arrived in Taiwan in the late 1940s, the Seediq tribe people were classified wrongly as a subgroup of the Atayal people to make it easier to administer them. In April 2008, the Seediq tribe finally received official recognition as Taiwan’s 14th indigenous group.
Wall paintings depicting the Seediq tribe. Image by Kaisanan Ahuan. Used with permission.
In the last few years, the Seediq tribe has been making a comeback as members of the community have been attempting to revitalize ancestral customs and bring Seediq art to the wider public.
However, the Seediq people and their language still face challenges as many Taiwanese indigenous people are forced to learn Mandarin and English for better socio-economic and educational opportunities.
At this point, digital documentation of the language which includes audio and visual resources is needed to keep it alive for the next generation. One notable work about the Seediq tribe includes Apay Ai Yu Tang’s research paper “From Diagnosis To Remedial Plan: A Psycholinguistic Assessment of Language Shift, Proficiency, And Language Planning In Truku Seediq”. The paper suggests ways to sustain the language. Some of the other existing documentation includes Truku Hymnbook (1994), Chang (2000), Truku concise dictionary (2006), etc. The University of Hawai’i Linguistics Department and the Linguistic Society of Hawai’s The Language Documentation Training Center has made some efforts to the documentation process of the language. However much more needs to be done to preserve the Seediq language.

author: Abhinash


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Lack of diverse media ownership leads to censorship in Pakistan says new report · Global Voices
Waleed Tariq

A spectrum of the findings of the collaborative research study, the Media Ownership Monitor (MOM) Pakistan . Screenshot from the MOM Website.
Aided by lax legal restrictions, Pakistan is a “high-risk country” in terms of media pluralism as more than half of mass media ownership is concentrated in the hands of a few — a model which has resulted in closure of businesses, a fall in journalism standards and rise in censorship, says a new research study.
These findings, coupled with the ruling party's increasingly hostile attitude towards journalists that are critical of government institutions, have led to the deterioration of the country's once-vibrant media environment and paved the way for continued threats to press freedom.
The research study by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and Freedom Network looked at a number of factors when assessing risks to Pakistan's media pluralism, including media audience concentration, cross-media ownership concentration, regulatory safeguards, political control over media outlets and net neutrality.
#Pakistan #media media ownership concentrated in a few hands, aided by lax legal restrictions on cross-media ownership. Top 4 news #television channels in Pakistan (Geo News 24%, ARY News 12%, PTV News 11% and Samaa TV 7%) at the end of 2018 was 68.3%. https://t.co/C9vLkM8MWw
— Riaz Haq (@haqsmusings) July 19, 2019
The report found that the top four television channels, radio stations, newspapers and news websites had over 50 percent of the country’s entire audience share.
In addition, unbridled “cross-media ownership concentration“, which measures concentration across media sectors, has allowed more than 68 percent of market control to stay in the hands of eight media organizations. These organizations (Jang, Express, Dunya, Nawa-i-Waqat, Samaa, Dawn, Dunya, ARY) — and the government — have a significant presence in more than one media sector.
Audience share of top 10 print newspapers in Pakistan. Screenshot from the MOM website. CC BY-SA
According to the report, the current legal framework does not prevent cross-media ownership and the country's regulatory bodies are accused of failing to ensure a “level playing field” and “fair competition” in the market.
The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA), which is responsible for regulating radio, television, and distribution services of electronic media in the country, is often accused of being more of a media content regulator than a media industry regulator. According to the report:
…instead of regulating the industry, the regulators have traditionally concentrated on content monitoring and censoring media on the behest of state institutions and governments”.
In addition, PEMRA only has regulatory control over private-sector media and its ordinance excludes existing and future operations of any government-controlled media. This infrastructure has helped to create an environment where the government has the power to exercise control over the media without many checks.
According to the report, the state influences the functioning of the media market by “discrimination” in the distribution of state advertisements. The state has long remained one of the most important sources of funding for the country’s private broadcast and print media. It generally distributes advertisement on the basis of audience share; however, violations have often been reported with ad volumes being reduced for certain media houses “as a tool of punishment”.
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has shown “hostility in its dealings with all media” and slashed its ad spending, forcing the media to lay off nearly 2,000 staffers; some newspapers and TV channels were also shut down.
According to a  report on Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN), the government has revoked advertising for Dawn newspaper, as well as for its TV channel, DawnNews. The independent Dawn Media Group is facing immense pressure due to its editorials and reports that are critical of the government.
This business model — where ownership is concentrated in the hands of a sole investor or a single family — has not only led to the closure of business and fall in the quality of journalism, but it has also given rise to censorship. The Dawn news outlet commented on the media crisis in Pakistan:
Failing financials have forced the media owners and managements to cave into rising pressure from the state machinery, including not just the political government but also the security establishment, both of which are losing their appetites for criticism of their policies by a freewheeling media.
Recently, government authorities have been accused of more actively stifling opposition voices — from disrupting the transmission and distribution of news channels and independent newspapers, to an unofficial ban on reporting on so-called “sensitive” subjects like the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement. Interviews with top leaders like former president Asif Zardari and Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) vice president Maryam Nawaz have been pulled off air, and networks are being penalized for giving them “unedited” coverage.
The same day Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is on a visit to the United States, addressed the Pakistani community at the Capital One Arena in Washington, the PML-N opposition leader was holding a rally in Faisalabad, Punjab. The opposition event, which was also attended by thousands of party supporters, was not given the same coverage.
#Pakistan media covered #PMIKJalsaInUSA from thousands miles afar but ignored #MaryamNawazInFaisalabad at home! Her coverage has disappeared from airways just like #PTM’s. Welcome to Naya Pakistan where there opposition doesn’t have the right to speak! https://t.co/YyHoAdMMY0
— Bashir Ahmad Gwakh (@bashirgwakh) July 22, 2019
Senior journalists Umar Cheema and Azaz Syed were recently “forced” to deactivate their Twitter accounts for three days as their “hard-hitting tweets did not go down well with the authorities”.
Geo News, which has been repeatedly blocked from broadcasting in recent years, was forced off the air or, in many parts of the country, had its channel number suddenly changed:
In the middle of their coverage of the provincial elections in the former Fata, Geo News has suddenly disappeared from my cable and has been replaced by Such TV. Anyone else experiencing the same black-out?
— Talat Aslam (@titojourno) July 20, 2019
Earlier this month, privately owned news channels Capital TV, 24 News, and Abtak News were also blocked. This move came a day after they aired Maryam’s Nawaz's press conference, in which she leveled accusations that an accountability judge was blackmailed by the military establishment into sentencing her incarcerated father and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
So far, Prime Minister Khan has dismissed the ongoing censorship accusations as a “joke”.
Access the full report here.

author: Waleed Tariq


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Threatened with demolition, Albania’s National Theatre continues to resist despite a police raid · Global Voices
Alida Karakushi

Protesters in Tirana holding a sign with the hashtag #mbroteatrin meaning “Protect the theatre.” Photo courtesy of Rudi Erebara, used with permission.
In Tirana, an ongoing protest against the planned demolition of the National Theatre reveals deep social and political divisions affecting Albanian society that still struggles with issues of corruption and police violence nearly 30 years after the fall of Communism.
Dozens, and sometimes hundreds of activists and artists have kept organizing protests since March 2018 around the main building of the National Theatre in downtown Tirana. The demonstrators, who gather on a daily basis in the evening, have turned the square in front of the theatre into a space for public debate. Indeed the discussions and signs displayed on banners are not limited to opposing the government's decision to demolish the building, but extend to questions of growing autocracy, the lack of rule of law, and the loss of independence of a number of state institutions that explain a massive migration of Albanians outside of their country. In a context of social apathy, media capture by the state and oligarchs, the square in front of the theatre has become a symbol of freedom of speech.
The protest turned into a permanent demonstration on July 18 as two leading figures of the theatre, director Robert Budina and famous actor Neritan Licaj were informed by colleagues of the Administration of National Theatres that a final order had been given by the government to remove all assets from inside the building with the help of police forces encircling the theatre. While there was uncertainty about the validity of this information, Budina decided not to take any risks and requested the Alliance for the Protection of the Theatre, a group of activists and volunteer supporters, to organize 24/7 teams of 40 to 50 activists patrolling around the building to prevent police entering the theatre.
On July 24 around 7 AM, Albanian police forces did eventually show up in a group of 30 to 40 members. They were supported by 10 security guards belonging to a private company, according to activists who witnessed the event. Following the police intervention that led to the removal of assets inside the building, activists later entered the theatre which as they describe, looks now as if “it had been ransacked by Talibans”.
Actor Neritan Liçaj in front of the police forces in square in front of the theatre. Courtesy of Elona Caslli, used with permission.
Edmond Budina, film director and actor with a 20 years experience in the theatre, was also pushed by the police and broke into tears, saying that “this building is not only spiritual, it has also witnessed history”.
Artist and activist Robert Budina manhandled by police at theatre's gate. Photo courtesy of the Alliance for the Protection of the Theatre, used with permission.
As the Alliance called citizens to join them in the protest, the police started encircling the building at around 3 PM on the same day. Hundreds of citizens gathered and confronted the police. Several members of the theatre, as well as supporters clashed with the police that responded with violence. One protester was taken to hospital for treatment.
Balkan Insight published a video documenting the clash:
Artists and activists remain inside the Albanian National Theatre tonight after storming past police and into the building today, fearing the govt’s plan to demolish it will soon come to fruition.
More protesters have gathered outside and are trying to push past police cordons. pic.twitter.com/dfWX3WyiPD
— Balkan Insight (@BalkanInsight) July 24, 2019
The situation escalated as several protesters remaining inside were prevented by the police that blocked the main entrance to receive food and water. By that time the authorities had cut electricity and water supply to the building. Eventually, some protesters managed to break the police chain and enter into the theatre.
In the evening hours, the police finally left the premise, perhaps because on the following day, a high-ranking official from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Thomas Greminger, was paying visit to the government that wanted to give an impression of stability.
On July 24, the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama tweeted this about the protest:
Teatrin e ri Kombëtar e kërkon kryeqyteti, vendi, kombi e shumica e komunitetit të artistëve të skenës.Njësoj si Stadiumi i Ri kombëtar ai do të jetë një gur kilometrik në rrugën e Shqipërisë që duam.Kush s’është dakord është i respektuar,po s’ka as mandat as të drejtë të pengojë
— Edi Rama (@ediramaal) July 24, 2019
“The new National Theatre is demanded by the capital, the country, the nation, and most of all the community of scene artists. As the new National Stadium, it will be a milestone in the path of Albania we want. Those who disagree are respected, yes they do not have the mandate nor the right to obstruct that path””
Erion Veliaj, the mayor of Tirana, mocked in a tweet his predecessor Lulzim Basha, who is the leader of the opposition, for joining the protest:
Lajm i mire qe pas kaq vitesh teater ne politike, LB shkon per here te pare ne Teater – dhe s'besoj tallashi i ngjan ndonje teatri ne Hollande, ku me i fundit eshte Theatre de Stoep!
Por si tek Lodrat, Pazari, Bulevardi e Sheshi, Tirana do fitoje serish!https://t.co/1jrmKuvXqA
— Erion Veliaj ?♂?⚽?? (@erionveliaj) July 24, 2019
Good news that after all these years of the theatre of politics, LB visits the theatre for the first time – I do not believe the ashes blocks are similar to any theatre in the Netherlands, where the last is Theatre de Stoep!
But just like [other projects] such as the playground of the lake park, the Boulevard and the main square, Tirana will win again!
On July 25, Basha met with the protesters and signed a public agreement with them promising to support the Alliance to prevent the demolition of the theatre by giving it the status of protected monument. This move created a controversy challenging the independence of the Alliance.
When members of the Alliance learned about Greminger's visit, they decided to address him publicly via social media.
We, the Alliance for the Protection of the Theatre, a group of artists and citizens which have come together to protect the National Theatre building in Tirana, kindly request, and would be deeply honored, to have a meeting with your delegation during your visit here. While to the outside public the issue of the National Theatre might seem a local one, we can guarantee you that it is in fact the singular most concrete embodiment of the Albanian political crisis.
Greminger responded via Facebook, saying that though he has not time, he is aware of the situation, and that in relation to the special law about the theatre, all parties must wait for the Supreme Court's ruling before proceeding further with this issue. He also tweeted his answer tagging the Alliance in Twitter. A few hours later however, both the comment on Facebook as well as the tweet he made were deleted. The next day, on 26 July, he made a new comment on Facebook moderating his previous comment, claiming his response was taken out of context:
I am concerned to see that my response to a public invitation has been taken out of context. My advice to all parties was and is to show restraint and to give institutional procedures the time needed to allow for a decision on a sensitive and politicized issue. I am convinced that Albanian institutions will be able to solve this legal dispute, in full accordance with the rule of law and democratic principles. The OSCE, and I personally, remain committed to supporting the reform process in Albania.
Kind regards,
Thomas Greminger
Despite various attempts of political appropriation, the Alliance for Protection of the Theatre continues its 24/7 protest. As images of the police violence have circulated over social media, the issue has regained visibility in spite of the lack of political TV shows during the summer vacation period, and the absence of citizens  who have chosen to go on vacation.
At the moment, the public debate has shifted towards this new agreement signed with the opposition, which uses it to make wider promises to other target groups. The situation is further complicated by the low support for the government, expressed with the low turnout of only about 22% (according to government sources) during the June 30 local elections. The opposition, which boycotted these elections, claims the turnout was even lower, while the final official results are still pending.
The issue of the theatre, including the apathy of the many Tirana residents who had not joined the protesters who hold 24/7 vigil–due to various reasons, including intimidation–therefore serves as microcosm reflecting the overall issue of peril for democracy in Albania.
Editor's note: The author of this post is an active member of the Alliance for the Protection of the Theatre.

author: Alida Karakushi