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Social Network Analysis Reveals Full Scale of Kremlin’s Twitter Bot Campaign · Global Voices
Lawrence Alexander

Profile pictures from a large network of pro-Kremlin Twitter accounts. Image by Lawrence Alexander.
With the aid of open-source tools, Internet researcher Lawrence Alexander gathered and visualised data on nearly 20,500 pro-Kremlin Twitter accounts, revealing the massive scale of information manipulation attempts on the RuNet. In what is the first part of a two-part analysis, he explains how he did it and what he found.
RuNet Echo has previously written about the efforts of the Russian “Troll Army” to inject the social networks and online media websites with pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Twitter is no exception, and multiple users have observed Twitter accounts tweeting similar statements during and around key breaking news and events. Increasingly active throughout Russia's interventions in Ukraine, these “bots” have been designed to look like real Twitter users, complete with avatars.
But the evidence in this two-part analysis points to their role in an extensive program of disinformation.
Alec Luhn, a US journalist reporting on Russian affairs, observed how mere hours after the shooting of Boris Nemtsov on February 27th, a group of Twitter accounts were already attempting to sway the narrative:
Bots spread stories about Nemtsov's death like “Ukrainians killed him…he was stealing one of their girlfriends” pic.twitter.com/CNtNvsTPYI
— Alec Luhn (@ASLuhn) February 28, 2015
Using the open-source NodeXL tool, I collected and imported a complete list of accounts tweeting that exact phrase into a spreadsheet. From that list, I also gathered and imported an extended community of Twitter users, comprised of the friends and followers of each account. It was going to be an interesting test: if the slurs against Nemtsov were just a minor case of rumour-spreading, they probably wouldn't be coming from more than a few dozen users.
But once the software had finished crunching data, the full scale of the network was revealed: a staggering 2,900 accounts. This figure is perhaps understandable: for a fake Twitter account to be credible, it needs plenty of followers—which in turn requires more supporting bots.
Then I used Gephi, another free data analysis tool, to visualize the data as an entity-relationship graph. The coloured circles—called Nodes—represent Twitter accounts, and the intersecting lines—known as Edges—refer to Follow/Follower connections between accounts. The accounts are grouped into colour-coded community clusters based on the Modularity algorithm, which detects tightly interconnected groups. The size of each node is based on the number of connections that account has with others in the network.
Extended network of 2,900 Twitter bots taken from Nemtsov thread sample. Image by Lawrence Alexander.
It is clear from how dense and close to each other the nodes are in the graph that this is a large and highly-connected network. Most of the bots follow many others, giving them each a high follower/followed count. On the periphery, there are a few rings of lesser-connected accounts, perhaps indicating that the “bot” network was still being “grown” at the time of its capture; you could think of it like a tree, with branches spreading outwards.
But there was one crucial question in this analysis: how was it possible to be sure that the network consisted chiefly of bots and not real humans?
NodeXL doesn't just gather information on who follows whom. It also acquires metadata—the publicly-available details of each Twitter account and its behavior. This shows that out of the 2,900-strong network, 87% of profiles had no timezone information and 92% no Twitter favorites. But in a randomized sample of 11,282 average Twitter users (based on accounts that had tweeted the word “and”) only 51% had no timezone and tellingly, only 15% had no favorites (both traits of what could be classified as “human” behavior).
For added comparison, an entity-relationship graph of the randomized Twitter user control network is shown below. In contrast with the bots visualisation, this network has several unconnected and isolated clusters: groups of Twitter users that aren't linked to each other—a perfectly normal occurrence in a random group of users.
Shared use of the word “and” results in unconnected, isolated clusters in a random Twitter user group. Image by Lawrence Alexander.
Having unearthed such a large-scale network from a single source, I decided to take the bot-hunting further. Searching Twitter for phrases such as “Kremlin bots”, “pro-Russian trolls” and “Putin sockpuppets,” I found several users sharing screenshots of alleged bot activity. Some also used the #Kremlinbots (#Кремлеботы) hashtag to report sightings.
Using the same method as with the anti-Nemtsov tweets, I gathered networks of accounts based around the use of some of the reported key phrases that revealed larger communities—or, in some cases, just a list of users shown in the screenshot. These were divided into groups labelled A, B, C and D. (I will elaborate on the reason for this grouping in part two of the analysis.)
@PressRuissa is a parody account (now suspended) spoofing a pro-Russian media, a mix of satire and commentary on disinformation and bias. One of its tweets was the starting source for the Group A network:
The Russian tweeters reveal that “Novaya Gazeta covers up their bots’ activity” in a surprising unison. (via @nokato) pic.twitter.com/DSwcIKWpDg
— Falcon News Intl. (@PressRuissa) March 13, 2015
Group B came from different sources of suspected bot accounts whose behavior seemed to match the previous samples. Some were identified by their tendency to change from Russian language to English with the single error message “RSS in offline mode”—presumably caused by a glitch in their control software.
RSS in offline mode
— Леонид Верхратский (@GCL2BUugsq4n5JL) April 1, 2015
For the remaining sources, a tweet by Devin Ackles, an analyst for think tank CASE Ukraine provided the basis for Group C.
Pro-Russian bots on the offensive following attack on #Mariupol pic.twitter.com/AiH95Dp1wb
— Devin Ackles (@DevinAckles) January 24, 2015
And lastly, Vitaliy Moroz of Internews Ukraine shared a screencap of bot accounts that formed the sample for Group D.
Russian bots have disseminated the message of war: “I think Great War will start!” #RussiainvadedUkraine #russia pic.twitter.com/kCVDioIAGH
— Vitaliy Moroz ENG (@vitaliymoroz) February 13, 2015
All four groups were merged into a single data set, resulting in a total of 17,590 Twitter accounts. As with those producing the anti-Nemtsov tweets, the metadata confirmed that the vast majority were indeed bots. 93% showed no location on their profile, 96% had no time zone information and 97% had no Twitter favorites saved.
Also, despite having produced an average of 2,830 tweets, the accounts almost never interacted with other Twitter users through @replies or @mentions.
The bots broadcast tweets, but don't interact. Image by Lawrence Alexander.
Intriguingly, many of the bots had been given western-sounding names such as barnardgrant, terancebarnaby, terencecoward and duncanstarks.
But an even more surprising result came when I visualized the bot groups’ follow relationships. Even though the samples had been taken from four separate sources, the combined network was found to be intensely interconnected.
All 17,590 accounts from all four sources. Note the tight interconnections and lack of isolated clusters. Image by Lawrence Alexander.
This sharply contrasts with the randomized control sample: the final dataset showed no isolated groups or outliers at all. This strongly supports the idea that the bots were created by a common agency—and the weight of evidence points firmly towards Moscow.
In my next post I will look at the timeline behind the creation of the bots, and see how it correlates with political events in Russia and Ukraine.

author: Lawrence Alexander


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Bahraini Human Rights Defender Nabeel Rajab Arrested Again for Tweets · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Nabeel Rajab. Photo by Conor McCabe via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Leading Bahraini human rights activist Nabeel Rajab was arrested at his home in Bani Jamra today April 2, 2015, allegedly over messages he sent on Twitter concerning the welfare of individuals incarcerated in Bahrain's Jaw Prison.
A tweet issued by the Ministry of Interior confirmed the arrest, saying:
القبض على نبيل رجب بعد نشره معلومات من شأنها الإضرار بالسلم الأهلي وإهانة هيئة نظامية بالمخالفة للقانون ، وجار استكمال الإجراءات القانونية .
— Ministry of Interior (@moi_bahrain) April 2, 2015
Nabeel Rajab has been arrested after publishing information that can harm civil harmony and for insulting a statutory body in violation of the law. Ongoing legal proceedings are continuing
On his Twitter account, Rajab told his 261K followers what was happening:
The special forces are all around my house and they want me to go out
— Nabeel Rajab (@NABEELRAJAB) April 2, 2015
A friend, who is managing his account, later tweeted:
Nabeel has been arrested. Over 20 police cars surrounded his home at 4PM Bahrain time. For tweeting abt torture in Jau Prison #Bahrain
— Nabeel Rajab (@NABEELRAJAB) April 2, 2015
He is now sent to the General Directorate of Anti Corruption Economic &Electronic Security. Same place he was interrogated in last October
— Nabeel Rajab (@NABEELRAJAB) April 2, 2015
In a video made in the moments before he was taken by police, Rajab says he was being arrested for tweets he wrote:
He says:
The issue is Twitter. This is the case once again. But the resistance (makes victory sign) will continue as well as the struggle for human rights. This is just another attempt to suppress the freedom of people in expressing their opinions. Frankly, I am saddened to see scores of those people (gesturing towards the forces that have come to arrest him) surrounding my house, not to arrest a criminal, but to arrest someone who is just expressing his opinion. This shows that the situation is regressing from bad to worse. What is certain is that the struggle for human rights and justice will continue in this country until all violations, and torture and crimes end. All those policeman and all those people will not stop my work or my resistance…
Netizens, among them Rajab, have been actively campaigning for the rights of Jaw prisoners for the past three weeks, following a series of violent altercations between guards and prisoners that have raised suspicions about prisoner abuse at Jaw.
According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), some prisoners have been prohibited from contacting their families since unrest broke out in the central prison on March 10. HRW reports:
An outbreak of violence on March 10 led the prison authorities to send the security forces into buildings 1, 3, 4, and 6 of the prison. The relatives of the four prisoners said that before March 10 they had received regular calls from the detained men and had been able to visit them.
Government-controlled newspapers have reported that the March 10 unrest was the result of violence by prisoners after an altercation between prison guards and three visitors on March 10. Local rights groups allege, however, that security forces used excessive force against prisoners, many of them held on politically motivated charges, and that poor prison conditions contributed to the unrest.
Writing on Huffington Post, Human Rights First's Brian Dooley shares some details of what may have happened at Jaw prison.
This is the latest in a series of legal actions against Rajab. On March 15, a Bahrain court postponed its verdict in an appeal made by Rajab against a six-month prison sentence until April 15. The case concerns comments he made about ISIS on Twitter. Rajab was initially convicted of “denigrating an official body” in tweets that likened Bahrain's security apparatus to an “incubator” for fighters of the radical group ISIS. The tweet for which he was convicted suggested that Bahrain's security institutions had a number of staff that had joined terrorist groups, including ISIS.
Rajab, who heads the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights — not recognised as a legal entity by the government — was only released from prison in May 2014 after serving two years for “disrupting public order.” That sentence came after Rajab was arrested for trying to investigate human rights violations that took place during Bahrain's popular uprising in 2011.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Bolivia to Host First International Community Radio and Free Software Conference · Global Voices
Lully

The first international conference on community radio and free software will be held in Cochabama, Bolivia from June 11-13, 2015. So far, the community radio stations from Spanish-speaking countries that have confirmed their assistance are: Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Uruguay, Venezuela, and of course, the host, Bolivia.
The preliminary agenda includes a forum discussing the advances taking place in Latin America regarding free software, telecommunication legislation, and a migration plan. There will also be workshops and simultaneous talks on free software tools such as Shamatari, Ardour, Audacity, and Creative Commons, amongst others.
Several websites, such as Radios Libres (Free Radio Stations) and Corresponsales del Pueblo (The People's Correspondents), have helped to spread the information found on the official site, liberaturadio.org, while others have stepped up to the task of getting communities to attend the event, such as the Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones de Venezuela, Conatel (National Commission of Telecommunications of Venezuela), which in addition underlines its support for these initiatives:
En Venezuela las emisoras de radio comunitarias también cuentan con apoyo para su independencia. En enero de 2015 fue lanzada otra aplicación libre ideal para medios comunitarios: Shatamari 15.01., que tiene 260 aplicaciones preinstaladas y configuradas para trabajar en medios digitales, audiovisuales, automatización de emisoras radiales y medios impresos.
Community radio station independence also receives support in Venezuela. Shatamari 15.01, another free application ideal for community media, was launched in January 2015, of which contains 260 configured, pre-installed applications made to work with digital, audiovisual, and print media along with the automatization of radio stations.
Twitter users also began to spread the word of the event to others as well as to motivate internet users and community radio stations to meet up at the conference.
Estaremos en 1º Encuentro Internacional de Radios Comunitarias y Software Libre @liberaturadio. ¿Te nos unes?— Radioteca.net (@Radiotecanet) marzo 27, 2015
We'll be at the 1st International Community Radio and Free Software Conference. Will you join up with us?
#Bolivia 1º Encuentro Internacional de Radios Comunitarias y Software Libre http://t.co/3efeNkCmsz | .@ADN_alt .@camilota5 .@ReinaldoI— CDPVenezuela (@cdpvenezuela1) marzo 27, 2015
#Bolivia's 1st International Community Radio and Free Software Conference.
1º Encuentro Internacional de Radios Comunitarias y Software Libre en #Cochabamba, Bolivia 11-13 junio 2015 http://t.co/VvzNsR6BzG— Eddie Ávila (@barrioflores) marzo 24, 2015
1st International Community Radio and Free Software Conference in #Cochabamba, Bolivia, June 11-13, 2015.
Sign up starts on April 1; for more information, visit the event's official page at liberaturadio.org.

author: Lully


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Six Syrian Cartoonists Who Dare to Mock Assad You Need to Know  · Global Voices
Rami Alhames

One of Akram Ruslan's cartoons that outraged Assad regime. Source: Cartoon Movement Blog. Used under CC BY 2.0
Poking fun of dictators is considered one of the greatest taboos, which curtail freedom of expression and endanger the lives of cartoonists anywhere, anytime. Syrian cartoonists are not an exception and have suffered torture, attacks from regime loyalists and even death for daring to speak up. Yet, the cartoons they draw reflect the lives of millions of Syrians and Arabs, and have found their way online in the four years of uprising against Syrian President Bashar Al Assad's regime, thanks to social media.
Assad's acts towards his people have inspired Arab and foreign cartoonists, who have flooded the printed, digital, and social media portals with thousands of drawings. In this post, we are showcasing the works of six Syrian artists, who have dared speak up, in no particular order.
Not to forget, we have to mention two Syrian artists who suffered the most: Ali Farzat, internationally awarded artist, who has been beaten up for mocking Assad in early days of the Syrian revolution, and Akram Ruslan who detained and reportedly killed for the same reason.
1. Hussam Sara
He is one of early revolution activists and posts his drawings on his Facebook page. He has worked for several Arabic newspapers in Bahrain. He is son of Fayez Sara, an opposition leader and a brother of Wisam Sarah, a martyr pacifist activist who was tortured to death in Assad's prisons in February 2014.
Assad via Hussam Sara Facebook Page. Used with permission.
2. Kamiran Shemdin
Born in al-Qamishli, in 1974, Kamiran Shemdin published his cartoons in Aljazeera website and Ge P magazine in Iraqi Kurdistan. In an interview with SyriaUntold he says: “The sight of the thousands of Syrians marching in the streets without fear and calling for the downfall of the regime gave me a feeling of solace and of being free myself. Despite my exile, I was a part of them with all my feelings.”
Assad via Kamiran Shemdin Facebook page. Used under CC BY 2.0
3. Amer M. Zughbi
Amer worked in several Arab newspapers is currently working in Albayan newspaper in the UAE newspaper and publishes his work on AlJazeera website. He won the Arab Journalism Award for best cartoonist in the Arab newspapers and publications for three times, in 2007, 2009 and 2013.
Assad via Amer M. Zohbi Facebook page. Used under CC BY 2.0
4. Firas Bachi
Born in 1979 in Damascus, Firas Bachi holds a B.A. in Economics but is still in love with art and drawing. He is a cartoonist, caricaturist, and an advertising art director. On his Facebook page he describes his cartoons as: “against all forms of dictatorship politics, human injustice, suppression and oppression, racism and discrimination. cartoons that dig to expose the fuzzy scenes in a world of injustice where surrendering suddenly became a habit, and supporting the unjust became a worship.” More of his works can be found at FirasBachi.com
Assad as a Pharaoh, Nobody stopped him. Source: Firas Bachi Facebook page. Used with permission.
5. Ahmad Jalal
Do you remember the infamous people of “Liberated Kafranbel” holding creative cartoons banners? Ahmed is behind them. His hobby before the revolution, turned him into the “Kafranbel Cartoonist”. He works within a group of young people filled with irony spirit and creativity in their village in the countryside of Idlib, Syria.
Assad and ISIS via Ahmed Jalal Facebook Page. Used under CC BY 2.0
6. Saad Hajo
Born in Damascus in 1968, Saad Hajo graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts. He works in “An-Nahar” and “Al-Safir” newspapers in Beirut, Lebanon. He has several published books, one of which is entilted “بلاد العنف أوطاني” (Countries of Violence are my Homeland). He is the winner of the “Gabrovo Carton” award of humor and biennial art in 2005 in Bulgaria.
Assad as eye doctor via Saad Hajo Facebook Page. Used under CC BY 2.0

author: Rami Alhames


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‘Western Women Don’t Care If They Are Raped on the Roadside,’ Says Saudi Historian · Global Voices
Rami Alhames

A screenshot of a video on YouTube showing Saudi historian Dr Saleh Al-Saadoon making his infamous claim
Saudi historian Dr Saleh Al-Saadoon says women in the West drive because they “don't care if they get raped on the roadside.” He made the remarks in an interview with Rotana Khalijia, a Saudi-owned television channel aimed at Gulf countries, in his defense of a Saudi prohibition that bans women from driving. The video, which created an outcry online, was shared far and wide on YouTube.
Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that bans women from driving cars. There have been many efforts to break the ban, most recently on October 26, 2013, when dozens of women shared videos driving cars in the day they plan on defying the ban.
The Saudi “historian” notes that:
Unlike riding a camel, driving a car places a woman in danger of being raped, which for Saudi women is a much worse experience than for any women in the western world where women “don't care” if they are raped.
To make his interview worse, he suggested a solution to import “foreign female drivers” to drive Saudi women to prevent a potential rape by contracted male drivers.


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Yemen’s Humanitarian Crisis Exacerbated By War   · Global Voices
Noon Arabia

Over the past three decades Yemen, the poorest country in the Middle East, has suffered from chronic underdevelopment and a socio-economic crisis. Over 60 per cent of Yemen's total population (25 million) are in dire need of humanitarian assistance, with children and women mostly affected.
The precarious humanitarian situation was exacerbated further in the four years of political instability following the revolution in 2011, which ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Long before the war broke out on March 25, the United Nations and International organisations have been warning of the looming humanitarian crisis.
UNICEF requests US$60.1 million to meet the humanitarian needs of #Yemen‘s most vulnerable children in 2015. Check http://t.co/Wi62XVDnRc
— UNICEF Yemen (@UNICEF_Yemen) February 19, 2015
Yemen's population is one of the most malnourished in the world. Here's how we're helping: http://t.co/WGJ8OKf4iM pic.twitter.com/KAeguwq7Ee
Hunger #fact: More than 10 million or 41% of #Yemen’s population is food insecure http://t.co/ipWzayKlFb pic.twitter.com/OQMHHOuW5c
— World Food Programme (@WFP) March 28, 2015
— Mercy Corps (@mercycorps) February 24, 2015
#YEMEN: More than 800,000 children under the age of 5 are suffering from acute malnutrition http://t.co/SIy4SOlc9v pic.twitter.com/E7kPwo0Zul
— CARE Press Team (UK) (@carepressuk) February 25, 2015
Instability in #Yemen pushes poor people deeper into malnutrition and despair. @CARE continues to help http://t.co/VPyQWZZdCI via @reliefweb
Hunger #fact: More than 10 million or 41% of #Yemen’s population is food insecure http://t.co/ipWzayKlFb pic.twitter.com/OQMHHOuW5c
— World Food Programme (@WFP) March 28, 2015
— SandraBulling (@SandraBulling1) February 26, 2015
#Yemen: 61% of population need some form of #humanitarian assistance in 2015 – revised appeal http://t.co/BFt4uG6iiS pic.twitter.com/k3keAYiIsc
— ReliefWeb (@reliefweb) March 5, 2015
Distribution of conflict & humanitarian needs across #Yemen. via OCHA http://t.co/4ChITHo23y | http://t.co/vn1J3DaAc2 pic.twitter.com/AirFe3OR6C
— UNICEF Yemen (@UNICEF_Yemen) March 11, 2015
#Yemen teeters on brink of civil war – #humanitarian challenges deepen http://t.co/6y1Qz5ZM5s pic.twitter.com/azyMtMXgp0
— IRIN News (@irinnews) March 25, 2015
The dire humanitarian situation worsened with the conflict between ousted President Saleh-backed Houthi rebels and the Saudi-led coalition backed by the US, Gulf states, Egypt and Turkey. While the coalition airstrikes mainly targeted military camps and weapon depots (some of which are in residential areas), it also targeted airports in Sana'a, Aden, Hodeida and Sada'a.
On Monday, Al Marzaq camp, an Internally Displaced People's (IDP) camp, was reportedly struck by the Saudi led coalition strikes, killing at least 40 internal refugees and injuring 200. Yemen's UN Humanitarian coordinator Johannes Van Der Klaauw deplored the attack in a statement and called on all parties to respect International Humanitarian Law. According to UNICEF, at least 62 children have been killed and 30 injured during fighting in Yemen over the past week.
At least 62 children have been killed & 30 injured during fighting in #Yemen this past week http://t.co/aupdrY11Pl @UNICEFmedia
— UNICEF (@UNICEF) March 31, 2015
Meanwhile, Saleh-backed troops and Houthi militias have been advancing in Southern Yemen, brutally attacking civilians and aggressively bombarding residential buildings. Southern cities have been ravaged for weeks, which has only worsened the humanitarian situation. Doctors without Borders/Medecins San Frontieres (MSF) reported receiving more than 550 patients since March 19, as a result of clashes in Aden, Lahj, and other areas in the south. On March 26 alone, 111 patients arrived at the hospital.
Hussain Al-Yafi and Yemen Updates following the situation in Southern Yemen tweeted:
This is not Homs! This is not Gaza! This is Aden! This is Houthi bombardment on residential neighborhoods! #yemen pic.twitter.com/ciqUnK4mWe
— Hussain Al-Yafai (@crazyyafai) April 2, 2015
Horror everywhere in #Aden as Houthi/Saleh forces use tanks to target southern combatants. Bloody street fighting in Khor Maksar now. #Yemen
— Yemen Updates (@yemen_updates) April 1, 2015
Amnesty International in a statement accused the coalition of turning a blind eye to civilian deaths and suffering.
After several days of often intense bombardment in several areas across Yemen, it is becoming increasingly apparent that the Saudi Arabian-led coalition is turning a blind eye to civilian deaths and suffering caused by its military intervention
Under International Humanitarian Law, it is forbidden to launch attacks that might lead to incidental losses among civilians or cause the destruction of civilian objects that would be disproportionate to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated.
Amid the no-fly zone imposed on Yemen by the Arab coalition, international organizations called for the urgent removal of obstacles to enable them to deliver medical supplies and trained health personnel urgently needed in Yemen.
#Yemen: we're calling for urgent removal of obstacles in the delivery of medical supplies as heavy conflict persists http://t.co/VX3EzZoT1T
— ICRC (@ICRC) March 31, 2015
Extremely difficult, dangerous 4 @msf_yemen to evaluate needs in #Yemen bc of fighting, air strikes. Respect 4 #humanitarian access critical
— Doctors w/o Borders (@MSF_USA) April 2, 2015
Conflict in #Yemen kills and injures hundreds, places major strain on health system http://t.co/9FpfbERir2 pic.twitter.com/skvEszAdMX
— WHO (@WHO) April 2, 2015
Due to the no-fly zone, many Yemenis have been stranded in countries across the world, which prompted Yemeni netizens such as Khaled al-Hammadi to launch the hashtag #Stranded_Yemenis.
1000s of #Stranded_Yemenis across the region are in need for urgent help.. #GCC busy with war but forget humanitarian issue #يمنيون_عالقون
— Khaled al-Hammadi (@KhaledHammadi) March 29, 2015
Many people in Yemen don't have access to clean water, and are struggling to feed themselves and lack proper infrastructure, basic health care and education. Yemen's young generation have witnessed many wars in their short lives and are tired of its horrors and humanitarian toll. They launched a hashtag saying “enough” to war #KefayaWar to all sides of the conflict.
Ammar Al-Aulaqi addressed them all in a tweet:
Kefaya means “enough”. Yemenis are speaking to all: Coalition #Decisive_Storm, Houthis, Saleh, Iran , Hadi everyone! #KefayaWar #Yemen
— Ammar Al-Aulaqi (@ammar82) March 31, 2015
Ruba Aleryani highlighted Yemen's difficult condition:
#KefayaWar because nearly 43% of Yemenis are already food insecure and 60% live in poverty #yemen #OpDecisiveStorm
— Ruba A. (@raleryan) March 31, 2015
Other Yemeni activists and journalists highlighted the humanitarian plight and hardship Yemen is facing from this war.
Hisham Al-Omeisy added:
Aprox Half #Yemen pop food insecure BEFORE current conflict. Now sealed in & held hostage, whole nation will soon face humanitarian crisis.
— Hisham Al-Omeisy (@omeisy) March 31, 2015
Yemen updates commented:
The humanitarian crisis in #Yemen has just been manifested in various forms: sudden shortage in fuel, flour & wheat in #Sanaa & elsewhere.
— Yemen Updates (@yemen_updates) April 1, 2015
Amel Ahmed tweeted:
90% of #Yemen‘s wheat /100% of rice imported. Humanitarian aid is blocked. Pple will starve. This is a war against Yemeni people. h/t @lga2
— Amel Ahmed (@amelscript) April 1, 2015
Some Arab and foreign journalists have been also voicing their concern.
Journalist Mohammed Jamjoom, formerly covering Yemen for CNN, tweeted his sadness:
Depressed not just about the situation in #Yemen but also how little coverage suffering of Yemenis & the humanitarian crisis there receives
— Mohammed Jamjoom (@MIJamjoom) March 31, 2015
Louisa Loveluck added:
UN says Yemen is nearing ‘total collapse’ as humanitarian crisis mounts and country cut off from aid deliveries: http://t.co/x7WhW0ukF5
— Louisa Loveluck (@leloveluck) April 1, 2015
Global Voices has covered Yemen's humanitarian crisis over the years:
Yet the humanitarian aspect of the war doesn't seem to matter to nor make headlines in mainstream media. IRIN warned that the humanitarian situation will only become severe due to the conflict.
The humanitarian situation in #Yemen is dire, a civil war will only deepen an already acute crisis — @adammbaron http://t.co/6y1Qz5ZM5s
— IRIN News (@irinnews) March 25, 2015
In summary, the humanitarian crisis that international organisations have been warning about over the past years has just been exacerbated over the past week of war in Yemen and will continue to do so. The question now is, what will the world do about it and when?

author: Noon Arabia


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Your Russian History Professor Is Basically James Bond · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

The name's Bond, Professor Bond. And he's studiously reading Stephen Kotkin's new biography about Stalin. Image edited by Kevin Rothrock.
Western academics have spy mania this week, after an RFE/RL article about the growing number of deportations of scholars trying to conduct archival work in Russia. This story was followed the next day by news of another expulsion of a British graduate student who dared to research—wait for it—working conditions and their ties to the revolutions of early-20th-century Tsarist Russia.
RuNet Echo takes a look at how people in Russia and in the West reacted on social media to these two stories. Was it all booing abroad at the crackdown on scholars and cheering inside Russia for foiling the dastardly archival snoops? Not exactly.
Carl Schreck’s article for RFE/RL, titled “Western Scholars Alarmed By Russian Deportations, Fines,” provoked a small scandal in the Western academic community because he cited public Facebook posts by a PhD student in the UK about her run-in with police and immigration officials at an archive in Arkhangelsk. The graduate student later deleted her accounts on Twitter and Academia.edu, and the Facebook group where she originally shared some of her stories hid its conversations behind a privacy wall. RFE/RL later redacted from its piece the name of the graduate student, who never responded to emails before the article was published asking for a comment about her public Facebook posts.
In his piece, Schreck cited several renown scholars who work on Russia, including Stephen Cohen, who stressed the necessity of archival work for academics in the field, and Arch Getty and Sam Greene, who confirmed that pressure on researchers working in Russian archives is rising.
Not everyone welcomed Schreck’s handling of the story, however, such as Joseph Kellner, a Russian history PhD student at UC Berkeley. Kellner also recently authored an opinion piece, titled “Why US Is Addicted to Russophobia,” published on the website Russia Insider, a crowdfunded project by a Moscow-based American, Charles Bausman. (Profiled last year by the pro-Kremlin media outlet RT, Russia Insider has now collected $26,000 of its $20,000 Kickstarter goal.)
.@CarlSchreck should be ashamed of himself. Pure propaganda/fantasy, based on one source and some clever wordplay. http://t.co/9hOBrYEPsU
— Joseph Kellner (@Joseph_Kellner) April 1, 2015
Hours later, Kellner issued a clarification:
To clarify re:@CarlSchreck- the article is anecdotal and damaging to scholars working here, VAST majority of whom are treated with respect.
— Joseph Kellner (@Joseph_Kellner) April 1, 2015
As scholars in the West debated the ethics of Schreck’s decision to write about their troubles in Russian archives, yet another graduate student working at an archive, this time in in Nizhny Novgorod, was ordered to leave the country for “illegally researching” ties between Tsarist working conditions and the revolutions of the early 20th century.
On April 1, Laura Sumner, a 25-year-old Russian history PhD student at Nottingham University, was convicted of violating the terms of her business visa by working at an archive, and given ten days to leave Russia. LifeNews, a popular pro-Kremlin news outlet, drew attention to Sumner’s interest in revolutions, implying that her work could be used to help the West stage a “color revolution” inside Russia, and calling Sumner “yet another spy.”
Following the scandal, Sumner deleted her Twitter account, which she’d used since June 2009.
LifeNews’ story about the “English spy” apparently failed to resonate very deeply with its Russian audience. On VKontakte, the country’s most popular social network, where the media outlet has more than 300,000 subscribers, just 268 people “liked” the article. Some readers mocked the notion that a history grad student could threaten the nation, while others expressed anger that the authorities weren’t doing more to curb the foreign menace.
Andrei Kokorin joked:
украла секрет валенок и балалайки
She stole the secret of valenki [traditional Russian winter footwear] and balalaikas [a Russian stringed musical instrument].
Yelena Sokolova noticed the discrepancy between Sumner’s actual conviction (violating the terms of her visa) and LifeNews’ accusation that she is a spy, appearing to blame police for failing to appreciate the danger:
Не поняла… она работала в архивах и изучала наши революции. То есть, если бы виза была не деловая, а какая нибудь студенческая( или как там), то миграционное законодательство не нарушила бы, и могла бы дальше шпионить? Так что ли? ФСБ совсем заняться нечем?
I don’t get it … she worked in the archives and studied our revolutions. Meaning, if her visa hadn’t been a business visa, and had instead been a student visa (or something else), then she’d not have broken any travel laws, and she could have continued spying some more? Is that it? Does the Federal Security Service do nothing at all?
On Facebook, where the Russian userbase is generally more liberal and Western-leaning, LifeNews has only 75,000 followers. The outlet’s Facebook post about Sumner’s deportation attracted only 92 “likes,” and several unfriendly comments.
Oleg Sobchuk, for example, wrote:
правильно! Все кто ходят в библиотеку – шпионы! Кому нужны думающие люди? быдломасса – достояние роССии
Wonderful! Everyone who goes into a library is a spy! Who needs thinking people, after all? A mass of sheep is Rasha’s great legacy.
How to interpret the rising number of cases involving Western scholars expelled from Russian archives? Remembering the many sanctions currently levied against Russia (not to mention Moscow’s retaliatory boycotts against the West), the pressure on academics seems to be a political shenanigan. While it may be more than a little laughable to label these individuals spies, there’s nothing funny about the damage done to scholars’ careers, when they’re barred from Russian archives.
Writing about the phenomenon, however, is also tricky business. Scholars in the West are reluctant to publicize their names, presumably for fear of getting themselves further blacklisted. (And then there are those who say the incidents are isolated, denying any trend or “chill.”) In Russia, meanwhile, the threat of Western graduate students huddled in dusty archives, reading about the October Revolution, doesn’t seem to disturb or excite many people.
With that recipe for silence, there’s little reason to expect much to change.

author: Kevin Rothrock


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Australian Kids Are Learning the Warumungu Language With a Radio Cockatoo’s Help · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Pinarra Aku team: Rosemary Plummer (left), Pinangkarl (center), and Kathy Burns (right). Photo used with permission.
Thanks to the help of a songwriting duo and their fictional white cockatoo named Pinangkarl, the children from the Barkly region in Australia's Northern Territory are singing and laughing their way to learning more about the Warumungu language and culture.
The radio program and audio podcast “Pinarra Aku” is the creation of Kathy Burns and Rosemary Plummer, a teacher and traditional owner, who have been working as a team writing songs for educational use since 2011. The white cockatoo serves as a central character in the program, introducing the children to the language and culture through interactive songs and short stories. It is a bird that can be seen flying overhead throughout in the region, and the name “Pinangkarl” means “knowledge and understanding.”
Burns and Plummer saw the immediate need for supplemental language learning opportunities because Aboriginal languages are not mandatory subjects in schools. Focusing on primary school-aged children is also part of the educational strategy, Burns said:
As each year passes and more of the elders pass on, so too does that knowledge. If the next generation does not keep that knowledge strong by continuing culture and language for the next generation it will eventually be gone. If our education system or employment organisations does not allow time for that next generation to learn language and culture, then how can adequate time be made to keep it strong.
By producing these fun children shows with special themed episodes, schools and households have better access to regular culturally-sensitive language lessons. The program is part of a project by Barkly Regional Arts, and Burns said that they “see language as a living language. And that's how we approach language, rather than material that becomes shelved/archived.”
The program also provides a learning guide that can be downloaded so that children can follow along the program. Whenever clapsticks are heard, the children know when to turn the page to continue to the next lesson. Children are able to draw pictures, write the language words, follow along with the lyrics, or read the bedtime stories, written by local community members.
“Pinarra Aku” currently airs weekly on 8ccc radio located in the town of Tennant Creek, and can be live streamed from the station's website. Having the programs available for download on demand is also part of the strategy to reach as many children, parents, and teachers as possible. The team tries to make the files accessible with the size not too large for download, and so that it can also be sent via email if necessary because of the region's lack of widespread broadband internet.
The success of the program has Burns and Plummer thinking about how to make the program grow. “We hope that ‘Pinarra Aku’ inspires more people to become involved with the show, so that other Barkly languages can be taught,”  Burns said.

author: Eduardo Avila


text:
In Conflict with China’s Internet Security Regulator, Chinese Techies Side with Google, Mozilla · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Wall of keys. Photo by Robert via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
Chinese tech experts are openly expressing support for the decision of both Google and Mozilla to revoke security certificates issued by China's Internet Network Information Center.
A security certificate is a technical tool that many websites use in order to provide themselves and their users with an extra layer of reassurance that their traffic is actually being sent to and from the site they think they're interacting with. For example, imagine that you go to your bank's website to transfer some funds. You log in, enter some personal information, and then check to see how much money is in your account. Banks go to great lengths to make sure that only their employees and their clients can see this information — but clever attackers can interfere with the secure connection between you and your bank's website and capture information as it travels from the website to your computer.
Security certificates are a way to guard against such attacks. They have a quiet but powerful presence online, especially with online banking and e-commerce — a site without a certificate can be perceived as illegitimate and untrustworthy. A user will often come across a warning (like the one below) when trying to access a site with an invalid security certificate. Though users should heed these warnings, they often ignore them.
Google and Mozilla decided this week that they will no longer honor certificates issued by CNNIC, following a joint investigation by Google and CCNIC into the hijacking of several Google domains, including one involving an Egyptian Company called MCS Holdings, which served as an intermediary certificate authority of sorts for CNNIC. In this incident, a man-in-the-middle attack intercepted secure connections between users and their intended destination by directing the users to a separate, disguised website. These kinds of attacks are only possible if the disguised website holds a digital certificate from a trusted authority.
CNNIC, China's main digital certificate authority, described Google's decision as “unacceptable and unintelligible” and urged Google to “take user's rights and interests into full consideration.” Despite CNNIC's promise to prevent any future incidents, Google decided to revoke CNNIC's digital certificate in their products.
Mozilla disclosed on their official blog that since 2012, the company has been communicating with CNNIC over the problem of mis-issuing intermediate certificates to third parties. It has reminded CNNIC that “knowing or intential mis-issuance of certificate […] could result in removal of all the CNNIC certificates from Mozilla's products.”
In the most recent incident, CNNIC argued that the certificate was issued for “testing purposes”, which means it knowingly issued “an unconstrained intermediate certificate” to HCS holding which appears to have violated CNNIC's own certificate practice statement.
These kinds of attacks have become rather common in China. In the discussion thread of Chinese tech blogger William Long's report on Mozilla and Google's decision on his Weibo, one Weibo user mentioned a previous man-in-the-middle attack that targeted Microsoft Hotmail:
本无鬼见愁：前段时间工作用的 Hotmail 邮箱受到一次中间人攻击，然后马上把所有电脑上的 CNNIC 证书设置为永不信任，就算 CNNIC 以后不干这么龌龊的事，能达到国际公认的安全要求，我也再不会信任他家的证书了。
“Non-existed ghost seems sad”: I experienced a [man-in-the-middle attack] when using my Hotmail for my work some while ago. Since then, I changed my computer setting to untrust all the certificates issued by CNNIC. Even though CNNIC promised not to do such a dirty thing again and uphold the international security standard, I will not trust their certificate anymore.
The above-mentioned attack took place in early October 2014, leaving Microsoft's email login page, “login.live.com” under attack in most major cities in China. Similar attacks have played out since 2011, targeting Skype (2011), GitHub (January 2013), Yahoo (September 2014).
Like most Internet users, many voices on Weibo were confused about CNNIC's role in the attack. Bfsu99 reposted penta5kill's explanation in non-technical language:
bfsu99：[…] @penta5kill:回复@舞法舞天丨:就是CNNIC通过假证书骗取浏览器信任然后监控用户，结果被人发现了。你可以理解成间谍把窃听器伪装成手机零配件出售给手机制造商，然后每台出厂的手机自带窃听功能
bfsu99: […] penta5kill in reply to “law and heaven dance”: CNNIC issued a fake certificate [to clients] so that they could cheat the browsers to trust them. That way they can monitor the targeted internet users. Now their acts have been unveiled. It is as if a spy disguised a tapping device as a mobile device and then sold it to the mobile vendor. From there, the mobile phones automatically fulfill a wiretapping function.
Many comments in William Long's discussion thread expressed support for Google and Mozilla's move:
xxxxoxoxoxoxo：Google宣布旗下产品删除CNNIC根证书，给CNNIC闪亮一巴掌，帮助中国人民出了一口气！支持Google，CNNIC这种机构就得扇脸！
xxxxoxoxoxoxo: Google announced that all its products would revoke CNNIC's certificate and slapped CNNIC in its face. It helps Chinese people to retaliate. Support Google. Institutions like CNNIC should be slapped in the face.
聿渔：互联网应该团结起老对大陆网路进行封杀，禁止一切大陆网络信息外链和送出，既然要搞局域网何不帮狗共一把
yuyu, The whole Internet should unite and block the Chinese Intranet, ban all the traffic from coming in and out. If CCP wants to build an Intranet, help them!
____harm：一個騙子問人為什麼不信任他，大家覺得可笑不？
____harm: a liar asks people, why don't you trust me? this is a joke.
As usual, critical comments about CNNIC have been removed from the mainland Chinese intranet, as reported by user “Haipeng in Shanghai” (@海鹏在shanghai):
网上搜了一下，这几天国内关于CNNIC的负面新闻和评论都被删了，国家级流氓确实牛逼
I searched around online, all the negative news and comments about CNNIC have been deleted. State-level thugs are so powerful.

author: Oiwan Lam


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Is Blackface in Japan a Form of Racism or Respect? · Global Voices
Izumi Mihashi

Momokuro. Image courtesy Wikimedia.
Iconic Japanese music ensemble RATS & STAR and “girl idol” group Momoiro Clover Z recently appeared together on a popular television program sporting “blackface” makeup, sparking a debate about whether the practice can be deemed racist in Japan.
In order to project an aura of “blackness,” aging Doo Wop ensemble RATS & STAR have used blackface as trademark since they got their start in 1977.
Prior to their appearance with RATS & STAR, Momoiro Clover Z (aka “Momokuro”) recently developed a reputation for collaborating with glam metal acts. Like the American band KISS and other similar performers, glam metal bands sport heavy and outrageous makeup. In a new twist on the makeup theme, Momokuro decided to appear on TV in blackface with RATS & STAR.
Indeed, a not inconsiderable number of entertainers and comedians perform in blackface in Japan, where it has largely been unremarkable. In the age of social media, however, voices outside Japan are becoming more critical of what has been considered a playful and innocuous practice.
New York Times reporter Hiroko Tabuchi, who, with Martin Fackler was once the Times’ chief correspondent for Japan, was quick to point out the inappropriate and discriminatory nature of casually sporting blackface for entertainment.
Why Japan needs to have a conversation on racism (1) https://t.co/o07lYKoYri Preview of a TV show airing next month. pic.twitter.com/KDoDPVz6xJ
— Hiroko Tabuchi (@HirokoTabuchi) February 12, 2015
Tabuchi's remark was retweeted more than 700 times, igniting a discussion about whether or not blackface should be seen as racist in Japan.
Some Twitter commenters pointed out that, removed and transplanted from its American context, Japan's use of blackface is not intended to be racist, since most Japanese people have no idea of the cruel and racist origins of the practice.
Other Twitter users such as seth0et0holth agreed with Tabuchi that, intentional or not, the use of blackface in Japan is indeed discriminatory.
@HirokoTabuchi I agree. Also, “unintentional” racism is a huge problem: people not even necessarily trying to be racist but also not…
— seth0et0holth (@miscastdice) February 12, 2015
@HirokoTabuchi not ever having had their privilege checked or not ever having experiences outside their own race/ethnicity/culture.
— seth0et0holth (@miscastdice) February 12, 2015
Others disagreed with this argument:
@HirokoTabuchi I'm just trying to understand how it's racist if there isn't malice in it. Arrogant, yes. Racist? Hmm…
— matty manzarek (@matty_125) February 12, 2015
Others argued that the use of blackface by entertainers in Japan was, in fact, a sign of respect for black people.
Twitter commentator @E=mcZ said that according to the Japanese way of thinking, making one's skin “black” was not racist, but is instead could be considered the purest form of flattery.
別に黒塗り＝黒人差別とは言えない。白人と違って？ 黄色人種は日焼けすればだいぶ黒くなる（例 松崎しげる ヤマンバギャル 〜）から、アジア人が黒人音楽に憧れればだいたい日焼けするし、ラッツ＆スターやももクロもそこへのオマージュなのでOK。ガングロブームは差別じゃない
— E=mcZ (@EzmcZ) February 13, 2015
In a Japanese context, you can't say “sporting blackface equals racism.” We're not Caucasians. When Asians get a suntan we get pretty dark (think of Shigeru Matsuzaki or Yamanba Girls). So if Japanese performers want to play “authentically black” music, all they have to do is go out and lie in the sun. So, what RATS & STAR and Momokuro did is a kind of homage [to black performers]. [In the same way] the Ganguro trend from the 1990s wasn't racist either.
Ganguro. Image courtesy Flickr user Traitlin Burke. CC BY 2.0
Another Twitter user attempted to take the concept of “blackface as homage” to its most logical extreme:
ももクロが顔黒塗りで人種差別だ！という話。差別は意図のある無しとは関係ないので仕方ないと思う。リスペクトと言ったって、肌が黒いのをリスペクトしてるわけじゃないでしょ。 白人や黒人が顔を黄色く塗って演歌もどきを歌ってたら、芸として受け入れても100%愉快というわけにいかないでしょ。
— キラアキラ@大きな羊 (@kila_a_kila) February 14, 2015
By putting on blackface, Momokuro were being racist! It doesn't make any difference if they didn't intend to be racist. It's not respectful at all! For example, if white folks or black folks donned yellow makeup and started singing enka [Japanese country and western songs] you could never argue it was “art.”
In reply, Twitter user Michael. A said that it can't be helped if blackface is interpreted as racism outside of Japan.
彼らの音楽性を考えればシャネルズが黒人をレスペクトして黒く塗ったという話は多分嘘ではないと思う。ももクロも顔のペインティングを色々やってる中でシャネルズのコスプレをしただけ。どちらにも差別意識はないと思う。でもそれで済むのは国内限定だと知っておくべき。
— Michael. A (@nasitaro) February 15, 2015
If you think about their entire musical style, I don't think it's being disingenuous at all to suggest that RATS & STAR did start out (back in the 1970s when they called themselves the Chanels) sporting blackface as a form of homage to black entertainers.
And Momokuro has been experimenting with face paint recently. When Momokuro adopted blackface while appearing with RATS & STAR they were just engaging in cosplay.
They had no idea what they were doing might be considered racist. However, you need to take into consideration the context that they did it in Japan when contemplating whether what they did was racist.
A commenter on this Japanese-language news article, which asks black residents in Japan about the controversy, says:
黒塗りが人種差別という経緯調べてもあんまりないんだけど、ミンストレルショーがそれであれば悪いのはその認識を定着させたショーであって、黒塗りしても差別と思わない世界を作ったほうが幸せな気はするよなあ
While I haven't researched all the details about racist aspects of blackface, blackface was used very intentionally in minstrel shows for bad effect. We need to create a world where putting on blackface has no racist connotations.
However, according to Diana Powell, an African-American student interviewed for the article, Japan needs to understand what black people have experienced in the first place:
黒人文化に憧れ、リスペクトするのは構わないが、黒人文化の背景にある歴史も理解すべきだ
If Japanese people want to show respect for or pay homage to black culture, they need to understand black history first.

author: Izumi Mihashi


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#JesuisKenyan Trends in Francophone Social Media to Show Support for Garissa Victims   · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Twitter users show support for Garissa victims via Arnaud Seroy on twitter
On April 2, 2015, at least 147 people were killed by gunmen on the campus of Garissa University in Kenya, according to Kenya's National Disaster Operation Centre (KRCS). The center also reports that 79 people were injured and 587 people were evacuated at this stage.
The suspected mastermind of the massacre is the Somalia-based Al-Shabaab militant group, which claimed responsibility for the attack.
The tragic accounts of the shooting by survivors triggered a show of solidarity worldwide. The francophone world, still weary after the Charlie Hebdo attack, responded by showing solidarity with the Garissa victims on social networks with the hashtag #JesuisKenyan (to mirror the hashtag #JesuisCharlie). It was the second most trending topics on Twitter in France on April 3.
Here are a few of those posts:
#JeSuisKenyan
— #BPM Nouveau single (@TEAMBEOZEDZED) abril 2, 2015
147 morts dans l'attaque #terroriste horrifiante contre l'éducation et l'avenir. Soyons solidaires. #JesuisKenyan pic.twitter.com/A5kZodqh42
— AJC Paris (@AJC_Paris) April 3, 2015
147 died in the horrific #terrorist attack against education and our future. Let's show solidarity #JesuisKenyan
Trop peu de médias ne parlent de l'attentat terroriste de l'université Kenyane, 147 morts ce n'est pas suffisant?! L'HORREUR #JeSuisKenyan
— Lorphelin Marine (@MarineLorphelin) April 3, 2015
Not enough talk in the media about the terrorist attack at the university in Kenya, are 147 dead not enough ?! HORRIBLE #JesuisKenyan

author: Lova Rakotomalala


text:
Let’s Stop for a Moment and Take in the Joy in Iran Right Now · Global Voices
Mahsa Alimardani

Let's just stop and appreciate the happiness from #IranTalks.
I've followed this story minute by minute. Not because it's my job to stay abreast of these events, but because I love Iran. I love it for all its faults, hopes, beauty, and disappointments. But mostly I love it for its people. The lives of Iranian people with the prospect of fewer economic constraints and greater integration into the global system, is the reason I want to celebrate this nuclear deal.
So, before we get into interpretations of the text of the nuclear framework agreement (which is necessary and needed); and before we consider that there is much to be done in Iran, in terms of the nuclear deal, the economy, human rights, etc. (as many politicians, analysts, and activists have already pointed out)—before all those things, just for a moment, I want to absorb the tide of joy from the people of Iran.
Here are some of my favourite snippets of the happiness that overtook the streets of Iran last night. And I promise more sober commentary once we come down from the collective high of #IranTalks!
People on Tehran's streets celebrating #IranTalks, hoping for increase in rial value http://t.co/SPhvZRMx8y
— Sobhan Hassanvand (@Hassanvand) April 2, 2015
Group of #Iran‘ians gather outside Foreign Minstry in Tehran to celbrate outcome of #IranTalks http://t.co/F2iJrZ9I3o pic.twitter.com/tic9SO48GB
— Hadi Nili (@HadiNili) April 2, 2015
Still in the party. People are drinking to (in the honor of) all the turned off Centrifuges :)) به سلامتی سانتریفیوژهای خاموش #IranTalks
— jadi (@jadi) April 2, 2015
Friend of mine in #Iran pinching #Obama‘s cheek out of sheer joy #IranTalks pic.twitter.com/M68J6yKgQt
— Holly Dagres (@hdagres) April 2, 2015
Contact in Tehran: “I'm going out to celebrate.” #IranTalks #Iran
— Golnaz Esfandiari (@GEsfandiari) April 2, 2015
Tehran celebrates #IranTalks. @rebaz_hassani pic.twitter.com/7lfRnPPlHO
— Negar نگار (@NegarMortazavi) April 3, 2015

author: Mahsa Alimardani


text:
Should We Pity the Poor Western Man ‘Trapped’ in Japan? · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
A recent article in the newspaper Japan Times has caused a commotion in Japan's resident English-speaking community.
Titled “Spare a thought for the Western men trapped in Japan“, the article documents how tough life can be for Western men who get work teaching in universities, get married, and find it difficult or impossible to return to their home countries.
The article uses the example of “Jim, an American in his late 20s”:
Jim… used to be a very passionate young man. He claimed he was a communist — a Stalinist, even. He would engage in endless political debates during smoking breaks and drinking sessions. He dreamed of graduate school, an academic career and, one day, even leading a riot. But instead, he got married to a Japanese girl and already had children by the time he graduated. She did not want to leave Japan and insisted he earn a stable income, so he ended up teaching English somewhere in the sticks, far from any big university. “It is only for the time being,” he insists, but it’s difficult to see how he will ever have the money or mobility to realize his dreams.
Olga Garnova, a Temple University student and author of the story, says, “Japan can be the best place in the world for some, but for others it can be a trap. And sometimes I think it’s far easier for Western men to be sucked into this trap than women.”
While Japan recruits temporary workers from China and other Asian countries to work, often very little pay, on farms and in factories, the vast majority of Westerners who come to Japan work as teachers. The goal is to move up the ladder from teaching conversational English to securing positions in colleges and universities.
The problem is, just as in North America, working conditions for teachers in Japan's post-secondary institutions have fundamentally changed over the past 20 years.
As Japan's population ages and birthrate declines, enrollment in colleges and universities has also declined. To save costs, administrators are opting to hire instructors on part-time contracts for lower pay.
This shift in working conditions has made it difficult for Westerners to establish themselves in Japan. But after spending time away from their home job market, it can be difficult to find a way back.
Even for male teachers who do find steady employment, Garnova suggests that life in Japan can be challenging.
The article touches on Japan's infamous long working hours, Japanese women's reported love of money, and the cultural divide that can confront some Westerners in Japan who are unfamiliar with other cultures:
Japanese men have it tough, but foreigners might have it even worse. Unlike Japanese, who have been raised in the culture of strict gender roles and long work hours, foreigners — especially Westerners — may have very different expectations, lifestyles and ideals.
What's the solution? According to Garnova:
Having non-Japanese friends and co-workers helps a lot. Not only can you use your native language, but the patterns of communication, expectations and levels of self-disclosure tend to be quite similar, and therefore it is often easier to build and develop relationships. The fact that we are all foreigners here “in the same boat” is a perfect icebreaker.
But perhaps the most important thing is to admit and fully accept that we can never fully assimilate in Japan.
Social media reaction has been mostly negative:
Warning – reading this can cause micro aggression and brain damage http://t.co/LBCobWfwts
— Hikosaemon (@hikosaemon) March 25, 2015
.@japantimes should be embarrassed for printing such garbage: “Spare a thought for the Western men trapped in Japan” http://t.co/PJvu9itRaZ
— Christopher Hobson (@hobson_c) March 25, 2015
I thought this was a #parody by @ThePoke at first… ‘Spare a thought for the Western men trapped in Japan!!!’ Oh my. http://t.co/DICpMn2nAh
— George Bray ブレイ・ジョージ (@GeorgeBray) March 24, 2015
The Japan Times, an English daily, has occupied a central role in Japan's non-resident community for more than one hundred years. Before the Internet era the print version of the Japan Times was used by non-residents to find jobs, buy and sell items as expats arrived and departed from the country, keep on top of world events, and generally remain connected to the outside world.
As the Internet has impacted traditional media around the world, the Japan Times has been no exception. While the paper is still popular with English-language learners, readership has declined over the past decade. The paper sometimes attempts to generate clicks by printing outrageous articles.
One of the top-rated comments on the original Japan Times article states:
Instead of isolating yourself from Japanese people to protect your sanity, which this author appears to be suggesting, I would suggest a different approach.
People, after all, are not that different from each other. People all over the world appreciate, for example, things like kindness and honesty. So try to find those in Japanese people. And try to show Japanese people that you, too, have those qualities.
In other words, try to see they are the same as you, try to show you are the same as them.
Eido Inoue, an American-born naturalized Japanese citizen, is harsher in his criticism of the Japan Times article:
These I-don't-wanna-try-to-fit-in foreigners, with their own private lost decade(s) in Japan, prioritized alcohol, debauchery, and the English Internet. They were then forced to double down and say that yes, they CHOSE to not learn Japanese and do The English Life because that's the better path. Because not to affirm this would be to admit they wasted their prime years, having been given a unique and rare opportunity of life in another rich and wonderful country, and settled for less — the quick and easy and superficial route.
Jake Adelstein, an American journalist, crime writer and blogger who has spent most of his career in Japan, says moving back home may not solve these Western men's problems anyway.
“We aren't accepted universally in any society. Japan values reciprocity & decorum. If you do too, you can fit in. “http://t.co/eaGVofuPic
— Jake Adelstein/中本哲史 (@jakeadelstein) March 24, 2015

author: Nevin Thompson


text:
Spreading the Seed of Permaculture from Timor-Leste to the Tropical World · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

Visit the project's website and crowdfunding campaign. Follow the Permaculture Guidebook on Twitter (@permaguidebook) and Instagram.
More than a decade of permaculture implementation in Timor-Leste is leading to a unique guidebook specific to worldwide tropical climates — that is, if an ongoing crowdfunding campaign succeeds. The practical reference guide — A Tropical Permaculture Guidebook — aims at “assisting subsistence farmers in tropical areas worldwide to gain community, health, economic, environment & development benefits”.
“We need to support farmers in every country to connect with each other and share their knowledge with each other about sustainable agriculture and traditional knowledge”, says Timorese environmental activist and musician Eugenio “Ego” Lemos in an interview with the website Focus on Global South. The founder of the first national organization dedicated to permaculture — Permatil — which is leading the effort to publish the Tropical Permaculture Guidebook, explains why it is important to spread this seed:
We have to claim back our traditional knowledge, protect our lands, seeds, genetic resources and water, and win back our rights of what we want to eat and grow.  The world is now facing food and economic crises because those with capital control our world. But we need to change this. If we allow capital to rule the world, it will create disasters and this planet will not live long.  We need to reunite the world.
“Generally, permaculture is the design of sustainable communities”, summarizes the Tropical Guidebook crowdfunding page, adding that it “includes organic agriculture, housing, animal husbandry, forestry, waste management, environmental care and more, and is specific to each environment and population where it is implemented.”
The origin of the term, coined by Australian environmentalists Bill Mollison and David Holmgren in 1978, is a contraction of the phrase “permanent agriculture”, later extended to “permanent culture”. Among dozens of definitions, Mollison puts it forward as:
… a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted and thoughtful observation rather than protracted and thoughtless labor; and of looking at plants and animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single product system.
Permaculture Ethics and Design Principles: “Central to permaculture are three ethics – earth care, people care and fair share – which guide the use of the 12 design principles, ensuring that they are used in appropriate ways”. Poster by permacultureprinciples.com (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)
For renowned Australian permaculture author, trainer and practitioner Rosemary Morrow (one of the advisers who joined Permatil's quest for the tropical edition of the permaculture guidebook), “one of the problems in disseminating permaculture information is lack of suitable and relevant resources particularly for the tropic regions.” Something that Permatil and partners want to fix with the exclusive international edition of the Tropical Permaculture Guidebook:
Design and implementation of swales and terraces (top) and bamboo watering pipes (bottom) in Timor-Leste for more efficient water and soil management over time in tropical regions.
In essence we are hoping to produce a practical educational resource that will provide the same benefits in Africa, SE Asia, Polynesia, Melanesia, the Caribbean and the tropical Americas that we have seen in Timor-Leste. Most importantly, to provide knowledge, techniques and skills that will reduce the severity of global climate change and provide adaptation and resilience to climate change impacts.
The guidebook will build upon a first edition, published in 2006, upgrading, improving and generalizing it for use in all tropical regions.
The international edition, by the original writers Lachlan McKenzie and Ego Lemos in collaboration with Permatil, the xpand Foundation and Disruptive Media, will be available in hard copy and online for free download, chapter by chapter, thus “[enabling] more people across the developing world to lay down some sustainable roots, build knowledge and food security”:
A success of the first guidebook was that Permatil wanted to provide simple but complete knowledge with a focus on practical techniques backed up by detailed illustrations, which enabled everyone, including semi-literate and illiterate users, to glean information from it. The information is aimed at strengthening and building communities from the ground up and almost all of the techniques are able to be duplicated by anyone no matter their economic and social circumstance.
Check out the video of the crowdfunding campaign by WithOneSeed, due on April 4, 2015. The project will be continuing to accept donations on the website www.permacultureguidebook.org.

author: Sara Moreira


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A Day After Martial Law Was Lifted, Patani Students Arrested in South Thailand · Global Voices
Zashnain Zainal

Thai Muslims gather in solidarity against the reported detention of students by the army. Photo from Free Voice, used with permission.
A day after martial law was lifted in Thailand by the National Council for Peace and Order, military officers reportedly arrested 22 students of the Princess of Naradhiwas University in conflict-torn Narathiwat province.
The Federation of Patani Students and Youth (PerMAS) issued a statement calling for the immediate release of those arrested and for the junta to remove the ‘continuing’ martial law in Patani, Yala and Narathiwat, commonly referred to as the Muslim-majority “deep south”.
The southern provinces have been wrecked by insurgency, poverty and heavy militarisation over the past decade. The conflict has affected the lives of many civilians who are often accused by government troops of sympathizing with or supporting the rebel force.
Meanwhile, Free Voice, a media program coordinated by Patani students, informed Global Voices that the students were arrested in a military crackdown at several student dormitories in Hospital Narathiwat Rajnakharin, Kampong Tako’, Polytenic College, and Lorong Narakul.
Families of detained students waiting for answers from Thai military. Photo from Facebook page of Free Voice.
In their search for answers, parents travel through heavy security. Photo from Facebook page of Free Voice.
According to Free Voice, students and young people have been expressing their concerns for the safety of the detainees. Many have made attempts to meet with and appeal to army officers for their release. It added that 11 of the 20 students are detained by the authorities at Julaporn military camp, Kaotanyong military camp and Pileng (military) camp.
Student groups expressing their concerns to the Thai army. Photo from the Facebook page of Ihsan Cikwan Patani.
Students and young people offering prayers for the safety of the detainees. Photo from Free Voice.
Rally for freedom, while army personnel took photos. Photo by Free Voice.
Support from Aceh, Indonesia. Photo from the Facebook page of Hermanto Muhammad.
When asked about the reaction of the public, Free Voice said the community had received support from Bangkok and even neighboring countries:
We see a small but growing movement for justice as far as Aceh, Indonesia and Malaysia. We hope to see more calling for the freedom of our fellow students.
Many residents, particularly the Muslim community, feel socially and economically ostracised by the other provinces. The human rights violations and intimidations faced by the community, coupled with this recent detention, may influence the process of the upcoming peace dialogue between the insurgents and the junta.

author: Zashnain Zainal


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‘Artists With One Voice’ Are Using Music to Keep the Spotlight on Ebola · Global Voices
Dibussi Tande

Cover photo of the group's Facebook page.
Grim stories about the Ebola pandemic are steadily disappearing from news headlines as fewer new infections are reported and the death toll continues to decline in the worst afflicted countries. However, the fight against Ebola is far from over, as a recent US State Department video warns.
In fact, the disease still poses a major health and security threat to Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Thus, in spite of the significant gains of the last few months, this is definitely not the time for complacency. In this regard, the “fire” metaphor used by ONE Campaign is a timely one:
Many have described Ebola as a fire; if we get complacent and leave any embers behind, the blaze could easily and quickly reignite. So until we get to zero across the entire region, we shouldn’t rest or consider our job done. And until the job is done, we must redouble our efforts to keep this issue front of mind for politicians, donors, and the media.
One of the groups fighting against complacency in the battle against Ebola is “Artists With One Voice” (AWOV), a US-based collective of musicians from Cameroon, Liberia, Senegal, and the United States who are raising awareness about the disease through music.
“Artists With One Voice” is the brainchild of Cameroon-born Peter Ngu Tayong, a former Outreach and Media Affairs Advisor at the United Nations Integrated Peace building Office in Sierra Leone (UNIPSIL). According to Tayong, the idea to use music for social causes has its origins in his time as the UN’s main communications man in post-war Sierra Leone during which he realized the power of music as a tool for social consciousness, social engagement and national reconciliation. As he points out in a recent VOA interview:
We have to start giving voice to artists… we have to empower artists to use their voices positively. This is the only way you start a movement. We can have a billion songs on Ebola, it doesn’t matter as long as we eradicate Ebola. It is a win-win; the more the merrier.
The group is made up of nine artists:
“Artists with one voice” is made up of Johnny Wisdom, Vicky Fornah, Lady Felicia and Dennis Foray Aka MDG from Sierra Leone; Brent Woodall from United States; Sidikie Jabatie from Guinea; Khalil Gueye from Senegal; Lily Meka from Cameroon; and Brekalia from Liberia. The group was founded by Peter Ngu Tayong from Cameroon.
In December 2014, AWOV released its first single titled “Ebola We Can Overcome,” which has become the de facto Ebola anthem in activist circles in the United States.
Since the release of the song, AWOV has performed across the United States in a variety of settings. Some of the group’s notable performances include the 2015 Martin Luther King Builder and Patron Awards at the University of Maryland where they were one of the honorees; the Institute of Human Virology where they were the guests of famed AIDS researcher Dr. Robert Gallo, and at the United Nations General Assembly Hall for the “Stop Ebola and Build for the Future” concert (AWOV’s performance begins at 1:25:17).
So what next for the group?
Peter Tayong told this author in a telephone interview that AWOV will continue to focus on Ebola awareness until the disease is completely eradicated from West Africa. In the meantime, AWOV has been incorporated as a not-for-profit organization in the United States and intends to use its platform to draw attention, through music, to the myriad of issues facing Africa – AIDS, access to clean water, education, gender inequality, poverty, etc.
So AWOV’s battle against Ebola complacency continues unabated; the group’s next major performance will be at the Annual Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund taking place in Washington, DC on April 17-19, 2015.
Interested in learning more about AWOV’s anti-Ebola crusade? Check out their Facebook page.

author: Dibussi Tande


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Clip Depicting 100 Years of Women’s Fashion in Iran Challenges Media-Driven Stereotypes · Global Voices
Laura Vidal

Beauty trends and social uprisings in the last century of Iranian history. Image labelled for reuse.
Watch the complete video here:

author: Laura Vidal


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‘I Am Strong—I Am Not a Victim,’ Says This Turkish ‘Co-Mayor’ · Global Voices
PRI/PRX's The World

One year in to her term as co-mayor of Kocakoy, Kilic is not interested in talking about her painful past. “I am strong…I am not a victim,” she declares in between phone calls in her office. Credit: Bradley Secker. Published with PRI's permission.
This article and radio report by Dalia Mortada for The World as part of the Across Women's Lives project originally appeared on PRI.org on March 30, 2015, and is republished here as part of a content-sharing agreement.
Turkey may be a democracy, but it’s a democratic system that mostly leaves women out of the picture. Of the 1,395 mayors elected a year ago across Turkey, a grand total of 37 were women.
Enter the female co-mayors.
In the mostly Kurdish areas under its purview, the minority Peace and Democracy party has appointed 46 women to act as co-mayors with their elected male counterparts. One of them is 34-year-old Berivan Elif Kilic, chosen as comayor of Kocakoy, a sleepy village of 17,000 people located on the climb up to the mountains in southeastern Turkey.
More than half her life ago, Kilic’s family entered her into an illegal marriage with a relative. At age 28, she escaped the abusive relationship with two kids in tow.
When she took office as co-mayor last year, the media focused mostly on her dramatic backstory. But visiting her a year into her term, it’s clear Kilic is not interested in talking about the past. “I am strong … I am not a victim,” she declares in between phone calls in her office. Kilic’s male co-mayor is also the village imam. That means he also has to conduct Friday prayers at the mosque and tend to people’s religious needs, so sometimes Kilic is on her own.
“In the 11 months since I’ve been mayor, I’ve been in town 11 days,” Kilic explains of her busy schedule. “I try to take care of my constituents’ needs over the phone.”
Kocakoy is one of the many villages that has taken in refugees from northern Syria and Iraq, so the mayor devotes much of her time getting displaced Syrians and Iraqis what they need. She just got back from a monthlong trip to Turkey’s nearby border with Syria, where the battle against ISIS rages on.
A man walks through the snow covered streets of the old part of the town of Kocaköy, Diyarbakir province, Turkey. Credit: Bradley Secker. Published with PRI's permission.
By simply doing her job well, Kilic has a wider goal: changing the way Turkish and Kurdish societies think about what women can do. Traditionally, women here are “thought of as someone's mother, or wife, or daughter, or girlfriend. She's always thought of in relation to someone else,” Kilic says.
That’s true on the national political level as well as the local one, says Zeynep Alemdar, cofounder of a Turkish Women in Foreign Policy group, an initiative dedicated to getting more women involved in policymaking. Alemdar says it is basically impossible for women to be taken seriously as candidates in Turkey.
“[W]e are always required to have a better education, better language skills…we have to be better at everything,” Alemdar explains. “If you just look at the [resumes] of the female parliamentarians…all of the women are much better educated than men.”
If that were not enough, Alemdar continues, it often takes a powerful husband or father to get women a political nomination – and even then, women are usually restricted to making decisions in the domestic realm. Turkey’s only female cabinet member heads the Ministry of Family and Social Policy.
But many of the new co-mayors haven’t followed this narrow path of Turkish women in politics, which is what makes them so unique, Alemdar says. She’s also pleased that women like Kilic are refusing to fall into another trap for women here, that of the “martyr” who deserves pity.
“What she has gone through in her personal life doesn't matter, but she learned from that and actually went to a different tangent and decided to do something else and good for the community as well,” Alemdar says.
For her part, Kilic hopes to create more infrastructure to help other women in Kocakoy and beyond: a women’s community center, for instance, and a bazaar where women can sell goods. But she doesn’t intend to hold office beyond her five-year term — she’s also trying to get the high-school degree she couldn’t attain after being married off as a teenager. And then she wants to go to university.
Besides, she says, there’s no dearth of other qualified co-mayors.
“I want other women to take over after I’m done,” Kilic says.

author: PRI/PRX's The World


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Uzbekistan’s Tuti Yusupova May Not Have Been the World’s Oldest Person. But Her Life Still Witnessed Phenomenal Change.  · Global Voices
Chris Rickleton

Tuti Yusupova – the oldest in the world? Image from RFE/RL. Used under creative commons.
You should never speak ill of the dead, but world records are important.
One of the most important world records there is, is undoubtedly the oldest person in the world record. The record is a vital marker for humankind, showing how people can live active lives for longer periods of time, reflecting advances in basic healthcare and our improving knowledge of the environments we live in.
This is why the claim of Uzbekistan's Tuti Yusupova, who died on April 1, to be a whole thirteen years older than the current holder of the record, the late Jeanne Calment, deserves scrutiny.
Alim Khan, the Last Emir of Bukhara, ruled part of Uzbekistan under the suzerainty of the Russian empire. A 1911 colour photo by pioneer photographer Sergei Prokudin-Gorsky. The part of Uzbekistan Yusupova lived in would probably have been ruled by another fief, Isfandiyar Jurji Bahadur, during this period. Prokudin-Gorsky also captured him in colour. Wikipedia images.
To be sure, Yusupova, who Uzbekistan says was 135-years-old when she died, was not an overnight claimant. The Uzbek authorities have been lobbying for her inclusion in the Guinness Book of Records for some time.
On an Uzbek science and technology blog Davron Akhmedov wrote in 2008, citing the regional administration where Yusupova lived:
Самая старая жительница планеты 128-летняя Тути Юсупова проживает на одном из аулов Турткульского района Каракалпакстана, однако она не подвергалась геронтологической экспертизе.
«Тути Юсуповой в этом году исполнилось 128 лет. Она долгое время работала на строительстве местных каналов Шахтаарна и Богён. Местные жители уважают ее такие качества как честность и инициативность, молодежь прислушивается к ее наставлениям», – отметили в районной администрации.
По словам представителя Турткульской районной администрации, в этом году Тути Юсупова указом президента Узбекистана была награждена медалью «Шухрат».
По данным Gerontology Research Group, в настоящее время самым старым человеком в мире является 115-летняя Мария де Жезус из Португалии, которая появилась на свет 10 сентября 1893 года.
The Bolsheviks banned the veil when they consolidated power in the region after World War One. This photo is from before that period. Shared via @oldtashkent.
The oldest resident of the planet, 128-year-old Tuti Yuspova lives in one of the villages of the Turtkul region of Kakalpakstan, however she has not undergone gerontological expertise.
“Tuti Yusupova this year celebrated 128 years. She worked for a long time on the construction of the local canals in Shahtaarna Bogёn.
Local residents respect her qualities, such as honesty and leadership, youth listen to her instructions,” said a member of the district administration.
According to the district administration representative this year Tuti Yusupova was awarded the medal Shukhrat by presidential decree.
Construction of the Great Fergana Canal in 1939. Soviet-era Uzbekistan. Shared by @oldtashkent.
On the Daily Mail website, the news of Yusupova's passing, accompanied by a scan of her passport, inspired doubts about her age:
Yv G:
Look at the passport closely. The date of issue was 1997, which means that she was allegedly 117 at the time that photo was taken. Clearly that's not the case.
Ken:
Would be more convincing if they produced all of her previous passports too. Any Soviet Citizen would have had an internal passport (not valid for travel outside the country) since the 1930s if not earlier.
Universal education of Uzbeks and Russians in Uzbekistan's Fergana region under the Soviets. Was Yusupova really 50-years-old when this photo was taken? Shared by @oldtashkent.
As well as the usual dose of spam:
I believe her secret to longevity is no exposure to all these chemicals that go in our packaged food drinks.She gets all her vitamins minerals from natural source.I heard a Dr say recently a study was done on plastic bottle water that it had more harmful chemicals than tap water.There needs to be solution to this plastic bottles harmful packaging plus the takeaway polystyrene cups boxes that hold hot drinks food, this melts the glue which is so harmful to you.Did you know ALL CANCERS are that the person is either lacking in certain vitamins & minerals there is a good Doctor Dr.Joel Wallach where he mentions everybody should take 90 essential vitamin minerals daily…
The emergence of the Soviet rail network in Central Asia. Shared via @oldtashkent.
Visitors to Uzbek websites such as gazeta.uz were more inclined to believe the news and register their sadness at her passing.
Anvar Madaminov:
Жойлари жаннатда бўлсин. Dunyo kurib quysin va ta'm bersin
May her place be in paradise. Let the world see and be astonished.
Xusniddin Kamolov:
Илойим жойлари жаннатда булсин. Барчамизга шу ая сингари узок умр куриш насиб килсин. Фарзандлари, якинларига сабр тилайман.
May God grant her place in heaven. May He bless us all with such a
long life. My condolences to her children and close ones.
But even on these websites there was skepticism. Radim Ibragimov wrote:
Газета. уз, что-то я не разберусь. Только сегодня читал в мировых новостях, что скончалась Мисао Окава — старейшая жительница планеты на 118 году. Она жила в Японии. Сегодня же читаю вашу печальную новость про Тути Юсупову. Понимаю, что не к месту, но кто все-таки был старейшим жителем до сегодняшнего дня? Где правда? В мировых СМИ ни слова про Тути Юсупову..
Gazeta.uz, I cannot work this out. Only today I read world news that [Japan's] Misao Okawa [who died days after Yusupova on April 1] was the oldest person on the planet at 118. She lived in Japan. Today I read your sad news about Tuti Yusupova. I understand it may not be appropriate, but who really was the oldest person on the planet? Where is the truth? International media have not written a word about Tuti Yusupova.
Passenger flights in the Soviet Union. Photo taken in 1968. Shared by @oldtashkent.
So, is Uzbekistan being unfairly done out of a world record, and one it would likely keep for a while? Here are three tentative reasons why that might not be the case:
Central Asian countries like records
A google search for world records next to the name of Uzbekistan's westerly neighbour, Turkmenistan, returns ‘Turkmenistan enters record books for having the most white marble buildings’, ‘Turkmenistan builds largest indoor Ferris wheel’ and ‘Largest architectural star record set in Turkmenistan’. Tajikistan, Uzbekistan's easterly neighbour had the world's tallest free-standing flagpole until Saudi Arabia eclipsed it recently, and has built the Central Asian region's largest library and teahouse, seemingly all for the love of size.
Uzbekistan's bids for records are more modest — in 2012 it claimed the record for the largest picture made of LED lights — but the oldest person in the world title, in a country where seniority automatically confers power and deference, would be a powerful propaganda tool.
Uzbekistan's independence and the birth of the Uzbek sum currency. Shared via
@intashkent.
Uzbekistan does not always record records with integrity
Uzbekistan is one of the few post-Soviet countries that has posted robust economic figures even as Russia's economic crisis reverberates through the region. The Soviet-style command economy, famous for book-cooking, remains in place. Recently 77-year-old President Islam Karimov won over 90% of a presidential vote in which authorities claimed a 91% turnout. The OSCE said vote fraud had been a key feature of the ballot. Even if Yusupova was the oldest person in the world, Uzbekistan's attitude towards statistics has cast suspicion on her claim from the outset.
Islam Karimov, Uzbekistan's President since 1990. Shared via @KenRoth
The air in Karakalpakstan will dry your skin
Could Yusupova have aged prematurely or even developed a skin condition? As the government only provides one old passport photo, we do not know. But a life in the scrubland that is Karakalpakstan, a nominally autonomous region of Uzbekistan that hosts the ongoing tragedy of the Aral Sea, might easily do that to a person. In such a hostile physical environment, where one resident told a traveller to the region that the ‘air rains salt’, it is a tribute to Yusupova's constitution that she lived to old age at all.
The near total shrinkage of the Aral Sea, shared by Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, happened within Yusupova's lifetime, and, indeed, the lifetime of anyone over the age of 60. Scientists attribute the sea's practical disappearance to over-cultivation of cotton in Uzbekistan. Wikipedia image.
So far Guinness have yet to publish a reaction to Uzbekistan's claim, and may be reluctant to pour over the case of a person whose police state government says she was born over three decades before the collapse of the Russian empire, when legal documents were presumably in short supply. Yet just as Yusupova's age claim should not be accepted without a reasonably thorough investigation, it should not be rejected without such either. The record's integrity depends on it.

author: Chris Rickleton


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Anton Nossik in ‘Open Russia’ on the History of Kremlin Botnets · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

Anton Nossik. (Original photo: November 13, 2007, Alexander Plyushchev, CC 2.0.) Photo edited by Kevin Rothrock.
Last week, RuNet Echo published “Social Network Analysis Reveals Full Scale of Kremlin's Twitter Bot Campaign,” the first installment of a two-part series by social scientist Lawrence Alexander. The research caused quite a stir in Russia, where several major media outlets reported summaries of Alexander’s findings. Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s organization Open Russia even interviewed Anton Nossik, one of the world’s foremost RuNet experts, about Alexander’s work, asking Nossik to explain the significance of Russian bot networks and their legacy in the modern history of Kremlin politics.
RuNet Echo presents Open Russia‘s interview with Anton Nossik, translated from Russian into English. (See here for the original interview in Russian.)
Open Russia: Why do the authorities continue to use bots and other similar technologies for promoting their propaganda and political agenda on the Internet? Why don’t they mobilize their real supporters online? This is more efficient, after all, and it would avoid all these scandals.
Anton Nossik: About ten years ago, when all this started, the authorities didn’t have many real supporters online. And it was hard to find bloggers for hire who were ready to spread the Putin love. The answer was the emergence of this huge service that promoted Putin love for money, and it was run by [former pro-Kremlin youth-group leaders] Vasily Yakemenko and Kristina Potupchik.
Today, years later, it’s probably safe to say there’s a contingent of Internet users who sympathize with the Kremlin entirely for free. But the problem is that some people have been suckling at the state budget for a decade, getting funding to “love the Motherland” and “take the fight to the enemy.” And under no circumstances are these people going to refuse this money.
So, on one hand, it seems as though the Kremlin actually pulled it off: a genuinely pro-Putin segment of Internet users has appeared, and there’s no longer any need to simulate it. But these people still need the work. How are they supposed to live without it? And that’s why it will all continue.
Open Russia: And what’s the value of this particular research completed by [Lawrence] Alexander? After all, we already knew about the troll factories, which started operating in the Olgino area of Saint Petersburg, and then on Savushkina street, and about people like Potupchik and others.
Anton Nossik: Yes, of course, we in Russia already knew about all these trolls, bots, and ways of inflating online numbers. We in Russia know the rates they charge, their daily workload, their personnel list, and their salaries. But the fact that this phenomenon has become noticeable even to foreign researchers—this shows a certain global development in thinking about the people of Russia. As you know, it wouldn’t even occur to a normal person living in a civilized country that the government might fund its own praise on Twitter by spending tax money on phony accounts.
Now, when people in the West read Alexander’s research, they’ll see how our system works. It’s useful and it’s important that the world understands that the Russian authorities rely on Internet fraud. People all around the world should draw a distinction between the Russian authorities and the country’s population.


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Dear CNN, Uganda Is Not Tanzania · Global Voices
Prudence Nyamishana

A screenshot of a map of East Africa showing Uganda as Tanzania.
In the course of their reporting on the Garissa attack in Kenya, CNN showed a map that labelled Uganda as Tanzania and presented Nairobi as a city in Nigeria. This went down badly with many African netizens.
LRTs @CNN is really disrespectful of Africa as a continent. Nairobi is in Nigeria and now Uganda is Tanzania. pic.twitter.com/qDHfXBeVbO
— Rumbidzai Dube (@dubbydacious) April 4, 2015
Patra, a social media manager with the television station NTV Uganda, said:
Dear CNN, Uganda is not Tanzania pic.twitter.com/lp6Gg2zHM9
— Patu (@AyamPatra) April 3, 2015
Replying to Patra, Mollel advised:
@Steve_RF @AyamPatra I think someone doing this at CNN should go to a class of geography:had said Nigeria instead of Kenya and now this!
— Mollel (@jmollel) April 3, 2015
Biko Stephen remarked:
@texasinafrica @AyamPatra CNN are an embarrassment. Just too many faux pas!
— Biko Stephen (@BikoIntellect) April 3, 2015
The incident hardened the view that the American news outlet thinks Africa is a country:
Sometimes it feels like @CNN are the only hardline Pan-Africanists left. They don't believe national borders or names mean anything!
— AFRICA IS A COUNTRY (@AfricasaCountry) April 3, 2015
Giovanna Bunei picked on CNN's staff:
Oi, people at @CNN, did anyone in the newsroom actually pass geography in school? @samirasawlani @Ramah_Nyang @OfwonoOpondo @AfricasaCountry
— Giovanna Bunei (@giobunei) April 3, 2015
And the ranting continued:
“@MisLongLegs: “@kollinsayz: Dear @CNN Africa is not a country!” Do they ever learn!?” do they even care?
— Kollin Rukundo T (@kollinsayz) April 3, 2015
Chano8 commented:
With such small mistakes made by one of the most respectable news networks all over the world, make one simple explanation. They are also human.
On Facebook, Wamoka Derrick argued that the problem is not CNN, but the fact that Uganda is not well known:
Its Not CNN's Mistake.
We Are The Onez Who Made A Mistake Bse They Dont Know Us.
THAT SIMPLY SHOWS THAT IN EASTAFRICA, UGANDA IS LESS KNOWN WORLDWIDE.
Dennis Ntume replied:
How can you guys be saying they don't know about us when their grandfathers are the ones who demarcated our boarders? They know but are either complacent or, [it was] intended!

author: Prudence Nyamishana


text:
Discover Yemen through its Literature: Six Contemporary Authors  Worth Reading · Global Voices
Thalia Rahme

On Arabic Literature in English, M. Lynx Qualey presents six contemporary Yemeni authors worth discovering.
She points out:
As you might expect from a troubled nation with relatively little modern literary output, there aren’t many translations of Yemeni work available in English. However, there are some, as several Yemeni authors have received regional and international acclaim.
These authors are: Mohammad Abdul-Wali, Zaid Mutee Dammaj, Ali al-Muqri, Wajdi al-Ahdal, Nadia Alkowkabani and Shawqi Shafiq.
Qualey was inspired to write about those Yemeni writers by an article published in Yemen Times on March 23, 2015, entitled “Political Crisis and Yemen's Literary Insurgence”. The article mentions other renowned authors such as Marwan Ghafory, Mohammed Algharbi Amran , Habib Sorori, Safa’a Al-Habal, Ahmed Al-Sakkaf or Samir Abdulfattah, Ramzia Al-Iryani.
It speaks about how the political crisis affected the publishing sector and how, on the other hand, “what the country is going through gives writers a will to write. They try to reflect on what is happening around them within their works.” The article continues: “Ongoing political turmoil may not bode well for Yemen, but if 2014 is any indication, the outlook for its national literary scene is a promising one.”

author: Thalia Rahme