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Police Brutality in Macedonia: Two Years On · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

On Thursday, June 6, in the center of Skopje, the Movement Against Police Brutality will mark two years since the murder of Martin Neshkovski, which sparked massive grassroots protests in Macedonia in the summer of 2011. The Facebook event [mk] about the memorial service states:
On Thursday, June 6, at 11 AM, we shall visit the crime scene and light a symbolic candle to remind us that we allowed ourselves to lose a young life. May he be remembered!
During the gathering the “Stop Police Brutality” Movement will hold a press conference to present activities marking its second anniversary. Additionally, we shall express support for the Turkish people who mount bloody resistance to police brutality these days. […]
Two years later, we have already resigned ourselves with the inhumanity of the officers of the repressive system such as Gordana Jankulovska and Ivo Kotevski, who continue building their professional and political careers without a shred of conscience regarding their attempt to lie to the public, but we shall never reconcile with the existence of police units which are unaccountable to the citizens, and pose a constant threat to our personal safety.
We maintain our demands for external control over the members of the MOI, for fundamental reform of the special forces, and for humanization of the profession of policeman, through engaging policemen in work beneficial to society.
And when the police be to the task, we shall remain here, just in case. Never again they should put their boots on our dignity, never again to attempt to assault our psychophysical integrity. We pay them to protect us, not to harass us. […]

author: Veronica Khokhlova


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Singapore Memory Project · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Initiated in 2011, the Singapore Memory Project aims “to collect, preserve and provide access” to Singapore's history. Further, “it aims to build a national collection of content including print, audio and video to preserve them in digital form, and make them available for discovery and research.” The project hopes to collect 5 million personal memories by 2015.

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Mong Palatino


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For Tiananmen Anniversary, Tens of Thousands Gather in Rainy Hong Kong  · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Tens of thousands of people braved torrential rain in Hong Kong's Victoria Park to commemorate the 24th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre with a candlelight vigil.
The annual vigil remembers the Chinese government's brutal and bloody crackdown on nearly two months of student-led pro-democracy demonstrations in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in the spring of 1989. Soldiers clearing the square at the time shot and killed hundreds of Chinese on June 4, 1989.
The Tiananmen Square protests remain a taboo subject in mainland China, and the government's Internet censors routinely remove references to the movement online.
Between 54,000 and 150,000 people turned out for this year's vigil, hosted by the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements, an advocacy group that promotes a democratic China which has organized the event since 1990.
Heavy rains could not stop Hong Kong people from attending June 4 candlelight vigil. Photo by Joey Kwok via Housenews. Non-commercial use.
But the lead-up to the commemoration was shadowed by a debate about its theme “Love the country. Love the people. Hong Kong Spirit”, seen by some as too pro-Chinese nationalism. Some Hong Kong “localists”, who believe that Hong Kong should cut political ties with mainland China in order to preserve its own autonomy, even advocated for a boycott of the vigil, prompting the alliance to withdraw the slogan.
The move led to another round of criticism. For example, user “Wing” wrote on inmediahk.net, a citizen media platform that [zh] the denial of “patriotic expression” on June 4th is a betrayal of the Hong Kong people's collective experience in struggling against the one party regime of mainland China.
A mainland Chinese holds a post that reads, “thank you Hong Kong”. P H Yang Photography | phyang.org
Regardless, many were left feeling hopeful after the vigil. Fung Ka Keung, a volunteer for the event, wrote [zh] on his Facebook page about what he witnessed:
今天一直在維園噴水池入口，市民從走行人路，到警察間歇封馬路市民走馬路，到警察全面封馬路。所有足球場爆滿，我再一次親眼目睹了。
下起大雨，大家全身濕透，見到有人避雨從糖街出口離開會場。但過了半小時，市民由離場多再一次變成進場多。足球場再次爆滿，警察跑來要求我們不要再叫人去足球場而改去草地。接著，告士打道就塞滿了去草地的人群，而且，他們縱使知道大會音響因惡劣天氣故障，仍然耐心等候，沒有半分投訴。
今天是感動的一天，最振奮人心的一天。縱使遇到巨大的挑戰，香港人仍然沒有離棄六四死難者，證明了香港人的良心不滅。
Today, I was standing near the fountain entrance. At first people were walking into the park on the sideway and the police had to block the car way occasionally to let people passed. So many people kept coming and the police had to block the road next to the park. All the football fields were filled with people. I witnessed this again.
Suddenly, the heavy rain started and people were soaked. Some people left the park from Sugar Street to seek refuge from the rain. However, in about half an hour, people returned to the park and the football fields were once again filled. The police asked us to direct people to the areas of open grass. The whole Gloucester Road was filled up with people who were heading towards those areas. Even though the weather was really bad and the sound system was not functioning, people were waiting patiently without any complaints.
This was a most touching and exciting day. Although we are facing such a big challenge, Hong Kong people are still clinging to the victims of the June 4 massacre. The conscience of the Hong Kong people lives forever.
150,000 people braved thunderstorms and torrential rain for a candlelight vigil at Victoria Park in Hong Kong to mark the 24th anniversary of the June 4 Tiananmen Square massacre. P H Yang Photography | phyang.org
Alexander Yan recited a lyric of a protest song [zh], the “Flower of Freedom”, which could be heard in almost every corner of the park:
但有一個夢，不會死，記著吧！無論雨怎麼打，自由仍是會開花，但有一個夢，不會死，記著吧！來自你我的心，記著吧！
Sea of candles at Victoria Park in Hong Kong on June 4, 2013. P H Yang Photography | phyang.org
“H4 Ruby” wrote [zh] on inmediahk.net soon after he returned home and made a date with his friends to return the same day next year:
今年的六四晚會，很特別。 […] 相信在場人士也不會忘記那場雨。「無論雨怎麼打，自由仍是會開花」這一句唱得特別投入﹑特別激昂﹑特別應景。因為我們都明白「遇強愈強」的道理：只要我們仍堅信自己的信念，知道要捍衛真相，無論天氣如何惡劣﹑政治的局面如何險要也好，在這段路上也不應動搖。可能我只懂唸口號，唱歌還要看著歌詞。但我仍然堅持唸著守候著，是因為我知道在二十四年前，有一群與我年紀相約的學生，勇於的站出來。我做的雖然微不足道，但我仍希望由衷地表達心中的敬意和謝意。即使我不是在二十四年前的現場，但面對對今天道德﹑是非顛倒的社會，我只想以一點燭光表達不平則鳴。即使我不是在二十四年前的現場，但我也明白到作為父母親看著坦克下的孩子，那種無奈﹑心痛的感覺。雖然事隔廿四年，但感受仍是這樣的接近。[…] 明年今天，再次約會。
The June 4 vigil this year is very special. […] For those who were there, they will never forget the rain. When we sang “No matter how the rain falls, freedom will bloom”, we sang with all heart and emotion. We understand that when facing a strong enemy, we have to be stronger: We have to stay firm in our belief that to defend the truth, no matter how horrible the weather and how threatening the political situation, we should not falter on our path. Maybe all I know is how to shout out slogans, I can't even remember the lyrics [of the protest songs], but I will make sure to shout out and be present because I know that 24 years ago, some students who were at my age courageously took a stand. What I am doing is so little, yet it is a sincere expression of my respect and gratitude to them. Although I was not there 24 years ago, today I face a demoralizing society where right and wrong have been twisted, I express my solidarity through candlelight. Although I was not there 24 years ago, I can understand the pain and frustration of the parents whose children were crushed by tanks. Twenty-four years have passed, the feeling is still there. […] See you next year, same day.

author: Oiwan Lam


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The Kindest Peruvian Has Been Found · Global Voices
Gabriela García Calderón Orbe

Marisol Rodríguez Gamero, a 23-year old Law School student, won the contest “The kindest Peruvian” [es], an initiative to encourage Peruvians to relate to positive values and attitudes, highlighting their kindness towards tourists.
The website DePeru.com [es] summarized the contest's goals [es] and posted information:
[La Comisión de Promoción del Perú para la Exportación y el Turismo] PROMPERÚ realiza esta campaña con el cual pretende seguir incentivando el turismo en el Perú y donde todos los peruanos debemos poner de nuestra parte para lograr que los turistas nacionales y extranjeros reciban una cordial atención durante su permanencia en nuestros lugares de visita.
[The Commission of Promotion of Peru for Export and Tourism] PROMPERÚ is directing this campaign seeking to continue stimulating tourism in Peru, and where we as Peruvians have to play our part in order to get national and foreign tourists to receive friendly service during their stay in our tourist destinations.
After an extensive advertising campaign on television, newspapers and radio, on Monday June 3, 2013, President Ollanta Humala Tasso and Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism, José Luis Silva Martinot, awarded the prize to the winner of the contest, 23-year old Law School student Marisol Rodríguez Gamero.
Marisol was chosen because she spontaneously escorted two Swiss cyclists from the Limean district of Pueblo Libre to the Jorge Chávez international airport. In March of this year, Marisol biked with the Swiss tourists, who were about to travel back to their country, on a 20-kilometer ride from the intersection of Brasil [es] and Bolívar avenues all the way to the airport.
Typical Cusco street. Photo by Flickr user Héctor de Pereda (CC BY-NC 2.0)
Marisol became a finalist in the contest after netizens voted for her. The awarded prize consists of a luxury trip for two to three destinations: Cusco, Paracas and Tambopata.
The Peruvian twittersphere reacted with all kinds of 140-character remarks, like the laconic announcement by Marca PERÚ (@marcaPERU):
@marcaPERU: Se inicio ceremonia para elección del #peruanomasamable @peruanoamable #marcaperu
@marcaPERU [es]: Ceremony to choose #peruanomasamable [the kindest Peruvian] has started. @peruanoamable #marcaperu [brand Peru]
User mArTin GV (@MARTINZOTE) expressed his hopes for his favorite candidate to be the winner:
@MARTINZOTE: En esta 1ra edición tiene que ganar EL POLICÍA DE AREQUIPA. Desborda AMABILIDAD desde HACE AÑOS @marcaPERU @peruanoamable @peruanomasamable
@MARTINZOTE [es]: On this first edition, the winner has to be the POLICE AGENT FROM AREQUIPA. He is full of KINDNESS for YEARS NOW. @marcaPERU @peruanoamable @peruanomasamable
Using colloquial language, Lima Cero (@Lima_Cero) protested:
@Lima_Cero: #PTM Se puede saber por qué chu*** no fui elegido el #peruanomasamable ¿? Hablen m**das!!! oh wait!!! cc: @telasopapeo
@Lima_Cero: #PTM [es]: Can I know why the fuc*** I wasn't chosen as the #peruanomasamable ¿? Speak up, you pieces of sh**!!! oh wait!!! cc: @telasopapeo
Meanwhile, César de lta Porras (@drcesardip) expressed his opinion with visible resignation:
@drcesardip: Viendo #peruanomasamable y los galardonados me parecen mas vivos [N. del A: listo, audaz] q amable… En fin :)
@drcesardip [es]: Watching #peruanomasamable and the awarded ones look bolder rather than kind… Anyway :)
Twitter user Katty Neciosup (@kttyn) shared her surprise:
@kttyn: QUE!!! #peruanomasamable…pero si a mi no me han llamado! ah es peruanO! OK
@kttyn: WHAT!!! #peruanomasamable… but I haven't been summoned! Ah, it's for Peruvian males! OK
Edwin Gayozzo (@EGayozzo) stated his dissatisfaction and suggested:
@EGayozzo: Qué huachafada. Si quieren incentivar una conducta correcta, háganlo invirtiendo BIEN en educación, no con esta ridiculez #peruanomasamable
@EGayozzo [es]: This is tacky. If you want to encourage correct behavior, please do it with GOOD investment in education, not with this ridiculous thing. #peruanomasamable
The original Spanish word huachafada [es] refers to something tacky, in bad taste or ridiculous.
On the other hand, Less Martínez V (@rockazless) shares her own non-rewarded good action:
@rockazless: No es justo @karenzd y yo acompañamos a un grupo de 6 de turistas hasta la playa y no nos han condecorado nada #peruanomasamable
@rockazless [es]: This is not fair @karenzd and me walked a group of six tourists all the way to the beach and we haven't been awarded nor anything #peruanomasamable
Lastly, @Lima_Cero made a sarcastic reference to Peruvian junior volleyball team coach Natalia Málaga, well-known for her rude style:
@Lima_Cero: Natalia Málaga tenía que haber ganado como #peruanomasamable
@Lima_Cero [es]: Natalia Málaga should have been awarded #peruanomasamable.

author: Gabriela García Calderón Orbe


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The Moscow Mayoral Election Will Test Russia’s Internet Culture · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

When Moscow’s civil society exploded after national elections 18 months ago, pouring tens of thousands of protesters into the streets and electrifying a nascent class of Internet-connected “creatives,” it seemed to the world that the Putin regime was for the first time faltering. Demonstrators gathered throughout the country, but only Moscow proved capable of sustaining a truly mass movement. As the weeks passed, Russians shifted their attention to the March 2012 presidential election, which Vladimir Putin won handily, sapping the protest movement of its momentum. In the months since then, the much-hailed Snow Revolution has dissipated, absent a catalyst like the December 2011 parliamentary elections.
Enter Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin and this week’s surprising announcement [ru] that he is calling for snap elections (scheduled for September 8, 2013), transforming the coming summer into a battle over who will lead the city for the next five years. In the 2011-2012 round of protests, Moscow’s urban malcontents were always under pressure to exaggerate the national appeal of their cause. For instance, when Moscow’s oppositionist stars flocked to Astrakhan in April 2012 to support a rogue politician’s hunger strike, it was a transparent attempt to show that Moscow wasn’t alone in the fight against the Putin regime.
It serves to reason that there will be no need for such theatrics in Moscow’s coming mayoral election, where such distractions as demonstrations of artificial solidarity are unnecessary.
Vladimir Milov, discussing migration policy, 7 February 2013, clip from YouTube.
Politician Vladimir Milov, however, disagrees that Sobyanin has freed Moscow from diversion. Writing in his LiveJournal blog yesterday, June 4, 2013, Milov argued precisely the opposite [ru], insisting that the opposition should stick to its preexisting plan and focus itself on winning seats next year in the Moscow City Council:
Вывод – надо бороться за главную цель, большинство в Мосгордуме, и ни в коем случае не отвлекать ограниченные ресурсы на мэрскую кампанию, заведомо проигрышную. Не все матчи можно выиграть – если мэром останется Собянин, по факту ничего не изменится. Зато если мы отвлечем ресурсы на мэрскую кампанию, перебросив их с выборов в МГД, то там победить будет шансов уже меньше.
[My] conclusion is that we need to pursue the main goal—a majority in the Moscow City Council, and in no way should we divert our limited resources to a mayoral campaign that we’re certain to lose. You can’t win ‘em all, and nothing in fact changes if Sobyanin remains mayor. But if we divert to a mayoral campaign the resources for the city council elections, then our chances of winning seats in the latter only diminish.
For this advice, eDemocracy guru and member of Alexey Navalny’s inner circle, Leonid Volkov, branded [ru] Milov a “Kremlin stooge” (a “murzilka”), snapping that Milov’s political career is likely Kremlin-funded.
Navalny, of course, is the younger generation’s great hope in this race, and he has indicated [ru] his interest in participating, though he’s yet to make it entirely clear if that means he will seek candidacy himself or campaign on behalf of others. (Indeed, in what perhaps provoked Volkov’s ire on Twitter, Milov mocked Navalny’s evasiveness, alluding to its similarities with Putin’s infamous mystique.) Navalny, a blogger, an anti-corruption activist, and a public figure who—according to a recent national poll [ru]—is known to over 40% of the country, would certainly be the most exciting potential candidate to face Sobyanin. If he were to run, his campaign would test the common speculation that Russian mass culture is revolutionized by the demise of television’s monopoly on information (and the concurrent rise of the Internet, where Navalny is a superstar).
The December 2011 parliamentary elections were another experiment in measuring the Internet’s influence, as Navalny used blogs and social networks to spearhead a campaign against the nation’s dominant political party, United Russia. The Web’s reach outside Moscow, however, is debatable. According to a study [ru] conducted last autumn by the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM), while Web access has been expanding fastest in Russia’s regions, Internet penetration in Moscow and St. Petersburg (at about 70%) is still 20% higher than the national average.
Alexey Navalny attends opposition demonstration in Moscow, 26 February 2012, photo by Evgeniy Isaev, CC 2.0.
Even where the Internet reaches Russians outside the capital, the peculiarities of Muscovites’ Western-leaning product preferences (i.e., Facebook and Twitter, instead of Vkontakte and Odnoklassniki) enfeeble the efforts of men like Navalny, unintentionally but thoroughly shrinking their audiences.
In the September mayoral election, none of these obstacles will be present. Moscow’s Internet culture—an eccentricity nationally—can finally perform in the mainstream, as bloggers and netizens pound at their keyboards for the next three months, weighing in, lashing out, and exerting whatever influence they indeed possess.
That said, much depends on whether or not the city will agree to register Navalny as a candidate, if he indeed decides to run. Navalny is currently on trial for embezzlement charges that, if he is convicted, would deprive him of the legal right to stand for elected office. Additionally, the legislation [ru] that will bring Moscow its first elected mayor in ten years is the same document that puts in place significant barriers to candidacy. Unless Navalny can find a registered political party to nominate him, he will have to collect almost 120,000 signatures from the city’s residents. All candidates must also obtain the support of 6% of Moscow’s municipal deputies [ru], who can only endorse a single candidate. (See Article 37, Point 15.5, of Moscow’s city electoral code [ru].)
Leftist activist Sergey Udaltsov, who announced today [ru] on his Ekho Moskvy blog that he, too, intends to run for Sobyanin’s seat, estimates there are only about 90 opposition-leaning deputies from whom one might expect mayoral endorsements. Add to these troubles the fact that more regime-friendly “oppositionists” like Mikhail Prokhorov [ru], Alena Popova [ru], and others could join the contest, and Navalny’s chances do look slim indeed.
If Navalny tries and fails to register for the race, the remaining question will be what reaction it prompts from Moscow’s “urban malcontents.” Will they resort to a despondent boycott, as émigré photoblogger Rustem Adagamov is already advocating [ru], or will Russia’s capital city again rise up, buoyed by the liberating, mobilizing might of the Internet?

author: Kevin Rothrock


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Government Invites Citizens to Co-Sponsor Bills · Global Voices
Solana Larsen

Citizens can now “co-sponsor” and track progress on legislation via their Facebook profiles thanks to a new initiative of the U.S. Office of the House Majority Leader.

author: Solana Larsen


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How to Type Ghanaian Characters on Android · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Mighty African explains how he discovered a tool to help him use Ghanaian characters on Android phones:
Earlier today, I was looking to type something in Twi on my phone so I needed ɛ and ɔ characters so I proceeded to Nyamfowa.com to copy them and use. And then it dawned on me, the Kasahorow folks were working on a keyboard to allow typing these Ghanaian characters on Android.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Mozambique: Mia Couto’s 30 Years of Literature Honored with Prestigious Prize · Global Voices
Thiana Biondo

[All links lead to pages written in Portuguese unless stated otherwise]
Mia Couto's three decades-long career in literature was acknowledged on the 27 May, 2013 when he was awarded the 25th Camões Prize in literature, worth 100,000 euros, and widely considered one of the most prestigious prize for Portuguese-speaking writers. Author of 23 books [en], among them romance novels, poems and chronicles translated into 22 languages, Mia became the second Mozambican author to win the prize, after poet José Craveirinha, who won it in 1991.
Mia entered the literary arena in 1983, with the publication of his first book of poems, Raiz de Orvalho. His first romantic novel came with Terra Sonâmbula (1992), considered one of the twelve best African books of the 20th century by the International Book Fair in Zimbabwe (2011). The work exposes Mozambique's history after the colonization process, decolonization and political independence [en], as pointed out by Pedro Puro Sasse da Silva of Rio de Janeiro Federal University, in a literary blog:
Já nas histórias de Kindzu encontramos inicialmente as previsões de seu pai sobre a independência do país fatos que poucos conheciam. Essa marginalização dos processos políticos do país revela que mesmo com os ditos revolucionários atos de descolonização, a vida do povo não mudou em nada, para eles, ser explorado por um branco ou por um negro em pouco mudava sua vida. Saindo de uma guerra para uma seguida entrada em outra o povo apesar de desconhecer as motivações, sabiam bem como defini-la, assim dizia Taímo: “A guerra é uma cobra que usa os nossos próprios dentes para nos morder.”
(…)
Percebemos, então, através dessa análise, que Terra Sonâmbula é um vivo retrato do povo moçambicano, uma descrição histórica de como a guerra acontece por trás da perspectiva da capital. Um povo que vive na dualidade de um passado rico em mitos e crenças, com um presente duro e cruel.
In Kindzu's histories we initially find his father's forecasts about the independence of his country, facts that only few knew. This marginalization of political processes of the country reveals that even with the revolutionary tales, the life of the people didn’t change in anything, for them, being exploited by a white or by a Negro didn’t change their life. A war after another, though not knowing the reasons, they knew how to define it, so said Taímo: “The war is a snake which uses our own teeth to bite us.”
We perceive, then, through this analyse, that Terra Sonâmbula is an alive portrait of Mozambican people, a historical description of how the war happens behind the capital perspective. People that live in duality of a past rich in myths and beliefs, with a hard and grim present.
Another one of Mia's books, Cada Homem é Uma Raça (1990), explores the race-perspective in Mozambican identity politics, as pointed out by Willian Conceiçao of Santa Catarina Federal University in Brasil:
Entre os mortos e vivos. O colonial e o independente. Entre raças? Cada homem é uma raça, possui algo que é próprio, todos com seus conflitos, vivenciado de formas especificas. “A pessoa é uma humanidade individual. Cada homem é uma raça, senhor polícia” [Aspas internas de Mia Couto].
Among the dead and the living. The colonial and the independent. Among races? Each man is a race, possesses something which is proper, all with their conflicts, living in specific ways. “The person is an individual humanity. Each person is a race, Mr Police” [Mia Couto's internal quotation marks].
Photo: Luis Miguel Martins/ CC-BY-SA-3.0/ via Wikimedia Commons
One of the political themes that features prominently in Mia's writing is that of Mozambican independence from Portuguese colonialism. The preface of the book Cronicando (1988), as mentioned in Sermos Galiza, helps shed light on the man himself:
Os intelectuais europeus olharam-no, ao conhecê-lo, com surpresa: era um jovem apesar de ter nome feminino (Mia), era um branco (cabelos louros, olhos claros) apesar de ser africano”, escreve Fernando Dacosta no prefacio de Cronicando, para explicar a posição do escritor no mundo, que responde à própria origem do género humano, “desobedecer aos mapas e desinventar bússolas, sua vocação é a de desordenar paisagens”, diz o escritor.
“The European intellectuals look at him with surprise: he was a young man although with a feminine name (Mia), was a white man (blonde hair, light eyes) although he is African”, writes Fernando Dacosta on the preface of Cronicando, to explain the position of the witter in the world, who answers to the origin of the human gender “disobey the maps and miss invent compasses, his vocation is to clutter the landscape”, says the writer.
Liliane Lobo, from Lusophone University in Lisbon, wrote about Mia's literary style in her blog:
A sua escrita apela o lado mais “natural” das coisas, explorando a ligação humana à terra, à natureza. As suas obras têm levado a língua portuguesa além fronteiras, enaltecendo sempre a sua estreita ligação com as tradições e cultura africanas. Mia Couto rejeita a ideia que a lusofonia seja um sentido singular, considera que existem várias lusofonias.
His writing appeals the most “natural” side of the things, exploring the human connection to earth, to nature. His works have taken the Portuguese language beyond frontiers, always exalting his straight connection to African traditions and culture. Mia Couto refuses the idea that lusophony is a singular sense; he considers that there are several Lusophonies.
In a recent presentation in Figueira da Foz, in Portugal, Mia reflected on the conception of lusophony – the group of Portuguese speaking countries – answering questions from the audience, as shown in the video below:
Mia says that:
(…) [A] certa pressa em proclamar a lusofonia assim como o nome dessa família(…) Agora há uma reação inversa que foi criada porque é preciso perceber que Moçambique tem outras línguas (…) que são suas, que são línguas maternas, que a maior parte dos moçambicanos não falam português no seu cotidiano, falam outras línguas e tem com essas línguas essa relação de amor que nós todos temos com a língua materna(…)
(…) Certain rush to proclaim the Lusophony as well as the name of this family (…) Now there is an inverse reaction that was created because there is need to perceive that Mozambique has other languages (…) which are his, which are mother tongues, that the majority of Mozambicans don't speak Portuguese regularly, they speak other languages and they have with these languages this relationship of love that we all have with our mother tongues. (…)
Born in July 5, 1955, in Beira City to Portuguese parents, Mia Couto was baptized as António Emílio Leite Couto [en]. In 1971 he went to live in Lourenço Marques, now, Maputo, capital of Mozambique. Leaving his medical studies, he opted for a journalistic career in 1974, having contributed to newspapers like A Tribuna, Notícias and Mozambique Information Agency (AIM). In 1985, Mia returned to university to graduate in biology at Eduardo Mondlane University, where he teaches currently.

author: Thiana Biondo


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Norwegian Music Video Offends Kyrgyzstanis  · Global Voices
Aiganysh Ibraimova

For small, landlocked and little-known countries such as Kyrgyzstan, “self-branding” is a slow and difficult process. So, when stars from foreign countries arrive to shoot a video in your countryside, the hope is that the message they take home with them is the right one. But unfortunately, it doesn't always work out like that.
Norwegian brothers and TV tag-team Ylvis, have created a stir among Kyrgyz Internet users with their song “Zhanym” (“dear”, or “my soul” translated from Kyrgyz). The two brothers, comedians and musicians Bard and Vegard Ylvisakers visited Kyrgyzstan last summer to record a song in a mixture of Russian and Kyrgyz, which they later released and performed in Norway. The lyrics of the original “Zhanym” were fairly innocuous, but their decision to perform an “explicit” version of the song for a Norwegian TV channel provoked a mixed reaction from local Internet users.
Almas Ysman, a blogger for RFE/RL's Kyrgyzstan service, explained [ru] befuddlement over Ylvis's x-rated version of Zhanym, linking to a now deleted video of their performance:
“Культурный шок” испытали многие кыргызстанцы после просмотра концертной версии сомнительной песни про нашу страну. На Youtube гуляет видео со скандальной песней “Жаным” в исполнении двух родных братьевYlvisåker, выступающих в группе YLVIS.
Все бы ничего, но в песне вперемежку с русским текстом используется жесткий мат на кыргызском языке. При этом братья размахивают кыргызским флагом, стоя на машине, где вместо номеров написано “шлюха” по-русски. А зрители, не понимая о чем поют братья, хлопают и радуются. Думаю, если бы то же самое спели на норвежском языке и про Норвегию, реакция в зале наверняка была бы другой.
Many Kyrgyzstanis experienced a “culture shock” having watched a concert version of a dubious song about our country. On YouTube there is a video of the scandalous song “Zhanym” performed by two brothers of the surname Ylvisaker, representing the group YLVIS.
It wouldn't matter, but in the song, subtitled with Russian text [the brothers] used harsh Kyrgyz swear words. Moreover the brothers flail around a Kyrgyz flag from the window of a car with the registration plate “Bitch No. 1″. And the [Norwegian] audience, not understanding what the brothers are singing about, clap and enjoy themselves. I think that if they had sung the same about Norway in Norwegian, the audience's reaction would have been a little different.
In particular, the rude phrase “Кандай коток” (“коток” refers to male genitalia in Kyrgyz) was in the eye of the internet storm that followed. Ylvis have since apologized, maintaining [ru] that it wasn't their intention to insult local people, and that they included the swear words as a way of ridiculing the show's producers, who had no idea what the words meant. The official video of the song, free of swear words, is below:
Social media users tended to either view the song as a lighthearted slice of nonsense, or as an insult promoting the wrong image of Kyrgyzstan.
Writing on the Kloop news blog, Ulan Shamiev said [ru]:
Браво! Молодцы, сразу видно что талантливые ребята))
Bravo!Good job, guys! I can see that they are talented))
Others found ulterior motives in Ylvis’ Kyrgyzstan adventure, ranging from the promotion of sex tourism to extreme cultural snobbery.
YouTuber Blujdayushiistrannik said [ru]:
Во первых , в этом видео создаётся межнациональная рознь. Во вторых , они жестоко матерятся. И на номере машины ВАЗ 2105 написано ” ШЛЮХА1 ” и , как это понимать??? Как Вам может нравиться эта ” песня “? Этим моральным уродам нужно ноги переломать! Их в самом мягком случае сажать в тюрьму надо( ну или на бутылку )! Такого ” видео ” не должно быть на YouTube , а для Норвегии позор то , что они позволили выступить таким людям перед публикой.
Firstly, this video creates inter-ethnic tensions. Secondly, they are cursing in Kyrgyz. And the number of the car is “Bitch 1″ – how should I understand it?? How can you like this “song”? We need to break the legs of such moral freaks! The softest solution should be putting them into prison! This “video” should not be on YouTube, and shame on Norway for allowing them to perform in public.
Ylvis performing on Norwegian TV, shared on the blog of Ulugbek Akishev.
Generally, I will not change my opinion of the peoples of Northern Europe, since you don't go forming opinions on whole nations based on morons like them
Ih nado obyavit’ personami «NON GRATA»! Ya gotova vam dat’ interview po povodu etoy pesni i eye ispolniteley, pozvonite mne, «klooptsy». Deputat JK KR, Zhyldyz Zholdosheva
We have to declare them as “persona non grata”! I am ready to give an interview on this song and the duo. Call me, Kloop! Kyrgyz MP. Zhyldyz Zholdosheva
But Norwegian citizen Ivar Dale, who worked in Kyrgyzstan for a long time, argued [ru] on RFE/RL's Kyrgyz service that Ylvis would not have wanted to offend anybody on purpose:
Ylvis – это норвежские комики и довольно известные. Обычно их программы очень смешные.
Ylvis are fairly famous comics in Norway, and their shows are usually very funny
In addition to performing “Zhanym” the duo also shot [Nor] humorous episodes for the Norwegian channel TV Norge about their adventures in Kyrgyzstan, in which local blogger Ilya Lukash plays a starring role.

author: Aiganysh Ibraimova


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PHOTOS: ‘A Window into Paraguay for the World’ · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

Through their photo blog Yluux [es], photographers Tetsu Espósito and Elton Núñez tell stories of the diverse spaces and people that make up Paraguay.
They explain [es] the idea behind the blog and its name as follows:
En nuestro pequeño pero bello Paraguay vivimos rodeados de imágenes impactantes y dignas de capturar, hermosos lugares por descubrir nos esperan en todo su territorio. Hacerlo conocer a traves de las historias que podamos llegar a contar con nuestras imágenes es la idea central en el nacimiento de“Yluux” vocablo de origen étnico “aché” que engloba el significado de la naturaleza.
In our small but beautiful Paraguay we live surrounded by images that are stunning and worthy to capture, beautiful places to explore await us in all its territory. To make that known through the stories that we tell through our images is the central idea in the birth of “Yluux“, an ethnic “Ache” term that encompasses the meaning of nature.
Team Yluux: Photographers Tetsu Espósito and Elton Núñez (Photo by Javier Valdez)
Yluux covers different themes through photos of nature [es], religious traditions [es], athletic events [es], music [es], tourism [es], and more [es].
The Paraguayan flag. Photo by Tetsu Espósito
The photographs published in Yluux are under a Creative Commons license that allows anyone to share the images for noncommercial purposes, as long as [es] the work is attributed to the authors and linked back to Yluux.
Franciscan sister attending a Via Crucis held in the cathedral of Ciudad del Este, Paraguay. Photo by Elton Núñez
César Cataldo directing a 400-harp orchestra concert commemorating Asunción's 475th anniversary. Photo by Tetsu Espósito
In a recent post [es], Espósito and Núñez shared 37 images of daily life in Paraguay:
Día a día somos bombardeados por millones de imágenes del ambiente que nos rodea, muchas de éstas fotografías narran escenas de vida cotidiana en distintos lugares de Paraguay, su gente, sus tradiciones, su cultura, sus paisajes, lugares olvidados.
Every day we are bombarded by millions of images of the environment around us. Many of these photographs narrate scenes of daily life in different parts of Paraguay, its people, its traditions, its culture, its landscapes, forgotten places.
Four friends enjoy the view from the top of Cerro Akatí in the Guairá department in Paraguay. Photo by Elton Núñez
Man rides his bicycle to work in Volendam, Paraguay. Photo by Tetsu Espósito
April 2013 marked three years since the birth of Yluux. In a post [es] commemorating their latest anniversary, the photographers write:
Sin habérnoslo propuesto, Yluux se convirtió con estas 54 entregas en una ventana de Paraguay para el mundo, y gracias a nuestro blog muchos paraguayos y extranjeros pueden vivenciar y conocer todo lo bello que tiene el país para mostrar y ofrecer. En el 2011 año del Bicentenario, muchos compatriotas residentes en el exterior pudieron vivir las celebraciones a través de nuestras imágenes.
Without setting our minds to it, with these 54 posts Yluux has become a window into Paraguay for the world, and thanks to our blog many Paraguayans and foreigners can live and see all the beautiful things the country has to show and offer. In 2011, the year of the Bicentennial [200 years since the independence of Paraguay], many Paraguayans living abroad were able to live the celebrations through our images.
2011 Bicentennial celebrations in Asunción, Paraguay. Photo by Elton Núñez.
Bull fight called “Torín”, where the bull is not killed. San Pedro department in Paraguay. Photo by Elton Núñez
In 2010 Yluux was named one of the top 10 Paraguayan blogs in a contest organized by Ultimahora.com; in 2011 Yluux won [es] Best Paraguayan Blog in the same contest, as the post explains:
En el 2010 salimos entre los mejores 10 blogs del año y el 2011 nos recibió como el mejor blog del año, motivo de grande orgullo. Felices por haber llegado hasta aquí después de todas las aventuras que nos han llevado a recorrer Paraguay, nos ponemos seguir trayéndoles imágenes e historias. .
Ahora nos encontramos abocados en las estapas finales de nuestro libro, que esperamos pueda lanzarse muy pronto.
In 2010 we were included among the best 10 blogs of the year and in 2011 we were named the best blog of the year, something that made us very proud. Happy to have gone this far after all the adventures that have taken us around Paraguay, we will continue bringing you images and stories.
We are now dedicated to the final stages of our book, which we hope will be released very soon.
A girl in a procession in San Ignacio, Paraguay. Photo by Tetsu Espósito
Ovecha Rague festival in San Miguel, Paraguay. Photo by Elton Núñez
You can click on the images in their latest post [es] to visit any of the galleries that Espósito and Núñez have published in the last three years.

author: Silvia Viñas


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Russians & Cigarettes: A Hard Goodbye · Global Voices
Daniel Alan Kennedy

Russia is one of the heaviest smoking countries in the world. While 39 percent of Russians smoke, the figure rises to 60 percent among Russian men (for comparison, the figure is about 21 percent for both sexes in the UK). Russian attitudes and laws on smoking have been incredibly lax when compared to the rest of Europe. Russians have been free to feed their nicotine addictions not only in bars, restaurants and cafes, but in schools, hospitals, many forms of public transport, government buildings and apartment complexes. Adverts for cigarettes decorate the nation's street corners and metro systems, and fill the pages of Russian publications. Taxes on cigarettes are negligible and a pack of Marlboro can be purchased for less than two dollars, with domestic brands available for half that.
Russians’ smoking habits know few boundaries. “Bad Habit,” Volgograd, Russia, 22 November 2009, photo by Mohd Hafizuddin Husin, CC 2.0.
The Russian government aims to change this and, on Saturday, June 1, 2013, it instituted a new law “On the Protection of the Health of Citizens from the Effects of Passive Tabacco Smoke and the Consequences of Tabacco Consumption” [ru], banning smoking in government buildings, educational facilities, healthcare facilities, the lifts and corridors of apartment complexes, train stations, and inside most trains. The law also mandates tough restrictions on tobacco advertising, increases taxes on the smoking industry, raises penalties for sales to minors, and paves the way to a phased introduction of similar bans in shops, cafes, bars, and restaurants.
Back in October 2012, Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev himself used his blog to disseminate a video (see below) explaining the government's reasons for introducing such a law, noting that Russia's smoking rate was abnormally high (comparable only to China's) and that, since the 1990s, the percentage of Russian women who smoke had risen from 7 to 22 percent, while the age at which a person first smoked on average had fallen from 15 to 11.
While official figures [ru] state that between 70 and 80 percent of the population supports these new measures, the law has proved controversial on the Russian blogosphere, where many took issue with it for a variety of reasons. Blogger Nicolai Troitsky (pictured in his LiveJournal profile enjoying a cigarette) claimed that he was joining the recently established “Common Russian Movement for the Rights of Smokers” [ru]. Troitsky denounced the legislation in the strongest possible terms in his post, “Stop the Genocide Against Smokers!” [ru].
тоталитарная, гестаповская, фашистская борьба с курильщиками, больше похожая на истребление, на геноцид, противоречит всем нормам здравого смысла. Целая немалая группа граждан демонстративно лишается элементарных прав.
This totalitarian, gestapo-like, fascist fight with smokers is more like an extermination, a genocide, running counter to all norms of common sense. An entire group of citizens is having its basic rights violated.
While Troitsky was apparently happy to confirm Godwin's Law in his opening salvo, hyperbole was not the sole preserve of smokers. Duma Deputy Igor Lebedev took the time to pen an article titled, “‘The Rights of Smokers’ Are ‘The Rights of Drug Addicts’ and ‘The Rights of Murders'” [ru]:
Привычка, конечно, сильна. Причем не только привычка курильщиков к никотину, но и наша общая привычка видеть вокруг себя людей с белыми бумажными дымящимися палочками во рту. Надо сделать так, чтобы вид прилюдно курящего человека вызывал такую же реакцию, как и вид прилюдно “ширяющегося” наркомана. По сути, это одно и то же.
The habit is strong, of course. Not just the smokers’ nicotine habit, but also our common habit of seeing people around us with smoking white paper sticks in their mouths. We need to make it so that the sight of a person smoking in front of people will bring the same reaction as the sight of a drug addict “shooting up” in front of people. After all, they are one and the same.
Lebedev, a member of the ultra-nationalist political party LDPR, also underlined that “smoking is not a Russian tradition—the habit was introduced by Peter the Great” (that is, 300 years ago).
The more liberal Anton Nossik criticized the law on the grounds that the coercive measures contained in the laws would prove fruitless [ru].
в любой стране, где за последние 10 лет достигнуты ощутимые успехи в борьбе с курением, мы видим огромный спектр усилий, направленных именно на помощь курильщикам в бросании курить… А там, где это направление работы задвинуто, никакие даже самые жёсткие репрессивные меры не помогают. Мы это недавно тут обсуждали на примере французских драконовских мер, результат которых с 2000 по 2010 год оказался нулевым. И британских программ помощи курильщикам, которые за тот же период помогли снизить число страдающих зависимостью в полтора раза.
In any country where they've achieved an apreciable success in the fight against smoking, we see the massive spectre of efforts centered namely on helping smokers to quit… But where the direction of the work is forceful, even the harshest, most repressive measures don't help. We recently discussed [on Nossik's blog] the example of France's repressive measures, the results of which between 2000 and 2010 turned out to be nothing. And the British program of helping smokers in the same period lowered the number of those suffering [nicotine] dependence by one-and-half times.
Many Russians, however, were less interested in the law as a question of rights and simply focused on the likelihood of it being enforced or enforceable. As Osik101195 bluntly tweeted [ru]:
Если вы думаете, что антитабачный закон будут соблюдать в России, то вы точно ебанутый
If you think the anti-tabacco law will be observed in Russia, then you're a complete f*cking idiot
Writing several days after the law's adoption, MindNasty painted a grim picture [ru] of the efficacy of the ban:
В тамбуре электрички курили два контролера, выдыхали дым в табличку “Не курить”. Обсуждали антитабачный закон. Не вижу смысла в этом законе.
Between the carriages on the train, two ticket inspectors were smoking, blowing their smoke at the “No Smoking” sign. They were discussing the anti-tabacco law. I don't see the point of this law.
For all the controversy, Russia's new smoking laws are broadly similar to legislation most Western countries have had for over 20 years (not coincidentally, its smoking rates are similar to those of countries like the UK 30 years ago). With 400,000 Russians dying from smoking-related illnesses every year, the government has a huge incentive to increase public health and implement anti-smoking legislation, but whether Russia's population is willing to obey or its police are ready to enforce such legislation remains to be seen.

author: Daniel Alan Kennedy


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Saudi Arabia Blocks Instant Messaging App Viber · Global Voices
Anas Soliman

Following the Saudi threat to block encrypted communication software unless the government is allowed to spy, the instant messaging application Viber was blocked on June 5, 2013. The website can no longer be accessed and the application does not connect.
The blockage came after a deadline that the Saudi Communications and Information Technology Commission had set. Since then, at least one telecommunication company has been caught trying to break encryption to enforce government regulation. The earlier threat also mentioned Skype and WhatsApp as violators of the current regulation.
The decision was largely condemned in the Saudi Twittersphere.
Human rights lawyer Abulaziz al-Hussan tweeted [ar]:
إذا حجب الإنسان فكل شيء بعده تبعاً …!
@AHussan: If humans are blocked, everything then follows.
Blogger Essam al-Zamil thought it was only an experiment:
يبدو أن هيئة الاتصالات (والداخلية) اختارت البرنامج الأقل انتشارا (فايبر) لمعرفة ردة فعل الناس تجاه الحجب.
@essamz: Apparently, The Communications Commission (and the Interior [Ministry]) chose the least popular website to test the people's reaction to the blockage.
Others blamed the telecommunication companies for having a role in the blockage:
بإمكان تكونوا صريحين مع المُتلقي وتقولون أن السبب هو ماتتكبده شركات الإتصالات من خسائر فادحة جراء تواجد هذه البرامج!
@mo3tem: You can be frank with the people and say that the reason was the great revenue loss of the telecommunication companies because of these applications.
A popular technology website, Technology World, prepared a list of available alternatives that are not blocked (yet):
بعد إيقاف تطبيق فايبر، هنا مجموعة من البدائل
techwd: After the Viber blockage, here is a list of alternatives.

author: Anas Soliman


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South Korea’s History-Challenged Youth · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

As younger generation shows a serious lack of historical knowledge even to the point of calling [ko] an iconic democratic movement a rebel, South Korean net users set up an online petition page [to] calling the government to make history a mandatory subject in Korean SAT. Only two days have passed so far, but it has gathered more than 19,000 signatures.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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Mumbai’s Newspaper Reading Centers Dwindle · Global Voices
Rezwan

Vachanalays (newspaper reading centres) are a familiar sight in most neighbourhoods in Bombay where locals read the papers and discuss the day’s news. Sans Serif reports how they are slowly going out of fashion. The blog also highlights photoblogger M.S. Gopal's excellent photo essay on the subject at Mumbai Paused.

author: Rezwan


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Without Prospects, Brazil’s Transvestites Fall Victim to Human Trafficking · Global Voices
Pública - Agência de jornalismo investigativo

This post, written by Andrea Dipp, was originally published as a report entitled “I'm Going to Pump Up So I Can Charge More During the Cup” [pt] and is part of investigative journalism agency Pública's special #CopaPública [pt] coverage of the 2014 World Cup. This post is the second in a series of three articles that will be published on Global Voices Online.
Previous post: Brazilian Transvestites Pump Up with Silicone to Attract World Cup Clients
Marcela (fictitious name) is a 22-year-old transvestite prostitute who works at a porn theater in the center of São Paulo from ten in the morning until nine at night with a break for lunch. After vocational courses and various attempts to find work, she ended up turning to the streets. When we met with her one morning in a shopping mall in the center of São Paulo, she caught many looks from men because of her beautiful body, a product of the popular silicone injections provided by a network of madams, as explained by transvestites Carla and Luana in the first post of the series.
“I came to São Paulo in April last year. I paid for the body implants in three months, added more, paid in one month and I stopped using the breast prosthesis in 20 days,” Marcela, who is from the northeastern Brazilian state of Ceará, proudly stated:
Chego a tirar oito mil reais por mês mas trabalho muito e não saio nem uso drogas. Todo o meu dinheiro vai para a minha mãe e para o banco porque quero comprar uma casa.
Projeto Vira Vida (Project Life Change) of the SESI (Social Service for Industry is one of the partners of the Associação Barraca da Amizade (Friendship Tent) that offers vocational courses for transvestites/ Vira Vida SESI/Facebook
But Lívia Xerez, the state coordinator for the Human Trafficking Confrontation Center of the Department of Justice and Citizenship for the state of Ceará, said that despite claims by the transvestites that they make the journey for the silicone implants of their own free will, the situation can certainly be considered human trafficking. Referring to the UN Convention on Transnational Organized Crime Protocols, ratified by the Brazilian government in 2004 [pt], she explained:
Por mais que elas não denunciem ou achem que estão indo porque querem, o protocolo de Palermo define o tráfico de pessoas como ‘o recrutamento, o transporte, a transferência, o alojamento ou o acolhimento de pessoas, recorrendo à ameaça ou uso da força ou a outras formas de coação, ao rapto, à fraude, ao engano, ao abuso de autoridade ou à situação de vulnerabilidade ou à entrega ou aceitação de pagamentos ou benefícios para obter o consentimento de uma pessoa que tenha autoridade sobre outra para fins de exploração’. Neste caso, elas seriam as vítimas e os aliciadores os criminosos.
Even if they don’t report it to police or that they think they are going because they want to, the Palermo protocol defines the trafficking of persons ‘as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation’. In this case, they would be the victims and the enticers the criminals.
When it comes to the silicone implants network, there is a lot of prejudice and fear on the part of the actual victims in denouncing the criminals, Xerez said:
Elas são ludibriadas com promessas de uma vida nova, por vezes luxuosa, de ganhar mais dinheiro e por isso não conseguimos chegar. Muitas também têm medo, talvez por sermos um aparelho oficial, de que serão criminalizadas, quando na verdade elas são as vítimas. Por isso ainda não conseguimos provas de que isso têm aumentado por conta da Copa, apesar de termos fortes suspeitas.
They are tricked with promises of a new life, sometimes luxury, earning more money and because of this we can’t reach them. Many of them are also afraid that they will be criminalized, maybe because we are an official body, when in reality they're the victims. For this reason we still haven’t been able to get proof that this has increased because of the Cup, even though we strongly suspect it has.
Another factor that drives trafficking is the lack of professional alternatives for transvestites, explained Lídia, an educator from the Barraca da Amizade [pt] [Friendship Tent], a non-governmental organization that combats sexual exploitation:
Nós temos uma parceria com o programa Vira Vida do SESI, que dá cursos profissionalizantes para elas mas, no fim das contas, quantas empresas contratam travestis? Nós trabalhamos com muitos garotos que nem eram travestis, eram apenas homossexuais, mas foram colocados para fora de casa e apareceu uma cafetina que ofereceu dinheiro caso eles se montassem. Para a juventude não existem políticas públicas em Fortaleza como existem para crianças e adolescentes – que ainda assim são escassas. As travestis têm o discurso da emancipação, como se a prostituição fizesse parte da própria identidade de ser travesti. Mas nem todas estariam ali se tivessem outras opções.
We have a partnership with the SESI [pt] [Social Service for Industry – non-profit private institution] program called ViraVida [Life Change] [pt] which offers vocational courses for them but, after all, how many businesses hire transvestites? We work with many boys who weren't even transvestites, they were only homosexual, but were kicked out of the house and a madam approached them and offered money if they were willing to make themselves up. For youth, there aren't any public policies in Fortaleza like there are for children and adolescents – and even they are scarce. The transvestites have the speech of emancipation, as if prostitution were part of the actual identity of a transvestite. But not all of them would be there if they had other options.


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Yemen’s Jailed Revolutionary Youth Go on Hunger Strike · Global Voices
Noon Arabia

After languishing in jail for almost two years without being charged, 22 young Yemeni men went on hunger strike on May 24, 2013 to build pressure for their government to release them. Youth activists in capital city Sanaa soon joined them in solidarity. On June 6, 17 of those imprisoned were released.
The detained youth were captured in December 2011, during the uprising against ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh in 2011. But their whereabouts were unknown for eight months. In August 2012, they surfaced in the Political Security Organization prison in the capital Sanaa and were later transferred to Sanaa Central Prison.
Yemeni tweeps launched a hashtag in English #FreedetainedRevyouth and in Arabic #الحرية_لمعتقلي_الثورة
. The Arabic hashtag translates to Freedom to the Detainees of the Revolution.
Atiaf Alwazir tweeted:
@WomanfromYemen: In #Yemen, while opposition parties got to power b/c of the revolution, some revolutionary #youth remain in prison #FreeDetainedRevYouth
Marwan Almuraisy wrote:
@almuraisy: Who can believe that 22 of the amazing young people who gave us sole of freedom still detained in prisons since 2yrs?! #FreeDetainedRevYouth
I noted:
@NoonArabia: In #Yemen, while those who killed & looted the country are free & enjoy immunity, the revolutionary youth are in prison #FreeDetainedRevYouth
Waleed Al- ammari added [ar]:
@waleedpro
الان عدد من شباب الثورة ينضمون الى الاعتصام في السجن المركزي حتى يتم الإفراج عن جميع شباب الثورة
#اليمن
A number of youth are joining a sit-in in front of Sanaa's central prison demanding the release of all the youth from the revolution
Yemen's Human Rights minister, Hooreya Mashhoor, joined 20 other leading youth activists who went on hunger strike and a sit-in on Saturday, June 1, at the central prison compound in Sanaa in solidarity with the detained young men.
Yemen's Human Rights Minister Hooreya Mashhoor joining the youth activists who went on hunger strike and a sit-in to demand the release dozens of activists held at the central prison compound in Sanaa.
In a video recorded phone conversation with the minister of Interior (posted by Mohammed Al-Yemeni on Youtube) Ms. Hooreya Mashhoor confirmed her commitment to free the detained youth. She told the minister “I am not a decor minister, I am a minister of the revolution who came from the squares.”
President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi demanded 48 hours for consultations with the cabinet and his advisers to resolve the matter.
Waleed Al-ammary tweeted in dismay:
@waleedpro:
معتقلون لاكثر من17500ساعة الرئيس هادي يطلب تمديد اعتقالهم 48 ساعة أخرى خارج اطار القانون
#FreeDetainedRevYouth
#الحرية_لمعتقلي_الثورة
Detained for more than 17,500 hours of President Hadi asked to extend their detention another 48 hours outside the framework of the law #FreeDetainedRevYouth
A cabinet decision in June 26, 2012, had ordered the release of all political prisoners detained in 2011, as well as anyone abducted that year who turned up in prisons and was never charged. In March, President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi, also issued a decree ordering the release of those detained during the revolution. The Attorney General, Ali Ahmed Nasser al-Awash, a remnant from the Saleh era and a loyalist, kept ignoring those orders. Finally, on June 5, 2013, President Hadi ordered the attorney general to immediately release 19 of the 22 detainees, who were on hunger strike. Yet the Attorney General cleared the release of only 17 of the detainees and kept the remaining 2 for “allegedly” suspicion of involvement in an attack on former President Ali Abdullah Saleh in the June 2011, in Nahdeen Mosque.
Activists accused the Attorney General of illegally keeping the remaining two detainees as a political bargaining chip to use them against the case of “Friday of Karamah” massacre in which former president Saleh and his men were accused of killing 52 protesters. They called for his dismissal using the hashtag #أقيلوا_النائب_العام and organized a march on June 5th to his office to close it down.
(video uploaded by محبة اليمن)
Activist and photojournalist Al Sharani Faroq tweeted:
@faroqperss:
إقالة الأعوش من اجل سيادةالقرارات الرئاسية. #أقيلوا_النائب_العام #الحرية_لمعتقلي_الثورة” #FreeDetainedRevYouth #Yemen
Dismiss Alawash for the rule of presidential decrees, dismiss the Attorney General.
This morning, June 6th, Photo Journalist Yusra Ahmed tweeted:
@YusraAlA
17 detainees released this morning.. congrats.. rest r still in central prison #FreeDetainedRevYouth
Yemen's Revolution's Youth and supporting activists pose in front of Sanaa's central prison after their release
More photos can be seen on photographer Nadia Abdullah's Facebook Album here.
Al-Ammary tweeted:
@waleedpro: إصرار النائب العام على عدم الإفراج عن ابراهيم الحمادي وشعيب البعجري يثبت ان الهدف ليس قضية النهدين وانما الثورة
#الحرية_لمعتقلي_الثوره
Attorney General's insistence on not releasing Ibrahim Al Hammadi and Shoaib Bajeri prove that the objective is not the case of the Nahdayn mosque, but the revolution
Many Yemenis are frustrated for the absence of law in Yemen, more so due to the apparent power struggle between President Hadi and Former president Saleh loyalists who do not comply to or execute presidential orders. Five revolutionary youth are still detained in Sanaa and 17 in Hajjah's prison and activist vow not to stop until they are all released.

author: Noon Arabia


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Brazilian Travestis Seek to Capitalise on Sex Trade During World Cup · Global Voices
Pública - Agência de jornalismo investigativo

This post, written by Andrea Dipp, was originally published as a report entitled “I'm Going to Pump Up So I Can Charge More During the Cup” [pt] and is part of investigative journalism agency Pública's special #CopaPública [pt] coverage of the 2014 World Cup. It is the last in a series of three articles published on Global Voices Online.
Previous post: “Without Prospects, Brazil's Transvestites Fall Victim to Human Trafficking”
[Translator's note: ‘Travesti’ is often translated as ‘transvestite’, but the sociological implications of the term in Portuguese are far more specific than someone who simply cross-dresses. According to Wikipedia: “Travestis’ feminine identity includes feminine dress, language, and social and sexual roles. However, in contrast to transsexual women, they do not suffer from gender dysphoria nor see themselves as women. Many describe themselves as gay or homosexual men. Travestis modify their bodies with industrial silicone injections, breast implants, or birth control pills, but do not desire sex reassignment surgery”]
Marcela, a 22-year-old travesti prostitute who works at a porn theater in the center of São Paulo, reveals that she discovered her homosexuality at age 13 and briefly hid this fact from her mother and four sisters:
Eu sentia muito medo de como elas e a sociedade iriam reagir. Mas não tinha outro jeito, era quem eu era. Então contei e elas até que aceitaram bem.
Being a travesti, however, was more difficult:
Minha mãe ameaçou me botar para fora de casa, dizia que eu nunca iria arrumar emprego, não aceitou.
Her life as a prostitute began at 17, she says, but she would have preferred to continue working. She was awarded a scholarship through the Vira Vida program and spent a year and a half studying in the morning and going to classes in the afternoon. She recalls:
Eu sempre gostei de fazer cursos, estudar, queria trabalhar com carteira assinada, nunca quis fazer programa.
She managed to find a job in a lingerie business, but, she adds, she was fired after four months for falling ill:
“…e o patrão não aceitou os atestados médicos”.
From then on, she had to work for half of the money her co-workers received at another business, but eventually she could no longer support herself on the meager salary she earned and couldn't find any other work either:
Todas as portas se fecharam para mim. Não tive outra opção a não ser ir para a rua. Se eu pudesse, escolheria outra vida. Como não posso, me concentro e trabalho muito para poder juntar algum dinheiro para um dia abrir um negócio. Vou ficar velha e ninguém mais vai me querer.
Dolled up and well-dressed, Marcela pays 30 Brazilian reais (13 US dollars) a day to her madam, owner of the house in which she lives, and another 30 is put towards the cinema where she works and where the madam is a partner. She wishes, however, to leave the house and rent a place with three of her co-workers from Fortaleza so that they might receive clients during the World Cup:
Eu tenho anúncios em sites e também quero ir para a rua na época da Copa. São Paulo estará cheia de gringos e mesmo brasileiros de outros estados, quero aproveitar.
To charge a higher rate, Marcela reveals that she has had unprotected sex, and adds:
Tem gente que paga o dobro e até o triplo do valor para transar sem camisinha, aí eu acabo fazendo. Estou com medo de fazer o exame [de HIV], mas sei que a saúde vem em primeiro lugar.
After the World Cup, Marcela intends to go to Europe and earn a living in euros rather than reais:
Castelão Arena in Fortaleza will be one of two World Cup 2014 venues. Wikimedia Foundation. Free use.
Já falei com uma pessoa que leva travestis para lá. Ela cobra 10 mil reais para passar a gente.
Asked if she is afraid, she answers:
Que nada, é a mesma coisa daqui, só que ganhando em euro.
She only returns to Fortaleza for holidays, just like she did a few months ago, for example:
Nossa, me senti uma celebridade lá, me senti como a presidente Dilma! Todo mundo vinha falar comigo, ver como eu mudei, até as pessoas que falavam mal de mim viram que eu conquistei.
With the money she earns at the World Cup along with her earnings in Europe, Marcela hopes to return to Ceará and open her business – that much is certain. A beauty salon, or maybe a clothes store, because she loves fashion. Glancing at her watch, she bids me farewell. She has to get back to work.


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Catalan Wikipedia Receives Official Recognition · Global Voices
Violeta Camarasa

Amical Wikimedia, the association that promotes Viquipedia, the Catalan Wikipedia, has got a chapter of its own within the international structure of the Wikimedia Foundation. This recognition comes after a five-year-long discussion to be recognized as representative of a unique language and culture, as previous criteria required chapters to represent states. Now they will have the right to share experiences with other countries and access the funds raised through readers’ donations. This announcement arrives at a time when Catalonia is involved in a debate about becoming independent from Spain.

author: Violeta Camarasa


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Chinese Allegedly Mine Gold Illegally in Ghana · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Xinhua News reported that 124 Chinese allegedly involved in illegal gold mining were arrested and detained in Ghana. Nationalists demanded the Chinese government to protect and avenge its citizens. On the other hand, more reflective comments criticized the discrimination against African people in Chinese gold mining business in Ghana. Offbeat China has the details.


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Jail for NGO Workers in Egypt  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

The sentencing of 43 Egyptian and foreign employees in non-governmental organisations [NGOs] to jail terms of up to five years, has sparked anger on social media networks – and on the ground. The move is seen as a warning for human rights organisations, and those promoting democracy.
Egyptian blogger Zeinobia explains:
It is just sad because NGOs played an extremely important role in Egypt when it comes to development and foreign funding played a role in this. What is even more sadder is how the Egyptian NGOs workers and employees are being punished in this way.
Those Egyptian women and men may not find a job in Egypt easily when they are officially convicted in a political case like this.
Of course the world is not stupid , it understands what happened and is happening.
You must know that this was the trick of the old Mubarak’s regime , to let those NGOs to work without any licensing in order to close those organizations whenever they are crossed the red line . It happened before with TV channels like Orbit, Dream TV and Al Jazeera Mubshar Misr.
Of course it is worth to mention that the Muslim brotherhood is walking on the same path like Mubarak regime and SCAF.
This is another setback to human rights in Egypt and actually it will not encourage people to come to the country or invest in it. I believe this verdict will also be a setback in the relation between the United States and the Muslim brotherhood as well EU and the Muslim brotherhood.
On Twitter, netizens reacted with shock.
Sally Sami tweets:
@Salamander: In utter shock of the #NGOtrial verdict!! No one should be imprisoned simply for working for an NGO … #NGO #ngocrackdown
Lina El Wardani comments:
@linawardani: Shocked & terrified by the #NGOtrial verdict 11 sentenced to 1 year suspended 5 to two years and 27 5 years in absentia, 4 NGOs closed
Bel Trew notes:
@Beltrew: #NGO trial was spear-headed by a Mubarak-era minister under #SCAF rule, individuals were on trial NOT organisations for being unregistered
And Mona Eltahawy adds:
@monaeltahawy: “Justice” in #Egypt: jail time for defendants in politically motivated #ngotrial, acquittals for regime figures/police who killed protesters
Ghada Shahbender laments [ar]:
المآساة الحقيقية انه ٩٩٪ من المصريين حيتقبلوا الحكم بالسجن على موظفين  المنظمات الغير حكومية و يفرحوا بتحجيم ‘التدخل الاجنبى’ اللى بيروج
@ghadasha: The real tragedy is that 99 per cent of Egyptians will accept the [court] ruling to jail the NGO employees and will be happy for curtailing “foreign interference”, which is being promoted
نظام مبارك و المجلس العسكرى و الاخوان – اللى بيتلقوا معونة دولية و  بيشحذوا من المجتمع الدولى – روجوا لفكرة ‘التدخل الاجنبى’ و استغلوها  للقمع
@ghadasha:… by the Mubarak regime, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces [SCAF] and the Muslim Brotherhood – who all get international aid and beg the international community. They have promoted the idea of “foreign interference” and then abused it to crackdown [on NGOs]
One of the defendants, Robert Becker, who was sentenced to two years and was the only foreign defendant to remain in Egypt during the trial, said he was forced into “exile” after the verdict was announced. He tweeted:
@rbecker51: Safely out of #Egypt. On my lawyers advice, I have unwillingly and angrily gone into exile until appeals get sorted out. #NGOtrial
In two previous tweets, he explains:
@rbecker51: Thank you everyone for the kind words. Reviewing my legal/appeals options with lawyers #NGOtrial
@rbecker51: #pt Maintaining my innocence on charges of starting NGO six years before I actually arrived in Egypt & waiting for appeal strategy #NGOtrial
Sally Sami concludes [ar]:
فعلا داخلين على أيام سوداء لما ناس يتحكم عليها بالسجن لمجرد أنهم اشتغلوا في منظمات غير حكومية …
@Salamander: We really are entering black days .. when people are sentenced to jail just for working in NGOs
For more reactions, check out the hashtags #ngocrackdown and #ngotrial.
According to news reports and their own Twitter accounts, the defendants will appeal the sentence.

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Mauritania Faces Deadly Unprecedented Heatwave  · Global Voices
أحمد جدو

More than two dozen people have died from heat stroke, dehydration or suspected heat-related conditions in Mauritania, which is witnessing scorching temperatures exceeding 50°C (122°F), for the first time in 50 years.
Medical sources and locals have reported deaths in various regions. On May 26, 2013 three people died in the Province of Hodh Ech Chargui (can be translated into Eastern Basin) in Timbedra due to high temperatures. Twelve others suffered a similar fate in Brakna Province. Two women also succumbed to dehydration the town of Boulahrath in the Region of Assaba. In  the town of Al Syasa, in Tagant, the local population talks about a mysterious disease – some sort of fever [ar] which had spread along with the heatwave, killing three people. Medical and health authorities, sent samples from the victims to the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott to determine the cause of death. By the time this post is online, the number of victims could have increased. In Boutlimit, 64km south east of Nouakchott, after nine people also died from that odd disease, primary schools directors decided to reduce the daily teaching hours so as to avoid exposing students to the scorching sun.
Another kind of wave is also sweeping the country: Complaints and protests across Mauritanian cities against the shortage of drinking water.
Lack of drinking water is causing widespread protests in Mauritania. Photograph from Dedda Ould Cheikh Brahim blog. Used with permission.
Dedda Ould Cheikh Brahim blogs about this heatwave and about the reported death cases [ar]:
خلال يومين من الحر، خسرت بلادنا موريتانيا 17 شخصًا، بسبب الحرارة المرتفعة مات 12 منهم في ولاية لبراكنة وسيدتين في قرية بولحراث التابعة لولاية لعصابة. و3 أشخاص في قرية تسمى السياسة تتبع لولاية تكانت.
هذه الوفيات خلفت هلعا بين السكان المحليين، الذين ربطوا بين هذه الوفيات وموجة الحر التي تضرب المنطقة التي وصلت فيها درجات الحرارة إلى مستويات قياسية، تجاوزت حاجز الخمسين درجة مئوية، وهو أعلى مستوى تصله درجات الحرارة في موريتانيا خلال الخمسين سنة الماضية.
During two days of intense heat, our country Mauritania lost 17 people. Because of the heatwave, 12 died in the Brakna Province and two women in the Town of Boulahrath affiliated to the Assaba province, not to mention three from Al Syasa town in Tagant province.
These deaths instilled panic among the population who linked them with the heatwave hitting the region with temperatures reaching records and exceeding the threshold of 50°C. This is the highest level reached in Mauritania in the past 50 years.
Meanwhile, Alegcom blog cites an official source, attributing the causes of the deaths to Meningitis:
تربط الأوساط المحلية هذه الوفيات بموجة الحر التي تضرب المنطقة، التي وصلت فيها درجات الحرارة إلى مستويات قياسية، تجاوزت حاجز الخمسين درجة مئوية، وهو أعلى مستوى تصله درجات الحرارة في موريتانيا خلال الخمسين سنة الماضية.
Local experts tie these deaths with the heatwave hitting the region with temperatures reaching record numbers, exceeding 50° C which is the highest temperature on record in Mauritania during the past 50 years.
kankossainfo also spoke about how meningitis caused victims in Assaba province:
علمت كنكوصه إنفو من مصادر طبية متطابقة أن 14 شخصًا توفي حتي الآن في ولاية “لعصابة” جراء الإصابة بمرض التهاب السحايا المعروف محليا ببورويص الذي سُجلت منه حتى كتابة السطورر 34 حالة لدي الجهات الصحية  تماثلت منها 18 للشفاء ولا يزال اثنان رهن الحجز الطبي في مستشفي كيفة يتلقون العلاج، وبين مجموع الحالات 3 من كنكوصه توفيت منها حالة واحدة في مستوصف كنكوصه وهي طفلة من منطقة (وسط المدينة) فجر السبت 5 من مايو/ أيار وهي آخر حالة تُسجل في المقاطعة إلي الآن.
Kankossain Info knew from medical sources that 14 persons died so far in Assaba province because of Meningitis known locally by “Bibourouis”. So far, and at the time of writing these lines, 34 cases were registered by the Health Authorities, 18 of whom healed and two are still under quarantine at Kifa Hospital for treatment. And out of the three cases in Kankossa, one passed away at Kankossa clinic. The victim, a 5-year-old child died in the early hours of May 5 and this is the last case to be reported so far.
Activist and journalist Djibril Diallo resorts to sarcasm when describing the situation:
العطش يحصد أرواح المواطنين في بلد يقول ولد عبد العزيز إن خزائنه مليئة بفائض من العملات الصعبة. الخزينة العامة ليست جعبة جنرال.
Thirst is claiming the lives of citizens in a country which treasury boasts a surplus of hard currencies says Ould Abdelaziz. The Public Treasury is not a general's pocket.
Mohammed Val Ould Cheik also describes the suffering of the Mauritanians:
حالات الوفاة جراء موجة الحر الحالية حصدت 12 شخصا حتي الآن في ولاية لبراكنة وحدها وخمسة قري في لبراكنه تتظاهر عطشا، وخمسة وعشرون قرية أخري يمنعها العطش والحر من التظاهر!!! لك الله من مفجوعة يالبراكنة!!!
Death cases due to the current heatwave killed 12 people so far in Brakna region alone. Five towns in that province are protesting because of thirst while 25 other villages are unable to do so because of the thirst and heat precisely. Oh Brakna, May God be with you in your affliction !!!
Mauritanian doctor Moktar Ould Weddih casts doubts on his Facebook about the real reason behind deaths. According to him it is not the heatwave but a pandemic disease:
منذ ايام وحالات وفاة غامضة تظهر هنا وهناك في البدء صرّح مسئولو وزارة الصحة أن السبب هو التعرض لأشعة الشمس الحارقة وهو الأمر المعروف طبيا بضربة شمس!!!
لكن حالات الوفيات ازدادت وظهرت أمور جديدة تدل على أن السبب ليس ضربة شمس وإنما هو وباء ينتشر بين الناس، ومن الغريب أن المسئولين بدلا من الاضطلاع بمهامهم في البحث والاستنتاج وتوجيه الموارد اللازمة والاستعانة بخبراء في مجال الأوبئة مازالو متمسكين بنفس النظرية!!!
لذا أطالب بأن يعرض أصحاب هذه النظرية السخيفة إلى أشعة الشمس الحارقة هذه الأيام لكي يدركوا جيدا ما هي أعراض ضربة الشمس!!!
Mysterious death cases have been showing here and there for days. In the beginning, officials at the Ministry of Health stated that the reason is exposure to the burning sun rays. Which is medically known as heat stroke.
But deaths increased and new elements appeared showing that the reason is not heat stroke but an epidemic spreading among people. What is rather odd about that is that officials instead of carrying out their tasks in looking, analyzing, deducing and allocating the necessary resources and resorting to experts in epidemiology are still holding on to the same theory.!!!
That's why I demand to expose those who profess that silly theory to scorching sun rays these days so they truly realize what are the symptoms of heat stroke!!!

author: أحمد جدو


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Pakistan’s Killer Feudals Sentenced to Death · Global Voices
Sahar Habib Ghazi

Image from Express Tribune's Facebook Page.
Five months after 20-year-old Shahzeb Khan was brutally murdered, the main suspects Shahrukh Jatoi and Siraj Talpur, young men from powerful feudal families, were handed death sentences by a Pakistani court. Jatio flashed a smile and victory sign to the cameras after hearing the sentence. They have seven days to file an appeal, which their lawyers plan to do.
Amina Ameer comments on Express Tribune's Facebook page:
I hope his father's wealth doesn't prove any good for him since there's a chance for him to file an appeal within 7 days. His happy face shows that he knows he will get away easily no rule of law is made for him to abide by.
On 25 December 2012, 20-year-old Shahzeb Khan was shot dead by Siraj Talpur and Shahrukh Jatoi. Before the shooting, a small argument erupted between Shahzeb and Talpur, after one of Talpur's employees passed a lewd comment at Shahzeb’s sister. The shocking murder kickstarted a Facebook campaign “Justice for Shahzeb Khan,” which now has 160,000 likes and has been keeping the pressure on Pakistan's courts to deliver justice. It has also made Shahzeb a symbol of hope against Pakistan's powerful Feudals.

author: Sahar Habib Ghazi


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Putin Loses His First Lady & RuNet Snarks · Global Voices
Anna Kordunsky

A three-person TV crew from Russia 24 standing in an empty Kremlin hallway, the black-suited reporter with her arms awkwardly crossed—that was the initial audience to Vladimir Putin’s announcement [ru] on Thursday, June 6, 2013, that he and his wife Lyudmila have split. The big reveal was preceeded in the TV news broadcast by footage from La Esmeralda ballet, which the couple had just attended together, as well as by Putin's ever-so-slightly breathless praise of the performance—“splendid execution, simply very talented”—as Lyudmila smiled shyly beside him, shifting her weight nervously.
The announcement made a predictable splash when it plunged into Russian cyberspace, though it surprised bloggers about as much as news of Berlusconi’s poolside escapades surprised Italy in the last months of his rule. Although Putin’s private life is shrouded in secrecy, rumors swirled for years that the first couple was dogged by family troubles, that Lyudmilla had been sent to live hundreds of miles away (to head a convent, no less), and that Putin had love interests on the side. Figuring prominently in the gossip was Alina Kabaeva, the gold-winning Olympic gymnast turned Duma parliamentarian, who is half Putin’s age, but when a Moscow tabloid investigated the alleged liaison in 2008, it was promptly shuttered.
“Divorce Putin-Style,” spoofing the 2006 American romantic comedy, The Break-Up. Anonymous image circulated widely on the Internet.
Kabaeva’s name is now back on eveyone’s minds. Putin's spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, offered [ru] the Kremlin's official spin, speaking to the Russian outlet LiveNews, “It’s no secret and everyone knows that [Putin] long ago devoted himself to the country—as pretentious as that sounds.”
To which Fake_MIDRF, the spoof Twitter account of the Russian Foreign Ministry, shot back:
И мы точно знаем, как страна выглядит в купальнике, и сколько у неё олимпийских медалей!
And we know exactly how this country looks in a swimsuit and how many Olympic medals she has!
Blogger and video parody artist Sergey Meza quipped:
Людмила впервые заподозрила измену, когда нашла в кармане мужа хулахуп.
Lyudmila first suspected infidelity when she discovered a gymnastics hoop in her husband’s pocket.
No information has emerged to back up these conjectures, but one thing appears certain: the Kremlin press office already faces an uphill battle bolstering Putin’s image as a leader committed to family values—an image key to his government’s strong alliance with the Russian Orthodox church. Perhaps as a harbinger of things to come, Alexey Navalny (who intends to compete in Moscow’s mayoral elections and harbors presidential ambitions) sarcastically wrote:
Главой предвыборного штаба Владимира Путина стала Алина Кабаева.
Alina Kabaeva becomes the head of Vladimir Putin’s election campaign.
For all the taunting of Vladimir Putin, it is interesting how much sympathy the soon-to-be former first lady received from netizens, given that those within Putin’s circle are so prone to coming under Internet fire. For environmental activist Yevgenia Chirikova, Lyudmila Putina’s misfortunes were symbolic of those of Russians at large:
Странно что все так удивляются на развод Путина. Разве кто-то сомневался в недостатке любви и способности к компромиссам?
It’s strange that everyone’s so surprised by Putin’s divorce. Has anyone truly doubted his lack of love and ability to compromise?
Vesti's unfortunate media mashup. Screenshot distributed widely online. 6 June 2013.
One image distributed online (see above) showed a composite of two screen shots: Mr. and Mrs. Putin at the post-ballet interview alongside a photo of uniformed FSB officers making an arrest. Fake_MIDRF wrote:
Судя по сайту Вести.Ру, Людмилу после развода арестовала ФСБ
Judging from the Vesti.ru website, following the divorce, Lyudmila was arrested by the FSB.
More than a few observers revelled in the delicious fantasy: Lyudmila signs her divorce, speaks out against her husband, or even—dream of dreams—joins the opposition. Blogger Dmitry Puchkov (famous for his “goblin” film translations), wrote on Twitter:
В келье Людмилы Путиной идут обыски. Главное, чтобы Людмила теперь не вышла за Навального.
Lyudmila Putina’s monastery cell is being searched. The key thing is for Lyudmila to not marry Navalny now.
On the same topic, Twitter user Mitya Aleshkovsky quipped, somewhat wishfully:
Людмила Путина эмигрирует из России вместе с Гарри Каспаровым
Lyudmila Putina is emigrating from Russia with Garry Kasparov.
Another prominent motif was speculation about Mrs. Putina’s claim to the President's allegedly vast private wealth. The Russian law entitles a wife to half the wealth accrued during a marriage—a fact which, coupled with Putin’s online image as the chief of “swindlers and thieves,” gave rise to its own burst of glee. KermlinRussia’s mocking post on the topic received more than 1,050 retweets:
Владимир Путин разводится. По закону его жене Людмиле перейдет в собственность половина страны.
Vladimir Putin is getting divorced. By law, the ownership of half the country will be transferred to Lyudmila.
Ridicule aside, there was almost unanimous if tacit recognition that, following the momentary pause to acknowledge the loss of the first lady, the Kremlin will soon be back to business as usual. Ilya Yashin voiced his frustration in a tweet that evoked Lyudmila’s praise for the split as a “civilized divorce”:
Вот бы он еще со страной “цивилизованно развелся”. А то пока в основном битье посуды, скандалы и рукоприкладство.
I wish he’d divorce the entire country in the same “civilized” way. But instead there is mostly dish-breaking, scandals, and battery.

author: Anna Kordunsky


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Syrian Creativity: Radio SouriaLi Broadcasts over the Internet · Global Voices
سوريا حكاية مانحكت

This post is cross-posted from Syria Untold and translated by Global Voices Arabic.
Because “necessity is the mother of invention”, as the Arab saying goes, Syrians continue to devise creative and innovative solutions to the daily obstacles they face, despite extreme repression. Radio SouriaLi, formed by a group of young Syrians from diverse backgrounds, is one of the many projects and initiatives emerging from the need for expression and the attempt to reach out to all Syrians, regardless of their ethnic, intellectual and religious backgrounds.
The name “SouriaLi” comes from a play on the words “sourialia” (surrealism) and “Souria lee” (which translates to My Syria from Arabic) to combine awareness of Syria's chaotic present, that has become surreal, and the need for all Syrians to get involved in the building of their own Syria.
Souriali started broadcasting in October 2012 as an internet-based radio, in an attempt to bypass censorship and reach out to the largest number of Syrians, both within and outside the country, despite their limited resources.
The fact that the project is internet-based has not prevented those running it from facing constant challenges in order to continue to broadcast. Syrian authorities have repeatedly blocked their website inside Syria, including SouriaLi keywords on search engines, which has forced their audience to use circumvention technology to access their content. Additionally, as most of the SouriaLi team is within Syria, constant disruptions to power supply and internet connections make their daily work increasingly difficult.
Radio Souriali
None of the obstacles have stopped them from broadcasting. In the words of one of the founders:
“We speak so that we can breathe. We speak to everybody and we listen to everybody. We try to stay positive until the day comes when we become what we want to be.”
He adds:
“We believe that our problem is that we don't listen to each other. Our message isn't aimed at any one group over others, rather we try to reach every Syrian heart and especially those of the so called “silent majority”.
The Souriali team tries to address all the different groups that form the fabric of Syrian society, and to draw attention to a diversity of issues – from art, culture and traditions to women's rights and the rights of minorities such as the Kurdish people.
SouriaLi is one of the many steps on Syria's path to its dream of a country respectful of justice, freedom, and fundamental human rights.
This post is cross-posted from Syria Untold and translated by Global Voices Arabic.

author: سوريا حكاية مانحكت


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Chinese Messaging App Eyes India · Global Voices
Rezwan

Lighthouse Insights reports that WeChat, the mobile messaging service from the Chinese Internet giant Tencent has targeted Indian market highlighting its Voice Chat feature and by launching a massive ad campaign involving Bollywood stars.


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Families of Saudi’s ‘Arbitrarily Imprisoned’ Protest from Home · Global Voices
Anas Soliman

Pictures of their imprisoned loved ones hung outside their homes, to remind everyone of their plight and to mark the Second Detainees Day on June 7, 2013, an event called for by anonymous advocacy groups @e3teqal and @almonaseron to protest arbitrary detainment in the Saudi absolute monarchy.
Independent human rights sources say that there are over 30,000 arbitrarily imprisoned people [ar], many of whom were arrested in the massive, post-9/11 “war on terrorism”. The detainees were arrested without a warrant and have not had access to lawyers and trial. Protests in Saudi Arabia are strictly prohibited and participants risk spending many months in prison if they get caught, this has enabled new forms for publicly displaying dissent.
The First Detainees Day took place on May 25, 2013 in which many brochures were distributed anonymously to call for an end to arbitrary detainment. In addition, families chose to hang large photographs of their detained relatives on their houses, a practice which inspired even many more families to follow suit on the second day.
Photo of human rights activist Houd al-Aqeel displayed on his house. via @khawlah20
In the early morning, three women were reportedly arrested [ar] while trying to hang a protest banner in Saudi capital, Riyadh. They were held for 18 hours and then released [ar]. The family of the president of the Saudi Civil and Political Rights Association, Suliman al-Rashoudi, who was arrested back in December, hung his photo on their house, with a banner that says “Release reformist and lawyer Suliman al-Rashoudi.”
The Saudi Arabian city of Buraidah also had notable participation in the event. Banners were hung on public bridges. And many houses participated in hanging photos.
Police forces surrounded several houses that had detainees’ photos, including the house of human rights activist Houd al-Aqeel (pictured on right). They also reportedly arrested [ar] a detainee's brother to force his family to remove a photo.
In addition, many flyers were distributed that call for an end to arbitrary detainment.


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Pavel Durov, Founder of Russia’s #1 Social Network, Is Not Going to Prison (For Now) · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

It looks like Pavel Durov can finally return to Russia without a prison sentence threatening from overhead. That, for the moment anyway, seems to be true, now that St. Petersburg detectives have closed their inquiry [ru] into Durov's alleged involvement in an April 5, 2013, traffic accident that left one police officer with minor injuries. Despite finally establishing that it was indeed Durov driving the car, investigators today announced that they have been unable to find evidence that he acted with malicious intent. Accordingly, they have reduced [ru] the criminal charges to a misdemeanor, and sent the case to a local police branch for a decision about the appropriate penalty.
Pavel Durov, screenshot from YouTube clip, 20 February 2013.
Durov—”Russia's own Zuckerberg” and creator of the country's most popular online social network, Vkontakte—has been living outside Russia since the car incident, presumably to avoid investigators’ summons to come in for questioning. Strangely (in light of today's news), police only two days ago extended by a full month [ru] their investigation into the hit-and-run case, which was due to expire for lack of charges. Though they only considered Durov a witness before today, police have now gone ahead and elevated his status to perpetrator, albeit with the crucial diminution of the crime from “using force against a state representative” to “disobeying an officer of the law.”
What prompted this about-face in investigators’ behavior? Did someone high in the government intervene to “call off the dogs”? Or has Durov been dealing on the side, and could this end to his criminal case mean that he's struck a compromise with Kremlin authorities, who lately have demonstrated growing eagerness [ru] to exercise control over Vkontakte? Perhaps Moscow is trying to undo political damage inflicted on Russia's international reputation, following prominent economist Sergey Guriev's recent high-profile emigration to France?
Durov and his spokespeople, for their part, have maintained his non-involvement in the April 5 traffic incident. In late April, Dozhd Television network ran a story that he had permanently emigrated to the United States, to start a new social network, in response to United Capital Partners’ purchase of 48% of Vkontakte. Durov denied the rumor [ru] and insisted that he had not expatriated.
With the threat of prison removed, it now falls to Durov to return and prove that he has not left Russia for good. If he does come back, though, who's to say he won't again become a target?


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Female Rapper to Speak at TEDxSão Tomé · Global Voices
Thiana Biondo

Marlene Bandeira, or as she is better known Nely Strong [pt], has been added to the TEDxSão Tomé  [en] speaker line up. Rapper, she uses local slangs to portray São Tomé and Príncipe [en] society in her lyrics. Recently, Nely released the song ‘Mordomia’ – a hit in the islands – with the rapper Tigre T. The TEDxSão Tomé happens in 20 June, 2013 and is open for pre-registration  [en] until this Monday.