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Ebola Virus Outbreak Kills 59 in Guinea, Closes in on Conakry  · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Ebola virus virion via wikimedia Commons – Public Health Image Library, #10816- public domain
An Ebola outbreak killed at least 59 people in Guinea and a few suspected cases near the Capital Conakry suggest that it may have spread to the Guinean capital. Barbara Krief provides the latest updates [fr]:
Au moins huit agents de santé ont été tués à ce jour. En collaboration avec le ministère guinéen de la Santé, l'Unicef a rapidement livré dans les zones les plus affectées cinq tonnes de médicaments et d'équipements médicaux tels que des gants, nattes plastiques, couvertures, protège-nez, et des solutions de réhydratation orale et intraveineuse pour protéger le personnel médical et traiter les malades
At least eight health workers have been killed so far. In collaboration with the Guinean Ministry of Health, UNICEF has delivered in most affected areas five tons of medicines and medical equipment such as gloves, plastic mats, blankets, nose guard, and rehydration solutions to protect medical staff and treat patients.
Here is a video providing information on how to protect oneself from the Ebola virus :
Follow our in-depth coverage: The Struggle to #StopEbola in West Africa

author: Lova Rakotomalala


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Egypt Sentences 529 Muslim Brotherhood Supporters to Death  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

A state-of-the-art execution machine designed by @Ternz to help Egypt execute 529 Muslim Brotherhood supporters
Egypt today [March 24] sentenced 529 Muslim Brotherhood supporters to death for their roles in violent riots in Minya, in Upper Egypt, last August.
The riots broke out following a crackdown on sit-ins in support of ousted president Mohammed Morsi, a Muslim Brotherhood leader, which left hundreds of supporters dead.
The Minya riots left one police officer dead – a crime all 529 defendants are accused of.
In Egypt, the sentence, one of the largest death sentences in modern history, was both rebuked or lauded, depending on which end of the political spectrum the reactions came from. Mada Masr tallies up reactions here.
Egyptian blogger Zeinobia says this sentence, for which a final verdict is due to be issued on April 28, breaks a new world record.
She explains:
We got the highest number of HCV [Hepatitis C] patients in the world , we got the highest rate of sexual harassment in the world and today we broke a record in a mass-death sentence by a court in one single case !!
I am speaking about the historical court rule of Minya criminal court against 529 defendants , yup the one which the whole world is speaking about.
Zeinobia adds:
I will speak about fact here :
529 defendants were sentenced to death and 15 were acquitted in the Rabaa dispersal aftermath in Minya trial.
139 were detained in the case while the rest were either released on bail or on the run.
Only 51 defendants attended the trial because the space could not hold more defendants.
The trial started on Saturday and ended on Monday.
The lawyers of the defendants demanded to replace the Judges panel but their request was rejected.
The lawyers of the defendants “not in absentia” were not allowed to defend their defendants !!
The 529 defendants are accused of killing deputy Sheriff Mostafa El Attar of Matay Police Station !!
This is the biggest mass death sentence in the history of Egyptian judiciary.
Egypt-based journalist Bel Trew wonders:
Can't imagine how you would even hang 529 people.If it just took 5 mins to hang 1 person that's over 44 hours of continuous slaughter #Egypt
— Bel Trew – بل ترو (@Beltrew) March 24, 2014
And Egyptian @Ternz, who admits to starting to draw cartoons only two weeks ago, has come up with a solution: a state-of-the-art execution machine.
He explains [ar]:
و انا قاعد في قعدة صفا كده..سألت نفسي..ازاي اخدم بلدي؟ ازاي افيد بلدي و اساعدها..؟؟ مسكت قلم وبدأت أصمم جهاز مصر محتاجاه في الفترة دي..-1
— سلفي ومش بكرهك (@Ternz) March 24, 2014
While I was sitting in a relaxed state of mind, I asked myself: How can I best serve my country? How can I benefit it and help it? So I took a pen and designed a machine Egypt needs in this phase
And here's his masterpiece:
إسهاماً مني في تنفيذ أحكام الإعدام بكفاءة..اتمني جهازي دي يلقى اهتمام المسؤلين ..و دي قمة الإعدام العلمي… pic.twitter.com/50B3sRUgBi
— سلفي ومش بكرهك (@Ternz) March 24, 2014
As a contribution from me in competently implementing the execution sentences, I hope that this device interests the officials. This is a state-of-the-art execution machine
Meanwhile, UK-based journalist Inigo Gilmore concludes:
Egypt wants tourists to return, as it cages journalists like animals & sentences 100s others to death in sham trials? pic.twitter.com/suTyNEcSeE
— Inigo Gilmore (@InigoGilmore) March 24, 2014

source: news-globalvoices

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

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Heartbreaking News: Missing Malaysian Flight MH370 Crashed into Indian Ocean · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Image from Facebook page of Malaysia Airlines
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak announced Monday evening that missing airliner MH370 has crashed into the Indian Ocean based on the latest analysis of satellite data:
…its last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean, west of Perth.
This is a remote location, far from any possible landing sites. It is therefore with deep sadness and regret that I must inform you that, according to this new data, flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean.
MH370 went missing on March 8 during its flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. There are still no conclusive information as to why the plane lost contact but authorities said its radar was deliberately turned off. There were 239 passengers and crew members onboard MH370. For two weeks, the world intently waited for updates on the search for the missing plane.
Malaysia Airlines posted this message moments before the Prime Minister made his announcement:
Malaysia Airlines deeply regrets that we have to assume that MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean.
On behalf of all of us at Malaysia Airlines and all Malaysians, our prayers go out to all the loved ones of the 226 passengers and of our 13 friends and colleagues at this enormously painful time.
We know there are no words that we or anyone else can say which can ease your pain. We will continue to provide assistance and support to you, as we have done since MH370 first disappeared in the early hours of 8 March, while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
Netizens around the world used the hashtags #PrayforMH370 and #RIPMH370 to send their condolences to the families of the passengers and crew members of MH370:
In this very difficult time, we hope the families stay strong and hold on despite all odds. Bless the souls #UniteForMH370 #PrayForMH370
— UNITE FOR MH370 (@uniteformh370) March 24, 2014
Its not a fact until hard evidence found. There might be survivor. I will pray for their survival and whatever best for them. #PrayForMH370
— Syafiq Mobin (@syafiqduckie) March 24, 2014
Even when they claimed it ended in the sea, part of me still hope that they would somehow find it #PrayForMH370
— syad (@syafiqarsyad) March 24, 2014
#MH370 Families of passengers to be flown from Beijing to Australia #PrayForMH370 http://t.co/jpf3xghilN pic.twitter.com/zQJPzFSLb0
— The Star (@staronline) March 24, 2014
*Thumbnail used is from Facebook page of Prime Minister Najib Razak

author: Mong Palatino


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In Defence of Malawian Languages · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Following Malawi's government decision to introduce English as a medium of instruction from grade one, Steve Sharra defends local languages and makes the case for multilingualism:
Teachers and lecturers in our secondary schools and universities are observing a trend in which students from private schools speak perfect English, but their reasoning, writing and problem-solving skills are not well developed. This is even as the Independent Schools Association of Malawi (ISAMA) is reporting reporting that 80 percent of students selected to Malawian universities are coming from private schools.
Language researchers have also found that children who speak more than one language exhibit better academic performance than children who know only one language, regardless of what that language is. This is why our language of instruction policy needs to promote multilingualism, and not monolingualism. Just a generation ago most Malawians were multi-lingual, speaking two or more languages on average. Today’s generation knows two languages, English and Chichewa, on average. If we do not enact policies to develop our local languages, the coming generations of Malawians will be reduced to only one language, English.
Monolingualism encourages insularity, a restricted worldview in which the only knowledge available to one is from one linguistic source. The danger with the new policy, as it stands, is the damage it can potentially cause to Malawian languages. The new policy will mean that as a country we will allocate more resources to English at the expense of nurturing and developing local languages.

author: Ndesanjo Macha


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Jamaica: Little Universes  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Our minds are as vast and infinite and creative as the uni—scratch that—multiverse. What does that mean for each of us? For our potential and purpose?
A science documentary reminds Jamaican blogger Nadine Tomlinson that she, like every other person on the planet, has unlimited potential.

author: Janine Mendes-Franco


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Jose Dos Santos, the 1.8-Billion-Dollar President of Angola · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

The top five presidents worldwide who have held on to power the longest and who are still ruling are all Africans, mostly known for their various misdeeds: rigged elections, embezzlement, ill-gotten wealth and human rights violations. One of those five is the President of Angola, José Eduardo dos Santos.
Dos Santos has been ruling Angola since 1979. During his tenure, several local and international NGOs have denounced many human rights scandals and corruption cases connected to his reign. J.R. Mailey, a researcher at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies working on natural resources, corruption and security in Africa, points out that:
For decades, a tiny clique revolving around the president of Angola has deftly used anonymous shell companies to loot billions in state assets. These shell companies are incorporated in ‘offshore‘ financial centres known as ‘tax havens’ or ‘secrecy jurisdictions’.
President José Eduardo dos Santos being decorated by President Vladimir Putin of Russia. Source: cabinda.net with permission
The website cabinda.net estimates Dos Santos’ personal wealth at more than 20 billion US dollars for 2013. Angola’s 2013 budget for the president's expenses increased 50 percent over the 2012 budget, taking the overall budget to a record high of 6.6 trillion Angolan kwanza (around 69 billion US dollars).
Meanwhile, 70 percent of Angolans live on less than two dollars a day.
Rafael Marques de Morais wrote about this increase in a blog post entitled “A Record Budget for the Presidency, the Military and the Spooks“:
The Presidency alone has a budget of US $1.8 billion, which is more than the funds for the Ministry of Health (US $1.5 billion).
For comparison's sake, for the year 2013, British taxpayers were taxed 53.4 million US dollars for the expenses related to the royal family's spending. French tax payers will contribute 101.6 million euros (140 million US dollars) in 2014 for the expenses related to President François Hollande's activities.
Presseurop.eu reveals that additional “dubious” capital transfers implicating Dos Santos’ family can be traced to recent investments in Portugal:
His “own family”, and above all his eldest daughter. Isabel Dos Santos, aged 40. A graduate of King's College in London, and the only female billionaire in Africa, Ms Dos Santos is one of the key figures in this steamy post-colonial saga. […]
The heiress, from an earlier marriage of Dos Santos, holds a breathtaking portfolio of assets in Portugal. In just a few years, she has taken over half the capital of the telecom giant created by the merger between ZON and Optimus, and a good chunk of Portuguese bank BPI, in which she is the second-largest shareholder with a stake of 19.4 per cent. She is also on the board of directors of another financial institution, BIC Portugal, and has shares in Amorim Energia, which controls nearly 40 per cent of Galp, one of Europe’s leading petroleum and gas groups.
Cartoon on human rights in Angola via Maka with permission
The origin of Isabel Dos Santos’ wealth was investigated at length by Forbes in 2013. Oddly enough, a few months later, Forbes magazine established a partnership with a company a company of which Isabel Dos Santos owns 70 percent to start a new magazine for Portuguese-speaking Africa.
Jean-Paul Marthoz, a Belgian journalist and senior adviser at the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), wrote on the organization's blog about Angolan investments in Portugal:
One source of concern is the Newshold media group, a company owned by Pineview Overseas, a Panama-based offshore company, whose shareholders are powerful Angolan figures including tycoon Alvaro Sobrinho. Newshold controls Sol, Portugal's third largest weekly, and owns stakes in two leading magazines, Visâo and Expresso, as well as Correio da Manhâ, the largest-circulation Lisbon tabloid, and the business paper Jornal de Negocios. It has also expressed interest in case the Portuguese government eventually decides to privatize the public service broadcaster RTP (Radio e Televisâo Portuguesa).
Many Angolan investors are known to be closely linked to Angola's presidential entourage and the MPLA (People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola), which has ruled the country without interruption since independence in 1975.
In 2013, Luanda, the capital of Angola, was ranked for the second time in three years as the most expensive city in the world. Yet the majority of its population live in slums and are economically excluded from the modern sector. Blogger Aminata, a correspondent for Cross Worlds in Luanda, recalls [fr] her own experience with the cost of living in Luanda:
Vivre à Luanda du côté de la Force, c’est pouvoir sortir le soir du réveillon et débourser au moins 30 000 kwanzas (300USD) pour avoir accès à une soirée.  Ce soir-là j’ai malheureusement  du me résoudre à sombrer du côté obscur, étant donné que le prix de la soirée représentait un peu plus de la moitié de ma gratification mensuelle de stagiaire…
Vivre à Luanda du côté de la Force, c’est aussi pouvoir se loger dans un building tout juste sorti de terre pour la bagatelle de 7 500 USD par mois (prix moyen pour un T3), y apprécier le confort de l’habitat moderne et la charmante vue sur les musseques (bidonvilles).
Vivre à Luanda du côté de la force, c’est également prendre rendez-vous chez son coiffeur à Lisbonne, effectuer l’aller-retour en un week-end (après tout une nuit d’avion pour aller chez le coiffeur, ça vaut le coup !) et en profiter pour faire un peu de shopping.
To live in Luanda on the side of the Force [in reference to the “Star Wars” trilogy] is to be able to go out on New Year's Eve and spend at least 30,000 kwanza (300 US dollars) to have access to a party. That evening, I unfortunately had to sink to the level of the “dark side”, since the price of the evening was a little more than half of my monthly intern fellowship …
To live in Luanda on the side of the Force is also to be able to afford a flat in a newly built building for a whopping 7,500 US dollars per month in rent (the average price for a flat with a living room and two other rooms), enjoying the comfort of modern living and the “charming” view of the “musseques” (slums).
To live in Luanda on the side of the Force is also making an appointment with your hairdresser in Lisbon, make the round trip for a weekend (after all, a red-eye to go to see your hairdresser must be worth it ) and take the opportunity to do some shopping.
Cláudio Silva recently wrote a post for Global Voices entitled Fighting the Poor Instead of Poverty in Angola. The post provides additional information on the daily struggle for survival in the streets of Luanda.

author: Abdoulaye Bah


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Libya Vs Iraq: Who Wins in the Explosives Finale?  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

This bumper sticker (more of a windshield sticker) from Libya says it all. Egyptian Bassem Sabry explains:
Humour as coping mechanism RT @ILPADRINO0 "Two more explosions & Libya will qualify for semi-final with Iraq" pic.twitter.com/uCzkihMi4u”
— Bassem Sabry باسم (@Bassem_Sabry) March 24, 2014


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President Santos Confirms the Dismissal of Bogotá Mayor Gustavo Petro · Global Voices
Lully

President Santos during the announcement of the dismissal of Petro as mayor of Bogotá. 19 March, 2014. Photo by Latin America Photojournalism, copyright Demotix.
President Juan Manuel Santos confirmed the dismissal of Gustavo Petro as mayor of Bogotá after rejecting the ruling  by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) for Petro to continue in office. The IACHR granted precautionary measures in favor of Petro after the State Council rejected several writs of protection to stop the dismissal of the now former mayor of Bogotá.
“I have to proceed in accordance with the Constitution and the law,” said Santos when he addressed the nation to confirm the removal of Petro which had been ordered  in December 2013 by Attorney General Alejandro Ordóñez Maldonado. Santos appointed Labor Minister Rafael Pardo to replace Petro, adding that the ousted mayor had had every opportunity to defend himself before the Colombian justice system.
Meanwhile, the IACHR scheduled a hearing on this case that Colombia does not plan to attend.
Given his dismissal, which leaves him ineligible politically for 15 years, Petro recalled that the President had publicly announced that “if the precautionary measures are favorable, they will be respected.” Petro said that “the President of Colombia lied” and described the decision to dismiss him as a coup d’etat because his appointment was an elected position.
Petro will introduce new writs, and called on his supporters to mobilize a constituent assembly. Security measures were redoubled because of thousands of people heading towards the presidential palace and they are on alert for new public demonstrations.
On Twitter, the tags #ChaoPetro, #DestituciónPetro, #FuerzaPetro are some of the most used:
#DestituciónPetro sin duda alguna este gobierno el poder está en manos de unas pocas personas que pertenen a la clase social privilegiada
— NANDO (@JUFERMUR) marzo 20, 2014
There’s no doubt that this government is in the hands of just a few from the privileged class
¿Qué autoridad le queda a Colombia para criticar a aquellos países, que como Venezuela y Ecuador, desacatan la CIDH?
— Manuel Rodríguez B. (@manuel_rodb) marzo 20, 2014
By what authority does Colombia criticize countries like Venezuela and Ecuador, flouting the IACHR?
Tengo el honor de conocer a @petrogustavo es un hombre honesto muy trabajador que no se merece 15 años de inhabilidad, que dolor tan grande
— Diana Marcela Otavo (@dianamotavo) marzo 21, 2014
I have the honor of knowing Petro [he] is a hard working honest man who does not deserve 15 years of ineligibility, what a shame
¿Y si la CIDH no tiene competencia por qué el Procurador Ordónez fue a Washington a hacer lobby en contra de Petro?
— Daniel Coronell (@DCoronell) marzo 19, 2014
If the IACHR has no power, why did Attorney General Ordóñez go to Washington to lobby against Petro?
Others were pleased with the government's decision:
Hoy con mucha felicidad puedo decir #chaopetro — Andre Kass (@andrecasadu) marzo 20, 2014
Today with much joy I can say ‘ciao Petro’
Esta noche me voy a dormir con una sonrisa de #ChaoPetro en mi linda carita. Que duerman! — Mónica Mojica (@MoniMojica) marzo 20, 2014
Tonight I’ll sleep with a smile of ‘ciao Petro’ on my pretty little face. Sleep well.
Viva El Consejo de Estado, Viva Alfonso Vargas, Viva El Procurador Ordóñez. #ChaoPetro.
— Camilo Andrés (@camilofz45) marzo 18, 2014
Viva State Council, viva Alfonso Vargas, viva Attorney General Ordóñez
While some, like Jorge Vivas, call for harmony:
Nada bueno sale de la polarización frente al tema #DestitucionPetro. El odio entre hermanos es la raíz de la tiranía. Venga de donde venga.
— Jorge Vivas (@yorchvivas) marzo 20, 2014
Nothing good comes from the polarization on the issue. Hatred between brothers is the root of tyranny. Wherever you come from.
For his part, Petro is still using his Twitter account. There he recalls what happened 40 years ago with another one of the country’s leaders, Jorge Eliecer Gaitán, who was also removed:
Historia que debemos recordar . pic.twitter.com/jnEDPsUuUF
— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) marzo 20, 2014
History we should remember.
Gustavo Bolivar in his blog Sin Censura [es] is outraged and stresses the “bandidocracia” as synonymous with corruption and theft:
Con la decisión del Presidente Santos queda claro, clarísimo, que no hay otra forma de gobernar, sin provocar la furia implacable de las mafias del poder, distinta a la bandidocracia. El gobierno de los hampones. El mensaje es claro: O robas y dejas robar, o no tienes posibilidades, o te perseguimos, o te hacemos gavilla y te sacamos.
With President Santos’ decision, it’s clear, very clear, that there is no other way of governing without provoking the relentless fury of the mafias of power, other than the bandidocracia. The government of thugs. The message is clear: Either you steal and let steal, or you have no chance, or we’ll harass you, or we’ll just throw you out.
Bolivar finishes up with the consequences that the dismissal may have on government interests, democracy and the peace process:
Este día pasará ala historia como la fecha infame en la que . Porque es claro que su canallada, su solidaridad con las fuerzas oscuras que manipulan el poder le costará su reelección. Estamos tristes, estamos furiosos. (Ojo con la rabia Presidente). Aún así seguimos creyendo en la paz y, si no media otro fraude electoral, vamos a cobrar en las urnas su atrevimiento. Vamos a triplicar esfuerzos por hacerle ver al país, hoy más que nunca, que el voto en blanco tiene un valor de protesta enorme contra lo que usted representa. Ojo con la rabia, Presidente. Usted acaba de cerrarle el camino a la democracia y sin democracia no hay paz,  sin Justicia no hay Paz, sin honestidad no hay Paz. Las tres premisas violadas por el Presidente Santos esta noche, deben retumbar en la Habana. Esta paz es pura retórica electoral.
This day will go down in history as the infamous date that President Santos killed democracy, and himself. Because it’s clear that his villainy, his joining the dark forces that manipulate power will cost him the re-election. We are sad, we are furious. Beware the fury, Mr. President.  Yet we still believe in peace and if there is no other electoral fraud, we will collect your audacity at the ballot box. We will triple our efforts to make the country see that, today more than ever, the blank ballot has an enormous power of protest against what you represent. Beware the fury, Mr. President. You have just closed the road to democracy, and without democracy there is no peace, without justice there is no peace, without honesty there is no peace. The three premises violated by President Santos tonight should reverberate in Havana. This peace is pure electoral rhetoric.
Petro’s followers listen to his speech at the Bolivar Plaza in Bogotá. March, 2014. Photo by Latin America Photojournalism, copyright Demotix.
In Las 2 Orillas [es] Petro’s future is discussed:
Desde mañana Petro se convertirá en el gran impulsor de una nueva Constituyente que busque recuperar el espíritu primigenio de la Constitución del 91 de una apertura democrática que éste ve como condición necesaria para que Colombia finalmente alcance la paz. Petro se ve a sí mismo como el vocero de la generación de la paz de Colombia y planteó de manera radical que “Santos no es un defensor legítimo de esa bandera. Si no fue capaz de defender la presencia de un mandatario elegido democráticamente, que puede esperarse de con la defensa de los derechos de unos alzados en armas que entren a un proceso de paz.”
En este nuevo escenario Gustavo Petro dejaría el espacio de Bogotá para buscar el escenario nacional.
After tomorrow, Petro becomes the driving force of a new Constituent seeking to recover the original spirit of the Constitution of ’91 for an open democracy that he sees as necessary to finally achieve peace. Petro sees himself as the spokesman for the generation of peace in Colombia and he radically proposed that “Santos is not a legitimate defender of that flag. If he was not able to defend the presence of a democratically elected representative, what can we expect […] when it comes to defending the rights of rebels who have taken up arms entering a peace process.”
In this new scenario, Gustavo Petro will leave Bogotá to seek a national stage.
They conclude:
No está claro cual será el resultado final para Juan Manuel Santos con esta decisión pero lo que está claro es que el tema Petro aún no concluye. Habrá Petro para largo y su activismo podría modificar el mapa electoral de las elecciones presidenciales.
It is unclear what the final result will be for Juan Manuel Santos with this decision, but what is clear is that the subject of Petro isn’t over yet. Petro will be around for the long haul and his activism could change the electoral map for the presidential elections.
Bogotá will elect [es] a new mayor in June 2014.

author: Lully


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Putin’s Alleged “Ukraine Annexation Plan” Surfaces Online · Global Voices
Kevin Rothrock

Putin “eyes” Ukraine? Images mixed by author.
Katya Gorchinskaya, deputy editor of the newspaper KyivPost, has published on Facebook photographs (see below) of a report that journalists are calling “Putin's plan for annexing Ukraine.” There is no date on the leaked document—indeed, there is nothing to identify the source or even the addressee—but the text suggests it was authored sometime in late December 2013. Titled “About the Crisis in Ukraine,” the paper outlines a six-point plan for deploying Russian armed troops to all of “Russian Ukraine” (including the country's capital, Kiev) to bring an end to the “fascist-banderovtsy and other extremist elements.” The plan called for (now former) President Victor Yanukovich requesting Russian intervention as a legal pretext for Russian peacekeepers. In March 2014, Russia's UN envoy revealed that Yanukovich did eventually make this appeal to Moscow. By that time, however, he'd already been deposed.
What follows are some excerpts from the document posted by Gorchinskaya.
[…] только полное вхождение территорий российских областей Украины, а именно Крыма, Луганской, Донецкой, Запорожской, Днепропетровской, Черниговской, Сумской, Харьковской, Киевской, Херсонской, Николаевской, Одесской областей в РФ может гарантировать мир, безопасность и процветание их населению, а также надежную защиту интересов России.
[…] only by entering all the territories of Ukraine's Russian regions (specifically Crimea, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia, Dnepropetrovsk, Chernigov, Sumy, Kharkov, Kiev, Kherson, Nikolaev, [and] Odessa) into the Russian Federation can we gaurantee peace, security, and prosperity for our population, as well as the reliable protection of Russia's interests.
Обеспечить реализацию этой задачи можно лишь установив контроль над матерью городов русских, столицей Украины, городом- героем Киевом. Анализ событий 1994 (предательство Л.Кучмы), 2004 (т.н. Оранжевая революция) и 2013 (бунт молодчиков в г.Киеве, свидетельствует, что надежные гарантии такого контроля можно получить только путем использования Вооруженных сил , правоохранительных органов и спецслужб РФ.
Realizing this task can only be accomplished by establishing control over the Mother of Russian Cities, the capital of Ukraine, the city of heroes, Kiev. Analysis of the events of 1994 (Leonid Kuchma's treachery), 2004 (the so-called Orange Revolution), and 2013 (the thugs now rioting in Kiev) attests to the fact that dependable guarantees of control over the city are possible only by way of deploying the armed forces, police, and intelligence agencies of the Russian Federation.
Необходимо обеспечить нейтрализацию наиболее видных представителей бандеровской оппозиции; весь мир, в том числе и Киев, должны увидеть истинное лицо украинского фашизма. Для этого следует обеспечить сбор и документирование фактов зверств и бесчинств молодчиков и партии “Свобода”, а также экстремистской группы “Правый сектор”.
It is necessary to neutralize the most prominent members of the Banderov opposition. The whole world, including those in Kiev, need to see the true face of Ukrainian fascism. To accomplish this, we must facilitate the collection and documentation of facts showing the atrocities and outrages committed by the rioters and the Svoboda party, and also by the extremist group Right Sector.
Page 1 of Putin's so-called “plan” to annex Eastern Ukraine.
Page 2.
Page 3.

author: Kevin Rothrock


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Returning Human Remains is Not an Apology, Says Namibia to Germany · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

Human remains who were killed during the colonial war (early 20th century) were returned to Namibia by Germany in March. However, Namibians still demand a formal apology from the German government as Tendai Marima,  a post-doctoral researcher in African literature, wrote on the Think Africa Press website :
The skulls and skeletons that made their way home this month were seized by Germany back when Namibia − then ‘German South-West Africa’ − was one its colonies. Namibia was first occupied by the European power in 1884, and in 1904, the Herero and Nama peoples − dispossessed of their land and livestock − rose up together in an attempt to expel the Germans.
In an early revolt, over 100 German settlers and soldiers were killed, but the ensuing repression of the uprising was relentless and brutal. Over the three years it took to suppress the uprising, an estimated 65,000 Hereros and 10,000 Nama were killed, representing some 80% and 50% of those entire populations respectively. It is considered the first genocide of the 20th century.


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Sifting Through Conflicting Versions of India and Pakistan’s Shared Past · Global Voices
Rezwan

Rural Sikhs in a long ox-cart train heading towards India. Image by Margaret Bourke-White. 1947. Image uploaded to Flickr by Shaktishree DM CC By-ND 2.0
It's been nearly seven decades since the former colony of British India was split into two countries along religious lines, touching off the largest mass migration in human history as Muslims migrated to Pakistan while Sikhs, Hindus and others migrated to India. As many as a million people lost their lives in violence immediately after the Partition of India.
In the years that followed, conflict over territory and resources has plagued the two countries’ already rocky relationship. The acrimony often spills over into the classroom, where hyped-up nationalism offers students a skewed view of their neighbor.
Lahore-based Pakistani entrepreneur and activist Qasim Aslam along with a team of young people from India and Pakistan are taking aim at the biases shaping the youth of these two countries through The History Project. The method is simple: juxtaposing texts from history books taught in the schools of both countries in order to introduce an alternative, neutral narrative to the students.
Qasim also serves on the board of Seeds of Peace, an international NGO working on international conflict resolution. He has initiated several Indo-Pak exchange programs aimed at promoting understanding at a social level between the two.
Launched in Mumbai in April 2013, the textbook is now used in several schools in India and Pakistan. Qasim explained to journalist and blogger Beena Sarwar:
The way we are taught history aims to make us into conformists. The History Project aims to inculcate a culture of questioning, counter how history is taught as a set of facts, not a narrative – which is what it is. A fact can’t have two versions.
Screenshot of the cover of the book
According to the preamble of the book, the idea came about during a meeting of Pakistani and Indian teenagers in a small town in the US state of Maine. The main idea, it reads, was:
to enable access for youth in their formative years to alternative perspectives on their shared heritage and to encourage a culture of rational and critical thinking with particular focus on information that shapes the view of our respective lineage.
In an interview with news website The Diplomat, team members Qasim, Ayyaz Ahmad and Zoya Siddiquiand spoke of the evolution of the project, from finding a direction to realizing the benefit of illustrations.
Online, people have welcomed the idea. Commenting on a profile of the project in newspaper The Hindu, user Saurabh Sethi wrote:
Phenomenal effort by both the authors and The Hindu to bring into light
such information.You are an example of the kind of people we need today
to strengthen Indo-Pak relationship.
I remember being taught this deeply nationalist history of Pakistan and the hatred it stirred. Glad for this project http://t.co/CwG5HmXULN
— Zohra Ismail-Beben (@zohrabeben) September 14, 2013
Kudos to this project highlighting how history is taught differently in India & Pakistan http://t.co/QndYNSc3HB
— Jahnabi Barooah (@jbarooah) May 7, 2013
The book only covers events leading up to the Partition of India in 1947. Perhaps one day it will delve into the history that comes after. You can follow the project via its Facebook page.

author: Rezwan


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The Perils Of The Dams Coming Up for Mumbai Region · Global Voices
Rezwan

South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP) blog reports that as many as 12 dams are either being planned or are under construction to satisfy the increasing water demand of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) in India. The Tribals and other affected groups have long been strongly opposing these projects but most people in Mumbai seems to be unaware of their struggles or impacts of these projects.
All of these dams fall in eco-sensitive region of the Western Ghats. They will together submerge more than 22,000 hectares of land, including nearly 7000 hectares of forests, lakhs of trees and more than 750 hectares of Tansa Sanctuary. They will affect a minimum of 100,000 tribals who depend on the forests and their ancestral lands for livelihoods. These dams include Kalu, Shai, Balganga, Susari, Khargihill, Bhugad, Pinjal, Gargai, Middle Vaitarna, Barvi and Poshir, among others. These are in addition to the dams already constructed for MMR water supply.


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3 Ways Mobile Money Transfer Has Changed Kenyans’ Lives · Global Voices
Ephraim Percy Kenyanito

M-Pesa payment till at a restaurant in Kenya. Photo released under Creative Commons by Wikipedia user Raidarmax.
March 2014 marks seven years since M-Pesa, a mobile-phone based money transfer and micro-finance service, was introduced to Kenya by telecoms company Safaricom. M-Pesa works like a bank: subscribers store money in their mobile phones and withdraw it from a Safaricom shop or the company's agents by providing photo identification and a designated number.
Safaricom was the first company in Kenya to offer mobile money transfers. It remains the dominant player today, with other companies such as Airtel, Orange and Yu also offering similar services. To celebrate the seven-year anniversary, Safaricom encouraged Kenyans on Twitter to use the hashtag #BeforeMPESA to explain how the service has affected their lives.
Here are the three most common responses:
1. M-Pesa has given Kenyans an alternative way to store money safely:
hehehehe… #BeforeMPESA pic.twitter.com/EMXoftfv4q
— Tha Comp Guy (@mavinochi) March 14, 2014
Hehe RT @JudieOj: Lol #BeforeMPESA how people used to save their money safely pic.twitter.com/F9F5RlsB4v
— Wiljem (@I_William_M) March 14, 2014
2. Kenyans can now pay for almost anything through M-Pesa, even church offerings [sadaka] and electricity bills:
#7YearsOfMPESA I can comfortably pay sadaka [church offering] at the comfort of my living room, without going to church @SafaricomLtd pic.twitter.com/vXYnKOu5og
— anto Fazul (@antomorientes) March 10, 2014
@SafaricomLtd #BeforeMpesa this is how i used to travel to the bank to pay my electricity bill pic.twitter.com/M7pJzG1haD
— Iain Felipe (@iainfelipe) March 14, 2014
@SafaricomLtd #7YearsOfMPESA To cut story short all this services have made my life easier for since i joined mpesa pic.twitter.com/W839rsMdP2
— Damianos Tum (@damtumy) March 7, 2014
#7yearsofMPESA went hiking, ran out of fuel…..had to walk 4 a mile to buy fuel with lipa na mpesa [pay with M-Pesa] pic.twitter.com/9umqDACC28
— Jo G….° (@Kidd254) March 14, 2014
#beforeMPESA After eating with your girl then remembering you left your wallet at home pic.twitter.com/metmh0jdrb
— Dan Pius Kioko (@Vigour_Mortis) March 14, 2014
#BeforeMPESA Payment of dowry has been hectic…after Mpesa it's now easier @SafaricomLtd pic.twitter.com/FwUE0Dx2u5
— Cleo (@cleophas65) March 14, 2014
@SafaricomLtd #BeforeMPESA some people collapsed in Long queues in banks during school opening days just waiting pic.twitter.com/6WSDtt5Uhk
— Christine Mak (@ChristineMak1) March 14, 2014
how i used to wait for money to be sent to me thro postapay [payment using post service] #beforeMPESA pic.twitter.com/cPzCfKprJR
— Mhusika Mkuu!!! (@DaRilVeemood) March 14, 2014
#beforempesa and after #7YearsOfMPESA pic.twitter.com/tfYy7fErVD
— Dr Stockmann Ke (@stokmano) March 14, 2014
3. M-Pesa can be accessed from any phone:
#7YearsOfMPESA but phone ni ya 20yrspic.twitter.com/o1Phyn8GfQ
— Justin kibiwott (@kebiwot) March 7, 2014
@kebiwot #7YearsOfMPESA but the phone is 20 years old
Still, not everyone is so keen on M-Pesa
Some Kenyans used the anniversary to express frustration with M-Pesa and criticize those praising the service:
with all these Mpesa tales #7YearsOfMPESA pic.twitter.com/86W067TcLb
— GEOFFREY SIRUMBA (@geoffsirumba) March 10, 2014
how safaricom calls you just to finish you…… #7YearsOfMPESA pic.twitter.com/MKTUv61fpe
— OJ |:|Oquemba™|:| OJ (@JimmiASSo) March 7, 2014
Samuel Gikuru questioned Safaricom's motives and even accused the company of stealing the idea from a Kenyan:
Is it me or has someone else noted Safaricom is doing everything with intent on Killing Kenyan Tech Start Ups? From venturing into Pay TV,insurance…A story is told in Kenya of how a Kenyan was robbed off his billion dollar idea that is todays Mpesa.The brain child/think tank is said to have approached Safaricom executives who turned him away saying his idea couldn’t be done only for them to launch the service a few months later.Thats the story on every Kenyan lips.However,a new book reveals that a senior Vodafone employee conceived M-Pesa in 2003. Kenyans had close to nothing to do with the creation of M-Pesa that had put the country on the global radar as an innovation hub.
….With MPESA, privacy is not guaranteed.For as little as 10 shillings, you can have the identity of the owner of that line,if his number is registered for the service,as simple as that.In addition to this Kidnappers use this service to demand ransom.To ensure they won”t be apprehended easily,they open an account using a fake ID that can be prepared illegally on demand in Nairobi’s notorious River road street.Safaricom does nothing to counter check the genuineness of the ID number.

author: Ephraim Percy Kenyanito


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750 Million People Expected to Speak French by 2050 · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Bangui, Central African Republic. The French language retains some of its former influence in the former French colonies in Africa. Image from Wikimedia Commons.
Countering the assertion by John McWhorter at the New republic that learning French is pointless, Pascal Emmanuel Gobry  writes on his Forbes blog that French might just be the language of the future:
French isn’t mostly spoken by French people, and hasn’t been for a long time now. The language is growing fast, and growing in the fastest-growing areas of the world, particularly sub-Saharan Africa. The latest projection is that French will be spoken by 750 million people by 2050. A study by investment bank Natixis even suggests that by that time, French could be the most-spoken language in the world, ahead of English and even Mandarin.
Global Voices translators weighed in a month ago on the challenges and the benefits of learning French.


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Asylum Seekers Face Uncertainty in East Timor  · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Sharna Jade Bremner probes the situation of asylum seekers in East Timor:
Asylum seekers have been arriving in Timor since the early 2000s, however the exact number that are still in the tiny half-island nation remains unclear. Fear and anxiety are rife in the asylum seeker community, and many people are reluctant to identify themselves in a way that may see them targeted by authorities.


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Brazil’s Internet Bill of Rights Ignites Storm of Posts · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

Activists who support Brazil's bill of rights for Internet users, known as the #MarcoCivil, and who have Facebook or Twitter accounts are invited to participate in a large-scale campaign on social networks to pressure the National Congress to vote on the current version of the bill. An article by Julie Rovono on TechCrunch explains how the lobby of telecom companies is threatening the net neutrality provision.
The mobilization is taking place today, March 25, 2014, under the hashtag #EuQueroMarcoCivil (I want Marco Civil). Voting may take place on the same day, though it has been postponed around 30 times [pt] since 2012. Anyone who wants to take part in the “compartilhaço” (“sharing storm”) can subscribe on the website “Save the Internet” from the social mobilization platform Meu Rio:
Vamos deixar claro para os deputados que a liberdade de expressão, a neutralidade da rede e a privacidade dos usuários não são negociáveis. O texto precisa ser aprovado como está!
Let's make it clear for members of parliament that freedom of expression, network neutrality and users privacy are not negotiable. The bill needs to be approved as it is!

author: Sara Moreira


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Caribbean Literature Festivals Up Their Author Ante  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Caribbean literature has been getting a lot of global attention recently and litbloggers will be thrilled to hear what the region's two major literature festivals – Jamaica's Calabash and Trinidad and Tobago's Bocas Lit Fest – have planned this year.
Tallawah reports that the Calabash Literary Festival, which, after its launch in 2001, soon became a staple of the festival circuit, with the distinction of being the only annual international literary festival in the English-speaking Caribbean for many years, is going “globalishus” this year.  In other words, expect a star-studded literati lineup:
To wit, this year the organizers are running with the clever concept of ‘Globalishus’, which bears the stark reminder that though Calabash (the biggest likkle festival on Earth) is firmly rooted in the local community, its outlook is consistently international.
For all the challenges that can come with securing marquee names (read: superbusy literary heavyweights) to fly to Jamaica in May, the organizers of the Calabash International Literary Festival haven't let let that sway them from pursuing and reeling in the big fish for the Treasure Beach fixture. The estimable likes of Wole Soyinka, Michael Ondaatje, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Lorna Goodison and Derek` Walcott, to name only a few, have all made memorable appearances at the alluring sea-side hot-spot of Jake's, which now hosts the event every two years.
And this year's catch is certainly no exception, a whale of headliner: Booker Prize winner and easily one of the most controversially popular literary figures of his generation, Salman Rushdie, a novelist of British and Indian heritage.
Calabash Literary Festival 2007; photo by Georgia Popplewell, used under a CC license.
The post continues:
Rushdie, whose oeuvre includes modern prize-winning classics like Midnight's Children, will share top billing with a continent-hopping host of significant talents, namely Antigua's Jamaica Kincaid (Annie John, Lucy), Africa's Mukoma was Ngugi, the Dominican Republic's Xiomara Fortuna, JaQuarvis Coleman (the United States), and Jamaica's own Ad-Ziko Simba, Stephanie Saulter and Christopher John Farley, whose new adventure-laced effort, Game World (Akashic Books), was published earlier in the year to critical acclaim.
Tallawah ends by saying:
The Calabash Festival…looks all set to reprise its decade-plus-long dance with devoted fans from everywhere.
Further down the Caribbean archipelago, in Trinidad and Tobago, the Bocas Lit Fest blog, having already announced its finalists for this year's Burt Award (for children's writing) and the Hollick Arvon Prize, takes a closer look at its 2014 Long List, with a focus on the novel The Butterfly Hotel:
Migration, return and trans maritime journeys are some of the primary signifiers in this, Roger Robinson’s third collection of poems. The work’s focal points are both the Caribbean and its diaspora.  The core motif employed by Robinson is that of the butterfly’s migratory path; like our winged friends, he insists in verse, we are indefatigable sojourners.
For so many citizens of the Caribbean diaspora, home is a flighty, elusive concept, difficult to claim no matter how many passports one owns, or where one’s navel string is buried. The poet engages with strong surges of alienation; traveller’s ennui; cultural syncretism and disaffection alike. Whether Robinson is portraying the bustle and melting-pot spectacle of a busy Brixton night, writing odes to the land of his birth, or channeling ancestral memories of the Caribbean’s first peoples, each poem is an emotive odyssey.
NGC Bocas Lit Fest founder Marina Salandy-Brown with writer Shehan Karunatilaka, journalist Sarfraz Manzoor, editor and publisher Margaret Busby, and Thomas Minkus of the Frankfurt Book Fair, participating in a discussion on international publishing at the Hay Festival, Friday 8 June, 2012; photo by Nicholas Laughlin, used under a CC license.
Past reviews of the finalists have included posts about Malika Booker's collection of poems, Pepper Seed; Gaiutra Bahadur's Coolie Woman, which explores the history of East Indian indentureship; and Robert Antoni's novel, As Flies to Whatless Boys.
Many more blog posts are sure to come about the authors and books involved in this year's flagship regional literary festivals, and they will essentially be saying the same thing: Caribbean literature, in all its glorious diversity, is once more going global.
The image of Bocas Lit Fest founder Marina Salandy-Brown at the Hay Festival is by Nicholas Laughlin, also used under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic Creative Commons license.


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Taiwan’s Heavy-Handed Crackdown on #CongressOccupied Leaves Protesters, Journalists Injured · Global Voices
I-fan Lin

Protesters in Taiwan are speaking out against what they call a violent suppression of a peaceful demonstration outside the island's government headquarters on March 23, 2014 that left protesters, doctors and journalists injured.
The demonstration was in response to President Ma Ying-jeou's first press conference about the ongoing occupation of Taiwan's legislature. Protesters took over the Legislative Yuan on March 18 after a controversial trade agreement with China was passed in committee and brought to the floor without a promised clause-by-clause review.
In the press conference [zh], Ma reiterated the importance of the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement for Taiwan's economy and called the protesters’ occupation illegal. He did not respond to protesters’ demands [zh], and members of the movement expressed their disappointment afterward in their own press conference. Later that day, some protesters occupied the Executive Yuan to continue to pressure the government.
The occupation this time was suppressed by riot police with rods and water cannons. The heavy-handed actions of the police shocked many at the scene, and some in response blackened their profile photos on Facebook and Twitter in protest.
Protesters at the Executive Yuan. Photo from fanderlose. CC: NC.
Fang Wei-Li, one of the young protesters, explained [zh] on Facebook why she was frustrated with President Ma's performance in the press conference and why she decided to join the occupation at the Executive Yuan:
盲目的和平不能讓我們抵達我們想去的地方，這種安逸不會讓我們的立場更堅定，反而凸顯了我們的軟弱。我相信不只是我，很多人也都抱持著這樣的思想。
When blindly following a strategy of peace doesn't lead us to where we want to go, sticking with such a comfortable strategy doesn't make our stance firm, but instead exposes our weakness. I believe that I am not the only one who thinks so. Many people must share the same thought.
The occupation of the Executive Yuan was nevertheless peaceful. Yet, the government mobilized police from all over Taiwan to evict the protesters. The police forced the voluntary medical team and journalists to leave before they took action.
A protester from a publication house called Editions du Flaneur, described [zh] the eviction scene in the publication house's Facebook account:
Protesters wore masks or towels and raincoats in anticipation of a possible attack from police. Photo from GJ!!Taiwan. CC: NC.
我和現場的人民被鎮暴警察驅離、推擠，
警察沒有辦法站在人民的這一邊，
他們身穿黑色盔甲、手持長棍，
他們以盾牌和人牆封鎖住前往行政院後門的路
他們以軍隊式的隊伍行進，仿若要去攻打敵軍，
總指揮官坐在帶有透明防護罩的警備車中，不斷以擴音喇叭要求他的軍隊前進施暴。[…]
我看見現場備有水車，但是我沒有看見他們啟動水車
我同樣也沒有看見他們舉牌警告那些在場內的學生「我們即將行使暴力手段驅離」
我只聽見學生尖叫、流血，
傷亡非常嚴重的由救護車載走
受傷不嚴重的直接被押上警備車
I was evicted forcibly along with other protesters by the anti-riot police. These police officers could not stand by the people. They wore black armor and had long rods in their hands. The police blocked the path to the backdoor of the Executive Yuan with shields. They moved like soldiers as if they were attacking an enemy. The chief commander sat in a police vehicle protected by a transparent shield. He kept giving commands to the armed force to move forward via a loudspeaker. […] I saw there were water tanks but did not see them move the tanks. I also did not hear the police give a warning to the students, such as “we will evict you with force”. I only heard students screaming and saw them bleeding. The seriously injured ones were carried away by ambulances, and others were sent away by police vehicles.
Protesters were attacked by the water cannons. Photo from Ahuei Zhang. CC: NC.
On March 24 2014, the Taiwan Journalists Association made a public statement [zh] that more than ten journalists were violently beaten by police. They said many reporters were evicted before the police took action to remove the protesters [zh] and believed that such action had violated freedom of the press.
The medical team was also forced to leave before the eviction. Wei Liulin, one of the doctors volunteering at the Legislative Yuan, described the scene outside the Executive Yuan:
警察在凌晨驅離在行政院對面馬路架設的臨時急救站，要求所有醫護人員撤離。我們表示衝突還在進行，隨時可能有警民受傷，但警方強力要求立刻撤離否則通通上手銬。
為了顧慮同仁的安全，我們屈辱地離開現場。
The police evicted our temporary medical station set up in the street opposite to the Executive Yuan around midnight and demanded that all medical personnel leave. We said that since the confrontation is ongoing, we should stand by in case anyone got hurt. However, the police ordered us to leave or they would handcuff us all. Considering the safety of my colleagues, we left the emergency station humiliated.
Journalists were also attacked by the water cannons. Photo from occupyadmin. CC: NC.
Another doctor, Du Ying-Yue, stayed behind at the site during the eviction of protesters and was beaten by the police [zh]. He managed to help some of the injured protesters. Below is his witness account concerning an injured protester [zh] who he helped:
剛剛評估後送了一個被警察打到unconscious,bilateral wheezing +stridor,還外加focal seizure,送台大去了
I just evaluated a protester who was beaten by the police. His condition: unconscious, bilateral wheezing with stridor and focal seizure. He was sent to the National Taiwan University Hospital.
The medical team set up another temporary emergency station a bit further away from the Executive Yuan, and they reported [zh] that the police may have used pepper spray:
不是催淚瓦斯，因為並未伴隨其他噁心症狀，只有流鼻涕及眼淚，推測為辣椒水；受傷民眾表示，部分警察驅離時使用綠油精塗抹民眾眼睛，醫護站證實民眾眼睛的確被綠油精 [zh] 塗抹。
It is not tear gas because the victims did not have symptoms like nausea. They only had running nose and tears. We think it may be pepper spray. Some victims said that the police spread some green oil onto their eyes. The station confirmed that their eyes were smeared with green oil.
Although most journalists were evicted before the suppression began, many photos and testimonies from protesters, reporters, lawyers and doctors have circulated online.

author: I-fan Lin


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First Tweet from President of Madagascar is the Ultimate Meta Tweet    · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Madagascar president Hery Rajaonarimampianina – Public domain
The newly elected president of Madagascar Hery Rajaonarimampianina created his twitter account on March 23, 2014. Here is his first tweet :
First tweet by president of Madagascar
It is quite possibly the most meta tweet ever from a head of state. Only media mugol Rupert Murdoch might challenge the level of “metaness” of his first tweet. The president of Madagascar has also the distinction for the longest name ever for a head of state.


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How Russians Are Outsmarting Internet Censorship · Global Voices
Andrey Tselikov

Pro-Navalny bloggers troll Internet regulators.
Mere days after several opposition websites were blocked [Global Voices report] by Russia's mass communications regulatory agency, Roskomnadzor, free speech proponents have created a unique system for circumventing censorship — and imposing counter-attacks. This approach could create problems both for censors and pro-Kremlin websites. Indeed, it seems that Russian Internet activists have taken the adage “the best defense is a good offence” to heart.
The system gained popularity when blogger Ruslan Leviev [ru] implemented the approach in order to access opposition leader Alexey Navalny's blog, which was blacklisted and blocked last year. A programmer identified as alexkbs, who first developed the system, explained in a blog post [ru] that he wanted to create a way for average users to access blocked material — a method for those who might not have the technological aptitude to use specialized services like Tor, i2p, VPN and proxy servers [ru]. This is why his approach is centered on allowing users to access blocked sites through plain old World Wide Web.
The method consists of a network of mirrors, or exact copies, of the blocked site, combined with an “active defense” mechanism. Because Roskomnadzor requires ISPs to constantly check if a resource is trying to circumvent a ban by changing its IP address, blocked resources can introduce code that redirects some of these IP queries to a different website. Eventually, goes the theory, ISPs will pick up on this redirect and block the secondary website as well. So if a blocked site is savvy enough to redirect to a government site, say Kremlin.ru, ISPs will ultimately block Kremlin.ru, a block that obviously can't stay in place for long.
This idea was put to the test on March 17, when the popular pro-government website LifeNews was banned by many ISPs [ru] through this redirection trick. The website responsible for the block was one of the mirrors of Navalny's blog. LifeNews later appealed the block to Roskomnadzor, and the mirror was unblocked as a result, proving the exploit successful at actively forcing a reversal of censorship. Leviev tweeted news of his success, posting a screenshot of the mirror removed from the Roskomnadzor registry:
Учитесь как надо на**ывать систему ;) pic.twitter.com/YRg523fKS2
— Руслан Левиев (@RuslanLeviev) March 18, 2014
Learn how to screw the system ;)
Of course, like all weapons, the redirect exploit can be used for evil as well as good — literally any website could be blocked in this way, including the website of a business competitor, for example. Roskomnadzor can also combat the exploit by creating “whitelists,” i.e. websites that should under no circumstances be blocked.
A different way to actively “screw” the system was proposed by Twitter user @unkn0wnerror, who suggested reverse blacklisting Roskomnadzor. Under this method, when regulators attempt to view one of the mirrors to Navalny's website, all they see [ru] is a full screen photo of a kitten:
Navalny.us as seen by Roskomnadzor regulators.
Leviev and company continue to think of new ways to circumvent online censorship — for example, on March 24, Leviev announced [ru] on his blog that his team of volunteers had created a Google Chrome extension that automates the process of accessing Navalny's blog mirrors. One might question Leviev's zeal at circumventing censorship specifically for Navalny's blog. After all, Navalny's texts are also published on his Facebook account, which is easily accessible from Russia. Another extremely simple solution, suggested [ru] by Anton Nosik, is to read any blocked website through an RSS feed. One explanation is that this project is a proof of concept — a way to prepare for a grim and probable future when any opposition voice on the RuNet is in danger of being stifled.

author: Andrey Tselikov


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Laos Landmine Victims Appeal for Help · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Landmines planted during the Vietnam War era continue to hurt and kill Lao residents today
HI's Phongsavath Manithong is challenging the int'l community to support UXO/mine victims in #Laos #Commit2Complete pic.twitter.com/hXI659LRfu
— ICBL (@minefreeworld) March 11, 2014


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Obama Meets the Chinese President in Netherlands as the US First Lady Continues Her Soft Diplomacy in China · Global Voices
Owen Guo

This week, the Obamas are trying their hands at diplomacy with China – from two very different angles.
Screen grab from Youku. Michelle Obama met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan on March 21.
US First Lady Michelle Obama made her maiden trip to mainland China for a bit of “soft diplomacy”, focusing on education and youth empowerment during the weeklong trip to three Chinese cities. Setting aside scheduled meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan, her travels in China look no different than those of an inquisitive tourist – in Beijing, she practiced traditional Chinese calligraphy, toured the ancient Forbidden City and ascended the Great Wall.
Accompanied by her mother and two daughters, Ms Obama’s China tour is seen by many as a chance to soothe tensions between China and the US. Relations between the two nations have undergone ups and downs in recent years. The US pivot to the Asia Pacific, part of the Obama administration's strategic rebalancing, has kept China on alert.
Meanwhile, China’s increasing military assertiveness in the South China Sea and Barack Obama’s two meetings with the Dalai Lama, the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet, have led the two nations to exchange words of anger towards each other.
While the Chinese audience is inundated this week with reports about Mrs. Obama’s fashion choices and her encounter with China’s first lady, the intended soft diplomacy has been marred by revelations that the US National Security Administration (NSA) breached the internal servers of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei.
The scoop, based on documents from whistleblower Edward Snowden and reported by The New York Times, could overshadow the meeting between US President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of a nuclear security summit thousands of miles away in the Netherlands.
In the meantime, the US approach to the Russian annexation of Crimea from Ukraine is not likely to go down well with China, a close ally of Russia. When it comes to its foreign policy, China has long maintained a doctrine of “non-interference” in others’ internal affairs. And Crimea scenario haunts Chinese leadership as they fear the same could happen with its Tibet and Xinjiang region.
Commenting on Chinese popular microblogging site Sina Weibo, Hai Gehua, who is head of a company in Shanxi province, used an analogy to describe Michelle Obama's visit to China:
就是两个老爷们准备谈笔大生意，但是大家都还不知道对方的心理底线，所以让媳妇先打打前站……亲情化作战，值得参考和借鉴！
It’s just like two men getting ready to sign a big business deal. Without knowing each other's psychological bottom line, they sent out their wives to do the warm-up… Tactic of using family ties, something worth learning!
Fan Haitao, a former journalist with Beijing Youth Daily, wrote:
米歇尔访华，按照今天白宫的说法，不仅仅是推动两国领导人的关系，而要推动两国人民之间的关系。米歇尔将关注教育，推动中美之间青年之间的教育教育项目。具体的城市是北京–西安–成都。米歇尔将在北京大学演讲，在西安参观兵马俑，在第七高中再进行一场演讲。
According to the White House, Michelle's visit to China not only could strengthen the ties between the leaders of these two countries, but also the people-to-people exchange. Michelle is going to focus on education and promote the educational programs between China and the United States. Michelle will be visiting Beijing, Xi'an and Chengdu. She will give a speech at Peking University, visit the Terracotta Warriors and finally give another speech at high school No.7 Chengdu.
Despite little mention of politics from Michelle Obama, Oriental Outlooks tried to interpret the meaning behind her visit:
今日起，美国总统奥巴马夫人米歇尔将携家人展开为期一周的访华行程，这是米歇尔首次单独对华进行正式访问。虽然米歇尔访华已经基本明确不会触碰政治问题，但是对于她的访华用意，舆论仍有很多政治方面的猜测
Starting today, the first lady of the United States, Mrs. Michelle Obama will pay a weeklong visit to China accompanied by her mother and daughters. This is Michelle's first official visit to China without her husband. Although it's been clear the Michelle will not touch upon politics in China, when it comes to the intentions behind the visit, there has been some strong public opinion speculating about her political motives.
Echoing the same sentiment is TakungPao, Hongkong-based newspaper:
米歇尔在最后一站成都访问时，特意安排到西藏餐厅享用午餐。分析指这项行程凸显米歇尔今次“柔性外交”暗藏机锋，希望以此带出美国关注西藏人权的政治信息。
Michelle is going to have lunch in a Tibetan restaurant during her last stop in Chengdu. Analysts pointed out that the arrangement indicates Michelle’s hidden intention of her “flexible diplomacy”, which is to convey the political point of America’s concern for human rights in Tibet.
Qingshui Zhilian wrote:
大国博弈，第一夫人也在博弈。彭丽媛只陪了米歇尔一天，就飞到欧洲了。
The game between two big powers are taking place between two first ladies. Peng Liyuan accompanied Michelle for a day and flew to Europe.
Carl Hu contributed Weibo translation to this post.

author: Owen Guo


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Paraguayan President Faces First Major Test as Citizens Prepare for a General Strike · Global Voices
Jazmin Acuna

“26-03 General Strike” reads a flyer on social media. Peasants, students and workers reject Cartes policies. Photo credit: Festival por la Huelga General event page on Facebook
March 26, 2014 will be a historic day for Paraguay. The country will live its first general strike after two decades since the last one took place. United in a common front, workers, peasants, teacher unions and students will give Horacio Cartes his first major test as president only eight months after he has taken office.
The recently approved public-private partnership law, ongoing violence against peasants, and the rise of public bus fares are some of the reasons why organized citizens have decided to take their demands out on the streets. Although he has sought to put a stop to the impending strike by raising minimum wages by 10%, Cartes has failed to curtail growing discontent among the populace. Some regard him as a staunch neoliberal who will only harm those who are already most disadvantaged with his policies.
Demands are varied, but they all come down to issues of justice and social welfare. Labor workers request price control over basic food items, a 25% rise in minimum salaries, and respect for trade union rights. Peasants, on their part, demand the long-awaited agrarian reform and an end to the repression that they suffer daily for protesting against the monoculture model of production. Throughout the democratic period, 130 people have been murdered as a result of the dispute for land in rural areas. Peasants also ask for the immediate release of five of them who are on hunger strike. Without much convincing evidence to prove their guilt, the peasants on hunger strike are accused of taking part in the killing of eleven farmers and six policemen during a land eviction procedure in 2012 in Curuguaty.
Teachers, high-school and university students have also joined the strike. The first are mobilizing for free, quality education. The latter demand better oversight and distribution of resources allotted for educational purposes, a reduction in bus fare prices and the removal of university fees.
Paraguayans have started using the hashtag #26M to tweet about the strike.
Meanwhile, artists have voiced their solidarity with the general strikers by putting together a music festival and sending out messages of support:
“We sing because we believe in people” reads a line from messages of support that artists have put together for the general strike. Photo credit: Festival por la Huelga General event on Facebook
President Cartes and his close circle of allies have expressed their disapproval, saying that the strike damages Paraguay's international portrayal precisely when it is in much need of direct foreign investment. Furthermore, they claim that the general strike has been “politicized”, alluding to the role that opposition parties such as Frente Guasu are playing in it.
Their views however have been largely dismissed by the public. Allegations from the minister of Interior that there are plans to destabilize the government proved to be unsubstantiated until now. His most compelling evidence – a recorded chat between unknown men who discuss how to create chaos during the strike, and even re-enact another bloody “Marzo Paraguayo” – has been ditched after those involved in the conversation came forward to explain that the recording had been rehearsed and subsequently edited.
In his weekly post for Ultima Hora [es] newspaper, journalist Luis Bareiro summarizes his opinion regarding the governments reaction to the strike:
No sé si es su esencia de patrón, pero hasta ahora lo único que mostró Cartes con relación a la huelga es irritación y una notable torpeza”
I do not know if these are the natural leanings of a boss, but until now the only thing that Cartes has shown is annoyance and remarkable ineptness in relation to the strike
Civil society organizations assert that if there is anyone who is embarrassing Paraguay's stance in the world arena it is Mr. Cartes himself. During the weekend, Brazil's daily Gazeta do Povo [pt] and El Tiempo [es] from Colombia have published a series of investigative reports which blame the President's businesses for the large scale smuggling of cigarettes across Latin America. According to the reports, this serves criminal organizations and even the FARC guerrilla for money laundering purposes.
It remains to be seen whether strikers will achieve their goals. What is clear for now is that stuck between a rock and a hard place at home and abroad, Cartes will have to rethink his maneuverings if he strives for a governable environment for the rest of his presidency.

author: Jazmin Acuna


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The ‘Protest of all Protests’ Calls for Constitutional Reform in Chile · Global Voices
Soraya Sacaan

The protest of all protests, Santiago de Chile. Image from @SorayaSM
With the slogan “The protest of all causes united”, more than 40 civil organisations [es] (with the exception of students [es]) gathered for the ‘Protest of all Protests’ [es] whereby more than a hundred thousand people met in Santiago to demand a new constitution by way of a constituent assembly.
The convocation of this event for Sunday, March 22, came from the necessity to unite the civil society, to make a petition to the government of Michelle Bachelet to change the current Political Constitution of Chile, which was promulgated during Augusto Pinochet's military dictatorship. The constitution has been questioned for its content because it keeps alive ideological characteristics which can limit the democratic action of the current civil society.
The summons included a long list of requests, among them: the self-determination of indigenous peoples; free, quality education; a new labour code; rights for immigrants and migratory regulation; egalitarian marriage with child adoption; right to therapeutic abortion; a new drug policy; free, quality healthcare; rights for Chilean artists; Patagonia without dams; and fair peace.
The protest of all protests, Santiago de Chile. Image from @SorayaSM
Another of the petitions is a universal rights law. On that subject David Órdenes, coordinator of Movimiento Movilizándonos [es], told Global Voices that they are demanding a universal rights law focused more on children and young people, “so that from now on this society provides its children with what they need, because they are democracy and social actors… and therefore the protest of all protests has to do with the fact that we are thoughtful and making proposals.”
The massive protest played out peacefully until the end of the march, when confrontations with the police force took place.
Here are some tweets relating to the course of the day:
En la GIGANTESCA …Marcha de Todas las Marchas #marchadetodaslasmarchas pic.twitter.com/pdnMcbshAK
— Raúl Zorrilla Ovalle (@raulguillermo62) March 22, 2014
At the GIGANTIC …Protest of All Protests
En la #marchadetodaslasmarchas estaban las causas que caben en una constitución de todos y todas, hija de una #AsambleaConstituyente
— La desvergonzada (@eLe_enLetras) March 22, 2014
In the protest of all protests were the causes that fit into a constitution for all, daughter of a Constituent Assembly
[16:20] @Movilh cifra en 150000 personas las convocadas en Santiago tras #MarchaDeTodasLasMarchas (@raulguillermo62) pic.twitter.com/srogXdPgdT
— Grupo Wurtlitzer ™ (@GrupoWurtlitzer) March 22, 2014
[16:20] @Movilh [es] estimated 150000 people gathered in Santiago following the Protest of All Protests
A mi nadie me contó,yo estaba allí, había paz y llegaron los pacos con el guanaco sin haber provocación. #marchadetodaslasmarchas
— Nish (@DenisseNish) March 22, 2014
No one told me, I was there, there was peace and the cops arrived with the water cannons unprovoked.
You can view more tweets about the protest with the hashtag #lamarchadetodaslasmarchas.

author: Soraya Sacaan


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Trinidad & Tobago Loses First Olympic Medallist · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Repeating Islands notes the passing of Trinidad and Tobago's first ever Olympic medallist, weightlifter Rodney Wilkes.


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Ukrainian Paramilitary Leader Assassinated, Moscow to Blame? · Global Voices
Andrey Tselikov

Over the past several hours rumors [uk] have spread [ru] through [ru] the Russian Internet claiming that Alexander Muzychko, second-in-command to Ukraine's ultra-nationalist “Right Sector” leader Dmytro Yarosh, was gunned down near the Western Ukrainian city of Rivno. Muzychko had earlier posted a YouTube video [ru] claiming he had information that he was going to be eliminated by Ukrainian security forces. If his death, yet unconfirmed, is true, it will be unclear who to blame — too many people have reasons to take him out of the picture. A Chechen blogger, Zulikhan Magomadova [ru], writing in Russian, blamed the Kremlin for the assassination, with the motive of fomenting civil war in Ukraine. Muzychko fought along side Chechen separatists during the first Chechen war. Magomadova ended with “Sleep well, our dear brother-in-arms. We will avenge you.”


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Ukrainians Desperate to Flip the Script on Fascism  · Global Voices
Andrey Tselikov

On March 25, 2014 designer and one of the most popular RuNet bloggers, Tema Lebedev, announced on his blog that his design studio, ArtLevedev created the logo for the “2014, a Year of Culture” project, commissioned by the Russian government:
ArtLebedev's constructivist logo. Screenshot.
Shortly after, one of his readers posted a comment [ru] to his blog, with the logo jokingly photoshoped to look like a swastika:
Screenshot.
This image was in picked up by Ukrainian Twitter user Katya Avramchuk, who posted it saying that this was the actual logo designed by Lebedev's studio:
Студия Артемия Лебедева (Эркен Кагаров) разработала логотип Года культуры в России pic.twitter.com/yJLKRFn6zE
— The Avramchuk Post (@avramchuk_katya) March 25, 2014
Artemiy Lebedev's studio (Erken Kagarov) designed the logo for Russia's year of culture.
From here, the Tweet was re-posted [ru] by popular Russian-language Ukrainian Twitter @euromaidan, which tweeted it without attribution. This post has been re-tweeted 389 times. No trace of the original (funny or not) joke remains, just another entry into a name-calling “Who is the bigger Nazi” contest between Russians and Ukrainians.


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Brazilian Congress Approves Pioneering Bill of Rights for Internet Users · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

Marco Civil has finally been approved in the lower house of Brazil's Congress and next should be voted in Senate. The bill of rights for Internet users became a worldwide trending topic on Twitter, following a large-scale campaign that was promoted during the day of the vote, March 25, 2014, under the hashtags #MarcoCivil and #EuQueroMarcoCivil (I want Marco Civil).
The current version [pdf] of the bill preserves the provisions of net neutrality, freedom of expression and users privacy.
Former Minister of Culture, and famous musician, Gilberto Gil, who gave a face to Avaaz's petition “For a free and democratic Internet“, tweeted:
Vencemos! O #MarcoCivil foi aprovado!! Por uma rede neutralizada,liberdade de expressão e proteção à privacidade!
— Gilberto Gil (@gilbertogil) March 26, 2014
We won! #MarcoCivil approved!! For a neutral web, freedom of expression and protection of privacy!
For Sir Tim Berners-Lee, who invented the World Wide Web 25 years ago, this is “the best possible birthday gift for Brazilian and global Web users”. In a statement of support released on the eve of the vote he said the approval of Marco Civil “will help to usher in a new era – one where citizens’ rights in every country around the world are protected by digital bills of rights”:
Like the Web, Marco Civil has been built by its users – the groundbreaking, inclusive and participatory process has resulted in a policy that balances the rights and responsibilities of the individuals, governments and corporations who use the Internet. (…)  ultimately the draft Bill reflects the Internet as it should be: an open, neutral and decentralized network, in which users are the engine for collaboration and innovation.


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“Click Rights” Campaign for Digital Rights in Middle East and North Africa · Global Voices
Denise Ajiri

Following Edward Snowden's revelations about the US National Security Agency, the international community has been abuzz with discussion over new models for Internet governance. But are Arab citizens taking part in this discussion? One influential organization says they are not, because awareness of digital rights is so lacking.
IGMENA is the Internet Governance programme in the Middle East and North Africa of the Dutch international development organization Hivos. Their new campaign “Click Rights” aims to bring more awareness of digital rights to citizens, so they in turn can pressure governments and the private sector to uphold them. (Disclosure: Global Voices is a grantee of Hivos.)
On their website, they introduce topics including universality, accessibility, expression and privacy, in an interactive and easy-to-remember way. “We provide a set of ten punchy internet rights included in the Charter of Human Rights and Principles for Internet [by the Internet Rights and Principles Dynamic Coalition], which are still not recognized by the Arab community,” explains IGMENA’s Communication and Advocacy Officer Noha Fathi.
Pointing to Internet restrictions throughout the region, Fathi, who is Egyptian, dives into the situation in her own country: “Internet freedom is still being stifled in Egypt… Online activists and bloggers are detained, sometimes because of a tweet that is perceived by the authorities as a source of menace to national security. There are restrictions on many levels, technical, policy and human rights.”
“Since citizens can’t do lobbying if they are not aware of the rights, we aim to provide a set of rights that are still not recognized by the Arab community and to build consensus around them. Accessing the governments is a long-term objective because without raising awareness of Arab netizens about their rights in the first place, it will be almost impossible to have consensus on any principle,” says Fathi.
IGMENA’s Click Rights campaign website is accessible in English and Arabic.

author: Denise Ajiri


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Corruption in Nepal: Is It Becoming Socially Acceptable? · Global Voices
Rezwan

People are angry and tired, and media houses often publish news about the connection between political leaders and goons but no one takes to the streets to protest corruption – an anomaly for a country where people have Nepal Bandhs, country-wide strikes for every distress.
Siromani Dhungana posts an analysis on United We Blog! for a Democratic Nepal highlighting that corruption in Nepal is becoming mainstream and acceptable.


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South Korea Singles Out Elderly Drives With ‘Silver Mark’ · Global Voices
Lee Yoo Eun

Image by Flickr user Young Sok Yun (CC BY NC ND 2.0)
Police in South Korea proposed a new regulation that forces elderly drivers to place a sticker on the rear of their car to signify that they are seniors.
South Korea is rapidly aging society [ko]. Official data projects that by the year 2017, people over the age of 65 will make up over 17 percent of the entire population. Police data tells a similar story [ko]: not only do elderly drivers currently comprise 10 percent of the total driving population, but fatal crash rates involving senior citizens are sharply rising, unlike the general vehicle fatality rate, which is on the decline.
This has led the government to act. Police have introduced a rule that requires elderly drivers to attach the so-called “silver mark” [ko] – a noticeable sticker on the back of the vehicle that says it is driven by an elderly driver (a sample mark done by one local district looks like this). They have also vowed that traffic police will no longer pardon seniors just because of their age. Below a news article [ko] on the topic, one of the most upvoted comments read:
일이삼사: 실버마크, 아줌마마크, 음주 전과자마크, 1년미만 초보마크, 정신병 이력자마크 등등등 다 의무화 해라. 이게 지금 대책이라고 내 놓은거냐??
Net user ID 1234: Beside the silver mark, why don't you also make a Ajumma mark [Korean for a married old women], DUI mark, new driver mark for those whose driving experience is less than a year, psycho mark, and make all these obligatory? Is this really the measure you came up with?
Some Twitter users worry that this is another form of social discrimination based on age and point out the sticker might make the elderly more vulnerable to criminals looking for easy targets.
고령운전자 ‘실버마크’ 부착 의무화 추진 | 미디어다음 http://t.co/XJSLZFxTwW 이건 또다른 차별이 아닐까. 운전면허 갱신때 검사를 좀 더 제대로 해서 필터링을 해야지;; 실버마크가 되려 범죄의 표적이 될 수 있다는걸 왜 몰라?
— 아가다 (@agathawow) March 23, 2014
News has come out about new rules that require elderly drivers to attach the so-called ‘silver mark’. http://t.co/XJSLZFxTwW But will this be another form of discrimination? What they should have done is create a more thorough filtering process when issuing driving licenses. Are they unaware of the fact that this can be abused by criminals looking for a victim?
고령운전자 ‘실버마크’ 부착 의무화 추진 | 미디어다음 http://t.co/Tc6AdBv9wI ????머지? 이건 인권 침해소지가 있다고.그러고 이건 의무화가 아니라 추천사항인거야 그러고 그거 있다고 봐줄거도 아니자나
— 메~~~로ㅇ (@lushfer) March 23, 2014
What the hell is this??? This could lead to possible human rights violations. They should have at least made this recommendation, rather than obligatory. And it's not like the mark will make other drivers act gently toward those elderly drivers.
오피셜) 정부의 노령 운전자들 차에 실버스티커 붙이는 정책에 발맞추어 트윗 유저들 중에서 어르신들은 언능 실버 마크 붙이시기 바랍니다.
— 콩닥콩닥_RED (@xena_heyum) March 23, 2014
(fake) Official tweet: In line with the government’s silver mark for elderly drivers, dear fellow Twitter users, please display a silver mark if you are elderly.

author: Lee Yoo Eun


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In A Syrian Neighbourhood, Rocket Fire Becomes The New Normal · Global Voices
مرسيل شحوارو

This post is part of a special series of articles by blogger and activist, Marcell Shehwaro, describing the realities of life in Syria during the ongoing armed conflict between forces loyal to the current regime, and those seeking to oust it.
Blogger and activist Marcell Shehwaro at a protest in Syria. Image courtesy Marcell Shehwaro
This would have been a different article if I had adhered to the saying which I was taught as a child: “Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today.” I intended to write this last night, then realised my laptop battery was about to run out. I've had no electricity in my house for the past two days, so I decided to put off writing till this morning.
This post was supposed to be about the daily life of a normal girl who is a just bit different. Let's call her an activist, as this label is more attractive to some.
I was commissioned by Global Voices Online to convey to you some details of our daily lives in Syria. This is what I planned to write about, had I written this post last night, and had I not been such a slave to technology. I could, after all, have written it on paper, by the light of a kerosene lamp. It seems I have lost the ability to write without hearing the sound of my fingers tapping on the keyboard.
But let's return to the article. I went to sleep thinking that I would write it this morning, as soon as I had found a source of electricity. However, the Syrian Air Defense Force had other plans. I woke up at 8am to the sound of a nearby explosion—a rocket from the Air Defense Force fell about 100 metres from my house in the liberated Mashad neighborhood in Aleppo. We started counting. Two. . . three. . . seven. . . . This one was further away. Eight. . . . The windows started to rattle. I decided to open all the doors and windows. All that I could think that moment was that catching influenza from the cold would be less painful than the shrapnel of broken glass.
I gathered all the blankets I could find, crawled under them and dozed off. War has taught me that I should always sleep, no matter what horrors were unfolding outside.
It was a Friday and I was supposed to attend a protest in the Bustan Al Qaser neighborhood. I got dressed and went out into the street, which seemed to be a brave step, considering the bombardment. Suddenly, the neighborhood I am so used to seemed totally strange. 16 rockets fell, according to friends who kept count. And 16 rockets is enough to change the characteristics of a modest neighborhood like the one I live in. Rubble and glass were everywhere, and my Uggs boots weren't exactly the best kind of footwear to be wearing in these circumstances.
On the streets, everyone was looking up at the sky. And I mean everyone. Five or six other people were the only civilians outside their homes. An old man cried like a street vendor soliciting customers, not forewarning of death: “It is coming closer. . . . It has arrived. . . . It will shoot. . . . It shot. . . .” His monotone was sadder than the sight of the rubble.
The fighter jet hits close. And some run away from the sound of the explosion. My friend and I laugh at the idea of trying to outrun a fighter jet. Do those people think we are still in the days of the peaceful protests where we could run to escape live bullets? Or is it just a survival instinct, spontaneous and illogical? Who really can outrun a fighter jet? The jet empties its load again, so my friend and I decide that it is stupid to continue walking towards the protest. We enter a nearby building, where we find a crowd of civilians, trembling. I envy their ability to be afraid. This means either that their lives are still meaningful, or that, unlike us, they're aren't used to witnessing death.
The loudspeakers are calling on people in the higher floors to come down. The sound of ambulance sirens gets louder. Suddenly, we hear a volley of bullets. My friend asks: “Can those bullets hit the plane?” He answers his own question: “No, my dear, those are the bullets of oppression.” I envy the militant who feels oppressed.
Then everything is normal. Soon, we will continue our journey.
In a few hours, life will be back to normal and the streets will be full of vendors and passers-by. Only those beneath the rubble and their families, and those who have lost their homes, will cry today. Some of the images may or may not remain in our memory—that of the grieving mother watching her house burn with her son is still inside; or the daughter relating how the kitchen caved in with her mother in it.
For us, it was just a normal day of living with explosives. My friend corrects me: this time it wasn't explosives, but rockets. Please accept my apology for the error: it was just a normal day with rockets.
Marcell Shehwaro blogs at marcellita.com and tweets at @Marcellita, both primarily in Arabic. You can read the first two posts in this series here and here.

author: مرسيل شحوارو


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The Night the Lights Went Out in Jamaica: Politician Freed of Corruption Charges  · Global Voices
Matthew Hunte

The fraud and money laundering charges against former Jamaican Energy Minister Kern Spencer (and his then-assistant, Colleen Wright) have been dropped after Senior Resident Magistrate Judith Pusey upheld a no-case submission filed by their attorneys. The case was the result of what has become known as the Cuban Light Bulb scandal, in which the distribution of energy saving light-bulbs, donated by the Cuban government, ended up costing Jamaica JA$276 million (about US$2.5 million).
A video which was widely circulated in 2007, showed Kern Spencer breaking down in Parliament while the Jamaica Labour Party government, which was in office at the time, pressed him for answers relating to the light-bulb distribution program:
Journalist Emily Crooks tweeted the developments as they happened:
Breaking news – RM upholds a no case submission made by Defence attorneys – #KERNSPENCERFREED
— Emily Crooks (@emilynationwide) March 24, 2014
Money laundering and conspiracy charges end against Kern Spencer. RM Judith Pusey rules he has NO case to answer
— Emily Crooks (@emilynationwide) March 24, 2014
Kern Spencer – Charged in Feb 2008; Spent 2 nights in custody; on trial for 6yrs; freed – March 24, 2014
— Emily Crooks (@emilynationwide) March 24, 2014
The magistrate's decision drew much attention not only because the charges involved a politician, but because the case furthered an ongoing discussion about the Jamaican justice system. Many commenters compared the outcome of this case to the recent Vybz Kartel verdict. A blogger at Yardflex wondered if there was a double standard:
Spencer, the former junior energy minister [and] north east St Elizabeth Member of Parliament, who cried in Parliament when the allegations were first made public, was a picture of relief after the ruling.
Defence attorneys K.D. Knight and Deborah Martin argued, in their submissions, that Spencer and Wright were denied a fair trial because of prosecutorial misconduct and the lengthy delays in the case and that the evidence did not support the charges.Same situation with Kartel. Why was he found guilty?
Dee Nadz Tine said that people should not jump to conclusions about the Jamaican justice system on the basis of a single case:
Two weeks ago in the Kartel Murder Trial the justice system was being lauded, now in the Kern Spencer trial, the same people are bemoaning and crying shame of the same system…never let one situation and its outcome bring us to a conclusion; neither should we allow hatred, anger, dislike, love, fondness, political allegiance to be the premise on which we pass judgment#ourjusticesystemisbroken #admitit #itcouldfailyoudirectly
Twitter users couldn't help but compare the two cases, however:
Ask not for whom justice was served @iamthekartel, Alas it wasn't for thee #KERNSPENCERFREED
— anniepaul (@anniepaul) March 25, 2014
Kern spencer walk free an d boss a go jail on d basis dat he is just too influential..no justice system
— Lanz Authentic (@lancebrown19) March 25, 2014
If kern spencer can walk free …so shud kartel ..
— IG:thsgurl_lisa (@spencer_lisa87) March 25, 2014
"All animals are equal but some are more equal than others." #KERNSPENCERFREED
— Rae Smith (@isme876) March 25, 2014
This Twitter user did not understand how the case could end this way after a six-year investigation…
So it took 6 years for them to realize that there was no case submission against Kern Spencer? :/
— JANNEILLE N. MORGAN (@Jade1Allure) March 25, 2014
…while this one felt that Spencer should have had an opportunity to clear his name in court:
Kern Spencer was done a MAJOR INJUSTICE having heard he has NO CASE TO ANSWER after 6 YEARS as an ACCUSED @emilynationwide @nemsfrancis
— Alric Williams (@alricwill) March 25, 2014
Others suggested that the whole process was a waste of time:
This Kern Spencer court ruling tho, we've been better 4 tax payers if they didn't wait 5 yes to tell us what we already knew smh

author: Matthew Hunte


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Trinidad & Tobago: Minister Fired Over Plane Debacle  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The government minister whose deplorable conduct on a flight between Tobago and Trinidad came to public attention, has been fired by the country's Prime Minister.


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Why Filipinos Became Early Adopters of Western Music · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Le Minh Khai refers to the book of D. R. M. Irving in explaining the long history of Filipino musicians playing Western music:
…there was a rich experience of musical contact and exchange between Spaniards and Filipinos that began not long after the Spaniards established their control over the Philippines in the sixteenth century.
Filipinos therefore learned Western musical forms long before many other peoples in Asia, and that to some extent can explain why they started to be sought after in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries when aspects of Western culture started to take hold in other Asian societies.

author: Mong Palatino


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Women Still Harassed on Delhi’s Metro Despite Measures  · Global Voices
Rezwan

“I pledge to take the general train compartment, not the ‘ladies only’. I would like for the entire city to be made safe instead.” #SafeCityPledge. Image courtesy Blank Noise Bog. CC BY-NC-SA 2.5
Public sexual harassment or molestation of women by men, known as eve-teasing, is common in India, and New Delhi has the highest number of rape reports among Indian cities.
So when in 2008 the Delhi Metro designated four seats for women only in every train compartment with stickers reading “For Ladies Only”, joining the four seats already reserved for the disabled and elderly, many commended the effort. Twenty-five percent of the daily 2.2 million commuters are women, and it is common on the Indian sub-continent to have reserved seats for women. Metro trains also have separate women's compartments with guards preventing men from entering, and there are special public buses for women only in Delhi.
But did these measures improve the situation? It's debatable.
In the first two years since the introduction of the women's cars in 2010, more than 12,000 men were found in them and fined a collective 3.2 million rupees (51,000 US dollars). And there are countless stories of harassment on public transport posted online at Delhi Hollaback site and elsewhere.
This blogger told the story of a female friend who was harassed for not traveling in the women's car.
Atima Dhall at RespectWomen.co.in highlighted the life of a women on the Delhi Metro:
Haggard and fatigued, I entered the women’s coach of Delhi metro. That was my first day in college and I was going back home. “Get back you men! You’ll be penalized for standing in women’s coach, came a voice from outside. The security in charge was trying to push men out of the women’s coach through her words. Typical Delhities! They unheard the security in charge, it seemed so to me at least. The doors closed and men shifted more into the women’s coach rather than moving away from it. They were staring, smiling, passing comments as if they saw the feminine crowd for the first time. “Filthy men!”, shouted a woman standing at the end of the coach.
The blogger asserted that “reserved for women” should mean reserved for women alone. “No reasons. No excuses.”
Twitter user Amith P lamented:
When I see some men stare & misbehave with women on a Delhi Metro I don't think rapes and assaults are going to ever reduce in this land!
— Amith P (@amithpr) December 17, 2013
Meanwhile, a tweet captured men taking up the seats reserved for women, even though a woman standing nearby holds a young child. The photo recently went viral and shocked many Delhi residents:
These 2 gentlemen fought with the lady carrying child for the seat labelled as ladies only. #delhimetro pic.twitter.com/SLHMGpO2Ki
— darkndusty (@diore03) March 11, 2014
Some have questioned the need for women's only seats. Prateeksha Pandey asked on Facebook:
1. Why does a woman who is not pregnant/old/injured need a seat? just because she is a woman?
2. If the situation was such that the seat should and must have gone to the woman, why is the photographer clicking pictures?
3. Clicking a picture in Delhi metro is an offense.
While others like Manal Bijoor commented:
It is a nice gesture, if a man gives up his seat to a lady/old person/ kid/handicapped or a woman giving her seat to old person/kids/handicapped. Its nothing to do with equality. Whenever i open the door or give away my seat, i always think about being selfless and sacrificing my own comfort so that someone else will get benefited from it.
The Life and Times of an Indian Homemaker blog argued that reserved seats and coaches are not a special indulgence for women, but are an indication of a serious social problem:
* Women’s use of public spaces is seen as a privilege, or even as an encroachment into men’s spaces.
* Until general/public spaces become safe enough for women, society and police to stop treating them as men’s spaces, women must have means to travel.
Cluelesschick commented on the above post:
I think more effort should be put into changing the mindset. Reservation is only a temporary fix. The more we reserve, the more we are feeding the idea that it is not OK for women to be in general spaces and they should be seen only in spaces ‘reserved’ for women.
Activist communities like Please Mend The Gap are working to promote gender equality in Delhi’s public spaces. They have arranged flashmobs on Delhi Metro platforms in yellow shirts with slogans like “Share, don’t stare”, “Real men respect women”, and “Respecting women is masculine”.


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After One Death, Pleas to Free Remaining Abducted Iranian Soldiers · Global Voices
Farid

Source: Nima Arabi, via Twitter
An Iranian soldier named Jamshid Danaeifard was murdered this week after he and four other border guards were abducted near Pakistan's border by Baloch Sunni Muslim insurgent group, Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice) in February.
In exchange for the release of the men, the insurgents have demanded that the Iranian government release 50 prisoners belonging to their group, 300 other prisoners they describe as “Sunite citizens,” and 50 women they claim are held in revolutionary guard prisons in Syria.
Jaish-al-Adl (considered a terrorist group by Iran) operate in Sistan-Baluchestan, one of Iran's largest and poorest provinces, which is home to 2 million Sunni-muslims. The ethnic Baloch and Sunni-muslim insurgents in the area have been demanding more autonomy from the Shia-government in Tehran in recent years.
Iranians have been mourning Danaeifard's death on Twitter on the hashtag #FreeIranianSoldiers, and continue to fear for the fate of the four other men. Some have also shared artwork (like the image above) on Twitter as a tribute.
On Twitter, Masood says the murdered soldier was a young father who never had the chance to see his newborn child. He tweeted:
#FreeIranianSoldiers How sad is the way world don't care death of a father who didn't see his new born, unnamed child!
— Masood (@luckybuilding) March 26, 2014
Sgh Pa tweeted in low hopes for the release of the soldiers:
اگه به جای 5 تا #سرباز 2 تا #آخوند #گروگان گرفته بودن دولت زودی 1000 تا #زندانی آزاد میکرد. فوقش هم 2 تا #ملا میمرد. به درک خب! #مرزبان
— Sgh Pa (@pa_sgh) March 25, 2014
If they had taken two Mullahs [clerics] instead of five soldiers, the government would release 1,000 prisoners [to get them back].
Jamshid Danaeifard among fellow abductees. Photo shared by 55online.ir
Mohammad Ali Shabani tweeted about a protest in front of the Pakistani embassy in Tehran.
Iranian social media users urge silent protest in front of Pakistani embassy in #Tehran on Thurs 3pm. #FreeIranianSoldiers
— Mohammad Ali Shabani (@mashabani) March 26, 2014

author: Farid