World: One Day on Earth on 10.10.10 · Global Voices 
People from all over the world have signed up to be a part of this experience, and many have created or joined one of the 495 groups and communities that have cropped up around the event: from parents to be, to weddings, to teachers, and groups around a specific country or location. 
Although more than 10,000 people have already signed up, there are still some countries with low representation for the event, and the organizers have posted a shout out for anyone to join or invite others who live in one of the countries to join in and be a part of the experience. 
There still is time to sign up and join the event, and Matt Lambert from Motionographer blog sums up the results nicely: 
The results of this project will be a shared archive of video — downloadable for non-commercial use by participants for creative and educational purposes — a feature film, and a community of filmmakers and inspired citizens dedicated to exploring our global identity via a shared media event. 
However, according to this next clip, to be able to access this trove of knowledge you will need to upload a 1 minute video during 10.10.10. 
So don't miss the chance! 

Southeast Asia: Blogging about Football · Global Voices 
Photo from Flickr page of Nhy Nguyen used under CC License Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 GenericThere are many football blogs in Southeast Asia that provide relevant news stories and updates about football matches and programs in the region. 
Through email, I interviewed Erick Bui of Vietnam Football and Chamroeun of Cambodia Football Roubroum about football blogging in Southeast Asia. 
Erick gives a brief history of football in Vietnam 
Football is unarguably the main and most supported sport in Vietnam. 
Its annual V-League competition has taken place since 1980. 
When Vietnam was split into North Vietnam and South Vietnam, two national teams existed...After Vietnam was united in 1975, Vietnamese football suffered a long time of stagnation. 
In 1991, Vietnam national football team played its first international match. 
Vietnamese football has made a lot of improvement since then. 
Both Vietnam national team and V-League are now one of the best in ASEAN region. 
Erick names his motivation in maintaining an English blog about football in Vietnam 
Contrary to the big number of football sites in Vietnamese, there are few English sites about local football on the net. 
That's the reason why I started Vietnam Football blog in order to help people know more about football in my country. 
I have a lot of friends overseas who are also football fans. 
They often question me about Vietnamese football because they find it quite hard to find the info. 
Looking at this matter, I think an English football blog can be an essential link between Vietnam and the world. 
I have the passion and decent football knowledge so I really enjoy blogging about Vietnamese football 
Chamroeun is the first Cambodian football blogger. 
Through his blog, Cambodia Football Roubroum, he shares information about football games in Cambodia 
I launched my personal blog on July 2008. 
My main goal is to spread the news on Cambodian football. 
I noticed that our two neighboring countries, Thailand and Vietnam, have better football programs. 
The players are well-paid. 
But in Cambodia, the footballers are not really in good condition. 
Most of them play for free or with low salaries. 
However, our football has changed a lot in the last five years. 
Now we have a professional league which is sponsored by a Vietnamese company. 
Erick and Chamroeun are also linking to other football blogs in the region. 
They recommend these websites: Jakarta Casual for Indonesia and Singapore, Thai Port Football Club for Thailand, S-league: Facts & Figures for Singapore, Filipino Football for the Philippines, Soccer Myanmar, Foul from Malaysia and aseanfootball.org which gives regional sports updates. 
These blogs also link to local football websites. 
Haresh Deol, the blogger who maintains Foul from Malaysia, discusses sports betting which was a big issue in Malaysia a few months ago. 
Talk about legalising sports betting is objected by many parties. 
Gambling is not healthy for all – majority or minority. 
Politicians are using this issue as a perfect avenue to claim how righteous and religious they are. 
The government should EXPLAIN the situation properly I’m not for gambling, as I’m not for smoking. 
If it’s unhealthy, it's unhealthy. 
But if it's a good method to monitor the outflow of our Ringgit (author’s note: Malaysian currency) and a source of income for the government, why not? 

South Asia: Bloggers Discussing Water Issues · Global Voices 
Blog Action Day is an annual event held every October 15 that unites the world's bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day. 
This year the action theme is ‘water'. 
A number of South Asian bloggers have also participated in this event. 
Let us look at what some of them are discussing about. 
Water pots lined up for filling in Mamallapuram, India. 
Image by Flickr user mckaysavage. 
CC BY 
Ishrath at Wandering Mist writes: 
Water in India is a paradox. 
North India gives birth to water. 
South India fights for the rivers that flow. 
Northwest India is a water-starved desert. 
And Eastern India has the highest rainfall that helps none. 
And to top it, the water woes in India include contamination, inadequacy, denial, corruption, portability problems, access, deaths & diseases, pollution, irresponsible industrial growth dependent on water, and a whole lot more. We have forgotten our ingenious ways of life where every natural resource such as water, was used and not abused. 
There were no endless showers, hot tubs, rain parties, or huge water tanks to ensure that the water kept running during all ablutions. 
Water was rationed as per use. 
There was no concepts of 24/7 water supply where every household had to dig into their bit of land. 
We, with knowledge, cognizance and responsibility, are continually turning earth into living hell. 
In India, in the area of sanitation the Sulabh Movement has brought about a social revolution. 
Water distribution point in Patan Nepal. 
Image by Flickr user Wayan Vota. 
CC BY-NC 
Nepal: Bhumika Ghimire sheds a light into the water issues in Nepal: 
Water crisis is directly related to Nepal's deteriorating environment. 
In capital Kathmandu, many areas don't get water for six days a week, and are forced to either buy water through dealers or have to rely on local wells and rivers-whose water quality is not monitored. 
Ujjwal Acharya posts a picture showing how water is associated with our day to day lives. 
Pakistan: 
Although Pakistan is suffering from the worst flood in past century, some of its region are dry and suffer from desertification. 
Khalida Brohi, an indigenous girl from Balochistan, Pakistan notes that indigenous people are the first ones to be worst hit by climate change: 
Balochistans traditional forms of livelihood and using of agricultural land have now slowly been changing, The two methods Khushkaba and Sailaba of agriculture are diverted, the usually making of bands to use up flood water for lands doesn’t work because floods have change course as now even the ingenious knowledge can’t predict from where the flesh floods would be attacking, once a blessing to the people of valleys in Baluchistan, mountains are now a danger of disaster them. 
Marvi well in Malir village in Tharparkar desert of Sindh. 
Image by Flickr user Kashif. 
CC BY 
When it rains, the rain water gets collected in small low lying bowl shaped ponds called the “tobas” where men and animals drink together. 
There are no alternatives as well digging is not possible. 
Even if there is a success, the water is so brackish and salty that it cannot be consumed for drinking purposes. 

Where is the flag of the Republic of China? · Global Voices 
A number of activists from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau landed the Diaoyu island on August 15. 
While mainland Chinese media gave large coverage to the news as it reasserted China's territorial claim over the disputed island, the flag of the Republic of China (Taiwan) was missing in many of the media outlet. 
China Media Project highlighted the news. 

Malaysia: Government Vows to Review Web Censorship Law After Protest · Global Voices 
Update 18/8/2012: The Cabinet has upheld the amendments made to Section 114A of the Evidence Act. 
On the August 14 2012, thousands of Malaysians participated in an online protest against the recently introduced Section 114A, an amendment in the law that is deemed by many as a threat to internet freedom. 
A blog specially created for this cause, posted details about how this law would affect Malaysians: 
Titled “Presumption of Fact in Publication”, Section 114A holds the following people accountable for publishing content online: 
(1) those who own, administrate, or edit websites open to public contributors, such as online forums or blogs; 
(2) those who provide webhosting services or Internet access; and 
(3) those own the computer or mobile device used to publish content online. 
In other words, if allegedly defamatory content is traced back to your username, electronic device, and/or WiFi network, Section 114A presumes you are guilty of publishing illicit content on the Internet. 
But what if you were the victim of identity theft and a hacker wrongfully used your Twitter or Facebook account to post defamatory content? 
Under Section 114A, you are still considered guilty until proven innocent. 
The campaign seeks to have influential bloggers and news sites insert a pop-up in their respective websites on August 14 to inform their readers about 114A, so that awareness of this would be spread to as many Malaysians as possible to protest the enactment of this law. 
Shannon Chow, a lifestyle blogger in Malaysia, supported the campaign: 
I am supporting STOP 114A. 
Internet should be an independent platform, however, with Section 114A not only did the law encourage hackers or identity theft to get away by posting to another person account be it on social networks or through devices and even Wifi, the person who is innocent will be guilty only until proven innocent. 
This is unfair! 
The massive online protest has even prompted the Prime Minister, who rarely comments on national affairs, to post a tweet on the issue: 
I have asked Cabinet to discuss section 114A of the Evidence Act 1950. 
Whatever we do we must put people first . 
Malaysiakini reported that #Stop114A became a trending topic worldwide on Twitter. 
Among some of the Tweets on the issue are the following: 
@magskl75: @NajibRazak if U claim "whatever we do we must put people 1st" then the discussion shld have taken place b4 the amendment to EA 
@FaktaBukanAuta: If your government shuts down the internet, keep calm and shut down your government. 
@zulhilmisalleh: Every free wifi access page will have an extra clause in the terms and condition in which exclude liability. but we wouldn't know. 
Had 3 hours of sleep last night then off to school. 
Feeling great now. 
A Facebook page has also been set up for this cause, which at the time of writing has garnered 47,000 Likes. 
It has also gained attention worldwide with reports from global news networks such as the BBC and Forbes. 
The Stop 114A blog also has a list of resources on the issue, such as media coverage and information on the law, including the chronology of the passing of the law. 

Ecuador Reacts to Assange Asylum · Global Voices 
WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, has been holed up in the Embassy of Ecuador in London since June 19, 2012. 
As we reported earlier, on the morning of August 16, 2012, Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño announced that his country would grant diplomatic asylum to the creator of WikiLeaks. 
Ecuador has based its decision on 11 considerations. 
Meanwhile, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said that the United Kingdom will not grant a safe passage for Assange to leave the Ecuadorian Embassy, and stressed that the UK's legal obligation "is to extradite him to Sweden", as reported by the BBC . 
Assange is wanted by the Swedish authorities for two alleged sex crimes in 2010. 
In December of the same year, Assange was arrested by the British police on a warrant issued by Sweden. 
On December 16, 2010 he was granted a conditional bail that would keep him from leaving the country. 
As Renata Avila explained for Global Voices Advocacy: 
Assange was facing imminent extradition to Sweden for interrogation about sexual allegations he has not been charged for, where he would have been detained upon arrival in solitary with no right to bail, according to Fair Trials International. 
At the last minute he decided to exercise his right of seeking asylum. 
He walked into the Embassy of Ecuador and has stayed under diplomatic protection while the country's President Rafael Correa reviewed his case. 
The Ecuadorean government based its decision on past and current attacks on WikiLeaks, its founder and even volunteers, which have been unprecedented both in scale and severity. 
Assange supporters outside the Ecuadorian embassy in London on August 16, 2012. 
Photo by Yanice Idir, copyright Demotix. 
Efren Guerrero of the Aura Neurotica blog wrote about the case before the announcement of the decision to grant asylum to Assange. 
Efren explained Ecuador's two options if asylum was granted: 

Cambodia: Khmer Language Books Now Online · Global Voices 
The Digital Library for International Research has made available more than 50 publications of Khmer books and educational materials from Cambodia. 

Sri Lanka: Time To Rethink The School Examination System · Global Voices 
Serendipity questions the lack of credibility of the School Examination System in Sri Lanka and relates how that is contributing to the growing unemployment in the country. 

Vietnam: Unpublished Letter of Hồ Chí Minh · Global Voices Matthew Parsfield discusses the historical importance of the discovery of an unpublished letter of Hồ Chí Minh, Vietnam's nationalist hero and statesman. 

History of Cambodian Comics · Global Voices 
John Weeks created a slideshow presentation about the history of Cambodian comics in the past half century. 

Vietnam: Human Rights Lawyer Attacked · Global Voices 
Le Quoc Quan, a human rights lawyer based in Hanoi, Vietnam, was beaten by a group of armed men. 
Quan believes the attackers could be plainclothes police who wanted to silence him for his activism. 

Cuba: Dealing with Dengue · Global Voices 
"Dengue fever is now a fact of life in our country": Through the Eye of the Needle explains. 

Cambodia: Promoting LGBT Rights · Global Voices 
Nayheak Khun writes about the efforts of some groups in Cambodia to promote the rights of homosexuals. 

Bhutan: Women Talents Galore · Global Voices 
For the the first time a female Dzongda was elected and the Supreme Court of Bhutan has a newly appointed female Justice. 
They were all women. 

Graffiti in Times of Crisis · Global Voices 
The word graffiti comes from the Greek word graphein, which means to write. 
Modern graffiti was born in the 1960s in New York and was inspired by hip-hop music. 
The number of graffiti signatures an artist has depends on the reputation and fame of the artist. 
Although sometimes this type of art has remained under the radar, and despite the fact that authorities have spent lots of money in erasing graffiti, street art has spread to other countries and has become popular in urban spaces in many cities. 
Some are scrawls with personal messages, and others are true works of art. 
In this time of economic crisis graffiti art is rife with social demands, and like it or not, has become part of our daily life. 
Many webpages dedicate their content to showcase this type of street art such as the blog Fogonazos, a collection of which can be seen here: 
"Let them eat crack" reads this graffiti in New York. 
Image by Flickr user Omiso. 
Money flies on a building's exterior in Caracas, Venezuela. 
Drawn in Manchester, UK. 
"The rich and powerful piss on us and the media tells us it's raining". 
Spewing up the crisis in London. 
These photographs below (taken by the author) show the wave of graffiti that can be seen while walking through Granada, in southern Spain, the compelling images and phrases making reference to the political and economic system of the country. 
In the third photograph, one can see the letters PP (the Spanish Popular Party) and PSOE (the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party). 
The abbreviations of the two most popular political parties in Spain appear to be muddled with a single logo: a way of saying that the two parties are the same, which denounces the two-party system. 
One can also see a mural in the city with chickens with the caption "Gente presa, mercado libre" (People become prey in a free market). 
"Happy consumption" 
"In defense of public " 
"Education is not for sale" 
Photograph by Elena Arrontes 
In Madrid you can often find graffiti by the well known Basque artist Alberto Basterrechea, who started writing poetry more than seven years ago. 
He is the author of two blogs titled Neorrabioso and Batania in which he presents photographs of his verses plastered on the walls of the capital city. 
His poems tend to have a personal edge or often have a demanding tone to them, as we can see in the following photographs: 
"¿Confianza o con fianza?" 
"Freewhat, equalwho, brotherwhen" (a play of words in Spanish of the famous Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité). 
In any part of the world, it is common for pedestrians to walk amongst all types of paintings on the exterior walls of buildings, parks and houses. 
But beyond the city walls, graffiti has moved from the streets to other types of media: photography books, blogs and Facebook pages such as Global Street Art. 

Uganda: Anonymous Backs Gay Pride, Hacks Government Websites · Global Voices 
The international hactivist group known as Anonymous has hacked the website of the Prime Minister of Uganda and the database of the Uganda Justice Law and Order Society in support of Ugandan Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) rights activists. 
Anonymous is a loosely associated hacktivist group, which started in 2003. 
The group took control of the website of the Prime Minister posting photos of Uganda's first Gay Pride events, an official recognition of Gay Pride Week and a formal apology to gay people from the Prime Minister. 
It also revealed encrypted admininstration passwords for Uganda's Justice Law and Order Society. 
A screen shot of the hacked website of the Ugandan Prime Minister. 
Anonymous claims that its operation in Uganda will target Ugandan government sites and communications until the government of Uganda treats all people including LGBT equally. 
The first Gay Pride in Uganda was organized on August 4th in Entebbe. 
It was a series of events held at Entebbe, including a party, a beach parade and a film festival. 
Anonymous emblem. 
The image has been released into the public domain by its author, Anonymous. 
On 14 October, 2009, David Bahati, Member of Parliament, introduced an anti-homosexuality bill (known also as “Kill the Gays bill”) which criminalised same-sex relations and stipulated that a person considered as homosexual would receive the death penalty, or life imprisonment. 
After being met with resistance and criticism, Bahati re-tabled the bill in February this year with some changes. 
A message posted on 14 August, 2012, by the group says: 
Today's hack and deface of the Ugandan Prime Minister's site was the latest in a long list of actions against the government and infrastructure of Uganda for crimes against LGBT people. 
We currently have full control of the President of Uganda's website. 
We will not stand by while LGBT Ugandans are victimized, abused and murdered by a ruthless and corrupt government. #TheEliteSociety and #Anonymous will continue to target Ugandan government sites and communications until the government of Uganda treats all people including LGBT equally and with respect, dignity and immediately ends the arrest and harassment of LGBT. 
Melanie Nathan, an international LGBTI activist, fears that the action by Anonymous might harm Uganda's LGBTI activists: 
While I support all protests against the anti-gay Ugandan Government, I fear this may cause a backlash to the LGBTI community of activists who so bravely showed their faces at Pride. 
In fear that they have failed to consider the particular sensitive issues involved to the Ugandan LGBT gay community. 
A Ugandan gay rights activist, Val Kalende, said the following to Melanie: 
My concern is the manner in which Anonymous claim to speak on behalf of Uganda LGBT activists with no consultation whatsoever. 
Has SMUG or any other organization asked them hack government websites? 
Do they understand how their actions could be perceived by Ugandans? 
I question the motive of Anonymous.They need to be advised. 
Those well-meaning interventions can cause severe backlash for activists on the ground. 
Hacking government websites to “help” victims of state-sponsored homophobia? 
Who does that? 
I think this extremist violent intervention MUST STOP. I would advise you speak to activists on the ground for their views on this. 
Nathan also points out that the photo used by the group on the hacked website is harmful: 
The photo used by Anonymous which is now all over the internet is harmful and should not have been used in that fashion. 
I have tweeted anonymous asking for a remedy. 
G-d knows how it can be changed at this time. 
It seems Anonymous may have used those photos without authority and so in their attempt to help the Ugandan gay community, may in fact be causing more harm to the actual brave activists who put themselves on the line. 
One Twitter account of the group defends their action saying: 
@DramaSett3r: @danlittauer @PinkNinj4 @gaystarnews Id like to add that our entire operation #OpFuckAfrica #OpFuckUganda is soley based on defending LGBT 
There are reports that Anonymous has also targeted the websites of RedPepper (Ugandan tabloid), the Uganda Stock Exchange and Uganda Prison Service. 
In August 2006, Red Pepper published names of alleged Ugandan homosexual men. 
@PinkNinj4: @RedPepperUG > http://www.prisons.go.ug looks broken & your stock exchange was hacked :O prisons.go.ug http://pastebin.com/EMRnviLx #OpFuckUganda 
@PinkNinj4: ohai @RedPepperUG remember when u printed names & addresses of 'queers' in 2009? 
I didn't forget :) Your site is now f*** x #OpFuckUganda 
You can follow other operations in Africa by Anonymous here. 

Philippines: List of National Roads · Global Voices 
The Philippine government has uploaded a spreadsheet identifying the quality of the country's national roads. It's also a mechanism for citizens to report and monitor badly paved roads 

Niger: Floods leave thousands Homeless in Niamey · Global Voices 
Barmou Salifou in Niger posts the following request after floods devastated Niamey since August 19: 
Please RT : #Niger : 44 dead and 1000s homeless after flood devastation in #Niamey. 
Please Help. 

Chessmaster Gary Kasparov's Arrest During Pussy Riot Trial · Global Voices 
Perhaps the most surprising thing to emerge out of the media saturated Pussy Riot trials other than the trial itself, was the attendance and subsequent arrest of the former Chessmaster of Caucasian descent, Gary Kasparov, at the reading of the verdict on August 17, which saw the three women accused of illegally performing a "punk prayer" in a church receive a two year prison term. 
Kasparov, born in Baku, Azerbaijan, to an Armenian mother and Jewish father, adapted his last name from his mother's Armenian maiden name, Gasparyan, after the death of his father. 
Kasparov and his family escaped the pogrom of Armenians in Baku during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and settled in Moscow. He went on to become the youngest World Chess Champion and is considered to be the greatest chess player of all time. 
The news of his arrest was posted by admins on Kasparov's Facebook page, which saw a sharp increase in activity after news spread of the events. 
Garry Kasparov has just been arrested outside the Moscow courthouse where the Pussy Riot trial is taking place. 
He was not there to protest, simply to attend, and the police cornered him and dragged him into the police van. 
This photo shows the police assaulting him inside the van. 
We hope he is all right and we will provide updates when we have them. 
The first photo to come out of the arrest, which the page posted was taken by Moscow-based journalist Olaf Koens, who tweeted it with a caption: 
@chessninja: At least one report that Garry Kasparov has been arrested at the Pussy Riot courthouse. 
He wasn't protesting, just trying to get in! 
The tweet was followed by a post on chessmaster's Facebook page: 
We just spoke to Garry on the phone. 
He is at the police station. 
He was beaten but says he is okay. 
He isn't sure what will happen next. 
It seems the police are waiting for orders from above. 
He says he was standing calmly speaking with journalists when police pushed through and grabbed him. 
Thanks to everyone for the support. 
Many took to Twitter to praise Kasparov, a political activist and outspoken Putin critic who took part in setting up The Other Russia, an anti-Kremlin coalition. 
@johnhm5235: Garry Kasparov, former world chess champion & current Russian democracy advocate, on CNBC. 
He is a hero to people who love freedom. @RSiljanoski: Just imagine if Garry Kasparov was president of Russia what a smart country Russia would be! #FreePussyRiot girls! ChessBase.com, in a recent blog post, also refutes the allegations: 
Our contacts tell us that he was outside the court house speaking to Radio Svoboda journalists when police pushed through to seize him. 
The 49-year-old Kasparov insisted he was not protesting, but the police grabbed him and violently dragged him into a police van, where he was further physically assaulted by the police, as documented by a photographer. 
Earlier this week, Kasparov told fans on Facebook that he had gone to the Investigative Committee of Russia to submit complaints on his "illegal arrest, assault and libel" and also saw the officer he is accused of having bitten: 
Unfortunately I did not have the chance to give him a strong handshake, but his hands looked fine to me... 
A full updating coming here tonight, with more photos and videos coming out. 
Follow BBC's Moscow correspondent, Daniel Sandford, who is live tweeting from Kasparov's trial taking place today. 

South Korea: Controversial Launch of Online Music Video Rating · Global Voices 
South Korean authorities have launched a new ratings system for music videos posted online. 
The new bill requires every music video (or promotional video) and even movie trailers to be rated prior to upload. 
Failure to comply will result in up to two years in prison or a hefty fine. 
Artists and South Korean net users have labeled it a new form of enhanced censorship on cultural contents and a regression in freedom of expression. 
It comes into effect starting August 18, 2012. 
Censorship extends to online platforms 
Previously, only television stations were responsible for airing music videos, whereas the new bill extends the censorship to video clips published on online platforms, including YouTube, blogs and Internet bulletin boards. 
The law is applied even to clips, not for profit organisations, and various music and movie teasers. 
The authorities argue that the new measure is to protect young, impressionable audiences from the flow of indecent or violent music videos. 
Some predict the bill will first make content labeled 'not for children under age 19′ by the Korea Media Rating Board inaccessible to mass audiences, and in the long-run (as one media pundit worries ) will eventually lead every citizen to ask for, or at least consider, permission before uploading any content online. 
Image of censorship, by Flickr user Isaac Mao (CC BY 2.0). 
A net user who introduced himself as a 28-year-old working in the music promotion industry, filed an online petition opposing the new rating system. 
The petition has gathered more than 10,000 signatures. 
It reads: 

India: Assam Riots - Truth Vs Hype · Global Voices 
Last month clashes between indigenous Bodo tribes and Muslim settlers in the Indian State of Assam broke out which led to rioting, killings and mass displacement. 
After almost a month the situation is yet to calm down, although the police say that they have made hundreds of arrests, and registered hundreds of complaints. 
This investigative report by NDTV reveals how politicians and organisations on both sides resorted to spreading fear and exaggerated claims on the issue of illegal migration, and then used the violence to further their political ambitions. 
Harini Calamur points out how the media is blowing the situation out of proportion: 
There is no rioting in the NE (North Eastern India which consists of seven neighboring states), The riots are in part of one district Kokrajhar, Assam. 
In search of Greener Pastures provides an insider opinion on the issue: 
The truth is, only a certain part of Lower Assam is where the riots are happening; a region which is only about twenty percent of Assam, a region called Bodoland of the Bodos. 
The rest eighty percent of Assam is safe, as of now I would say, but if the government doesn’t open its eyes and listen to the people, much worse may come someday. 
The core problem of the issue, or rather, the only problem of the issue is – uncontrolled immigration. 
It started way back in the 70′s, when the then ruling Congress government, under the leadership of Indira Gandhi, gave free land to many people from Bangladesh, and created settlements throughout northeastern India for them. 
By allowing Bangladeshis to settle in northeastern India, and by providing them voter’s card to vote, Congress had ensured a permanent fix of votes, like a syringe of a concentrated dose that would act as a catalyst to their rise to power. 
And since then, since the last three decades, this influx of illegal Bangladeshis into Indian Territory has continued unchecked. 
Some 3,000 members of AASU (All Assam Student Union) in Sivasagar district held a protest rally demanding implementation of the Assam Accord, the non-implementation of which they say has given illegal immigrants an easy way to settle in Assam. 
Image by Manash jyoti Dutta. 
Copyright Demotix (14/8/2012). 
The blogger adds: 
It is not a fault of Bangladeshis. 
They are just pawns of the big game. 
The rabbit hole goes deep down, somewhere where the core system needs to be changed and rebuilt. 
And talks about how the media is exploiting the situation: 
And as media continues to hype the situation, they’re ending up making matters worse. 
The truth as of now is – other than Bodoland, the rest of Assam and northeastern India is safe. 
It will be best if media focuses on Bodoland, and not brand the whole of Assam as riot-torn. 
The reports tell of more than 500,000 people left displaced and homeless, like a sorry tale from war torn Africa. 
It is all bullshit! 
I have been to Bodoland myself, and imagining 500,000 homeless people in Bodoland is ridiculous. 
The region is sparsely populated and there is no way such a massive situation can even exist. 
In a guest post at Kafila.org Nilim Dutta, executive director of the Strategic Research and Analysis Organisation, Guwahati, busts the myth of the illegal Bangladeshis and who are responsible for the violence in Assam: 
The situation has been further complicated by a ‘protest’ in Mumbai against ‘violence on Muslims in Assam’ turning into a riot or by sundry attacks as ‘retaliation’ against people from North East elsewhere in India. 
First, that illegal immigration of Bengali Muslim peasants from neighbouring Bangladesh into Assam has been continuing unabated, leading to skewed demographic profiles of Assam’s districts bordering Bangladesh and thereafter, turning several adjoining districts of Assam to Muslim majority. 
Second, that these illegal Bengali Muslim immigrants from Bangladesh have rapaciously encroached upon and occupied land belonging to the native communities, thereby creating a volatile situation for potential violence and lethal clashes between illegal immigrants and natives. 
Third, that the ethnic clash that began between the native (Hindu) Bodos and illegal Muslim immigrants settled in Kokrajhar was a result of aggression and attack by the latter on the Bodos. 
Dutta writes: 
The above perceptions are, however, far from accurate. In order to understand why, it would be important to carefully re-examine how they have emerged, the inherent flaws in the assumptions and what the reality actually is. 
‘Migration’ rather than ‘illegal immigration’ is largely responsible for demographic transformation. 
The fact is that immigrant Bengali Muslim peasants started migrating in the decades before Partition, and independence. 
At the time of Partition, a substantial Bengali Muslim immigrant population chose to stay back in Assam as Indian citizens and they assimilated in the society and adopted Assamese as their language. 
Many of the current population are their descendants. 
It is thus simplistic to assume that rampant illegal Bangladeshi immigration continues even today by taking note of census figures selectively without having the intimate insights into the complex historical processes at work leading to the demographic transformation that is underway. 
Image from Bodo Leader Hagrama Mohilary’s Facebook page. 
Courtesy Kafila.org 
The blogger also tells the current state of the Bodo politics and how armed groups operating in the Bodo dominated regions of Assam are demanding a separate state for the Bodos to be carved out of Assam. 
Read the post by Nilim Dutta for more insight. 
Raja Basu at Potpourri mentions: 
The riot has brought under scanner the effectives of Bodoland Territorial Council, with many people including Bodos highlighting how and why the Council has failed to achieve the objective for which it was formed. 
It must be noted that Bodos have expressed their displeasure over the presence of a number of non-Bodos in that area, without showing any specific grievance on the presence of alleged illegal migrants from Bangladesh. 
It means that they are averse to the presence of all non-Bodos. 
Nitin Pai at the Acorn opines that India needs to have a firm grip on migration issues: 
The focus of India’s national approach to migration must be to manage the flows in a manner that does not undermine the already weak social capital across the country, and especially in ‘remote’ regions. 
A work permit system that allows Bangladeshis and others to legally work in India and travel back to their homeland is necessary. 
Issuing work permits and allowing state and local governments to assign limits on the number of work permit holders in their communities will be an improvement on the status quo. 

Maritime Row with China Forces Philippines to Upgrade Defenses · Global Voices 
This post is part of our International Relations & Security coverage. 
A maritime dispute with China has forced the Philippines to review its defense capabilities. 
Tension arose earlier this year when Beijing and Manila accused each other of illegally occupying the territorial waters near the Scarborough Shoal located in the South China Sea. 
The government has already dispatched several diplomatic missions seeking military agreements or cooperation with various countries in the Asia-Pacific. 
The weak defense system of the Philippines is no secret. 
Even President Benigno Aquino joked about this during his recent state of the nation address: 
Some have described our Air Force as all air and no force. 
Lacking the proper equipment, our troops remain vulnerable even as they are expected to be put in harm’s way. 
We cannot allow things to remain this way. 
We will no longer send paper boats out to sea. 
Now, our 36,000 kilometers of coastline will be patrolled by more modern ships. 
Aquino also assured Filipinos that the government is prepared to modernize its defense forces: 
Before this year ends, we are hopeful that the twenty-one refurbished UH-1H Helicopters, the four combat utility helicopters, the radios and other communication equipment, the rifles, the mortars, the mobile diagnostic laboratories, and even the station bullet assemblies we have purchased will be delivered. 
Come 2013, ten attack helicopters, two naval helicopters, two light aircraft, one frigate, and air force protection equipment will also be arriving. 
But he clarified that the procurement of new war machines is not intended to provoke hostilities: 
We are not doing this because we want to be an aggressor, we are not doing this because we want escalation. 
This is about keeping the peace. 
This is about protecting ourselves—something that we have long thought impossible. 
Aside from navy ships, the Philippines is also planning to buy F-16 jets since the country has no attack aircrafts as of the moment. 
But the Philippines, it seems, is also looking to establish military ties with other countries. 
It has recently decided to purchase military equipment from European countries. 
It seeks to acquire two frigates from Italy equipped with modern anti-ship and anti-aircraft missile systems. 
It also recently finalized a deal with Japan which “will cover military exchanges between the two armed forces, naval visits, meetings related to internal and external security issues, defense technology and knowledge exchange, issues related to maritime security, and information exchange.” 
The Senate has also ratified the Status of Visiting Forces Agreement between the Philippines and Australia “for the purposes of conducting military education, training, and exercise, humanitarian activities.” 
But Senator Joker Arroyo opposed the agreement claiming that it was drafted to send a message to China: 
The Aquino administration only wants this ratified because of the country’s dispute with China over the West Philippine Sea. 
Although the agreement is not a defense pact, its symbolism cannot be lost on China. 
Let us not grab at straws. 
We must persevere. 
Map of military exercises between United States and Philippine soldiers. 
Photo from Ibon It’s no coincidence that military exercises between the Philippines and the U.S. became more frequent in the past year. 
This was a time when the Philippine-China maritime standoff intensified. 
Writer Erick San Juan questions the relevance of these military exercises: We cannot help but ask ourselves – do we really need such annual exercises? 
We have several of the same kind already and recently they are not being useful to us and to the rest of the Asia-Pacific region. 
Obviously, it is a tool for provocation whether we like it or not. 
Any accidental firing or miscalculations during such exercises, could be use as pretext for regional conflict. 
As a sovereign nation, we have to assert our rights to our territory and if we do not have the military might, peaceful diplomatic solution is always the best answer. 
Activist Arnold Padilla shares a similar view: China’s assertive stance in its dispute with the country over the Scarborough Shoal and the Spratly Islands is being used to justify increased US military presence and intervention in the Philippines and in the region. 
While this serves US’s agenda in Asia Pacific, it also raises further risks to peace and development in the region and to the national sovereignty of the Philippines. 
This post and its translations to Spanish, Arabic and French were commissioned by the International Security Network (ISN) as part of a partnership to seek out citizen voices on international relations and security issues worldwide. 
This post was first published on the ISN blog, see similar stories here. 

Yemen: Safe Streets Campaign First Book · Global Voices 
Yemeni anti-street harassment campaign Safe Streets posted on its Facebook page the launch of a new book to combat sexual harassment in the country. 

Philippines: Plastic Ban Map · Global Voices 
A google map page shows the cities and municipalities in the Philippines which have banned the use of plastic in commercial establishments. 

Morocco: Jail Sentence for Ramadan's Public Eater · Global Voices 
A court in Rabat has sentenced a young man to serve three months in jail for failing to fast in public during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan. " a right we are not likely to see protected anytime soon," laments Yabiladi , who reports the news. 

Chinese Weapons Flooding Africa · Global Voices 
Deborah Brautigam from China in Africa provided more background information about the importation of Chinese Weapons in African countries and explained the incentive of arms sale is from private sector: 
As we saw in the notorious Libya case, it appears that Chinese companies with their own balance sheets are "going global" and making arms export decisions and deals. 

Thailand: Police Collect Wedding Fees from Myanmar Workers · Global Voices 
Htoo Chit wrote about the illegal wedding fees collected by Thai police from Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand. 

Thailand: Petition to Stop Mae Wong Dam · Global Voices 
Please stop this crazy dam project and help maintain valuable tiger habitat in Mae Wong National Park. 

Brazil: 13 Year-Old Exposes School Problems on Facebook · Global Voices 
Diário de Classe , a Facebook page created by Isadora Faber, a 13 year-old from Santa Catarina, Brazil, has already gathered more than 176,000 "likes". 
Aiming to "show the truth about public schools", Isadora shares photos that show the repairs needed in her own school and reports on other general problems. 

Pakistan: 11-Year-Old Christian Girl Detained for Blasphemy · Global Voices 
An 11-year old Christian girl, Rimsha Masih has been accused of blasphemy and has been remanded for 14 days to a juvenile prison in the twin city of the Pakistan capital, Rawalpindi. 
There are conflicting reports on whether she has Downs Syndrome or not. 
Rimsha is accused of burning pages of Noorani Qaida, an Arabic learning lesson for beginners, and putting them in a plastic bag. 
The incident happened on August 16, 2012 in the slum Meherabadi in G-12, Islamabad where she lives with her family. 
A local police station filed a First Information Report (FIR) after a neighbor made a formal complaint against her. 
The blasphemy offence comes under Article 295-B of the Pakistan Penal Code and the offender can get life imprisonment or a death sentence. 
The news was taken up by a website ‘Christians in Pakistan’ on August 18. 
The report became big news on Pakistan's mainstream media five days later on August 22. 
Prior to her arrest some locals of the area blocked a main highway in the capital. 
The mob apparently wanted to do the justice themselves. 
Last month a mob burnt a mentally unstable man in Bahwalpur; the man was also accused of blasphemy. 
Pakistan's Minister for National Harmony, Dr. Paul Bhatti, said in an interview to BBC world service that 600 Christians have fled their homes in Islamabad after the 11-year old was arrested for blasphemy. 
The Christians are afraid and are hiding; the memories of 2009 Gojra attack are still fresh in their minds when a Muslim mob burnt houses of Christians and police didn’t come to help them. 
According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, the Gojra riots were pre-planned and the local administration was involved. Anthony Permal a Pakistani Christian based in the UAE brought tweeter users attention to this story: 
‏@anthonypermal: Confirmed- Police in #Pakistan have arrested an 11 year old Christian girl suffering from Downs Syndrome for blasphemy. 
Soon an online petition was circulated for asylum of Rimsha: 
@MohsinSayeed (Mohsin Sayeed): Raise your voice to save lives of Rifta&her family. 
Escape to a secular country is the only option. 
They will kill her: http://www.change.org/petitions/high-commissions-and-diplomats-of-secular-western-nations-asylum-to-the-family-of-11-year-old-christian-girl-accused-of-blasphemy# … 
The online petition requests the secular western countries to provide asylum of Rimsha’s family: 
Pakistanis of good conscious are signing this petition because the State of Pakistan even failed to protect their own Governor who spoke out against the draconian blasphemy law, where mere accusation of blasphemy will ensure Jail and perhaps worse for the accused. 
There is another petition that is calling on Pakistan’s Minister of Human Rights and the government to protect and release Rimsha Masih. 
Meanwhile, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari called on officials to explain the situation to him. 
The Pakistani Ambassador to the USA tweets: 
‏@sherryrehman: Pres Zardari has taken serious note of reports of the arrest of a minor Christian girl on the charges of blasphemy & called for a report. 
Amnesty International urges Pakistan to reform Blasphemy laws: ‏@amnesty (Amnesty International): #Pakistan must ensure safety of Christian girl arrested for 'blasphemy' whose life is at risk http://owl.li/d9aPc 
France’s foreign ministry has called the Pakistani authorities to free the young girl. 
Irshad Manji, Muslim Feminist and author of 'Allah, Liberty and Love' condemned Pakistan’s blasphemy law. 
The situation is condemned by Pakistani Human Rights campaigners and activists and few politicians on twitter. 
‏@Ali_Abbas_Zaidi (Syed Ali Abbas Zaidi): The most tragic short story to have been written about misuse of #blasphemy law in Pakistan: "She was just 11 years old." 
‏@MaheenAkhtar (Maheen Akhtar): Where the hell is suo motto of Cheif Justice Pakistan, is he sleeping.....Oh wait is this "Blasphemy" 
‏@beenasarwar (Beena Sarwar): The important issue in accusations of 'blasphemy' is that of intent, niyat, of the accused. 
That's something the accusers ignore. #Pakistan 
Ruling Pakistan Peoples Party and Pakistan Tehreek Insaaf condemned the incident. 
Leader of PTI Imran Khan tweets. 
@ImranKhanPTI: Shameful! 
Sending an 11yr old girl to prison is against the very spirit of Islam which is all about being Just and Compassionate.1/2 
‏@SundasHoorain: @CMShehbaz Still waiting for action & condemnation from PML-N on an 11yr old getting accused of blasphemy, beaten & arrested #FreeRimsha 
All other political parties are afraid of talking about this issue. 
It is considered sensitive. 
However no one from Pakistan demands to repeal this law. 
@anthonypermal: We can't repeal blasphemy law. 
A) mobs would go on vigilante sprees with no qualms & b) cops couldn't stop open shia killing, how this? 
In 2010, Ambassador Sherry Rehman filed the 'Amendments to the Blasphemy Laws Act 2010′ in the National Assembly as a member of the parliament. 
On December 20, 2010, the Council of Islamic Ideology also announced proposed amendments to the law to prevent its misuse. 
But religious parties in the house -Jamat-i- Islami, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Pakistan, and Sunni Tehreek and others threatened a mass protest. 
Sherry Rehman later received death threats and was confined to her house. 
In January 2011, the Governor of Punjab, Salman Taseer a vocal critic of Pakistan's blasphemy laws, was publicly gunned down by his own guard, Mumtaz Qadri for his beliefs. 
Incidentally Qadri is also in Adiala jail where Rimsha has been sent. 
When Qadri was on his way to trial, his supporters showered him with rose petals. 
The Sunni Tehreek party rally in favor of Mumtaz Qadri, the killer of Salman Taseer, and they demand his release in Hyderabad, Pakistan. 
Image by Rajput Yasir. 
Copyright Demotix (09/01/2011) 
Malik Siraj Akbar in his blog for Huffington Post says that discriminatory laws deepens religious intolerance in Pakistani society: 
Despite such frequent unpleasant events, Pakistan has made almost no progress in reforming its deeply flawed and discriminatory law involving blasphemy. 
Such laws, on the one hand, discriminate against religious minorities and, on the other hand, further deepen religious intolerance and fanaticism in Pakistani society. 
They provide the murderers a license to kill people and easily get away with such heinous crimes in the name of religion. 
Mehdi Hasan in his blog writes: 
Personally, I've never quite understood why so many of my co-religionists are so keen to kill or maim those who 'insult' Islam, Prophet Muhammad or the Quran. 
What is behind such rage and, dare I add, insecurity? 
Is their God so weak, so sensitive, so precious, that He cannot withstand any rejection? 

Philippines: Facebook Photos Removed for International Day of the Disappeared · Global Voices 
Facebook users in the Philippines removed their profile pictures last August 30 to demand justice for the victims of enforced disappearances. 
The online campaign was in line with the International Day of the Disappeared and at the same time to express solidarity to the relatives and friends of the disappeared. 
Among the campaign's objectives are the following: 
- Remember the open tyrranical rule and the grave human rights violations during the Marcos years 
- Reflect and study the prevailing climate of impunity and the pervasive rights abuses under the Oplan Bayanihan of the current Aquino administration 
- Resist all forms of curtailment of human rights and pursue justice for the victims and their kin. 
The online action is initiated by the human rights alliance, KARAPATAN, and the organizations of the families of the victims of enforced disappearances, DESAPARECIDOS. 
Human rights advocates, the families and friends of the victims of various rights abuses, and various people's organizations held protest actions in Manila and other major cities in the country. 
They decried the mounting cases of human rights violations, with over 11 victims of disappearances documented since President Noynoy Aquino began his term in 2010. 
Jay Cuesta asks Facebook friends to remove their profile photos to support the campaign for justice and human rights: 
Dear friends and colleagues, Please take down your profile picture on August 30, Thursday, in solidarity with the friends and family of the missing, from the Martial Law days up to the present, who continue to seek justice. 
It also signifies our being one with the call to immediately pass the Anti-Enforced Disappearance Bill. 
August 30 is the International Day of the Disappeared. 
Here are some of the images used by Filipino netizens to show support to the campaign apart from the typical blank Facebook profile picture: 
FB profile photo of Jay Cuesta 
FB profile of Ron Magbuhos 
Judy Taguiwalo updated her profile photo with a list of some of the 'disappeared' activists 

Bolivia: Radioactive Uranium Seized in La Paz? · Global Voices 
On August 28, 2012, Bolivian authorities seized two tons of solid material, presumably uranium or radioactive minerals, that were being transported from a property at a central district of La Paz, close to a number of diplomatic offices, under no security or protection measures. 
Minister of Government Carlos Romero led the operative, which was conducted by special police units. 
Later, Mr. Romero informed that laboratory tests and analysis determined that the material was “not radioactive. 
It will not produce any risks”. 
However, Romero also announced further investigation by the Geologic and Mining National Service Sergeotecmin and the Bolivian Institute of Science and Nuclear Technology. 
The potential radioactivity of the material remains therefore unclear. 
Police seize 2 tons of uranium in Sopocachi, La Paz, on August 28. 
Photo shared via Twitpic by Twitter user @pagina_siete 
Mainstream media reported on the event immediately and covered it throughout the day. 
Concerns and comments, including ironic ones, were also expressed on social media sites under the hashtag #uranio. 
Blogger and journalist Andres Gómez Vela commented via his Twitter account (@andrsgomezv) : 

Is China's Africa Policy Failing? · Global Voices 
The story about a Chinese mining boss allegedly being killed by striking workers in Zambia has been widely reported in major news outlets in China, including the Workers’ Daily and The Beijing News. 
These reports have caught Chinese netizens' attention. 
Some compare the working conditions in Zambia to China, while others reflect upon China's policy of 'development-aid diplomacy' in Africa. 
Exporting the exploitation model 
On the Chinese micro-blogging platform Weibo, some netizens suggested that the riot occurred because Chinese bosses treat Zambian workers exactly the way they treat workers in China, with low wages and few labor protection standards : 

Tajikistan: Bribes and Neckties in Universities · Global Voices 
Now students pay bribes to be admitted to universities, study only to get their , but happily wear neckties to classes... 
Temur Mengliev summarizes the changes that have taken place within Tajikistan's colleges and universities over the recent years. 

Tajikistan: Xenophobia on Facebook · Global Voices 
ur society - to be more exact, that part of our society which has internet access and actively uses social networks - is increasingly witnessing the expansion and strengthening of unhealthy nationalist beliefs. 
Blogger Harsavor ponders the rise of xenophobia in Tajikistan, particularly among the country's Facebook users. 

Myanmar: Increase in Insurance Buyers Due to Natural Disasters · Global Voices 
Ko Ko Aung blogs about the increasing number of insurance policy buyers due to natural disasters in Myanmar, although numbers remain relatively small compared to other countries. 

Malaysia: Discrimination Against Women Workers · Global Voices 
We want the guarantee of equality and non-discrimination on the basis of gender, etc for everyone in Malaysia. 
It must be a guarantee enjoyed by all workers, both in public and private sector. 
Gender discrimination still persists in Malaysia, according to blogger Charles Hector. 

Japan: Fukushima Women Gather Against Nuclear Power · Global Voices 
Former United Nations worker Kaori Izumi called for a "Vote for Solidarity" in order to change Japan's policies around nuclear energy at a gathering of Fukushima women on August 29, 2012. 
This network of women aims to support candidates running for denuclearization and to empower women. 
The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster happened after the major earthquake and tsunami on 11 March, 2011 (see here for Global Voices coverage). 

Egypt: The Tweeting President · Global Voices 
Egyptian president Muhammad Morsi has started officially tweeting from his existing account tonight. 
The account, which has 162k followers, was also verified by Twitter today. 
His first tweet reads: 
Want to dedicate 1st tweet to martyrs of #jan25 revolution and brave #syrians... 
Muhammed #Morsi 
It seems that Morsi would be tweeting in both Arabic and English. 

Brazil: Crowdsourcing information on fires in slums · Global Voices 

Peru: Youth Organize Aid Initiative for Otuzco · Global Voices 
Global Voices contributor Gabriela García Calderón blogs about her nephew's initiative to bring aid to three communities in the Otuzco province in northern Peru. 
She points out that the group of young people volunteering for this remarkable initiative are working on their own, without any sort of sponsorship. 

Self-censorship in Hong Kong · Global Voices 
Zhongnanhai takes notes from the Asian American Journalists Association roundtable on self-censorship situation in Hong Kong. 
One of the issue is about the "mainlandization" of Hong Kong media ecology as presented by Claudia Mo, a former journalist and a candidate running for the coming Legislative Council Election. 

Hong Kong: Why Is "National Education" Scary? · Global Voices 
China Media Project translated a commentary by Chow Po Chung, a professor in the Department of Government and Public Administration at the Chinese University of Hong Kong reflecting on his 16 years of experience of "national education" in China's public school. 

East Timor: Insecticide Treated Net · Global Voices 
Insecticide treated net in East Timor. 
Photo from @georgedarroch@georgedarroch posts a photo promoting the use of insecticide treated net in East Timor 

South Korea: Samsung, National Champion or Corporate Evil? · Global Voices 
Sure, Samsung might be seen by some as a national champion, but there are many who also see it as the epitome of corporate evil—and not without reason Wrote Robert Koehler in his blog post on a poll result showing South Koreans still support Samsung in its patent legal battle against Apple. 
Click the link to see interesting discussions formed around the post. 

2012 Paralympics: A Successful Start, Remarkable Stories · Global Voices 
This post is part of our special coverage London 2012 Olympics. 
From August 29 until September 12, 2012, 4,200 athletes from 166 countries will take part in the 14th edition of the Paralympic Games in London and will compete in twenty disciplines. 
The organizers needed 15 days after the London 2012 Olympics to rearrange and make infrastructures accessible. 
Charles El Meliani on JOL press writes that a record number of tickets were sold for these games: 

Iranian Women - Saying 'No' to Compulsory Hijabs Since 1979 · Global Voices 
The Islamic regime began requiring Iranian women to wear the veil (hijab) in public soon after it seized power in Iran in 1979. 
Three decades later, Iranian police still carry out veil crackdowns every summer to keep a tight grip on the way people dress. 
On 10 July, 2012 a Facebook campaign by "Iranian Liberal Students and Graduates" was launched to say 'No' to compulsory hijabs. 
The "Unveil women's right to unveil" page has got more than 26,000 "likes" so far. 
Hundreds of men and women have shared their own photos, experiences and comments, adding the logo of the page. 
Some like to wear the veil and others do not. 
But all agree it should be their right to choose whether to wear it. 
On the Facebook page we read: 
The state enforcement of veil has deprived women of their fundamental rights. 
Although Iranian women have always resisted and disobeyed this inhumane law and treatment, those enforcing it have never learned their lesson and each year in the summer we witness a new wave of severe crackdown on women. 
"Iranian Liberal Students and graduates" announces its "no to mandatory hijab" campaign in solidarity with Iranian women and to emphasize on freedom of attire. 
We warmly welcome any group or persons who are willing to collaborate and help in this campaign. Nane Sarma shares her recent experience in Laleh Park in Tehran, Iran's capital: 
I was there with friends and we were laughing, and then the wind blew and my headscarf fell off. 
The law enforcement officers came over to me. 
I do not want to speak of their behavior, their threats and so forth... but here's what I observed as I was escorted to exit the park. 
I saw teenage boys, 13-14 years old smoking cigarettes and bothering people, but they did not get any warning or scolding from security forces. 
The same ones who previously kicked us out of the park for playing football with both boys and girls. 
It seems they think we should just find some empty houses, go there to smoke and channel our energies by having sex. 
Kamal, an Iranian young man writes : 
Nafiseh writes that she posted her own photo wearing a veil saying, "Even if I wear the veil I don't have right to impose it on others." 
Afsaneh says: 
I wish Iran to be a country where the hejab is not compulsory. 
Those for or against the hejab should be free to choose their way of dressing. 
Everybody has to respect and accept the other form of living. 
It is not the problem of women, when (maybe only some) gentlemen get erected by looking at unveiled women. 
The gentlemen should not be humiliated or offended by such arguments. 
Amir Lohrasbi recalls a time in history in the early days of the Islamic Revolution when Iranian newspaper, Ettelat, quoted Ayatollah Mahmoud Taleghani, a leading revolutionary figure who rejected compulsory hijab, and a revolutionary prosecutor who said people who bother women without a veil are counter-revolutionary. 
The struggle against compulsory veils began 33 years ago when brave Iranian women demonstrated in defiance in Tehran in March 1979 and were stabbed by pro regime forces. 
Violence triumphed, the compulsory veil was imposed, but women's desire for free choice prevails beyond repression. 

Controversial Tibet Theme Park Project Launched · Global Voices 
Last month, the Chinese government announced that it will launch a RMB 30 billion (USD 4.7 billion) theme park project in Tibet to attract tourists. 
The park will first be used as a shooting location for the movie Princess Wencheng, a story about the niece of a Tang-dynasty emperor who married a Tibetan king. 
It is located on the outskirts of the city of Lhasa and will occupy 800 hectares of land. 
Tibetan dissidents have described the project as the "Disneyfication of Tibet" rather than a genuine sharing and preservation of Tibetan culture. 
Putting aside the political and ideological debates, even within circle of Han Chinese, the development project is highly controversial. 
Sina Weibo user @1690737580 posted some photos she took from the designated theme park construction site and confessed she felt great pity for the loss of such an environment to the development: 
Cijiaolin Village. 
Photos taken by Sina User @1690737580 

Libya: Sorry Chris, Benghazi Couldn't Protect You · Global Voices 
This post is part of our special coverage Libya Revolution 2011. 
A small crowd of Libyans gathered in Al Shajara Square in Benghazi today to protest against the attack on the US Consulate. 
Four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens were killed when militants fired rockets at them as they were being driven to a safer location after protesters surrounded the consulate building. 
News reports say protesters surrounded the Consulate, outraged over a film which ridiculed Prophet Mohammed, produced by an American-Israeli film maker. 
In Cairo, a similar protest was staged, where protesters scaled the US Embassy walls, tearing down the US flag, and replacing it with an Islamic banner. 
The killing of Mr Stevens and three other US Consulate staff has outraged netizens from across the region. 
From Benghazi, Ahmed Sanalla shares some of the protest signs carried by the protesters on Twitter. 
He tweets: 
@ASanalla: Small crowd gathered in Alshajra square in #Benghazi to protest against attack on US embassy & calling 4 activation of Army & Police #Libya 
Among the chants were : @ASanalla: This is the revolution of the youth - not Al Qaeda or the terrorists. 
This is one of the chants at Al Shajara Square 
Here is a selection of the photographs Sanalla posts from the protest. 
@ASanalla: Chris Stevens was a friend to all Libyans. 
Image from today's protest in #Benghazi #USEmbassyattack #Libya pic.twitter.com/jcCkMTUh 
"Chris Stevens was a friend to all Libyans". 
Another sign held at the Benghazi protest today. 
Photo shared by Ahmed Sanalla on Twitter 
@ASanalla: Sorry Chris #Benghazi couldn't protect you. 
Image from today's protest in Benghazi. 
A Benghazi protester carries a sign which reads: "Sorry Chris, Benghazi Couldn't Protect You". 
Photograph shared on Twitter by Ahmed Sanalla 
@ASanalla: Thugs & killers don't represent #Benghazi nor #Islam. 
Image from today's protest in #Benghazi 
"Thugs and killers don't represent Islam". Photograph from today's protest in Benghazi shared by @ASanalla on Twitter 
This post is part of our special coverage Libya Revolution 2011. 

Jordan: 'Day of Mourning' as Parliament Approves Internet Restrictions · Global Voices 
Amendments to the press and publications law restricting online expression in Jordan were passed by parliament today . 
Simultaneously a demonstration was held by activists and journalists in front of the parliament as a majority of MP's voted for the bill. 
An improvised coffin plastered with the words "Freedom of the Internet" was carried by activists signalling the anticipated death of the Internet in Jordan. 
The approved law must still receive ratification from the upper house of parliament as well as approval by King Abdullah II, who retains supreme authority and whose signature is the seal of approval to all legislative matters. 
Member of Parliament, Jamil Nimri, who voted against the bill, in addition to the head of the journalists syndicate, attended the protest and claimed that such laws serve only to restrict freedoms and muffle the voices of the people. 
The new law allows for more control and censorship over the Internet. 
It requires the owners of websites to register with the government and obtain a license, “just like any other publication.” 
Owners of websites will also be made responsible for the content of comments published by readers on their sites. 
Outrage over the proposed law has been simmering for a while and netizens had already staged an online campaign to draw attention to the new law and its repercussions. 
On Twitter, netizens expressed their dismay at such a bill. 
The beginning of the Internet freedom funeral in front of the Jordanian Parliament. 
Photograph shared by Mohamed Al Qaq on Twitter 
He shares this photograph, right, from the protest. 
Nizar Samarri adds: ‪@‬NizarSam: The house of representative have passed the amendments to the press and publications law just a while ago… what a shame 
‪ 
And @godotbasha asks: 
@godotbasha: So if I draw parallels between Jordan and police states vis a vis ‪#censorship‬ law I can be subjected to persecution? ‪#freenetjo‬ 
Hisham Al Balawneh tweets: @Jor2Day: I am not convinced at all that the goal behind the press and publications law is to organise, but is rather to shut the people up and move Jordan backwards 
And Hanin Abu Shamat states: 
‪@HaninSh: ‬What's with the #FreeNetJO drama? 
The Senate (Upper House) has to approve it first... 
I trust our Senators and not our useless MPs. :) #JO 
Shahzeydo reflects: 
@Shahzeydo: With one regressive law Jordanian bureaucracy puts a leash on Jordan's knowledge economy. 
'Brilliant' Govt logic in a recession. #FreeNetJo"‬ 
And Majd Yousef continues: @Mayousef: They have killed freedom in our country and accused it of being dishonourable so that they would exonerate themselves 
Fadi Zaghmout comments: @ArabObserver: A black day in Jordan's history 
While Mohamad Shawash warns: 
Bashar Zeedan links the new attack on the freedom of the Internet to the Jordanian Spring. 
And Omar Qudah adds: @OmarQudah: He who thinks he can fence space like he fences a roundabout or a farm, is crazy! 
This is the reason number 1000 following thousands of other reasons to boycott the elections! 
Activists launched a petition on Avaaz.com under the title "Save the internet", which called on King Abdullah II, the minister of information and members of parliament to repeal the amendments to the press and publications law. 
Human Rights Watch also published a report on the latest bill passed by the parliament and the restrictions that are to be imposed on Jordanian websites, titled "Jordan: Moves to Censor Online Expression." 

Japan: Imagining Future Japanese-Korean Relations with 'Free Hugs' · Global Voices 
Below is a video showing a performance by a young Japanese man in Seoul, Korea; he is holding a sign reading "Free Hugs for Peace". 
The video was made about one year ago, in the summer of 2011. 
The creator, Koichi Kuwabara, began to attract the attention of Twitter users anxious about Japan-Korea relations, soon after the video was introduced . 
In fact, in August 2012, tensions in the relations between the two nations were exacerbated. 
On August 10, South Korean President Lee became the first incumbent president to set foot on the islands of Takeshima, which ignited a sovereignty dispute between both nations. 
Japanese Prime Minster Noda held a special press conference on August 24, in which he emphasized that "Takeshima is a territory belonging to Japan", and suggested that a reduction in the Japan-Korea currency swap agreement should be considered. 
Rumors of increasing tensions between the two nations have been talked about on a daily basis, in the media and on the Internet since the events of August. 
Amidst this uproar, Koichi Kuwabara's video spread via Twitter, and has touched the hearts of many viewers : 

Cambodia: Life Under the Khmer Rouge Regime · Global Voices 
I was born in 1977. 
My mum told me it was hard to find food for me. 
They forced people to work on the rice field but they didn’t allow people to eat anything but just a bow of porridge. 
It was the Pol Pot regime. 
Santel Phin describes the life of many Cambodians under the Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970s. 

Ghana: Obstacles to the Advancement of Women · Global Voices 
To reach the upper level is rare, and once you have arrived there, you still have to face hostility and doubts about your abilities, because you are a woman. 
A woman at the top works harder than a man to prove her skills, and yet she still must face entrenched prejudices and hostility, in her role as manager and leader, in a work environment largely dominated by males. 

China: Cross-province News Censorship · Global Voices 
Jing Gao from Ministry of Tofu explains how the Fujian government extended its black hand to Yunnan to stop the publication of a news story that exposes the corruption of a Fujian government official. 

Hong Kong: A Fight between Dogs and Locusts · Global Voices 
In reaction to the "locust" label put on mainland Chinese by some Hong Kong people, a mainland Chinese student in Hong Kong recently called Hongkongers "dogs". 
Dictionary of politically incorrect Hong Kong Cantonese translated the fight. 

China: Is Mo Yan a Stooge of the Chinese Government? · Global Voices 
Brendan O'Kane from Rectified.name explains why 2012 Nobel Literature Prize winner Mo yan is NOT a stooge for the Chinese government. 

Maldives: The Assassination of A Lawmaker · Global Voices 
Buggee posts a photo story on the death of Dr Afraasheem Ali, a lawmaker of the Maldives Government qualition, who was stabbed to death outside his home. 

Bolivian Politicians Turned 'Gangnam Style' · Global Voices 
The video stars representations of President Evo Morales and vicepresident Alvaro García Linera, as well as other members of the ruling party and the opposition. 
The "Gangnam Style" has been turned into a source of political parody in many countries around the globe. 

Jamaica: Who's a Minority? · Global Voices 
The sad irony of race in Jamaica is that numerical minorities tend to hog the majority of social space in so many arenas. 

Tajikistan: 'Halloween is not for Patriots' · Global Voices 
There are not many people in Tajikistan who know anything about Halloween, let alone mark it. 
Yet even rare celebrations of the holiday in the country make some people uneasy. 
'Alien' holiday 
On October 31, blogger Bachai Sako set the tone for the discussion on blogiston.tj. 
Disturbed by his son's willingness to celebrate the festival with friends, he wrote that the holiday had its roots in paganism and western culture. 
Bachai Sako then suggested: 
I think we should never forget about the history and origins of this tradition. Halloween is essentially a holiday of pagans and Christians, and as such it has nothing to do with the values and traditions of the Tajik nation and Islamic society. 
We should teach the younger generation that Halloween is alien to Tajiks and all Muslims. 
Proud Tajik boys and girls who love their nation should never celebrate alien holidays. 
Christian Mark Bleur took this photo at a Halloween party this week in Qurghonteppa, southern Tajikistan. 
Commenting on Bachai Sako's post, another Tajik blogger, Teocrat, agreed : 
I agree with you! 
I am confident that because of such "holidays" our young people weaken in their faith. 
Don't we have our own national and Muslim holidays? 
A nation or a people that doesn't preserve its values and doesn't act upon them quickly falls victim to enemies! 
'Innocent prank' 
Some bloggers, however, thought that Bachai Sako went too far in criticizing the holiday. 
Mustafo wrote : 
Don't go too far. 
First of all, those FEW Tajikistanis who "celebrate" Halloween don't actually view it as a holiday. it is just another occasion to diversify their lives, organize something fun and interesting. 
Halloween, which most of our fellow-citizens have not even heard of, is just an INNOCENT PRANK, rather than an "alien" holiday. 
Similarly, underneath Bachai Sako's post, Dil commented : 
I think that this holiday is another occasion when people can get together and have fun. 
Why should it matter whose holiday it is? 
The most important thing is that it is a HOLIDAY!!! 
Christian Mark Bleur took this photo at a Halloween party this week in Qurghonteppa, southern Tajikistan. 
These attempts to defend Halloween have been criticized. 
Under Mustafo's post, Parvona contended : 
an innocent prank? well, today we will celebrate Halloween and St. Valentine's Day and tomorrow we will forget our mother tongue and lose our culture. 
A bit later Parvona added : "Halloween is not for patriots". 
'National' holidays 
Bachai Sako's assertion that Halloween should not be celebrated because it is 'alien' to national and Islamic traditions has led some users on blogiston.tj to argue that many other holidays marked in Tajikistan have little to do with Islam or 'national' traditions. 
Jahongir wrote : 
If this is how we look at things, Navruz is also not a Muslim holiday. 
Should we stop celebrating Navruz as well? 
I agree that Halloween is not the Tajik people's holiday, but if we talk about Muslim holidays, we should also stop celebrating March 8 and other Soviet holidays, or not? 
And Ruslan suggested that what is considered a 'national' holiday changes with time. 
What is considered a "national" holiday changes over time. 
In the early ninth century, for example, Idi Kurbon and Idi Ramazon were 'alien' holidays to our ancestors. 
And 100 years ago, Tajiks did not celebrate the New Year, birthdays, March 8, February 23 , etc. 
From when do we start counting to see which holiday is 'national' or 'alien'? 
In many ways, this discussion reflects wider disagreements within Tajik society about what should be considered 'national' and what is to be regarded as 'foreign'. 
Some people in the country believe that Tajiks should return to their 'roots', either pre-Soviet or pre-Islamic. 
Other people argue that Tajiks should retain their post-Soviet culture. 
Still, it appears that most people in the country find all these discussions useless. 
As Ismoili Yorigi put it : 
What are you discussing here? 
Halloween or no Halloween, national or not national... 
I personally don't care. 
The most important thing is to make sure that we all live well in the country! 

Mauritania: Landslides Leave Residents Homeless · Global Voices 
Landslides resulting from recent heavy rain have left hundreds of families homeless in different parts of Mauritania. 
After destroying their homes, the landslides left hundreds of families in Kaedi (Southern Mauritania), Makta'a Lahjar and Aleg (Central Mauritania), and Nema (Eastern Mauritania), without roofs over their heads. 
The heavy rains came after two years of decreased rainfall, which led to droughts all over Mauritania that almost threatened to decimate the country's animal resources. 
The people of Mauritania highly depend on these for their lives; some 700,000 citizens face the danger of starvation according to a report by the World Food Programme. 
A photo showing the effects of the floods published by @RimtodayRim on Twitter. 
Alegcom blog talked about the condition of Magta-lihjar city after the floods: 
The city of Magta-lihjar lives these days in tough conditions because of the wave of floods that hit the city last Monday at dawn and resulted in the displacement of at least 300 families, and caused the closure of the Road of Hope, which is considered the lifeline for Mauritanians in the country's center and east. 
A photo of water flooding the 'Road of Hope' in Aleg published by Alegcom blog. 
The blog also talked about the drowning of a young man from Sankrafah: 
توفى عصر اليوم بمدينة صنكرافه أقصى شرقى لبراكنه الشاب " سيدى محمد ولد أحمد لعياس "غرقا فى المياه الراكدة التى خلفتها الأمطار الأخيرة على المنطقة. 
Sidi Mohamed Ahmed Layas died this afternoon in Sankrafah (far East Brakna). 
He drowned in the stagnant water that remained from the recent rainfall over the region. 
Kankossatoday blog also talked about the displacement of 30 families in one of the villages: 
The floods caused by the heavy rains that Cerl Fle village (30 km south Kankossa) has witnessed, have resulted in the displacement of at least 30 families after their houses were swept away. 
Mr Bolay, the village's official, said in a statement to the blog that 24 houses have been swept away completely, while six other houses were destroyed and became uninhabitable. 
Mauritanie demain page on Facebook showed solidarity with the homeless in Kaedi: 
Don't forget to pray for your brothers in Kaedi while having breakfast. 
They were effected badly because of today's rain. 

Turkish Police Use Tear-Gas Against Protesting Mothers · Global Voices 
In much of Kurdistan, there has been solidarity protests but despite the attention the hunger strikes have received within Kurdish regions, there are few mainstream media outlets reporting on the hunger strike. 
The lack of media coverage has angered many Kurds, who are being vocal on social networking sites. 
Hulya, from Liverpool, says: 
@hulyaulas: The biggest political hunger strike in history by Kurdish political prisoners is being ignored in world's media. 
Dirman adds: 
@dirman95: It is so hard to eat knowing that the hunger strike has been going on for over 51 days and the world is doing nothing about it… disgusting. 
Al Jazeera’s The Stream has been the only internationally acknowledged mainstream outlet that has highlighted the gravity of the hunger strike. 
They have used their social media outlets to raise awareness. 
For example they recently tweeted: 
@ajstream: Why has the government and Media in Turkey ignored the hunger strikes of 715 Kurdish political prisoners? 
An online petition has been launched, with 3,451 supporters so far, that asks the Turkish government to engage in constructive dialogue with the prisoners. 
The Turkish government must enter into serious dialogue with these prisoners who now risk their lives to expose the injustice under which they live. 
KurdishBlogger.com posted the following picture on Facebook. 
Kurds in Slemani, South Kurdistan show solidarity with their Kurdish sisters and brothers (at least 682 inmates) who are on hunger strike in 67 prisons across Turkey. 
And Tara Fatehi, a Kurdish activist in Australia, expressed her anger at the international community: 
Thousands of Kurdish political prisoners have been on hunger strike in Turkey since Sept 12 and the International community remains silent. 
This is Kurdish hunger for freedom, it is not a new concept. 
The Kurds have been fighting for rights, peace and freedom for decades. 
Hannelore Kuchlersaid said it best "Kurdistan is a country taken hostage." and whilst the international media want you to think this is solely about Abdullah Ocalan and the PKK, it is not. 
It's about acquiring basic human rights in their own homeland. 

Malaysia: Furor Over Alleged National Flag Redesign · Global Voices 
In early September 2012, there was a minor furor over an alleged proposal by the Opposition to change the Malaysian flag. 
Aeshah Adlina Karim wrote that one of the Opposition politicians posted on his Facebook page that the current flag looks too much like the one of the government coalition, and that the new proposed flag looks a lot similar to the ones of Singapore and Indonesia. 
The fact that they are going to make the new flag Malaysia’s flag when PR (Pakatan Rakyat, the Opposition coalition) gain control of Malaysia, do they mean to make Malaysia a republic because both Indonesia and Singapore are republics. 
The current Malaysian flag above the proposed new flag design. 
Photo from blog of Aeshah Adlina 
Sicfallacy thought it was a disgraceful action, especially given that the news broke during the Independence Day celebrations: 
Merdeka should be about unity. 
We, as a countrymen should stand together and fight for our country. 
But this year's Merdeka celebration, we cannot even agree on Merdeka theme, we cannot even sit together celebrating our birth of Nation. 
Divided with two themes, with two logos and even with two different flags. 
Yes, our National flag is somewhat similar to US flag. 
But that doesn't give you any right to proudly mocking our flag, on a very important Merdeka night! 
Who do you think you are to do that? Such a disgrace to the country. 
Liberian flag also resemble that US flag, but can you saw any of Liberian people loath their flag on their Independence celebration? 
I think this is exactly what will happen in Malaysia, if PR (Pakatan Rakyat, the Opposition) win the next GE13. 
PR looks like want to change, not only government (Cabinet) but also Malaysia's identity. 
New flag, new anthem, and new name maybe? 
Syed Akbar Ali also voiced discontent on the issue: 
Protesters brandishing the proposed new flag. 
Photo from blog of Syed Akbar Ali 
Well folks look at these pictures. 
I see retards who have parked their motorbikes somewhere. 
The first picture shows Pakatan Rakyat supporters unfurling a different flag which (by the looks of it) they want to replace our national flag. 
So they want to change the Malaysian flag too. 
What about the National Anthem? 
If they change the flag, why not change the National Anthem as well? 
It is kind of old and some may say boring. 
Maybe they can get Namewee to craft a new National Anthem. 
And why stop at the flag or the National Anthem. 
What about changing the name of the country? What about Greater Malayalam? 
Or maybe Greater Nanyang? 
Southern Hindustan? 
Singapore North? Northport Singapore? 
Here is a more uptodate name - 'Greater Bangsar'. 
Maybe 'Greater Damansara'. 
Peninsula.com? 
When the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak yesterday personally led three senior UMNO Ministers to attack the Pakatan Rakyat with the canard that PR wanted to replace the national flag Jalur Gemilang, it was more than anything else a reflection of their sense of desperation about UMNO/Barisan Nasional prospects in the impending 13th General Election than respect for the truth. 
The change of the national flag is never a Pakatan Rakyat agenda and has never been discussed or raised in any Pakatan Rakyat meeting. 
But these attacks were clearly cooked up by the UMNO/BN dirty tricks department, for there is no truth whatsoever in the allegations that the PR wanted to change the national flag or to abolish the system of constitutional monarchy. 
Pakatan Rakyat, through its various policy pronouncements, including the Pakatan Rakyat Common Policy Framework in December 2009 and the Buku Jingga on December 2010, had reiterated the PR’s commitment to uphold the fundamental features in the Malaysian Constitution, in particular “to defend the role and responsibility of the institution of Constitutional Monarchy”. 
It is the height of irresponsibility for the Prime Minister and senior Umno Ministers to spearhead the Umno/BN dirty tricks department’s campaign of lies and falsehoods against PR as when the four UMNO Ministers repeated the canards that PR wanted to change the national flag and to turn Malaysia into a republic. 

So You Need to Get Around Madagascar? · Global Voices 
For newcomers, public transportation can be a challenge in Madagascar. There are many reasons why. 
The railroad network is expanding but still is not available in most of cities. 
In the urban centers, public transportation is limited to overcrowded buses and minivans and the urban railroad remains a project only for the capital city, Antananarivo. 
Public transportation is a well-known issue in the capital city. There are close to two millions inhabitants and an estimated total of 110,000 cars. 
The urban roads are often congested, as seen on the photo below: 
Urban traffic in Antananarivo via Madagascar-aventures. 
CC-NC-2.0 
The impact of traffic on urban commuting is also recorded in a video here by vive Madagascar: 
This type of congestion is so unbearable for the residents that the Antananarivo government is evaluating the possibility of installing an urban cable car system between the two most populated hills of the city : 
This system will link the Upper Town District and Mahamasina District. 
However, the mayor has yet to provide any details about the start or the financial cost of the project. 
Regarding the choice of an urban cable system, the capital city will get inspiration from the system developed in La Paz. 
Given the estimated cost of such project (estimated at 166 million euros or 230 million US dollars for the system in La Paz) and the rampant poverty in the city, many wonder whether such a project is appropriate. 
Marc Harmelle wrote (post has since been deleted): 
Rather than thinking of building a cable car system, should we not start with cleaning the slums, relocate the people to places that are more in line for human dignity, give them healthcare and educate their children? 
Public transportation in Madagascar 
If congestion is the main issue inside the cities, the interstate roads are also in need of major maintenance work. 
Bill on Madagascar Tribune noted that there is a lot left to be done : 
11,700 km of roads need to be repaired throughout Madagascar in the next six months The UTO will be in charge of the roads in need of urgent repair and the temporary repairs of the roads damaged by natural disasters. 
The NGO Lalana (Roads in Malagasy) alerted readers to the status of the RN2 highway linking the capital with the main port of Madagascar Toamasina : 
Roads around the country are deteriorating. The political crisis has completely messed up the funding mechanism for road maintenance and urgent repair programs. Damages from the hurricanes that hit the country last year are still not repaired at the moment. 
This is especially true on the National Highway 2 linking Antananarivo to Toamasina where several rockfalls can be seen. Portions of the road were also washed away by water floods. 
"Rural taxi" on national roads in Madagascar. 
Via Tana News. 
Public domain 
Traveling across Madagascar through public transportation is still a unique experience. The most affordable way to travel is via the rural taxi, Taxi Brousse. 
Taxi Brousse comes in many kinds of vehicles, but mostly as a minivan, as seen on the previous photo. 
Once in a city outside the capital city, one can travel via "pousse pousse", the local name for a rickshaw, as seen in the following video: 
Ariniaina, a Global Voices author based in Madagascar, pointed out that the legislation has changed in Madagascar regarding rickshaws, but it is still an important means of transportation for many locals: 
Rickshaw as a mean of transportation pulled by a human being has been considered a violation of human rights. So the Commune of Antsirabe launched the “cyclopousse” – a rickshaw pulled by a bike. 
Yet, “traditional” rickshaws are still the main transportation for many Antsirabe residents. 
Public transportation is trying to catch up with the rapid evolution of the fast-growing Malagasy population, but given the important economic constraints, it's to be expected - at least for a little while. 

8 Shocking Quotes from Malaysian Politicians · Global Voices 
Balik Cina is a new website which compiles some of the hilarious and notorious quotes made by Malaysian politicians. 
Most of the quotes featured on the site were submitted by netizens. 
The quotes are linked to a news source which provides details and context of a particular issue. 
Balik Cina is actually an infamous quote in Malaysia. 
Here’s the reason why the website is named Balik Cina: 
Balik Cina literally means 'go back to China' in Bahasa Malaysia. 
The term Balik Cina was first popularized by the principal of a Shah Alam high school in July 2013. 
This term and other phrases of similar sophistication has since been trending in Malaysia. 
Inspired by the outstanding quality of public discourse perpetuated by Malaysian politicians, we started BalikCina.com to keep track of all exciting developments in our political landscape. 
Balik Cina aspires to be the finest collection of all beautiful and inspirational quotes by Malaysian politicians and public figures. 
Aizyl Azlee of The New Forward reviews the website and confirms that Malaysian politicians often spew out ridiculous statements: 
Malaysian politicians say ridiculous stuff so often that most of us can barely keep up. 
Before we’re done laughing at one quote, there’s already another one going viral on the internet. 
So much so that we aren’t exactly able to remember half of what we’ve laughed at. Below are eight examples of some of the memorable and shocking sound bites by Malaysian politicians in recent years: 
He has since then apologized for his remarks but he blamed the media for misquoting him. 
Prime Minister Najib Razak, the most prominent and active social media user in Malaysia, posted a photo of his meeting with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. 
But he probably thought he was at the Twitter HQ. 
3. 
Aside from V-necks, the guidelines warned that “a preference for tight and bright coloured clothes” is an indicator of homosexuality. 
4. 
Last month, an independent online website was denied permit for publication because of this reasoning: 
5. 
Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim probably assumed he could use the MH370 disaster to further undermine the credibility of the ruling government. 
It backfired. 
6. 
An MP wants to censor the Internet to appease the Chinese relatives of missing Malaysian plane MH370. 
He blamed the unregulated media information as source of anger of the relatives. 
7. 
Those sanitary pads must be the source of all bloody evils in the world. 
8. 

Thailand's Coup Protesters Are Looking to The Hunger Games for Inspiration · Global Voices 
Anti-coup protesters in Bangkok show a three-finger salute representing liberty, equality, and fraternity. 
Photo by Yostorn Triyos, Copyright @Demotix (6/1/2014) 
Protesters have found creative ways to express their opposition to Thailand's martial law regime. 
Many have adopted the three-finger salute from the Hollywood film ‘Hunger Games’ to signify the people’s yearning for ‘liberty, equality, and fraternity.’ 
One of the early directives of Thailand’s coup regime was the ban on the public gathering of five or more people. 
Although this didn’t stop anti-coup protesters from converging to various places, the army has become more intolerant of these protests and is arresting those who defy this law. 
Below are some of the photos of protesters in Bangkok with their ‘Hunger Games’ salute: 
Hunger Games style. 
Anti Coup protesters raise their hands in a three finger salute as a symbol of struggle. 
Photo by Gonzalo Abad, Copyright @Demotix (6/1/2014) 
But aside from the three-finger salute, protesters are also doing read-in protests in public places to dramatize their opposition to the coup. 
They do not carry placards, they do not march in the streets, but they seat in crowded places and read political books. Aside from Thai books on politics, protesters prefer to read George Orwell’s 1984 book. 
Thai anti coup protesters continued to defy the military ban on gatherings by silently reading books in public places. Photo by Lillian Suwanrumpha, Copyright @Demotix (5/31/2014) 
The Royal Thai Army declared martial law on May 20 and launched a coup two days after. 
The army vowed to conduct elections but only after it has stabilized the nation and political reforms have been implemented. 
During the early days of the coup, the army seized control of TV and radio stations. 
Around 600 satellite channels were shut down by the army. 
This week, 40 channels were allowed to broadcast their regular programming including the CNN, BBC and popular cartoon shows. 
Media is still under tight regulation and the army has been more aggressive in warning netizens not to criticize authorities. 
Interestingly, a government advisory warned the public that they can suffer from “mental stress resulting from over-consumption of news.” The same advisory urged the public to remain healthy by reading only from state-run sources. 
In the past days, hundreds of academics and journalists were summoned by the army. 
Many of them were dissenters and critical to the Junta. 
Fortunately, some were released already and they were able to recount their experience. 
Thanapol Eawsakul shares his visit to the army office: The process of going to report oneself is a political method. 
This is a request for cooperation. 
If one provides it, then one can return. 
But if one does not cooperate with the soldiers, they say that they will use “harsh medicine” to take care of things. 
Pravit Rojanaphruk, a popular journalist, felt like being a participant in a Big Brother reality show: 
We were told that we would not be able to use phones. 
There were two phones available – we could use them as we wished – but we would need to give out the number and someone would be standing next to us while we took calls, to eavesdrop. 
It was surreal. 
Everything was surreal. 
It struck me that we were kind of in this ‘Big Brother’ reality show the entire time. 
I think that it tested everyone’s mettle, being there. 
Some people crack. 
Some people cry, some people beg. 
Although some Thais have supported the coup, many are still urging the army to allow elections and bring back power to the people. 
The army may have succeeded in restoring peace in the streets of Bangkok, the country’s capital, but it was done by eroding the civil liberties of citizens. 

Informal Wedding "a Small Victory" for Gays in Tajikistan · Global Voices 
LGBT flag (Wiki image) 
A small, informal wedding was recently held in Dushanbe. Although weddings in Tajikistan are regular events, this ceremony was different in one important aspect: the newly wed were both men. 
The two young persons, both in their mid-twenties, held the ceremony to announce that they intend to live as a couple, despite the fact that there is very little tolerance towards sexual minorities in Tajikistan and no legal means of registering a gay marriage. On Twitter, @gaytajikistan celebrated the event: 
I never through I would live to see the day when sodomites would be holding weddings in our country and telling other people about this. 
I was wrong. 
It appears that we, Tajiks, have also come under the influence of the West and its policy of encouraging all kinds of crap. 
He continues , suggesting that members of the LGBT community are not part of Tajik society and should be expelled: 
I am disgusted at reading this. 
I cannot understand why these sodomites dare to behave this way and hold a wedding in our Muslim society. 
I cannot understand why their parents and relatives don't stop them. 
If journalists write about this, many people know this. 
Western organizations, embassies and journalists protect the sodomites. 
Many of our citizens have also been influenced and now protect these non-humans as well. 
I think we should tell western countries that if they need this kind of people and want to protect them, they should take them. 
Let the government help people like this to leave Tajikistan forever. 
There is no place for them in our society. 
They are not part of Tajikistan! 
As Global Voices author Iskandar wrote back in February: Tajikistan, a conservative Central Asian nation where over 95 percent of people are Muslims, has been described as “hell for gays”. 
Social media is increasingly enabling members of the country's LGBT community to push back against homophobic attitudes. 
Comments under Radio Ozodi's coverage of the exchange of vows were overwhelmingly negative, with several referring to LGBT and "western propaganda", although there was one well-wisher : 
I congratulate you on your wedding!!!!! 
I wish you all the best!!!! 
It is their destiny, their life, everyone has a right to live as he or she wants! 
C'est la vie! 
Alexander Sodiqov contributed reporting to this article. 

Typical Venezuelan Expressions, Illustrated and Translated Into English · Global Voices 
On the blog Venezuelan Sayings, illustrator Daisy Patton creates images of typical Venezuelan expressions and translates them into English. 
In her illustrations, readers can see personal interpretations of traditional sayings full of color and humor, which reflect a candid vision of a culture that seeks to understand another through the use of colloquial language. In the description of the blog, Daisy explains: 
My Venezuelan husband often uses colloquialisms from his culture to describe situations we find ourselves in. 
These are my illustrations of them. 
We also chatted with Daisy via email. There she told us a few things about the creation of the blog and also about the difficulties and joys of translating not only the language but also the context: 
I've been with my husband for almost 8 años , and he would frequently translate dichos into English, leaving me very confused. 
Because the Venezuelan sayings are so distinctive, I started writing them down to share with our friends, since they seem so different but wonderfully imaginative. 
The project has grown from just being the refranes he's said to suggestions from Venezuelans all over the world now. 
I see it now as a collaborative project that is collecting this cultural ephemera, with the understanding that I'm of course an outsider looking in. 
Image used with permission from Daisy Patton. 
It's hard to explain puns, slang, or things that reference something historically or locally known, like games, locations, or historical figures, regardless of language. 
Much of the time, when my husband Enrique has said a dicho , I have no idea what he means at all without some explanation (such as me dieron gato por liebre/I was given cat instead of hare), while others make sense once you hear them (like la última coca-cola del desierto/last Coke in the desert). 
On the variety and differences of the phrases, Daisy comments the following: 
I've learned a great deal about how variable and interesting Venezuelan culture is just from . 
Anything from exact meaning, to wording, can be slightly or completely different, depending on generation and location. 
I've had many people contact me to either tell me that I was wrong, or that they've never heard of one, or that they're common in other Latin American countries (which makes sense). 
In some posts, I've literally had someone state that the saying was incorrect or didn't exist and another five people sharing it and stating how they use it all the time and thought it was hilarious! 
Image used with permission from Daisy Patton. 
The illustrator regularly receives suggestions to continue illustrating and translating more phrases. 
That way, the blog is updated frequently and gradually builds a record of typical images that are used and expanded in the speech of different regions throughout the country. 

This Boy of Zambian Origin Is the First Student to Become a Microsoft Certified Professional · Global Voices 
Fifteen-year-old Samkeliso Kimbinyi of Zambian origin but based in the United Kingdom, is creating a buzz in the information and communication technology (ICT) world by becoming one of the youngest Microsoft Qualified Professionals in Europe. 
The teenager, better known as Sam, is a Year 10 (high school level) student at the University Technical College (UTC) in Reading, a town just outside London. 
He is now a Microsoft Certified Professional and has Microsoft Technical Associates (MTA) certificates in seven areas including Software Fundamentals, Windows Development Fundamentals and OS (operating system) Fundamentals. 
Kimbinyi has also developed an app called Lite for Windows phones and has so far received positive reviews for the same. 
Sam Kimbinyi's photo, taken from his Twitter profile. 
Global Voices Online caught up with Sam on email and learned from him first-hand about his achievements: 
In March this year, I had the opportunity of meeting staff from Microsoft offices in Seattle, who were in the UK for one day as part of their European trip to speak to clients who are training through the Microsoft IT Academy. 
These were members of the Learning Experience team - Senior Director Tim Sneath, Director for Academic Programme Keith Loeber and Content Director Briana Roberts. 
On May 26th 2014 I published my first App—Lite—on the Windows Phone Store. 
I got the idea of the app after spending long hours of looking for a fast lightweight flashlight app that did not contain ads . 
Eventually, after not finding anything, I decided to make my own. 
Eight Days later and with the criticism (sic) from the Reddit Window Phone Community, I reached 300 Downloads and a 5 star rating. 
Shortly after, the app got a spot on the “New and Rising” Section of the app store. 
In future I hope to release many more apps and continue to study Computer Science at (the) university. 
In his college newsletter, Kimbinyi was quoted as saying: 
MTA training links to what we're learning in class, but has given me a greater understanding of programming and how diverse the field is. 
My new knowledge was really useful when we developed an app during the Microsoft employer project; we ended up developing a much better app. 
Microsoft congratulated Kimbinyi in a tweet: 
Congratulations to Samkeliso Kimbinyi, 15, the first student to gain an MTA qualification in software development pic.twitter.com/8JRfgXNynL — Microsoft Education (@microsofteduk) January 24, 2014 

Want to be a Government Bureaucrat in China? · Global Voices 
Foshan, a city in Guangdong recently hired four foreigners to work for the government's foreign trade and economic cooperation bureau. 

China: Keyboard Supermen and Angry Youth 2.0 · Global Voices 
Cartoon by 辣椒二舅 on Weibo. 
Via Off Beat China 
To seek the answer, the blogger looked into the character of keyboard supermen and angry youth 2.0. 

Jamaica: Girls In Science · Global Voices 
Cucumber Juice explains why it's important for her to raise money to upgrade her old high school's science lab - because it's the place where she learned to be confident, because real learning is interconnected, and because "girls need to know that we can be scientists too." 

Suriname: The Faces of Inspiration · Global Voices 
During exhibitions I often ask myself to what extent the location or the surroundings influence my perception. 
Srananart's Blog attends an art exhibit "about religion, rituals and death”. 

Homosexual Asylum Seekers from The Maldives Face Prosecution Upon Return · Global Voices 
Same-sex relationships, civil unions, or domestic partnerships are illegal in the Maldives under Sharia law and there are several cases of prosecution against persons of same-sex orientation. 
Ibrahim Muaz, a spokesman at the President’s Office recently said that Maldivians seeking asylum abroad on grounds of religion or sexuality can be assured of prosecution should they return. 
Hilath, a secular blogger in Maldives, who was attacked because he talked openly about his sexual orientation is now living in exile in Sri Lanka. 
He informs via his blog that conservative media of Maldives are painting Abraham Naim, the drag queen in exile, as an Islamaphobe to launch a personal attack against him. 

China: Chronology of Tiananmen Crackdown Revealed in Wikileaks' Cables · Global Voices 
Students in the data journalism class at Northeast Normal University searched Wikileaks for references to the 1989 demonstrations at Tiananmen Square and organized the diplomatic cables into a chronology of the protests since April 19 1989 till March 26 1990. 

Pre Historic Remains Found in Chile · Global Voices 
They spent millions of years hidden, until 21st century, when a group of paleontologists discovered the remains of 46 ichthyosaur at Torres del Paine National Park , in southern Chile: 
In Chile, an ichthyosaur cementery was found. 
The project started with the... 
In Chile, a singular ichthyosaur cemetery was found. 
It's SHAMEFUL that we have to find it out on foreign media. 

The Importance of Maths in Education · Global Voices 
Carlos Thompson from The Chlewey Blog writes about the importance of teaching Maths in Colombia in relation to the poor performance the country had in international tests of quality of education : 
Maths provide much more than the ability of countng the change at the store, or the specific abilities to be admitted into Engineering School. 
Maths generate a mental structure that also benefits the physician, the social communicator or the socióogist, not specificlaly to be successful in their profession, but as citizens in a democracy and as individuals that have influence in a society. This post was part of the fourth #LunesDeBlogsGV on May 26, 2014. 

"Let Spain Decide" · Global Voices 
IsabelOn writes on her blog De sonrisas y espadas about Juan Carlos, King of Spain, abdication: 
now that the debate about “Monarchy vs Republic” is open, “Felipe yes, Felipe no”, “Referendum yes or no”, we all shall give 100% and let's use one of Juan Carlos and Adolfo Suárez mottos: everybody is in, even those who think differently, let's leave Spain be who decides. This post was part of the fifth #LunesDeBlogsGV on June 2, 2014. 

University Student Posts Suicide Note In Facebook, Friends Fail To Save Him · Global Voices 
Suicide is a long term social issue of Bangladesh and of all the people reported dead due to suicide worldwide every year, 2.06% are Bangladeshis. 
Mahbub Shaheen, a student of Dhaka University, posted a suicide note in Facebook at 7:08PM on 2nd of June, 2014. 
He wrote: 
I am lying on Rail Line. 
The Train is coming. 
And I am going to kick out bloody myself, the useless eater. 
Once I've posted a comment "I should leave" then after I posted "I have to leave". 
Some of you asked me- "From where & where will you go?" 
I don't know where I am going. 
But I am leaving. 
Leaving useless myself forever. 
Good bye, good bye forever. 
In the comments section of the above post it is revealed that his friends tried to locate Shaheen who was supposed to reach Dhaka, the capital by a train by the evening. 
His mobile was unreachable so they tried to inform police and his family but did not know how. 
A few hours later someone confirmed that his body was found near Kamalapur Railway Station. 
This shows that Bangladesh desperately needs an effective suicide prevention hotline to act quickly and save people like Shaheen. 
The number one cause for suicide is untreated depression. Depression is treatable and suicide is preventable. 
Visit Befrienders.org to find a suicide prevention helpline in your country. 

Singing Lullabies to Preserve the Butchulla Language · Global Voices 
Fraser Island by EVC2008. 
Used under a CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 license. 
Evidence discovered on Fraser Island located in Queensland, Australia, suggests there may have been Aboriginal inhabitants as far back as 5,000 years ago. 
The traditional owners of this land, the Butchulla people, called the island with its incredible natural surroundings K'gari meaning "paradise." 
However, the Butchulla people faced hardships after the arrival of colonizers, who eventually displaced them from their land. 
Fraser Island, QueenslandThe Butchulla language also suffered during this time, almost leading to its extinction in the 20th century due to governmental policies and missionary groups that prohibited it. 
Thanks to present-day revitalization efforts by the Butchulla Language Program, the language is now returning. 
The program has produced new resources such as dictionaries music CDs, and organized activities, such as language courses at local libraries, all of which is helping to encourage younger generations to take an interest in it. 
Digital media and the Internet are also playing a role in these revitalization efforts. 
As part of the ABC Open project "Mother Tongue" in which local communities partner with video producers from the Australia Broadcasting Corporation to create participatory videos focusing on Aboriginal language revitalization. 
One such video collaboration took place between Joyce Bonner, a community linguist with the Korrawinga Aboriginal Corporation in Hervey Bay area, and ABC Open producer Brad Marsellos. 
Together they created this video sharing a traditional Butchulla lullaby sung by Bonner's own mother. 
Two little eyes to look up to God 
Two little ears to hear his word 
One little tongue to speak the truth 
Sleep little baby sleep 
Sleep little baby sleep 
Sleep little baby sleep 
The team also collaborated to produce another video teaching the Butchulla words for body parts: 
These videos are one part of the strategy to revitalize the Butchulla language. 
Read an interview with Bonner here about the origins and the recipe for success of the Butchulla Language Program. 

Take a Look at the Africa the Media Never Shows You · Global Voices 
Screenshot of some of the images found under the hashtag #TheAfricaTheMediaNeverShowsYou on Twitter. 
The portrayal of Africa by mainstream media, particularly Western media, paints it as a dark, ugly, hopeless place that is ridden with civil war, militant groups, corruption, violation of freedoms, starvation, chaotic urbanisation and utter desperation. 
This gives people who have never being to Africa a false, misleading impression of the continent. 
Africans on Twitter have came together to showcase the beauty, diversity and innovative modern architecture of the continent that Western media rarely show their audiences. 
It all began with the hashtag #TheAfricaTheMediaNeverShowsYou by Twitter user Mango: 
#TheAfricaTheMediaNeverShowsYou join us in the HT showcasing the beauty of Africa! — mango (@lunarnomad) June 23, 2015 
Soon, other Twitter users from all over joined in the effort. 
Here's a sampling of tweets from the campaign. 
Nairobi, Kenya: 
African Weddings #TheAfricaTheMediaNeverShowsYou pic.twitter.com/EdpDnMV2Y4 — I Am THE CULTURE (@Toussaint215) June 23, 2015 
Limpopo, South Africa: 
#TheAfricaTheMediaNeverShowsYou IN LAGOS an entire city built from reclaimed land from the sea. 
Uganda: 
Côte d'Ivoire,: 
various traditional African villages #TheAfricaTheMediaNeverShowsYou pic.twitter.com/POTS6RzNwW — mango (@lunarnomad) June 23, 2015 
Aswan, Egypt: 
There is an increasing yearning among Africans to control their narrative, and the hashtag #TheAfricaTheMediaNeverShowsYou is just one example. 
Sites like Africa is Country and This is Uganda have also come out to challenge portrayal of Africa in mainstream media. 

Top Bahraini Student Goes to Jail Instead of Medical School · Global Voices 
Mustafa Mohammed Ismael, right, with his brother Ali, at his graduation ceremony 
It's the time of the year when high school students graduate and prepare to go to the university of their choice. 
But for some students in Bahrain, specifically Shiites, activists and government opponents, the path that awaits them is not so bright. 
One of these ill fated students is Mustafa Mohammed Ismael who is in jail instead of pursuing his dream of studying medicine. 
Mustafa graduated top of his class from high school with grades averaging 98.8 percent. 
@HusaainMinus shares Mustafa's ordeal on Twitter: 
On August 15, 2013, Mustafa, who is now 18, was walking out of his grandfather's house in Nuwaidrat when he was stopped by security patrol. 
He was charged with illegal gathering and initially sentenced to six months. 
The court of appeal later reduced the sentence to three months and released him on bail 24 days later. 
Mustafa's family told Al Wasat daily newspaper, that his lawyer Mohammed Al-Muttawa attempted several times to convince authorities to reduce the charges to a fine, so he would be able to continue his education, but failed. 
His high school certificates show outstanding performance in all subjects over three years with no marks less than 93.5% out of 100%. 
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He decided to turn himself in on July 10 to complete the remaining time of his sentence (two months and six days) during the summer holidays, expecting to be released on September 16. 
In a letter he wrote before he entered prison, he said: "In prison I spend my night and day ... a product of my success and academic excellence." 
He continued expressing how desperate he felt when he was first arrested, and then the glimpse of hope he regained after being released, explaining he continued to work hard to reach his goal. 
Yet his dream to become a doctor and serve his country is rewarded with imprisonment. 
Mustafa, right, kissing his mother's forehead at the end of his graduation ceremony. 
His brother Ali, far left. Mustafa's decision to turn himself in was encouraged by his family members, his brother Ali told Global Voices Online, to avoid future complications and the risk to be arrested any minute while he is in the middle of his university studies. 
Ali says if his brother hadn't turned himself in he would have faced difficulties going anywhere or passing check points as there is an arrest warrant for him. 
Their reasoning was the earlier he went to prison, the earlier he got out and resumed his life. 
"During high school, Mustafa felt so disappointed and unmotivated. 
His GPA dropped a few points, but family support helped him get through it. 
He was always at home avoiding to go out so he could complete his high school diploma without interruption or being arrested." 
Mustafa is not the only one arrested from his family. 
His brother Qasim, also a student, was arrested on January 1, 2012, and is serving a five-year term in jail in the case of "Rayat Alezz". 
His father Mohamed Ali is a political activist serving 15 years in jail since March 24, 2011, on charges of "plotting to overthrow the regime". 
He is one of the 13 prominent leaders remaining in prison for their role during Bahrain's popular uprising in February 2011. 
Mustafa is now detained at the Dry Dock prison waiting for his brother to update him on his scholarship news, and news of admission to universities abroad, keeping in mind that his mother is the only breadwinner in his family at the moment. 
Bahraini top student Mustafa Mohammed Ismael delivering a speech at his graduation ceremony 
He was a candidate for the Crown Prince's International Scholarship Program (CPISP) and reached to the final stages but didn't get it. 
The scholarship programme serves the vision of the Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa as it is stated on the programme's website "to develop young Bahrainis from all walks of life to take key positions in Bahrain's public and private sectors in the future." 
Despite his academic excellence and qualifications, his options are limited, given that should he complete his sentence, he will be released a bit too late for some universities' starting date. 
Mustafa has to look for options he could take after his release in mid September. 
His brother Ali explained to Global Voices that Mustafa was offered another scholarship by the Ministry of Education, except it was in mechanical engineering, far from general medicine. 
"Once he is released, hopefully before he has to complete his sentence, he will try to switch the scholarship to a stipend and use the money towards studying what he wants. 
However, we are worried he will be banned from travel after his release." 
Mustafa is not alone when it comes to what many have described as the "discriminatory process" of distributing scholarships in Bahrain. 
A heated debate is taking place in Bahrain about the criteria for the selection of scholarship recipients. 
According to activists and Bahraini citizens, the government's track record suggests discrimination against the Shiite students when granting scholarships, especially those who have expressed opposing views to those of the government. 
Their views and frustrations were compiled on an active Twitter hashtag in Arabic that translates to "the massacre of scholarships". 
According to the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) statistics from February of this year, there are about 400 children in Bahraini prisons being held for politically motivated charges. 
Most of them have been subjected to ill treatment and torture. 

In Syria We Have All Become Killers · Global Voices 
The site of an improvised cemetery in Aleppo, Syria. 
The lack of space in cemeteries forces Aleppo residents to bury the dead in parks and open spaces across the city. 
Photo by karam almasri, copyright Demotix (27/5/14) 
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. 
On a very normal day, during lunch with a friend in Turkey, away from the pounding of bombs and death, and close to suffocation with guilt at being away from my city, enjoying luxuries like electricity and communications services while Aleppo is dying, I—being as much of a social media addict as the next person—opened my Facebook page. 
There, I found a message on my wall from a friend with close ties to the rebels. 
It read: "Marcell, The security checkpoint at Sabaa Bahrat is no more. 
It was destroyed in today's bombing. 
I know this means a lot to you. 
I hope the air force is next. 
I might then feel something close to what you are feeling now." 
This friend really knows me. 
He knows how I hate having my name spelt with the letter “A” in Arabic, and spells it correctly. 
He knows that this checkpoint, in particular, means a lot to me personally, and not only from a revolution perspective. 
He was present at the funeral of my mother, who was killed in cold blood at this checkpoint by security forces. 
He also knew that I would understand his pain when he informed me about the notorious air force building, where protestors have been tortured and killed. 
And he knew why I understood his hopes that this building was bombed. 
For a moment, the news about the checkpoint came as a shock. 
It signifies the absolute end of those who ended my life, and I didn’t fully understand exactly what I was feeling. 
What I felt, in fact, was an infinite numbness. 
Let me share with you some of the ideals I on which I was brought up on in our household. 
As a human being from a conservative Christian family, I was raised to believe that love alone could erase the pain of mankind in a world overtaken by hate. 
I believed that all lives—regardless of whom they belonged to—were absolutely sacred. 
This is why I stood against abortion, against war, against capital punishment. 
Burdened with my belief that forgiveness was power, and that Christ in whom I believed, had called upon us to forgive those who have wronged us, the true test of my belief was forgiving the people at that checkpoint, my new enemies, those who killed my mother. 
And I failed. 
I went through a phase where I became obsessed with my mother’s killers. 
Who were they? 
What do they do? 
From which families do they come? 
To which sect do they belong? 
I was able to bribe to someone who was able to fill me in with the information. 
I kept that piece of paper for a long time, and then destroyed it when I became powerful enough. 
I was in a position to hand over their names to my armed friends on the Free Syria Army, who could then circulate the information and ensure the killers were punished. 
But I destroyed it because I could not take the decision for them to be killed, or to even participate in a decision of this type. 
Having this sort of power really frightens me. 
Having this ability to be both victim and judge is a privilege, and also a curse, and that truly exceeds my abilities. 
Still, almost every week I would seek them out. 
I would stand and study them from afar. 
Unfortunately, they were people just like us. 
They smiled and they got tired. 
They exchanged jokes and got angry. 
They worked in two shifts, and I wondered who was working the shift on which my mother was killed. 
They drink tea the way I like it, sweet and light. 
One of them had a toddler son who visited him at the checkpoint with a veiled woman whose features I couldn't make out. 
Did his wife know that he had shot my mother? 
Or, to be more precise, that he had killed her? 
Later on, I realised that I couldn't remember my mother without remembering them as well. 
The features of the killers slowly started to appear where her smile and the strands of her hair had been. 
The voice of vengeance in me was greater than anything she had ever taught me, higher even than her laugh. 
On that day I took the decision that I would stop thinking about them. 
I no longer bear a grudge against them, but I cannot forgive them. 
I am stuck in a space between pain, vengeance and forgiveness. 
I cannot—although it could be true—acknowledge that they too, might be victims of the Assad regime, which had turned them into murderers. 
There is a court case between us in the Syrian courts which I had hoped I would drop after the fall of the Assad regime as a form of forgiveness, as I believe that is part of the solution for Syria to become peaceful again. 
So, the news that the checkpoint was bombed by the Islamic Front a few days ago was a slap in the face. 
Am I happy that they have died? 
Have I really changed so much that I can derive happiness from the death of others? 
Have I lost the privilege of being able one day to forgive them? 
Has the sacredness of life become less sacred for me? 
Has the war completely infested my psyche? 
I don't know what my feelings are, exactly, but at this moment I fully understand the cry of all the victims who are calling for revenge. 
And I understand how everything loses value when you deal with death on a daily basis. 
I know how learning to adapt gives you greater reverence for death than for life. 
In our days, which have all become similar to each other, death has become the norm and life the exception. 
The Islamic Front's statement says that according to preliminary information, more than 50 of Al Assad's soldiers and thugs were killed in the operation. 
I wonder if my mother's killers were among the 50. 
Or were those who died innocent people who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time? 
I don't want revenge, but between my sadness over innocent people and friends, I don't have the ability to feel sad for a checkpoint, or for state institutions or for murderers. 
I am still trying to feel surprised at feeling sadness over the loss of innocents. 
I am unable to feel sadness for murderers who are killed, despite strongly believing that peace is the solution for this world. 
This year, for my birthday, I received a small pistol from a friend who was worried about me, vulnerable in a country where almost everyone is now armed. 
Who would have thought that a weapon could become a symbol of love? 
But I am saddened that I have become a victim twice over. 
The first time was when I lost my mother; the second when I lost my status as a victim. 
The murderer inside me had grown, and I started feeling happy about the killing of others. 
My ability to survive depends on the death of others. 
This is the idea that I try to live with and use as an excuse: "For me to survive, he has to die." 
And this is how the murderous regime will ultimately win, regardless of what political change awaits Syria. 
The regime has succeeded in turning us all into murderers. 
I feel sad for our children, as they will have to live with us after we have all become either killing machines, or creatures who gloat at murder of others. 
Marcell Shehwaro blogs at marcellita.com and tweets at @Marcellita, both primarily in Arabic. 
Read the other posts in the series here. 

The Lebanese Get Creative in Their Protests Against the Trash Crisis · Global Voices 
Some trash should not be recycled. 
This is a modified version of a sign held up in a protest in Lebanon shared on Twitter by @Beirutspring. 
It shows Lebanese politicians across the political spectrum 
Grassroots movement Tol3et Re7atkom (You Stink) has managed to rally around 20,000 people and get them into the streets not only protesting against the trash crisis in Lebanon, but also demanding the resignation of the government for its continuous practice of corruption. 
On August 22 and 23, Beirut witnessed its largest protests in recent history, with people of all ages and classes gathered to tell the government that they basically stink. 
Lebanon's trash crisis started when on July 17, the country's largest landfill in Naameh city was shut down by residents of the area. 
That landfill catered to the areas of Beirut and Mount Lebanon, which together house almost half of the country's population. The government's inability to resolve the trash crisis resulted in mountains of rubbish piling up on the streets, forcing people to walk around wearing masks. 
The pictures below were taken from the official Facebook page of "You Stink" movement: 
Mountains of trash in Beirut. 
Photograph from the the official Facebook page of "You Stink" movement 
Lebanon's garbage disposed in a hazardous manner, which harms the environment. 
Photograph from the official page of the You Stink movement 
This problem has only added fuel to the already existing political flames in the country. 
Lebanon, already suffering from a poor infrastructure and daily electricity cuts, has had no president for more than a year. 
In 2009, its parliament extended its term until 2017, with no elections, citing instability as a reason. 
In addition to people carrying political signs, some came up with creative ways to draw attention to the cause. 
Saudi journalist Ahmed Al Omran tweeted a photograph of a guy who wished the government's characteristics were reflected in his love life: 
When they say everyone joined the protest, they really meant everyone, including movie characters: 

Global Voices 
These are interesting times for Myanmar as it pursues reforms in order to become a modern democratic state. 
It is a difficult transition for a country which has been under military rule for the past five decades but the international community should continue to press for reform. 
Will there be clean and fair elections in November? 
Will the military-backed government continue to welcome foreign investment? 
What is the plan to achieve unity and peace amid ethnic and religious conflicts? 
To improve our coverage of what’s happening in Myanmar today, Global Voices has partnered with The Irrawaddy, a leading media organization in the country which delivers alternative news. 
The Irrawaddy was founded in 1993 by exiled Burmese journalists in Thailand. 
Many of them witnessed, documented, and joined the historic 1988 democracy uprisings. 
The Irrawaddy magazine was the first independent news publication unaffiliated with Burmese political dissident groups. 
Because of its critical reports, it was banned by the military regime in Myanmar and anyone found with a copy could be arrested and imprisoned. 
In 2000, The Irrawaddy website was launched and was promptly blocked in Myanmar remaining inaccessible in the country for the next 11 years. 
When media restrictions were eased in 2011, The Irrawaddy was finally made available to Myanmar Internet users. 
Meanwhile, the print magazine was finally distributed legally across the country in 2013. Since its founding, The Irrawaddy has committed to provide the public with alternative news as part of its democratic positioning. 
It believes a free press is essential to a democracy: 
We have a strong belief in democracy, and believe that without free media a democratic society is incomplete. 
It is our duty to protect and preserve press freedom and develop independent media free from bias and influences. 
On the part of Global Voices, we are happy to undertake this partnership as we seek to provide our readers with better and more inspiring stories from Myanmar. 

This Is What Happens When You Give Power to the 'Chicas' · Global Voices 
Chicas Poderosas Conference in Miami, Florida. 
Photo: Chicas Poderosas. 
"If you educate a man you educate an individual, but if you educate a woman you educate a family (nation)". 
The African proverb above has help guide the work of Mariana Santos, the founder of Chicas Poderosas, a group trying to increase the number of Hispanic-American women working directly with newsroom technology. Santos knows what challenges women face in this male-dominated industry. 
Even in the digital age, women journalists in Latin America work at a systematic disadvantage. 
Santos is a Portuguese visual designer who's worked for The Guardian, and is currently the director of "interactive and animation" at Fusion. 
She says digital-media training is still limited and there are still too few programs focused on women, which keeps them underrepresented in the world of technology journalism. 
In 2013, thanks to a fellowship at the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ), Santos created Chicas Poderosas to help change things in the industry. 
Staging events and meet-ups, and offering mentoring, Chicas helps women develop news applications, produce interactive content, and integrate new tools into their newsrooms, according to the group's website. 
The most recent Chicas Poderosas conference was held at Stanford University last June, where 35 women journalists and developers from Latin America met for roughly four days. 
Santos summarized the event as "all the best experiences, classes, people I met during my nine months as a JSK fellow." 
Now this is a powerful group of @poderosaschicas here at @google! #journalism #media pic.twitter.com/273dmFZfNu — Stacie Chan (@staciechan) June 10, 2015 
Elisa Tinsley, deputy vice president of programs at the International Center for Journalists, wrote about it in the ICFJ blog: 
The ultimate goal of the Summit and of Santos’ Chicas Poderosas movement is to help women take the lead in newsroom technology and design as a way to bring women's voices into both newsrooms and the content newsrooms generate. 
Maria Paula Martinez, from Colombia’s Universidad de Los Andes went to NPR. 
She expressed her enthusiasm on Twitter: 
"Hello @ProPublica " the new post by @marianabarbosa about the #CPdowjonesfellow Click here: http://t.co/VnqdVvp0wN — Chicas Poderosas (@poderosaschicas) July 14, 2015 
For more information about how to get involved in Chica Poderosa, visit its website. 

In Malaysia, Myanmar's Refugee Children Go to School in Fear · Global Voices 
School for refugee children from Myanmar in Malaysia. 
Source: EngageMedia 
In Malaysia alone, there are an estimated 150,000 asylum seekers or refugees, mostly from Myanmar. 
A third of them are not registered with the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR). 
Amongst them are thousands of unregistered school-aged refugees, who aren't allowed to attend public schools in Malaysia. 
Many of them resort to going to informal or community-run schools, where they live in constant fear of being arrested or harassed. 
According to a video called 'In Search of Shelter' produced by Myanmar refugees in Malaysia, at a school catering to 360 Chin refugees, only 40% of the students are registered with the UNHCR. 
According to a Chin community leader in the video: 
Students not registered with the UNHCR cannot get any exam recognition from the government or enter university. 
They also face security problems when they come to school and (travel) in between. 
Those aged 13, 14, 16 have been arrested many times. 
In Search of Shelter is part of a 13-video series that aims to highlights the plight of the migrant worker and refugee community in Malaysia. 
The series called Crossroads aimed to teach migrant rights activists video production and distribution skills and was produced in collaboration with EngageMedia and Citizen Journalists Malaysia. 
In the series, asylum seekers share how they've united and combined resources to establish access to basic services like health clinics and primary schools for their children. 
They also share the many hurdles they face in getting registered as refugees with the UNHCR in Malaysia. 
In Search of Shelter, community leaders explain that many of the teachers in the school they have set up have been arrested by the police due to their lack of legal status. 
Malaysia, which has stated that it will not sign the UN convention on refugees, also does not have any legal framework for national asylum and does not distinguish between refugees and undocumented migrants, leaving refugees at constant risk of detention, deportation and abuse. 
There are currently an estimated 150,000 refugees from Myanmar in Malaysia. 
Source: EngageMedia 
At one of the community screenings of Crossroads held in Malaysia, the organizers found that 80 to 90% of those present have had personal experiences being harassed by the police or faced problems with permits and employers. 
One member of the audience pointed out that there have been incidences where even if they produce their registered refugee card or supporting letter, the document was simply torn up by the authorities that had approached them. 
An undercover investigation by Al-Jazeera in 2014 revealed that some refugees pay up to $1,000 for official refugee status in Malaysia, as part of an illegal trade allegedly involving the UN Refugee Agency itself. 
Migrant children from Myanmar at a United Nations advocacy event in Malaysia. 
Source: EngageMedia 
With continued reports on acts injustice and exploitation committed against refugees in Malaysia, it remains to be seen how its government and the UNCHR will effectively address this grave and growing situation. 

Tanzania General Elections 2015: A Defeat for Africa's Longest Ruling Party? · Global Voices 
Will the former Tanzanian Prime Minister and main opposition presidential candidate Edward Lowassa unseat the ruling party? 
Photo by TZA One and released under Creative Commons. 
The October 30 General Elections will be the most tightly contested election in Tanzania’s history since the introduction of multiparty politics in 1992. 
That is because of a sudden twist in the otherwise predictable plot of the country's domestic politics which saw a number of high profile defections to the main opposition party, Chama Cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadema), from the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM). 
Two former Prime Ministers, Edward Lowassa, the presidential candidate for the opposition bloc Ukawa, (made up of four political parties, including Chadema) and Frederick Sumaye, both left the comfort of the ruling party this summer. 
The high profile defections have presented the opposition with a real chance of crushing CCM, which having been in power for the last 51 years is the longest-ruling party in Africa. 
In an article written for the Huffington Post, the President of the opposition party Chadema Freeman Mbowe says that the CCM’s fear of losing has led the party and its government to resort to increasingly dictatorial methods to maintain its grip on power: 
Moved by fear of losing, the ruling party is now resorting to undemocratic methods to maintain its grip on power. 
First, they passed a Draconian election expenses act which forbids the importation of any campaign materials, including flags, vehicles and finances, 90 days before the polling date. 
How can any candidate purchase materials before they know they are the official nominee? 
On Monday, the police arrested 19 Chadema youths who were signing up supporters. 
They were arrested for the simple act of public campaigning. 
When the former Home Affairs Minister Lawrence Masha went to the police station to request their release, they arrested him, too. 
The next day, the police ruled that our candidate Lowassa could not meet with the public. 
CCM was shocked by the public reception the former prime minister received when he drove on a bus to bring attention to the desperate need for better public transportation in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's largest city. 
Increasingly, the police are blocking our campaign's travel routes and disallowing our campaign plane from using airports. 
They have refused to grant our rally permits in the very grounds CCM held a rally only a few days before. 
Finally, the government announced on September 1st, they will begin enforcing its free-speech suppressing "Cyber Security Act," which makes it a crime to criticize the government in emails or across social media. 
However, looking at the elections in general terms, Frank Charnas noted that the pre-vote competition shows Africa is becoming "more at ease with democracy". 
He also pointed out that the outcome of the election will not only affect Tanzania: 
Put together, the upcoming Tanzanian elections are indicative of a continent becoming more at ease with democracy, and realising the power of a united and organised opposition. 
It will take a concerted effort to unseat the CCM, but momentum appears to be behind Lowassa and his coalition, thus setting up what are expected to be the closest elections in the country’s history, the outcome of which is sure to affect not just Tanzania, but the region and the continent as a whole. 
It is no wonder that Twitter is abuzz with election-related opinions and insights: 
For one, this will undoubtedly be the most "tech-savy" election in Tanzanian history, wrote Robert Kasenene: 
These elections will be the most tech-savy #Tanzania has had yet. Right now its the battle of airial drone photography. 
Who's winning? — Robert Kasenene (@RKasenene) August 24, 2015 
In reference to the conviction of the son of Senegalese president, Karim Wade, for corruption, Marielaura observed: 
While in Tanzania mafisadi wanaachiwa watembee & even compete in elections #TanzaniaMlioitupa # https://t.co/zoe8b6tdo4 — Marielaura (@Mankalaurie) August 24, 2015 
While in Tanzania corrupt politicians get off scot free and even compete in elections 
Tanzanian blogger Jeff Msangi considered this year’s election to be a “wild card game”: 
While some took note of the rise of a politically engaged youth in the country: 
Whoever gets the Youth vote in #Tanzania October elections will win https://t.co/YL9dQxMSdr — African (@ali_naka) August 23, 2015 
Political awareness is high this time around, wrote Straight Talk Africa: 
RT @saidimsonga: We expecting to see very challenging historical election in Tanzania. 
Awareness is too high compared to previous elections — Straight Talk Africa (@VOAShaka) August 19, 2015 
But who will be to blame if the ruling party loses? 
This is the first time that Penny Kims has seen the ruling party scared: 
for the first time since Independence i have seen the ruling party (CCM) being scared of losing elections...#2015election #Tanzania — Penny kims (@PennyKims) August 27, 2015 
Barak Bob and Penny Kims advised voters: 
To make a good vote in October #Tanzania elections you have to take the two top rated candidates and analyze their personalities @jmkikwete — barakbob (@barakbob1) August 13, 2015 
Elections determine who is in power, but they do not determine how power is used.... 
Be careful who you vote for #Tanzania #Uchaguzi2015 — Penny kims (@PennyKims) August 27, 2015 
Corruption has taken center stage in pre-election campaigns: 
Corruption takes center stage in campaigning for #Tanzania Oct elections - a positive sign although few candidates have clean hands. #Africa — James Hall (@hallaboutafrica) August 11, 2015 
While the high profile defections have given birth to 'democrazy' according to one tweep: 
Welcome to democrazy — Lloyd Muriuki Wamai (@muriukiwamai) August 27, 2015 
Ma Mary would like to see the ruling party and the opposition form a government together: 
Tanzania 2015 October 25th elections should produce a government of national unity, not one divided along regional,ethnic &tribal sympathies — Ma Rary (@dmarari) August 24, 2015 
Will this be the re-making of Tanzanian and African political history? 

Thailand's Military-Backed Government to Stay in Power After Draft Charter's Rejection · Global Voices 
File photo of Thailand's legislative hall where the National Reform Council held a session to vote against the proposed constitution. 
Photo by John Vincent, Copyright @Demotix (1/16/2015) 
Thailand's draft constitution was rejected by members of the National Reform Council (NRC) which paves the way for continued military rule in the country. 
When the military staged a coup last year, it vowed to implement political reforms before conducting elections. 
As part of the normalization process, it drafted a constitution which is supposed to restore civilian rule in the country. 
But on September 6, 2015, the NRC voted to reject the draft constitution. 
Members of the NRC were appointed by the military-backed government. 
Members of the National Reform Council pose for a group photo right before the draft constitution voting session 
Implications of the draft charter's rejection Because of the NRC's negative vote, the government has to form another Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) within 30 days, and that committee will be given 180 days to draft another constitution. 
The new draft will be subject to a referendum process. 
If it is passed, the draft will be submitted to the king for his signature. 
Then the CDC will draw up new laws for the constitution which will be reviewed by the National Legislative Assembly and the Constitutional Court. 
This will be followed by the election of a House of Representatives in March 2017. 
This means that the military government will remain in power for more than a year and a half. 
Scenario 3 in the infographic below summarizes the new process in reforming the charter 
Infographic created by alternative news website Prachatai 
Protest against the ‘undemocratic’ constitution 
But even before the NRC vote took place, many activists and scholars had criticized the draft constitution. 
The Thai Lawyers for Human Rights Group pointed out that the drafting process of the constitution was not legitimate. 
It emphasized that the document was drafted without a public referendum or approval from people’s representatives. 
Members of the CDC do not represent the public since they were merely appointed by the military. 
Concerning the content of the draft charter, the group cited a provision which allows for the appointment of civil servants through a ‘moral system’ which has been vaguely defined. 
There's also article 45, which only grants limited protection to residents without citizenship. 
The group added that the draft constitution limits the political participation of citizens as well as the roles of people’s representatives. 
For instance, the proposed charter does not require the prime minister to be a member of Parliament as two-thirds of the Lower House are allowed to nominate any citizen for the position. 
The draft constitution also proposes the creation of a powerful National Strategic Committee for Reform and Reconciliation (crisis panel) which will be given the mandate to veto laws passed by the Parliament. 
Moreover, this group can launch a ‘righteous’ coup and take over the government in case of a state of emergency or 'special circumstance'. 
As expected, the crisis panel is an appointed body composed of military leaders, the president of the parliament, the prime minister, and experts. 
Dr. Likit Teeravekin, professor of political science from Thammasat University, warns against this so-called crisis panel: 
Article 280 grants immense power to the Guardians, meaning that election will simply be meaningless. 
Worajet Pakeerat, another professor of Thammasat, describes the said provision as a threat to democracy: 
This draft constitution will eventually establish a mechanism which will sustain the power of undemocratic entities over the democratic ones. 
A few days before the NRC voting session, activists from the anti-junta group called Resistant Citizen held a protest in Bangkok and urged the people to 'Vote No' against the draft constitution if a referendum were to take place. 
Protest poster inviting the people to reject the 2015 draft constitution. 
The person in the poster is former army chief and now Prime Minister Prayut. 
Photo from the Facebook page of Democracy Student Group 


Master brewer - or toji - Emi Machida at the 130-year-old Machida Brewery in Gunma, Japan. 
Under her direction, her family's premium sake has won gold seven times at the Annual Japan Sake Awards. 
Credit: Naomi Gingold. 
Used with PRI's permission 
For a long time, sake brewing in Japan was an industry made up of owners who didn’t brew the sake themselves, and migrant master brewers, called Toji, who would live at distilleries in the winter brewing season and then go home. 
Listen to this story on PRI.org » 
But the industry’s been in decline. 
The number of people drinking sake’s gone down, the number of sake breweries in Japan has fallen to about half the number there were in the 1970s, and master brewers are getting older and are often unwilling to change habits to reach new or younger customers. 
Emi Machida, the Toji, or master sake brewer, at Machida Brewery in Gunma Japan says, “in order to stay alive, we decided to become an owner-brewer distillery; make the kind of sake we really wanted to make and drink. 
So 10 years ago we stopped using the migrant brewer system.” 
Her family's owned the brewery for more than 130 years, but she is the first Toji in the family. 
Machida is at the forefront of a rising owner-brewer movement in Japan. 
But Machida is also unusual, because she is one of the few women Toji in what’s long been a men-only world. 
In ancient times, some say sake-brewing was actually a women's craft. 
In fact, the word Toji, when written in old characters, can actually mean lady. 
A display of Machida Brewery's award-winning sake. 
Credit: Naomi Gingold. 
Used with PRI's permission 
Sake is often used in religious rituals in Japan, and Machida Brewery, like just about all sake breweries, is blessed by a Shinto priest and decorated with sacred Shinto ropes. Growing up, Machida never imagined becoming a sake brewer. She went to college in Tokyo, but like a lot of women, found herself tracked into a dead-end career path, bringing tea and making copies. 
And the idea of going back to Gunma to carry on the family business was something she’d always thought about, especially as the eldest daughter. 
When she started out as Toji, things didn't always go smoothly. 
Her all-male employees wouldn't listen to her. 
“If I said put this here, they would move it to a different spot. 
Things just wouldn't turn out the way I asked,” she says. 
"In the end, everyone would leave at 5, and I’d be up ‘til the middle of the night redoing things.” 
She’d also hear that there were a lot of customers who didn't want to buy sake from a non-veteran and especially a non-male brewer. 
But now, she doesn’t hear that anymore. 
Since she took over as Toji 10 years ago, Machida Brewery’s premium sake has won gold at the Annual Japan Sake Awards seven times. 
That never happened with the old Toji. 
To make sake, you start by polishing off the outer layer of rice; how much you take off is key in deciding how premium of a sake you get. 
Then the rice is washed, steamed and (this is the short version) fermented. 
Little things matter a lot: what rice you use, what kind of water, how often and at what stages or micro-stages you adjust the temperature. 
It takes about 45 days to make one vat of sake. 
It’s back-breaking work. 
To learn the art, Machida studied with older brewers and from books. 
“I’m still studying, but, essentially, the most important thing is to make something that you like and want to drink,” she says. 
She respects the old traditions but also thinks it’s important to experiment with new ways of doing things. 
She often goes to monthly study events with other Toji, and she’s also a part of what’s called “Kura Josei No Kai,” The Women’s Sake Industry Group. 
And support from them, she says, especially the other female Toji has been key. 
Women toji - master brewers - at the 2014 'Kura Josei Summit,' the Japanese Women's Sake Industry Group. 
Credit: Courtesy Japanese Women’s Sake Industry Group. 
Used with PRI's permission 
“Joining the group gave me courage and energy,” she adds. 
She realized she wasn’t alone and that everyone was facing the same issues. There are now 20-some women Toji across Japan, and Machida often does events with them. 
She points out that being a female in the business can have its benefits. 
Because it’s unusual, the media and customers sometimes pay more attention. 
Sometimes older male brewers are more excited to teach them. 
But most importantly, now, Machida has respect because of her delicious sake. 
Yeah. 
Sorry you can’t taste it via our story. 
But you can find it in Tokyo, most areas of Japan, and maybe some day in the future, she’ll sell it abroad. 
”That’s a dream I have,” she says. 

From Village Girl to World Ultramarathon Champion: The Inspiring Story of Nepal's Mira Rai · Global Voices 
Mira Rai, trail runner from Nepal. 
Image by Flickr user rpb1001. 
CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 
Trail running, one of the difficult and enduring sports, is not everyone’s cup of tea. 
However, it comes natural to Nepal’s Mira Rai. 
Recently, she won the 80-kilometre Mont-Blanc race, recognised as one of the most technical and difficult races in France, completing the distance in 12 hours and 32 minutes. 
Former Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai congratulated Mira on Twitter: 
Congratulations Mira Rai on winning international marathon. 
Having joined the Maoist rebel army as a teenager, she was disqualified during the army integration process. 
Introduced to trail running just a year and few months ago, she is poised to become one of the finest ever athletes in trail running. 
She won without much preparation and went on to win the Mustang Trail Race the following April. Outside Nepal, she began her winning spree with Sellaronda Trail Race (57 kilometres) and Trail Degli Eroi (83 kilometres) in Italy in September 2014. 
In October, she won the 50-kilometre Ultra Marathon Mountain Race in Hong Kong. 
Since then she has never looked back. 
Lloyd Belcher, a photographer and filmmaker based in Hong Kong, tweeted: 
Mira Rai @TrailRunNepal faces the waiting cameras after winning the @Skyrunning_com HK 50k race ©lloydbelchervisuals pic.twitter.com/qGYQ6hlY7a — Lloyd Belcher (@lbelchervisuals) February 9, 2015 
Mira comes from a small village in Bhojpur district of eastern Nepal. 
She credits her success to the hardships through which she went as a child. 
In one of the interviews, she says: 
As a young girl I was not very interested in doing household chores, which is why my mother gave me the physical tasks like bringing water from the river, which is two hours down and three hours back home. 
I also used to carry a bag of rice to the market to sell and bring money home. 
I grew up running. 
She trains hard and that keeps her fit and strong. 
She also does rock climbing and cycling. 
Mira, now an established name in trail running, is an inspiration to aspiring ultra-marathoners. 
And not to forget, the millions of boys and girls back in Nepal for whom climbing up and down the treacherous pathways in the hills carrying loads on their backs is natural. 
She has a precious piece of advice for them: 'Opportunity is like a leaf on a river, if you don't grab it fast enough then its gone forever!' - #MiraRai #YoungBodyOldSoul — peterj (@peterjohnmoses) July 9, 2015 

Umida Ahmedova оn the Burden of Censorship and Being a Female Artist in Uzbekistan · Global Voices 
Many see her film The Burden of Virginity as shining a light on women's issues the world over, not just in the Central Asian state of Uzbekistan, where it was made. 
Umida Ahmedova, a filmmaker and photographer, prefers to describe herself not as a dissident living in one of the region's most repressive states, but as an artist with 20 years of creative success to her name. 
Umida is among few women involved in documentary filmmaking and photography in today's Uzbekistan, a landlocked republic of 30 million people that gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. 
She graduated from the Institute of Cinematography in Russia in 1986, marking the beginning of a long but increasingly troubled artistic career. Photo by Umida Ahmedova. 
Umida’s problems with the Uzbek state began following two documentaries and the release of a book of photos in 2007, which formed the basis for criminal proceedings against her. 
In early 2010, she was charged with Defamation and Insult, Articles 139 and 140 of Uzbekistan's Criminal Code. 
An expert panel subsequently ruled that she and her husband and co-creator Oleg Karpov had discredited the traditions and values ​​of the Uzbek people, presenting "negative information, which may negatively affect the moral and psychological state of youth." 
The commission accused Umida of defamation and disrespecting national traditions. 
On February 11, 2010, Umida was convicted and received a sentence of six months imprisonment or two to three years in a labor camp. 
Protests against the sentence sprang up in Moscow and Paris immediately. Photo by Umida Ahmedova. 
She was later granted amnesty on Uzbekistan's independence day in late August, but life is still far from easy for Umida. 
Most recently, her husband was removed from his role as director of the Museum of Cinema of Uzbekistan for signing a petition in support of the Maidan protest movement in Ukraine last year. 
Global Voices talked to Umida about her ongoing artistic and personal struggles, all of which are experienced through the prism of deeply conservative Uzbekistan. 
Global Voices (GV): How was the idea for The Burden of Virginity conceived and what was your experience during the filming? 
Umida Akhmedova (UA): For a long time I had the idea to make a movie on how in Muslim countries they verify virginity. 
It is not a film about the inspection itself, but about the people who fall victim to the ritual. 
At the start of shooting, almost 10 years ago, people were not afraid to express themselves, and filming took place calmly. 
But Oleg did not want the names of the people who spoke in the movie to appear. . Later we realized that he was right. 
GV: What do you think would have happened to these people if they had not been anonymous? 
UA: It was good that they were anonymous. 
Photo by Umida Ahmedova. 
GV: In which areas were you filming? 
Can we talk about your trips to rural parts of Uzbekistan? 
UA: I have always photographed folk rituals. 
In the film there are segments from weddings that were shot mostly in the Tashkent Region, where I was born. 
Weddings are mostly in the background and have no connection to the characters . 
In the beginning we hear the story of the mother of a real girl who has been subjected to verification and after that expelled by the relatives of the groom. 
There was one interesting moment, when we observed in the region of Andijan how children were bathing. 
There was a girl there who did not want to jump from a bridge into the water. 
We used this image as a metaphor. 
Verification of virginity does not only happen in the villages. 
In the film there are two ordinary women talking about it. 
One of them lives in a remote area in southern Uzbekistan and says this custom of virginity checks does not exist. 
And indeed, in some kishlatsi (villages) there is no such custom. 
So, the check does not happen just in the kishlatsi. 
People can have a fully civilized wedding very similar to a European one, and at the same time again they can organize an inspection of virginity. 
Photo by Umida Ahmedova. 
GV: A panel of experts decided that your work presented Uzbekistan in a negative light and undermined its spiritual values. 
What do you think it was that this panel didn’t like? 
UA: The so-called "expert commission" does not do anything on its own. 
This is a group of people "carrying out orders." 
Officially, we have no censorship, but when something is not approved here "commissions" and UZASI (Uzbek news agency) get an "order" and begin monitoring. 
These "pocket experts" are plucked whenever they are needed. The criminal case is not initiated by them. 
Umida Ahmedova. 
Personal archive. Used with permission. 
GV: What gives you and your husband relief from everyday problems? Do you feel you are under observation and control in your daily life? 
Unfortunately, we do not make many films anymore. 
They took away my husband's "Museum of Cinema" club. 
They harassed him when he held video art festivals with his own money. 
What greater control can be spoken of when they have already taken everything from my husband? 
Especially after the "Uzbek Maidan" when we, a group of people, went to the Embassy of Ukraine in Tashkent with a petition . 
Then we made a picture of ourselves at the monument to Taras Shevchenko in Tashkent. 
My husband signed the petition, but did not come to the embassy. 
I was accompanied by my son. 
But they decided that a punishment should be made for my husband as well and they took everything from him....We cannot show our work here now — what is worse than that? 
They control us....Although they do not sit day and night under our windows... 
GV: Do you think you are popular in your country? 
UA: I am known primarily as the first woman photographer in my country. 
The first woman who received a professional education in Moscow. 
Before they opened a criminal case against me I had appeared many times on Uzbek TV. 
I even received awards in Uzbekistan. 
I am now known in my homeland as a dissident artist. 
The majority of people who had a good relationship with me before are now afraid to communicate with me. 
Especially after the "Uzbek Maidan" incident. 
Photo by Umida Ahmedova. 
GV: You have been accused of depicting Uzbekistan as a medieval state. How would you answer such accusations? 
UA: In short – the people who initiated the criminal case against my work possess medieval brains! 
GV: How big is the community of creative people like you in Uzbekistan? 
How do they manage to express their views? 
UA: In Uzbekistan I am no longer in any community, after the chairman of the Academy of Arts of Uzbekistan ordered the works of my students to be removed. 
Then, after the "Uzbek Maidan" most of the participants in my photo club turned against me and I finally realized that people have been so strongly entangled in a web of fear that there is no sense in me working and communicating with these people. 
It is not interesting for me to work with colleagues here and I do not envision any development. 
There are a small number of people I communicate with, but they do not influence the times. 
And thank God there is the Internet, social networks, groups. 
My husband and I collaborate with artists from Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. 
We participate in various festivals outside Uzbekistan. 
GV: Have you thought about emigrating and, if so, why do you stay? 
UA: I have never thought of emigration, and I do not plan this, but, if it becomes very dangerous to live here (if there is a threat to the life of my family) of course I would have to emigrate. 
But I am optimistic, and I hope very much that my country will have Peace! 
Photo by Umida Ahmedova. 

The Enormous Mural That Made a Mexican Neighborhood ‘Magical' · Global Voices 
Las Palmitas and the "macro mural" in its final stage. 
Photo taken with permission from the Germen Crew collective's Facebook page. 
In the center of a small neighborhood located in the city of Pachuca, Hidalgo, the largest graffiti mural in all of Mexico, painted onto a canvas of 200 homes, was inaugurated this July. 
But the "macro mural" has done much more than simply give some color to the hillside district of Las Palmitas, a predominantly rural neighborhood with a certain degree of poverty and crime. 
The collective effort has created jobs, reduced youth violence and instilled a sense of community spirit, turning Las Palmitas into what the project leaders have dubbed the "first magical neighborhood" — a play on the Mexican government’s separate initiative to promote “magical towns” (Pueblos Mágicos) as tourism destinations. 
Leading the project was the independent Mexican collective the Germen Crew (Seed Crew), composed of urban artists specializing in graffiti art, mural painting and audiovisual documentary. 
A group which, through public and street art, aims to give new meaning to public spaces and restore social fabric for the benefit of communities. 
Their Facebook page reads as follows: 
Our work is an artistic offering for our cities. 
It is through colors, forms, textures, and mixed media that we share our way of making and understanding art. 
We seek to detonate the seed of possibility by strengthening the hearts and enthusiasm of those who live in the places we step into. 
We want to give new purpose to public spaces, making them more useful for their inhabitants, places that educate, motivate, and help to support and sprout new relationships with the surrounding citizens and the expressions that converge there. 
Beyond the collaboration of the local and federal government, which facilitated the materials needed, the project was fueled in large part by the active participation of the 452 families that live in Las Palmitas (about 1,808 people). 
The residents were consulted throughout the three months that the project lasted, and they also took part in various cultural activities that were held at the same time: workshops, lectures, and tours, all with the objective of reducing juvenile delinquency. 
'So much harmony and coexistence' 
In the above video documenting a workshop on lantern balloons, Las Palmitas residents remarked that the artistic activities were having a positive impact on the neighborhood: 
For us it is a festive day in our district, because we are experiencing things we had never experienced before. 
I see so much harmony and coexistence, above all in our families. 
I believe that with these events my neighborhood will improve greatly and I don't think there will be so much delinquency. 
In an interview with ideas magazine Planisferio, the Seed Crew explained that what makes their approach innovative is their focus on painting not institutional spaces, but rather public plazas, markets, and even marginalized areas with significant crime rates. 
At the same time, they said, their success is the fruit of their collective efforts and group dynamics. 
'The first magical neighborhood of Mexico' 
The statement "Color is magic" opens a brief video that documents the transformation of Las Palmitas to a vibrant, colorful community. 
With more than 13 years in existence, the Crew has undertaken projects in the Jamaican Market of Mexico City; in the esplanade of the new towns in Ecatepec in Mexico; and in Miravalle, Guadalajara, among many others. 


Get Your Facts Straight Before You Share Their Stories · Global Voices 
Refugees are Human Beings. 
Photograph from Commons Wikimedia CC-BY-SA-3.0 
Sadly, this year is shaping up to be the year of Syrian refugees. 
Although the countless stories of people fleeing their war-torn country are heartbreaking, we need to look at some of those stories with a pinch of salt. 
Unfortunately, in some cases the world continues to be misinformed by images and video circulating online that are purportedly of the tragedy but have actually been manipulated or described inaccurately. 
The reasons vary from clicktivism to politics. 
For instance, some European right-wing political parties are using the recent refugee crisis to further push their agenda and close the doors on Syrian refugees taking refuge in Europe. 
In fact, a photograph claiming to show Syrian refugees waving the ISIS flag in Germany, which is widely being shared on Facebook, is three years old and is not related to the current crisis. 
Below are four stories of Syrian refugees stories you may have come across on your social media accounts, which are far from what they appear to be. 
Story 1: The Italian fashion model and the Syrian immigrants' boat 
Shared on the Syrians in Belgium group on Facebook, this video above is shared with the following caption: 
An Italian model is filming a video on the beach and suddenly the unexpected happened and a group of unexpected refugees arrives on the beach safely in Italy. 
This model will become famous for this funny and spontaneous incident which will not repeat itself. 
Most of them are Syrians and Palestinians. 
Thank God for their safety. 
However, the model filming the video being shared far and wide is not Italian and the video itself is not even shot in Italy. 
And the refugees are neither Syrian nor Palestinian. 
The original video was published on July 10, 2015, on YouTube by US-based Russian model Ekaterina Juskowski with the description: 
Ms. Juskowski, a Miami-based artist and a founder of the Miami Girls Foundation (www.miamigirls.org) "who migrated from Russia at age 18 as a university student – had a more compassionate take. 
She said, “Witnessing people starting their life anew by jumping off the boat and running into the city made my personal struggle seem rather small. 
As controversial as the problem of illegal immigration can be for many of us, it is important to remember that people come here in search of the better life, and it comes at a very high price of great courage, hard work, and loneliness. 
I got to know America as a country with a big heart. 
While I trust it to the U.S. government to work out the policies on improving the immigration laws, it feels natural to stay compassionate and understanding on a personal level.” 
Story 2: A Syrian boy sleeping between his parents' graves 
"There’s a big chance you have seen this dramatic picture of a Syrian boy covered by a blanket sleeping between the two graves of his dead parents. 
It went viral after some big accounts published it on Twitter," reads Harld Doornbos Blog. 
There is only one problem: The picture is not from Syria, but from Saudi Arabia. 
Photo credit haralddoornbos blog 
The blog was maybe the first to investigate the case by contacting the photographer behind this story, Abdul Aziz al Otaibi, a Saudi national, from Yanbu al Bahr city. 
His nephew is the boy who appears in the photo: 
“Look, it’s not true at all that my picture has anything to do with Syria,” Al-Otaibi says, “I am really shocked how people have twisted my picture.” 
“I love photography,” he continues over the phone, “Every artist has ideas in his head. 
So I had the idea to make a project whereby I show in pictures how the love of a child for his parents is irreplaceable. 
This love cannot be substituted by anything or anybody else, even if the parents are dead.” 
On Twitter, Abdul Aziz al Otaibi shared another photograph of his nephew in January 2014, hoping to set the story straight: 
This is also photograph from behind the scenes with my nephew Ibrahim 
Story 3: Immigrants refuse non-halal food 
According to Red Cross spokesman John Aangendal Nielsen speaking to French newspaper Liberation, refugees refusing the parcels was not related to the contents, which were halal, but was a kind of protest against the police who blocked their way and kept them stranded throughout the night under the rain. 
On YouTube, komehtap K explains: 
Muslim migrants in Macedonia refuse Red Cross parcels because of... the red cross 
The headless chicken reaction by the leaders of the European Union regarding mass migration by hundreds of thousands of people has resulted in these so called refugees not only demanding to be allowed to go where they want to go, but insisting on subscribing to the religious bigotry they claim they are running away from. 
Here on the Macedonian/Greek border Red Cross aid parcels are being refused due to them having a red cross on the box. 
And the left call me a bigot for questioning the veracity of these so called refugees 
And on Twitter, many reacted with anger at the "ingratitude" of the refugees: 
I saw a video of a load of Syrian men throwing food offered to them away because it ain't halal. 
They should be sent back IMO — Niall (@SpiritBlade_) September 10, 2015 
Unbelievable and ungrateful! #Syrian #refugees in #Hungary are complaining because the food they are being given is not guaranteed as Halal. — Mike (@1961mike) September 11, 2015 
Story 4: The photoshopped image of a Syrian mother at sea 
A Syrian mother trying to swim to safety carrying her toddler child. 
Photo gone viral (source unknown), but it isn't what it seems to be. 
This photograph of a Syrian mother struggling at sea has been making the rounds online. 
But something is amiss. 
Netizens were quick to notice that the photograph was photoshopped, covering the woman's hair. 
Omneya Talaat tweets: 
When society is only concerned with covering a woman's hair and not providing her with a dignified life, then it is a society on its way to oblivion. 
There is nothing to argue about here 
The blog Phogotraphy asked why a doctored photograph is being used to highlight the plight of Syrian refugees: 
This terrifying photograph shows Syrian refugee Rukhsan Muhammed who was rescued off the coast of Turkey in 2013 after the boat she and her son were on capsized. 
Without the need for an expert’s inspection it is clear that a white headscarf has been crudely applied to the photograph using digital tools. 
The moment captured is one of utter despair, indeed since the photograph was taken we learned that Rukhsan had been in the water with her one year old son who was washed away and drowned by the strong currents. 
So why trivialise this awful situation by drawing on a headscarf to protect this poor woman’s modesty? 
Does her dress matter? 
Phogotraphy explained: 
Of course underneath any clothing is a human being, a mother who has lost her child and nearly her own life. 
We want to care about this person and if she lived to tell of her ordeal. 
Within the series of images from the Anadolu Agency we can see that Rukhsan was thankfully rescued and what is striking to us now is not a story of survival, but further insight to her clothing. 
We can see now, clearly that she dresses like us, The West. 
During rising xenophobia in Europe being prevalent surely a more effective way of realising our compassion is by showing the world we are all the same. 
Refugees arriving in Europe are escaping the fate of 320,000 Syrians who have been killed back home in Syria since the start of the war in their country four years ago. 
They have risked it all to ensure their future and that of their children. 
Should they be judged for aspiring to live? 

Remembering the Kyrgyz Woman Who Adopted 150 Children During the Siege of Leningrad · Global Voices 
Three men bury the dead during the Siege of Leningrad in 1942 at the Volkovo cemetery. 
Boris Kudoyarov, RIA. 
Licensed to reuse. 
"A legend": this is how Kyrgyz and Russian media are referring to Toktogon Altybasarova, 91, who sheltered 150 children evacuated from Leningrad over the course of a two-and-a-half-year blockade during World War Two that cost up to a million lives. 
In 1942, as Nazi Germany bombarded Russia's second city, now called St. Petersburg, 16-year-old Altybasarova, who died last week on June 11, spared the evacuees from hunger and hosted them in a dormitory for local factory staff in her remote home village of Kurmenty, northeastern Kyrgyzstan. 
She had just been elected head of her village council at the time. 
Photo taken from Wikipedia 
Altybasarova determined the children's age and gave them first names. 
Supervising a team of carers, she saw the children through to adulthood as they left to work and study in different parts of the Soviet Union. 
According to Kyrgyzstan's state broadcaster, Altybasarova kept and treasured letters from her adopted children until her death. 
President of Kyrgyzstan, Almazbek Atambayev, said in a video message: 
During the Great Patriotic War , Toktogon Altybasarova became a mother to 150 children from the the besieged city of Leningrad. 
At 16-years-old, Toktogon-apa took on the role of their mothers by surrounding the children with care and attention and conveying a sense of closeness and warmth. 
Altybasarova had eight of her own children, 23 grandchildren, and 13 great-grandchildren. 
The President's office allocated 100,000 Kyrgyz soms ($1,700) to cover her funeral costs. 
Under an article on the Kyrgyz news website Vecherni Bishkek, readers celebrated Altybasarova's long life: 
Here is an example of a truly human relationship to other people! 
I hope that she raised her children the way she was herself. 
As real people! 
While a person claiming to be Altybasarova's daughter thanked well-wishers: 
To all those offering condolences to my mother, Toktogon Altybasarova, many thanks! 
Thank-you for your support and kind words!!! 
Thank you to the children of Leningrad for the kind memories!!! 

The Leading Cause of Death in Developing Countries Might Surprise You · Global Voices 
Photo by Flickr user lepetitNicolas. 
CC-BY-NC-SA 2.0 
This post by Richard Fuller was originally published on Ensia.com, a magazine that highlights international environmental solutions in action, and is republished here according to a content-sharing agreement. 
What’s the leading cause of death in low- and middle-income countries? 
A. malnutrition and undernutrition 
B. tuberculosis, malaria and HIV/AIDS C. pollution 
If you guessed “C,” you got it. 
Exposures to polluted soil, water and air (both household and ambient) killed 8.4 million people in these countries in 2012. 
Another statistic worth pondering: that 8.4 million is out of about 9 million people killed by pollution worldwide in 2012. 
In other words, this is not a “rich country” problem. 
This is a problem contained to the developing world. 
To put this in perspective, World Health Organization statistics show that 56 million people died in 2012 — that’s every person who passed away on the planet, whether from car accidents, suicides, old age, cancer, hospital errors, lightning strike, infectious diseases, parachute failures, war or any number of other reasons. 
So, pollution killed nearly one in seven of them. 
Contaminated outdoor air accounted for 3.7 million deaths. 
About 1 million died from chemicals and contaminated soil and water. 
And 840,000 succumbed to poor sanitation. 
All of these data come directly from the WHO’s website and databases, except for the soil statistics, which are sourced from more recent numbers (likely understated) from the Global Alliance for Health and Pollution. 
In the same year, 2012, 625,000 people died from malaria, 1.5 million from HIV/AIDS and 930,000 from tuberculosis. 
That’s one-third the number of people that pollution kills, and yet this troika of terrible diseases attracts over $20 billion per year from international charities and governments. 
Slow and indirect 
It’s important to note that pollution rarely kills people directly or quickly. 
Instead, it causes heart disease, chest infections, cancers, respiratory diseases or diarrhea. 
Pollution acts as a catalyst, increasing the rates of these diseases above normal. 
For this reason, the WHO considers pollution a risk factor — a threat to human health similar to obesity, smoking, malnutrition or poor exercise. 
But pollution is the king of all risk factors. 
Worldwide, its fatality numbers dwarf those caused by any other risk factor in any other context. 
It’s hard to imagine just how bad it can be. 
Try, though, to imagine this scenario: 
You wake up each day on the dirt floor of a shack you and your family lashed together with cast-off materials from a nearby construction site for a five-star hotel. 
Your husband works 70 hours a week sorting chemicals in a badly run pesticides factory. 
Lately, he’s come home coughing up blood. 
He looks thinner and more exhausted each week, and you want to tell him to stop, but how can you? 
The pennies he earns are the only things feeding your kids. 
So you head to the local pond with your plastic bucket. 
The water you scoop from the pond is brown and stinks of human waste, but there’s nothing else to drink. 
You try straining it through cheesecloth, but it doesn’t do much good. 
Meanwhile, the factory next door to your slum, the one the government recently shut down, has started operating again — but only at night. 
Its chimneys pump out serpents of thick smoke, and there’s no way of knowing what’s burning. 
Last week, your eldest child started coughing through the night. 
The rest of your children are sickly and slow to learn even the most basic concepts. 
None of your friends or family can help you since, curiously, almost everyone in your neighborhood has the same problems. 
Our economy is global and so are the pollutants it generates. 
Regulations that might exist to combat the conditions are never enforced. 
You cannot simply pick up and move to another town — it took you years to establish yourself to this extent. 
And anyway, where exactly would you go? 
Every village shares this plight. 
Like the rest of the world’s underprivileged, you have become cannon fodder in the ongoing war of growth. 
How can we fix this problem? 
Our economy is global and so are the pollutants it generates. 
Contaminated air from China can now be measured in other countries. Mercury from gold mining and coal plants can be found in fish, and arsenic has been found in rice. Many highly polluting industries have moved from developed countries to poor countries with less environmental regulation and technology to manage and remediate chemicals. 
Clean technologies and green growth are possible for emerging economies and can prevent decades of future contamination that will harm us all. 
Western nations have had success in cleaning up pollution and can now transfer technology and funding to low- and middle-income countries. 
Of critical importance is making sure pollution is included in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, which look at how to achieve future development sustainably after the current Millennium Development Goals expire this year. 
Prioritizing the prevention and cleanup of pollution will not only save lives, but also mitigate climate change and reduce threats to biodiversity. 
Glancing through the program priorities of major international organizations, the low priority of pollution is startling, given its impact. 
The likely reason for this is a lack of awareness, as well as not knowing where to begin to address this complex set of problems. 
Of critical importance is making sure pollution is included in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, which look at how to achieve future development sustainably after the current Millennium Development Goals expire this year and include topics such as ending poverty, promoting sustainable agriculture, ensuring equitable education and more. 
The current draft does not include a goal for pollution on its own, although pollution is included in the health goal. 
That text — sub-goal 3.9 — currently calls to reduce death and disability from all types of pollution. 
This language needs to stay in the final text, because the SDGs will define international and national efforts for the coming years. 
The Global Alliance on Health and Pollution is galvanizing resources to help low- and middle-income countries address priority pollution problems. 
In addition to education on all forms of pollution, GAHP helps countries: identify and assess toxic pollutant threats, especially for contaminated sites create a planning process to prioritize action for problems posing the greatest risk to human health implement solutions to save lives. 
The technology and knowledge exists in wealthy countries to address this health and economic threat. 
Solutions can be implemented in low- and middle-incomes countries for a fraction of the cost spent in the West addressing legacy toxic pollutants from industrialization. 
Which means pollution is not inevitable. 
It is a problem that is solvable in our lifetime. 
Richard Fuller is president of Pure Earth (formerly Blacksmith Institute) and a founding member of the Global Alliance for Health and Pollution. 
He tweets from @BlacksmithInst. 

Cambodia’s Women Bloggers (Cloghers) Document Challenges of Rural Life · Global Voices 
Rural voices in Cambodia are often left unheard in cyberspace. 
Thanks to the work of the Cambodian Center of Human Rights (CCHR), a new project has been training and supporting new female bloggers hailing from rural communities across the country, where they can learn to tell their story online. 
These young people's university studies brought them to the capital city of Phnom Penh, enabling them to access this opportunity and connect with others with similar backgrounds and experiences. 
The project called "Empowering Cloghers" recently wrapped up its first phase after receiving a Rising Voices microgrant in 2014. 
The term "clogher" refers to female bloggers in Cambodia. 
In addition to the workshops on how to create and maintain their own personal space on the web using the WordPress platform, trainers also encouraged the new cloghers to explore issues and challenges facing rural Cambodia, as well as to provide a snapshot of daily life in this part of the country. 
To bring out the best in these new cloghers, the project organized a contest to find the most interesting blog posts, where three winners were chosen. 
At a ceremony called "Cloghers Corner" held in November 2014, the three winners and all participants of the project were recognized. 
The following are excerpts from the winning blog posts: 
Working Conditions of Women in the Textile Sector 
Many rural Cambodians find themselves with the need to migrate to other parts of the country in order to find steady employment. 
However, the tough work environments that they face are often not noticeable from the outside, in particular in the textile industry, where the Ministry of Commerce estimates that 90% of workers in this sector are female, which totals approximately 300,000. 
In addition to relatively low wages that are not enough to raise a family, workers face other types of hardships. 
Sum Dany spoke with some of these textile workers, who recounted some of their stories of their working conditions. 
Within that context, there is a woman who works in a nearby factory who said: “My union was not so strict but what is difficult for me is the restroom break, we could not go there for more than three times otherwise we will be asked or blamed. 
What’s more difficult is the doctor, his/her words are very harsh and there was never enough medicine when people got sick. 
They don’t allow to put the patients on the hospital beds because of the smell, it was very hard. 
I wonder what the beds are for, if not for the workers who getting sick?” 
Indeed, some factories, were seen by the outsider as a good factory that obey the law but inside there are a lot of worker’s rights violation. 
Rural Families Struggle Hard to Keep Students in Schools 
While there are more and more students from rural areas coming to the larger cities to continue their post-secondary education, most of these young people complete their primary and secondary education in rural schools. 
These communities present challenges such as young people required to help with household or field-related chores. 
Poverty also comes into play as many parents are unable to pay costs related to keeping their children in school, especially when it's time to pay additional related costs. 
Chroeng Sopheakvirya wrote about the schooling system in Kandal Province, located in southeast Cambodia, and how sometimes to get additional benefits the rural teacher is paid extra for extra classes by the parents. 
However, some parents are unable to pay the extra sum, but schooling goes on as usual: 
Parents sometimes owe the payment, but their children still come to class, and teachers still teach them as usual. 
This kind of situation occurs as a result of understanding. 
Teachers said they cannot send students back home while those children try very hard to come to class. 
Teachers further told that they have no choices beside waiting until students’ parents have money to pay or teachers often insist them to pay if there is no payment for 2 or 3 months. 
Some students comes from poor family, but they are outstanding, so teachers cannot leave them out. 
River Clean Up in Phnom Penh 
River clean up in Phnom Penh. 
Photo by Cheng Sreymom. 
In an effort to adapt and become more involved with their new surroundings, many students are taking part in local activities. 
Cheng Sreymom recently took part in a river clean-up along the Tonlé Sap and Mekong Rivers, which are important parts of the city's landscape. 
Unfortunately, the rivers have alarming levels of pollution due to wastes that flow into the river. 
Trash can also be seen along the riverbanks, and she joined an effort to pick up trash making this part of her new community a little bit better for more to enjoy, and wrote about her reasons for taking part. 
The riverside is one of the attractive touristic sites in Phnom Penh, both national and international tourists and their families have always visited here in order to catch fresh air and to relax. 
However, it is very unfortunate because some of our citizens lack knowledge about the environment, always throwing away trash improperly causing the touristic site to be dirty and smelly making the tourists wrongly perceive of our society. 
I, Apochhceng am one of the citizens who participated in this campaign to clean the city. 
I feel that we all have to change our bad habits in order to improve ourselves in order to become a good citizen with good morals for both ourselves and the entire society. 
While the first phase of the project has come to an end, the experience working with new cloghers across Cambodia has motivated the CCHR to look for additional ways to support new voices. 
The CCHR's Executive Director Sopheap Chak is seeking to crowdfund future activities. 
Thanks to Ramana Sorn for the translation from Khmer into English. 

Learn 40 Aboriginal Hand Signs Used to Communicate Across Western Australia’s Desert · Global Voices 
With its rough terrain and harsh climate, the Great Sandy Desert in Western Australia can be a challenging place to live. 
For those carving out a life in this sparsely populated region, the vast distances of Australia's second largest desert can also prove to be challenging for those wanting to communicate with neighbors. 
Balgo, Western AustraliaHand signs have traditionally served as a way of communicating for the Aboriginal peoples who have been on this land for centuries, long before the arrival of mobile and digital technologies. 
To recognize this practical means of communication, local producer Willi Lempert partnered with a group of enthusiastic Aboriginal women elders from the community of Balgo. 
Together, they created a video that told the story of 40 hand signs. 
Lempert had been working in the area when the idea for an explanatory video came up. 
He explained the importance of these hand signs: While many visitors quickly learn the standard “what now?” sign, it is easy to miss the dozens of diverse hand signals being subtly exchanged in conversation. 
As in all languages, some elements are traditional and others are recent innovations... hand signs are not only a way of communicating information, but also serve as full-bodied ways of expressing nuance, humor, and individual personality. 
The video, which is part of the "Mother Tongue" project organized by ABC Open and First Languages Australia, also serves to promote the local language of Kukatja, a vulnerable language with less than 1,000 current speakers. 
In the video, for each hand sign that the women demonstrate there is the corresponding word in Kukatja along with its English-language translation. 
Lamprey wrote about how much fun he and the women had during the making of the video in a blog post. 
The women elders, such as Payi Payi and Manaya who are featured in the video, play a central role in the life of the community. As members of the Kapululangu Women’s Law and Culture Centre, they are instrumental in determining the way forward for the community. 
The website for the centre states, "Nothing that happens at Kapululangu can happen without the Elders." 
Kapululangu’s Elders were born in the desert, and grew up and were trained in the Old Ways before the arrival of Kartiya/non-Indigenous people in their ancestral countries. 
This makes them custodians of an immense wealth of stories,skills and cultural knowledge. 
They want to share this wealth The Elders want their young people to grow up strong and resilient, proud of and knowledgeable in the ways of their people, secure in their peoples' Law and Culture knowledge, so that they can better cope with the changing world. 
A peoples' own Law and Culture is the glue that holds life together. 
By teaming up with local producers committed to helping them tell their own story in their own language, they are ensuring that this wealth of knowledge is shared with the next generation. 

Reality TV's New Stars Are Tanzanian Farmers · Global Voices 
Contestants on Oxfam's "Female Food Heroes" Credit: Sven Torfinn for Oxfam 
This article and radio report by Marissa Lorusso for The World originally appeared on PRI.org on July 22, 2015, and is republished here as part of a content-sharing agreement. 
Most people would say that reality television isn't necessarily a good place place to look for role models. 
But in Tanzania, that's exactly the goal of a reality show named "Female Food Heroes." 
“Female Food Heroes,” or Mama Shujaa wa Chakula as it is known in Tanzania, stars a group of female farmers who live and work together in a village. 
The “village” is actually a specially constructed set — which is where the reality-show cameras come in. 
Producers film the women sharing farming techniques with each other while being trained on such things as leadership and finance. 
Viewers vote on whose work they like best, and each season, a winner is chosen by a combination of these votes and a panel of judges. 
As in many reality shows, “Female Food Heroes” features challenges. 
This season, participants struggle to use local materials to create a tool, try out new cooking techniques, and win a treasure hunt. 
Eluka Kibona, who works on the show in Tanzania, says the competitors “have to use their own own local knowledge. 
They have to use their own experience, they have to use their background.” 
Outside experts also visit to talk about everything from agronomy to gender-based violence to climate change. 
The women also visit banks and food processing companies to learn more about the larger economy around them. 
The set of Oxfam's "Female Food Heroes" Credit: Sven Torfinn for Oxfam 
In Tanzania, poverty is concentrated among small-scale rural farmers, such as the women who compete on “Female Food Heroes.” 
They rely on what they grow to feed themselves and their families, since most poor farmers in Tanzania lack the access to infrastructure and investment they would need for more secure livelihoods. 
And this hits Tanzanian women especially hard; according to Oxfam, women are 75 percent of the country’s agricultural labor force, but cannot get loans and are often denied ownership of their land. 
In addition, most social attitudes about female farmers are negative. 
Women aren’t necessarily valued, or appreciated, for what they bring to the table. 
So Oxfam and its Tanzanian TV partner, Maisha Plus, set out to change attitudes and empower female farmers through the show. 
Since “Female Food Heroes” started in 2011, it has reached about 25 million people throughout the country. 
Part of the show’s success comes from it being both informative and fun. 
“We were really thinking throughout this whole thing: How can we make it not only entertaining but also educative?” Kibona explains. 
She says she wants viewers to come away “not talking only about the show, but talking about the issues of the show.” 
After episodes are broadcast on TV, they’re made available on Facebook and YouTube. 
And since many people in Tanzania don’t own TVs, Oxfam also bought time on local radio shows in Tanzania to air episode re-caps in audio form. 
A contestant on Oxfam's "Female Food Heroes" Credit: Sven Torfinn for Oxfam 
The top three winners are awarded a prize from Oxfam. 
Kibona says for Oxfam, “everybody who is a part of the show is a winner.” 
But she also recognizes that part of the appeal of the show is the selection of a top contestant. 
This year, the prizes are between 20 million and 25 million Tanzanian schillings (approximately $9,000-$11,000), in the form of cash and farming and fishing tools. 
These women generally go on to help bring modern farming equipment and techniques to their villages and communities. 
One woman now represents the farmers on her local council and shares the tractor she won with her neighbors. 
Another uses her farm to house and support orphans and vulnerable children. Because the show is so popular, contestants often become local celebrities after having competed. 
They return home with their new skills and knowledge, and often help model these new techniques for their communities. 
Oxfam says that the government of Tanzania has begun to introduce new policies related to land leases that may have been influenced by the huge popularity of the show. 
From the set of Oxfam's "Female Food Heroes" Credit: Sven Torfinn for Oxfam 

2015 Was A Breakthrough Year For Sexual Diversity · Global Voices 
LGBT parade in front of La Moneda, Santiago de Chile in 2009. 
In 2015 Chile became the seventh South American country to recognise same-sex unions. 
PHOTO: By CiudadanoGay (Picasa) [CC BY 3.0) via Wikimedia Commons2015 has been a breakthrough year in the field of LGBTI rights and sexual diversity around the globe, especially as regards equal marriage and same-sex unions. 
The first news came with the arrival of the summer in Ireland—a predominantly Catholic country where homosexuality was not decriminalized until 1993—where on May 22, citizens were called to vote on the question of whether marriage, according to law, may be contracted between two persons without distinction as to their sex. 
Ireland’s voters gave a majority of 62% in favour of the recognition of equal marriage, becoming the first country in the world to recognize marriage between same-sex couples by popular vote. 
A month later, on June 26, social networks around the world lit up with the hashtag #LoveWins, referring to the judgment of the Supreme Court of the United States in Obergefell versus Hodges case, which ruled that all States have an obligation to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. 
As Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote of the historic decision: 
No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. 
In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. 
As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. (…) Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization's oldest institutions. 
They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. 
The Constitution grants them that right. 
A few weeks later, on 21 July, the European Court of Human Rights found that the refusal of Italy to provide a legal framework for the recognition and protection of same-sex unions violated Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which holds that everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life. 
This is perhaps the most important international judicial victory in the field of LGBTI rights since the case Toonen v. Australia resulted in the repeal of the last Australian laws prohibiting sodomy. 
This followed the United Nations Human Rights Committee’s 1994 ruling that sex between consenting adults in private were protected by the concept of "private life" contained in Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 
SCOTUS Marriage Equality 2015: Supreme Court of the United States ends marriage discrimination. 
PHOTO: Ted Eytan (CC BY-SA 2.0) 
On 22 October this year, Chile also celebrated its first civil unions for same-sex couples, becoming the seventh South American country to legally recognize same-sex unions. 
Long gone were the sad years of President Ibañez del Campo, whose homophobia was notorious and avowed and where raids and mass arrests of homosexuals resulted in their admission to a concentration camp for "social misfits" and homosexuals in Pisagua in the north of the country. 
Long in the past too is the homophobia of Clarin, a sensationalistic left-wing newspaper associated with Salvador Allende’s Popular Unity party, whose headlines denigrated homosexuals and trans people. Colombia’s highest court legalizes adoption by gay couples https://t.co/k1qQZfE1hb #colombia — Colombia Reports (@colombiareports) November 5, 2015 
Recognition of equal rights also extended this year to adoption by same-sex couples. 
In a historic ruling on November 4, the Colombian constitutional court instructed adoption agencies not to discriminate against same-sex couples. 
After nine hours of debate, the court gave the go-ahead for same-sex couples to legally adopt children. 
“A person's sexual orientation or gender is not itself indicative of a lack of moral, physical or mental suitability to adopt," said the court’s chief justice, Maria Victoria Calle Correa. 
Five years after legalizing same-sex marriage, Portugal also legalized adoption by same-sex couples. 
On 23 September, 2015, parties from the leftist majority in Parliament submitted bills to grant same-sex couples full adoption rights as well as access to intro-vitro fertilisation. 
The bills were approved on 20 November and now await promulgation by the President. 
But while 2015 was a year of major victories for many, these developments have had little effect on the “T” and the "I" of the LGBTI community. 
The transgender and intersex communities still face staggering challenges and equal marriage, in most cases, does not improve their lives by much. 
At present neither group operates on an equal playing field with other people; they face huge disparities in employment and health care access, and experience undue levels of harassment and violence. 
Discrimination on grounds of #SOGI: Poor understanding of rights of intersex people in #EU https://t.co/95UOxFunXl pic.twitter.com/WNeTzMpj2P — EU FundamentalRights (@EURightsAgency) December 12, 2015 
For intersex people, it has sadly become common practice to subject intersex children to unnecessary surgical and other procedures in order to make their appearance conform to binary sex stereotypes. 
These often irreversible procedures can cause permanent infertility, pain, incontinence, loss of sexual sensation, and lifelong mental suffering, and they are regularly performed without the full, free and informed consent of the person concerned. 
In April 2009, the international NGO Transgender Europe, in collaboration with the multilingual online journal Liminalis, started a research project collecting, monitoring, and analyzing reports of murders of trans people worldwide. 
Since the beginning of 2008, the murder of a trans person is reported every three days, on average. 
According to Transgender Europe’s Trans Murder Monitoring project, between October 2014 and September 2015 at least 271 killings of trans people were reported—that’s one every 36 hours. 
Today is an important day. 
Today is Transgender Day Of Remembrance. 
And we remember. #TDOR pic.twitter.com/uwpI2rX1J4 — Theta Nu Xi (@thetanuxi) November 20, 2015 
On 20 November the 16th annual Transgender Day of Rememberance took place. 
The observance began in 1999 in response to the death of Rita Hester, a trans woman of color killed in Massachusetts in 1998. 
Every year since, growing numbers of trans people and advocates worldwide take a moment to pause and remember the countless lives lost around the globe to transphobic violence. 
These drastic figures have led some trans activists and allies to propose a reframing of the annual day of mourning as the Transgender Day of Resilience instead. 
As the trans journalist Claire-Renee Kohner wrote in Bustle: 
Transwomen are the most visible on the trans-spectrum and it’s easy to forget that transmen exist and experience a greater level of erasure than us women. 
Transman Michael Hughes, who brought the recent influx of bathroom bill legislation into perspective by posting selfies of himself in a women’s restroom, told Bustle, “I'm glad there's a 'day' that people new to the table, new to these conversations, can get involved. 
But like you, I feel every day is a day of visibility for us; It's 24/7/365 for trans people.” 

Countries Declare States of Emergency in the Face of El Niño · Global Voices 
This map shows the extent of regions in distress (December 2015).© 350.org 
This article is based on the 'superpage' developed by Aaron Packard, Belinda Storey, Matthew Anderson and Jenny Zapata Lopez for 350.org, an organisation building a global climate movement, and is republished on Global Voices as part of a content-sharing agreement. 
Intensified by climate change, the natural phenomenon known as El Niño is exceeding previous records and is on track to unleash severe and destructive extreme weather in the coming months. 
One city and five countries — Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and San Diego, California — have already declared a state of emergency due to the El Niño, while the United Nations has deployed emergency resources to a further 10 countries. 
The number of places facing a state of emergency is expected to increase considerably in coming months. 
“This El Niño and human-induced climate change may interact and modify each other in ways which we have never before experienced," World Meteorological Organization Secretary-General Michel Jarraud says. 
"El Niño is turning up the heat even further.” 
This year’s El Niño is beginning to expose the dangerous extent of the global warming rapidly accumulating due to human greenhouse gas emissions. 
Since the last record-breaking El Niño of 1997, a staggering 93% of global warming has been absorbed deep into the oceans. 
But with masses of heat energy released from the oceans into the atmosphere, this El Niño event is now reversing that, effectively speeding up global warming by at least a decade. 
This has meant that we’ve now passed one degree of warming since the 1880s. 
Continued climate change is likely to increase the frequency and intensity of El Niño events. 
To find out what an El Niño is, click on this page and watch the following video: 
Several countries are on the front lines of El Niño, including Papua New Guinea, Kenya, Ethiopia, India, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. 
Papua New Guinea 
Months of drought, more than one-third of the country going hungry 
Since July, more than 100,000 children have been turned away from schools as there’s just not enough water or food left to run them anymore. 
After a period of severe frosts in the highlands that killed-off staple food crops, the intense El Niño-driven drought has prevented new crops from growing. 
There have been reports of deaths from starvation and disease. 
Kenya 
“All we can do is hope” 
“I grew up in Kisii County, the western part of Kenya. 
A region that contributes largely to Kenya’s fruit basket, but we too have noticed the absence of rainfall. 
In the 1970’s my family built a dam within the land my grandfather owned. 
Though he has departed, that dam has always been there from since I can remember, but in the last two years weather patterns across the country have demanded that our family not take this reservoir for granted. 
As we experience the second round of drying up, the future remains uncertain. 
Will the dam refill with rain water as we approach the New Year? 
Our neighbourhood glares at the skies as if to question where the clouds went. 
All we can do is hope as we wait for the effects of El Nino to pass.” 
-Unelker Maoga 
Ethiopia 
Worst drought affecting the country in 50 years 
Ethiopia has plunged into a worsening food crisis as two crop cycles have failed due to the El Niño-driven drought gripping the country. 
The Ethiopian government expects that 10.1 million people will face critical food shortages in the coming year, with 400,000 children at risk of developing acute malnutrition. 
“The worst drought in Ethiopia for 50 years is happening right now, with the overall emergency response estimated to cost $1.4 billion,” says John Graham, Save the Children’s country director in Ethiopia. 
Zahara Ali, 9, cooks breakfast in a rural village in the Dubti Woreda, Afar Region, Ethiopia, 9 January 2015. ©UNICEF Ethiopia/2015/Bindra Chennai, India 
El Niño and climate change intensified record breaking floods 
The devastating and deadly floods that hit Chennai in early December after 5 weeks of intense deluges were made worse by the El Niño and climate change. 
In one 24-hour period, the most rain in Chennai’s recorded history fell, washing away airplanes at the airport, destroying homes and leaving much of the city without power. 
Chennai floods. 
Photo by Destination8infinity via Wikimedia. 
CC BY-SA 4.0 Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia 
On alert for severe flooding and erosion 
It is estimated that at least 1.5 million people are at risk from flooding in Ecuador alone in the coming months. 
During the 1997-98 El Niño, Ecuador and Peru experienced rainfall at 10 times the normal intensity, which caused severe flooding, mudslides and damage to infrastructure. 
Getting prepared saves lives and a lot of money 
Analysis by the World Food Programme of their programs in Niger and Sudan found that responding before disasters hit lowers the cost of a future humanitarian response by a half. 
Many communities will remember the impacts of the 1997-98 El Niño and are already preparing themselves for the coming months. 
Different parts of the world are affected differently by the El Niño, as this map from USAID shows (the map shows the costs associated with the 1982-83 El Niño): 
This map illustrates an average range of meteorological impacts caused by El Niño based on historical data. 
It also shows damages caused by the two most recent El Niño events. © USAID/OFDA 

Two Versions of Mao's China: History Retouched as Propaganda · Global Voices 
On January 29-30, 2013 one of the top ten micro-blogs in Sina Weibo, the most influential micro-blogging platform in China, has a set of historical photos showing two versions of the Chinese history during Mao's Era (1949-1976). 
The micro-blog, in the form of a collage, published by @Pongyoung with a brief comment: "How history has been amended?", has been retweeted 13362 times with 2237 comments within one day. 
The photos and their explanation were originally published by the history channel of ifeng.com. 
In order to help our readers see the difference between the two versions of the Chinese history, I cut the collage into 10 photo sets with a brief explanation. 
The missing person on the second photo is Lin Biao, a former Chinese Communist Part leader who was condemned as a traitor after his failed attempt to escape to Mosco in 1971. 
He was killed in a plane crash during his escape. 
The missing person is Peng Dehuai, who was a prominent Chinese Communist military leader. 
He was prosecuted during the Cultural Revolution and died in prison in 1974. 
The image amendment is to single out the two greatest leaders of the era: Mao Zedong and Joseph Stalin. 
Irrelevant people are deleted so as to highlight the leader. 
The missing person is Peng Zhen, also once a CCP leader. 
He was purged during the Cultural Revolution for opposing Mao's views on the role of literature in relation to the state. 
The umbrellas and those carrying them had obstructed the stage and thus deleted. 
Lin Yutang escaped to Taiwan in 1949 and in March 1977 when the photo was republished Lin Yutang and Sun Xifu were deleted. 
Lei Feng, a solider of the People's Liberation Army, was portrayed as a model citizen after his death. 
The background of his photo was changed into a pine tree, which symbolizes evergreen for political propaganda purposes. 
Many comrades who had been trained with Mao Zedong in the Red Amy Camp in 1937 went missing when the photo was published during Mao's era. The original photo only surfaced in 1986 during Deng Xiaoping's era. 
The missing person is Ren Bishi, a CCP military and political leader. 
The photo was taken in 1940 with Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong. 
Ren was deleted because he was criticized for being sick and hospitalized in USSR in during the Chinese liberation war. 

Colorized Photos Show Street Scenes of Vietnam, Singapore, and the Philippines During the 20th Century · Global Voices 
Photo by Vo Anh Ninh, taken from the Flickr page of manhhai (CC License) 
Search around the Internet, and you'll find several hand-colored photos and postcards of Vietnam, Singapore, and the Philippines offering a peek at everyday life in the major cities of these countries during colonial rule in the early 20th century. 
These images are clearly historically significant and useful for imagining what life was like in the previous century. 
Let's take a look, shall we? 
Vietnam before the war 
The photos below were taken by Vo Anh Ninh, one of the founding fathers of Vietnamese photography, and feature shots from the 1950s during the waning years of French colonial rule. 
They provide a rare glimpse of life in Vietnam in the 1950s before it was engulfed in a long and bloody war in the next decade. 
The Saigoneer website posted some of these photos, which are colorized and uploaded on the Flickr page of manhhai. 
Photo by Vo Anh Ninh, taken from the Flickr page of manhhai (CC License) 
Photo by Vo Anh Ninh, taken from the Flickr page of manhhai (CC License) 
Photo by Vo Anh Ninh, taken from the Flickr page of manhhai (CC License) 
Photo by Vo Anh Ninh, taken from the Flickr page of manhhai (CC License) 
Manila in the early 1900s 
The Philippines was a colony of Spain for more than 300 years until a revolution ended it in 1898. 
But the United States immediately invaded and remained a colonial ruler until 1946. 
The images below show the capital city of Manila in transition. 
Spanish heritage is still evidently strong but American influence is already making an impact. 
E. S. Sison colorized these photos from the digital collection of John Tewell. 
These colorized photos were uploaded to the Facebook page of Kinulayang Kasaysayan (Colorized History). 
Binondo, an important religious and commercial center in old Manila. 
Image from the Facebook page of Kinulayang Kasaysayan, used with permission 
Escolta was the premier business center in old Manila. 
Image from the Facebook page of Kinulayang Kasaysayan, used with permission 
Washing clothes in Manila during the early 1900s. 
Image from the Facebook page of Kinulayang Kasaysayan, used with permission 
Luneta Park in the early 1900s. 
This place, then and now, is famous for its spectacular view of the Manila Bay sunset. 
Image from the Facebook page of Kinulayang Kasaysayan, used with permission 
Vintage Singapore postcards 
Hand-colored postcards from the public domain collection of the New York Public Library include several images of Singapore during the early 20th century. 
The postcards give a few hints of the eventual rise of Singapore as a busy harbor and vital trading post in the Asia-Pacific region. 
Native sampan, Singapore. 1907 - 1918. 
Photo from The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 
Finlayson Green, Singapore. 
Photo from The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 
Hill Street, Singapore. 
Photo from The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 
Victoria Street, Singapore. 
Photo from The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 

Is Social Media Helping to Perpetuate Violence in Afghanistan? · Global Voices 
Facebook. 
The Taliban's best friend? 
Widely shared. 
On May 31, twelve bus passengers were found dead on the side of the road in the outskirts of Kunduz province, after being abducted the day before by the Taliban insurgent group. 
Bloody images flooded social media the same day. 
The Taliban subsequently made a statement via their Facebook page announcing that the murdered people were government soldiers. 
The posting and page have since been removed from Facebook. 
Today, in the Angur Bagh area 26 active soldiers of the Kabul administration that were travelling with civilian vehicles were singled out and arrested. 
Six of them were killed while trying to escape and the rest of them were taken to safe places for questioning. 
Posted by Al Emarah TV on Tuesday, May 31, 2016 
Undoubtedly social media in Afghanistan is a reflection of Afghan society itself, a society riven by internal conflicts that have been exacerbated by two major superpower invasions in the last four decades. 
But social media's powers of amplification ensure that even those who are not looking for gruesome images of violence — whether captured by the country's independent media or a growing force of smartphone-wielding citizen journalists — are powerless to filter them. Regularly checking into social networks in Afghanistan means a near everyday diet of bloodshed and hostility, a round-the-clock intake of bombings, executions and massacres. 
But what effect is this having? 
The Taliban and social media 
Images of violence are shared by both opponents and supporters of the Taliban and other insurgent groups. 
The first group shares the pictures in order to draw attention to the horrors committed by insurgents, while the second group does so to propagate the militants' successes against a weak central government and the Afghan National Army (ANA). 
Seemingly, both of these groups are a free source of public relations for the insurgency. 
The Taliban in particular exploits social media effectively. 
The group regularly posts pictures and statuses that demonstrate military gains made against the ANA, while their civilian supporters use platforms like Facebook to broaden the organisation's appeal and highlight the shortcomings of authorities in Kabul. 
Some social media users caution others not to share pictures depicting the group's exploits precisely for this reason. 
And while Facebook does not allow participation by organizations engaged in "terrorist" activity, or content" that expresses support for groups that are involved in the violent or criminal behavior," the company struggles to keep such content off of its platforms. 
After all, they argue, insurgents benefit from being able to show the population its presence in strategic areas of the country such as Kunduz province in the north. 
The Taliban, by killing passengers are launching psychological warfare that terrorises the people. 
Those who share the bloody pictures of victims not only irritate families but also unintentionally assist the Taliban in their propaganda. 
Posted by Hassan Faryaar on Tuesday, May 31, 2016 
But beyond photos displaying the disturbing handiwork of the Taliban or other groups, there are other forms of violence taking place in the Afghan social media space. 
Verbal abuse and harassment are also violence 
A parliamentarian from the northern Balkh province, Mohammad Natiqi, recently wrote on his Facebook that his children had grown depressed reading the comments under his Facebook posts due to the number of insults made against their mother, including the fairly regularly repeated insult translating as "fuck your wife". 
My sons and daughter checked my Facebook, they went mad after reading all these comments containing abusive words towards their mother. 
Posted by Mohammad Nateqi on Saturday, November 14, 2015 
This torrent of abuse is common to Afghan social media culture. 
According to monitoring conducted by Salam Watandar, a local radio station, President Ashraf Ghani is on the receiving end of an average 1,500 abusive words per week on his Facebook page alone. 
Women users of social media in particular are singled out for abuse and harassment by male users, which has encouraged many not use their real names or pictures in their profiles. 
The Ministry of Telecommunications of Afghanistan acknowledges this when stating that although 28 % out of roughly one million Afghan Facebook users are identifiable as women, the real percentage may be higher due to the number using nicknames and pseudonyms. 
Aryana Sayeed, a female Afghan singer last February revealed messages she had received from wealthy suitors who had asked her to sleep with them for money: 
I am not sure if I should blame these rich businessmen who think they can buy anything and anyone with money or blame those who have sold themselves and let such people play with them in any manner they desire. 
I hope soon enough the day will come when Artists would earn their living from their art, real talent and hard work and not hurt the name an image of an "Artist" rather than in ways that enable these individuals to actually dare propose something like this to an Artist. 
Ps. I decided not to reveal the name and other personal information of this individual as it would have ruined the name of his family. 
I hope he has learnt his lesson. 
Posted by Aryana Sayeed Music on Saturday, February 6, 2016 
Clearly, social media use is growing rapidly in Afghanistan, as is the negative online behaviour that endorses militarisation and sexual violence. 
While the government does its best to stem the Taliban insurgency in real time, an insidious torrent of online violence ripping through the fabric of social relationships in the country is being ignored completely. 
This is a follow-up to a post to another post by the same author: In Afghanistan, Social Media Gives Rise to Hate Speech. 

A Grandmother and Granddaughter in India Are Making Beautiful Media Together · Global Voices 
Miss Pickles 2010. 
Image via indrimspickles.com 
Her name is Dr. Indri Pickle, and she explains to viewers that she will show them how to make mango pickles, which are very popular in South Asian countries. 
She proceeds to draw the basic formula on her Pickle Lab's chalkboard: sunshine + mango. 
Dr. Indri Pickle is actually 84-year-old Inderjit Kaur, who goes by Indri, and she's not really a mango pickle scientist. 
In the video which was recently uploaded to YouTube, she's acting. 
It's with the help of social media tools like YouTube, blogs, Twitter and Facebook — as well as her granddaughter Jasmeen Patheja — that Indri is fulfilling her dreams of becoming an actor. 
Jasmeen, who is an artist, feminist and the founder of the public and community arts collective Blank Noise, which confronts street harassment of women, wanted to learn photography and video. 
Her grandmother, wanting to become an actor, became a willing artist, and collaborator. 
Together, they've produced a series of photo performances based on characters of Indri's choosing, in addition to the Pickle Lab video. 
Indri also shares her life story on her blog. 
In the post, she mentions that she was born and brought up in Burma and remembers the Japanese attacks during the Second World War when she was a young child. 
She recounts the long travel her family took to move to India (Lahore) in 1941. 
She moved back to Mogok, Burma after World War II. 
Indri was married at the age of 19 and lived in Burma until 1970. 
Global Voices spoke to Indri and Jasmeen to learn more about their work. 
Global Voices (GV): Did you teach your grandmother how to use social media? 
What are the challenges she faced? 
Jasmeen Patheja: I did not teach her how to use social media, but I have been there to introduce or pitch in with explaining concepts, behaviours and types of web engagement. 
I love that she often uses YouTube for ‘traveling’, she visits Japanese zen gardens through YouTube, or uses YouTube for education through bonsai tutorials. 
She also uses YouTube to listen to her morning hymns. A lot of this has been through years of stumbling upon and discovering new spaces on the web, including YouTube, Facebook, Twitter. 
I step in when she has questions about the different kinds of spaces, e.g. 
“What is the difference between Instagram and Twitter and Facebook and Tumblr?", there are different formats, each lending to different kinds of behaviour. 
Indri uses Facebook, Google, YouTube, WhatsApp with most ease. 
Very early on, Indri learnt to use paint, Microsoft Word, play cards (solitaire), send e-greetings. 
Indri lives alone and is independent. 
At this point she really wants to learn to book a ticket to travel! 
I asked Indri about what she finds most challenging, and Indri spoke about language and vocabulary. 
Inderjit Kaur: The whole world is learning, why should I not learn? 
I have a lot more to learn. 
It is important to walk along with the world. 
Indri acting in a photo performance. Image via indrimspickles.com 
GV: What prompted you to come up with this idea and go forward with this initiative? 
Jasmeen Patheja: I wanted to take photos. 
My grandmother wanted to act. 
My grandmother Indri and I have been collaborating for years. 
I was also in art school and pursuing photography/community arts. 
Indri’s desire to act has been the start of this collaboration. 
It created a series of photo performances based on characters Indri desires to become. 
This collaboration emerges from play, curiosity, desire. 
We collaborate because we enjoy the process. 
It makes us happy. 
Indri Pickle Lab came out of the larger series of photo performances, and here Indri plays a scientist making mango pickle in her laboratory. 
The idea was spontaneous, but also looking at pickle making, precision, science, labour and knowledge sharing. 
Jasmeen Patheja with her grandmother Indrajit Kaur. 
Image via indrimspickles.com 
GV: What response did you get from readers? 
Jasmeen Patheja: A very endearing response and a very encouraging one too. 
Indri and I have made new friends through this collaboration. 
Women (family friends and extended relatives) Indri’s age have responded with surprise, encouragement, often expressing desire to team up with their granddaughters too. 
We also went on a residency together at Akademie Schloss Solitude in 2010, an institute that has supported this collaboration very early on. 
Readers have responded with love and encouragement and we are so glad that something we have created is receiving love. 
Indri posing. 
Image via indrimspickles.com 
GV: Many members of our generation are losing touch with their older relatives as families become more fragmented and people live farther apart. 
How can social media and web tool help bridge the gap? 
Jasmeen Patheja: My family is spread across cities and countries. 
I live in Bangalore. 
My grandmother lives in Calcutta. 
At this point my grandmother hasn’t seen her grandsons in two years, nor has she seen her five-month-old great grand daughter. 
Her desire to connect leads to using the web. 
Yes, the the gap can be bridged through the internet. 

Earthquake Destroys More Than 200 Ancient Temples in Myanmar · Global Voices 
A 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit Myanmar on August 24. 
Image showing the epicenter and extent of the earthquake is from the website of the U.S. Geological Survey Myanmar authorities reported that three people were killed and at least 228 temples and pagodas have been damaged in the whole of Mandalay after a 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck the country on August 24. 
Among the damaged structures were 187 brick temples in the ancient capital of Bagan. This is a setback for the country’s bid to recognize Bagan as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 
Bagan is among Southeast Asia’s important archaeological sites, and they are often compared to Cambodia’s Angkor Wat and Indonesia’s Borobudur. 
Bagan, which is also a popular tourism destination, has almost 3,000 pagodas and temples. The last time an earthquake destroyed Bagan temples was in 1975. 
One dead, ancient pagodas damaged as powerful quake rocks #Myanmar https://t.co/XurCMds8Z0 pic.twitter.com/FncyVOozqx — Coconuts Yangon (@CoconutsYangon) August 24, 2016 The powerful earthquake was felt not just in Myanmar but also in the neighboring countries of Bangladesh and Thailand. 
Myanmar is already cleaning the debris left behind by the earthquake. 
Many are clamoring for the quick restoration of the ruined temples, but there are also those who want to preserve some of the damage in order to remind the people about the need to prepare for disasters. 
Independent news website and Global Voices partner The Irrawaddy has documented the impact of the earthquake in Mandalay. 
Below are some photos which show the destruction in some of Myanmar’s famous Bagan temples: Sulamani Temple suffered heavy damage in the aftermath of the earthquake. 

The story of Amin Sheikh, who wanted to change the fate of boys like him who grew up on the streets of Bombay. 
Photo credit: Humans of Bombay 
After selling his autobiography book for nearly three years on Mumbai's busy streets, author Amin Sheikh is seeing the payoff for all of his hard work. 
He has finally fulfilled his longtime dream of setting up a cafe-cum-library in India's financial capital for impoverished street children. 
Sheikh, 36, has had a lot of experiences in his short life. 
He was born in a slum in the north of Mumbai (at the time, the city was called Bombay) to a poor family. 
For him, life began at the age of five when he started working in a tea shop. 
By the time he was 16, he lived on Mumbai's hostile streets as a homeless child and had experience collecting garbage, singing on local trains, begging and ragpicking, working as a factory laborer, as a vendor on a train, as a boot polisher and as a doer of other odd jobs before being rescued by an orphanage in Mumbai named Sneha Sadan. 
They gave him a new home and changed his life. 
Sheikh was sent to work for Eustace Fernandes, a very famous artist, when he was 17. 
He was his driver, cook and cleaner and learnt English in the process. 
With Eustace’s help, Sheikh started his own travel company called Sneha Travels in 2002. 
Eustace even took him to Barcelona once, where he visited a few library cafes from which he found the inspiration. 
Workers in Amin Sheikh's cafe, which is staffed by former street children from Sneha Sadan. 
Photo used with permission 
Today, Sheikh's cafe Bombay to Barcelona is painted in various shades of white and orange and is staffed by numerous former street children from Sneha Sadan. 
The cafe, which opened in the middle of August this year, wants to be inclusive for people from all walks of lives and thus the food items are priced reasonably. 
For example, a cup of tea costs only 10 rupees (15 US cents), the same as at any roadside tea stall. 
Sheikh's motto is: "Everyone deserves to go somewhere nice for coffee or tea". 
An estimated 37,059 children live on the streets of Mumbai, according to a census conducted by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and voluntary organization Action Aid India. 
Two out of five have experienced physical, verbal or sexual abuse or forced starvation at some point in their lives. 
Sheikh spoke to Global Voices about how he made this cafe possible, collecting funds by selling his autobiography, and his future plans to help street children. 
"I sold books for nearly three years to collect funds to set up this cafe. 
We will always be open to street children and never reject their entry into the cafe," he explained. 
The cafe provides food and other assortments free of cost to underprivileged children. 
Photo credit: Bombay to Barcelona FB page. 
Used with permission. 
In his autobiography, 'Bombay Mumbai: Life is Life: I Am Because of You', published in 2013, Sheikh recollects experiences from his childhood days living on Mumbai's streets, singing and begging in the city's famous local trains and the turmoil he faced due to lack of family support. 
Now, he uses revenue generated from his book's sale to fund his cafe. 
"I ran away from home at the age of five after facing abusive behaviour and threats from my step-father. 
I begged, slept on train station platforms before being rescued by a shelter house — Sneha Sadan," Sheikh says. 
And he is resolute about providing shelter and support to other street children now. 
"I don't want these kids to go back to the streets again." 
Photo Credit: Bombay to Barcelona FB page. 
Used with permission 
Sheikh has managed to sell nearly 12,000 copies of his book in various languages including Spanish, Catalan, and Marathi as a way of raising funds for his cafe. 
One reader from Spain, Maria Antonia Perez, visited Mumbai recently to help Sheikh set up his cafe after reading his book. 
Photo Credit: Bombay to Barcelona FB page. 
Used with permission 
"We have a special table set in the cafe with cakes and other snacks for street children. 
Their reaction to this place has been extremely positive," Sheikh concludes. 
Photo Credit: Bombay to Barcelona FB page. 
Used with permission 
Here is his story in YouTube uploaded by Ditto TV: 
In Mumbai, a group of media students have also made a short film on the book and Sheikh’s life: 
People who visited the cafe mostly have nice things to say on social media. 
Shivangini Singh wrote on Facebook: 
This book costs only 300/-. 
If you buy it, you are helping Amin Sheikh, a former street kid, build a better life for others who are on the streets. 
I just finished reading it. 
The life story, the journey is deep. 
Very real, very positive and oh so inspiring! 
Bombay to Barcelona cafe is such a warm and nice place. :-) pic.twitter.com/y34kTQ7xAp — sabari (@_sabari) September 12, 2016 
Never felt like home at any cafe before, like I did when I visited your cafe.... 
The ambience, the decor, the snacks... everything is just perfect..... 
The customer service is something I will never forget... 
I have always forgotten names of people working in hotels or cafe but at your cafe SAI, I can never forget the hospitality he provided and his name.. 
All the best... 

Israel, One of the World’s Driest Countries, Is Now Overflowing With Water · Global Voices 
Sorek desalination plant. 
Photo courtesy of IDE Technologies. 
CC-BY-NC-SA 2.0 
This post by Rowan Jacobsen was originally published on Ensia.com, a magazine that highlights international environmental solutions in action, and is republished here as part of a content-sharing agreement. 
Ten miles south of Tel Aviv, I stand on a catwalk over two concrete reservoirs the size of football fields and watch water pour into them from a massive pipe emerging from the sand. 
The pipe is so large I could walk through it standing upright, were it not full of Mediterranean seawater pumped from an intake a mile offshore. 
“Now, that’s a pump!” 
The reservoirs beneath us contain several feet of sand through which the seawater filters before making its way to a vast metal hangar, where it is transformed into enough drinking water to supply 1.5 million people. 
We are standing above the new Sorek desalination plant, the largest reverse-osmosis desal facility in the world, and we are staring at Israel’s salvation. 
Just a few years ago, in the depths of its worst drought in at least 900 years, Israel was running out of water. 
Now it has a surplus. 
That remarkable turnaround was accomplished through national campaigns to conserve and reuse Israel’s meager water resources, but the biggest impact came from a new wave of desalination plants. 
Israel now gets 55 percent of its domestic water from desalination, and that has helped to turn one of the world’s driest countries into the unlikeliest of water giants. 
Desal works by pushing saltwater into membranes containing microscopic pores. 
The water gets through, while the larger salt molecules are left behind. 
But microorganisms in seawater quickly colonize the membranes and block the pores, and controlling them requires periodic costly and chemical-intensive cleaning. 
But Bar-Zeev and colleagues developed a chemical-free system using porous lava stone to capture the microorganisms before they reach the membranes. 
It’s just one of many breakthroughs in membrane technology that have made desalination much more efficient. 
Israel now gets 55 percent of its domestic water from desalination, and that has helped to turn one of the world’s driest countries into the unlikeliest of water giants. 
Driven by necessity, Israel is learning to squeeze more out of a drop of water than any country on Earth, and much of that learning is happening at the Zuckerberg Institute, where researchers have pioneered new techniques in drip irrigation, water treatment and desalination. 
They have developed resilient well systems for African villages and biological digesters than can halve the water usage of most homes. 
The institute’s original mission was to improve life in Israel’s bone-dry Negev Desert, but the lessons look increasingly applicable to the entire Fertile Crescent. 
“The Middle East is drying up,” says Osnat Gillor, a professor at the Zuckerberg Institute who studies the use of recycled wastewater on crops. 
“The only country that isn’t suffering acute water stress is Israel.” 
That water stress has been a major factor in the turmoil tearing apart the Middle East, but Bar-Zeev believes that Israel’s solutions can help its parched neighbors, too — and in the process, bring together old enemies in common cause. 
Bar-Zeev acknowledges that water will likely be a source of conflict in the Middle East in the future. 
“But I believe water can be a bridge, through joint ventures,” he says. 
“And one of those ventures is desalination.” 
Driven to desperation 
In 2008, Israel teetered on the edge of catastrophe. 
A decade-long drought had scorched the Fertile Crescent, and Israel’s largest source of freshwater, the Sea of Galilee, had dropped to within inches of the “black line” at which irreversible salt infiltration would flood the lake and ruin it forever. 
Water restrictions were imposed, and many farmers lost a year’s crops. 
Their counterparts in Syria fared much worse. 
As the drought intensified and the water table plunged, Syria’s farmers chased it, drilling wells 100, 200, then 500 meters (300, 700, then 1,600 feet) down in a literal race to the bottom. 
Eventually, the wells ran dry and Syria’s farmland collapsed in an epic dust storm. 
More than a million farmers joined massive shantytowns on the outskirts of Aleppo, Homs, Damascus and other cities in a futile attempt to find work and purpose. 
And that, according to the authors of “Climate Change in the Fertile Crescent and Implications of the Recent Syrian Drought,” a 2015 paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was the tinder that burned Syria to the ground. 
“The rapidly growing urban peripheries of Syria,” they wrote, “marked by illegal settlements, overcrowding, poor infrastructure, unemployment, and crime, were neglected by the Assad government and became the heart of the developing unrest.” 
Similar stories are playing out across the Middle East, where drought and agricultural collapse have produced a lost generation with no prospects and simmering resentments. 
Iran, Iraq and Jordan all face water catastrophes. 
Water is driving the entire region to desperate acts. 
More water than needs 
Except Israel. Amazingly, Israel has more water than it needs. 
The turnaround started in 2007, when low-flow toilets and showerheads were installed nationwide and the national water authority built innovative water treatment systems that recapture 86 percent of the water that goes down the drain and use it for irrigation — vastly more than the second-most-efficient country in the world, Spain, which recycles 19 percent. 
But even with those measures, Israel still needed about 1.9 billion cubic meters (2.5 billion cubic yards) of freshwater per year and was getting just 1.4 billion cubic meters (1.8 billion cubic yards) from natural sources. 
That 500-million-cubic-meter (650-million-cubic-yard) shortfall was why the Sea of Galilee was draining like an unplugged tub and why the country was about to lose its farms. 
The country faces a previously unfathomable question: What to do with its extra water? 
Enter desalination. 
The Ashkelon plant, in 2005, provided 127 million cubic meters (166 million cubic yards) of water. 
Hadera, in 2009, put out another 140 million cubic meters (183 million cubic yards). 
And now Sorek, 150 million cubic meters (196 million cubic yards). 
All told, desal plants can provide some 600 million cubic meters (785 million cubic yards) of water a year, and more are on the way. 
The Sea of Galilee is fuller. 
Israel’s farms are thriving. 
And the country faces a previously unfathomable question: What to do with its extra water? 
Water diplomacy 
Inside Sorek, 50,000 membranes enclosed in vertical white cylinders, each 4 feet high and 16 inches wide, are whirring like jet engines. 
The whole thing feels like a throbbing spaceship about to blast off. 
The cylinders contain sheets of plastic membranes wrapped around a central pipe, and the membranes are stippled with pores less than a hundredth the diameter of a human hair. 
Water shoots into the cylinders at a pressure of 70 atmospheres and is pushed through the membranes, while the remaining brine is returned to the sea. 
Desalination used to be an expensive energy hog, but the kind of advanced technologies being employed at Sorek have been a game changer. 
Water produced by desalination costs just a third of what it did in the 1990s. 
Sorek can produce a thousand liters of drinking water for 58 cents. 
Israeli households pay about US$30 a month for their water — similar to households in most US cities, and far less than Las Vegas (US$47) or Los Angeles (US$58). 
The International Desalination Association claims that 300 million people get water from desalination, and that number is quickly rising. 
IDE, the Israeli company that built Ashkelon, Hadera and Sorek, recently finished the Carlsbad desalination plant in Southern California, a close cousin of its Israel plants, and it has many more in the works. 
Worldwide, the equivalent of six additional Sorek plants are coming online every year. 
The desalination era is here. 
What excites Bar-Zeev the most is the opportunity for water diplomacy. 
Israel supplies the West Bank with water, as required by the 1995 Oslo II Accords, but the Palestinians still receive far less than they need. 
Water has been entangled with other negotiations in the ill-fated peace process, but now that more is at hand, many observers see the opportunity to depoliticize it. 
Bar-Zeev has ambitious plans for a Water Knows No Boundaries conference in 2018, which will bring together water scientists from Egypt, Turkey, Jordan, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza for a meeting of the minds. 
Even more ambitious is the US$900 million Red Sea–Dead Sea Canal, a joint venture between Israel and Jordan to build a large desalination plant on the Red Sea, where they share a border, and divide the water among Israelis, Jordanians and the Palestinians. 
The brine discharge from the plant will be piped 100 miles north through Jordan to replenish the Dead Sea, which has been dropping a meter per year since the two countries began diverting the only river that feeds it in the 1960s. 
By 2020, these old foes will be drinking from the same tap. 
On the far end of the Sorek plant, Bar-Zeev and I get to share a tap as well. 
Branching off from the main line where the Sorek water enters the Israeli grid is a simple spigot, a paper cup dispenser beside it. 
I open the tap and drink cup after cup of what was the Mediterranean Sea 40 minutes ago. 
It tastes cold, clear and miraculous. 
The contrasts couldn’t be starker. A few miles from here, water disappeared and civilization crumbled. 
As Bar-Zeev and I drink deep, and the climate sizzles, I wonder which of these stories will be the exception, and which the rule. 
He is a frequent contributor to Outside, Harper’s, Mother Jones, Orion and other magazines, and his work has been anthologized in Best American Science and Nature Writing and other collections. 
His new book, Apples of Uncommon Character, will be published in September. 
He tweets from @rowanjacobsen. 

Indian Techies Work to Detect Fake WhatsApp and Facebook Messages · Global Voices 
Mozilla L10N Hackathon in Punjab, India. 
Photo by Subhashish Panigrahi via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0) 
Two Indian coders are building a website that helps detect fake messages shared widely on WhatsApp and Facebook. 
Known as check4spam.com, the site relies on both the research and investigation by the check4spam team along with volunteer users. 
The group hopes to expand the portal's capabilities to provide certain services through technical tools. 
They describe the project as follows: 
We verify any known posts with the below actions: 
1. 
2. 
(SPAM) Top 10 Corrupt Political Parties in The World 2017 by BBC https://t.co/wb2yJxHYpn pic.twitter.com/hlisxbmPTA — check4spam (@check4spam) March 22, 2017 
India is seeing a rapid increase in Internet use, even among the elderly. 
Many of the new users do not yet know how to differentiate between authentic sources and fake or malicious ones. 
And there are threats of click bait, hoaxes or Trojan horse-style software built to steal information from the user’s device. 
Bal Krishn Birla and Shammas Oliyath who created the website are two seasoned techies based in the Indian city of Bengaluru. 
With a vision of "unconditional Service for humanity" and a mission to "make life easy for the common man and life trouble for the spammers," they have embarked on to educate people in India that fall victim to fake messages on social media, and help circulate those messages. 
A typical certification. 
Image via Check4Spam Website. 
They have set up a WhatsApp number in August 2016 for people to send in the messages for fact-checks. 
According to Shammas, they get as many as 100 messages a day for verification. 
Check4Spam is a self-funded project. 
It gets some revenue from ads on the site which goes into its operation costs, including promotional posts on Facebook. 
#Check4Spam 1 Add +9035067726 on your phone. 
2. 
Copy the content you doubt. 
2 WhatsApp them. 
They'll tell you if it is fake or not. 
RT pic.twitter.com/tJHj0we7uI — VenuMaun (@VenuSpeak) March 28, 2017 
The check4spam.com currently supports messages that are text-only, image-only, and contains both text and image. 
They are also crowdsourcing spam message detection by asking people to report the spam messages that the users find out themselves. 
Currently the detected messages are categorized under internet rumours, accidents, jobs, medical, missing, government initiatives, and promotions. 
The site gets half a million page views a month. 

Wikimujeres Wants More Women Editors to Fix Wikipedia's Gender Imbalance · Global Voices 
A parody of the famous "We Can Do It!" poster. 
A derivative work by Tom Morris via Wikimedia Commons. 
Public domain. 
The Wikipedia article on “Gender bias on Wikipedia” states matter-of-factly that numerous studies and surveys have found that “a dominant majority of Wikipedia editors are male,” citing the figures of anywhere between 85-91.5%. 
It’s a cause for concern for both the community at-large and the Wikimedia Foundation, the entity that manages the world’s largest free online encyclopedia, because this demographic disparity may contribute to a systematic bias found in its content. 
The Wikimujeres (Wikiwomen) project has been working in Spanish and Catalan-speaking countries to help change those demographics. 
According to their website: 
We are group of Wikipedia users concerned about the diversity and neutrality of Wikipedia and we are willing to work to reduce (and in the future eliminate) the gender and culture gap that exists on the most widely consulted encyclopedia on the internet. 
Their goal is to involve more women as active editors who can also contribute more content related to women, such as biographies, as well as content created by women editors in the developing world. 
Holding weekly meetings in two locations in Madrid and Barcelona, outreach plays an important role in the form of trainings and “edit-a-thons,” which are organized, often in-person events designed to work collaboratively on creating new or improving Wikipedia articles. 
Photo by Montserrat Boix via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) 
Recent edit-a-thons focused on adding new articles about women photographers and women scientists were co-organized by Wikimujeres and were held at the Medialab-Prado in Madrid. 

Philippines: On Facebook's Free Version, Fake News is Even Harder to Spot · Global Voices Free Mode does not show photos, videos, and external websites. 
To switch to data mode, a user must pay appropriate charges. 
Screenshot by author 
But even the most savvy of internet users can have trouble separating the real from the fake on the platform. 
New research by Global Voices shows that the "free" mobile version of Facebook, accessible free of charge for users in multiple developing countries, makes it even harder to assess the reliability of news articles than on the regular version of Facebook. 
In Facebook's effort to help introduce people in developing countries to the internet, the company has built a light-weight version of its website, which is offered alongside a handful of other sites and services offering things like news, weather and sports updates. 
This set of apps within an app is known as Free Basics. 
In the light-weight version of Facebook offered via Free Basics, known in some countries as "Facebook Free", users can connect with family and friends, chat using the Messenger app and upload or share content on Facebook without incurring data charges. 
But when it comes to news, they can only read article headlines and the captions of photos and videos. 
Unless they have a proper (and more expensive) data plan, the app does not allow them to read the news articles themselves. 
In the current environment of hysteria over the prevalence of misinformation and "fake news" online, this limitation leaves users with limited budgets at a loss, giving them less access to useful information — and little capacity to determine whether the content is reliable or not. 
A user cannot see photos, videos, or the text of news articles from sites that are not included in the Free Basics package, which tend to be very few. 
To view this content, a user must pay data charges. 
The Philippines had more than 47 million Facebook users in 2016, many of whom use Free Basics, which is provided in partnership with either Globe Telecommunications or Smart Communications. 
Below we see the difference between the Facebook Free timeline (left) and the regular Facebook interface: 
"Walang mga litrato sa free mode, Gumamit ng Data para Buksan ang link" translates into "There are no photos in free mode, Use Data to open Link". 
To switch from "free mode" (left) to "regular mode" (right), the user is notified that he or she must pay for data charges: 
Main text: Use Data from Your Plan. 
You are leaving Facebook. Buy data from Globe in order to chat with friends, read article, and others. 
Screenshot by author 
This is unfortunate for those who are using Free Basics because they can’t afford the full cost of connecting to the global Internet. 
When installing Free Basics for the first time, the user is informed through the app’s terms and conditions that charges apply if photos, videos, and external links are opened on Facebook. 
A mobile user with a postpaid plan can simply agree to use his or her existing data plan for the extra charges, but a prepaid user has to pay for it in a store or a market offering a Globe or Smart load (known as top-up card in other countries). 
The majority of internet subscribers in the Philippines are prepaid users. 
This is the relevant clause in the terms and conditions by Globe, one of the two major telcos in the Philippines: 
You can now access a version of Facebook on your mobile phone without using your data allowance with Globe. 
However, if you leave this version of Facebook, or view content outside of Facebook, such as links to articles or external videos, then you might start using your data plan to see that content. 
When 'fake news' meets 'free' Facebook 
If Facebook Free is a user’s only source of news, chances are that he or she will encounter articles with dubious information and sourcing, but will not have the tools to verify them. 
Screenshot by author 
There is a risk of Facebook Free users promoting fake news content without immediately realizing it. 
Here is a headline that seems newsworthy from a news website with a name similar to Al Jazeera: Screenshot by author 
Of course, the website is not actually Al Jazeera, but a copycat. 
However, without associated images, satire websites can also be harder to detect. 
Screenshot by author 
Facebook Free clearly makes it more difficult to determine whether a clickbait headline is a factual news article or something less reliable. Even headlines of legitimate news websites can mislead Facebook Free users. 
Below we see a news headline dated March 31, 2017 about Donald Trump referring to the Philippines as a “terrorist nation”. 
While a regular user would be able to see that he made this comment in August 2016, before being elected president, a Facebook Free user would have no such information and could easily be led to believe that this had happened in recent days. 
Screenshot by author 
Facebook Free provides easy ways to communicate and access information. 
But its strict limitations on access to the broader web, along with its omission of key fact indicators such as images, may ultimately disempower users by giving them incomplete — and sometimes completely inaccurate — information. 
Read More 
Explore our research on Free Basics in six countries across the globe Read our case study on Free Basics in the Philippines 

For Some Stunning Photos of Japan, Check Out Tokyo Camera Club · Global Voices 
Tokyo Camera Club Editor's Picks. 
Screencap from Tokyo Camera Club main site. 
Tokyo Camera Club is a vibrant community in Japan devoted to sharing and discussing photographs of Japan. 
More than 400,000 people follow its Facebook page, while more than 300,000 people follow on its Instagram account. 
Many of the posts are widely popular, generating tens of thousands of likes, as well as a lot of shares and comments. 
As a for-profit business, Tokyo Camera Club receives sponsorships and paid advertising from many camera makers. 
The site, besides showcasing some spectacular photos, is a good place to learn about upcoming photo contests. 
Here is a selection of just some of the photos published on Instagram: 
Originally submitted by Instagram user @fujihirotanaka to the @photo_shorttrip Instagram account, this photo receives many likes and comments. 
Photo_shorttrip is a competition organized by Tokyo Camera Club that uses the hashtag #photo_shorttrip to showcase single images of a short trip. 
Originally submitted by Instagram user @akira_1972_ to the @photravelers Instagram account. 
Please like and comment on this photo. 
With this feature, Tokyo Camera Club showcases submissions to its Instagram and Facebook pages images that uses the hashtag #photo_travelers. 
Follow: @photravelers #photo_travelers#photravelers #travel #traveler 
One of Tokyo Camera Club's top 10 images. 

#TheOccupation of Wikipolitics: A Collective Commitment to Democratic Reinvention in Mexico · Global Voices 
Image from the press kit available at laocupación.org. 
Reproduced with permission. 
The Mexican city of Guadalajara recently hosted a festival called "The Occupation" — one of several initiatives helmed by the pro-democracy collective Wikipolitics Jalisco in order to find collective solutions to problems afflicting society. 
Widely assorted local, national, and international organizations, as well as civil society, academia, and citizenry gathered in Guadalajara, Jalisco, from August 30 to September 2 to share their experiences in social and political participation. 
We have to organize in order to get more people get excited about politics and realize they aren’t alone. #LaOcupación (#TheOccupation) 
Such has been the message of #FueroNoJuicioSí (#JurisdictionNoJusticeYes), an expression in support of eliminating constitutional protections from prosecution for serving politicians and #SinVotoNoHayDinero (#NoVoteNoMoney), which seeks to shrink public resources that political parties use and abuse. 
The Occupation forms part of Wikipolitica’s agenda as a progressive, innovative movement bolstering citizen participation, dialogue exchange, and collective intelligence. 
At its forefront is Mexican activist Pedro Kumamoto, who in 2015 became the first independent candidate to win a seat in Jalisco's state congress. 
The Occupation emerged amid visible consternation and disappointment about the excesses and general rotten behaviour of Mexico's body politic as a crucial space to bolster a different kind of politics. 
Participants are committed to "citizenizing" the public, and exerting public control over places and topics that have been dominated by worn-out political parties and policies. 
As Roberto Castillo, member of the Mexico City Wikipolitica chapter, wrote in his article "The Occupation: Why Politics Doesn’t Have to Be Boring, and Why Is It Better if We All Get Involved?": 
They took politics away from us. 
They filled her with corruption, impunity, and cynicism. 
But we came back. 
And we are going to change it completely. 
Most of what we do is politics Politics isn’t just done from the seats of congressional representatives, much less by suits with job titles like “president” or “governor” who recite speeches from behind lecterns. 
Beyond that world, we have been amassing an array of ways to participate in political life in a way that is closer and more useful for all of us. 
And thus, four festival days passed, filled with workshops, roundtables, conferences, enlightening talks, and artistic and cultural activities revealing a diversity of activism, projects, and resistance all aiming for change. 
The following tweets show what was discussed and presented during the festival: 
The best response to outrage and harassment is to dream and work for another future. #TheOccupation is a place to dream collectively. 
Feminizing politics means to stop legitimizing the verticality of traditional politics @Susanaochoach in #LaOcupación 
Some made comparisons between The Occupation and the stiff, old-fashioned way in which Mexico's president delivered his fifth governmental report (referenced in the tweet as the "#5toInforme") on September 2: 
The country that perishes in #5toInforme (#5thReport); 
The country that is born, in #TheOccupation 
In #TheOccupation we ask ourselves, why should we replace them? 
In the #5thReport tell us why. 
Echoing that message, Wikipolitics Jalisco member Damian Carmona blogged: 
These are the days in which we unite not just to dream, but to sense a need together: Change. 
Replacing them is not a declaration of war against party members, it is a declaration against traditional politics - within and beyond the scope of political parties. 
I ask you not to be disturbed by this statement, but if you are, ask yourself if it is not because you fear losing privileges granted to you by traditional forms of politics. 
The Wikipolitica team and Pedro Kumamoto announced future plans for the movement at the event’s finale, including Kumamoto’s run for the Mexican Senate in 2018, which aims to bring the movement’s agenda inside institutional walls. 
Likewise, eight other members of Wikipolitics will contend for independent legislator seats in various congresses: 
What a great moment for news: @pkumamoto will seek a seat on the Senate. 
There, that right there is where the decay of politics was rejected last night. 
The creation of these spaces come as a breath of fresh air in the midst of corruption scandals that have shaken Mexican public opinion in recent weeks. 
As revealed by digital media Animal Político, the government used 128 phantom companies as vehicles to divert public money. 
In the same way, the organization Mexicans Against Corruption and Impunity, brought to light the case of the Attorney General, who registered a Ferrari as a non-profit to avoid taxes. 

Will fake news carry Brazil's favored far-right candidate to victory? · Global Voices 
Jair Bolsonaro. 
Photo by Marcelo Camargo/Agência Brasil via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0 Brazil) 
Latin America's largest democracy may be on the verge of electing a president whose campaign has been propelled by violence, vicious rumors of fraud and a cascade of online news and information that has proven to be false. 
Far-right PSL party candidate Jair Bolsonaro, a former army captain who has served in Brazil's National Congress since 1991, will head to the October 28 run-off vote with a wide lead amid an ever-rising tide of fake news that appears to have benefited his candidacy. 
Despite having purchased only eight seconds of TV time — in a country where television ads have historically decided the winner — Bolsonaro finished the first round of voting in first place with 46 percent of the total valid votes, against 29 percent for his leftist rival, Worker's Party candidate Fernando Haddad. 
He is leading the latest polls with the support of 58% of Brazilians. 
In his ascent from the fringes of Brazil's legislature to the doorway to the presidency, Bolsonaro has built a platform upon distinct sentiments of Brazil's collective psyche, leveraging a fear of communism that traces back to the Cold War-era and Brazil's US-backed military government. 
His divisive, emotionally-driven campaign promises to protect national politics from corruption and city streets from criminals, as part of a return to Brazil's allegedly placid past. 
Ample evidence of false information promoting Bolsonaro 
Facebook's products have figured prominently in the groundswell of support for Bolsonaro. 
Alongside ample coverage by regional and national media outlets, reflecting a range of perspectives on Bolsonaro and the other candidates, Facebook and WhatsApp have seen a flurry of false and misleading posts promoting the far-right candidate. 
Although his campaign season has been anything but typical — Bolsonaro has barely been seen in public since September 6, when he was stabbed and critically wounded at a rally by an opposition supporter — his message appears to have reached millions of Brazilians that rely on Facebook and WhatsApp as their primary venue for reading the news. 
He has also taken to Facebook on his own terms, broadcasting brief messages via Facebook live. 
Agência Lupa, a highly-regarded fact-checking agency that partnered with Facebook earlier this year, assessed the veracity of hundreds of articles about the election that were shared on Facebook. 
In August 2018, the 10 most popular articles that Agência Lupa found to be false or intentionally misleading were all to the benefit of Bolsonaro. 
Amassing a combined total of 865,000 shares, these posts included everything from videos shared out of their original context to digitally-altered images. 
Bolsonaro himself even shared one of these most popular viral posts with his 1.74 million followers on Twitter: the post featured a photo of heavily armed men behind a placard bearing a death threat to Bolsonaro. 
Agência Lupa traced the image back to a 2016 photo that shows the armed men, but no placard. 
Bolsonaro later deleted the tweet. 
In July 2018, Facebook banned 196 pages and 87 profiles, several of which were associated with the conservative group Movimento Brasil Livre (Free Brazil Movement, or MBL) and, according to Facebook, acted as a single network of distribution. 
MBL has played a pivotal role in the rise of online conservatism in Brazil, having led the demonstrations in favor of the impeachment of ex-president Dilma Rousseff in 2015. 
Several leaders of the group have officially declared support for Bolsonaro's candidacy. Brazil's Electoral Court failed to act 
In December 2017, the court announced plans to establish a Consultative Council on Internet and Elections, under the auspices of the court. 
The Council would oversee the design of a tool, most likely a mobile app, for users to report suspicious content, and propose legal mechanisms to suppress the spread of fake news. 
The Council has met only twice since its inception — once in June, before the campaign period began in August, and a second time on October 10, after the first-round vote had concluded. 
The plenary court never approved any directives to guide new regulations around false information and no app or other digital tool was released to the public. What went wrong? 
Members of the Council seem to have conflicting views about why these efforts failed. 
Council coordinator and general-secretary of the court's presidency Estêvão Waterloo told news website UOL that the impact of fake news on this election was not as bad as expected. 
He said: "Even though people say the landscape is , back then we anticipated it would be infinitely worse". 
But another Council member, who spoke off the record with O Estado de S. Paulo, thought the opposite, telling the newspaper that the Court had underestimated the impact of fake news and was now "lagging behind". 
These statements suggest there may be disagreement within the Council, possibly around the balance between censorship and freedom of expression. 
In that June meeting, Brazil's Intelligence Agency, which has a seat on the Council, proposed "preventive" monitoring of internet users, an idea that met fierce opposition by other Council members. 
The fact that three different justices have presided over the court since December 2017 might have played a role too. 
The court's current president, Rosa Weber, said at an October 7 press conference that the electoral justices are still "trying to learn what is a fake news ". 
Her comment speaks to the rapid pace at which false reporting and falsified multimedia content have overwhelmed online communication spaces, leaving the courts — and many members of the public — struggling to keep up. 
After the meeting on October 10, the Council announced it will be launching the promised app for reporting dubious news, as well as a website where users can report content to the Electoral Court. 
But with less than three weeks remaining until the second round vote, it is unlikely that such last-minute measures will produce any substantial effects.