Monday, August 31, 2015
The Pentagon's rules of media engagement
Journalist or belligerent? What the Pentagon's Law of War manual means for conflict reporting; plus, tweeting the news.
The Pentagon has recently published new rules for its personnel on how to deal with the media, including guidance on how to treat reporters who cover wars.
The Law of War manual has entries on many issues relevant to combat reporters, such as suggesting that they seek permission from the authorities or risk being labelled "unprivileged belligerents" - akin to spies or saboteurs - should they raise suspicion in the field.
The wording of the manual has led many media organisations and media freedom groups calling for the rules to be revised, saying accurate reporting could be hindered. They also warn that authoritarian governments could adapt some of the rules for use in their own rule books. However, the US Department of Defense says the manual has been "misunderstood by the press."
Six In The Morning Monday August 31
No regrets, no remorse: Isis mastermind who sent out 15 suicide bombers
In prison interview, Baghdad commander is defiant as he details his deadly campaign that left more than 100 people dead, including childrenMonday 31 August 2015 07.00 BST
For almost a year Abu Abdullah was the most wanted man in Baghdad. He was known among his bosses inside Islamic State as “the planner” – the man responsible for dispatching suicide bombers to attack mosques, universities, checkpoints and market places across the Iraqi capital.
Now his home is a cramped cell in a high-security prison on the city’s fringe, where he has spent the 11 months since his capture. From there Abdullah outlined to the Guardian his role as the man who consigned more human bombs across Baghdad than, perhaps, any other throughout the decade-long insurgency.
Abdullah is one of the most sensitive of Iraq’s security prisoners and securing access to him took three months of negotiations with intelligence officials. Once permission to meet him was granted, he acknowledged that he had not chosen to be interviewed, but claimed to be speaking freely. In the wide-ranging, 90-minute discussion that followed he detailed his role as the architect of one of Iraq’s most savage and remorseless terror campaigns.ROBERT FISK
In treating needy refugees like invaders, we risk losing our humanity
Barbed wire along the Hungarian border. Barbed wire at Calais. Have we lost the one victory which we Europeans learned from the Second World War – compassion?
Since our latest cliché-rag is to tell the world that the refugee “crisis” is the greatest since that war, I was reminded of how Winston Churchill responded to the German refugee columns fleeing through the snows of eastern Europe in 1945 before the advance of the avenging Soviet Army.
Refugee crisis: rescued at sea, searching for a safe haven
August 31, 2015 - 5:55PMRuth Pollard
Middle East Correspondent
Taranto: Some fled the civil war in Syria, others escaped repressive governments in countries like Sudan, making the treacherous journey across the desert and into the lawless state of Libya.
They all dreamt of crossing the Mediterranean and finding safety in Europe.
In Libya they were joined by foreign workers forced to leave the country as it descended further into civil war.
There are two governments in Libya and each have their rival armies - the "official" Libya Dignity army, led by General Khalifa Haftar, and Libya Dawn, a coalition of Islamist militias including al-Qaeda militants.
But since October 2014, when Libyan insurgents pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, there are new dangers for those who remain in the country. IS has embarked on a campaign of kidnapping foreign workers, public beheadings and suicide bombings. Their campaign of terror has forced thousands to flee.
Museum showcases traditional Arab dresses, and stories of female creators
The founder of a new museum in Amman wants to keep the intricate dress patterns alive. Her other goal is to reintroduce Jordanians and Palestinians to their material heritage.
AMMAN, JORDAN — Growing up on the West Bank of the Jordan River in the 1940s, Widad Kawar would pass by Palestinian women sitting on balconies and under trees embroidering the intricate panels of traditional dresses.
The patterns and colors were unique to each region. The skill required for the tiny stitches was considered a test of how a potential bride would fare at housekeeping.
“This embroidery kept the generations together,” says Ms. Kawar, who over decades has amassed the world’s largest collection of Arab heritage dresses.
“Everybody was needed – particularly the grandmothers. They would teach the young.”Boom to bust? Factory town feels pinch from China's slowdown
Updated 0749 GMT (1449 HKT) August 31, 2015
After decades of explosive growth fueled by cheap exports, China's economic slowdown is taking a toll on factory workers who've found themselves left behind.
Ma Xinqing and Wang Dishan each spent 20 years working at a machine factory in Tengzhou, an industrial city in the northern province of Shandong.
The industrial plant closed earlier this year. Today, they are are the only remaining employees on site, working as security guards. The rest were laid off or transferred.
They spend their days walking amongst silent, empty factory buildings. Leftover pieces of machinery are piled up, collecting dust. Weeds are slowly taking over.
Slasher King Wes Craven, Creator of Freddy Krueger, Dies at 76
by
Wes Craven, who haunted the nightmares of two generations of teenagers — and their parents — with his creation of Freddy Krueger in the "Nightmare on Elm Street" films, died Sunday at age 76. He had brain cancer and died in Los Angeles, his family and William Morris Endeavor Entertainment told NBC News.
Craven helped popularize a new style of bloody horror movie that emerged in the 1970s and 1980s, far more graphic than the indirect, mainly off-screen chills of earlier classics like Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" and the classic Hammer Studios monster movies.
Among his other enormously popular slasher films were the "Scream" movies, "The Last House on the Left" and "The People Under the Stairs."Sunday, August 30, 2015
Black Monday: The great fall of China
We examine China's stock market collapse and explore whether its markets are divorced from the real economy.
This week, China, the world's second largest economy, suffered massive financial losses causing trillions of dollars to be wiped from global stock markets.
On August 24, Chinese stocks suffered their steepest fall in one day, with Shanghai's main share index closing down at 8.49 percent.
Dubbed 'Black Monday,' the effects were felt globally, with indices nosediving one after the other.
Before Monday's rout, more than $3.2tn had already been wiped off China's stock market after investors, worried about slow growth, embarked on a selling frenzy.
Chinese authorities have intervened by supporting stock prices, but despite spending some $200bn to stimulate the economy, Beijing has failed to stem the crisis.
Huge Protest Against Shinzo Abe's War Legislation
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe believed that the Japanese people would just accept his move to allow the Japanese Self Defense Force to operate overseas without a whimper. He thought complacency was his friend. Of course he was completely wrong.
Tens of thousands of protesters gathered near Japan's parliament building on Sunday to oppose legislation allowing the military to fight overseas, the latest sign of public mistrust in Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's security policy.
In one of Japan's biggest protests in years - organizers put the crowd at 120,000 - people of all ages braved occasional rain to join the rally, chanting and holding up placards with slogans such as "No War" and "Abe, quit".
Demonstrators swarmed into the street before parliament's main gate after the crowd size made it impossible for police, out in heavy numbers, to keep them to the sidewalks. A second nearby park area also filled with protesters.
The rally was one of more than 300 this weekend in Japan protesting Abe's move to loosen the post-war, pacifist constitution's constraints on the military.
Six In The Morning Sunday August 30
Asia
Bangkok bomb: Thai police charge man 'linked to Erawan blast'
Police in Bangkok have charged a man in connection with the bomb attack that killed 20 people in the Thai capital nearly two weeks ago.
Officers say the suspect, who was charged with illegal possession of weapons, was involved in the attack.
However, they say he is not the man seen on CCTV footage leaving a bag at the Erawan Shrine before the explosion.
The bomb tore through the crowded shrine on 17 August, injuring more than 100, mostly tourists.
The man, who was described as a 28-year-old foreigner by police, was arrested in Nong Jok on the outskirts of Bangkok on Saturday.
Malaysia protests calling for Najib Razak to resign enter second day
Rally in capital bolstered late on Saturday by appearance of former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, who urged them to carry on
Thousands of Malaysians made their way back to the centre of the capital on Sunday, assembling again in an illegal demonstration to call for the resignation of the prime minister, Najib Razak, who is battling the fallout from a financial scandal.
Some people in the 34-hour protest had slept in the streets overnight in anunusually calm demonstration of public outrage by the group Bersih, which means “clean” in Malay, and is a coalition of non-governmental organisations.
This is the fourth demonstration by the group and previous attempts have been met with arrests and teargas. But as of Sunday, the authorities said nobody was in detention and police at the front of the rally stood behind railings looking bored.
Najib is facing calls to resign after reports that he pocketed nearly $700m (£456m) from the debt-laden state fund 1 Malaysia Development Bhd.
Outrage over Rio de Janeiro police's 'symbolic apartheid'
Fact or fiction: Adolf Hitler won an election in 1932
Did US presidential candidate Bernie Sanders fail history when he said, "Adolf Hitler won an election in 1932?" The Washington Post thinks so, but historian Mark Roseman told DW that Sanders does have a point.
Senator Bernie Sanders was asked about his religion. How does it inform his politics? The US presidential candidate and self-proclaimed democratic socialist is Jewish. He responded by discussing the cautionary tale of Nazi Germany and Adolf Hitler's rise to power.
"A guy named Adolf Hitler won an election in 1932," Sanders said during an event organized by the Christian Science Monitor in June. "He won an election, and 50 million people died as a result of that election in World War II, including 6 million Jews. So what I learned as a little kid is that politics is, in fact, very important."
This statement by Sanders was subsequently re-tweeted and posted across social media. The Washington Post, in response to one of its readers, published a fact-check article on Friday with the headline: "Why you shouldn't re-tweet Sanders's claim that 'Hitler won an election in 1932."
Two Indian sisters to be raped as 'punishment' after brother eloped
August 30, 2015 - 8:45AMBarney Henderson
Two sisters in India - one aged only 15 years - are to be raped as "punishment" for their brother running away with a married woman from a higher caste in the latest case to shock the country.
Meenakshi Kumari, who is 23, and her younger sister, will then be paraded naked with their faces blackened through the streets, according to a ruling from the all-male village council.
The sisters have petitioned the country's Supreme Court to be protected from the so-called "eye-for-an-eye" ruling from the village council in Uttar Pradesh state, 50 kilometres from the capital Delhi.
The family are from the Dalit caste, historically known as "untouchables". However, the brother fell in love with a woman from the higher, Jat, caste.
The woman was forced into an arranged marriage in February with a man from her own caste despite her relationship, according to Zee news, citing the elder sister Meenakshi.
Hurricane Katrina: New Orleans 10 years later
It wasn't just New Orleans that was hit.
The disaster was as much human-caused as natural.
Saturday, August 29, 2015
The Week That Was
Tuesday China's Xinhua news posted a screed of an editorial demanding that Japan's Emperor Akihito apologise for Japan's involvement in World War II. The fools at Xinhua can't seem to fathom that Emperor Akihito is prohibited by the constitution from making any such statements.
In a just concluded show trial that would make Uncle Joe proud a court in Egypt sentenced 3 Al Jazeera journalists to each serve three years in prison. Most of the evidence was either completely fabricated or so absurd it failed to pass the smell test. Let alone beat a polygraph.
Republican Presidential candidate New Jersey Governor Chris Christie opened his racist pie hole and vomited this little gem of racism onto the body politic. Gov. Christie would like to have barcodes tattooed on to immigrants after receiving their visas. He told an audience in New Hampshire that they could then be tracked like packages from Federal Express.
One can assume that the World War fought to defeat these types of human rights abuses is unknown to the gov.
Pyongyang has a shiny new airport with all the usual amenities including an internet room. There's just one small problem. There's no internet to connect too. Its blocked as internet use is restricted to government and party elites but the room looks real nice.
In a just concluded show trial that would make Uncle Joe proud a court in Egypt sentenced 3 Al Jazeera journalists to each serve three years in prison. Most of the evidence was either completely fabricated or so absurd it failed to pass the smell test. Let alone beat a polygraph.
Republican Presidential candidate New Jersey Governor Chris Christie opened his racist pie hole and vomited this little gem of racism onto the body politic. Gov. Christie would like to have barcodes tattooed on to immigrants after receiving their visas. He told an audience in New Hampshire that they could then be tracked like packages from Federal Express.
One can assume that the World War fought to defeat these types of human rights abuses is unknown to the gov.
Pyongyang has a shiny new airport with all the usual amenities including an internet room. There's just one small problem. There's no internet to connect too. Its blocked as internet use is restricted to government and party elites but the room looks real nice.
Melissa Harris-Perry Rips Bush For Revisionist History On Katrina
Melissa Harris-Perry Rips Bush For Revisionist History On Katrina
Former President George W. Bush actually had the gall to show up in New Orleans this week on the ten year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and do his best to try to revise history and the disastrous legacy of his administration and the mismanagement of the disaster. George W. Bush, Visiting New Orleans, Praises School Progress…
Six In The Morning Saturday August 29
Climate change: 2015 will be the hottest year on record 'by a mile', experts say
'Illegal' Malaysian protests demand PM Najib Razak’s resignation
Organisers say past rallies show police will use force against thousands calling for the government to address multi-million dollar financial scandal
Malaysians are staging protests calling for the resignation of the prime minister, Najib Razak, who is battling the fallout from a damning financial scandal.
The government was quick to condemn the weekend-long rallies, calling them illegal and blocking the website of the organisers, a coalition of non-governmental organisations.
This is the fourth demonstration by Bersih, which means “clean” in Malay, and is expected to be the largest. It is scheduled to last 34 hours from Saturday through to Sunday, to protest about what the group calls “one of the greatest multi-billion dollar corruption scandals in Malaysia’s history and the government’s most oppressive crackdowns on free speech”.
Dispelling myths about refugees
Most refugees come to Europe; they take our jobs away from us; and people who come from the Southern Balkans are just economic migrants anyway. DW takes a look at these migration myths and misconceptions.
DW reporters Diana Hodali and Sven Pöhle clear up general misconceptions about refugees. Their findings refute widespread notions in the German population - many of which exist in other European countries as well.
Why do we even accept refugees?
Germany has defined asylum laws: article 16a of the German constitution states that "politically persecuted persons have the right to asylum." This also applies to people who are severely marginalized in their home country for their political beliefs, to the point that their human dignity is violated.
Myth: Refugees get more money than Germans do
For about 20 years, asylum seekers and people who are classified in other refugee categories received about 30 percent less in German government benefits than what is considered to be a decent minimum standard for living in Germany. In July 2012, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court criticized the benefits as "clearly insufficient" and subsequently, increased them. While welfare recipients in Germany receive 399 euros (450 USD) per month, the amount set for asylum seekers is 281 - 352 euros (317 - 398 USD).
India's prosperous Patels seek change in caste status. Why?
Crowds of up to 500,000 have rallied in Gujarat, Prime Minister Modi's home state, to press for affirmative action. Riots left nine dead and led to curfews and the deployment of paramilitary troops.
MUMBAI — For the past week the western Indian state of Gujurat has seen a prominent community known as the Patels holding mass rallies led by a charismatic 22-year-old political activist.
The Patels are a farmer caste that has risen to become synonymous with entrepreneurship and trade. Now they are seeking affirmative action in the form of inclusion in a category of “backward” class designation that would give them government benefits. And that demand is playing out as a challenge to how modern India has adjudicated its still-existing caste system.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the former chief minister of Gujarat, called for peace this week as violence erupted after authorities tried to arrest Hardik Patel, the young activist.
Queen Elizabeth has revolutionised the British throne, over 63 years
August 29, 2015 - 12:47PMNick Miller
Europe Correspondent
Almost seven decades ago, a confident young woman in a pearl necklace sat at a small round wooden table in the shady corner of a Cape Town garden, facing a BBC radio microphone.
It was 1947, and she was turning 21.
I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service.The Queen, 1947
"There is a motto which has been borne by many of my ancestors, a noble motto, 'I serve'," she said in a clear, high voice. "I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.
"God help me to make good my vow."
Less than five years later her father was dead and she was queen.
Ethiopia races to preserve 'Africa's Jerusalem'
Archaeologists face a race against time to save 800-year-old structures crumbling away from moisture damage.
Charles Stratford |
Conservationists are facing a race against time to prevent one of Ethiopia's most sacred religious site from crumbling away.
The ancient churches of Lalibela in northern Ethiopia have been a place of pilgrimage for local Christians since they were constructed 800 years ago.
The 11 churches were carved out of the mountainside during the reign of the priest-king Lalibela, who hoped to give Ethiopians a place for pilgrimage inside the country and help them avoid making the dangerous journey to Jerusalem.
However, moisture is eating away at the structures and the sacred site is literally crumbling away.
Al Jazeera journalists sentenced to three years in jail
Condemnation of verdict as Egypt court finds Baher Mohamed, Mohamed Fahmy, and Peter Greste guilty in delayed trial.
After months of delay and a completely absurd trial the Egyptian judiciary have sentenced 3 Al Jazeera journalists to three years in prison,
A Cairo court has sentenced three Al Jazeera journalists to three years in jail after finding them guilty of "aiding a terrorist organisation".
Egyptian Baher Mohamed, Canadian Mohamed Fahmy and Australian Peter Greste were all handed three year jail sentences when the court delivered the verdict on Saturday.
Mohamed was sentenced to an additional six months for possession of a spent bullet casing.
The verdict was immediately slammed by Al Jazeera Media Network's Acting Director General Dr Mostefa Souag, who said: " Today's verdict defies logic and common sense . Our colleagues Baher Mohamed and Mohamed Fahmy will now have to return to prison, and Peter Greste is sentenced in absentia.
"The whole case has been heavily politicised and has not been conducted in a free and fair manner."
Friday, August 28, 2015
Random Japan
Fans are raving over this amazing Doraemon x Grand Theft Auto V crossover
Jamie Koide
Many of Japan’s classic anime series have managed to engage young viewers from one generation to the next. Perhaps one of the most famous examples is Doraemon, which keeps gaining more viewers the longer it runs. Since its hit television adaptation in 1979, the series has slowly taken the world by storm, finally reaching English-speaking audiences last summer after a partnership with Disney.
That said, in over 30 years few changes have been made to the original series, with its characters never having to grow up like the rest of us. As viewers got older, many of them started wondering what kind of teenagers and adults the original cast would have become. Some of the franchise’s movies, along with a commercial series by Toyota featuring Jean Reno as Doraemon, have set out to answer a few of these questions, but what about fans who didn’t imagine a future quite so bright? It seems the only answer would require illustrating it on your own, which is exactly what one artist did when he decided to reinvent the main cast as characters from video game smash Grand Theft Auto.
LONG LIVE JAPAN!
- Officials at the health ministry say the life expectancy for Japanese girls born in 2014 was 86.83 years—a record high.
- It was the third consecutive year that Japanese females topped the global longevity list. Women in Hong Kong took the number two spot, at 86.75 years.
- The life expectancy for Japanese men—80.50 years—was also a new high, good enough for third place in the world ranking alongside Singapore and Switzerland.
- Topping the list of male life expectancy were Hong Kong (81.17) and Iceland (80.8).
YOU’VE GOT TO BE SH***ING ME
- It was reported that young Japanese women are flocking to tours of rural areas with the purpose of … looking at clumps of moss.
- Organizers of tours to look at rural moss were quoted as saying, “Women are rich in emotions, so they are well-suited to moss viewing.”
- The bible of the movement may well be Hisako Fujii’s Mosses, My Dear Friends.
- An O.L. on a moss-viewing tour of Nagano was quoted as saying, “Seeing clusters of mosses living together, I can forget about our competitive society.”
Bullets Could Fly
"War Of The Hotels"
The Only Injuries; Your Wallet
The Party Of Future Generations
Elects A 75 Year Old Person To Lead The Party: Oxymoron Anyone?
Studies show Japanese people drinking less than ever
By Evie Lund,
One of the things you may notice when you come to Japan is how much drinking seems to be going on. Certain Japanese societal circles (the workplace, university clubs, etc) run more smoothly with the help of alcoholic lubrication in the form of after-hours “drinking parties” to facilitate team-building and bonding—it’s called nomication (or nominication), a portmanteau of “nomu” (to drink) and “communication”.
So we were quite surprised to discover recently that Japan’s level of alcoholic beverage consumption is actually way, way down. But why?
The new findings, dubbed the “Alcohol Report”, came to light following research conducted by the National Tax Agency in May this year. The report details the average alcohol consumption per person per year for the period 1989–2013. We’ve crunched up all the data into a handy line graph below for easy digestion.
Kids Behind Bars
With more than 60,000 children under the age of 21 in the American prison system, the state of New Mexico has introduced a new and innovative approach to help rehabilitate juvenile offenders.
Running a programme known as Cambiar (the Spanish word for "change"), the J. Paul Taylor Center in Las Cruces is attempting to show that therapy, education and counselling are more effective than traditional punishment for juvenile offenders.
Staff at the centre, including guards, are trained to act as mentors, counsellors and teachers rather than correctional officers; while solitary confinement, which can cause extreme psychological, physical, and developmental harm, is prohibited.
In Kids Behind Bars, investigative journalist Soledad O'Brien goes inside the institution to find out if the new system is more effective and can help turn around the young inmates' lives.
Six In The Morning Friday August 28
Migrant crisis: Austria lorry held more than 70 bodies
Europe
Austrian officials now say the bodies of more than 70 people, thought to be migrants, were in an abandoned lorry found on a motorway on Thursday.
They originally estimated that between 20 to 50 people died in the vehicle, found near the Hungarian border.
Police sent to investigate the dumped lorry on the A4 road towards Vienna discovered the decomposing bodies.
The local police chief said it appeared those in the vehicle had been dead for one-and-a-half to two days.
The victims were probably already dead when the vehicle crossed into Austria from Hungary, authorities said. It is unclear how they died.
Modern-day Monuments Men take on Isis by 3D-mapping ancient sites militants are seeking to destroy
Why neither India nor Pakistan won the 1965 war
Both India and Pakistan say they won the 1965 war they fought against each other. The truth of the matter is, however, both sides actually lost the war, writes Shivam Vij.
India will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its 1965 war with Pakistan from August 28 to September 22. (Pictured above: Indian soldiers patrol the Line of Control). A lot of nationalism will be on display, including a “carnival.” India and Pakistan both claim to have won that war. for its part, Pakistan celebrates September 6 as Defense of Pakistan Day.
Here is what happened in 1965. Pakistan launched a secret mission to send 30,000 armed men into Indian-administered Kashmir so as to incite an insurgency and liberate Kashmir from India. This was known as Operation Gibraltar. By the time Indian forces realized this had happened, the fighters had reached the outskirts of Srinagar, the capital of Kashmir.
Courts crackdown in China's unsettled Xinjiang region
August 28, 2015 - 4:06PMChris Buckley
Hong Kong: Courts across Xinjiang, the volatile region of western China that is home to Muslim Uighurs, have sentenced 45 people to prison in recent days after convicting them of supporting organisations accused of terror attacks or of helping others flee abroad, the main state news agency reported on Thursday.
The Xinhua report did not describe the ethnicity of the defendants, but their names indicated that they were Uighurs, the Turkic minority in Xinjiang that has become increasingly estranged from Chinese government policies, especially following restrictions on their culture and Muslim religion.
The government held up the convictions as proof that it would not tolerate violent opposition in Xinjiang, which in recent years has suffered a spate of violent attacks by Uighurs, in many instances using knives or rudimentary explosives. The government describes the attacks as terrorism, frequently masterminded from abroad, but human rights groups and advocates of Uighur self-determination have said that the violence is often primitive and locally inspired, and driven by Uighur despair.The Middle East is running out of water. Can they adapt?
The world’s demand for water is likely to surge in the next few decades, severely threatening national water security and economic growth in some parts of the world, experts say.
Rising global population and decreasing usable water supplies will cause the world’s demand for water to surge in the next few decades and intensify conflict in many countries, experts warn.
In the rankings by the World Resources Institute (WRI), fourteen of the 33 countries most likely to be water stressed in 2040 are in the Middle East, including nine considered extremely highly stressed – Bahrain, Kuwait, Palestine, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Lebanon.
According to the researchers, the Middle East is already the least water-secure region in the world, because it draws heavily upon groundwater and desalinated sea water and faces "exceptional water-related challenges for the foreseeable future," they say.
Expert: We're 'locked-in' to 3 feet sea level rise
Updated 2203 GMT (0503 HKT)
It was less than two years ago that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its all-encompassing assessment on the current state of climate change research and made projections for the future climate of our planet.
According to the latest from NASA, however, the projections the panel made for a rise in global sea levels of 1 to 3 feet may already be outdated.
According to Steven Nerem of the University of Colorado, we are "locked into at least 3 feet of sea level rise, and probably more."
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