On his blog, Zoriv published comparisons of the prices of oil derivatives in Macedonia, the USA and the EU [mk], and also calculated how much fuel one can buy on an average salary in various countries [mk]. (Both posts are in Macedonian, but the tables with country comparisons are in English and easily comprehensible.)

So, according to Zoriv, Latvia has the lowest price of gasoline in Europe (EUR 1.20), while Norway has the highest (EUR 1.94). Consumers in Macedonia have to pay EUR 1.4. While the official explanation for rising fuel prices is always the change of price of crude oil, Zoriv points out that a major factor in forming the end price are the excise taxes that go directly to the state budgets in countries with the highest prices (Norway, Holland, Italy, the UK, and Greece). He adds:

In Macedonia, for instance, the total taxation together with the profit margin for the merchants form around 70% of the price (Official Gazette of Republic of Macedonia, no. 138/09 and 52/11). The difference between Macedonia and the EU countries, alongside the salary levels which are incomparable, is the tragic fact that even the slightest increase of oil derivative prices affects the personal material existence of every citizen of Macedonia. The latest data show that fuel consumption has decreased by 30% [mk]. The increase of fuel prices leads to a spiral of the increase of all other living expenses, while family budgets drastically decrease.

The Macedonian government temporarily abolished the excise before the June 2011 elections, but returned it later, raising the prices [mk] in August.

By calculating how much fuel a citizen can buy with an average salary, Zoriv tried to shed light on income disparities: in the United States, one can buy 4,296 liters of gasoline on an average monthly salary. In Europe, the top spots go to Switzerland (3,441 l), Luxemburg (3,439 l), and Germany (3.075 l). The lowest on the list are Macedonia (243 l) and Albania (194 l), with a “disastrous ratio of 1:14″ compared to the leading “rich” countries.

According to the 2010 edition of the annual publication 200 Largest Companies in Macedonia, prepared and published by the Euro Business Center – Skopje, the two largest companies in the country are: the sole oil refinery OKTA (owned by the Greek interests, privatized while the current PM Gruevski served as the Minister of Finance) and the biggest oil derivatives distributor Makpetrol, with the total revenues of EUR 512 million and EUR 350 million, respectively.

The prospects for the future seem bleak. According to the UNDP report “Assessing the Economic Impact of Climate Change,” Macedonia also faces numerous other challenges in the energy sector.

Social media users shared various kinds of data related to the fuel price increase, such as the table [mk] showing the elements that form the prices of fuel, originally from an Radio Free Europe article [mk] by Srgjan Stojanchov:

Elements of fuel prices in Macedonian Denars.

They also posted various reactions to ongoing developments with the fuel prices, and the most shared were the humorous responses, such as this joke: “Would you like to take your girlfriend someplace expensive? - Take her to a gas station!” The latest chuckle is a demotivation-style meme featuring the late Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito and a supposed laconic quote in Croatian:

Photo of Tito and a supposed quote: You say the gasoline got more expensive? Well, why don't you make a deal with the Non-Aligned countries?

During the Cold War, Tito was famous for striking a balance between Eastern and Western blocs, with Yugoslavia serving as a kind of a buffer, to the commercial benefit of its people. In 1961, he co-founded the Non-Aligned Movement, which included many oil-producing nations, resulting in favorable trade relations. A famous political-economic quote attributed to him (in the Lexicon of Yugoslav Mythology) is this: “The grain that we received from the Americans is much superior in quality to the grain the Soviets did not deliver.”

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As of the end of the month of February 2012, the mobilization efforts of Internet users against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) [en] were still going strong. In fact, they may have begun to bear fruit.

By including infringements against the author's rights in its scope, this international treaty, which addresses intellectual property rights, also affects Internet content.

The ratification debates which were placed on the European Parliament's agenda on February 29, were put on hold in expectation of the opinion of the European Court of Justice (ECJ). The issue of the treaty's conformity with European Community law was brought before the court on 22 February by the European Commission.

No ACTA - Strasbourg. Photo by Christophe Kaiser on Flickr, CC-license-BY

Taurillon, the “magazine of young Europeans -France” describes “Europe's about-face on ACTA“:

Si l’avis est négatif, l’ACTA n’a plus aucune chance en Europe. Mais en cas d’avis positif, le recours à la CJUE représente le double avantage de redonner au traité une certaine crédibilité, et de repousser son adoption à une époque suffisamment lointaine pour que la polémique se soit tassée et que l’opinion publique regarde ailleurs.

Jérémie Zimmermann, co-founder and spokesperson for la Quadrature du Net urges on the European deputies:

Les eurodéputés doivent résister à la stratégie de la Commission européenne, qui cherche à gagner du temps et à transformer le débat en une simple discussion juridique, et pour cela continuer à travailler au rejet d’ACTA. ACTA vise à imposer une tendance pour une politique globale du droit d’auteur qui est toxique pour l’Internet libre et pour les libertés. Le Parlement européen est le dernier rempart : il doit agir et adopter une position claire et forte, faute de quoi il laissera le champ libre à la Commission pour imposer une répression inacceptable.

For trucbuntu, there is no question of remaining passive while waiting for the Court to adjudicate:

Les citoyens de toute l’Europe peuvent contacter leurs représentants dans les commissions Commerce International (INTA) et Industrie (ITRE), qui se réunissent cette semaine pour discuter d’ACTA, et leur demander de continuer à travailler au sein de leur commission pour le rejet d’ACTA.

The website of the European Parliament explains the procedure and the issues of the treaty [en] that are under scrutiny, and has published ‘What you should know about ACTA‘ [en], a page of questions and answers. The ACTA workshop of the European Parliament has been the object of a storify [en] made by the Parliamentary services (link via Global Voices contributor Asteris Masouras [en]).

The organization AVAAZ submitted a petition to the European Parliament on 29 February with 2.4 million signatures against ACTA. The petition is still open:

Nous sommes vraiment proches de la victoire — notre pétition forte de 2,4 millions de signatures a ébranlé les responsables politiques partout en Europe et stoppé les censeurs. La Commission européenne est à présent en position de faiblesse et espère que la Cour de justice donnera son feu vert au traité ACTA en lui soumettant une question juridique très limitée qui recevra certainement une réponse positive.Mais si nous faisons résonner nos voix aujourd'hui, nous pouvons faire en sorte que la Cour examine tous les impacts légaux du traité ACTA et publie un avis qui fera toute la lumière sur cette attaque contre nos droits qu'est ACTA.

No ACTA - Strasbourg. Photo Christophe Kaiser on Flickr, CC-license-BY

Anti-ACTA parties continue to  strengthen their resources. New protests were set for 10 March, and torrentnews gives a list, with this appeal:

La liste n’est pas exhaustive, n’hésitez pas à nous contacter pour la compléter ;)

si certains se sentent l’âme d’un reporter- photographe en herbe, nous recherchons également des personnes pour faire un petit article photo du déroulement de la manif, rien de bien compliqué, comme fait ici pour Nice, Marseille,Bordeaux et Strasbourg.

For details on the elements of the debate, see also these linked articles from the Tribune on February 29, and Myeurop, on March 3. On Global Voices, see the laws SOPA/PIPA that set a precedent in the USA, here [en] and here [en]. Since the beginning of the protests, ACTA seems to have lost a lot of political momentum.

Written by Suzanne Lehn · Translated by Danielle Martineau · View original post [fr] · comments (0)
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Future Challenges focuses on finding the ways different global trends relate to each other in different regional contexts. Through articles and Local Views from countries all around the world, writers delve into how topics like climate change, demographic change, natural resources and biodiversity, health, security and Anti/Terror Policy, education, globalization, migration, new governance and technology affect each other and impact communities.

From the contest's terms and conditions:

With its ‘FutureChallenger’ Facebook campaign, FutureChallenges wants to give interested people the opportunity to present their own views about what challenges the future will bring.

The international competition starts out with the aim of giving different people from different cultural backgrounds and disciplines the chance to submit a powerful video that will help raise awareness about the issues they feel strongly about.

The deadline for the videos is March 22nd, when voting will commence on selected videos to choose the winner.

Joh Correia, a singer from the Banda Quero in Brazil puts forth her challenge for the future in this subtitled video:

Adnane Addioui in Morocco believes that the challenge is in making people care and take responsibility for issues:

Rapper Ty Phoon in the Netherlands believes that privacy and control of our online footprint is a challenge:

What do YOU think are the future challenges? Make a video and submit it through the Future Challenges Facebook page and win an iPad2!

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Zwarte Piets in The Hague, The Netherlands, November 2010, by Flickr user Gerard Stolk (CC-BY-NC)

In the winter season in The Netherlands a character named Zwarte Piet (Black Pete) accompanies Sinterklaas (Saint Nicholas, the original inspiration for Santa Claus) for a yearly feast that is celebrated on the evening of December 5 or morning of December 6 with sweets and presents for all good children. This traditional holiday rivals Christmas in importance.

In recent years the role of Zwarte Piet has become part of a recurring debate in The Netherlands as some citizens take offense at holiday costumes with black painted faces. The story goes that the companions of Saint Nicholas are Moors who help carry the presents brought to children when he arrives by boat from Spain.

The tradition continues to be popular, though some have been moved to protest against what they see as racist imagery. On November 12, 2011 a protester wearing a t-shirt that said ‘Zwarte Piet is racisme’ (Black Pete is racism) was arrested in Dordrecht amidst accusations of police brutality. The t-shirt campaign has its own Tumblr blog with photos and a Facebook page with more than 800 followers.

The blogger at Stuff Dutch People Like wrote in 2010 about the tradition of Zwarte Piet:

You know it’s that time of the year again in Holland, when you are greeted by some Dutch person on the street, whose face is painted completely black and is sporting an afro wig, bright red lips and a ridiculous clown-like costume.

Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet, The Hague, The Netherlands, November 2008, by Zemistor (CC-BY-ND)

Dutch graffiti artist and blogger BNE posts some photos of Zwarte Piet, and asks: Is The Dutch Holiday Of Sinterklaas’s Tradition Of “Black Pete” Racist?:

This “tradition” has evolved throughout the years, partially due to increasing protests from groups that find these depictions offensive. Nowadays, it is claimed that the Black face is due to the fact that the helpers have gone through chimneys and as a result, their faces are covered in soot. What again, nobody can clearly explain, is what kind of soot leaves such a uniform and evenly spread residue. Or worse, why these “chimney dwellers” speak in a fake accent that parodies the Black population of the Dutch former colony of Suriname.

Anthropologist and blogger Martijn de Koning of CLOSER explains in Jolly Black Servant – Tradition and Racism in the Netherlands:

I dont expect a change in this tradition very soon. It should be clear however that Black Pete is a construction, and invention that has already changed in history. The current tradition has lost many of negative connotations which is partly positive but the negative side is that this makes the racism more hidden. Nevertheless, I think this Dutch tradition lends itself perfectly for teaching young children about racism, colonialism and religion throughout history. Maybe that would be a starting point for some change in the future?

On travel website Off Track Planet, Anna Starostinetskaya gives this answer to the question, What the F*ck is Zwarte Piet?:

So is Pete a children’s tale or a racist figure? We promise no definitive answer exists. We’re not saying this tradition is not objectifying black people in a racist way and it is understandable that Americans have the strongest feelings on the topic because Zwarte Piet is visually too close to what our racist roots look like. But Americans must also realize that our own history drives us to apply what we know about our own racist past on traditions that may not have anything in common but black face paint. Although it may be racist in some way, we cannot just superimpose our own racist history atop another country’s tradition and say it’s the same. Either way, we hope a happy medium exists that doesn’t involve smurfs, midgets or complete Americanization of world traditions.

Sinterklaas arrives by boat in Arnhem, November 2011, by Bas Boerman (CC-BY-NC)

On the blog Tiger Beatdown, beneath Flavia’s post “If you protest racism during Black Face season in The Netherlands, you will be beaten up and arrested” a comment by Elfe echoes the above:

I read your post because I needed to understand why I do not find this tradition racist …The “slaves” or “helpers” are you refer to them are not ridicule: these are pages not clowns and they are wearing nice clothes, they are not parading around half naked with a bone across their nostrils like some savages (or like Josephine Baker and her banana skirt). … Like “Tintin in the Congo” the Zwarte Piets are a reminder of the past. … I know it is very insulting for Blacks in America to see White people with their face painted in black (but it took me to live in the US to understand why: a period when black were not even allowed to play their own role in theater). …Like the rappers who have decided to own the N word we can just ignore this tradition if it annoys us, personally I could not care less. Being African I don’t see the Zwarte Piets as Blacks (they don’t look like me or like any African I know) … To feel insulted by them you really need to have a really poor self-esteem. Sorry for being politically incorrect…

Written by Anna Gueye · comments (10)
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So who might end up replacing Luis Moreno Ocampo as Chief Prosecutor of the ICC? As of the time of writing, the frontrunner is the Deputy Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda of Gambia.

Other candidates include:

… Andrew Cayley, a co-prosecutor at the Khmer Rouge tribunal in Cambodia who comes from Britain; Tanzania's Chief Justice Mohamed Chande Othman; and Robert Petit, a counsel at the crimes against humanity and war crimes section of Canada's Justice Department.

The ECCC court room on 20 July 2009 during testimony of former Khmer Rouge prison guard Him Huy. Courtesy of Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia.

“Any of those four would be an improvement,” Joshua Rozenberg of the BBC's Law in Action writes in response to a query from the author:

@JoshuaRozenberg: @efleischer Any of those four would be an improvement. Come to think of it, anyone would be better.

Almost in counterpoint to Rozenberg’s disapproval however, is Bensouda herself. In an interview with The Global Observatory, she stresses the idea of letting the court be the court:

I think one of the strongest arguments to make about not amending or changing anything is, at least let the court go into full cycle, let it try and test all the parts of the statute that we will be dealing with, before you want to amend it.

In reaching out to the online community specifically interested in the International Criminal Court, Jesse Loncraine of IJ Central, an activist organization created by Skylight Pictures, wrote that:

If Bensouda takes over, expect a victim driven approach.

And the idea of this ‘victim driven’ approach manifests itself at least within the interview with The Global Observatory:

You should also take note that the ICC is the first international criminal court created that also took into account victim participation. Most of it was as a result of what happened in the ad-hoc tribunals and how the victims felt so helpless, that they are just passive subjects, they are used as witnesses but when it comes to them participating, having their views and concerns, and at the end of the day seeking reparations, it did not happen. It is happening at the ICC. Again, I give examples of the trials that have taken place so far and how the victims have been very active subjects in those trials.

[…]

It is not the work of the Office of the Prosecutor, of course, to deal with reparations. It is the judges, and they will decide how they want to decide, and the trust fund for victims will take it up from there. But what we have been doing at the level of the Office of the Prosecutor is see how we can connect situations that can help each other.

Global Voices has previously reported on efforts to bring the British-born Prime Minister of Thailand to the International Criminal Court, Kenyans organizing to show support for the ICC (or texting their votes to save a suspect), the Sudanese blogosphere reacting to the arrest warrant issued against Omar al-Bashir (as well as here), African bloggers reacting to Karadžić’s arrest, the trial of Charles Taylor at the ICJ and more.

One of the issues in dealing with a global institution is to begin to work towards building a global conversation around it; in taking a step back and in reply to being queried as to what he thinks about the court, Ahron Young, the Melbourne Bureau Chief for Sky News, writes:

I agree that people in corrupt countries need to do something and the ICC offers at least some hope that something can be done.

Jahanzaib Haque, web editor for The Express Tribune, writes:

I don't have a strong opinion about the ICC, but I am a believer in justice without borders, and the ICC is a (flawed) necessary step in the right direction towards a unified, cosmopolitan existence for all.

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As the Th!nk About It site describes:

TH!NK ABOUT IT is a series of blogging competitions organised by the European Journalism Centre. The competitions are aimed at professional and aspiring journalists and new media creators from a diverse range of backgrounds. TH!NK aims to provide an online platform for coverage of a timely topic, establishing an international community of bloggers in the process. The first TH!NK edition in 2009 concentrated on the European parliamentary elections, with subsequent editions focusing on global topics such as climate change and global development.

Here are some of the most popular and original posts written by some of the winners:

On the post “The Usual Question: Faucet or Bottled Water?”, Brazilian blogger Diego Lobo talks about water markets and his personal experience with bottled water.

Blogger Iris Gonzales from the Philippines wrote “Wait! My Water Bag Broke!“, a post where she discusses water through a maternal perspective.

Larisa Rankovic from Serbia posted “Dam on Danube and the End of Communism”, a historical text telling the story of a dam that was becoming a focus for opposition of the Hungarian regime.

Blogger and film maker Peter Vadocz from Hungary uploaded a short movie he made on the topic called “Spiagga/ Beach”. The author defines it as “a picture dictionary for 4-6 years old kids on the beach.”

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Zahra Bahrami

According to Dutch and international news media, Dutch-Iranian Zahra Bahrami has been executed in Iran after having been found guilty of drug-related crimes and sentenced to death on 2 January. She was arrested on 27 December 2009 when she reportedly attended an anti-government demonstration during a visit to Tehran.

The Campaign to Free Political Prisoners in Iran wrote a letter to the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs [en] in September 2010 urging them to make demands to Iran for her release. Amnesty International's Dutch section also took up Bahrami's cause [nl] under strong suspicion that Bahrami never received a fair trial. This morning, they reported the news of her execution on Twitter:

Nederlands-Iraanse Zahra Bahrami in Iran geëxecuteerd door ophanging (via @nrc) #doodstraf #bahrami nrc.nl/nieuws/2011/01…

Dutch Twitter users reacted to the news.

@voetvaeg writes [nl]:

SCHOKKEND: ondertussen heeft Iran de Nederlandse Zahra #Bahrami geëxecuteerd door ophanging! http://bit.ly/hKpnc5

Some people, like @VrolijkRechts, wanted to do more than just tweet [nl] about it:

Beste mensen. Hoe laat zijn jullie bij de Iraanse ambassade om jullie te laten horen? Of blijven wij boos twitteren? #Zahra #Bahrami

Others, such as @bobbraak, called on the Dutch government to take action [nl]:

vanmiddag om 17:00 uur gaat er vlucht naar tehran. Uri, die kan de iraanse ambassadeur mooi nog halen! #bahrami

@Leon_Bosma puts things into perspective [nl]:

Veel verontwaardiging over #Bahrami. Zonder af te willen doen, wat maakt één staatsmoord zo belangrijk versus bv. de ruim 30 in #Egypte?

@BartNijman is skeptical [nl] about the case:

Als op drugsdelicten in Iran de doodstraf staat, waarom zou voor een Iraans-Nederlandse dan wat anders moeten gelden? #bahrami #iran

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran posted a reaction from Bahrami's lawyer [en]:

I am shocked. I was absolutely not informed about this. They should have informed her lawyer of the execution, but I had no idea. I don’t know what to say. Just that I am shocked.

On Saturday afternoon, Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant reported [nl] that the Iranian ambassador in the Netherlands has confirmed that Bahrami has indeed been executed, upon which the Netherlands immediately froze all ties with Iran. The Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, Uri Rosenthal, calls the case “a scandal, committed by a barbarian regime”.

Twitter hashtag: #bahrami

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Imagen por Hugo Esteves CC/By

Today's videos focus on the artisans around the world still making shoes by hand.  From Mexico to Japan: we'll take a look at how different shoes, slippers and sandals are made.

We start our journey with Mexico. The Rarámuri indian's name is said to mean those who run fast, and that has sparked the attention of runners who believe that by walking in the traditional Tarahumara's shoes, the huaraches, they may be able to tap onto their speed and resistance.

This previous video showed us a Tarahumara indian tying on his traditional huaraches: this next video shows a new incarnation of the huarache as readapted by the barefoot running page InvisibleShoe.

The Japanese also have their traditional sandals. These next videos show how to make zōri [jp], waraji(1 and 2) and geta sandals (starts at 2:28) respectively:

The wooden clogs or klompen have been part of Dutch identity and image for years. Here, we see how they are traditionally made using hand tools:

This short note shows us one of 4 traditional Peranakan beaded slippers makers of Singapore:

But not only traditional designs are made by hand as we can see in this next video. In Sri Lanka, traditional cobbling skills are put to work making modern shoes:

And last but not least, a specialized shoe that is dreamed about by many little girls all over the world: the pointe ballerina shoe.

Written by Juliana Rincón Parra · comments (1)
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The cries of Tunisians, protesting against corruption and joblessness for the past two weeks, is gathering momentum on the World Wide Web. Netizens from around the world are rallying behind them and echoing their calls.

It all started when an unemployed man set himself on fire in protest against his unemployment in Sidi Bouzid. According to the Los Angeles Times:

The death triggered violent clashes between young demonstrators and
police forces that resulted in the death of an 18-year-old after
National Guard members opened fire on angry protesters in a nearby town
two days later.

Further marches and protests later spread to the capital and the cities of Sfax, Sousse and Meknassi.

From India, Anja Kovacs hits the nail on the head. She tweets:

Tunisia's seen a genuine revolt over last few weeks, but outside of Middle East, it's hardly reported. Why? http://bit.ly/he2Let #sidibouzid

She adds:

To know more abt what is happening in #Tunisia & get continuous updates, good people to follow are @ifikra , @weddady, @nawaat #sidibouzid

Egyptian Wael Nofal poses a similar question in this tweet:

@stephenfry Are you following what's going on in #SidiBouZid #Tunisia ؟It's odd why western media turned face away, unlike #Iran last year

And DanersB, who splits her time between Beirut, Dubai and Montreal, notes:

Ever the optimist! @dr_davidson: Heavyhandedness from #Tunisia 's despot, #BenAli, may well set the tone for the #Arab world's next decade

From the US, HarvardDr brings up yet another reference to Iran - this time referring to the end of the Shah's era. He writes (Ar):

From Washington DC, Priyanka Joseph is stunned by the wall of silence. She writes:

Someone's channeling Kundera. Shit's going down in #Tunisia, not a word of it on the news here (no surprise) nor on TTrends/my timeline.

Anne Eksten, from Denmark, notes:

Government #Tunisia respond to peaceful protest by Live Ammunition, Security Siege, Violence http://goo.gl/rnL0p /@Elicoopter_mid @RamyRaoof

And from the Netherlands, Mark adds:

“We are unhappy with the policies in Tunisia, we are unhappy with everything - it is not just unemployment.” #tunisia

Egyptian writer Mona Eltahawy urges her colleagues in the media to make a stand:

Friends, esp those with media connections, please tweet and RT #Tunisia and #SidiBouzid. Let's stand with Tunisians fighting oppression.

And Hisham Kassem, also from Egypt, is baffled:

Meanwhile, from Portnoy, from Taiwan, is left wondering:

For more tweets on Tunisia, check the hashtags #Tunisia and #sidibouzid

This post is part of our special coverage of Tunisia Revolution 2011.

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Abdulla is a talented nine-year-old, who had a YouTube clip post of him playing soccer. It was then that Marcel, a Dutchman interested in scouting young soccer athletes, viewed the clip in disbelief and awe. Marcel got in touch with the family and flew down to Kuwait to verify the talent, then went out of his way with the Kuwaiti government to see to it that Abdulla moves to Holland with his family, to continue his soccer education, and hopefully become, according to Marcel “one of the world's greatest football players in history!”

Though it was a struggle for Marcel at first, the Kuwaiti Government did eventually state “that they would support Abdulla and his family” in the beginning. However,”they failed to do so”, Marcel says.

This of course raised the question of to what extent is the government responsible for its youth and developing its talent, to what extent did it have to cater to the family's expenses too, and why should it support a Kuwaiti who might one day play for the Dutch team?

Marcel put it beautifully in the following:

… Even though no one knows what will happen in the future, to deny a young boy his opportunity to develop his unique talent cause he might be playing for the Dutch National Team, is in my opinion -at least- naive. Kuwait, stand up and fight for your youth!

…. I’m convinced that any Government chosen by its citizens, has an obligation to help those who depend on them. Not for themselves, but for the future of the country.

…. Abdullah’s family don’t want to be seen as martyrs. Because they’re not. They’re a proud Kuwaiti family, which wants to educate their children at the best way they can. Like any other parents. By coincidence this family also happens to be blessed with an extremely talented kid. How wonderful this seems at first sight, it asks a lot of sacrifice of the family. They want to make this sacrifice, but without help it won’t be enough. Extraordinary situations ask for extraordinary solutions. In that case its important that you can count on your own people, your country and your Government. Without their sincere commitment it will be impossible.

Abdulla also had a documentary made after him, “filmed in Holland, broadcast on Dutch National Television and screened in Dubai at the Gulf Film Festival 2009″. He had become a popular icon in Dutch media.

The majority of responses to Marcel's writing seem to be disappointed to the lack of attentiveness, appreciation, and support of the Kuwaiti Government to foster Abdulla's talent, especially because they can afford it. They also appraised and had much respect for people like Marcel, who took initiative into supporting Abdulla, and enabled him to pursue further training and development in Holland for three months, only to be appalled and let down by the lack of support from the Kuwaiti Government, that has caused the departure of Abdulla and his family back to Kuwait again.

In the comments to the post, Nael wrote:

Sadly, this is the case in almost the entire Arab world, skilled and talented people aren’t being appreciated, so they go to immigrate to countries that will actually do….

odawg added:

Is it not a shame that us Kuwaitis refuse to recognise and develop talent? I’ve seen kids playign on the street who make the Kuwait national team look like a bunch of jokers. Kuwait competd in the world cup decades ago and we can do it again – Kuwait give Sayyed a helping hand give other talented youth a helping hand even if it means growing our talent outside our desert. Marcel – RESPECT for recognising this young talent – the amount of young footballers who have come out of Holland are because of men like you. Thank you Holland for trying to grow our talent. Kuwait- shame on you :(

And AB noted:

What is the use of the Public Authority for Youth & Sports when it cannot relaize the talent his little guy has and help him in becoming on of the best players in the world. Investing in this kid will help shape the future of Kuwaiti football.I hope someone in a position reads about this little guy and takes notice before it is too late..

What becomes of our future “Maradona” then?

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The Skopje Zoo drastically changed its appearance this year, to a great satisfaction of the population from all over Macedonia, but also inciting regular flow of visitors from Kosovo and Serbia.

Renovation of the Zoo was real news to most citizens of Skopje, who generally avoided this decrepit public space in the last few decades for the sake of their own mental health. Widely considered a place where animals suffer torture due to unbearable conditions, the Zoo only appeared in the media after horrendous incidents such as hippo biting off a limb of a visitor in self-defense, killing of a few deer by burglars, аnd frequent animal deaths or injuries due to firecrackers, stones, plastic bags thrown by human beings…

Jaguar in Skopje Zoo, August 2002. Photo: Filip Stojanovski.

As documented in this article from 2002, completely contrary to their roaming nature, large carnivores were kept numb in small concrete cells - “lying all day, breaking the habit only to pace nervously from time to time in great speed in front of the iron bars.”

Lions in Skopje Zoo, August 2002. Photo: Filip Stojanovski.

As such, the Skopje Zoo received a lot of bad press over the years, and became world infamous around 2007 when some foreigners took notice of Koko the chimpanzee, and tried to help him. Orphaned in infancy, Koko suffered from severe depression for years. His sad face was also used to illustrate the plight of chimps elsewhere (e.g., a Reuters article about the United States). As a way out of continuous public embarrassment (mostly perpetrated by Vest daily), the authorities allowed Koko's transfer to AAP primate sanctuary in Holland in 2009.

In fact, around that time the Skopje Zoo started re-establishing relations with relevant European associations such as EAZA, which led to the start of renovations and refurbishing, driven by donors and exchange partners. Reforms intensified in 2010, after the appointment of Dane Kuzmanovski as manager.

The Zoo now seems to have more staff, and outsources a private security agency. Visitors who want to feed the animals can purchase animal-friendly produce. A cafe and a pony riding rink have been operational since this past summer. Most of the cages have been renovated, or new habitats built, and dozens of new animals have been imported, including tigers. Sponsored events for kids take place in the Zoo, and space for birthday celebrations can be rented.

Cooperation with educational institutions, environmental NGOs and the media has been established. An example of the latter is the show “Zoo Story,” produced by the bilingual (Albanian-Macedonian) Alsat-M TV.

The Skopje Zoo's Facebook page has over 34,000 fans, frequent updates and a responsive administrator capable of admitting mistakes. Strangely enough, the template of the Zoo's official website has not been updated, and its home page greets its visitors with a stock photo made elsewhere.

As with other public enterprises, critics may also grumble about alleged partisan leanings of business sector partnerships and the HR policy. Some bad things have happened due to circumstances outside of the staff's control, such as the heatwave deaths of two deer and two gnus transported from Zagreb Zoo in August. Both zoos announced [MKD] they would sue the transport company for not allowing a vet to accompany the animals on the 610 km trip.

However, the opposition, which often considers governmental endeavors a facade for money laundering, has been largely silent about the obviously significant investments of public money in the Skopje Zoo. Possibly because the benefits are tangible and verifiable: most of the animals now live in decent-looking enclosures where they can touch ground and plants, with access to open sky. Visitors indeed get more gratifying experiences and spread the word.

Part of the new lions' enclosure in the Skopje Zoo, introduced in 2010. Photo: Filip Stojanovski, CC-BY.

Carolin Weinkopf, a German visitor to the Zoo wrote this July:

There [are] various horror stories online about the zoo in Skopje – and we are not zoo-experts, but we couldn’t really understand why. They might have cleaned it and put bigger cages when they heard the Germans are coming… but for us it looked not much different than the zoo in Berlin, really. Zoos are probably never the best thing on earth – anyway – here, almost every species was blessed with a bunch of babies, which must be a good sign, or not?

…

Update on Koko: a year ago (Dec. 23, 2009), Vest reported [MKD] that “the Dutch refuse to let Koko return” because of the miserable conditions. The latest news [MKD] (Nov. 6, 2010) is that private companies will build a new dwelling for the 14-year-old ape, who is expected back in April 2011.

Written by Filip Stojanovski · comments (3)
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During the event, the women participated in different workshops. In the first one they discussed gender, migration and development, and how their rights have transformed or changed according to their new migratory status. In the second workshop, they explored remittances and agreed on the need to raise awareness on the role of women in sending money to their home countries. In the last workshop, they discussed the new family structures that have been created due to migrations, and the importance of Latin America as it has given rise to a new family structure called “transnational family”, and how family law and family rights should change or adapt to this new context.

Women who went to the encounter had diverse reasons. As they are interviewed in the video they list a few, such as the need to inform themselves, to socialize, to learn and also to discover new ways in which to adapt to a new culture without forgetting their previous one.

Another meeting of migrant Latin American Women was organized in Spain, inspired in the successful experience of the one in Netherlands.  Diaspora Solidaria describes the inspiring results:

La agradable sorpresa la constituyó el ver a tantas mujeres comprometidas seriamente con el desarrollo de un movimiento de mujeres que traspase regiones y naciones

Written by Juliana Rincón Parra · comments (0)
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You have described yourself as strategist for humanitarian campaigns and social media. Do you think social media can play a role in effecting change in the Palestinan situation?

Already in the 90s with the rise of internet, I have always felt that internet as a communication tool would help tremendously in getting voices of people heard, especially from people living in military closed areas. More broadly speaking, in the debate in mainstream media around various conflicts you hardly hear the voices of ordinary people. Whether in Afghanistan, Somalia or Palestine, the vast majority of people, ordinary women and men, are hardly listened to. What you hear are political and military leaders and some self-defined experts that talk about people, but you hardly hear the voices of ordinary Palestinians. People like you and me. Social media easily connects ordinary women and men in Palestine to ordinary men and women in the West.

A year ago you made headlines by having a street in Askar refugee camp [near the West Bank city of Nablus] named after your Twitter account. Why did you choose your Twitter account and not simply your name?

At that time a group of marketing experts were visiting Askar and wanted to support the renovation of a youth centre in the camp. As they were walking around the camp, they noticed that one of the unique selling points of the camp was that the streets had no names. In the West, you first need to be well-known or not living anymore, if you want to have a street named after you. In the age of Twitter and Facebook people want to get acknowledged. By naming the street after my Twitter account I could relate this simple notion of a camp where the streets have no names to a vast number of people in the West that were looking at the enormous developments in social media, that on a daily basis were experiencing these new developments and who took notice of the headline ‘First street named after a Twitter account‘. If a street would be named after an ordinary name, they wouldn't have paid attention.

Is it true that your account is one of the most popular in the Netherlands as a result?

Yes, indeed, and as a result I was the first Dutch Twitter account in the world's top 1000 of most-followed Twitter accounts and the first on Twitter's own suggested users list, between Barack Obama and Coldplay.

@arjanelfassed tweetstreet in Askar refugee camp (photo courtesy of Arjan El Fassed)

Another project you have been involved with is Send A Message, in which people request messages to be spray-painted on the West Bank wall. How did the project come about?

In the spring of 2004, a good friend of mine, Justus van Oel visited Gaza and other parts of Palestine. He was shocked by what he experienced, and by everything that he did not know, or did not want to know. With support from a Dutch development organisation and former colleagues of his in the Dutch advertising industry, he organized three workshops with young Palestinians. The goal was to create effective, out-of-the-box communications concepts, that were inexpensive to execute as well. The first project, Send A Message, was making it possible to leave a personal, spray-painted message on the Wall. Over 1,400 messages have been placed.

Spray-painting a message (photo courtesy of Send A Message)

What kind of response has there been, and can you give us some examples of the messages that people have requested?

This project was listed by Time Magazine as ‘most influential graffiti art'. Through the mainstream media, the project and Palestinians trapped behind the Wall, reached an audience of over 550,000,000 people. A story we will always remember is this: Caspar from the Netherlands is celebrating his honeymoon in Indonesia. He sits next to his wife, whom he proposed with a message on the Wall, and they watch an international news channel. This channel shows an item about Send A Message and camera zooms in at Caspar's marriage proposal on the Wall.

A message on the wall (photo courtesy of of Send A Message)

Do you have any other initiatives coming up?

Yes, together with the Dutch-Israeli filmmaker Benny Brunner, a crossmedia project about 60,000 Palestinian books that were systematically looted during the 1948 war. The story of the stolen books is not only at the heart of our project, a documentary film to be produced about what happened, but also an online launching pad of a much bigger and wider endeavor: we intend to communicate the scope and depth of the destruction of culture in 1948. Ideally we want to bring those looted private libraries virtually back to life.

The Great Book Robbery can be followed on Twitter here.

You can “send a message” on the West Bank wall until 1 October; for more details see here.

Written by Ayesha Saldanha · comments (0)
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