What Were Global Voices’ Readers up to Last Week?
Global Voices, our community researches, writes, edits, and translates stories with a mission to support human rights and build bridges of understanding across countries, cultures, and languages.
We don't publish just to grab clicks or follow a news trend. We do, however, like to keep track of the ways in which our hard work has impact around the world.
To that end, one useful metric is how readers respond to our stories and translations. So let's take a look at who our readers were and what caught their attention during the week of February 19-25, 2018.
Where in the world are Global Voices’ readers?
Last week, our stories and translations attracted readers from 209 countries! The top 20 countries represented across all of Global Voices’ sites were:
- United States
- France
- Brazil
- Mexico
- Japan
- Spain
- Italy
- Colombia
- Philippines
- United Kingdom
- Germany
- India
- Taiwan
- Canada
- Russia
- Ecuador
- Argentina
- Indonesia
- Bangladesh
- Peru
But that's only a small slice of the diversity of our readership. Let's use the True Random Number Generator from Random.org and take a look at a few other countries on the list:
- Lithuania
- Ghana
- Macedonia
- Comoros
- Jordan
Global Voices in English
The English-language site is where the majority of original content is first published at Global Voices. The top five most-read stories of last week were:
- “Do Others Know We Exist?”: A Nurse’s Testimony from Syria’s Besieged Eastern Ghouta
- Hannah Mouncey Becomes First Transgender Player in Australian Women’s State League Football
- Trinidad & Tobago Finally Gets Its ‘Steups’ Emoji
- All of the Soviet Union’s Academy Award-Winning Films Are Legally and Freely Available Online
- Censorship in Serbia Hits a New Low After Newspaper ‘Edits’ an Obituary
Global Voices Lingua
Lingua is a project that translates Global Voices stories into languages other than English. There are about 30 active Lingua sites. Below is last week's most-read story or translation on each active language site.
Arabic
هل يعرف الآخرون بوجودنا؟ شهادة لممرضة من الغوطة الشرقية المحاصرة في سوريا (“‘Do Others Know We Exist?': A Nurse’s Testimony from Syria’s Besieged Eastern Ghouta”)
Aymara
May may aru sarawtuqit sarantayañäni Tayka arun urup aka 2018 maran amtkasin tayka arunak qillqapxañäni (“Promoting a More Linguistically Diverse Internet Through the Mother Language Meme Challenge 2018″)
Bangla
নেলসন ম্যান্ডেলার ১৭টি জ্ঞানগর্ভ উক্তি যা সকলের পাঠ করা উচিৎ (“17 Pieces of Wisdom from Nelson Mandela that Everyone Needs to Read,” originally published in 2013)
Chinese (simplified)
中国：性、监控、与“人民色情”（People’s Porn）的崛起 (“China: Sex, Censorship and the Rise of ‘People's Porn,’” originally published in 2011)
Chinese (traditional)
一名來自敘利亞東部圍城「烏塔」的護理師：「有人知道我們的存在、我們在這個地下室裡活著嗎？」(“‘Do Others Know We Exist?': A Nurse’s Testimony from Syria’s Besieged Eastern Ghouta”)
Czech
Proč se stal z palmového oleje takový problém — a co s tím můžeme dělat? (“How Did Palm Oil Become Such a Problem—and What Can We Do About It?” originally published in 2015)
Dutch
Twee Nepalese kunstenaars hopen dat hun schilderijen van mannelijk naakt mannen zal aanmoedigen om kwetsbaarheid te omarmen (“An Artist Duo in Nepal Hopes Their Nude Paintings Will Encourage Men to Embrace Vulnerability”)
Esperanto
Renkontiĝo kun Ara Malikian, la kosmopolito kun violono (“Meet Ara Malikian, the Cosmopolitan With a Violin,” originally published in 2017)
Farsi
فانتری شما کابوس او است: زنان لوند پاکستانی در یوتیوب (“Your Fantasy Is Her Nightmare: ‘Sexy’ Pakistani Women on YouTube,” originally published in 2013)
French
Ibrahim Maalouf, le trompettiste franco-libanais, réinvente « Alice au pays des merveilles » en opéra hip-hop (“Lebanese-French Trumpeter Reimagines ‘Alice in Wonderland’ as a Hip-Hop Opera,” originally published in 2015)
German
Israel, eines der trockensten Länder der Welt, hat nun Wasser im Überfluss (“Israel, One of the World’s Driest Countries, Is Now Overflowing With Water,” originally published in 2016)
Greek
“Γνωρίζει ο κόσμος ότι υπάρχουμε;”: Μαρτυρία νοσοκόμας από την πολιορκούμενη Ανατολική Γκούτα της Συρίας (“‘Do Others Know We Exist?': A Nurse’s Testimony from Syria’s Besieged Eastern Ghouta”)
Hindi
बांग्लादेशी शादियों में सांस्कृतिक बदलाव के चलते बदल रहा है खानपान (“Shifts in Bangladeshi Wedding Culture Bring a Change to the Menu”)
Hungarian
17 Nelson Mandela-idézet, melyet érdemes ismerni (“17 Pieces of Wisdom from Nelson Mandela that Everyone Needs to Read,” originally published in 2013)
Indonesian
Apakah Taiwan Sebuah Negara, Pulau Merdeka, Wilayah yang Memisahkan Diri, atau Sebuah Provinsi di Tiongkok? (“Is Taiwan a Country, a Self-Governing Island, or a Breakaway Territory or Province of China?” originally published in 2016)
Italian
“Gli altri sanno che esistiamo?”: la testimonianza di un’infermiera da Ghouta orientale, distretto siriano sotto assedio (“‘Do Others Know We Exist?': A Nurse’s Testimony from Syria’s Besieged Eastern Ghouta”)
Japanese
誰もが知るべきネルソン・マンデラの17の知恵 (“17 Pieces of Wisdom from Nelson Mandela that Everyone Needs to Read,” originally published in 2013)
Korean
러시아 남성에 대한 우크라이나 여성의 섹스보이콧 (“Ukrainian Women's Sex Boycott Against Russian Men,” originally published in 2014)
Kurdish
‘ئافرەتی ئاسک : کۆکراوەی بەرھەمی ھونەری ‘ تیشک دەخاتە سەر توندوتیژی دژی ئافرەتە رەسەنەکانی ئەمریکای باکور (“‘Deer Woman: An Anthology’ Sheds Light on Violence Against Native Women in North America,” originally published in 2017)
Macedonian
„Дали останатите знаат дека постоиме?“ – Сведоштво на една медицинска сестра од опсадената источна Гута во Сирија (“‘Do Others Know We Exist?': A Nurse’s Testimony from Syria’s Besieged Eastern Ghouta”)
Malagasy
Ny Anganom-pitiavana Sy Ny Vetaveta Avy Ao Angola (“Tales of Love and Sex from Angola,” originally published in 2013)
Nepali
प्रदूषणको कारण प्राणघातक बन्दैछ इरानको अहवाज क्षेत्र (“The Pollution in Iran's Ahwaz Region Turns Deadly”)
Polish
8 pytań o Madagaskar, których nie ośmielisz się zadać (“8 Things You Wanted to Know About Madagascar but Were Afraid to Ask,” originally published in 2014)
Portuguese
Um ritual de proteção para “fechar o corpo” liga tradições religiosas diferentes no Brasil (“A Protection Ritual to ‘Close the Body’ Links Different Religious Traditions in Brazil,” originally published in 2016)
Romanian
14 filme interzise în Iran din 2007 (“14 Films That Have Been Banned in Iran Since 2007,” originally published in 2015)
Russian
Россия: «Война и мир» Толстого – наследие современности (“Russia: Tolstoy's ‘War and Peace’ Legacy Today,” originally published in 2012)
Spanish
10 palabras que usas a diario que no sabías que eran de origen quechua (“10 Common Words in Spanish and English That Come From Quechua,” originally published in 2015)
Swahili
Hekima 17 za Nelson Mandela Zinazofaa Kusomwa na Kila Mmoja (“17 Pieces of Wisdom from Nelson Mandela that Everyone Needs to Read,” originally published in 2013)
Turkish
Katarlıyım ve Evleneceğim Kişiye Karar Verebilmek İstiyorum (“I’m Qatari, and I Want to Be Able to Decide For Myself Who I Marry,” originally published in 2016)
Urdu
افغانستان کی ان دیکھی تصاویر (“Sharing Photos of the Afghanistan You Never See,” originally published in 2012)
A Suicide Mentality, on the Precipice of War in Northeast Asia
The remains of a Japanese Kamikaze aircraft that crashed on board HMS FORMIDABLEoff the Sakishima Islands, May 1945
There’s a debate intensifying among political analysts on whether North Korea is heading down a suicidal course by continuing to develop nuclear weapons.
On the surface, North Korea and its supreme leader Kim Jong Un seems to be succeeding in its calculated risk of defying UN sanctions and circumventing the oil embargo. In January, Russian president Vladimir Putin declared “Mr. Kim Jong Un has obviously won this round. He has missiles of global reach, up to 13,000 km, which can reach almost any point of the globe.” The Russian authorities seem to believe that this “shrewd and mature” leader will succeed in facing down his “imperialist enemies” by manufacturing intercontinental ballistic missiles that can threaten every major city and military base of the US and its allies.
But these experts are overlooking the self-destructive impulse that underlies North Korean bravado. The question arises as to whether Kim’s regime would be willing to risk annihilation when options for negotiations exist, at least in theory.
Anyone who has studied the North Korean power structure knows that Kim Jong Un himself is being pressured by generals preoccupied with the humiliation of the Korean War. In fact, their views on suicidal attacks in some ways resemble the propaganda that the Japanese military disseminated during WWII. A North Korean defector recently revealed that the military has assembled a brigade of suicide bombers who are ready to attack the enemy with armed “nuclear backpacks” if the situation becomes desperate.
As much as North Korea and Japan despise each other, there are striking parallels in their attitudes toward suicide. Prior to and throughout the war years, all Japanese “subjects” were ideologically primed to sacrifice their lives for the Emperor. Similarly, North Korean “subjects” today are obliged to display fanatical devotion to the Kim dynasty by fighting to the last person. In both nations, the propaganda ministries were— and continue to be—successful in indoctrinating the masses to believe in their national exceptionalism relative to their decadent neighbors.
In Japan, ritual suicide has long been popularized in films about bushido and kamikaze pilots, but the voices of those who were ready to commit suicide, but who through unexpected circumstances survived the war, have often been suppressed. In a culture that fears shame above all else, the line between coercion and a freely chosen death often gets obfuscated. Even the 47 rōnin immortalized in the masterwork Chūshinguraand numerous other films can be seen as victims of the cynical practice ritual suicide known as seppuku or harakiri.
Narratives about the social pressure that was brought to bear on the warrior class to terminate their lives to “preserve honor”, reveal the uncanny resemblance between seppuku and public execution. Conservative Japanese politicians such as Shintaro Ishihara continue to extol the virtue of young soldiers who sacrifice themselves in novels and films, but the truth of the matter is that it was not unknown for kamikaze pilots to be drugged, bolted into their cockpits and given only enough fuel to reach enemy targets.
Despite the scarcity of North Korean statistics on this subject, Japan and South Korea have the highest rates of suicide today in the developed world. As it is well known that both Japanese and Korean societies are rigid and hierarchical, and offer few second chances to minorities or those who have fallen through the cracks. Unless one agrees to follow prescribed conventions and ritualized codes of subservience, one can easily be ostracized or punished.
While any individual death may merit sympathy, the legacy of ritualized suicide is particularly problematic. Korean attitudes towards death and suicide were shaped by three decades of Japanese occupation shaped. As North Korean defectors have reported, there is a possibility that Kim Jong Un’s special forces might employ kamikaze tactics if they see that their country cannot withstand attacks by the American Air Force and Navy.
Suicide often signals an inability to seek creative solutions to seemingly impossible dilemmas. Rather than reviving futile geopolitical struggles that should have ended in the 20th century, political leaders should be focusing addressing more urgent priorities, such as the mass extinction that is now being engendered by the environmental crisis.
Globalvoices good article
Thanks everyone for the first
Russian Authorities Are Trying Really Hard to Boost Turnout in the Upcoming Election, Good Taste Be Damned
This year's electoral campaign is set to be the strangest in Russia’s recent history, all about convincing those Russians who aren't fans of President Vladimir Putin or who just aren't motivated voters to show up at the polls and cast their ballot, no matter the candidate, because doing so would lend legitimacy to what's considered a foregone conclusion: Putin's reelection.
Russian authorities’ concern over turnout has reached almost feverish obsession with anonymous, homophobic propaganda videos and men’s magazines using sexualized imagery to complete their “civic responsibility” to websites like Russian airline Aeroflot urging their visitors to vote.
Putin is expected to win by such a colossal margin (as he’s already done three times since 2000) in the March 18 election that he not only barely, if at all, campaigns, but can’t even be bothered to be filmed for his own campaign video, which had to be stitched together from archival footage. Or even appear in public in the last month before the election date, if only to quench the rumors of a terminal disease or a palace coup.
Putin failed to show up at his own nomination, never collected his candidate’s ID, refused to debate, all but disappeared from the TV screens. Am worried about the swearing in ceremony now.
For the remaining candidates, a single digit race would be an overstatement: Of eight names on the ballot, five look attractive enough to a grand total of 2 per cent of the Russian electorate, according to the latest polls. The two remaining contenders, who aren’t Vladimir Putin or political non-entities, will gladly accept 7 per cent as a major victory.
One, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, whose Liberal-Democratic Party of Russia isn’t remotely liberal or democratic (in conventional terms, LDPR can be described as a far-right populist party), is running for president for the sixth time since 1991. His best result was 9.35 per cent in 2008, and he can’t hope to break his personal record this time, according to the most generous polls.
The other, Pavel Grudinin, a Communist Party candidate who isn’t a member of the party, is under constant, ferocious attack from state-owned and loyalist media, commentators and countless online bots and trolls for his supposed hypocrisy. Grudinin, the CEO of a successful agricultural business, is famously wealthy, probably beyond what his officially declared income shows.
With the biggest intrigue of this electoral cycle in Russia being Grudinin or Zhirinovsky coming second with 7 per cent (or whether the ultra-liberal Ksenia Sobchak, the only woman on the ballot, can break the 1 per cent barrier), it’s no surprise that Russians are disinterested.
So the focus isn’t one of the persons on the ballot, but the turnout itself. Reports in the media, based on leaks from the Kremlin, name “70/70” as the target — as in 70 per cent votes for Putin at 70 per cent turnout.
Officials on the ground are so anxious to meet the unrealistic expectations forced on them that some are jumping the gun, like the Tula elections committee which published turnout figures three weeks before the election day:
Thanks a lot rana for shering