News Roundup Archive

Thursday, October 11, 2012

USIP's Science, Technology & Peacebuilding Roundup

United States Institute of Peace

 

Center of Innovation: Science, Technology and Peacebuilding

Weekly News Roundup, October 4 - 10, 2012

Table of Contents

**Click here to subscribe to USIP's Media, Conflict and Peacebuilding News Roundup,
which includes a special section on Internet and social media.**


Iran's Spy Agency Finds Voice in Cyberspace
A glimpse into the shadow world of Iran's main spy agency is now a click away. The new website fits into Iran's narrative of fighting a "soft war" in cyberspace against Western cultural and political influences. What the new Farsi-language site, www.vaja.ir, lacks in innovation, it makes up for in pure anti-American bluntness.
See the full article (AP, Ali Akbar Dareini, 10/10/12)
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Pentagon Scientists: We Can't Predict Violent Outbursts. Yet.
In the years to come, a top group of military scientists believe, the Pentagon may be able to use genomics and bio-markers to spot when a soldier is about to snap. But that moment is not in the immediate future. So, for now, the only option is to try to prevent these troops from reaching the breaking point, rather than predicting when that point will come.
See the full article (Wired, Benjamin Plackett, 10/10/12)
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Iran Aids Syria in Tracking Opposition Via Electronic Surveillance, U.S. Officials Say
Iran is providing crucial equipment and technical help to Syria in its effort to track opposition forces through the Internet and other forms of electronic surveillance, according to U.S. officials. The aid is the latest example of how Iran is helping Syria in its battle against rebel forces threatening the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. The technical assistance is coming mainly through Iran's Ministry of Intelligence and Security, the officials said.
See the full article (Washington Post, Ellen Nakashima, 10/9/12)
Click to read about USIP's upcoming event "Applying Peace Economics in Dangerous Places" on October 23 at 10:00am.
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Apps That Protect You From Police Brutality
Hundreds of non-profit organisations have created mobile applications in the US meant to keep citizens safe from their local and federal governments. One group, Make the Road New York, has helped to develop a mobile app aimed at allowing users to record video and audio of instances of police brutality. Across the city, the Sikh Coalition has created a mobile app meant to document cases of racial profiling carried out by employees of the Transportation Security Administration.
See the full article (BBC, Matt Danzico, Taylor Kate Brown and Matt Wells, 10/9/12)
Click to read about USIP's upcoming event "Exchange 2.0: The Science of Impact, the Imperative of Implementation" on October 15 at 2:00pm.
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Muslim Rappers, 'Google Ideas': Inside the Flawed U.S. Campaign to Fight Militant Memes
The government version of CVE seeks merely to provide cash and other resources for anti-radical "education." Or, as a White House strategy document put it, "Foster community-led partnerships and preventative programming to build resilience against violent extremist radicalization by expanding community-based solutions." If that sounds vague to you, you've got plenty of company in Washington.
See the full article (Wired, Spencer Ackerman and Noah Shachtman, 10/9/12)
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Japan, ASEAN, Team Up for Cyberdefense
In the wake of a series of cyber attacks from Chinese I.P. addresses at the height of the Senkaku/Diaoyu island dispute, Yomiuri Shimbun reports that Japan is pushing a plan to create a "cyber defense network" consisting of Japan and 10 ASEAN countries. More details will be discussed during meetings on information security in Tokyo this week, but the countries reportedly interested in participating include Thailand and Indonesia.
See the full article (Foreign Policy, Alicia P.Q. Wittmeyer, 10/8/12)
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U.S. Panel Cites Risks in Chinese Equipment
The House Intelligence Committee said it had come to the conclusion that [two] Chinese businesses were a national security threat because of their attempts to extract sensitive information from American companies and their loyalties to the Chinese government. Allowing the Chinese companies to do business in the United States, the report said, would give the Chinese government the ability to easily intercept communications and could allow it to start online attacks on critical infrastructure.
See the full article (New York Times, Michael S. Schmidt, Keith Bradsher and Christine Hauser, 10/8/12)
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Imran Khan's Pakistan Drone March Stops at Tribal Belt
A thousands-strong motorcade rally against US drone strikes in Pakistan led by cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan has been stopped from entering restive tribal regions. Mr Khan wants to visit the area where drone attacks have long targeted militants, but the militants dismiss the former cricket star as a tool of the West. Like many Pakistanis, he argues that attacks from unmanned aircraft kill large numbers of civilians and foster support for militants.
See the full article (BBC, 10/7/12)
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USIP's Media, Conflict & Peacebuilding Roundup

United States Institute of Peace

 

Center of Innovation: Media, Conflict and Peacebuilding

Weekly News Roundup, October 4 - 10, 2012

Media and Journalism

Internet and Social Media

What's New from PeaceMedia

**Click here to subscribe to USIP's Science, Technology and Peacebuilding News Roundup.**


Media and Journalism

Defying Danger: Somali Refugees Flock to Journalism School
On the eighth floor of the Binali hotel in Nairobi, journalists gather to honor six of their colleagues killed in Mogadishu in just eight days in late September. Mohamed Osman, chairman of the Somali Exiled Journalists Association, organized the event. Two years ago Osman opened the Al-Imra Institute of Languages and Journalism to train young Somali refugees.
See the full article (Voice of America, Roopa Gogineni, 10/10/12)
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Pakistan Media Condemn Attack on Teenage Activist
Pakistani media have condemned the shooting of 14-year-old activist Malala Yousafzai, saying the incident shows that the Taliban's continued existence "remains as brutal as ever". While some media argued that such incidents justified international criticism of Pakistan, one Urdu-language paper criticised the international media for giving "undue" coverage to the incident to "malign" Pakistan and Islam.
See the full article (BBC, 10/10/12)
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Tunisian Children's Magazine Faces Prosecution Over Petrol Bomb Article
A popular Tunisian children's magazine is to be prosecuted for telling its young readers how to make a petrol bomb, officials have said. The latest edition of Qaws Quzah, which means rainbow in Arabic, featured an article about the history of petrol bombs, including instructions and a diagram, in its knowledge corner section. Qaws Quzah's piece on the history of the molotov cocktail 'encourages violent and terrorist thoughts.'
See the full article (Guardian, 10/9/12)
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Pakistani TV Reporter Killed
Pakistani TV reporter Mushtaq Khand was killed on Sunday evening (7 October) when gunmen opened fire on a public meeting staged by the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) in Khairpur, in the southeast province of Sindh. Other journalists sustained gunshot injuries and one is in a critical condition. The death of Khand, who worked for Dharti TV, means that nine journalists have been killed in the course of their work in Pakistan since the start of the year.
See the full article (Guardian, Roy Greenslade, 10/9/12)
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Ethiopia: Independent Papers Say Gov't Banned Them, Won't Let Printer Publish Their Papers
Two weekly newspapers that have been critical of Ethiopia's ruling party have stopped publication because of government obstruction, the papers' publishers said Monday. Both Feteh, the country's largest weekly, and Finote Netsanet, which is published by the largest opposition group, Unity for Democracy and Justice, have been unable to reach their readers for several weeks after the state-owned printing company Berhanena Selam refused to continue printing them.
See the full article (AP, 10/8/12)
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How "Muslim Rage" Got it Wrong
When the US consulate in Benghazi was attacked and protesters took to the street throughout the Islamic world, news reports trotted out a familiar narrative: "MUSLIM RAGE" and the clash of civilizations. [On the Media] talks to Middle East scholar Marc Lynch, who says the media got it wrong and the real story is that protests were small, petered out quickly, and followed a radically different pattern from past anti-US agitation.
See the full article (NPR, 10/5/12)
Click to read about USIP's upcoming event "Transforming Terrorism and Radicalism with Muslim Nonviolent Alternatives" on October 16 at 2:00pm.
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Media Watchdog Accuses Iran of Intimidating Journalists
A leading media watchdog has accused Iran of trying to cow journalists into silence and self-censorship, adding to international pressure on Tehran over its treatment of activists and the press. In March, the Iranian government suspended the press accreditation of all Reuters staff in Tehran after publication of a video script on women's martial arts training that erroneously referred to the athletes as "assassins". Since then, Reuters has been unable to report from Iran.
See the full article (Reuters, 10/4/12)
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Internet and Social Media

Fears Grow That Syria May Shut Down Internet
Late last month in Aleppo, Syria, civilians who have cell phone subscriptions received a foreboding text message in Arabic: "Game over." The texts have increased Syria watchers' concerns that the embattled government has realized both the full potential of using the Internet and mobile carriers to communicate with its leaderless opposition. There are growing fears that the regime could shut down the Internet across the country, similar to what was done in Egypt.
See the full article (CNN, Karen Leigh, 10/10/12)
Click to read "Event at USIP Looks at New Media in the Syria Crisis ," a USIP News Feature.
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Taliban Attack Wounds Teen Activist Blogger
Malala Yousufzai's courageous blogging against the Taliban set her apart from other 14-year-old Pakistani girls. Growing up in a region once dominated by the Islamic extremists, she knew the fear associated with the word Taliban. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, Taliban spokesman Ihsnaullah Ishan told CNN. Ishan blamed the shooting on Malala's activist blogging.
See the full article (CNN, Shaan Khan, 10/10/12)
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Backlash Prompts Suspension of Philippines' Harsh New Internet Law
Less than a week after a new cybercrime law came into force in the Philippines, the country's Supreme Court today ruled to suspend implementation, pending review to decide if the law undermines civil liberties. Martial law and dictatorship are loaded terms, at least for Filipinos above a certain age. For some, the new law evokes an old, oppressive past.
See the full article (PBS, Simon Roughneen, 10/9/12)
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The Innocence of YouTube
The Innocence of Muslims video led Google to bend its rules in the other direction, temporarily blocking the video in Egypt and Libya "given the very sensitive situations in these two countries," according to a statement given to reporters, even though those governments had not requested censorship and it was not violent, graphic, or directly hateful enough to violate YouTube's guidelines banning gratuitously violent images and hate speech.
See the full article (Foreign Policy, Susan Benesch and Rebecca MacKinnon, 10/5/12)
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Freedom in Jordan Does Not Extend to Information
In the past decade, online media have flourished in Jordan. More than 200 online newspapers, radio and TV sites have become part of the country's vibrant discussion and debate. Of Jordan's 7 million citizens, about 2 million use Facebook. Online activity is so energetic that Princess Sumaya said in 2011 that 75 percent of all Arabic content on the Internet comes from Jordan. This amazing progress, however, is threatened by a recent amendment to the Press and Publications Law.
See the full article (Washington Post, Daoud Kuttab, 10/5/12)
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A Pragmatic Way to Resolve the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
The Israeli-Palestinian Confederation was to be implemented from the grassroots using the internet as a platform to recruit candidates for a "virtual parliament," while the policy-makers remained deadlocked. In six years, Mr. Avesar has been determined despite all odds and has managed to get over 700 Israelis and Palestinians (including in Gaza) to run in a virtual election which will be held on December 12, 2012.
See the full article (National Geographic, Saleem Ali, 10/4/12)
Click to read about USIP's upcoming event "Exchange 2.0: The Science of Impact, the Imperative of Implementation" on October 15 at 2:00pm.
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What's New from PeaceMedia

"Patrick Meier: Crisis Mapping" - National Geographic Live!
Emerging Explorer Patrick Meier pioneers the lifesaving new field of crisis mapping, which is helping revolutionize the effectiveness of relief efforts worldwide.
See the full video
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Click here to subscribe to USIP's Science, Technology and Peacebuilding News Roundup.

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