News Roundup Archive

Thursday, July 18, 2013

USIP's Science, Technology & Peacebuilding Roundup

United States Institute of Peace

 

Center of Innovation: Science, Technology and Peacebuilding

Weekly News Roundup, July 11 - 17, 2013

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.**


Actually, Drones Worry Europe more than Spying
Relations between the United States and Europe hit a low point following revelations that Washington was spying on European Union buildings and harvesting foreign email messages. Behind the scenes, though, it is not data protection and surveillance that produces the most complications for the transatlantic intelligence relationship, but rather America's use of armed drones to kill terrorist suspects away from the battlefield.
See the full article (CNN, Anthony Dworkin, 7/17/13)
Click to read about USIP's upcoming event "The United States and R2P: From Words to Action" on July 23 at 9:00am.
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We Need to Develop Cyber Weapons Fast – Before Our Enemies Turn Them On Us
The debates over the current state of international law on cyber-warfare illustrate the complexity of the situation. We are entering a new age of warfare where nuclear arsenals and even conventional ground forces could become increasingly irrelevant. The development of cyber-weaponry in secret is necessary.
See the full article (Telegraph, Mic Wright, 7/17/13)
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How War in Syria Turned These Ordinary Engineers Into Deadly Weapons Inventors
The arms manufacturers of Aleppo used to be ordinary men-network administrators, housepainters, professors. Then came the bloody Syrian crisis. Now they must use all their desperate creativity to supply their fellow rebels with the machinery of death.
See the full article (Wired, Matthieu Aikins, 7/16/13)
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South Korea Accuses North of Cyber Attacks
South Korea accused North Korea on Tuesday of mounting cyber attacks on the websites of its presidential office and other government agencies, saying it had identified signature malicious computer codes and an internet address. The cyber attacks took place last month, on the anniversary of the beginning of the 1950-53 Korean War which left the peninsula divided between the rival countries.
See the full article (Reuters, Ju-min Park, 7/16/13)
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U.N. Pens Deal for Unarmed Surveillance Drones over Congo
U.N. peacekeepers in Democratic Republic of Congo will begin using unarmed drones on a trial basis to monitor its war-torn east, the head of peacekeeping operations told Reuters on Sunday. Thick forests, rugged terrain and few roads have complicated peacekeepers' efforts to control the area.
See the full article (Reuters, Alexandria Sage, 7/14/13)
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Obama, Putin Discuss Snowden Case
U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin have discussed by telephone the case of fugitive American intelligence leaker Edward Snowden. Earlier on July 12, the White House warned Russia against granting asylum to Snowden, saying this would give the leaker "a propaganda platform."
See the full article (RFE/RL, 7/12/13)
Click to read about USIP's upcoming event "Effective Foreign Assistance and National Security: A View from Congressman Adam Smith" on July 19 at 9:00am.
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which includes a special section on Internet and social media.

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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, July 11 - 17, 2013

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

Reporters Appeal to UN on Slain Colleagues
Journalists from around the globe have seized a rare chance to plead before the UN Security Council for action over the growing numbers of assassinated reporters. AFP's prize-winning Somalia correspondent Mustafa Haji Abdinur told the 15 council ambassadors that he was a "dead man walking" because of the dangers he faces covering his country in conflict.
See the full article (AAP, 7/17/13)
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Zimbabwe Media Landscape to Open Up?
As Zimbabweans prepare to decide whether to grant President Robert Mugabe another term in office at the end of this month, a brand new television channel has just been unveiled - after weeks of rushed and secretive preparations - promising to offer viewers "quality, independent information" in sharp contrast to the "biased reporting of the state media".
See the full article (BBC, Andrew Harding, 7/17/13)
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Egypt Television Bias Abounds as Broadcasters Vilify Morsi
Television bias mirrors, and may even be deepening, rifts between Egypt's liberals and conservatives. About 25 of the country's 200 private satellite channels are widely viewed, according to Gamal Eid, executive director of the Cairo-based Arab Network for Human Rights. Their news and talk shows are drawing bigger audiences while making less effort to appear neutral. Some don't bother at all.
See the full article (Bloomberg, Salma El Wardany and Caroline Alexander, 7/16/13)
Click to read "The Crackdown on Media in Syria, Egypt and Turkey" an Olive Branch Post by Christine Mosher.
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How the New York Times Tells the Story in Syria Through Citizen Videos with Context
What a video doesn't show is sometimes the heart of the story. Liam Stack, who curates citizen video at the New York Times, explains how he finds videos and tells the stories of the unknowns. "Watching Syria's War," a New York Times video project, presents the Syrian conflict through citizen video in a way that gives insight into everyday life during wartime and raises questions about what we're not seeing.
See the full article (PBS, Madeleine Bair, 7/15/13)
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Exile Ethnic Myanmar Media Groups Wary of Returning
Ethnic exile Myanmar news groups are reluctant to establish their operations inside the country despite government reforms that have drawn other foreign news outlets, saying they still consider the journalism environment stifling.
See the full article (RFA, Aung Myo Min, 7/13/13)
Click to read "Burma Rule-of-Law Reform: USIP Work in Progress" an Olive Branch Post by Kay Spencer.
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Egypt Unrest: Concerns Over Freedom of the Media
There have been hundreds of arrests and there are widespread allegations of the torture of detainees. Now some Egyptians are asking whether their hard-won freedom of the media and of expression are at risk, as Andrew Hosken reports from Cairo.
See the full article (BBC, 7/12/13)
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Internet and Social Media

Putin Warns Snowden Not to Hurt U.S.-Russian Relations
Russian President Vladimir Putin says Edward Snowden, who may be able to leave his Moscow airport refuge within the week, has been warned that engaging in any activities harmful to U.S.-Russian relations would be "unacceptable." The leaker of National Security Agency secret programs has been holed up in the airport transit area since June 23.
See the full article (USA Today, Doug Stanglin and Kim Hjelmgaard, 7/17/13)
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Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe Cannot Survive an Era of Internet Openness
This week Zimbabwe leader Robert Mugabe revealed a $300,000 reward to anyone who will uncover the identity of an internet mole known as "Baba Jukwa". But in a country which is getting ever more connected to the internet, can they really stop government secrets being revealed?
See the full article (Telegraph, Samuel Napthine, 7/17/13)
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Censuring the Censors
Cracking down on Internet content has long been de rigueur in Muslim countries, but a recent spate of censorship reveals a problem spiraling out of control -- no doubt triggered by the increase in protests against unpopular regimes.
See the full article (Foreign Policy, Ronan Farrow and Shamila N. Chaudhary, 7/16/13)
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Would an American Jury Even Convict Edward Snowden?
[On the Lawfare blog], David Pozen, a Columbia Law School professor and former State Department lawyer, points out that even if the U.S. government manages to take Edward Snowden into custody, the Obama Administration will find it unpleasant to prosecute him. "As proceedings dragged on for months, the spotlight would remain on the N.S.A.'s spying and the administration's pursuit of leakers."
See the full article (Atlantic, Conor Friedersdorf, 7/16/13)
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Iran's New President Hints At Easing Internet Controls
Iran's President-elect Hasan Rowhani has already called for less filtering of the Internet, saying Iran must maintain its principles, but also needs to engage with the wider world. "We should rectify our relations with the world," Rowhani said in remarks carried by Iran's Press TV. "Gone are the days when a wall could be built around the country.... Today there are no more walls."
See the full article (NPR, Peter Kenyon, 7/15/13)
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Soldier's Lawyers Rest Case With a Defense of WikiLeaks' Journalistic Role
The defense in the court-martial of Pfc. Bradley Manning rested its case Wednesday with a Harvard law professor testifying that WikiLeaks performed a legitimate journalistic function when Private Manning gave it vast archives of secret government files.
See the full article (New York Times, Charlie Savage, 7/11/13) *NYT sign-up may be required to view the full article
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What's New from PeaceMedia

"The Revolution is Being Televised" - Al Jazeera
The Revolution Is Being Televised follows the work of Trad and five friends, as they capture the horrific realities of life in Syria, edit material together and argue about how they get it out to the rest of the world. This is their personal story - one of loss of family members, of survival and of fighting for a cause - where the risks and losses are made worthwhile by their first intoxicating taste of freedom.
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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