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This is an example of how you should set up your Padlet posts:
To for the first week only, type your name in this box. I will then be able to name the appropriate column with your name (e.g. replace 'student 1/2/3 etc.' with the correct names.
After your name, you will need to provide the name of the week you are posting about (e.g. Week 1) and then a link to the news report
with your commentary (e.g. what are the 'main points' and what did you learn?).
Be sure to write in your own words and provide a thoughtful, personal,
reflection of what you learned. Each post should be at least 100 words.
Important: you will always
post to the same column each week (identified by your name)

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This article is about Langara Students collaborating with students at a university in Argentina, via a virtual exchange experience known as 'COIL-VE'. I learned that it is possible for Langara students to work with other students on the other side of the Americas,  and participate on assignments together via the internet. It shows how technology is changing the way we connect with others, but it also reminds us that we are becoming increasingly dependent on/ forced to use technology (what do we do about people/ cultures that prefer not to communicate via technology?). Overall, I think COIL-VE will be great for increasing awareness of other cultures, and allow students to meet/work with others without the cost barriers of international travel. I'd like to introduce this into my own courses!

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Vancouver, BC - Social distancing and COVID-19 haven't prevented students at Langara College from collaborating with their peers at Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento (UNGS) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Langara is introducing cutting-edge pedagogy by supporting faculty to introduce Collaborative Online Intercultural Learning - Virtual Exchange (COIL-VE) to the classroom.

Under the tutelage of Langara's Latin American Studies instructor Jessie Smith and Antonella Romiti (UNGS), students in Latin American Cultural Perspectives created photo galleries that reflect on interculturalism and art for social change from a gender perspective.

The student projects are:

Femicides in the Americas: how media coverage of femicide shields the aggressors

Abortion in Canada and Argentina: a photo-gallery comparison about abortion rights in Argentina and Canada

LGTBIQ Rights in Canada and Argentina

Indigenous Women Under Attack in the Americas

Me Too/Ni Una Menos: how the Me Too movement has involved in each country

Musicians for Change: Women Rising

"This was an exciting opportunity for Langara's students to interact with and exchange mutual ideas with their peers from Argentina," said Smith. "Their final projects exhibited insight and creativity that far exceeded our expectations. It was a joy to collaborate on this creative project with Antonella, my counter-part in Argentina."

COIL-VE intentionally fosters the development of the intercultural competencies that are needed for success in today's world and work force. Student groups from two or more institutions work together virtually to complete a project.

"This experience has been absolutely mesmerizing and new to me," said Sole Castenada, a Langara student taking Latin America Studies. "I feel so privileged to be able to be a part of such an innovative learning process where multiple cultures have the opportunity to mesh into one virtual dimension of academic nurturing and creative collaboration."

Langara's Centre for Intercultural Engagement (CIE) has developed a COIL-VE Community of Practice to support Langara Fellows engaged in virtual exchange. CIE additionally offers COIL-VE workshop training sessions to Faculty partners from external institutions to support development of joint virtual student learning projects. Following these workshops participants become part of the Langara COIL-VE Community of Practice, gaining access to discussions, peers, and resources.

"Virtual learning is a relatively new program at Langara which started in 2019 with the objective of helping students gain intercultural and global competencies. We're encouraged by the results we've seen from the first couple of projects," said Natasha Mrkic-Subotic, Intercultural Engagement Consultant, Langara College. "Given the challenges with in-classroom learning we're facing, this delivery method is an ideal way to engage our students and build relationships nationally and around the world."
More about COIL-VE
Collaborative Online Intercultural Learning, also called Virtual Exchange, is a method for connecting faculty and their students with peers in other countries via the internet. The model involves in-depth cooperation between paired faculty co-designing parts of courses (to entire courses) and students collaborating in small groups to complete shared projects. COIL-VE produces meaningful, authentic intercultural experiences for faculty and students without the cost and extensive time away from home. For students, COIL-VE increases interest in study abroad. For faculty, COIL-VE increases international faculty collaboration and future short-term exchanges.

About snəw̓eyəɬ leləm̓ Langara College
Located in beautiful Vancouver, B.C., Canada, snəw̓eyəɬ leləm̓ Langara College provides University, Career, and Continuing Studies education to more than 23,000 students annually. With more than 1,700 courses and 130 programs, Langara's expansive academic breadth and depth allows students of all ages, backgrounds, and life stages to choose their own educational path. Langara is also known as snəw̓eyəɬ leləm̓, a name given to it by the Musqueam people on whose unceded traditional territory the College is located. Langara is celebrating its 49th year on West 49th Avenue with Beyond 49, an integrated celebration, alumni engagement, and fundraising campaign to reconnect with alumni, and raise funds for student support and important College initiatives.

Mark Dawson
Manager, Public Affairs
604.323.5702
mdawson@langara.ca

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Langara students collaborate online with Argentinian peers to explore social change

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Vancouver, BC - Social distancing and COVID-19 haven't prevented students at Langara College from collaborating with their peers at Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento (UNGS) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Langara is introducing cutting-edge pedagogy by supporting faculty to introduce Collaborative Online Intercultural Learning - Virtual Exchange (COIL-VE) to the classroom.

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This article is about the crackdown and quashing of protests by the local government of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous region. The protesters (mainly teachers and students) were organizing sit-ins and boycotting the recent change of the official textbooks for schools that removed the Mongolian language and replaced it with standardized Chinese. In response to the protests the local authorities have had police officers arrest and detain protesters and offer rewards for anyone suspected of disorderly behavior and have told government workers that if their children do not attend school their pay will be suspended and will be put under investigation. To me the new policy put into place seems more like an assimilation of the people living in the autonomous region and the quelling of protests seems to support my view as well. One can only hope that the local government realizes there can be room for both languages to coexist but only time will tell.

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Students are returning to school following weeks of fierce demonstrations in Inner Mongolia, after a public manhunt and the threat of parents being fired from their jobs quashed protests against curbs on local-language teaching.

Some of the most widespread mass resistance from ethnic Mongol communities in almost a decade erupted late last month after Beijing moved to use standardised Chinese to teach history, politics and literature in Mongolian-language middle schools.

Tongliao, a city at the eastern end of the resource-rich expanse of grassland, desert and forest that spans much of China's 2,880-mile border with Mongolia, has been at the centre of the stand-off.

Bu Xiaolin, governor of Inner Mongolia, told teachers on a tour of Tongliao schools last week that adopting the state-written textbooks was a "major political task" that would be beneficial now and into the future.

The policy was formally announced at the end of August, less than a week before the start of term. Mongol parents, teachers and students quickly arranged sit-ins, protests and school boycotts.

Local authorities responded with a propaganda push, a heavy-handed police crackdown and intense pressure on parents to send children back to class.

By September 2, Horqin district police had released wanted lists of 129 protesters suspected of disorderly behaviour. Alongside grainy photos apparently taken by security cameras, a cash reward of Rmb1,000 ($146) was offered and police officers with clipboards checked cars at the toll gates leaving Tongliao.

In the city of Bayan Nur, a reward of Rmb10,000 led to the arrests of four people accused of using WeChat, the messaging app, to spread "fake news" about the textbooks and organise petitions.

Last weekend, in a region to the west of Tongliao, government workers were told that their children would have to attend school on Monday. If they did not, the parents' pay would be suspended and they would be put under investigation by the party's anti-graft authorities, according to an image of the order shared by Inner Mongolian residents.

After the Monday deadline, some locations began to announce punishments for cadres who "failed to rectify behaviour after being admonished".

The government of Sonid Left Banner of Xilin Gol League, a region north-west of Tongliao on the border with Mongolia, announced that the pay of four officials had been suspended and two others were fired. All six were placed under investigation by the local Discipline Inspection Commission, the body responsible for enforcing loyalty to the party.

In Tongliao, the harsh measures appear to have forced the acceptance from some parents.

Last week, students at the Horqin district Mongol middle school had rushed past teachers to break down the front gate and flee campus, according to a video of the incident that was independently verified by witnesses.

By Monday, the gate was back in place, reinforced by a steel red-and-white anti-riot barricade. A handful of students, mostly flanked by parents, returned under the watch of officers who sat in police cars. The only sign of the protests this week were the police cars on patrol and large quantities of barricade tape.

The students are back in school, [there are] no more complaining parents or students

Ms Tong, teacher

"The students are back in school, [there are] no more complaining parents or students," said Ms Tong, a teacher who declined to give her full name. "We are officially using the new textbooks."

Parents who had protested were now reluctant to speak about their earlier complaints. "The problem has been resolved," one man said in response to the Financial Times, while hurriedly pulling his son towards the school gate.

Some middle school students appeared ambivalent. "Lots of fellow students have not come back, but my parents said we have to go to school," said one 15-year-old, who was waiting for a friend down the road from the gate.

The police declined to comment.

Under President Xi Jinping, China's established system of "preferential policies" pledging marginal autonomy for ethnic minorities is being stripped away. Instead, mores assertive policies inspired by thinkers who support a unified, singular and Han-Chinese dominated "state-race" are being adopted in a bid to assimilate ethnic minorities.

But unlike Tibet and Xinjiang, where grievances over perceived discriminatory treatment of ethnic minority communities from Beijing have sparked mass riots, Inner Mongolia has largely avoided violence.

Recommended

The region has also yet to face blanket surveillance to the same degree as Xinjiang, where new police stations have been built on every block and enforced data collection has become ubiquitous.

But the scale of protests - and the severity of the clampdown - raise the prospect of a heightened response. Mongols retain a strong sense of ethnic identity and have consistently resisted Beijing's efforts to meld them into mainstream Han culture.

One herder in the Jarud banner region of Tongliao said he planned to keep his six-year-old son out of school for as long as he could.

"They shouldn't have done it like this," said the herder, who declined to be named. "I have no problem with him learning the Han language, but there should have been a discussion. We will teach him ourselves for now."

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Authorities quash Inner Mongolia protests

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Students are returning to school following weeks of fierce demonstrations in Inner Mongolia, after a public manhunt and the threat of parents being fired from their jobs quashed protests against curbs on local-language teaching.

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This article is about the shutdown in Wuhan on January 23rd because of the spreading of COVID-19. When the virus started spreading and killing people in Wuhan, the Chinese government shut the city down on January 23rd to inhibit the virus from spreading as much as possible. The shutting down means that nobody should be going in to or out of Wuhan by any transportations. I learned that this event requires everyone listen to and obey the instruction cooperatively. Therefore, it is essential for everyone to be cohesive under any emergency or natural disaster. Overall, most of the population in China listen to and obey the instruction cooperatively because the Chinese culture encourage people to have unified goals and thoughts at any time. However, thoughts from 1.4 billion population is hard to be unified, there were still some people who decided to ignore the government's suggestion. As a result, the virus has not been controlled well enough.

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Wuhan, a Chinese city of eleven million people, has temporarily shut down its public transport as it tries to halt the outbreak of a new strain of virus.

Those living in the city have been advised not to leave, in a week when millions of Chinese are travelling for the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday.

The respiratory illness has spread to other parts of China, with some cases in other countries including the US.

There are more than 500 confirmed cases and 17 people have died.

Can wearing masks stop the spread of viruses?

Chinese virus: How worried should we be?

Wuhan: The London-sized city where the virus began

Known for now as 2019-nCoV, the virus is understood to be a new strain of coronavirus not previously identified in humans. The Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome) virus that killed nearly 800 people globally in the early 2000s was also a coronavirus, as is the common cold.

All the fatalities so far have been in Hubei, the province around Wuhan.

Meanwhile, after a day of discussions in Geneva, the World Health Organization's (WHO) emergency committee has announced it will not yet declare a "global emergency" over the new virus.

Director general Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus said more information was needed about the spread of the infection. The committee of health experts will meet again on Thursday.

A global emergency is the highest level of alarm the WHO can sound and has previously been used in response to swine flu, Zika virus and Ebola.

What measures have been announced?

From Thursday, all flights and passenger train services out of Wuhan have been stopped.

Bus, subway and ferry services all shut down from 10:00 local time (02:00 GMT).

A special command centre in Wuhan set up to contain the virus said the move was meant to "resolutely contain the momentum of the epidemic spreading".

Those living in Wuhan had already been told to avoid crowds and minimise public gatherings.

State news agency Xinhua said tourist attractions and hotels in the city had been told to suspend large-scale activities while libraries, museums and theatres were cancelling exhibitions and performances.

A Lunar New Year prayer-giving ceremony at the city's Guiyuan Temple, which attracted 700,000 people last year, has also been cancelled.

The hashtag "Wuhan is sealed off" was trending on Chinese social media website Weibo.

One user said worries about food and disinfectant made it feel like "the end of the world", while another said they were on the "verge of tears" when Chinese officials announced the shut-down.

The WHO's Dr Ghebreyesus described the latest measures as "very strong" and said they would "not only control the outbreak, they will minimise spread internationally".

Chinese officials said the country was now at the "most critical stage" of prevention and control.

"Basically, do not go to Wuhan. And those in Wuhan please do not leave the city," said National Health Commission vice-minister Li Bin in one of the first public briefings since the beginning of the outbreak.

Like shutting down London before Christmas
By James Gallagher, BBC health and science correspondent
Wuhan is starting to look like a city in quarantine.

Officials had already warned residents not to leave the city and visitors not to come.

Now the reported public transport ban - which includes flights - slams many of the routes in and out of the city shut.

It is a significant attempt to stop the spread of this new virus, which we now know can spread from person to person.

Limiting transport will cut the chance of the virus reaching other cities in China and other countries around the world.

This all comes just as millions of people are travelling across China for the week-long holiday that is Lunar New Year.

If you're struggling for context - imagine shutting down London in the week before Christmas.

The big question left is the roads - and whether any of Wuhan's 11 million inhabitants will be able to simply drive away.

What's the picture globally?

Officials in Hong Kong reported the territory's first two cases on Wednesday and one case was reported in the nearby city of Macau.

The patient in Macau is said to be a businesswoman who arrived from Wuhan over the weekend.

The first US case was confirmed on Tuesday. President Donald Trump said the situation was "totally under control" and that he trusted the information being provided by Chinese authorities.

There have been three cases in Thailand, one in Korea, one in Japan and one in Taiwan.

Although only about 500 cases have been confirmed, calculations by scientists at the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis at Imperial College London suggest there are 4,000 people sick with the virus in Wuhan.

Image Copyright @MRC_Outbreak @MRC_Outbreak Report

Image Copyright @MRC_Outbreak @MRC_OutbreakReport

What do we know about the virus?

The virus originated in a seafood market in Wuhan that "conducted illegal transactions of wild animals", authorities said. The market has since been shut down.

New China virus: Your questions answered

There is also evidence of human to human transmission with the new virus spreading to family members and healthcare workers.

But understanding how easily and how often the virus spread between people is one of the major outstanding questions in this outbreak.

The virus infects the lungs and symptoms start with a fever and cough. It can progress to shortness of breath and breathing difficulties.

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Virus-hit Chinese city shuts public transport

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Wuhan, a Chinese city of eleven million people, has temporarily shut down its public transport as it tries to halt the outbreak of a new strain of virus. Those living in the city have been advised not to leave, in a week when millions of Chinese are travelling for the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday.

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This article is about the removal of the Bibles from online store in China. China always strictly controls the sales of Bibles, and in recent years, China sets its sights on online sales. It makes harder for people who are in China to get Bibles and have an access to learn more about Christianity. It suggests that China tries to increase control of religions. I think that China may has their reasons to do so. It is possible that China increases control in order to have a better governance of this country. However, it also reminds us about the freedom of religion. At most of the time, the religion that people believed in is of vital importance to them. It will impact their behaviors and thoughts. Therefore, people are supposed to have the rights to choose their religions and not be restricted.

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China has always controlled sales of the Bible, only allowing it to be distributed and printed by state-sanctioned churches, but in recent years it had been available to buy online.

That loophole now appears to be firmly closed. Searches for "Holy Bible" did not return results on JD.com, and results on Amazon.cn did not include the main text, but did include study guides and the Koran.

On Taobao, China's biggest online marketplace, a search returned results for the "baby food bible" and the "autoimmune disease healing bible," but not the Christian scripture, though some related products such as an illustrated set of children's Bible stories were still available.

JD.com, Amazon.cn and Taobao did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Thursday was a public holiday in China.

Two online merchants told CNN customers may still obtain copies of the holy book from them through private messages, but public listing of the Bible is now impossible on Taobao.

Historical hostility

Sarah Cook, senior research analyst for East Asia at Freedom House, said the sales ban "is an important example of how internet censorship intersects with restrictions on religious freedom."

"Sensitive religious topics and groups are among the most censored in China," she said. "In our research we found the Chinese authorities increasingly using more high-tech methods to control religion and punish believers -- including surveillance and arrest of believers for sharing information online."

Religious practice in China is tightly controlled by the government, with the five recognized faiths -- Chinese Buddhism, Islam, Catholicism, Protestantism and Taoism -- supervised by official organizations such as the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Church or the Buddhist Association of China.

According to a recent five-year plan on Christianity in China, published by the State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA), maintaining the "principle of independence and self-management" is important due to the "humiliating history of the Chinese people" and the use of Christianity by the powers of "colonialism and imperialism."

Chinese Catholic bishops are not appointed by the Pope, which has been a key sticking point between Beijing and the Vatican since relations broke down in 1951.

Progress did appear to have been made in recent weeks, with some Chinese officials saying a deal with the Holy See could take place over Easter, but this did not pan out.

William Nee, China researcher at Amnesty International, said the Vatican "should probably take this issue into consideration in its discussions with their Chinese counterparts -- since the banning of the sale of Bibles is obviously a worrying move demonstrating the worsening state for freedom of religion in China."

Religious oversight

Analysts said China is currently undergoing a major shift in how it governs and sanctions religion.

The United Front Work Department, a previously shadowy department of the ruling Communist Party that oversees Chinese influence efforts overseas, recently took over responsibility for ethnic and religious affairs, further strengthening the Party's absolute control over society.

According to a new government white paper on religious freedoms, published this week, faiths must "adapt themselves to the socialist society."

"Religious believers and non-believers respect each other, and live in harmony, committing themselves to reform and opening up and the socialist modernization, and contribute to the realization of the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation," the paper said, listing official Communist Party policies.

"(There is) a broader trend under President Xi Jinping to more tightly control religion, especially Christianity," Amnesty's Nee said. "It's absurd that the government claims to promote religious freedom at the same time that they're banning the sale of Bibles."

Efforts are underway to produce a new version of the Chinese Bible, with a more "Sinicized" text, according to the SARA five year plan.

"The possibility of the Bible's being removed because of planned efforts to engage in and publish official reinterpretations would fit with a broader effort by the atheist (Communist Party) to actively interpret religious scriptures that we've seen for Islam, Tibetan Buddhism, and to a lesser extent to date, Christianity," Cook said.

She said the move could backfire on the authorities however, alienating mainstream Chinese Christians who are "otherwise apolitical ... and perhaps encouraging them to jump the Great Firewall or seek out extralegal avenues for obtaining a copy of the Bible."

CNN's Steven Jiang and Serenitie Wang contributed reporting from Beijing.

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bibles pulled from online stores as china increases control of religion - cnn

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Bibles pulled from online stores as China increases control of religion

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China has always controlled sales of the Bible, only allowing it to be distributed and printed by state-sanctioned churches, but in recent years it had been available to buy online. That loophole now appears to be firmly closed.

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This is an article about misunderstandings caused by the different linguistic meanings of Chinese and English word. A professor from USC recently when he explained the Chinese word "that"(na ge), because its pronunciation was similar to the racially discriminatory word in english, he was reported by the students and then investigated by his university. This is a very interesting thing. Regarding the understanding of language in different cultures, this word is very common vocabulary that representing the direction in China, but in the United States, the pronunciation of this word will cause racial discrimination. Although this happened in the United States, it is related to Chinese and American cultures.

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A US university investigation into one of its professors has ignited a debate over the use of a seemingly innocuous Chinese word.

Professor Greg Patton at the University of Southern California (USC) was telling students in a communications lecture last month about filler, or pause words, such as 'err', 'umm' or 'you know' in English.

Footage of his lecture, which has now gone viral, shows Prof Patton saying: "In China, the common pause word is 'that, that, that'. So in China, it might be na-ge, na-ge, na-ge."

Enunciated, na-ge sounds like the N-word, which led several of the professor's students to complain to the university. Responding to the complaint, the dean of the university, Geoffrey Garrett, told students that Prof Patton would no longer be teaching the course.

"It is simply unacceptable for the faculty to use words in class that can marginalize, hurt and harm the psychological safety of our students," he said.

The university says that Prof Patton "volunteered to step away" from his role amid the investigation into complaints made against him.

News of the spat reached China, where many posted on social media saying they thought his punishment discriminated against speakers of the Chinese language.

Lost in translation

In Chinese the word "na-ge" (那个) is a common filler phrase that people use when they're hesitating or trying to find the right word. It literally translates to the word "that".

But there have been many documented incidents of the word being used innocuously and leading to misunderstandings, and even violence.

In July 2016, a fight broke out on the subway in the city of Southern Guangzhou, after a black man heard a Chinese man saying na-ge and mistook it for the N-word.

Footage went viral online showing the black man slapping the Chinese commuter and shouting "you dare try that again" and "never say that again"

More recently, in April this year, Taiwanese news website UDN reported that two men nearly came to blows on the island outside a restaurant over the same misunderstanding.

Even Chinese basketball star Yao Ming has spoken of how the word brought him "some trouble" while playing in the US for the National Basketball Association (NBA).

'A universal mistake'

CC Chen, a student at the USC, defended Prof Patton, arguing that it was "clearly an academic lecture on communication" and the professor was "describing a universal mistake commonly made in communication".

"For him to be censored simply because a Chinese word sounds like an English pejorative term is a mistake and is not appropriate, especially given the educational setting," she said. "It also dismisses the fact that Chinese is a real language and has its own pronunciations that have no relation to English."

'How George Floyd's death changed my Chinese students'

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BBC says sorry over racial slur in news report

More than 11,000 people have now signed a Change.org petition calling for Prof Patton to be re-instated. And in China there are discussions taking place over whether the university acted too abruptly.

On the popular Sina Weibo microblog, more than 1,000 posts have used the hashtag #USProfessorSuspendedForUsingNaGe, with many viewing the move as a suppression of Chinese speech.

One post called the incident a "contemporary version of the literary inquisition" - referring to the persecution of intellectuals during China's imperial era.

What began as an accusation against the professor of using discriminatory language has morphed, in China, into accusations of discrimination against the Chinese language.

"Is it now forbidden to speak Chinese in the United States?" asked one Sina Weibo user.

'It's about politics'

In recent months, many in China have expressed solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement in the US. President Trump has been accused of stoking racist sentiment towards China over the Covid-19 pandemic by referring to the coronavirus as the "China virus", "Wuhan virus", and even "Kung Flu".

His language has been regularly cited by Chinese media as an example of xenophobic attitudes towards the Chinese people.

Some Chinese posters on Sina Weibo argued that USC, in suspending Prof Patton, had chosen "political correctness" over genuine change. Others raised a note of optimism that the story would raise awareness of differences rather than marginalise them.

Many were of the view that shared discrimination in recent months meant that Asian and black communities should work to understand each other rather than fight against one another.

"There should be respect for differences," wrote one Weibo user.

Back in the US, USC staff and students reacted to the decision to suspend Prof Patton.

"There's no language superior to the other," Chengyan Wu, Co-President of USC Chinese Student and Scholar Association, told the university's student news organisation.

"Restating the rights of one minority group should not be at the expense of violating the other," he said. "We have the right to use our own language."
BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.

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Simple Chinese word sparks racial sensitivity debate

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A US university investigation into one of its professors has ignited a debate over the use of a seemingly innocuous Chinese word. Professor Greg Patton at the University of Southern California (USC) was telling students in a communications lecture last month about filler, or pause words, such as 'err', 'umm' or 'you know' in English.

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This article is about the fear Amongst the women of Afghanistan about how after the peace deal between Taliban and America, the harsh rule of Taliban will be back during which women will not be allowed to work and are forced to stay home. The lady tells her story about how when she refused to marry pro-taliban's son then they abducted her father and have not heard from him since then. This is all related to the treatment of women in Afghanistan.

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Uzbekistan schools are trying to drop gender stereotypes. The review by UNESCO, the United Nations' Education and culture agency, shows that the textbooks tend to nudge female students into stereotypical female jobs like healthcare and teaching instead of science and technology. The books also have sexist illustrations showing the woman doing the laundry and ironing school uniforms as well as boys getting depicted as careless and destructive. The education ministry plans to work with a team of international specialists, who will work with ministry officials on new textbooks. Hopefully Uzbekistan will continue on taking steps to becoming more inclusive and continue encouraging women to government positions.

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Illustrations also show women and girls typically doing the laundry and ironing school uniforms, but boys don't escape stereotyping either. They are described as "careless about their possessions, prone to throw stones at animals and windows - they can't sit quietly in class, and interrupt lessons".

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Uzbek schools to drop gender stereotypes

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Illustrations also show women and girls typically doing the laundry and ironing school uniforms, but boys don't escape stereotyping either. They are described as "careless about their possessions, prone to throw stones at animals and windows - they can't sit quietly in class, and interrupt lessons".

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“Sex is the prison for women in Afghanistan and invisible trauma refers to sex trauma which is nothing more than cultural trauma, perpetuated in a normative figure”

This article The Invisible Trauma in Afghanistan written by Ehsan Shayegan a student of M.A. sociology at the University of  Mysore, in Karnataka India, speaks about sex, rape, marital rape, and the stigma within this culture. Shayegan speaks about the history, origins and evolution of sex. He states that sex was at one point shared between man and women who were married, it then expanded and development into a form of payment mainly in Europe and America. Shayegan begins to speak  about honor killing and how it has become a recurring event. All the victims were reported to be females, who were raped, had premarital sex, or were labled as culturaly rebelious. These characteristics brought great shame and dishonor to their families. In Islamic culture the people were taught to stay away from sex until marriage. He then speaks how forcing a person into sex has become a cuturally acceptable. Martial rape most often happens when it is a forced marriage. It was designs to be the more “Powerful” during sex. In summary, women are the property of their husbands and before that property of their families. Therefore martial rape is not an uncommon event. He also states how uncommon it is to talk about this issue, and how we need to shed more light on the issue.

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This is an article by Vogue Business regarding the shift in luxury markets from America and Europe to Asia, particularly China (which is where I am from).

In the article, it talked about the growing consumerism in China with a predicted 28% of global luxury consumption by 2025, which I find to be a shocking figure. Unlike other regions where businesses are affected by Covid-19, luxury markets are still in high demand for more stores opening in China in order to meet the needs of consumers there.

This was quite a surprise to me because back when I still lived in China (which was about 12 years ago), the level of consumerism was nothing like today. I am amazed by how much China has developed economically as well as how much the culture has evolved from how I remembered it. At the same time, it is also alarming as a sign for the growing wealth gap and poverty in more suburban areas in the country.

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Luxury store portfolios will be vastly different in five years’ time, as brands pivot away from waning American and European locations to chase cash-rich millennials in Asia. Luxury brands are opening fewer offline locations overall, cutting spending and renegotiating leases to limit the damages brought by Covid-19. The exception is in China, where new stores are needed to meet the demand of high-spending luxury customers.

Bain expects Chinese local spend to account for up to 28 per cent of global luxury consumption by 2025, up from 11 per cent in 2019, and brands are planning to change their retail footprint accordingly. China, Japan and South Korea are the three markets of focus for OTB, parent company of Diesel, Margiela and Marni, as they are seen to have the greatest potential payoff, says CEO Ubaldo Minelli. “We will increasingly shift physical retail investment to China and Asia Pacific,” he says. In three years, Minelli would like Asia Pacific to account for 60 per cent of the business.

Roberta Benaglia, CEO of Italian brand MSGM and asset management company Style Capital, says strategic focus on Asia, which includes the planned opening of 30 stores in the region over the next four years, remains valid and “will certainly be the strategy on which we will focus for the future”.

“China is absolutely taking a priority,” says Andrew Maag, CEO of luxury menswear label Dunhill, adding that the brand does not plan to open stores in America and Europe in the near future.

“All the luxury brands I talk to are focusing on China. It's the one bright spot in the world,” says Nick Bradstreet, managing director of Savills Hong Kong.

This marks a turning point in how brands had approached Chinese consumers before, when they used to make more than half of their luxury purchases abroad, sustaining the importance of luxury tourist destinations like London and Paris. With 73 per cent of Chinese luxury consumers planning to convert half of their annual abroad luxury spend back to China in the next year, per Boston Consulting Group, China is bound to see an uptick in retail luxury investment at the expense of Europe and the US. Over the past 10 years, industry leader LVMH has gradually shifted its retail centre of gravity towards Asia Pacific. The region (excluding Japan) now accounts for almost 30 per cent of the conglomerate retail footprint, from 19 per cent in 2009, and Bain estimates that Asia’s luxury market share, defined as China, Japan and the rest of Asia combined, will reach 54 per cent of the global market by 2025. Europe and the Americas will both decline from around 30 per cent to 22 to 24 per cent.

“We are going to see a relocation of investment away from some of the more mature markets and see a reinvestment in the Chinese market because of the surging consumption there,” says Joëlle de Montgolfier, executive vice president of global consumer products, retail and luxury practices at Bain & Company. “The store footprint will have to rebalance from the mature markets into the Asian region.”

The new retail map

In 2019, China saw almost seven per cent of luxury retail global openings, more than the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand combined. Beijing, Shanghai and Shenyang remain the top three markets in number of premium luxury brand stores, but cities in China’s Greater Bay Area like Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Xiamen are well positioned to receive luxury capex going forward, says Bradstreet. Sanya, a preferred domestic destination on Hainan Island in the South China Sea, is also piquing the interest of luxury players as an offshore duty-free destination and increasingly attracting domestic tourism. Lower-tier cities, however, still lack the high-quality developers luxury retailers trust with their endeavours, says Bradstreet, and expansion will remain focused primarily on first- and second-tier cities.

Vietnam, powered by a young population, growing middle class and growing infrastructure, should also be on the radar. Emerging markets in Asia and the Middle East will also benefit by being less over-retailed than North America and Europe, says Garrick Brown, vice president of retail research of the Americas at Cushman & Wakefield.

Sanya International Duty Free City, operated by China Duty Free Group, spans for 120,000 square metres and gathers nearly 300 international brands. Costfoto/Barcroft Media via Getty Images

Hong Kong, vexed by socio-political uncertainty, closed borders and a second wave of Covid-19, will remain a weak spot for luxury retail in Asia Pacific. “Everyone views it as a sort of fundamental shift this time,” says Bradstreet, comparing the current situation with previous challenging times for retail, like Occupy Central in 2014. Bradstreet expects brands with multiple stores in the city to drop at least two or three locations as retail sales remain low, rent remains high and mainland consumers remain across the border. “The general consensus is that Hong Kong retail sales, in the future, will end up somewhere between 30 per cent or 50 per cent of what they were in 2018,” he says.

In the Western hemisphere, the US market is expected to fare worse than Europe. “The United States is a great unknown today,” says OTB’s Minelli, listing a series of reasons including consumer crisis, weak department stores and wholesale, Covid-19 and the upcoming presidential elections. OTB has assumed a wait-and-see approach towards the market at least until 2021. Benaglia, speaking of luxury in general terms, sees a reduction in the weight of the US and a longer recovery path for the market. “If I have to think of a worse situation than America, I honestly think about Hong Kong,” she says.

Digital clienteling and local consumers

Brands, facing critically low tourist rates, are rethinking their approach to stores in order to be as relevant as possible to local consumers. That strategy includes continuing digital initiatives born during lockdown as stores remain open to maintain relevance.

During lockdown, Dunhill launched an outreach programme on WeChat, which allowed sales assistants to send an edited assortment of products to customers and finalise the transaction remotely. Now that the stores are opening again, Maag says that the digital clienteling is helping in assorting the stores correctly. Similarly, he says, the brand’s launch on Tmall at the end of September and the consequent access to consumer data will help determine its physical strategy. “Having the right number of stores for your local consumer is essential,” he says.

Police set up cordon during a protest at the International Finance Center shopping mall in Hong Kong in April. Anthony Kwan/Getty Images

“The most important change that is required is to be relevant to one’s local clientele,” says OTB’s Minelli of the post-pandemic era, adding that the group is working towards giving to Chinese consumers in China the same offering, in terms of breadth of offer and pricing, that they were used to finding in Europe.

“If we don’t find a way for Chinese consumers to buy in their country today what they were buying in Europe [before], we risk that the algebraic sum gives a minus,” he says.

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Brands will focus investments in APAC and work on maintaining their presence in Europe, as the United States and Hong Kong drop into the background.

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Women's world market was opened in Kabul, Afghanistan so that the females would get the opportunity to have their own shops and earn from them but the site was for selling construction material due to which they had less customers which led to the closure of the mall. Like this many others efforts were also made to improve the conditions of Afghanistan specially the women of the country. A total of $16 billion have been donated to Afghanistan out of which the largest donor is USA, who donated a large chunk of money towards the women's health programs. The mall was built in that location because it was available and affordable and was thought that it would attract women. But the problem stands in the fact that incomes are low in the country due to which people prefer to buy the products from local markets rather than buying it from mall. So this article tells about the women aids programs undertaken Afghanistan

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KABUL - Off the dust-coated Kote Sangi road in the Afghan capital stands a worn beige sign on stilts with blue painted letters advertising the Women's World Market.

Behind the sign, however, neither a market nor any women are to be seen.

Instead, what six months ago was a darkened shopping mall with few open stores and even fewer female customers is now a bustling cement shop filled with men searching for construction supplies.

The Women's World Market, which opened in 2007 to donor fanfare, was designed to give women the opportunity to own their own shops, earn income and learn about business in a secure, women-only environment. But its out-of-the-way location - in a western Kabul district best known for selling construction materials - meant store owners had little neighborhood foot traffic to draw upon. This problem, coupled with high prices and a shortage of distinctive products on offer, meant the mall never caught on with Afghan customers.

The now-shuttered mall is among the more visible efforts that have been aimed at empowering Afghan women but have failed to fulfill supporters' hopes. Hindered by what development agencies acknowledge has been poor planning, insufficient appreciation of the environment's myriad complexities and an aid mentality focused on quick cash infusions rather than longer-term investment, many economic programs for women in Afghanistan have struggled to find their footing.

An estimated $16 billion in reconstruction and development funds has entered Afghanistan since 2002, though international donors have yet to distribute billions more in pledged assistance. Exactly how much of this money has gone to empowerment projects for women is hard to know, since two-thirds of the development money has been spent outside the government's budget and much of the aid has never been reported.

Since 2002, the United States, Afghanistan's largest donor, has directed $570 million to programs benefiting Afghan women and girls, with $175 million more likely to be approved for the coming fiscal year. Women's health programs have received the largest share; $20 million has gone to economic initiatives.

Compared with these sums, the women's mall was a small affair. Muzhgan Wafiq, the young Afghan entrepreneur who won tenants and donor support for the market, said that she spent more than $20,000 of her own savings to start the shopping center. The German aid agency G.T.Z. spent about $40,000 on the refurbishment of the two-floor mall, along with some advertising. And the small-business support arm of the U.S. Agency for International Development provided $10,000 to register the market as a business association.

In retrospect, the market's backers say, they should have focused more on the feasibility of the project, given the awkward location. But the property was available and affordable, a rare combination in Kabul, where land rights are tangled and real estate is expensive. The thinking was that if they built it, women would come.

In the end, however, the strength of the concept was not enough. By the start of this year, it was largely abandoned by the nongovernmental organizations and entrepreneurs who were initially willing to pay the monthly rent, which ranged from 2,500 to 5,000 Afghanis, or $50 to $100.

Part of the challenge in creating successful economic programs, say both the women who participate in them and the development experts who create and implement them, is a lack of follow-through. While there is no shortage of training sessions for women in everything from agriculture to handicrafts, there are often few buyers for the goods that women are learning to produce.

Women's silk scarves, for example, sold for as much as $20 at the women's mall, with Afghan necklaces and handmade purses running from $5 to $15. High-quality goods made with foreign buyers in mind can garner such prices, but in a country where incomes are low and similar items can be found at local markets for a quarter of the price, the mall's wares were a tough sell for Afghan customers.

Ueli Müller, who oversees G.T.Z.'s Women Employment Promotion Project, said that the question being asked before any economic program gets support today, no matter how well-intended, is: What are the market linkages? And where are the customers? That sort of thinking has led G.T.Z. to consider helping 100 women in Afghanistan's north buy land for a cooperative and to explore a possible fair-trade carpet label aimed at European consumers.

In a country where unemployment is estimated at about 40 percent and donors are financing more than half of the government budget, sustainability is the buzzword. The goal is to assist women in building the skills they need to find and create jobs so that economic benefits follow the training.

Afghan organizations funded by foreign donors say they are starting to see evidence of this attitude within the international community.

"We used to give them sewing machines and after three months, the training was finished," said Maryam Rahmani, country representative for the Afghan Women's Resource Center. "Now we don't just give them a kit and leave them; we are working with them to register with Afghan Women's Business Federation, giving them marketing and business skills, and linking them to markets to sell their products."

One challenge facing this evolution toward longer-term, market-based thinking is that aid professionals creating economic programs rarely possess the private-sector expertise critical to helping them stand on their own.

"Development workers don't understand value chains," said Ashraf Ghani, Afghanistan's former finance minister, whose long-shot presidential campaign has placed women's education and economic strength at its center. He and others who focus on private sector growth say that development projects must do more to connect women with the commerce that is already happening in their country. "These training things are useless because what is the job at the end of it? We are not going to get out of poverty or out of insecurity unless we focus on women's economic empowerment."

This is a message that resonates with many aid groups. Unifem, the United Nations Development Fund for Women, is reassessing its approach to women's economic efforts in Afghanistan since its country director, Wenny Kusuma, took a close look at a program aimed at providing livelihoods for rural women.

Visiting the program's beneficiaries, most of whom had received goats and chickens, Ms. Kusuma found that few, if any, still owned the animals whose milk and eggs had been intended to provide their families with income. Some had sold the animals and others had been forced to give them to male family members.

"What we know we will not do is more of the same," Ms. Kusuma said. "There is no future with women's rights if we do not put women's economic access, opportunity and rights at the center."

The aid community is still trying to figure out how to support women's economic progress in a country where women face insecurity, limited mobility and literacy rates below 15 percent, she added.

Ms. Kusuma and other development experts say that part of the challenge is short-term donor funding cycles, which encourage aid organizations to establish programs without being able to judge their effectiveness and then seek to show immediate results. "For me, there is one dimension which is consistently lacking: it is the long-term view, long-term planning which allows for a more holistic approach," Ms. Kusuma said.

Unifem's new strategy is to help women advocate for sounder economic policy and better market access for themselves.

All of this rethinking is welcome news to many Afghan officials. "If it does not stand up to the test of sustainability, it is not real capacity building," said Afghan's finance minister, Dr. Omar Zakhilwal, who previously ran the country's investment support agency. "Empowering women in a real sense is not just sending them to a conference in Geneva and giving them an award for their bravery. The point is to strengthen women within the family."

For her part, Ms. Wafiq said she, too, had learned from her missteps and was ready to try again, this time in a better location with new services, like a guest house and wellness center, and more experienced businesswomen. She hoped to be open once more for business by the fall and was seeking donors to back her idea the second time around.

"Business needs a lot of passion, creativity, and hard work," Ms. Wafiq said. "I am ready to try again because I don't want to accept that I failed; I will keep trying until I reach success."

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Extending the Horizon for Woman's Aid Projects in Afghanistan

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KABUL - Off the dust-coated Kote Sangi road in the Afghan capital stands a worn beige sign on stilts with blue painted letters advertising the Women's World Market. Behind the sign, however, neither a market nor any women are to be seen.

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This article consists of the news that interview tips were offered to women for the frequently asked questions which were very sexist reply they were told to give. This interview was posted on social media but after the protest from the women's right groups this post was removed. Thus this article shows that though the level of education in Korea is same for girls and boys but their is still gender equality in Korea.

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Women in South Korea should tell potential employers they don't mind "casual jokes about sex" in the workplace, according to guidelines from the country's Labour Ministry.
The interview tips offered "ideal answers" to questions women might face in an interview, and were posted on a government-run recruitment information site, the Korea Herald reports. Women were advised to respond to a question about sexual harassment by saying: "It is sometimes necessary to deal with it by making a joke in return." For questions about family life, it was suggested they should lie about any plans to tie the knot because "it is common for female workers to quit their jobs after getting married." As for menial work, women should promise to do their "very best, even if it is just making a single cup of coffee", the guidelines said.

The post has since been deleted after women's rights groups branded it discriminatory. "It is sexist of any employer to only ask women about their plans on marriage and child bearing," the Korean National Council of Women says in a statement. The Korea Times says it's at a "loss for words" in an editorial on the subject, describing the guidelines as "obviously sexist". After removing the offending post, the ministry said it would consider educating its staff about gender equality.

While education levels among Korean men and women are the same with equal numbers holding a university degree, gender inequality in the workplace persists. In 2013, South Korea ranked last among OECD countries for employing women graduates.

Use #NewsfromElsewhere to stay up-to-date with our reports via Twitter.

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South Korea: Ministry's 'sexist' interview tips panned

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Women in South Korea should tell potential employers they don't mind "casual jokes about sex" in the workplace, according to guidelines from the country's Labour Ministry. The interview tips offered "ideal answers" to questions women might face in an interview, and were posted on a government-run recruitment information site, the Korea Herald reports.

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This article talks about the information of the Chinese Spring Festival which can be regarded as Chinese traditional culture. Chinese Spring Festival which known as Chinese new year is the most important celebration in Chinese calendar. However it is totally different from the new year in the UK, because Chinese use the lunar calendar which gives time according to the moon. There are several interesting things that people will do to celebrate it. For example, when New Year’s Day comes, people will not pick up a broom as they think this behavior will sweep all the good luck for the new year out of the door. And from this news, I learned that the tradition culture can impact people’s practices a lot. Just like the example I give, because of the traditions, people will be restricted to cleaning their houses on New Year’s Day. At the same time, it also influences people’s way of life. For example, if someone is in his animal year (recurrent year in the twelve-year cycle), he will always wear red underwear and socks for the whole year. In a word, traditional custom is a part of culture, it is extremely precise for every person in China, and people are supposed to take measures to protect it as well.

(220 words)

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It is one of the biggest events of the year for many East and South East Asian people and is marked by communities all over the world.

Families and friends get together to eat lots of yummy food, enjoy fireworks, and wear special clothes to mark the occasion.

Find out more about Lunar New Year below!

In 2024 the Lunar New Year started on Saturday 10 February.

The celebrations always begin the evening before, and last for 15 days.

The exact date of the Lunar New Year changes each year as it is linked to the start of a new moon.

This is different to the 'Gregorian' calendar that we traditionally use in the UK, which starts on 1 January.

Each year the date of Lunar New Year falls some time between 21 January and 20 February, on the date of the first new moon.

What are the zodiac animals?

In Chinese tradition, each year is represented by one of 12 different animals, which feature in the Chinese zodiac: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig.

Each animal has a year dedicated to them once every 12 years, in a cycle and this year marks the change from the year of the Rabbit to the year of the Dragon.

There are some differences in the zodiac animals across different countries, for example in Vietnam, they celebrate the Year of the Cat instead of Rabbit and in Japan it's a boar instead of a pig.

If you can't see this quiz click here.

Millions of people usually travel in the lead up to the new year to spend time with family or friends and different communities have traditions that they celebrate.

Before the festivities begin, one tradition is to clean your house really well to get rid of any bad luck, and get them ready for the celebrations.

Then, when New Year arrives, there is a tradition not to pick up a broom, in case you sweep the good luck out of the door!

In some countries, like China, schools and businesses can close for the first few days of the new year, so that everyone can spend time with their families.

People enjoy eating lots of delicious food during Lunar New Year, including dishes such as noodles, hot pot, dumplings, Nian gao (new year rice cake) or radish cake, fish and tangerines, which traditionally bring luck for the year ahead.

During Lunar New Year there are often parades and performances, with people dressing in traditional clothes, and performing traditional dances, like Lion dancing.

Fireworks are also set off, because it is thought that noise and lights will scare away any evil spirits for the coming months.

The festivities continue for two weeks, and can finish with a special lantern festival to end the celebration period.

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Lunar New Year: Year of the Dragon - what you need to know

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Millions of people across the world celebrate Lunar New Year in February but what exactly is it and how is it celebrated? Read our guide and find out which animal of the zodiac you are, and then take our special quiz to find out what your zodiac animal says about you!

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This article talks about the minimizing group of herders living in Mongolia who are continuously losing their herds due to dzuds, a Mongolian term for severe cold weather where a lot of cattle are expected to die. The herders are worried as the years go on that their way of life will be abandoned due to the frequency of these harsh weather conditions and the toll it takes to recover and prepare again. Many have decided it's easier to just move to the cities and maintain herds at a distance for income or just drop it entirely. From what I learned in this article the herders of Mongolia not only take care of these animals but it's also their way of life and having to choose between trying to persevere through these conditions seems to become a harder task each year.

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Gantumur rides a stocky white horse out onto the steppe, a choppy trot moving toward two dots in the dry grass.

He dismounts next to a sheep and lamb. They have barely moved from this place since the birth 10 days ago, the mother too weak to walk.

Gantumur, a 51-year-old Mongolian herder, spreads a plastic bag on the ground, offering its contents of bran to the sheep. As she eats, he sits next to his horse, using the animal for protection against a bitter wind that ruffles his knee-length deel overcoat, its thick blue cloth flecked with horse hair.

"I'm bringing food so she can gain enough strength to rejoin the herd," he says. But even with the additional sustenance, he worries about the mother, her wool falling in clumps off a thin body.

"She's so weak - and if she can't make enough milk, both of them will die," says Gantumur, who like many Mongolians goes by only one name.

He has already lost 60 of his 100 goats and sheep, after a fierce winter that has taken a grim toll on the Mongolian steppe. The spectacular expanse of undulating grassland has long sustained the country, but has come under threat from climate change and overuse, which in recent years has killed huge numbers of animals and propelled a human exodus from the land that is eroding one of the last nomadic cultures on Earth.

Across Mongolia, nearly 860,000 animals have already died from this year's dzud, a weather phenomenon in which a summer of drought is followed by a winter of cold and heavy snow. Today, carcasses lie in dry gulches and dried-out watering holes, their exposed skin gleaming in the sun after herders stripped hides to salvage some value. Many more animals died from large numbers of miscarriages.

The dzud is part of the Mongolian landscape. Elder herders recall great numbers of livestock felled by dzud conditions in 1945 and 1967. But what once took place on a lengthy cycle now appears to be coming with more frequency. Huge numbers of animals died in 2001, and then again in 2009, before this year's dzud - which although regional and not as deadly as earlier iterations, is still expected to kill more than a million livestock.

"It used to happen every 20 years. Then it went to a 10-year pattern. And now it seems we have come to a five-year pattern," said Quentin Moreau, country director for People in Need, a Czech disaster response organization. "It's very likely an aggravating factor is climate change."

Driven in part by the emotional toll of losing animals under their care, herders themselves are abandoning the steppe. Between 2010 and 2015, the number of Mongolian herders fell from a half-million to 300,000.

Mongolia's herder culture, one of the last on Earth, is "just dying. It's only a matter of time until we're going to probably end up with a symbolic number of herders, and that's it," Mr. Moreau said.

In Adaatsag soum, a county-like region in southern Dundgobi province, 15 per cent of the population has vanished in the past three years alone. Local leaders have tried to stem the departures, organizing training sessions and seminars to promote the herder lifestyle to young people. The message is: "You don't have to go - you can stay here and you can live well in this soum," said Ochirbat, the elected leader of a local bag, or brigade, a smaller administrative unit.

"We are doing this because Mongolia has been founded on animal husbandry. It's the main economic pillar of the country. That's why we need to keep younger generations in the countryside to tend livestock."

But it's been a hard battle, particularly as dzud conditions kill animals owned by young herders who may struggle to shepherd them through tough conditions. A half-decade after the last major dzud, some herders have recovered only a fraction of their former herd sizes.

Others have already quit. "They sort of give up. They don't have the mental or psychological power to continue herding livestock," Ochirbat said. "They feel that 'I can't do it so I would rather go to the city.'"

In 2014, only 29 per cent of Mongolians remained rural, according to World Bank statistics. In China, by comparison, nearly one in two people still lives in rural areas.

But Mongolia's transition to an urban population comes amid worsening conditions on its vast grasslands - which sprawl across a country larger than Quebec - that have only grown worse as people have left.

Many herders are only partly quitting the countryside, becoming instead absentee herders who live in the city but maintain hundreds of animals in the countryside to augment income.

That has created larger accumulations of animals, and with it, bigger problems. Some herds now exceed 1,000, as families care for their own animals alongside those owned from afar. Mongolia now has 61 million head of livestock, roughly double what scientists believe the country's natural environment can support.

At the same time, herders who once regularly moved long distances have grown more sedentary, a product of bureaucracy and growing material possessions. The grasslands may remain unfenced, but administrative divisions imposed during Soviet times, and since maintained, have bound the landscape in ways that interfere with old patterns.

A study by Batbuyan, a human geographer at the Mongolian Academy of Sciences, found that 154 out of 330 soums lacked one or more seasonal grazing areas.

Solar panels, meanwhile, have brought modernity to remote places, but at the cost of mobility. In older times, herders kept possessions to what could move on two camels, or four horses. Today, it takes a truck to haul around flat-panel televisions and DC-power washing machines. Many herders move once a year rather than with the seasons, and often only short distances, creating an increasingly heavy footprint on the grasslands.

"People with big animal herds cannot move far, and so they just hope there will be rain and there will be grass," Batbuyan said. The solution, he says, lies both in returning to past practices - including moving with each season - and in embracing new solutions. That can include building co-operatives to help spread herds across the landscape. By working together, herders can embrace modern practices such as the ability to trace meat to its source, which in turn can help boost exports, raise meat prices and lessen the need for such large numbers of livestock.

The alternative is increasing fragility in the face of a landscape in the midst of damaging change - some of it natural, some of it caused by humans.

Climate projections suggest Mongolia will see more warming than any other East Asian country, with average temperatures increasing more than five degrees by 2090. Precipitation patterns are already changing. Hundreds of rivers and lakes have already gone dry.

At the same time, illegal hunting, much of it for sales to China, has eliminated roughly 75 per cent of the country's marmots, a species important in maintaining grasslands health, in the past two decades.

Today, "over 70 per cent of the land has been influenced by desertification - not just the steppe, but even in mountain areas, because of climate change and the impact of livestock," said Suvd, an Ulaanbaatar-based project officer with GIZ, the German international development agency.

In Dundgobi, or Middle Gobi, the province on the northern fringe of the Gobi Desert, countless miniature sand dunes gather around tufts of grass. Less than 1 per cent of the province is unaffected by desertification; the encroachment of sand is considered "medium" or "very strong" in nearly three-quarters of its land.

Outside Adaatsag, a recent windstorm blew in a sand drift more than half-a-metre thick, nearly burying a large metal milk jug behind the stone-walled shelter for sheep and goats that belongs to Dusmaa, 64, and her herding family.

"I'm worried that the sand is increasing," she says.

They lost more than 100 livestock in the recent dzud. Thirteen dead goats still lie on a nearby roof, waiting for the family to find time to strip away their valuable cashmere with hot water. "The winter was harsh," Dusmaa says. "It was much colder than previous years," with temperatures dipping to -40 degrees Celsius, "and the snow cover was thick."

The family bought additional hay and feed, and did what it could to save animal lives. But winter punished humans and animals alike. Dusmaa's son broke his shin after crashing his motorcycle on the icy ground, leaving him on crutches and unable to work for six months. Even warmer April temperatures are small consolation. "Until June, we are not completely out of danger," Dusmaa says. "A sudden snowstorm can make things difficult."

As she talks, her daughter-in-law places a giant steel bowl on the stove in the centre of the family ger, the round structure, insulated with lamb wool felt, commonly known as a yurt. She pours in milk and tea leaves to boil up milk tea. The family hands around a plate stacked high with dried curds, bread and hardened milk fat, all made by hand. Outside, workers use tools with bent steel tines to scrape cashmere from goats. Falcons and camels dot the surrounding landscape.

Dusmaa knows she is part of a diminishing way of life. Three of her six children are no longer herders; even those still tending livestock send their children eight kilometres away to live in the dusty local village on weekdays to attend school. The primary ambition for many herders is to give their children a future away from the grasslands.

Dusmaa can't understand it.

"When I look at people who have gone to get jobs and make a small salary, I feel for them. I think they would be better off herding livestock instead," she says.

"All of our needs can be met from our livestock - the milk, the wool, the cashmere," she says. That's not to mention the cow and sheep dung that provide valuable fuel for winter heat.

Dusmaa admits it's tough when dzud conditions hit.

"But when nature is great, and the weather is okay, we have no problems. It's really great to have livestock."

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The Globe in Mongolia: Why a herding culture is dying out

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Gantumur rides a stocky white horse out onto the steppe, a choppy trot moving toward two dots in the dry grass. He dismounts next to a sheep and lamb. They have barely moved from this place since the birth 10 days ago, the mother too weak to walk.

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In this article, the female named Kane Tanaka just recently broke her own record in Guinness Book of Records as the world’s oldest living person, at the age of 117. However, it is not too rare for seniors in Japan to live pass a century. According to the article, recent figures show that the number of Japanese aged 65 and over is now at a record-high of 36.16 billion with 80,450 who are aged at least 100.

I learned that Japan has the highest proportion of seniors in the entire world, which makes me wonder what contributes to their high life expectancy. I believe their culture and diet must play a major role behind this. However, the high aging population also becomes a social issue in Japan as it creates a high demand for healthcare and lack of financial aid for the retired seniors. I think as our medical and healthcare industry further advances, this will become an inevitable issue for many countries in the world.

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A 117-year-old woman with a weakness for fizzy drinks and chocolate has become Japan's oldest person on record, as the country marks a public holiday devoted to its senior citizens.

Kane Tanaka, who had already been recognised by the Guinness Book of Records as the world's oldest living person in March last year, achieved the all-time Japanese age record on Saturday, when she became 117 years and 261 days old.

The supercentenarian, who lives in a nursing home in the south-western city of Fukuoka, beat the previous record, held by another Japanese woman, Nabi Tajima, who died in April 2018 aged 117 years and 260 days.

Tanaka celebrated the achievement with a bottle of Coke - her favourite drink - and wore a T-shirt with her face printed on it that had been given to her by members of her family.

Her grandson, 60-year-old Eiji Tanaka, told the Kyodo news agency that his grandmother was in good health and "enjoying her life every day," despite restrictions on family visits due to the coronavirus pandemic. "As a family, we are happy and proud of the new record," he said.

Tanaka is not alone in living past 100. New government figures released ahead of Respect for the Aged Day on Monday showed that the number of Japanese aged 65 and over stood at a record-high of 36.17 million, including 80,450 who are aged at least 100.

The number of centenarians rose above 80,000 for the first time, underlining the financial and healthcare challenges posed by the country's rapidly ageing population, with women accounting for more than 88% of the total, the health ministry said last week. By contrast, the number of Japanese aged 100 or over came to just 153 when the survey was first conducted in 1963.

The over-64s now account for 28.7% of Japan 's population - the highest proportion of any country - according to the internal affairs ministry.

The National Institute of Population and Social Security Research projects that age group will comprise just over 35% of the population by 2040.

The seventh of nine children, Tanaka was born on 2 January 1903, the year the Wright brothers made their first powered flight and the first Tour de France was held. She has lived through the reigns of five Japanese emperors.

Tanaka, who has not been able to meet relatives due to the coronavirus, has reportedly been passing the time playing a board game with other residents.

She is now the third-oldest person ever, behind Jeanne Calment, a Frenchwoman who died in 1997 at the age of 122, and American Sarah Knauss, who died in 1999 at age 119, according to the US-based Gerontology Research Group.

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Woman, 117, marks becoming Japan's oldest ever person with cola and boardgames

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A 117-year-old woman with a weakness for fizzy drinks and chocolate has become Japan's oldest person on record, as the country marks a public holiday devoted to its senior citizens. Kane Tanaka, who had already been recognised by the Guinness Book of Records as the world's oldest living person in March last year, achieved the all-time Japanese age record on Saturday, when she became 117 years and 261 days old.

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This article speaks about Hong Kong and China. Hong Kong was supposed to be an independent country. That was until June 30 when China passed law 66. It “criminalises any act of: secession - breaking away from the country subversion - undermining the power or authority of the central government terrorism - using violence or intimidation against people collusion with foreign or external forces” This means Beijing will have control in how Hong Kong’s people will live, and the rules they will abide by. The article outlines what the new law states and what the punishment will be for committing an illegal act. By reading the new laws one can acknowledge that Hong Kong and the people there are losing their freedom and essentially their culture. Their culture will slowly integrate and become very similar to China’s. In 2019 there was a violent protest over a law that was made, the people of Hong Kong were protesting against China and for a pro-democracy movement.  Reading this article I can see how easy it is to lose your freedom. Whether it be you freedom of speech and expression or how you are judged and your punishment for committing a crime. I learned how easy it is for a country to lose its control, and authority. Reading this article gave me a clearer and better perspective on how one nation can lose their culture whether it be by force or integration with another culture.

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In 2020, China introduced a wide-ranging new national security law (NSL) for Hong Kong, making it easier to prosecute protesters and reducing the city's autonomy.

Critics called it "the end of Hong Kong", but what exactly does the law entail and what has changed since it was introduced?

Hong Kong was always meant to have a security law, but could never pass one because it was so unpopular. So this is about China stepping in to ensure the city has a legal framework to deal with what it sees as serious challenges to its authority.

The details of the law's 66 articles were kept secret until after it was passed. It criminalises any act of:

secession - breaking away from the country

subversion - undermining the power or authority of the central government

terrorism - using violence or intimidation against people

collusion with foreign or external forces

The law came into effect at 23:00 local time on 30 June 2020, an hour before the 23rd anniversary of the city's handover to China from British rule.

It gives Beijing powers to shape life in Hong Kong it has never had before.

Its key provisions include:

Crimes of secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign forces are punishable by a maximum sentence of life in prison

Damaging public transport facilities can be considered terrorism

Those found guilty will not be allowed to stand for public office

Companies can be fined if convicted under the law

This office can send some cases to be tried in mainland China - but Beijing has said it will only have that power over a "tiny number" of cases

In addition, Hong Kong will have to establish its own national security commission to enforce the laws, with a Beijing-appointed adviser

Hong Kong's chief executive will have the power to appoint judges to hear national security cases, raising fears about judicial autonomy

Importantly, Beijing will have power over how the law should be interpreted, not any Hong Kong judicial or policy body. If the law conflicts with any Hong Kong law, the Beijing law takes priority

Some trials will be heard behind closed doors.

People suspected of breaking the law can be wire-tapped and put under surveillance

Management of foreign non-governmental organisations and news agencies will be strengthened

The law will also apply to non-permanent residents and people "from outside [Hong Kong]... who are not permanent residents of Hong Kong".

Hundreds of protestors, activists and former opposition lawmakers have been arrested since the law came into force.

"The arrests... [are] an ominous sign that its crackdown on Hong Kong is only going to escalate," said the Human Rights Watch organisation.

Beijing has said the law is needed to bring stability to the city, but critics say it is designed to squash dissent.

Earlier in 2022, the UK announced that two of its Supreme Court judges would no longer sit on Hong Kong's top court - as the threat to civil liberties had made their role untenable.

UK Supreme Court President Lord Robert Reed said he and Lord Patrick Hodge were resigning from the court over the threat to civil freedoms posed by the new law.

"Since the National Security Law was imposed, authorities have cracked down on free speech, the free press and free association," said UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.

"We have seen a systematic erosion of liberty and democracy in Hong Kong."

Observers say the laws have also created a climate of fear stifling free speech.

Numerous pro-democracy news outlets in Hong Kong have shut down over the past few months, including Apple Daily, which was known to be critical of the mainland Chinese leadership.

Numerous staff members from Apple Daily, including its owner Jimmy Lai, were also arrested and charged under the NSL.

"The arrests worsened the feeling of fear prevalent among journalists since the enactment of the national security law," Chris Yeung, a veteran journalist and former chairman of the Hong Kong Journalists' Association, had earlier told the BBC.

"The national security law has caused far more damaging impacts on freedoms and way of life than many people had envisaged one year ago."

Why did China do this?

Hong Kong was handed back to China from British control in 1997, but under a unique agreement - a mini-constitution called the Basic Law and a so-called "one country, two systems" principle.

They are supposed to protect certain freedoms for Hong Kong: freedom of assembly and speech, an independent judiciary and some democratic rights - freedoms that no other part of mainland China has.

Under the same agreement, Hong Kong had to enact its own national security law - this was set out in Article 23 of the Basic Law - but it never happened because of its unpopularity.

But in 2019, China proposed an extradition bill that could potentially allow Hong Kong suspects to be sent for trial in China.

Anger over the potential bill erupted into some of the largest protests Hong Kong had ever seen, turning into a broader anti-China and pro-democracy movement.

In response, China passed the NSL.

How can China do this?

Many might ask how China can do this if the city was supposed to have freedoms guaranteed under the handover agreement.

The Basic Law says Chinese laws can't be applied in Hong Kong unless they are listed in a section called Annex III - there are already a few listed there, mostly uncontroversial and around foreign policy.

These laws can be introduced by decree - which means they bypass the city's parliament.

If you want to find out more about China-Hong Kong tensions read here:

Critics say the introduction of the law this way amounts to a breach of the "one country, two systems" principle, which is so important to Hong Kong - but clearly it is technically possible to do this.

Reporting by the BBC's Grace Tsoi and Lam Cho Wai

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Hong Kong national security law: What is it and is it worrying?

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A simple guide to the national security law China has passed in Hong Kong and why it matters.

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This article talks about an social conflict that happens between citizens and taxi drivers with tattoos in China. (Sorry for the Madarin content but I have checked that Google Chrome can translate it to English quite well.) Taxi drivers are required to remove their tattoo becuase tattoos are making passengers (especially female and children) anxious and nervous. A taxi driver in China has reported to the media that taxi drivers really don’t want to be discriminated against in employment because those with tattoos are not necessarily bad guys, and romoving tattoos can take long time and be suffering. However, after negociation, taxi drivers are allow to have tattoos covered by clothes. I learned that different cultures may have very opposite opinions on one thing. In western cultures, most people views tattoo as an art or symbols of beliefs. However, in Chinese culture, most people view this product of foreign culture as a symbol of evilness and immoral. This is because of ethnocentrism that people evaluate other's culture according to the standard and norms set by their own culture. However, it is hard for people to not be ethnocentrism because it is almost impossible for one to understand other cultures without partcipant-observation. Therefore, the misunderstanding between different cultures is reasonable, and we need to understand that there is no right or wrong answes for such questions.

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"我们真不希望在就业中受到歧视，有文身的不一定是流氓也有可能是岳飞，不是吗？"近日，有网友通过人民网领导留言板反映，其是甘肃兰州市一名出租汽车驾驶员，近期收到了关于出租车驾驶员不得有文身的信息，要求清除文身。

"这样突然叫我们清除掉文身真的很不容易，清洗需要几周或是几个月甚至更长，不说需要多少钱，首先对我们的身体就是很大的摧残伤害，还有就是文身并不能毫无痕迹的去除掉，还是会留下疤痕或是除不干净的色块。"网友称，"我在这想提出自己的意见，就是我们驾驶员不允许露出文身，有文身的人需要自行想办法遮掩。我们在办理上岗证的时候都是出具了无犯罪证明的，可以证明我们都是奉公守法的良好市民，不是因为有文身而变成了作奸犯科的坏人，我知道领导们是希望更好地向大众展现我们窗口行业的素质，叫我们去除文身的目的就是不希望乘客看到，既然如此我们全力地去遮掩掉文身，不叫乘客看到，不裸露出来不是一样可以解决么？"

兰州市交通运输委员会之后回应道，出租车作为公共服务窗口行业，驾驶员大面积文身可能导致女性、小孩等乘客心理不适，不宜从事出租汽车营运工作。因此，根据兰州市出租汽车行业协会自律的相关要求，出租汽车驾驶员双臂、颈部等身体裸露部分不得有大面积文身。

兰州市交通运输委员会介绍，对于已有文身的驾驶员，可以通过清洗文身尽量去除。暂时无法完全清除的，应在提供营运服务的过程中采取一些遮盖措施，不得大面积裸露，以树立该市出租行业驾驶员良好的精神风貌。

澎湃新闻注意到，在兰州之前，吉林长春市交通运输局曾于2019年在全市范围内开展公交、出租汽车行业整治，其中就要求有文身的驾驶员文身不得外露。

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兰州：的哥大面积文身可能致女性、小孩等不适，应清除或遮盖

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"我们真不希望在就业中受到歧视，有文身的不一定是流氓也有可能是岳飞，不是吗？"近日，有网友通过人民网领导留言板反映，其是甘肃兰州市一名出租汽车驾驶员，近期收到了关于出租车驾驶员不得有文身的信息，要求清除文身。 ...

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Stan li

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Stan li
This article is about the controversy between men and women caused by a TV show in China. This show's name is "Heros in Harm's Way",It is about the contributions made by hospital staff and the masses during the Covid-19 epidemic. There is no problem with the theme of this TV series, but the content inside makes people uncomfortable, and some of the plots in it vilify the image of women . Women are portrayed as incapable and brave. For example, in a scenario, when a leader chooses who is going to the front line, no women take the initiative to come forward, or when women want to contribute their abilities, they will be said to be unsuitable for the job.This kind of plot has aroused the debate among netizens, saying that this is discriminating against women. In fact, in reality reports, 80% of nurses are women.Most hospital staff are women.
From my own point of view, gender issues have always existed in the world, not just in China. China is now developing too fast, and some cultural aspects are still rotten. The issue of gender has always been a social issue of debate. In ancient China, women were regarded by society as low-capacity, or just tools. This prejudice has lasted for thousands of years and was not broken until modern times, but its influence still exists among some unenlightened people.As people in the new era, I think we should work hard to break this prejudice, becasue the cooperation between men and women is the positive social direction.
news posted on 24 September 2020
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A highly anticipated drama about Covid-19 has come under fierce criticism for downplaying the role of women during China's epidemic fight.

"Heroes in Harm's Way" premiered on China's flagship TV channel, CCTV-1, on 17 September. It aired during primetime, and promised to be the first TV drama "based on real life stories" about front-line workers in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the site of the first coronavirus outbreak.

The title of the show implied that it was going to highlight the major contributions women had made in China's epidemic fight. Women account for the majority of China's front-line workers.

However, the show's pilot, released with much fanfare and publicity, was panned on China's IMDB-like website, Douban. Film critics noted that it scored an embarrassing 2.4 out of 10, and it received many critical comments, mainly about its depiction of women, before they were suddenly suspended on the site.

The show has some problematic scenes

The name of the show was seemingly chosen because, as China Daily noted in April, female medical staff are often hailed as "Heroes in Harm's Way".

However, in Chinese, the name of the show translates more literally as "Beauties who go against the tide". It was presumably always going to be quite controversial, given that the phrase insinuates that women in front-line medical roles have taken rare, rather than common paths.

Reality Check: Are women welcome in Chinese politics?

The Chinese women breaking stereotypes

So what DID China do when outbreak emerged?

Viewers have taken particular offence to the fact that many of the female characters play a hindering or subservient role compared with their male counterparts.

The national Global Times newspaper notes that in the drama, "one of the most controversial scenes" shows a divorced female driver being discouraged by her peers to sign up to transport supplies to the frontline, because her family are waiting to spend Chinese New Year with her.

Social media users on the popular Sina Weibo microblog felt that this was a derogatory depiction of women, and made women look like they were reluctant contributors " dragging their feet, [who] had to seek the consent of their husbands if they wanted to go to the front line", rather than the main contributors.

Users asked whether the same considerations would have been written into the plot, had the character been male.

The South China Morning Post also noted that there were frustrations with the depiction of nurses "more interested in gossiping about male doctors".

But the paper interviews one nurse who says, on the contrary, that "every woman working at her hospital joined the fight against the disease" without question, because only around 5% of nurses working there were male.

Women have played a significant role as front-line workers

Despite the drama's promise to highlight the role of women, the majority of female characters are shown in junior roles to men, and they largely play an accommodating and submissive role.

The reality is that during China's outbreak, women not only played a decisive role at key Wuhan hospitals - like former Party Secretary Cai Li, who oversaw operations at the Wuhan Central Hospital, where the virus was first identified - they accounted for a significant majority of staff.

In April - when China was seeing the back of its nationwide outbreak - the official China Daily said that statistics showed "about 50% of doctors fighting on the frontline [were] female".

People's Daily added in May that approximately 70% of the medical workers on the frontline were nurses. And China Daily says that approximately 90% of them were female.

It also notes the specific statistics in relation to Wuhan, where there were more than 46,000 cases of Covid-19. Roughly two-thirds of the people who were front-line medical workers in the city were women.

The Global Times newspaper also notes that women played a key role in the construction of the Huoshenshan and Leishenshan hospitals that were built within days in Wuhan at the beginning of the year.

Yet in the show, the construction workers are exclusively male.

China has celebrated some of its female Covid heroes...

The Chinese government has done a lot in recent months to highlight the role of women during its Covid-19 outbreak.

Major General Chen Wei, a top virologist, has been made a "People's Hero" for her work on the virus, and there have been countless pieces of footage showing and praising female medical workers for their work on the frontline.

However, the drama has suddenly raised questions over the narrative China has been telling throughout the year on its female contributors, and whether women are more broadly being unfairly marginalised.

It is worth noting that Maj-Gen Chen was the only woman out of four people given a national commendation by President Xi Jinping.

The Wuhan Federation of Trade Unions also says that out of the 13 people given "National Model Workers" commendations for their work in the city fighting Covid-19, only four were women.

Anger erupts after virus whistleblower doctor dies

The Wuhan writer who angered China

A lot of China's media coverage has been selective in highlighting women in caring roles, who have had to sacrifice their roles as good wives and mothers.

On International Women's Day in March, the official Xinhua focused on how female medical workers were "fighting on the frontline" while "their husbands shoulder the responsibility at home".

Some Weibo users have quoted the famous Mao Zedong quote: that "women hold up half the sky", and thousands of comments are to be found, criticising the perception the show has of women playing an "inferior" role.

There are users asking whether the programme's actors or the director were to blame. But others have the more forceful idea that women are being "washed" out of China's Covid-19 history with the primetime drama.

But missed others out

It is easy to understand why many Weibo users feel this way; this is not the first time that China has been criticised for retelling or reshaping its Covid-19 history.

And the drama has ignited calls from Weibo users to recognise some of the women that truly made a difference.

Some users name Dr Ai Fen who along with her colleague Li Wenliang, was deemed a "whistleblower" for bringing the seriousness of Covid-19 to their colleagues' attention.

Both were subsequently given a warning by the Wuhan authorities. Ai Fen has been given no commendation, even though she might have helped raise awareness faster of the virility of the virus.

Netizens have also called for more recognition of Fang Fang for the role she played in helping get the voices of Wuhan heard by the world.

Fang Fang began documenting her experiences of living in Wuhan in January, and soon gained acclaim for her writing on what was happening in the city.

However, as her popularity grew, and she gained international recognition, state media went as far as to brand her a traitor.

Other books instead were instead heavily publicised that told the story of the coronavirus through the eyes of the state, with the overall aim to diminish the mark she made, and instead direct people's attention towards the Communist Party government's strength.

One Weibo user says that the drama's omission of Dr Li Wenliang and Dr Ai Fen meant it was "not worth watching" because the government does "not have the courage to face the full picture of history".
BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.

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Chinese TV show accused of 'erasing women' in virus fight

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A highly anticipated drama about Covid-19 has come under fierce criticism for downplaying the role of women during China's epidemic fight. "Heroes in Harm's Way" premiered on China's flagship TV channel, CCTV-1, on 17 September.

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This news story mainly talks about the digital currency of China. In recent years, a payment system which is be known as Digital Currency Electronic Payment has become a tendency in China. In 2019, four-fifths of the payments in China were made through either Tencent’s WeChat Pay or Alibaba’s Alipay. Mr. Guo guesses that DCEP will become the dominant global currency. There are 39 millions Chinese living outside of country, it will have a huge impact on the success of DCEP. From my perspective, DCEP is a new model of payment, and it can be regarded as a new culture. To some extent, it means cash will not be used in society anymore. People can pay with their phones which is extremely convenient. It definitely changes our life. What’s more, because there are lots of Chinese settled in different countries, when they communicate with natives, they can bring this new culture to them. It also indicates that the culture can be shared and spread. Overall, I think technology can bring us new culture, and this new culture can always be beneficial for mankind.

news posted on 25 September 2020
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Chandler Guo was a pioneer in cryptocurrency, the digital currencies that can be created and used independently of national central banks and governments.

In 2014 he set up an operation to produce one of those currencies, Bitcoin, in a secret location in western China.

"Mining" Bitcoin is a power hungry enterprise involving dozens of computers so he used power from a hydroelectric station, in partnership with a local Chinese government official.

At its peak his machines were capable of mining 30% of the world's Bitcoin. He believed Bitcoin would one day change the world and replace the dollar.

But now he sees a new force emerging - a payment system created by the Chinese state and known as Digital Currency Electronic Payment (DCEP).

It's really a digital version of China's official currency, the yuan, and Mr Guo feels DCEP will become the dominant global currency. "One day everyone in the world will be using DCEP," he says.

"DCEP will be successful because there are a lot of Chinese people living outside of China - there are 39 million Chinese living outside of the country.

"If they have a connection with China they will use the DCEP. They can make DCEP become an international currency."

But many question whether it will succeed and there are concerns that it will be used by Beijing to spy on citizens.

Like Bitcoin, DCEP utilises a blockchain technology, a type of digitised ledger used to verify transactions.

Blockchain acts as a universal record of every transaction ever made on that network, and users collaborate to verify new transactions when they occur.

In practice, that means users don't need a bank if, for example, they want to pay each other, perhaps with their phones.

China plans to launch DCEP later this year. But so far, the People's Bank of China has not given an exact date for the nationwide launch.

China began testing the digital currency earlier this year in selected cities. When rolled out it will allow users to link downloaded electronic wallets to their bank cards, make transactions and transfer money.

"It's hard to predict the timeline but the People's Bank of China is under a lot of pressure to accelerate the development because they do not want to be in a world where Libra (Facebook's digital currency) becomes the global currency, which they think is worse than the current global financial system controlled by the US," says Linghao Bao, an analyst from Beijing-based Trivium.

Observers say China wants to internationalise the yuan so that it can compete with the dollar.

"The Chinese government believes that if some other countries can also use the Chinese currency it can break the United States' monetary sovereignty. The United States has built the current global financial system and the instruments," says an anonymous Chinese cryptocurrency observer known as Bitfool.

The technology enthusiast worked in the venture capital sector before joining a number of Chinese internet companies. He started researching Bitcoin and believes that digital currencies represent the future of money.
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"Some traditional banking systems can't serve a poor country. In the traditional system, if you only have $10 a bank can't make money from you, but with digital currency, everyone has the right to enter. The threshold to enter is really low," he says.

Although Facebook has scaled back its plans for Libra, it was still a concern for China. The social media giant plans to roll out an e-wallet known as Novi later this year. It will work as a standalone app but can also be available on Messenger and WhatsApp.

"The two sides are definitely involved in financial warfare even though no large confrontation has happened yet," says Linghao Bao.

Observers like Bitfool believe that China is already further ahead of the US in the battle for the future of money.

China's digital payment systems are widely seen as the most advanced in the world.

The country is on the verge of becoming a cashless society. In 2019, four out of every five payments in China were made through either Tencent's WeChat Pay or Alibaba's Alipay.

"America is the leader of the global financial system. But they don't have the motivation like China to make the change [to a digital currency]," says Bitfool.

"China wants to share that power. But for America, Libra is just a backup plan.

"In poor countries and also in China there are a lot of people who live in villages. They have very little money but they are using smartphones. If you can buy a smartphone you can use DCEP."

However, DCEP will be centralised and state-run, unlike Bitcoin or Ethereum which are free of state control.

Many Bitcoin enthusiasts fear that DCEP will be used as a tool by the Chinese Communist Party to exert greater control over their citizens through surveillance. The authorities will be able to monitor how money is spent in real time. They will also have the same controls over DCEP as with the yuan.

The yuan is tightly controlled by Beijing and its exchange rate is the source of much tension between the US and China. The US accuses China of keeping the yuan weak to benefit its economy.

"DCEP is the antithesis of Bitcoin. The ultimate goal of a cryptocurrency is the separation of money and state," says Stewart Mackenzie, a cryptocurrency expert based in Hong Kong. "It's easy for them to say that it's like Bitcoin when it's worlds apart."

Linghao Bao agrees. "DCEP is built on an idea of centralised control. The value of Bitcoin lies in its decentralisation nature and its isolation from the financial system," Mr Bao says.

"I trust Bitcoin more. Because it really belongs to me," says Bitfool.

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'One day everyone will use China's digital currency'

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Chandler Guo was a pioneer in cryptocurrency, the digital currencies that can be created and used independently of national central banks and governments. In 2014 he set up an operation to produce one of those currencies, Bitcoin, in a secret location in western China.

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This article is about the Taiwanese government trying to change their official passports to something that identifies more with the Taiwanese people. Officially Taiwan is called the Republic of China and is considered a territory of China but has a separate government running the island. The Taiwanese government hopes by having this design competition with the passports that Taiwan has its own image known more internationally. For me personally i enjoy seeing the people of Taiwan deciding to show off their image in this fun way and how it individualizes them from mainland China showing that a country can have multiple different cultures thriving within it.

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(CNN) - Voted on by thousands of Taiwanese, the results of a "We are Taiwan" Passport Cover Design Competition are in -- and bubble tea fans won't be impressed.

Organized by Taiwan's New Power Party, the competition was a response to a recent resolution passed by the Legislative Yuan (the island's parliament body) calling for a passport design that would shine a greater spotlight on the island's local characters. (The same resolution that called on China Airlines to consider a name change.)

The New Power Party is a left-wing political party founded in 2015. It currently holds three of the 113 seats in the Legislative Yuan.

The competition encouraged citizens to submit designs highlighting unique characteristics of Taiwan, from geographical and ecological features to food culture.

There were 127 entries submitted, and voting was open until August 31. Entries were divided into two categories: The International Standards Category and the Creative Category.

"Through this competition, we hope to let our citizens showcase their imagination and creativity," says Jerry Liu, director of media and creativity for the New Power Party as well as the spokesperson for the passport design competition.

"And with the voting, we hope to have a passport cover that Taiwanese [people] would identify with."

Works submitted for the International Standards Category had to comply with the relevant regulations of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for passport covers, whereas applications under the Creative Category didn't.

The winning design (under the International Standards Category) features a green cover with motifs of the shape of the island, plum blossoms (Taiwan's official flower) and native animals like the Formosan black bear.

The first runner-up was a minimalist design with a butterfly bearing wings in the shape of Taiwan. The second runner-up, named "The Diverse Land," also played on the shape of the island using dots in various colors.

Meanwhile, the entries in the Creative Category were more, well, creative, with plenty of representations of the island's favorite beverage, bubble tea.

But in the end, the winning design was a cover featuring Taiwan's endemic species.

The winners were announced on September 1, but there will be a formal award ceremony on September 3.

Currently, Taiwan's passport has "Republic of China" printed in Chinese and English on top and "Taiwan" written in the middle of the passport.

Liu says that the current title has caused confusion for Taiwanese citizens abroad.

"During the early stage of the Covid-19 outbreak, especially, because of the serious situation in China ... many Taiwan citizens were challenged when traveling overseas -- some were even refused entry," Liu tells CNN Travel. "That's why we think we should increase recognition of Taiwan on our passport."

"We will try to share the designs with the Bureau of Consular Affairs (part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs), which is the governing body for the passport issues," adds Liu.

"By organizing this passport cover design competition, New Power Party urges the government and the public to address the issue and make Taiwan's image more known internationally."

Taiwan's official name is the "Republic of China" (ROC), tracing its founding to 1911 on the Chinese mainland after the collapse of China's last imperial dynasty.

Mainland China and Taiwan have been governed separately since 1949 following the Communist victory on the mainland after a civil war, although a shared cultural and linguistic heritage mostly endures.

But China considers Taiwan to be an integral part of its territory, and comes down hard on any suggestions to the contrary.

In 2018, Beijing demanded global airlines change how they refer to Taiwan on their websites or risk sanctions. In response, the White House issued a scathing statement criticizing Beijing for pressuring US carriers and other companies on this issue.

In the end, multiple airlines, including US carriers American Airlines and Delta, complied with the order.

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taiwan contest invites public to vote on creative passport designs  - cnn

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Bubble tea and braised pork: Contest invites Taiwanese to vote on creative passport designs

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(CNN) - Voted on by thousands of Taiwanese, the results of a "We are Taiwan" Passport Cover Design Competition are in -- and bubble tea fans won't be impressed. Organized by Taiwan's New Power Party, the competition was a response to a recent resolution passed by the Legislative Yuan (the island's parliament body) calling for a passport design that would shine a greater spotlight on the island's local characters.

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This article well explained the on going tension between Mainland China and Taiwan from both the historical background and current event. As Taiwan continues to advocate for independence, China’s refusal creates a divide between the country and province.
I think Taiwan makes a good example for “subcultures,” which is a cultural group within a larger culture who often has different beliefs and values than the larger culture. Taiwan would be a subculture of China, who through time and its unique geographical characteristics, slowly created its own unique beliefs and characteristics different from China.

It was very interesting to learn about the historical origin and information of the tension from a third party point of view. Since I was born and raised in China, most of my information regarding this issue came from Chinese sources which are often heavily biased towards China.

Word Count: 141

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The Chinese Government sees Taiwan as a breakaway province that will eventually be part of the country again.

While some Taiwanese think this might happen in the future, others now feel that they already effectively have a separate nation whether or not independence is ever officially declared.

The dispute with China has left relations frayed with a constant threat of a violent flare up that could drag the US into the fray.

What is the history and source of this tension?

The first known settlers in Taiwan are Austronesian tribal people thought to have come from modern day southern China.

The island first appears in Chinese records in AD239, when China sent an expeditionary force to explore - a fact Beijing uses to back its territorial claim.

After a brief spell as a Dutch colony (1624-1661) Taiwan was administered by China's Qing dynasty from 1683 to 1895.

Starting at the beginning of the 17th Century, significant numbers of migrants started arriving from China, often fleeing turmoil or hardship. Most were Hoklo Chinese from Fujian (Fukien) province or Hakka Chinese, largely from Guangdong. The descendants of these two migrations now make up by far the largest population group.

In 1895, following Japan's victory in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Qing government had to cede Taiwan to Japan. After World War Two, the Republic of China - one of the victors - began ruling Taiwan with the consent of its allies the US and UK, after Japan surrendered and relinquished control of territory it had taken from China.

However in the next few years, a civil war broke out in China and the leader at the time Chiang Kai-shek's troops were beaten back by the Communist armies under Mao Zedong.

Chiang and the remnants of his Kuomintang (KMT) government fled to Taiwan in 1949. This group, referred to as Mainland Chinese and then making up 1.5m people, dominated Taiwan's politics for many years, even though they only account for 14% of the population.

Having inherited an effective dictatorship, facing resistance from local people resentful of authoritarian rule, and under pressure from a growing democracy movement, Chiang's son, Chiang Ching-kuo, began allowing a process of democratisation, which eventually led to the 2000 election of the island's first non-KMT president, Chen Shui-bian.

Where are things at now?

After decades of hostile intentions and angry rhetoric, relations between China and Taiwan started improving in the 1980s. China put forward a formula, known as "one country, two systems", under which Taiwan would be given significant autonomy if it accepted Chinese reunification.

This system was established in Hong Kong to be used as something of a showcase to entice Taiwanese people back to the mainland but over the last year it has come under massive pressure with many analysts already questioning whether it still exists in the city.

In Taiwan, the offer was rejected, but the government in Taipei did relax rules on visits to and investment in China. It also, in 1991, proclaimed the war with the People's Republic of China on the mainland over.

There were also limited talks between the two sides' unofficial representatives, though Beijing's insistence that Taiwan's Republic of China (ROC) government is illegitimate prevented government-to-government contact.

Beijing became alarmed in 2000, when Taiwan elected as president Chen Shui-bian, who had openly backed "independence".

Mr Chen was re-elected in 2004, prompting China to pass a so-called anti-secession law in 2005, stating China's right to use "non-peaceful means" against Taiwan if it tried to "secede" from China.

In 2008, Ma Ying-jeou was elected president. He sought to improve relations with China, mainly through economic agreements.

In elections in January 2016, Tsai Ing-wen defeated Kuomintang party candidate Eric Chu. She leads the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which leans towards eventual official independence from China.

After Donald Trump won the 2016 US election, she spoke to the president-elect in a phone call, in what was a break with US policy set in 1979 when formal relations were cut.

Throughout 2018, China stepped up pressure on international companies forcing them to list Taiwan as a part of China on their websites and threatening to block them for doing business in China if they failed to comply.

In 2020, Ms Tsai won a second term, drawing criticism from Beijing. By that time, Hong Kong had seen months of unrest with protesters demonstrating against the mainland's increasing influence - a trend that had many in Taiwan worried Beijing would next set its eyes on Taiwan.

Later that year, China's implementation of a national security law in Hong Kong was seen by many as a yet another sign that Beijing was becoming significantly more assertive in the region.

In the meantime, the US has been intensifying its outreach to Taiwan, reassuring Taipei of its continued support. In September, Washington sent its highest-ranking politician to hold meetings on the island for decades,

Beijing strongly criticised the meeting, warning "not to send any wrong signals to 'Taiwan independence' elements to avoid severe damage to China-US relations". During the controversial visit, China conducted a live-fire military exercise in the waterway that separates the island from the mainland.

So what is Taiwan?

There is disagreement and confusion about what Taiwan is, and even what it should be called.

China regards Taiwan as a breakaway province which it has vowed to retake, by force if necessary. But Taiwan's leaders say it is clearly much more than a province, arguing that it is a sovereign state.

It has its own constitution, democratically-elected leaders, and about 300,000 active troops in its armed forces.

Chiang Kai-shek's Republic of China (ROC) government, which fled the mainland to Taiwan in 1949, at first claimed to represent the whole of China, which it intended to re-occupy. It held China's seat on the United Nations Security Council and was recognised by many Western nations as the only Chinese government.

But in 1971, the UN switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing and the ROC government was forced out. Since then the number of countries that recognise the ROC government diplomatically has fallen drastically to about 15.

Given the huge divide between these two positions, most other countries seem happy to accept the current ambiguity, whereby Taiwan has virtually all of the characteristics of an independent state, even if its legal status remains unclear.

How much of an issue is independence in Taiwan?

While political progress has been slow, links between the two peoples and economies have grown sharply. Taiwanese companies have invested about $60bn (£40bn) in China, and up to one million Taiwanese now live there, many running Taiwanese factories.

Some Taiwanese worry their economy is now dependent on China. Others point out that closer business ties makes Chinese military action less likely, because of the cost to China's own economy.

A controversial trade agreement sparked the "Sunflower Movement" in 2014 where students and activists occupied Taiwan's parliament protesting against what they call China's growing influence over Taiwan.

Officially, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) still favours eventual formal independence for Taiwan, while the KMT favours eventual re-unification. Opinion polls show only a small minority of Taiwanese support pursuing one or the other at the moment, with most preferring to stick with the current middle ground.

Yet more and more people say they feel Taiwanese rather than Chinese. Support for the DPP increased at the January 2016 election. This was partly because of dissatisfaction with the KMT's handling of economic matters, from the wealth gap to high housing prices, and partly because of worries that Mr Ma's administration was making Taiwan too dependent on Beijing.

What role does the US play?

The US is by far Taiwan's most important friend and ally.

The relationship, forged during World War Two and the Cold War, underwent its sternest test in 1979, when President Jimmy Carter ended US diplomatic recognition of Taiwan in order to concentrate on burgeoning ties with China.

The US Congress, responding to the move, passed the Taiwan Relations Act, which promises to supply Taiwan with defensive weapons, and stressed that any attack by China would be considered of "grave concern" to the US.

Since then, US policy has been described as one of "strategic ambiguity", seeking to balance China's emergence as a regional power with US admiration for Taiwan's economic success and democratisation.

The pivotal role of the US was most clearly shown in 1996, when China conducted provocative missile tests to try and influence Taiwan's first direct presidential election. In response, US President Bill Clinton ordered the biggest display of US military power in Asia since the Vietnam War, sending ships to the Taiwan Strait, and a clear message to Beijing.

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The Chinese Government sees Taiwan as a breakaway province that will eventually be part of the country again. While some Taiwanese think this might happen in the future, others now feel that they already effectively have a separate nation whether or not independence is ever officially declared.

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This article talks about that the fraudulent act of dissertation will be recorded in the national credit information sharing platform as credit records in China. This document, by the Ministry of Education in China, suggested that the government and the ministry will give zero tolerent to academic misconduct. Any people who involved cheating will be investigated and charged guilty according to laws and regulations as soon as cheating or fraud has been discovered. I learned that in China, people advocate being honest. And academic dishonesty has been treated even more seriously.

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新华社北京9月28日电 记者28日从教育部获悉，国务院学位委员会、教育部近日印发关于进一步严格规范学位与研究生教育质量管理的若干意见，提出实行研究生培养全过程评价制度，关键节点突出学术规范和学术道德要求。将学位论文作假行为作为信用记录，纳入全国信用信息共享平台。

文件强调，对学术不端行为，坚持"零容忍"，一经发现坚决依法依规、从快从严进行彻查。对有学术不端行为的当事人以及相关责任人，根据情节轻重，依法依规给予党纪政纪校纪处分和学术惩戒；违反法律法规的，应及时移送有关部门查处。对学术不端查处不力的单位予以问责。将学位论文作假行为作为信用记录，纳入全国信用信息共享平台。

文件同时指出，要坚持质量检查关口前移，切实发挥资格考试、学位论文开题和中期考核等关键节点的考核筛查作用，完善考核组织流程，丰富考核方式，落实监督责任，提高考核的科学性和有效性。进一步加强和严格课程考试。完善和落实研究生分流退出机制，对不适合继续攻读学位的研究生要及早按照培养方案进行分流退出，做好学生分流退出服务工作，严格规范各类研究生学籍年限管理。

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学位论文 共享平台 教育部

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两部门：将学位论文作假行为纳入全国信用平台

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新华社北京9月28日电 记者28日从教育部获悉，国务院学位委员会、教育部近日印发关于进一步严格规范学位与研究生教育质量管理的若干意见，提出实行研究生培养全过程评价制度，关键节点突出学术规范和学术道德要求。将学位论文作假行为作为信用记录，纳入全国信用信息共享平台。 ...

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This article Sexuality in Japan written by Kiyoshi Matsumoto on July 4th, 2018 speaks about the sex culture in Japan. Traditionally sex, and prostitution was an open concept in Japan. Married men would seek prostitutes as they were tax deductible. The art of Shunga celebrated the “pleasures of love making, in beautiful pictures that present mutual attraction and sexual desire as natural and unaffected.” The Shunga present sex as a “shamless visual platform”. Sex between those of the same sex was also encouraged. The Shunga was used to educate the people but through the idea of modernization, and the desire to be equal to Europe the Meiji Government banned shunga, thus becoming a taboo in Japan like it has in many other cultures. The culture in Japan was an open minded civilization that allowed their artist to flourish and express themselves freely, but the open minded society in Japan shifted to become more like the christian europeans. This caused the shift in japanese culture, what was once seen as beautiful and normal was now seen as wrong and demeaning. This proves Edward S. Curtis’s theory that culture is always changing and reinforces the idea that culture should be viewed as evolving and ever changing rather than being viewed as dying and needing to be saved. Cultures all over the world are always being influenced by each other, and with the help of social media it’s making it a lot easier for cultures to evolve and modernize. This article has helped me have a better understanding of the ideas that I read about in this class. Reading this article and many others I can see the correlation between other cultures and western Europe. The question this article has me asking is are any other culture any different from our own? Or is it just merely that some cultures are more “modernized”?

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Japan is both overwhelmingly modern and traditional at the same time. This does not just apply to the amalgamation of skyscrapers and ancient Shinto shrines in cities like Kyoto, but also on a more sociological level. The matter of sexuality in Japan is one of the first things that come to mind.

Traditionally a sexually open society

Sexuality in Japan developed separately from that of mainland Asia, as Japan did not adopt the Confucian view of marriage, in which chastity is highly valued. Monogamy in marriage is less important in Japan, and married men often seek pleasure from courtesans. Prostitution in Japan has a long history, and became especially popular during the Japanese economic miracle, as evening entertainments were tax-deductible!

The Art of Shunga

Historically, pornography in Japan may have begun at the start of the Edo period (1603 - 1868) as erotic artwork referred to as shunga that was typically done on woodblock prints. Shunga literally means "spring pictures". "At its best shunga celebrates the pleasures of lovemaking, in beautiful pictures that present mutual attraction and sexual desire as natural and unaffected" Tim Clark, curator of "Shunga: Sex and Pleasure in Japanese art"

Mass produced during the Edo period shunga offered sexuality a shameless visual platform. Shunga depicted sexual pleasure that included both heterosexuality and homosexuality, each not only acknowledged but also encouraged. Surprisingly prior the Edo Period there was no Japanese word for female sexuality, and Shunga changed this with the depiction of female pleasure including lesbianism.

Shunga was an essential part of Japanese society

Shunga had functions beyond its aesthetic appeal. Its primary use would have involved viewing and sharing the paintings or books with close friend or sexual partners. Like the Indian Kama Sutra the Shunga images were also used to provide sexual education for young couples. While shunga was chiefly commissioned by men, it has been found among the dowry goods presented to a Japanese bride, suggesting that it was also highly valued by women.

Most shunga was created by woodblock artists from the popular school ukiyo-e, 'pictures of the floating world,' a genre of painting that mainly illustrated life's pleasures that was mass-produced as prints. Surprisingly traditional painters also produced a large quantity of shunga including members of the Kano School, known for their innovative secular paintings.

Samurai were seen as the keepers of morality in Japan. Shunga was both commissioned and accepted by the samurai as a pleasurable cultural pursuit, and thus the whole of Japanese society enjoyed shunga.

There was also an element of humour to shunga, which sometimes referred as warai-e or "laughing picture". Shunga works are artefacts of an era in Japan where attitudes about sex were freer. Sex was seen as an everyday natural activity without shame and often was the centre of amusement.

Sex and Erotic Art in early Japan

By the Edo period in the early 17th to mid 19th centuries, there had been a long history of erotic art and secular sexual expression in Japan, which meant that shunga was nothing new. Prehistoric societies had developed phallic worship in connection with their reliance on agriculture and Japan's creation myths are based on human-like sexual procreation. Throughout the centuries, the phallus and phallus shaped objects (for example, mushrooms) had been prominent figures in carvings, could be found in shrines, festivals, and along roadways, and were traditionally and superstitiously related to good luck, health and longevity.

What allowed for such an openness of sexual imagery and expression was the lack of any strict religious code that controlled sexual behaviour. Unlike in the West, which was dominated by a strict Judeo-Christian ideology, there was no moral shame and stigma surrounding sex or the production of erotic images in Japan - only a stringent class system based on Confucianism that dictated deference to status and appreciation of personal space.

Sex in Japan did not take on any 'mythical' or religious significance as it did in India and China. Furthermore, humour and wit had developed over the centuries as a common part of sexuality and was incorporated in the broader culture via allusions, euphemisms, sexually related stories and poetry. These and other cultural and religious factors allowed sex to be seen as a more naturalistic, enjoyable experience between partners, which in turn has produced a wide array of acceptable sexual behaviours in modern Japan including same-sex partners, and sexually related products such as sex toys, manuals, and even a chain of sex stores.

By the time of the Edo Period, the normalcy and humour found in sex, highly developed forms of sexual expressions, and the lack of moral or religious control all translated into an early modern culture that allowed shunga to flourish as a genre of popular art and sex to be open, fun and easily available.

From sexual openness to repression

Japan's sexual freedom was a revelation to Europe, particularly its artists. Painters such as Toulouse-Lautrec, Degas and Picasso found fertile ground in Shunga imagery. As Japan sought modernisation and to be in line with 'modern' western social norms, the Meiji Government banned shunga in the early 20th century, becoming taboo within Japan. As Japan sought sexual repression Europe sought sexual liberation!

When Shunga was flourishing in Japan, in Christian Europe at the time shunga would have been deeded pornographic. Shunga is an impressive, unique tradition of pre-modern erotic art. It serves as testament to a once uninhibited, open-minded society that offered artists opportunities to express originality and unbridled emotion.

Celebrating Shunga Today

The history, humour and accomplishments of shunga are explored at the British Museum in Shunga: sex and pleasure in Japanese art. The exhibition looks at Japanese art like no other. Explicit and beautifully detailed the works on display are between the years 1600 and 1900, and such works continue today to influence manga, anime and Japanese tattoo art. The exhibition sheds new light on this sexuality explicit art form from Japanese social and cultural history. Parental guidance advised for visitors under 16.

The 48 Japanese sexual positions

If you have ever wondered how they do it elsewhere in the world, a recent Durex Ad may have caught your eye. It introduced some acrobatic positions within decidedly Canadian names: the 'maple cinnamon twist' and 'the Niagara fall' (the Canadian side, we are assuming).

There is not a lot of research on the top sex positions in different countries. Sex surveys tend to focus on other aspects of our time between the sheets (such as sexual satisfaction and frequency). That said, the Durex Sexual Wellbeing survey which questioned 26,000 people across 26 different countries does have some interesting insights into how different nations have sex. Overall worldwide less than 50% of people are sexually satisfied and as one gets older and has sex less often, dissatisfaction increases, particularly with males. The world has obviously become more sexually repressed.

The following images are illustrations of Japan's 48 sexual positions - the "48 Ways" (shijuuhatte). These sex positions are inspired by sumo wrestling moves going back centuries. During the Edo period, the word 48 arms-hands started to be imbued with sexual meaning - "all the basic sexual techniques".

Below, Japanese Durex condom commercial teaches you 48 ways to have sex with a wrestler. It's kinda a humorous play to watch, so enjoy it!

Choosing sexual partners in Japan

Most men are attracted to younger and good-looking women, since it is believed that the women will be fertile and prodigy will also be attractive. It's human instinct, and only moral education can try to repress this instinct. East Asian religions (Confucianism, Taoism, Shinoism, Buddihism) do not teach strong moral principles or prohibitions regarding sex. In fact sexual restrictions and the associate shame or guilt with sex is typically a Judeo-Christian or Islamic characteristic.

In modern Japan the Western desire by males for big breasts and shapely hips may also be based upon a subconscious belief of greater female fertility but the overriding influence has been Western film culture. For women in Japan, and the world over, power has always been a significant element when choosing a male partner. Power and sexual desire often go hand in hand since a powerful male can easily support and protect a family.

Shyness and nudity in Japanese culture

Japanese are known for being shy and reserved, but with bathing most are comfortable with nudity. Why? There's a phrase in Japanese that explains some of it. Hadaka no tsuikiai or "naked fellowship" - it basically means everyone is all the same when they are naked. It's a part of any open relationship with friends or in business, going to bath is a place where you literally can't hide anything!

In the Youtube video below, there is the episode at a local sento (public bath) in Tokyo's Edogawa ward. It's called "Taka no Yu" and is located in Shinozaki, 20 minutes from central Tokyo. It's been operating since the 1950's but the culture is changing in Japan and patrons have been decreasing annually since the 1990's. Most younger people are becoming westernised, sexual repressed and embarrassed about their nudity. They now choose to stay home and take a dip in their private baths. Many old local sentos are going out of business because of it. However Tokyo is still loaded with lots of fantastic and historical public baths. Definitely check one out when you visit; it's one place where you can experience traditional Japan!

The video also shows a trip to one of Japan's famous onsen resort towns, Minakami in neighbouring Gumma prefecture. Takaragawa Onsen is friendly place for foreigners where both international and Japanese tourists alike can soak in outside baths surrounded by snow and afterwards enjoy a very traditional Japanese meal.

Prices:
Sento Entry (Tokyo): 480 yen
Onsen Stay: Takaragawa Onsen (1 night/2 meals)
14,800 yen per person twin share - rates depend on time of year and room
URL: http://takaragawa.com/english.html

This post is the first of the three in series on the topic of "Sexuality in Japan".

Next time, I will talk about the Japanese sexuality in the more recent years.

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Sexuality in Japan (I) * Shyness and nudity in Japanese culture

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Japan is both overwhelmingly modern and traditional at the same time. This does not just apply to the amalgamation of skyscrapers and ancient Shinto shrines in cities like Kyoto, but also on a more sociological level. The matter of sexuality in Japan is one of the first things that come to mind.

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This article focuses on the water pollution problem in Bangladesh, which is the second biggest garment manufacturing hub in Asia after China, where the water pollution problem is very serious. Except for most industrial pollution, one-fifth of the water pollution problems there are caused by fashion (around 93 billion cubic meters annully). Fashion requires different bright colors, such as jeans. Producing a single pair of jeans consumes around 7,500 liters (2,000 gallons) of water. To meet its color and texture needs, it consumes a lot of chemicals. People there suffer from industrial pollution and are at risk of skin diseases and cancer. Regarding this article, I think this is a certain side effect brought about by the development of human civilization. When people pursue these spiritual cultures, they will always leave traces in the real world. The original intention is good, but it requires moderation.
924 words

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waste management and remediation services

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Asian rivers are turning black. And our colorful closets are to blame | CNN

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Textile dyeing is one of the most polluting aspects of the global fashion industry, devastating the environment and posing health hazards to humans.

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This new story talks about a Chinese online celebrity who was killed by ex-husband during her live streaming. Lamu was popular on Chinese Tik Tok, and she had hundreds of thousands of followers. She always posted some videos which recorded the rural life, and she got millions of likes. On 14 September, Lamu’s ex-husband, identified as Tang, broke into her house armed with a knife and petrol, and he attacked Lamu. Although Lamu was taken to a local hospital right after the attack, she died on 30 September unfortunately. According to the Beijing Youth Daily, Tang had a history of domestic violence. This aroused people’s wide concern, because there are lots of domestic violence events taking place in recent years. From my point of view, there are some factors contributing to this phenomenon. First, in the society, women have lower status than men. In ancient times, men always had better physiological structure which allow them to do more farm work, and it resulted that the men can decide and control most of things. The concept of female inferiority still exists today, and it causes negative effect. For example, women will find it hard to get a high-paid job. Therefore, lots of women become housewives and are not able to be economically independent. Second, some women with low education levels have no ideas how to protect themselves. They just suffer domestic violence which make it worse. What’s more, the law about the domestic violence does not work effectively. As far as I am concerned, it is high time for government to take some measures to resist domestic violence. I think men and women are equal, even in the marriage, they are supposed to respect each other. Overall, domestic violence should be strictly prohibited.
news posted on 1 October 2020
(298 words)

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A Chinese influencer has died after her husband allegedly doused her in petrol and set fire to her as she attempted to live stream, according to local media.

Lamu was popular on Douyin, China's version of TikTok, where she had hundreds of thousands of followers.

According to local media, Lamu suffered burns on 90% of her body. She died two weeks after she was attacked.

The case has prompted conversations on social media over violence against women in China.

Lamu, 30, from China's Sichuan province, was known for her happy posts on rural life and was praised for not using make up in her videos, which had millions of likes.

Can live-streaming save China's economy?

Why China is clamping down on mukbang videos

A statement from Jinchuan County Public Security Bureau said that after the attack on 14 September, she was taken to a local hospital and later transferred to Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital for further treatment.

Her family asked her followers for financial help and more than one million yuan (£114,280) was raised in just 24 hours, according to The Paper.

Lamu died on 30 September after treatment failed.

Police said Lamu's ex-husband, who was identified by his family name Tang, was detained on 14 September on suspicion of "intentional homicide". A team is continuing to investigate, the statement said.

The case has prompted huge discussion on China's social media site Weibo. More than 70 million people have used a hashtag mentioning her death.

One user said she hoped "women are given more security".

Another said: "We need female police, female judges, female prosecutors. We need more women in politics. We need power and we need a voice."

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Chinese vlogger 'set on fire during live stream'

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A Chinese influencer has died after her ex-husband allegedly doused her in petrol and set fire to her as she was attempting to live stream, said local media reports. Lamu was popular on Douyin, China's version of TikTok, where she had hundreds of thousands of followers.

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With the world changing around us, it's hard not to compare how other countries and people are doing in these uncertain times. This article posted by coronavirus pandemic speaks on Mongolia and how its culture may have helped it become so successful in keeping the deadly virus under control. The article speaks about how the diet may have helped mongolia in the fight against covid. They also say Genghis Khan’s fighting spirit may be the reason Mongolia has zero deaths from covid. The article then continues to speak about the mongolian culture. The Mongolians are very close to nature. They live simple, eat simple. They don't feel the need to solve problems the minute one arises. The article just explains further more into their culture. I think it's extraordinary to compare and contrast different cultures. The way Mongolians live is far from the way we Canadians live. I learned that there are other ways to live and still thrive. The Mongolians have a beautiful view on life in the sense they do not stress about problems they just let it happen. It is extraordinary to see how a culture can help preserve the hope and resasurrence in the people that everything is going to be okay. The mongolians are so enriched into their culture they believe that it will protect them from harm. The data shows that clearly the mongolians are doing something right.

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Mongolians credit Genghis Khan for country's Covid-19 success

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Mongolia has some 200 infections - all imported - and no one has died from the disease.

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This Article discusses the treatment and repression of the Uighur people of Xinjiang. The Beijing government has pushed the idea that any of the Uighur faiths need to be “reeducated” and have established ‘vocational training centers’. The writer of the article had talked to others of the Uighur faith who live outside of Xinjiang and how this destruction of their culture affects them. They all answered that in some shape or form it's up to them that their culture is passed down to the next generation to survive and that without living in Xinjiang it gives them a chance to teach others about their culture and have it thrive. I think it’s commendable that the people interviewed fully intend to keep their culture alive either through their children or art form and letting the world know what is happening to the people in Xinjiang and the attempt to erase their identities.

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China's repression of the Uighurs in Xinjiang has forced those in the diaspora to protect their identity from afar.

How do you protect a culture that is being wiped out?

For Uighurs, this is more than just a hypothetical. Repressive measures against the ethnic minority have progressively worsened: The Chinese government has corralled more than 1 million of them into internment camps, where they have been subjected to political indoctrination, forced sterilization, and torture.

The targeting of the Uighurs isn't limited to the camps. Since 2016, dozens of graveyards and religious sites have been destroyed. The Uighur language has been banned in Xinjiang schools in favor of Mandarin Chinese. Practicing Islam, the predominant Uighur faith, has been discouraged as a " sign of extremism."

Beijing frames these moves as its way of rooting out terrorism, separatism, and religious extremism. But the aim of China's actions in Xinjiang is clear: to homogenize Uighurs into the country's Han Chinese majority, even if that means erasing their cultural and religious identity for good. What is taking place is a cultural genocide.

Listen to the Uyghur refugee Aséna Tahir Izgil discuss life after escaping genocide on The Experiment podcast.

Listen and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts

The repercussions bear heavily even on Uighurs living outside the country. Their burden is more than just raising awareness about what is taking place in their homeland-a task many have taken up at great cost to themselves and their families. It's also about preserving and promoting their identity in countries where few people might know who the Uighurs are, let alone what the world stands to lose should their language, food, art, and traditions be eradicated.
Read: The panopticon is already here
In an effort to understand what this kind of cultural preservation looks like in practice, I spoke with seven Uighurs residing in Britain, France, Turkey, and the United States. As chefs, poets, singers, filmmakers, language teachers, and musicians, each of them is contributing to this work in different ways. All of them are passionate about ensuring that their heritage will be passed on to future generations. None of them is under any illusions about what's at stake if they fail.

"Every Uighur now is under very big psychological pressure," Omer Kanat, the director of the Uyghur Human Rights Project, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, told me. "We cannot sleep at night."

By April 2017, few people outside of Central Asia might have known much about the Uighurs. Though the ethnic group totals more than 11 million people in Xinjiang, about 1 million live outside China, mostly in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkey, with much smaller numbers in the United States and Europe. Reports of their persecution by the Chinese state wouldn't reach wider international audiences until later that year.

It was against this backdrop that Mukaddes Yadikar, a Uighur woman from Ili in the northwest of Xinjiang, near China's border with Kazakhstan, decided to open Etles, one of London's first Uighur restaurants. Nestled on a busy North London high street brimming with corner stores, betting shops, and cafés, Etles's bright-blue exterior stands in marked contrast to much of its surroundings-a differentiation befitting its distinctive offerings. Owing to the Uighur homeland's place along the ancient Silk Road trade route, Uighur cuisine takes its influences from across Central Asia, incorporating dishes as seemingly disparate as hand-pulled noodles and crispy naan. Even diners accustomed to the culinary diversity of the British capital might not expect to find dumplings, samosas, and shish kebabs on a single menu. At Etles, however, these dishes are only a representative sample of what makes Uighur cooking unique.

"Our food is very rich, very different," Yadikar told me one Sunday afternoon over tea. Its absence from Britain's food scene is what she said first inspired her to open the restaurant with her husband, Ablikim Rahman. At the time of its opening, Etles catered to a predominantly Chinese clientele-a trend Yadikar chalked up to Britons' lack of familiarity with Uighur cuisine. In the years since, that has changed. "Now most of our customers are English," Yadikar said, adding that their menu has appealed to many within the British Muslim community, for whom halal Chinese food can often be difficult to find. Today, the couple runs two North London restaurants (the second opened in December, just months before the pandemic forced both locations to close).

Etles feels like a living homage to Uighur culture. Etles silks, the traditional Uighur cloth from which the restaurant gets its name, are laid across every table. A tapestry of the artist Ghazi Ehmet's Uyghur Muqam, one of the most recognizable paintings in Xinjiang, is prominently featured at the center of the dining room. Every wall is adorned with models of traditional instruments, embroidered caps, and decorative plates.

When I asked Yadikar and Rahman about the role they see themselves playing in protecting Uighur culture, they paused for several seconds. It's not a question many people are asked to consider. The silence was filled by their three young children who, sitting one table over, were clamoring over schoolwork. In a way, they answered the question for their parents.

"We're just [trying to] pass our culture, identity, and religion to the next generation," Rahman said, nodding to the kids. Though the children speak Uighur fluently at home, only two of them have been to Xinjiang, and are too young to remember it.

So Yadikar and Rahman keep the spirit of their homeland alive at Etles. "From the restaurant, we can introduce our people, our culture, and our traditions," Yadikar said. "We can't go [to Ili]; we can't see our people. They can't leave. So we have to introduce our people then; we have to protect."

Few understand the exhausting task of piecing a culture back together like Devin Naar. For nearly two decades, the historian and Sephardic-studies professor at the University of Washington has sought to understand and recuperate the lost world of Sephardic Jewry, an effort that began when he was in college. His interest in the topic stems from his own family history, "a puzzle" he says spans from the Greek port city of Salonica (now known as Thessaloniki), where one of the world's largest Sephardic Jewish communities once lived, to the substantial Sephardic population in Seattle, where he currently resides.

Toward the end of the 15th century, the Iberian Peninsula was home to one of the largest Jewish communities in the world. That is, until 1492, when Spain issued its Jewish population an ultimatum: to convert, leave, or be killed. As many as hundreds of thousands of expelled Sephardic Jews (deriving from the Hebrew word for Spain, Sepharad) sought exile in places such as Portugal (which not long after delivered a similarly stark demand), Italy, and the Netherlands. Others, like Naar's ancestors, made their way to the Ottoman empire.
Read: Spain's attempt to atone for a 500-year-old sin
"They didn't speak either Greek or Turkish at home, but they spoke a language that they called Spanish," Naar told me of his ancestors in Salonica. In fact, like other Sephardim, they spoke a centuries-old variant of Spanish known as Ladino, which uses Hebrew script. Growing up in the U.S., Naar said he found very little information about Sephardic history and culture, and some books offered barely more than footnotes about the Jews of the late Ottoman empire-an erasure he attributed in part to assimilation and the Holocaust, during which tens of thousands of Sephardic Jews from Salonica perished. "We were just invisible," Naar said. "We literally did not exist in the narrative."

Naar wasn't completely without resources, though. One of his great uncles had a stack of letters dating as far back as 1935, all written in Ladino, a language Naar would ultimately learn in order to decode them. The correspondence revealed painful parts of his family history, including details about the family members who sought, and failed, to secure visas to the U.S. at the height of World War II, and those who were put on trains to Auschwitz. "When I began to open up that story ... I was like, I have to do something," he said. " I have to enter more deeply into this world."

His quest took him as far afield as Salonica, Jerusalem, Moscow, and New York City, culminating in a book about the history of Salonica's Sephardic Jews. But the effort to revive Sephardic culture is far from complete. Today, there are thought to be anywhere from 60,000 to 400,000 Ladino speakers worldwide. Few have spoken the language from birth, and it's safely assumed that none of them speak it exclusively. Their dwindling numbers mean that few, if any, new works are being published in Ladino. Even the world's last Ladino-language newspaper, El Amaneser, or "The Dawn," is written using Latin script. Though there have been some recent efforts to preserve the language, including Spain's 2018 decision to recognize Ladino as a Spanish language and to establish a new Ladino academy in Israel, it is still widely considered to be at risk of extinction.

For Sephardic Jews, the loss of their language means more than just the disappearance of their ancestors' native tongue. It means being unable to access a wealth of Ladino literature, hundreds of thousands of pages of which Naar has worked with the University of Washington to digitize as part of the world's first virtual Ladino library. It also means missing out on troves of stories, perspectives, and ways of thinking. "Without the language as an organizing feature," Naar said, "there is really a lot that is lost."

The situation facing Sephardic Jews is undoubtedly different from that facing the Uighurs today. Whereas the Sephardim confronted expulsion more than 500 years ago, the suppression of the Uighurs is happening in real time. Although the former had to maintain their traditions within their families, in many cases secretly, the latter have been able to utilize modern tools such as the internet to keep their culture alive. Still, some lessons can be gleaned from their shared challenges.

The first has to do with the issue of homeland, and how a community can go about preserving a culture outside of one. For Sephardim, this issue is ever-present. Since their expulsion from the Iberian Peninsula, they have carried with them a distinctive diasporic identity. And despite Spain's and Portugal's offers to extend citizenship to Sephardic Jews who were forced out of both countries hundreds of years earlier, this hasn't really changed. "There is no country in the world that speaks on behalf of Sephardic Jews as Sephardic Jews," Naar said. "Spain speaks on behalf of them as part of the Spanish empire ... Israel speaks on behalf of Jews because of their Jewishness. But there is no Sephardistan. That does not exist."

Uighurs, by contrast, do have a homeland, albeit a rarely autonomous one. (Though there was a short-lived Republic of East Turkestan, as some Uighurs prefer to call Xinjiang, the region has been under Chinese control since 1949.) But their suppression by the Chinese state has put the future of Uighur culture in their native land in doubt, prompting many Uighurs with means to leave. Such was the case for Rahima Mahmut, a London-based Uighur singer and activist from the northern town of Ghulja. Born to a family of musicians, Mahmut began singing from a very young age. "According to my mother, I could sing when I started speaking," she told me over the phone, laughing. Her four brothers provided the music, playing the drums, the violin, and traditional Uighur instruments such as the dutar and the tämbur. "Naturally, it became a part of me."

Mahmut's decision to leave Ghulja came decades before Beijing's internment of Uighurs. During a visit home to see her family in 1997, Mahmut witnessed a violent crackdown on peaceful protesters calling for an end to religious and ethnic discrimination. Dozens were killed and thousands were arrested. Among those detained, Mahmut said, was her brother-in-law, who received a 12-year prison sentence. "I could see that the situation was getting really, really bad," she said.

Three years later, she traveled to Britain for a master's degree and eventually moved to London, where she met other Uighurs and musicians with whom she would form the London Uyghur Ensemble, which has toured Britain, Europe, the U.S., and Canada.

When I asked Mahmut whether she felt she could more freely enjoy her culture outside the Uighur homeland, she said she could never be truly free while speaking out against abuses by the Chinese government: Of her immediate family, she is the only one who managed to leave Xinjiang, along with her then-husband and son. The last time she spoke with her remaining family was in 2017. She has avoided contacting them for fears of compromising their safety.
Read: Uighurs can't escape Chinese repression, even in Europe
Hundreds of prominent Uighur cultural figures including singers, musicians, novelists, scholars, and academics have been detained, imprisoned, or have disappeared since 2017, according to the Uyghur Human Rights Project. Tahir Hamut Izgil, a Uighur poet and film director based in Washington, D.C., told me via an interpreter that this suppression of the Uighur cultural sphere dates back to at least 2012, when the Chinese government began a "reexamination" of Uighur-language publications, films, and music, many of which were blacklisted. "Uighur music and dance troupes were obligated to perform entirely in Chinese ... on topics like opposing separatism, loving the motherland, loving the party, unity of the peoples," Izgil said.

His work often touches on themes such as homeland, religion, and exile -topics that would be almost impossible to write about in Xinjiang today. Not until 2017, just before Izgil planned to leave for the U.S., did he decide to formally publish a collection of his poems. "I knew that if I left for America, I might never return to my homeland," he said. "I wanted to ensure that at least one volume of my work was distributed among my people so that they would have it." In the end, he said, he was able to distribute 1,000 copies; 2,000 more were confiscated.

Izgil nevertheless continues to publish his poems in Uighur online. As a father of three, he said he sees it as his responsibility to ensure that his children are able to speak Uighur. Others have taken a more formal approach to preserving it. The Turkic language, like other minority languages, is banned from being taught in schools in China, though this hasn't stopped Uighurs in the diaspora from setting up their own language schools abroad, including in France, the U.S., and Turkey. "Language is the key to preserve the nation," Muyesser Abdul'ehed Hendan, a Uighur-language teacher based in Istanbul, told me in an email. She runs an informal language school for children ages 5 to 12, and though the pandemic forced her to pivot to online-only instruction, she said it also enabled her to reach more pupils. To date, Hendan said that she, alongside Uighur teachers as far afield as Norway, Sweden, Australia, and France, is teaching nearly 150 students worldwide. "If a language and culture are inherited by an enough number of children," Hendan said, "it won't be in danger."

Language alone may not guarantee the culture's continued survival, though. "If [future generations] are unable to visit their homeland, if they are unable to see their native soil, if they are unable to experience the culture in that place, it will be much more difficult for them," Izgil said. "If in the next several generations Uighur culture is destroyed in its homeland, it will be very difficult for Uighurs in the diaspora to preserve it. Even in the diaspora, it may cease to exist."

Safeguarding a culture requires more than simply maintaining a historical record of its existence. Cultures, after all, can't be placed behind glass like museum artifacts; much like the people who inhabit them, cultures are meant to grow, adapt, and evolve. The Ladino language offers a prime example of this: The medieval variant of Spanish is not identical to the modern Ladino used today. As the language traveled, it "absorbed like a sponge the linguistic and cultural elements of its surrounding environment in the Ottoman empire," Naar said, noting that the language has since incorporated elements of Arabic, Greek, Italian, French, and English.

For Mukaddas Mijit, a filmmaker, ethnomusicologist, and expert on Uighur dance and music from Ürümqi, the capital of Xinjiang, the tension between preserving elements of culture as they are and allowing them to grow and evolve is at the heart of the challenge facing Uighurs in the diaspora. When she first left Xinjiang in 2003 to study at Paris Nanterre University, "no one really knew where I was from or who I was, who were the Uighurs," she told me. Culture, she thought, could play a role in raising awareness, so she began organizing Uighur cultural events known as meshrep. This social, and traditionally male, gathering brings people together to enjoy a meal, poetry, music, and dance. A traditional meshrep has a structured hierarchy, including a master of ceremony, and serves as a forum for the community to mediate conflicts and impart important customs and traditions. (Though meshrep is included on UNESCO's list of "intangible cultural heritage," Chinese authorities have banned "illicit" or "unhealthy" versions of the practice.)

Yet not everyone in the Uighur diaspora has been supportive of Mijit's efforts, she told me. Some criticized the events for not being entirely authentic, while others questioned why the community should be focused on culture at all, as though to say, How can we focus on frivolous matters while our people are being repressed? This concern has been raised beyond France. "Many [Uighurs] have been very reluctant to hold public events or celebratory events-the kind of spaces in which this culture continues to live and breathe-because it feels so wrong to them when their relatives and friends are suffering back home," Elise Anderson, an expert on the Uighur language and Uighur music and a senior program officer at the Uyghur Human Rights Project, told me. "A lot of people feel this sort of strange, sometimes contradictory set of feelings about wanting to celebrate, but wondering, Is it appropriate? "

An argument could be made that these things shouldn't be mutually exclusive. Although raising awareness about what is happening to Uighurs in China is important, their persecution doesn't alone tell the full story of who the Uighurs are, nor why people should care. By representing their culture beyond the prism of its repression, Uighurs in the diaspora are giving the world a better understanding of not only who they are, but what it stands to lose should the culture be allowed to disappear.

For them to be successful, though, Mijit argues that the diaspora must be willing to move beyond simply aiming to be authentic. "The whole point of having a different culture is to communicate it with others and share it," she said. "People are so stressed about preserving that they forget that this thing that they want to preserve is something alive. If we really want to keep it in a box, that means we will kill it ourselves."

This admission points to a broader truth about cultural preservation: Even when cultures aren't facing active persecution, as is the case for the Uighurs, they are still prone to transform as a result of more natural causes, such as migration, assimilation, or integration. Joshua Freeman, a historian of China and Inner Asia at Princeton and a translator of Uighur poetry into English who spent seven years living in Ürümqi, told me that he observed this kind of cultural hybridity occur in real time. "There were many Uighurs, especially in the younger generation, who spoke perfect Chinese and were in many ways able to navigate those societies in both languages," he said, noting that "if the Chinese state's project was to integrate Uighurs as a community into China, there were many Uighurs in the younger generation who could have played a part in that and were beginning to."

By giving up on that possibility and opting instead for assimilation by force, China has threatened Uighur culture and identity. But it has also, paradoxically, spurred its greatest growth outside the Uighur homeland. Today, Uighurs in the diaspora are slowly rebuilding some of what has been lost in Xinjiang: Uighur restaurants, bookstores, and language schools are being opened. Uighur poems, books, and magazines are being published. Traditional Uighur music and dance are being introduced to the wider world.

"This relatively small number of writers and poets and artists and filmmakers and musicians in the diaspora ... are creating an incredible amount of new and important work," said Freeman. Thanks to them, Uighur culture isn't just surviving abroad-it's flourishing.

None of this is to say that Uighur culture is no longer under threat. If Uighurs are unable to study their native language, practice their faith, or freely celebrate their identity in their homeland, their culture will continue to be hollowed out-perhaps beyond repair. Still, many of the people I spoke with expressed optimism that, so long as the diaspora continues to promote and develop its culture, not all will be lost.

"The Chinese state's project of erasing Uighur identity and culture will not be successful," Freeman said. "Even in the diaspora, Uighur culture is vibrant. It has a lot to give to the world."

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world’s largest sephardic jewish communities

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China's repression of the Uighurs in Xinjiang has forced those in the diaspora to protect their identity from afar. How do you protect a culture that is being wiped out? For Uighurs, this is more than just a hypothetical.

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This article deals with the rise of the islam in Tajikistan. Earlier secularism prevailed in Tajikistan but now people are following islam with new enthusiasm. Authorities have tried to restrain religious expressions by Men were hold back for having beards and women were not allowed to take part in religious services. Law was passed to stop children below 18 from attending any religious services at mosques. Government is trying stop the speed of islam by barring people from religious services but it may opposite outcomes. Rise of islam is thought to be a danger authoritarian leaders. Withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan is a threat to the Tajiks as they fear that extremists are trying to win the youth for their own purpose.

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Worshipers in the central mosque in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, at Friday Prayer. Lawmakers have passed a bill that would bar children from such services. Credit... James Hill for The New York Times

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan - Islam is blossoming in Tajikistan. Beards are in style. Headscarves, too. Bazaars are doing a booming trade in prayer rugs, religious audio recordings and gaudy clocks featuring Muslim holy sites.

After decades of enforced secularism, the people of this impoverished former Soviet republic have been flocking to their traditional religion with all the zeal of born-again movements anywhere in the world.

The authoritarian government here could not be more worried. Spooked by the specter of Islamic radicalism and the challenges posed by increasingly influential religious leaders, the Tajik authorities have been working fervently to curb religious expression.

Bearded men have been detained at random, and women barred from religious services. This year, the government demanded that students studying religion at universities in places like Egypt, Syria and Iran return home. The police have shuttered private mosques and Islamic Web sites, and government censors now monitor Friday sermons, stepping in when muftis stray from the government line.

Last month, lawmakers took what many here said was a drastic step further: they passed a law that would, among other things, bar children younger than 18 from attending religious services at mosques.

It is called the law "on parental responsibility for educating and raising children," and the measure, according to officials, is meant to prevent children from skipping school to attend prayer services, and it would hold parents responsible if they do.

Government critics liken it to a Soviet-style attempt at reversing Islam's spread. Many warn, however, that banning young people from mosques may have the opposite effect.

"After this law takes effect and the government and security services start applying pressure, youth could be drawn to illegal organizations," said Mahmadali Hait, the deputy chairman of Tajikistan's opposition Islamic Revival Party. "And it is possible that the level of radicalization in the country could increase."

Growing religiosity in Tajikistan and in neighboring former Soviet republics is seen as a threat by the region's entrenched authoritarian leaders, many of whom have been in power for decades. Unlike the political arena or the media, Islam is a potential font of dissent that, so far, they have been unable to monopolize.

The Taliban insurgency in neighboring Afghanistan has only compounded fears, especially now that the United States plans to withdraw its troops from the country. Clashes along Tajikistan's extensive border with Afghanistan are not infrequent, and the authorities have linked foreign militants to several attacks on the police and military units in the last year. Travel between the two countries is relatively easy, and several Tajiks interviewed said they had visited Afghanistan for religious training.

"We have observed in recent years attempts by extremist movements to influence the world views of our children," Tajikistan's president, Emomali Rakhmon, said in a speech in April, arguing the need for the law on parental responsibility. "The leaders of various extremist groups and currents have started appearing in academic institutions, recruiting inexperienced youth."

Credit... The New York Times

Independent experts say there is little evidence that militant Islamist groups have found much of a following in Tajikistan. Rather, they say, regional leaders often use the threat of Islamic extremism as a pretext to crack down on political opponents and their supporters.

Mr. Rakhmon and his circle, most of whom are secular former Soviet apparatchiks, fought and won a brutal civil war against a loose coalition of Muslim and secular opposition groups in the 1990s. Though former opposition field commanders were promised places in the government after the war, many have been jailed, exiled or murdered.

"We have secular extremism here," said Khodzhi Akbar Turadzhonzoda , a prominent Islamic leader and a former member of Tajikistan's Parliament. Talk of Islamic radicalism in Tajikistan, he said, "is a lie."

"This is only to deceive the people, strengthen dictatorships, and spend more money on weapons and the secret services."

The law barring children from mosques has not gone into effect. Mr. Rakhmon, who proposed the measure, must still sign it. But government critics and religious figures say the authorities have begun to enforce it in some places, raiding mosques, removing young people and fining adults accused of teaching religion without government permission.

After the law is signed, parents could face steep fines and even jail time for defying it.

The law would not prevent children or anyone else from praying, said Mavlon Mukhtorov, the deputy chairman of the Religious Affairs Committee, a government body that is promoting the measure. But he insisted that Tajiks, many of whom are newly religious, needed guidance - and restraint.

"This law was passed so that the parents of these children fulfill their responsibilities for raising them," Mr. Mukhtorov said. "Schoolchildren should be in school. If they all go to the mosques for prayers and cast aside their schoolwork they will not be able to learn."

The law would not prevent students from studying Islam at one of Tajikistan's government-run religious schools or in theology departments at universities, he said. There are only about 20 such schools in Tajikistan, a country of 7.6 million people, though Mr. Mukhtorov said the government planned to open more. All children, he said, would be allowed to attend holiday services at mosques.

Western governments, including the United States, have condemned the measure, as well as what one American diplomat described recently as the Tajik government's "systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom."

But fears of Islamic extremism are acute enough that many Tajiks, including practicing Muslims, support the law.

"The government is working to ensure that foreign terrorist structures do not influence the young people by distorting their impressions of Islam," said Zaur Chilayev, 32, an engineer, who was part of an overflow crowd at Dushanbe's central mosque for Friday Prayer recently. "The threats are always present, especially given our neighbors."

Others criticized the government's campaign as misguided. Whether effective or not at stifling religious fanatics, such laws, these critics said, would do little to address extremism's root causes. Poverty in Tajikistan, along with all the problems associated with it, is endemic, and the authorities have done little to alleviate it.

Such problems were on display recently at the central mosque, where a gang of bedraggled boys, oblivious to the booming calls of the muezzin, begged for pocket change in the courtyard. Asked why they did not enter the mosque for prayers, one of the boys answered sheepishly, "We are too young."

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On the Rise in Tajikistan, Islam Worries an Authoritarian Government (Published 2011)

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DUSHANBE, Tajikistan - Islam is blossoming in Tajikistan. Beards are in style. Headscarves, too. Bazaars are doing a booming trade in prayer rugs, religious audio recordings and gaudy clocks featuring Muslim holy sites. After decades of enforced secularism, the people of this impoverished former Soviet republic have been flocking to their traditional religion with all the zeal of born-again movements anywhere in the world.

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This depressing article talks about the horrible oppression the Dalit woman are facing in their country, such as gang rape, discrimination, and economic deprivation. I had very limited knowledge about Indian culture and the country so I did some research about it while reading this article and I was shook by what I learned. Most of all which distressed me the most was the caste system and gender inequality which is still prominent today.

The word Dalit literally translates to oppressed or broken, and represents the lowest class in the caste system. Therefore being a Dalit woman, means you where the lowest of the low, and faced oppression from all upper castes and Dalit men. These woman are victims of their own culture and India is not the only place where this is happening. It is easy for people in western societies to overlook incidents like this but I think there should be more voices heard and more support for their advocation for change.

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"We are victims of violence because we are poor, lower caste and women, so looked down upon by all," a Dalit woman told researcher Jayshree Mangubhai some years ago. "There is no one to help or speak for us. We face more sexual violence because we don't have any power."

Last week, it was reported that a 19-year-old Dalit woman (the Dalits were once called "Untouchables") was allegedly gang raped and assaulted by a group of upper caste men in Uttar Pradesh state again. The news shone the spotlight again on the rampant sexual violence faced by India's 80 million Dalit women, who like their male counterparts languish at the bottom of India's unbending and harsh caste hierarchy.

These women, who comprise about 16% of India's female population, face a "triple burden" of gender bias, caste discrimination and economic deprivation. "The Dalit female belongs to the most oppressed group in the world," says Dr Suraj Yengde, author of Caste Matters. "She is a victim of the cultures, structures and institutions of oppression, both externally and internally. This manifests in perpetual violence against Dalit women."

The aftermath of the recent rape and murder of a woman in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, allegedly by upper caste men, played out the way it usually does when a Dalit woman is attacked: police are slow to register a complaint; investigations are tardy; officials raise doubts there was a rape; there are insinuations it had nothing to do with caste; and authorities appear, perhaps, to be complicit in siding with the upper caste perpetrators of violence. Even some of the media, from newsrooms dominated by upper caste journalists, question why sexual violence should be linked to caste.

In other words, the state and parts of society in India conspire to downplay or erase the links between sexual violence and the hierarchies of caste.

After the alleged rape in Hathras last week, the government of Uttar Pradesh, which is ruled by an upper caste politician belonging to the ruling BJP party, hastily cremated the victim in the middle of the night and briefly barred the media and opposition politicians from visiting the victim's village and family, prompting suspicions of a cover up. In an unprecedented move, the government hired a private public relations agency to push its narrative that this was not an incident of rape.

Dalit women across swathes of rural India have been victims of sexual violence for as long as anyone can remember. In these regions, much of the land, resources and social power remain with the upper and middle castes. Despite a 1989 law to prevent atrocities against the community, there was no let-up in violence against Dalit women. They continue to be stalked, abused, molested, raped and murdered with impunity.

Ten Dalit women were raped every day in India last year, according to official figures. The northern state of Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of cases of violence against women as well as the highest number of cases of sexual assault against girls. Three states - Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan - report more than half of the cases of atrocities against the Dalits.

In a 2006 study of 500 Dalit women in four states across India on the forms of violence they had faced, 54% had been physically assaulted; 46% had been sexually harassed; 43% had faced domestic violence; 23% had been raped; and 62% had been verbally abused.

And Dalit women bear the brunt of violence of all castes, including their own. The Centre for Dalit Rights group examined 100 incidents of sexual violence against Dalit women and girls across 16 districts in India between 2004 and 2013. It found that 46% of the victims were aged below 18 and 85% were less than 30 years old. The perpetrators of the violence came from 36 different castes, including Dalit.

One of the reasons why the Dalits - especially women - bear the brunt of the violence is because they have begun to speak up.

The turning point in the history of violence against Dalit women in India was in 2006, when four members of a Dalit family - a woman, her 17-year-old daughter, and two sons - were brutally murdered by upper caste men after a protracted conflict over land. The incident in a remote village called Khairlanji in Maharashtra state began with the two women going to the police to file a complaint over a land dispute with upper castes in the village. "This gruesome incident stirred the conscience of Dalits and highlighted their social suffering and discrimination," says historian Uma Chakravarti.

The upper castes have been rattled by increasing assertion by Dalits and have been striking back. In the Hathras case last week, reports suggest the family of the victim had a two-decade long dispute with an upper caste family.

Around the country, social transformations are sending Dalit girls to school and pushing Dalit women and feminist groups to make their voices heard. "Like never before, a solid Dalit women leadership is articulating its own grievances and leading the struggle without anyone else's intervention," says Dr Yengde.

Dalit women are fighting back. And the backlash appears to be more brutal than ever. "Earlier the violence was invisible and unreported," says Manjula Pradeep, a leading Dalit rights activist. "Now we have visibility. Now we are stronger and more assertive. Much of the violence now is to remind us of our boundaries."

Read more stories by Soutik Biswas

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Hathras case: Dalit women are among the most oppressed in the world

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"We are victims of violence because we are poor, lower caste and women, so looked down upon by all," a Dalit woman told researcher Jayshree Mangubhai some years ago. "There is no one to help or speak for us. We face more sexual violence because we don't have any power."

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This article is about how 13 same-sex couples are suing Japan over the right to get married. With Japan being a traditional country, it seems younger Japanese due support same-sex marriages. Even though the younger Japanese support gay marriage, the older generation does not, which leaves it as still a taboo topic. Though some cities have issued certificates, they are not legally binding and does not solve the problem at hand. There is hope with activists making it clear that they are willing to fight long-term for same-sex marriages.

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Thirteen same-sex couples across Japan are taking legal action on Thursday against the government, demanding the right to get married.

They are suing for symbolic damages, arguing that being barred from marriage violates their constitutional rights.

Should the courts agree, it would mean same-sex unions will have to be permitted in future.

While Japan does not allow gay marriage, surveys suggest there is strong support for the case.

'A very conservative society'

The 13 couples will all file their case on Valentine's Day, in different Japanese cities.

Ai Nakajima, 40, from Japan, and 31-year old German Tina Baumann are among them.

The two have been together since 2011 when they met in Berlin. After living a few years in Germany, they moved to Japan. But living as a same-sex couple was very different in the two countries.

"Japanese society is by nature very conservative," Ms Nakajima told the BBC.

Many of their friends don't dare to out themselves as homosexual and hide their partners from families and even friends.

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Though Japan is a very traditional country, polls indicate that the vast majority of younger Japanese support same-sex marriage.

Since 2015, some cities have issued certificates for same-sex couples, but they are not legally binding and merely call on businesses to accord equal treatment.

"So while among younger people there is an overwhelming support for gay marriage, politicians tend to be older and are very hesitant when it comes to changing things," Ms Nakajima says.

The 13 couples know their court cases will draw public attention to their struggle, of course - but there is genuine hope that they might be successful.

"We are prepared to take this to the supreme court," Ms Nakajima explains. "If we have to take that route, it might take more than five years."

German marriage rejected

Ms Nakajima and Ms Baumann got married in Germany, and soon afterwards applied for that marriage to be recognised in Yokohama where they currently live.

As they had expected, the German marriage was not recognised.

For the two of them, this creates concrete problems - Ms Baumann is currently studying, but once she graduates will require a new visa to be allowed to stay in the country.

For a married couple such a visa would easily be issued to a spouse - but that's not the case for same-sex partnerships.

The problems don't stop there though, the two women explain.

"In Germany it's a lot easier to come out and just live the way you choose to as an individual," Ms Baumann says.

"In Japan however, gender roles are a lot more traditional and a woman is expected to marry and have children. In many cases, it's even still expected that a woman will stop working once she becomes a mother."

Many of their friends don't dare to talk openly to their families for fear of becoming outcasts.

"It's almost like you're being banished," Ms Nakajima says. "And it affects many aspects of your life. If you for instance want to rent a house as a same-sex couple, you might be rejected because of this. Or you might not be able to take out a loan as couple if you want to buy a property together."

"It's really like in almost every situation that we are facing problems," she says.

"We have received some criticism from the public that we should just move to Germany rather than make trouble here in Japan," the German says.

Yet in the end, they decided that standing up for what they believe in was more important.

A long road - but a hopeful one

Japan's constitution says that "marriage shall be only with the mutual consent of both sexes" and authorities have always read this as not permitting same-sex marriage.

But lawyers for the 13 couples argue that the text of the constitution was meant to prevent forced marriages, and there's nothing in it that explicitly prohibits gay marriage.

Thursday's lawsuit will likely be only the first step in a long process, but activists have made clear they are prepared to fight long-term for same-sex couples to get married in Japan.
Reporting by the BBC's Andreas Illmer

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Gay couples sue Japan over marriage rights

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Thirteen same-sex couples across Japan are taking legal action on Thursday against the government, demanding the right to get married. They are suing for symbolic damages, arguing that being barred from marriage violates their constitutional rights. Should the courts agree, it would mean same-sex unions will have to be permitted in future.

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This video is about how climate change is effecting Siberia. Since January Russia has been plagued by massive wildfires, With some news articles stating that already an area larger than Greece has burned down. The effect of these wildfires is changing life in Siberia, with the ground becoming deformed, pasture land is lessening and roads are becoming difficult to travel on. Though climate change would be more considered as a science topic than an anthropological topic, it does damage culture, for example, 65% of Russia is permafrost which means the cities and villages that sit on that land are becoming unstable if nothing changes they will wash away. The people who live there are having to change their way of life. This is only the beginning of the amount of damage this could cause to not only the environment but also culture is devastating.

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Scientists are warning that, across Siberia, vast swathes of ground - normally frozen all year round - are thawing - with potentially devastating consequences for the climate. As it thaws, the earth is believed to be releasing huge amounts of greenhouse gases, accentuating the problem of global warming.

BBC Moscow correspondent Steve Rosenberg has been to the remote Yakutia region to look at how thawing permafrost is affecting not just the climate, but the landscape and livelihoods in Siberia.
Producer: Will Vernon Camera/edit: Matthew Goddard

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Scientists are warning that, across Siberia, vast swathes of ground - normally frozen all year round - are thawing - with potentially devastating consequences for the climate. As it thaws, the earth is believed to be releasing huge amounts of greenhouse gases, accentuating the problem of global warming.

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This article is about the outrage over a naked art performance in Kyrgyzstan. Mira Dzhangaracheva, the director of the venue at the National Museum of Fine Arts, quit after the "aggressive reaction from the national patriotic forces." The purpose of the exhibition was to show the reality of gender-based violence in the country. Mp Makhabat Mavlyanova took to social media, stating that the museum staff had "no moral right to work." As well as "our Kyrgyz women should get a traditional education." She claimed that Kyrgyz people were losing their ethnic identity from globalization.  Reading this article made me realize that sometimes people use culture to defend harmful ideas. These women want to show the reality they live for just being female.

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By News from Elsewhere...
...as found by BBC Monitoring

A feminist art exhibition involving naked women in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek has ignited a public row that's cost the director of the venue her job.

The culture ministry condemned the event for using the " language of provocation" and for "disorientating visitors", according to Kyrgyz news agency 24.kg.

The Minister of Culture, Azamat Jamankulov, said a special commission would examine the "scandalous exhibition", which he described as a "campaign with naked women under the flag of feminism".

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Mr Jamankulov said the director of the venue - the National Museum of Fine Arts - had been relieved from duty over the event.

But Mira Dzhangaracheva shared "the truth" about her departure on Facebook. She quit voluntarily, she wrote, following the " aggressive reaction from the national patriotic forces" and after receiving threats to her and other museum staff.

"It is a pity this has been initiated by people who have never been to a museum," she wrote.

'Unconventional fight'

Speaking to journalists following her resignation, Mira Dzhangaracheva explained that the exhibition was timed to coincide with an annual international campaign against gender-based violence " to show what is happening in our country today".

The exhibition, which involves work by 56 artists from 22 countries, is scheduled to run for 17 days. Organisers dedicated it to 17 women who died in a warehouse fire in Moscow in 2016 - most of them Kyrgyz migrants.

Organisers say the event seeks to show the social ills that stand in the way of gender equality and life without violence.

"This is violence against women. This is pain. This is fear. Artists from all over the world express their feelings, but we are forbidden," said organiser Altyn Kapalova. "As always they try to shut us up but it won't work. Art is uncensored."

Visitors to the exhibition were confronted with a female body presented as a punchbag and exhibits allowing them to repeat chores that form a daily part of life for Kyrgyz women in the countryside, where thousands of young women are kidnapped for marriage every year.

But it was the nude performance by Danish artist Julie Savery, which intended to highlight the plight of sex workers, that caused particular offence among defenders of traditional values in the majority Muslim country.

'Propaganda of pornography'

MP Makhabat Mavlyanova declared on Facebook that museum staff who allowed this event to take place "have no moral right to work".

" Our Kyrgyz women should get traditional education", she wrote. "Kyrgyz people have lost their ethnic identity over the past 30 years, using globalisation as a justification for these kinds of events."

Others, like activist Aybek Busurmankulov, called for the prevention of such events in future.

"They have slogans about gay marriage at the exhibition. We believe that these slogans are anti-constitutional. We should check whether minors entered the museum when a naked woman was giving a performance. If minors entered the building then it will be considered as propaganda of pornography," Mr Busurmankulov said.

"It's about the stigmatisation of sex workers," another woman replied. "They are not seen as people, as members of society, but merely as objects to satisfy physiological needs."

MP Elvira Surabaldieva offered her support: "To all of you, dear gender experts, a big thank you for your long-standing struggle for the rights of women in Kyrgyzstan."

In a blunt address to current leaders, former Kyrgyz president Rosa Otunbaeva condemned Mira Dzhangaracheva's dismissal.

" Stop, gentlemen!" she said. "You may have administrative power, but there is also a public voice and female solidarity: the exhibition is dedicated to the fight against violence against women. What have you done to solve this problem?"

Reporting by Mutalib Khalikov and Krassi Twigg

Use #NewsfromElsewhere to stay up-to-date with our reports via Twitter.

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By News from Elsewhere... ...as found by BBC Monitoring A feminist art exhibition involving naked women in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek has ignited a public row that's cost the director of the venue her job. The culture ministry condemned the event for using the " language of provocation" and for "disorientating visitors", according to Kyrgyz news agency 24.kg.

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This Article discusses the indigenous people of Japan, The Ainu. It discusses the origins of the Ainu from Russia to Hokkaido and the disenfranchisement and displacement of the Ainu with the Meiji Restoration Act (1868) and the Hokkaido Former Aborigines Protection Act (1899). The Ainu were only recognized officially as the indigenous people of japan in 2019 by the Japanese government which has sparked greater interest in the Ainu culture and more of a cultural presence. This however at least to me has come a little too late as the Ainu like the indigenous people in Canada have had to suffer years of discrimination and destruction of many of their cultural aspects that might never be recovered and one can only hope that what’s left can flourish and thrive and the reintroduction of their culture can persist.

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"This is our bear hut," the short, vivacious woman shouted through a hand-held loudspeaker, her smile creasing her forehead with deep wrinkles. A blue hat was perched on her head and her short tunic, embroidered with pink geometric designs, was tied sharply at the waist. She pointed at a wooden structure made of round logs, raised high above the ground on stilts.

"We caught the bears as cubs and raised them as a member of the family. They shared our food and lived in our village. When the time came, we set one free back into nature and killed the other to eat."

Having treated the bear well in life, her people believe the spirit of the sacred animal, which they worship as a deity, will ensure the continued good fortune of their community.

Kimiko Naraki is 70 but looks decades younger. She is Ainu, an indigenous people who now live mostly on Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost island, but whose lands once spanned from northern Honshu (the Japanese mainland) north to Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands (which are now a disputed part of the Russian Federation). The Ainu have long been of interest to anthropologists because of their cultural, linguistic and physical identity, but most travellers will not have heard of them. That's because although they were the earliest settlers of Hokkaido, they were oppressed and marginalised by Japanese rule for centuries.

The Ainu have had a difficult history. Their origins are murky, but some scholars believe they are descendants of an indigenous population that once spread across northern Asia. The Ainu called Hokkaido "Ainu Moshiri" ("Land of the Ainu"), and their original occupation was hunting, foraging and fishing, like many indigenous people across the world. They mainly lived along Hokkaido's warmer southern coast and traded with the Japanese. But after the Meiji Restoration (about 150 years ago), people from mainland Japan started emigrating to Hokkaido as Japan colonised the northernmost island, and discriminatory practices such as the 1899 Hokkaido Former Aborigines Protection Act displaced the Ainu from their traditional lands to the mountainous barren area in the island's centre.

"It's a very ugly story," said Professor Kunihiko Yoshida, law professor at Hokkaido University.

Forced into agriculture, they were no longer able to fish for salmon in their rivers and hunt deer on their land, Yoshida said. They were required to adopt Japanese names, speak the Japanese language and were slowly stripped of their culture and traditions, including their beloved bear ceremony. Due to the wide stigmatisation, many Ainu hid their ancestry. And the long-term effects are clear to see today, with much of the Ainu population remaining poor and politically disenfranchised, with much of their ancestral knowledge lost.

Among other nefarious practices, Japanese researchers ransacked Ainu graves from the late 19th Century to the 1960s, amassing huge collections of Ainu remains for their study and never returning the bones.

Recently, however, things have started to look up for the Ainu. In April 2019, they were legally recognised as an indigenous people of Japan by the Japanese government, after many years of deliberation, which has resulted in a more positive appreciation of Ainu culture and renewed pride in their language and heritage.

"It is important to protect the honour and dignity of the Ainu people and to hand those down to the next generation to realise a vibrant society with diverse values," said government spokesman Yoshihide Suga, as reported in The Straits Times.

Naraki continued showing us around the Ainu kotan (village). Still smiling, she pointed to a wooden, cupboard-like structure. "This is the toilet for the men," she said, giggling. Next to it was a smaller, teepee-style hut. "And this one is for the women."

I want to tell the world that Japan has indigenous people

Naraki leads tours of this kotan to teach visitors about her culture. It is part of the Sapporo Pirka Kotan (Ainu Culture Promotion Centre), Japan's first municipal facility featuring indigenous people, where visitors can experience Ainu handicrafts, watch traditional dancing and imagine traditional Ainu life when this area was a vast wilderness and the people lived on and with the land. Located approximately 40 minutes by car from downtown Sapporo, Hokkaido's capital city, the centre was opened in 2003 to teach both other Japanese and foreign visitors about Ainu culture and spread their message to the world.

"97% of Ainu are underground. But the people who come here to events are very proud of their culture," said Jeffry Gayman, an educational anthropologist at Hokkaido University who has been working with the Ainu for 15 years.

The pride is especially evident in the centre's small, well-kept museum, where Ainu artefacts, such as traditional clothing and tools, are carefully displayed. Upstairs are rooms where visitors can join workshops on Ainu embroidery or learn how to make the traditional Ainu musical instrument mukkuri (a bamboo mouth harp). By hosting events, members of the community are able to educate the wider world on their history and situation.

"If I try to tell people about Ainu rights and empowerment, no-one is interested. But when people see our dancing or music, it makes them interested in learning more about us," explained Ryoko Tahara, an Ainu activist and president of the Ainu Women's Association.

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Although this centre is a significant step in sharing Ainu culture nationally and internationally, no-one lives here. The kotan is a replica to show people what traditional Ainu life was like. Only a few isolated neighbourhood pockets of Ainu people remain, scattered across Hokkaido, with most of the estimated 20,000 Ainu (there are no official figures) assimilated into cities and towns around the island.

However, travellers who look carefully will be able to see traces of their culture everywhere. Many place names in Hokkaido have Ainu origins, such as "Sapporo", which comes from the Ainu words sat (dry), poro (large) and pet (river) due to its location around the Toyohira River; or "Shiretoko" - a peninsula that sticks out from Hokkaido's north-eastern tip - which can be translated as "of the ground" ( siri) and "protruding point" ( etuk).

And Ainu pride is visible at events like the annual Marimo Festival at Lake Akan and the Shakushain festival in Shizunai; and in groups like The Ainu Art Project, a 40-member group that share Ainu culture through their Ainu and rock fusion band and handmade arts and crafts. Restaurants such as Kerapirka in Sapporo serve up traditional Ainu food and act as a hub for the local community.

"And you can see Ainu values in any settings where Ainu people gather, whether that be inside their home, at a local town gathering or an event. But you need to know what you're looking for," said Gayman, explaining that "generosity and hospitality" are core Ainu principles. "They're light-hearted people," he said.

The Ainu have also become more prominent on the national stage, with activist Kayano Shigeru elected to the Japanese parliament in 1994, where he served five terms; and the hugely popular manga series, Golden Kamuy, pushing Ainu culture into the national spotlight over the last couple of years.

"In the last few years, people have become more interested in the Ainu; it has become a hot topic in Japan," said Tahara. "That makes me proud that people will know about the Ainu, but there is still work to be done."

The latest step forward for this community is the Symbolic Space for Ethnic Harmony in Shiraoi, Hokkaido, a new complex currently under construction by the government to showcase Ainu culture. Made up of a National Ainu Museum, the National Park for Ethnic Harmony and a memorial facility, it was scheduled to open in April 2020 in time for the Olympics, but has been delayed due to Covid-19.

The recognition is very symbolic, but not so meaningful

However, many experts believe that the recent recognition of the community is not enough, saying it is merely lip-service by the government, with the new Ainu bill failing to provide Japan's indigenous people with clear and strong rights.

"The Ainu still cannot fish their salmon and dams are still being built that submerge sacred sites," said Yoshida. "There's no self-determination, no collective rights and no reparations. It's just a cultural performance."

"The recognition is very symbolic, but not so meaningful," he added with a sad laugh, noting that Japan is far behind the world standard in treatment of indigenous people. "It's a shameful situation. That's the reality."

As I followed Naraki on her tour of the kotan, it seemed clear, however, that public interest in Ainu culture is strong. Groups of Japanese people and other visitors, who'd arrived by bus-load from Sapporo, jostled for pictures in front of the pu, the hut for storing food, which is located directly opposite the poro-ci-set, where the village chiefs lived in order to keep a stern eye on the village's communal larder. "The elders would resolve any disputes in the village," Naraki said. If no one could agree, they would discuss for three days and three nights and then make a decision.

She explained how the Ainu's lives were tied to the land. Kotans would be constructed along rivers or by the sea where water was plentiful and safe from natural disasters. Food was foraged or hunted, with staple proteins including salmon, deer and bear. They would pick wild grasses, vegetables, mushrooms and berries, such as kitopiro (Alpine leek) and shikerepe (berries of the Amur cork tree), never picking everything at once and always leaving the roots so the plants could keep growing. Food was simple, with animal oil, kelp and salt the only flavourings, and millet their main grain. Clothes were made with animal or fish skin, or woven with tree bark or nettle fibres.

Living in harmony with nature is a way of life that many Ainu would like to return to. "Eventually what I want is to get back some land so we can hunt and fish freely as well as do our traditional farming," Tahara told me. Increasing numbers of Ainu are also starting to relearn their language, which is linguistically isolated and declared as critically endangered by Unesco.

What are your other hopes for the future, I asked Tahara.

"I want to tell the world that Japan has indigenous people. People don't know," she said. "I want us all to respect each other, to treat each other respectfully and live peacefully in this country. And, of course, I would like our ancestors' bones returned. Bring them back to the graves they were taken from."

Our Unique World is a BBC Travel series that celebrates what makes us different and distinctive by exploring offbeat subcultures and obscure communities around the globe.

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"This is our bear hut," the short, vivacious woman shouted through a hand-held loudspeaker, her smile creasing her forehead with deep wrinkles. A blue hat was perched on her head and her short tunic, embroidered with pink geometric designs, was tied sharply at the waist.

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I was drawn to this news story because of the focus on arts. This article talks about Thangka artists in Gojo country of the Tibet autonomous region who are painting their way to prosperity. They combined fresh design elements and traditional art forms which can make the paintings be more popular. The artists do not only depict local arts, but also China’s 56 ethnic groups. However, because there are fewer young people take this work, thangka paitings will at risk in the future. In my conceit, thangka paitings should be preserved for some significant reasons. First of all, the traditional arts are cultrually valuable, they keep a unique record of the region. We should not be blind to their worth which are deserved our protection. Secondly, thangka paintings are able to bring the local people wealth. Just like thangka painter Pena Namgyal, whose wife is also a painter, earns 300,000 yuan per year. Therefore, working as a thangka painter is an opportunity to alleviate poverty. In my opinion, it is a good idea that people are provided vocational training by local government as it offers numerous jobs which can develop economics and preserves the culturally arts as well.
news posted on 9 October, 2020
(200 words)

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By PALDEN NYIMA and DAQIONG in Lhasa | CHINA DAILY

Updated: Oct 9, 2020

An artist works on a thangka at a cooperative in Gojo county, Tibet autonomous region. PALDEN NYIMA/CHINA DAILY

Thangka artists in Gojo county of the Tibet autonomous region are painting their way to prosperity by incorporating fresh design elements into the traditional art form.

The county, located in eastern Tibet, is a hub for traditional Tibetan art forms, such as thangka painting, pottery, calligraphy and coppersmiths.

Thangka artists in Gojo mainly practice the Mansar style of Tibetan thangka painting, which originated in the 17th century.

According to the county government, Gojo has 11 thangka painting cooperatives and more than 200 artists. The total revenue generated by thangka painting in the county exceeded 10 million yuan ($1.46 million) in 2019.

But what sets these artists apart from their counterparts in the rest of Tibet is that they have adapted their style of painting to incorporate and portray contemporary scenes and themes.

Last year, the top thangka artists from each of Gojo's painting cooperatives joined forces to create seven giant paintings, in a project backed by a 2.4 million yuan ($353,500) grant from the county's cultural bureau.

So far, these masters have produced works depicting China's 56 ethnic groups, as well as the experiences of people who have been lifted out of poverty and the nation's efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sherab Nyima, a thangka master and the founder of the county's Demar Art Heritage Cooperative, said he has painted thangka for more than 20 years and wanted to enrich the art form by incorporating modern elements.

"Traditionally, Tibetan artists paint thangka for the purposes of cultural preservation and to promote religion, but today they are more likely to take it up to make a living," said Sherab Nyima.

"We want to preserve this traditional art form and expand its market among tourists and businesspeople," Sherab Nyima said.

While most orders for thangka previously came from people belonging to the Tibetan ethnic group, he said that "people from all over the world" are now getting to know this traditional art form, which will greatly assist the efforts to preserve it.

Thangka painter Pema Namgyal, who has been practicing the art for 15 years, and whose wife is also a painter, said his family could make as much as 300,000 yuan per year thanks to orders from both home and abroad.

To help boost the income of more local residents, the county's cultural bureau is taking a number of measures, such as financial support and encouraging more people to take up this and other traditional Tibetan art forms.

Sonam Lhamo, the bureau's head, warned that the future of thangka painting had been at risk as fewer young people were taking it up.

"Some thangka masters only wanted to pass on their skills to members of their own family, which led to a sharp decrease in the number of artists," said Sonam Lhamo.

Another measure to redress the situation is that more women are being encouraged to take up thangka painting.

To sustain it and help it prosper, "a chain comprising education, inheritance, industry and poverty alleviation has been set up, and this model has brought new opportunities in terms of poverty alleviation and cultural preservation", said Sonam Lhamo.

"To help traditional forms of culture thrive such as thangka, tapestry and Tibetan incense, the local government offers vocational training to impoverished residents and unemployed people," she said.

To date, more than 200 people have been trained in the county, and they are engaged in thangka painting as far afield as Beijing, Sichuan province, and Lhasa, the capital of Tibet.

The county government has also set up a culture industry zone, involving investment of more than 10 million yuan.

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Thangka masters modernize, revitalize traditional art form

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By PALDEN NYIMA and DAQIONG in Lhasa | CHINA DAILY Updated: Oct 9, 2020 Thangka artists in Gojo county of the Tibet autonomous region are painting their way to prosperity by incorporating fresh design elements into the traditional art form.

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This is an interesting article published by CNN Style under their arts topics regarding a multi-million dollar art heist which claims to have included calligraphy from Mao Zedong, the founder and former president of the People’s Republic of China. His calligraphy was found to be cut into two pieces because the person thought it was too long to display.

I have always found art to be an interesting concept which can only be appreciated by people living in economically stable situations. It can be worth millions and millions of dollars to certain people, or it could be merely a piece of paper that can be cut in half to some others, in this case, the criminals involved in the heist. Therefore I think art is more of an intangible concept which differs depending on the time, place and person observing it. Art is also a reflection of culture and value of both the person painting it, as well as the time and place which it was painted. This makes artifacts and paintings to be highly valuable for anthropologists who are trying to study a past or current culture.

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Written by Eric Cheung Emma Reynolds, CNN

Three men have been arrested in connection with an alleged $645 million Hong Kong art heist that included calligraphy reportedly written by Mao Zedong.

A 2.8-meter (9-foot) piece of calligraphy said to be the creation of China's former Communist leader was cut in half by the burglars because they thought it was too long to be displayed, according to Hong Kong police.

The stolen items included six smaller calligraphy pieces also purportedly written by Mao, a collection of 10 bronze coins and more than 24,000 old stamps, Senior Inspector of Hong Kong police Tony Ho told a Wednesday news conference.

"Someone thought that the calligraphy was too long. It was about 2.8 meters so it would be difficult to display, so they cut it in half," Ho said.

He said the owner had estimated that the items were worth 5 billion Hong Kong dollars ($645 million), but police were still working to confirm the exact value and have contacted relevant groups in Hong Kong and China.

The burglary took place at an apartment in Yau Ma Tei neighborhood on the night of September 10 and involved three men, who left the scene in a taxi, according to Ho.

On September 22, the Organized Crime and Triad Bureau arrested a 49-year-old man with the last name Lam at an apartment in Wan Chai, on suspicion of handling stolen property. He is not thought to have taken part in the burglary.

Police found some of the stolen items -- two bronze coins and a calligraphy purportedly written by Mao -- in his apartment. Lam has since been released on bail.

The triad bureau raided another apartment in Yau Ma Tei Tuesday and arrested two more men. A 44-year-old man, last name Ng, was arrested for burglary, while another man aged 47 was arrested for assisting an offender by providing a hideout. Police did not find any items in this raid and the men are under investigation.

Officers believe that two burglars are still on the run, said Ho.

The case remains under investigation and police have been studying CCTV to identify the suspects. They are still looking for eight more bronze coins, six more calligraphy pieces, and all 24,327 stamps.

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mao zedong calligraphy: hong kong police arrest 3 in relation to $645 million art heist - cnn

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Hong Kong police arrest 3 men in relation to $645 million art heist that included calligraphy by Mao

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Written by Eric Cheung Emma Reynolds, CNN Three men have been arrested in connection with an alleged $645 million Hong Kong art heist that included calligraphy reportedly written by Mao Zedong. A 2.8-meter (9-foot) piece of calligraphy said to be the creation of China's former Communist leader was cut in half by the burglars because they thought it was too long to be displayed, according to Hong Kong police.

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This is article about cultural activity practicing across the  Japan and called as “healthy temple”.

There are association in Japan which organize free session practicing include meditation, stretches and contemplative exercises .I think nowadays a lot is going including pandemic, less job opportunities and non-organized lifestyle and so on. To handle the situation with positive attitude, it is great to practice ancient techniques to heal to inner peace of body to run life toward better. I think it good idea to learn something new from Japanese culture about different tradition to settle good life either in home , in school and office  to enjoy all the atmosphere with positivity.

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This article is about an online sextortion ring in South Korea. It's an example of the dangers that come with cyberculture. Cho Ju-bin is otherwise known as 'The Doc", operated chatrooms on an online encrypted messaging service. Where he blackmailed at least 16 minors into making sexually explicit videos of themselves, there are countless similar chatrooms. Those arrested for digital sex crimes often are left off with a lenient sentence, which in turn has angered people in Korea. Now the government has vowed to revise the laws governing sex crimes, which includes online grooming and the blackmail of children and teenagers.

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"Thank you for putting a brake on the life of a devil that could not be stopped."

That is how one suspected ringleader of a clandestine online sextortion ring in South Korea described his relief at being caught.

Cho Ju-bin, known as "The Doc," operated chatrooms where he blackmailed dozens of young women, including at least 16 minors, into making sexually explicit videos of themselves.

They often featured rape and violence.

He then sold these videos online through Telegram, an encrypted messaging service. Fees ranged from $200 to $1,200.

But this was not the first - his "Doctor Room" was itself a copy of existing "Nth Rooms". Customers paid to access the so-called "Nth Rooms", where extorted content was uploaded, often in real time.

There are countless similar chatrooms, suggesting that there are tens of thousands of paying members.

According to Korean newspaper Kookmin Ilbo, each of the rooms hosted videos from three to four girls who had been blackmailed by chatroom operators.

The chatroom operators contacted the girls, promising modelling or escort jobs. They would then direct the women to a Telegram account to provide personal details, which were used to blackmail the victims.

Cho is facing 14 charges including rape, blackmail, coercion, and illegal production and distribution of sexual content. His trial began on 11 June, three months after he was arrested.

He has admitted that he produced sex videos and distributed them on Telegram, yet he is denying that he resorted to coercion, blackmailing and violence, according to his lawyer.

But while the focus is on the alleged perpetrator, his victims have a lonely struggle ahead.

In socially conservative Korea, the dozens of women and children who were exploited in the videos face a long and difficult journey to rebuild their lives.

One woman helping them is Lee Hyorin. She told the BBC about her work fighting digital sex crime.

"There were times I felt that me taking a break is a sin; if I sleep it means more sexual abuse videos get out there and victims suffer more," said Hyorin.

"So initially I thought even if it means I work all night all day, I have to delete all these videos."

She has been dealing with the devastating consequences of digital sex crimes since 2017.

This initially involved working to take down content - but she soon realised that merely expunging the evidence of a crime was not sufficient.

"When sexual abuse videos first emerged as a social problem, there was no system to help the victims," she said.

"That's when our organisation, the Korea Cyber Sexual Violence Response Centre, launched. Our goal was not just to delete them, but to provide counselling to the victims from a women's rights perspective."

Hyorin quickly realised the value of her work in treating the lasting damage caused by these crimes.

"Many victims are horrified to see how their intimate self is being shared, being saved, now and ten years later, and used for entertainment or making money," she said.

Most victims who come to the centre start by setting out excuses.

"It really breaks my heart when they do that," Hyorin said. "I make sure to tell them at great lengths that 'you're not responsible for this and it's not your fault'."

She believes that being liberated from this guilt is the foundation of their recovery.

"It's sad but many victims actually don't have people around them who tell them what I tell them."

Instead, people blame them or judge them and this is why many victims feel so much guilt and shame, she said.

It takes a good deal of courage to come forward. In fact, Hyorin believes the victims of the Telegram sex trafficking case who've come to her organisation represent only a very small percentage of all victims.

"Victims often go through such an arduous journey before coming to us - with police, media and so on. They come to us all hurt and exhausted."

Many victims give up along the way. She works with the victims to help them regain a sense of control over their lives.

"Our definition of recovery is when they are no longer just passive subjects who are consumed by the damage they've suffered, but when they digest the incident as one of many of life's experiences and go on to live their life."

But Hyorin's work comes at a personal cost.

"I do feel their pain when I provide counselling. I suffered from something like post-traumatic stress disorder.

"In the Nth Rooms case, the men forced a girl to commit incest. It was so shocking how they are depriving the victims of their dignity and violating them," she said.

Exposure to this content has an effect on her personal life too.

"I also feel the fear myself. Before I joined this organisation, I ran into this illegal sex video whose thumbnail looked a little like me and my partner.

"I cried all night horrified at the possibility, and only at dawn did I download it and check that it wasn't me. Even when I delete sex videos for work, if I run into something that features someone who looks like my little sister or a friend, I check it. Just in case."

Time helps her come to terms with the worst aspects of her job.

"Two years ago, when I was asked to delete someone's content, I was traumatised by this thumbnail of a sex video. It stuck with me so strongly. But I'm okay now. So I guess as time passes, I get over the shock."

She, too, has sought help. "Counsellors get counselling too," she said. "We have to deal with lots of stress."

Digital sex crimes are often very difficult to prosecute.

Those arrested for digital sex crimes have frequently been let off with a warning, and where prosecutions are successful, they often end with lenient sentencing.

According to Supreme Court data, of 7,446 people who stood trial for illicit filming between 2012 and 2017, only 647 (8.7%) received imprisonment or a fine.

This has greatly angered people in Korea.

"Over and over again women have told me they feel the justice system does not adequately punish sex crimes and does not act as a deterrent," said the BBC's Korea correspondent Laura Bicker.

"And over and over again tens of thousands of women have urged the current administration to act."

The government has vowed to revise the laws governing sex crimes including online grooming and the blackmail of children and teenagers.

Following a crackdown on digital sex crimes in May, the National Assembly revised laws making it illegal to watch, store, buy and possess non-consensually captured videos and photos, with punishments of up to three years in prison or a fine of up to 30 million won ($25,000).

Previously, watching or possessing illegally filmed images was not punishable.

In the Nth and Doctor Room cases, Korean police say that 664 suspects have so far been taken into custody, including most of the key suspects.

But some judges continue to treat digital sex crime perpetrators with leniency.

Women's rights activists held a protest outside the court where Cho is standing trial, saying that unless he receives a stricter sentence, there will be further exploitation cases, and ever more victims.

Hyorin's motivation to continue in the fight against digital sex crime is clear to her.

"I lived 2018 in sheer rage (asking myself) 'Why does it have to be so unfair?' 'Why so insulting?' I was so mad that I couldn't stop working. I guess you could call it a 'calling'.

"We don't have a 'closed case' per se. That is our biggest predicament. We provide help to victims of revenge porn and digital sex crimes until they recover."

Each time they delete a video, they allow somebody to start their recovery process, she believes. But the routine of taking down illicit content and shutting down operations never really ends.

"Digital sex crime can strip someone of their basic human dignity - that's why we must never stop doing what we do."

Illustrations by Jilla Dastmalchi

Also from South Korea:

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Doctor Room: The counsellor helping digital sex crime victims

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"Thank you for putting a brake on the life of a devil that could not be stopped." That is how one suspected ringleader of a clandestine online sextortion ring in South Korea described his relief at being caught.

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This article talks about that the entire population will be getting tested within 5 days in QingDao, China. This month, Chinese government reports that there are six new coronavirus cases found in QingDao, so the government decide to test all nine million people in this city to prevent the virus from spreading. Anyways, China has done the same thing to the eleven million population in Wuhan in May. And, as a result, the country has largely brought the virus under control. By this, I learned that we should treat the coronovirus seriously because it can be easily spreading. To prevent the pendamic from returning, people should not ignore any new cases. People should learn that, not only the virus, small social problem may eventually turn into a serious political issue.

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The Chinese city of Qingdao is testing its entire population of nine million people for Covid-19 over a period of five days.

It comes after a dozen cases were found linked to a hospital treating covid patients arriving from overseas.

China had in May tested the entire city of Wuhan - a population of 11 million and the epicentre of the global outbreak.

The country has largely brought the virus under control.

That's in stark contrast to other parts of the world where there are still high case numbers and lockdown restrictions of varying severity.

Did China test a whole city in 10 days?

How Wuhan went from quiet streets to packed pools

In a statement posted to Chinese social media site Weibo, Qingdao's Municipal's Health Commission said six new cases and six asymptomatic cases had been discovered.

All the cases were linked to the same hospital, said the Global Times.

The Chinese authorities now have a strategy of mass testing even when a new coronavirus cluster appears to be relatively minor, correspondents said.

City-wide testing

The commission added that a citywide testing program had been launched, with five districts to be tested within three days - with the whole city to be tested within five days.

Some 114,862 people - including medical staff and newly hospitalised patients in the city's hospitals - have already tested negative for the coronavirus, it said.

Videos circulating online showed local residents lining up late on Sunday to get tested, said the Global Times, adding that some of these test points were open from 07:00 to 23:00.

The new cases come a week after China's Golden Week holiday - which saw millions travel across the country.

A Global Times report quoting the Qingdao Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism said the city received 4.47 million passenger trips over this period.

Millions on the move in post-lockdown China

The nearby city of Jinan, which is also in the same province as Qingdao, called for anyone who has visited the city since 23 September to get tested for the virus, according to a report by The Paper.

Earlier last month, Qingdao announced that two port workers in the city who handled imported seafood tested positive for the virus. However, they were not known to have infected anyone else.

Daily coronavirus infections have fallen drastically in China, and for the most part the country appears to have recovered from the worst of the virus.

China currently has 85,578 virus cases and the death toll stands at 4,634.

Earlier this year, China completed a mass testing programme in Wuhan saying 11 million people had been tested in 10 days.

However, the BBC's Reality Check later estimated that the figure was closer to 9 million over 10 days - still a significant number of people.

Hundreds of testing centres were opened, with thousands of testing staff involved.

EASY STEPS: How to keep safe

A SIMPLE GUIDE: What are the symptoms?

CONTAINMENT: What it means to self-isolate

MAPS AND CHARTS: Visual guide to the outbreak

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China to test entire city for Covid-19 in five days

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The Chinese city of Qingdao is testing its entire population of nine million people for Covid-19 over a period of five days. It comes after a dozen cases were found linked to a hospital treating covid patients arriving from overseas.

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The article depicts that parliament of Russia had reduced the penalties for the domestic violence and women are since then fighting to restrain the abusers. This article shares the story of various women who have suffered domestic violence and have fought hard to punish their abusers. Women named Margarita got married to her boyfriend after college but the guy was furious and could not withstand her having male colleagues at work, so when margarita sent him divorce papers he frightened her with knife after which she went to police. The police said that they would take action only after 20 days because sometimes women take back their cases after few days. But eventually her husband got so mad that he cut her both hands after taking her to a forest and then he himself went to police. after fighting hard and with help of media she was able to get him sentenced for 14 years of jail. So this article shows that how women are treated in various regions of the world and what they have to go through.

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Two years ago, many Russians were shocked when the parliament significantly reduced penalties for domestic violence. Since then, women have been fighting back - demanding new legislation to restrain abusers, demonstrating in support of three sisters who took the law into their own hands, and finding new ways of tackling outdated attitudes on gender.

On a blustery, grey afternoon, Margarita Gracheva takes her small sons to the playground. They run ahead then jump on to the swings and shoot down the slide. "They're pretty independent for their age," she says. "They know I can't do up their buttons or tie their shoelaces, so they've learned to do it themselves."

On the morning of 11 December 2017 Margarita's husband, Dmitri, offered to give her a lift to work, but instead he drove in the opposite direction, towards the forest. He parked the car, dragged her from her seat, took an axe from the boot and chopped off both her hands.

Then he dumped her in the emergency department of their local hospital in Serpukhov, south of Moscow, before driving to the police station and confessing to his crime.

The couple had met at school and began dating after college. Initially they were happy, though he flared up easily over trivial things - and swore he would kill her if she was ever unfaithful to him.

Their relationship soured when Margarita began working in the advertising section of the Serpukhov newspaper. Despite having a degree, Dmitri could only find work driving a forklift truck, and he became resentful of her career and jealous of her male colleagues. At home he was increasingly cold and withdrawn.

When Margarita said she thought they should split up, he ignored her. But when she produced divorce papers he was furious. One night he attacked her in their one-bedroom apartment, waking the children, who saw the bruises on her body. The next time, when he threatened her with a knife, she went to the police.

"I wrote a statement and the desk officer said they would get back to me in 20 days," Margarita says.

"I pointed out that by then he might well have tried to kill me 20 times over."

The desk officer explained that women often made complaints only to withdraw them later, which just swamped the police in paperwork. "So what is the point of getting involved?"

Find out more

Listen to Russian women fight back, Lucy Ash's Crossing Continents documentary, on BBC Sounds

Or watch her Our World TV documentary - click for transmission times on the BBC News Channel and on BBC World News

Five days after the case was dropped for lack of evidence, Dmitri cut off Margarita's hands.

Her mutilated left hand was retrieved from the forest and sewn back on in a nine-hour operation. A crowdfunding campaign raised six million roubles (£73,000) for a prosthetic right hand, which was fitted in Germany.

Though Margarita has now published a book about her recovery, called Happy Without Hands, she hadn't wanted publicity to begin with.

"But the terrible thing is that in order to make sure he got a longer prison sentence, I needed help from the media."

Her lawyers told her that if she didn't get on to national TV, Dmitri would be let out of prison in three-to-five years - it was essential that they felt pressure from public opinion. Margarita took her lawyers' advice, and Dmitri ended up with a 14-year sentence.

Although she is maimed for life, Margarita could easily have suffered a worse fate. Russia doesn't keep statistics on deaths arising from intimate partner violence, but the Interior Ministry says 40% of grave and violent crimes happen inside the family. The most conservative estimates suggest that domestic violence kills hundreds of women a year.

This longstanding domestic violence "crisis", as campaigners call it, helps explain why two developments have sparked protests in cities across Russia. One was the decision taken in 2017 to downgrade domestic violence from a criminal offence to a misdemeanour for first-time offenders, as long as the victim doesn't need hospital treatment. The other was the prospect of long prison sentences being handed down to three sisters arrested for killing their abusive father in July 2018.

The father, Mikhail Khachaturyan - a businessman who made a name for himself running protection rackets in the 1990s - drove his wife from the family home at gunpoint in 2015, then began to focus his aggression on the girls.

"He tortured them at night, wouldn't let them sleep," says the mother, Aurelia Dunduk. "He did whatever he liked. He had a bell and each of them had to come and submit to whatever he desired. The kids were really suffering."

So one night, while Khachaturyan was asleep in an armchair in their home in Altufyevo, a northern suburb of Moscow, his eldest daughter Krestina, aged 19, pepper-sprayed his face. Then 17-year-old Maria stabbed him with a hunting knife while 18-year-old Angelina hit him on the head with a hammer.

"They were protecting themselves - they actually had no choice," their mother tells me.

A public outcry led to them being released from custody while awaiting trial. A petition calling for them to be acquitted has gathered 300,000 signatures.

One of the sisters' supporters is Maria Alyokhina from Pussy Riot, Russia's most famous punk band. When she headlined a fundraiser last summer she spoke about domestic and sexual abuse as "one of the most important problems in Russia" but one that is "always pushed under the carpet".

She added that 80 of the women prisoners she had met during her 18 months in a prison colony (for performing a "punk prayer" in Moscow's main cathedral) were women who had been subjected to domestic abuse "until they just couldn't take it any more".

Few Russian politicians see tackling domestic abuse as a priority. Oksana Pushkina is a rare exception. She was elected in 2016 as a member of President Vladimir Putin's own party, United Russia, but the treatment of women has turned her into a rebel. She is now campaigning to get the 2017 decriminalisation law overturned, and for Russia to pass a specific domestic violence law for the first time.

"From the grandstand of parliament, we said you can batter your whole family," she tells me in her office in the State Duma, referring to the decision taken two years ago. "This is a really bad law."

Her list of proposals includes restraining orders to keep abusers away from their victims - which have never existed in Russia - anti-sexual-harassment measures and steps to promote gender equality. But she faces fierce opposition and daily hate mail.

More than 180 Russian Orthodox Church and family groups have addressed an open letter to Vladimir Putin asking him to block her law, arguing that it's the work of "foreign agents" and supporters of "radical feminist ideology".

At a round-table debate in parliament last month, Andrei Kormukhin, a businessman and arch-conservative, warned that the draft law could lead to "the genocide of the family".

Even women are not immune to this way of thinking. Elena Mizulina, a member of the upper house of the Russian parliament, once told Russian TV that domestic violence "is not the main problem in families, unlike rudeness, absence of tenderness and respect, especially on the part of women".

She added: "We women are weak creatures and do not take offence when we are hit."

Mizulina seems to have been inspired by a 16th Century literary work called Domostroi, or Domestic Order, a set of guidelines for a happy household edited by a priest who took Ivan the Terrible's confession. The book advocates hitting children "to save their souls" and harsh discipline for wives and daughters. "If women do not fear men or do not do what their husbands or fathers tell them, then whip them with a lash according to their guilt, though do so privately, not in the public eye."

Most Russians would laugh off the idea that they live according to medieval rules, but some recognise that outdated attitudes towards gender are a problem and have been tackling them in ingenious ways.

Elena Kalinina, a young advertising executive, remembers how her own mother told her to put up with everything if she wanted a husband. "We have an expression here, 'If he beats you - he loves you,'" she says. "Twisted logic, yes, but it is still part of our mentality."

She thinks the country's gender imbalance - 79 million women to only 68 million men - diminishes women's bargaining power in relationships.

Earlier this year, she and her team developed a computer game about a fictional couple called Nastya and Kirill, and their toxic relationship.

He shouts at her and calls her a slut for cooking him the wrong kind of dinner. At different stages in the game, players have to choose how Nastya should react. The idea is to put yourself in the shoes of the victim and to see how very few options battered women actually have in today's Russia.

Nastya tries to phone her father for help, and the police who don't take her seriously. The game is based on a real case in which the young woman was killed.

Another innovation created by a young lawyer, Anna Rivina, is a website called No To Violence, which tells victims about their rights and where to go to help.

Anna's team of young volunteers use slick social media campaigns to reach women all over the country, including video clips of famous Russian men saying it's uncool to hit women.

"We try to work a lot with different celebrities because people are still ashamed to talk about domestic violence," she says.

"When strong successful women say they have suffered from it, it is much easier for others to be honest and that is why we have ambassadors like the actress Irina Gorbacheva, and [the activist and TV personality] Ksenia Sobchak.

"We need practical solutions, but we also need to change attitudes to this problem - we need to speak about it out loud."

Nasiliu.Net has also opened a centre in Moscow providing legal and psychological support. Unlike a state-funded women's refuge that opened in the city five years ago, women don't need to show a passport or residency permit to qualify for help.

All too often, the police seem to be part of the problem.

Margarita Gracheva says that when women write to her asking for advice she doesn't tell them to go to the police, because "they won't help at all".

Mikhail Khachaturyan's wife, Aurelia Dunduk, had an even worse experience. When she reported the beatings she'd received from her husband, soon after her first daughter was born, they immediately called him to the station. Then, when he arrived, they ripped up her statement in front of him. She never bothered going again.

In Solnechnogorsk, an hour north of Moscow, Anna Verba shows me photographs of her daughter, Alyona.

She was a vivacious 28-year-old sales manager and mother of a seven-year-old boy when she was murdered last year by her husband, Sergei Gustyatnikov. On the night of 5 January he waited until their son was asleep, then stabbed his wife 57 times. After that, he left for a dawn shift as a police captain.

"It all happened in this room," Anna says. "Not on this sofa, we had to throw the old one away because it was completely soaked in blood. This wall was splashed in blood."

Alyona's son, Nikita, was the one who discovered the body, when he went into his mother's bedroom the following morning.

"It was only after the official autopsy that I saw the terrible black-and-white photographs," says Anna. "They were bad enough, but what I can't get over is that the child actually saw all this. He told me her eyes were open... He called out to her and thought she blinked."

Wiping the tears from her eyes, Anna says Nikita ran to his own room and sat on the bed with the dog.

"He didn't know what to do - call an ambulance or call the police. In the end he phoned his dad, because he works in the police.

"How cruel do you have to be not only savagely murder your so-called beloved wife, and the mother of your only child, but to also leave that child to find her body?"

Sergei got nine years, a reduced sentence due to the fact that he has an underage dependent and is in the police force.

But Anna argues this should have worked against him, and led to a more serious sentence. "You made your child an orphan and they consider this as grounds for a reduced sentence? It's insane!" she says.

Our conversation is interrupted when Nikita comes into the kitchen to get a snack. He shows us his dog and offers to make us all tea.

When the child returns to his bedroom to play video games Anna talks about her fears for the future. Although Gustyatnikov was convicted of murder, he has not been stripped of his parental rights and could demand custody of the boy on his release.

"Nikita is very afraid of this. He says, 'Where are we going to hide when he comes out of prison? Granny, what are we going to do?'" she says.

Then she tells me that the summer before the murder, Gustyatnikov took Alyona for a countryside walk, supposedly to make up after a quarrel. On a lonely path, he threw her to the ground and held a knife to her throat. Alyona reported the attack but was later persuaded to withdraw her statement by her husband's colleagues.

"He came and fell on his knees and kissed our feet and asked for forgiveness and said he would never do this again," Anna says.

"He said, 'I really love her, I wouldn't lift a finger against her.' And five months later he killed her.

"I demand as the mother of a murdered girl for there to be changes in the law. I demand that they get rid of the decriminalisation for first-time abusers. There must be punishment.

"Even after my daughter's case, how many more girls have been beaten to death, cut up and strangled? All because the perpetrators go unpunished."
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As Russia enters its 20th year under the authoritarian leadership of Vladimir Putin, St Petersburg's vegan anarchist community thrives. Hated by the far right and out of tune with Russia's prevailing nationalist mood, the activists have created a version of what their ideal society would look like - and they're promoting this vision with delicious food.
The Russian vegans cooking up a revolution

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Russian domestic violence: Women fight back

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Two years ago, many Russians were shocked when the parliament significantly reduced penalties for domestic violence. Since then, women have been fighting back - demanding new legislation to restrain abusers, demonstrating in support of three sisters who took the law into their own hands, and finding new ways of tackling outdated attitudes on gender.

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This article is about Kim Jong Un and what his plans were for the country when he came into power as one of the youngest dictators. He made a promise to the citizens of North Korea. He promised to make north korea a wealthy country. The article also speaks about the national day and how it would have been a perfect time to portray the image of Kim Jong- Un as being one of the most important leaders and “freedom fighters” in korean history. It talks about his other struggles as a leader. I would say this article relates to political Anthropology. Kim has power and authority. Not only does Kim have power over his country but he has somewhat power over other countries. He uses nuclear weapons as a threat, enforcing fears. Kim also uses the military parade to persuade and enforce his ideas onto the people While reading this week's lesson, I can better identify how countries and political leaders rule. I learned  how important power and authority plays in running a country successfully

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north korea workers' party anniversary: kim jong un faces his most daunting challenges to date - cnn

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October 10 was supposed to be a major celebration for Kim Jong Un

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This Saturday marks 75 years since the founding of the Workers' Party of Korea -- the communist political party that has ruled North Korea since the country's inception.

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This article discusses the creation of the book Bushido: The Soul of Japan published in 1900 and its effect it had on Japan's society as well as how other countries particularly western countries viewed Japan. Inazō Nitobe the author of Bushido: The Soul of Japan  wrote the book based on samurai and chivalric codes of knights from Europe to show that japan had a civilized society and civilized way of warfare when compared to western countries. The book grew in popularity and had become an international success that had also captivated the intended western audience causing Japan’s image to align with western countries view of “civilized” Society. I think at the time the book was published and how countries were developing at this time that Inazō wanted to captivate the growing powers of the western countries so that there could be more peaceful interactions between them and hopefully that was successful in some degree as we know now that during those times many especially in western countries had ethnocentric views of other societies and cultures.

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The Last Samurai, a sweeping Hollywood epic, tells the story of Katsumoto, a rebel samurai who dedicates his life to fighting the forces he believes are corrupting Japan's traditional values. As seen through the eyes of US Army Captain Nathan Algren - who is hired by Japan's Imperial Army to help fight the rebels, but is taken into captivity by them - Katsumoto and his band of rebel samurai epitomise the honourable warrior: fearless, dedicated to their duty, hard-working and disciplined but also polite and benevolent towards their captive. After witnessing the noble ways of the samurai, Algren switches allegiance to help Katsumoto in his fateful mission.

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- The best books of the year so far

From Hollywood blockbusters to Japanese TV dramas, the samurai has been portrayed over the years as a model of both physical excellence and moral rectitude, for whom honour and loyalty are more valuable than life. This image of the samurai, though not historically accurate, is widely entrenched in the popular imagination, due in no small part to a slim volume written in English at the turn of the 20th Century by Inazō Nitobe.

Bushido: The Soul of Japan, which was first published in 1900 and became an international bestseller in its day, has just been republished as part of Penguin's Great Ideas series. Although it is one of countless books written on bushido ('the way of the warrior'), Nitobe's book remains the most influential source for those seeking to understand a value system that continues to permeate many facets of Japanese society to this day.
How to be good
Through his book, Nitobe, an agricultural economist, educator, diplomat and Quaker convert who was Under-Secretary General of the League of Nations from 1919 to 1929, sought to explain to Westerners (including his American Quaker wife, Mary) the moral values underpinning Japanese culture.

Nitobe traced those values to bushido, which he defined as the samurai's code of moral principles. Bushido, according to Nitobe, instructed the samurai to have a strong sense of justice and the courage to carry out that justice. It preached benevolence and politeness, truthfulness, honour and loyalty to a higher authority. "The sense of honour, implying a vivid consciousness of personal dignity and worth, could not fail to characterise the samurai..." Nitobe wrote.

The reality was somewhat different, and historians have criticised Nitobe's description of the samurai as highly romanticised. "Samurai and daimyo (feudal lords) weren't really living the life of honour and loyalty," says Sven Saaler, professor of modern Japanese history at Sophia University in Tokyo. "If the opportunity arose, they would also kill their master and take his position."

In his seminal work, Nitobe, who came from a family of samurai, also claimed that the samurai's values were shared by all in Japan. "(The) spirit of bushido permeated all social classes," Nitobe wrote. Contrary to Nitobe's claim, by the Edo period (1603-1868) samurai came to be reviled for abusing their privileges at a time when their martial skills had become obsolete due to two centuries of social stability.

However, Nitobe's aim in writing his book was not to provide a historically accurate account of the samurai, but to show the outside world that Japan had a value system that was similar to Christian morality. As such, Nitobe made constant references to European philosophy and literature and likened bushido to the chivalry of European knights.

"Chivalry is a flower, no less indigenous to the soil of Japan than its emblem, the cherry blossom...." Nitobe wrote. According to Saaler, Nitobe sought to counter racism and fears in the West of the 'Yellow Peril' by shaping the image of the samurai, and by extension, the Japanese, as not only brave but also chivalrous. Just four years before his book's publication, Japan had emerged victorious in its war against China from 1894 to 1895. That military success, which stunned the Western powers of the time, was quickly followed by Japan's victory in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904 and 1905.
Staking a claim
Nitobe's book aimed to counter fears that Japan would one day become a threat to Europe and "to construct a very positive image of Japan as a militarily strong but civilised country that behaved in a civilised way in war," says Saaler. According to Eri Hotta, a historian and author of Japan 1941: Countdown to Infamy, the book was also "an attempt to place Japan on an equal footing with the best of the Western powers so that they could claim a right to be masters of colonies".

The international acclaim that greeted his book suggests Nitobe succeeded in his objective of documenting Japanese values and thereby improving the country's image in the West. Appearing at a time when interest in Japan was growing, following its military victories over China and Russia, Nitobe's book found a willing audience among Western readers who were both impressed and mystified by Japan's stunning rise.

To Western readers, the courage, moral rectitude and other values of bushido described in Nitobe's book provided a compelling explanation for how a small, and hitherto unknown, country could defeat its much larger and seemingly more powerful neighbours. "Nitobe's book offered a way to explain the source of Japan's growing power," says Lance Gatling, author of the upcoming The Kanō Chronicles, about Jigorō Kanō, the founder of judo. "It was one of the first Western books on Japanese culture, and it sold like crazy." Gatling found a copy of Bushido in the Arkansas Public Library that had been printed in 1904, just four years after its initial publication.

The allure of bushido as a moral code even caught the attention of the then US President, Theodore Roosevelt, who was a keen judo practitioner. In a letter to the diplomat and politician, Count Kentarō Kaneko, dated 13 April, 1904, Roosevelt wrote: "I was most impressed by the little volume on Bushido. I have learned not a little from what I have read of the fine Samurai spirit..."

(Credit: Sean Sexton/Getty Images)

Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts, wrote that one aim of the Boy Scouts scheme was "to revive some of the rules of the knights of old, which did so much for the moral tone of our race, just as ...Bushido... has done, and is still doing, for Japan." In contrast to the rapturous reception it received overseas, the book was widely criticised in Japan as inaccurate, according to Oleg Benesch in his book Inventing the Way of the Samurai.

Nevertheless, its international success was celebrated in Japan, and by planting the idea that Japan's moral rectitude gave it the right to join the privileged group of Western colonial nations, Nitobe's book "made Japanese believe that they were all inheritors of superior values and that they had a claim to right the wrong," noted Hotta. "It was important for the Japanese self-image."

After World War Two, bushido, which was associated with Japan's militarism, became "a target of popular resentment" within Japan, wrote Benesch. More recently, bushido has seen renewed interest and Nitobe's book gained international recognition again in the 1980s, when the world sought to understand the source of modern Japan's rapid economic and technological advances. Lee Teng-hui, the recently deceased former President of Taiwan, reminded the Japanese public of the book's significance in a 2006 memoir detailing how it influenced his own life and thinking.

Yet, apart from such intermittent bursts of interest, Nitobe and his former best-seller are not household names in Japan. Even those who remember Nitobe identify him more often as the face on the 5,000 yen note from 1984 to 2004.

Many of the values he identified as the teachings of bushido - politeness towards others, a high regard for personal honour, self-control and loyalty to a higher authority - remain core to the Japanese view of proper behaviour. Bushido is widely invoked in sports, with the Japanese national baseball team nicknamed 'Samurai Japan', and the national men's football team called 'Samurai Blue'.

But the prevalence of bushido values in Japanese society is a reflection of the continuing influence of Confucianism rather than Nitobe's book, according to Yukiko Yuasa, assistant professor at Teikyō Heisei University in Tokyo. "Many of the teachings that appear in Nitobe's book are part of Japanese behaviour, so people don't have to read the book to learn about those values," she says.

Nevertheless, Nitobe's book continues to inform the outside world of values that remain core to Japanese society. As such, Bushido: The Soul of Japan can be expected to help shape the world's understanding of Japan for many years to come.
Bushido: The Soul of Japan is available now as part of Penguin's Great Ideas series
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Bushido: The book that changed Japan's image

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The Last Samurai, a sweeping Hollywood epic, tells the story of Katsumoto, a rebel samurai who dedicates his life to fighting the forces he believes are corrupting Japan's traditional values.

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This article discusses the indigenous Ryukyu people of the Ryukyu islands which are located at the southernmost border of Japan. It talks about the rise and fall of the Ryukyu dynasties and the colonization of the Ryukyu people by Japan. It also discusses how after World War 2 the Japanese had given the United States the largest island Okinawa to be used for military bases and wasn’t officially given back to Japan until 1971 and during that time there were multiple protests by the people of the islands and they fell on deaf ears from both countries. From what I read it seems like the Ryukyu islands are rich in historical and cultural influences and like many other articles I have read it seems like Japan took an ethnocentric approach when dealing with the Islands and have tried to erase a unique culture in favor of sameness and to me it’s just devastating to see.

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Before Okinawa was ever even a part of Japan, it still flourished greatly as a part of a different culture. That culture was the indigenous Ryukyu people.

The Indigenous Ryukyu People: A Questionable Ethnicity

Nowadays, Ryukyuans mostly inhabit the prefectures of Okinawa and Kagoshima. However, they have lived on these islands for centuries. And because their existence predates their connection to Japan, there is often debate and confusion in regards to their ethnicity.

The Ryukyu Kingdom was the first documented civilization on these islands. However, archaeological evidence points to life existing here way before then. Unfortunately, not much is known about these very early people, leading to many questions about the precise history of early Okinawans.

Currently, Japanese authorities recognize present-day indigenous Ryukyu/Okinawan people as a subgroup of descendants of the Yamato (the ancestors of Japan). However, some genetic and anthropological studies reveal that Ryukyuan people are more closely related to the indigenous Ainu people who lived in Japan before the colonization of Hokkaido. The reasoning is the shared ancestry with East Asian migrants during the Jomon and Yayoi Periods.

Prehistoric Ryukyu

The earliest human remnants discovered were about 32,000 years old and named the Yamashita Cave People. Slightly younger were the Pinza-Abu Cave Man, dated about 26,000 years old, and the Minatogawa Cave People, dated about 18,000 years back. These early Okinawan ancestors most likely came through China, though there's no evidence telling us how long these people lived here.

The Jomon Period (the "shell-midden period" of Ryukyu) was an important period of their growth. They began as hunter-gatherers but developed a more structured culture centered on fishing. At this time, the North and South Ryukyus still existed in isolation from each other, so certain developments progressed at different paces.

Despite this isolation, there was still contact with a select few other regions, especially Southeast Asia. The first documentation showing evidence of interaction with China and Japan dates back to the 7th century. By the 10th century, the North and South Ryukyus had come together in a cultural unification.

The Gusuku Period (1187~1314)

Katsuren-gusuku ( 勝連城), the remnants of a castle from the Gusuku period. (Picture: y.uemura / PIXTA(ピクスタ))

The name "Gusuku" comes from and refers to the distinctive type of castles and fortresses the early Ryukyuans constructed at this time. This was also a notable time period when the Ryukyu people made tremendous political, social, and economic growth, including the introduction of agriculture and the Japanese writing system. The porcelain trade also began between Ryuku and other countries.

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Because the center of power relocated from the seaside to more inland areas, the structure of buildings underwent some changes as well. These buildings, the gusuku, were fortresses with castle-like fortifications, built on higher-altitude land. The Gusuku are now World Heritage Sites, registered by UNESCO under the classification, " Gusuku Sites and Related Properties of the Kingdom of Ryukyu."

Three Kingdoms/Sanzan Period (1322~1429)

The Sanzan Period was the year when the three separate regions of the Ryukyus would become one. In 1404, Sho Hashi, member of the then-ruling Sho family, conquered Chuzan, the middle kingdom. His father, Sho Shisho, claimed the title of their new king. Under the power of this new king, he continued to conquer the other surrounding lands, Hokuzan (the northern kingdom) and Nanzan (the southern kingdom). In 1429, King Sho unified the three lands into one new kingdom, the Ryukyu Kingdom.

King Sho's accomplishments did not go unnoticed by the Emperor of China. At this time, Ryukyu was still an independent kingdom and still had a good relationship with China. After gaining recognition by the rulers of the Ming Dynasty, the Ryukyu Kingdom began its tributary relationship with China. And thus, the official reign of the Ryukyu Dynasty began.

Ryukyu Dynasty (1429~1879)

An Honest Nation

After the unification of the Ryukyu Kingdom, the Sho Kings continued to rule the land. During their reign, they gained a powerful reputation as an honest and diplomatic kingdom.

They did not take part in the battles and power struggles that plagued many other countries at the time. Instead, they survived and grew through trade and diplomacy alone. The Ryukyu Kingdom had actually developed a maritime trade route with the Chinese Ming Dynasty in 1372, before establishing a tributary relationship with them after gaining recognition.

They had good relationships with other surrounding Asian countries, as well, and even established trade routes from Siberia through Siam. In fact, the Ryukyu Kingdom didn't even have a military force. Their strong trade alone made them an important and valuable asset to many other countries. That plus their good reputation made them practically immune to the wars and invasions that were wreaking havoc on other nations.

The Ryukyu Kingdom's strongest diplomatic relationship was, naturally, with China. This close relationship is also visible through the predominantly Chinese influences in many parts of the culture, especially in terms of design. Most structures of importance, such as the castles, incorporated Chinese architecture and aesthetics.

The most famous of these buildings was Shurijo Castle, which was the capital of the Ryukyu Kingdom. Shurijo Castle served not only as the most important political and cultural building and trade hub for Ryukyu but also maintained its importance through the centuries. It even reached World Heritage status by UNESCO in 2000, and became a popular tourist attraction in modern days, all the way up until its tragic burning in an electrical fire in October of 2019.

First Conflicts

The Ryukyu kingdom continued their peaceful lives of all trade and no war until about 1590. Although their contact with Japan had been minimal for most of the time up until now, it was this moment that Japan would come to them for a favor. Toyotomi Hideyoshi approached the rulers of Ryukyu and asked for their help... to conquer Korea. Followed by China.

Because of their good relations with both countries, naturally, the Ryukyus refused. And naturally, that refusal didn't go over so well with Japan. So in 1609, as a form of payback, the feudal lord of Satsuma invaded the Ryukyu Kingdom and put a halt on life as they knew it.

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The Satsuma Invasion

King Shou En, the second king of the Ryukyu Kingdom (1469-1476). Painting produced in 1796 by royal painter Shou Genko. (Picture: WIkipedia)

Because the Ryukyu Kingdom had virtually no military forces at all, they were an easy win. The lords of Satsuma, the Shimazu Clan, were able to capture the king with little effort and force the allegiance of the Ryukyus to Japan.

The Shimazu Clan took over every aspect of the Ryukyu Kingdom's lives, including their trade. The Amami Islands suffered the most, facing direct control by the Shimazu Clan. Many were severely exploited for the sake of the Satsuma region's growth in economy and power.

One of the most infamous incidents of this period was the "Kokuto Jigoku," or "Brown Sugar Hell." This period saw the introduction of sugar cane crops, now a popular local Okinawan crop, to the Amami Islands. However, rather than provide any benefit or opportunity of growth for the indigenous Ryukyu people inhabiting these islands, the Shimazus forced them into labor for their own reward. It was then when the Amami Islands officially became a part of Japan as Kagoshima Prefecture.

Double Agent

Despite the unfortunate fate of the Amami Islands, the rest of the Kingdom was able to maintain some level of independence. However, the Sho family that still ruled the Ryukyus weren't completely off the hook.

The Shimazu Clan recognized the power they had and decided to exploit them in a different way. The Shimazus forced the Ryukyu Kingdom to keep open their trade routes with China, while still pretending to be an independent nation. However, now it was the Satsuma region that would benefit economically from this relationship.

The Shimazu Clan would keep up this cunning guise for the next 250 years or so, using the Ryukyu islands as the main port of trade with China while Japan remained in a period of isolation and China remained completely oblivious to their connection at all.

Stockholm Syndrome?

In order to keep from blowing their cover, the Shimazu Clan refrained from any immediately obvious forms of colonization of the Ryukyu Kingdom. This unique position ended up benefiting all involved. The Sho family were safe from meeting the same fate as the Amami Islands. And the Shimazu Clan and ruling Japanese shogunate benefited from Chinese trade without having to open up their doors.

In order to keep up the ruse, however, the Shimazu put strict rules in place. This was to make the Ryukyu Kingdom appear as "non-Japanese" as possible. For example, the general Japanese population was forbidden from visiting the islands. And the Ryukyuans were restricted from adopting any Japanese customs including but not limited to wearing Japanese clothes and using Japanese names.

Yet somehow despite all the strange restrictions and exploitation of their people and politics, there was a certain level of respect that developed on both ends.

The Threat of Colonialism

In 1853, Commodore Matthew Perry visited the Ryukyu Kingdom himself. He was warmly welcomed by the Ryukyu King. Because the Kingdom had managed to maintain its power for so long, with the exception of some initial confusion, they didn't see the visit as a threat. They were in for a surprise.

The arrival of Perry's "Black Fleet" in 1854 would change everything. This marked the first colonial threat to Japan after centuries of isolation, and they stopped in Okinawa first. Japan, wanting to resist colonization themselves, decided to take certain measures. Despite taking the opportunity to quickly modernize according to Western-based industrialization, they also decided to take several political actions to make themselves more powerful as an individual nation. One of these actions was defining its national borders.

The Meiji Restoration and the End of a Kingdom

The Ryukyu Kingdom went about minding their own business. Meanwhile, Japan was facing internal battles of the Meiji Restoration on its own. This was when the Tokugawa Shogunate was fighting for control over Japan. The Shimazu Clan, amongst others, also fought during the power struggle.

In an attempt to increase their power, the Shimazus realized the beneficial role the Ryukyus could play. By fully integrating the kingdom into the Satsuma domain, they would stand a better chance in domination. As an added plus, this would remove the "gray area" the Ryukyus posed in terms of Japan's national boundaries.

And so, Japan ordered the Ryukyu Kingdom to cut their tributary relationship with China in 1875. They severed all ties completely by 1879. And thus, the Ryukyu Kingdom became the prefecture of Okinawa, marking the end of their independence.

The Birth of "Okinawa"

After this integration came heavy assimilation. This included establishing new schools on the islands, if only for the sake of teaching them Japanese. At first, it was a welcome process, as education was not so easily attainable during the Ryukyu reign. However, soon enough, the native Okinawan people would recognize the truth. The sneaky attempt to completely eliminate the native Okinawan languages, and establish Japanese nationalism in the youth. Unfortunately, by that time, it was already too late.

Students were already enrolled in schools. It was essential to learn Japanese to get by under the new government. Citizens faced punishment for using their native tongue. A new printing press was established and began distributing newspapers entirely in Japanese. It was becoming painfully obvious that this was less of an attempt of educating, and more of a forced assimilation into Japanese nationalism.

As an added blow, the Ryukyu languages - including Okinawan (Uchinaaguchi) - were reduced to nothing more than "dialects." Officials even began placing Shinto shrines, dedicated to Japanese deities, over ancient ancestral shrines.

Cultural Revolution, War, and a Fight for Independence

2,000 silently protest in 2016 after the rape and murder of a woman by a US Marine. The continued American military presence in Okinawa continues to be a sore point, not just between America and Okinawans, but between Okinawa and the Japanese government. (Picture: Shutterstock)

Eventually, this forced nationalism pushed the indigenous Ryukyu people to the edge. In the 1930s, many came forward in a sort of cultural revolution, encouraging others to reclaim their dying heritage. Many came forth in protest. However, the timing couldn't have been worse.

With World War II on the horizon, they got caught between a rock and a hard place. To America, they were the enemy. To Japan, they were conveniently expendable. Many Okinawans lost their lives in war as members of the Japanese military.

With the end of the war came the American occupation. However, despite Japan gaining sovereignty in 1952, Okinawa remained under US military control. Okinawa saw this as a strategic betrayal on Japan's part, sacrificing them for freedom despite having fought for Japan. Okinawa continued to serve as an American military base through the Korean and Vietnam wars.

Present-Day Okinawa (and Ryukyu)

Drummers and dancers in Okinawa in 2018 performing in a traditional Eisa (エイサー) dance. (Picture: Shutterstock)

Despite strong Okinawan protests during the 1960s for independence from both America and Japan, efforts fell short. In 1971, both countries came to an agreement to give Okinawa back to Japan. However, the military bases still remained. And so did the growing resentment by the Okinawan people, who felt like nothing more than a hot potato passed back and forth between two more powerful nations.

Even today, there is much debate about Okinawa's role in Japan and Japanese politics. Many still face discrimination by raging nationalists. And the overall population remains concerned over possible health and environmental effects from military activity. Military bases make up about 20% of the land area, and 40% of arable land that could otherwise support agriculture.

And remember the royal Sho family mentioned earlier? Most people do not realize it, but the descendants of this family also coexist with the general population today. The Sho son (who would be "prince" today) lives and works in regular society. Rumor has it he actually runs a restaurant and bar joint in Tokyo.

As for the rest of the descendants? Many run local jobs around Okinawa and other parts of Japan, such as schools and other small businesses. Most of the important artifacts related to their heritage are now safely on display in museums and other cultural centers. And they keep traditions alive privately within their own family affairs, including holding gatherings and continuing to speak their native tongue with each other.

Other Resources

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The Indigenous Ryukyu People of Okinawa - Unseen Japan

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Before Okinawa was ever even a part of Japan, it still flourished greatly as a part of a different culture. That culture was the indigenous Ryukyu people. Nowadays, Ryukyuans mostly inhabit the prefectures of Okinawa and Kagoshima. However, they have lived on these islands for centuries.

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Be sure to read the updated assignment instructions and good luck with your final 3 posts!

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Be sure to read the updated assignment instructions and good luck with your final 3 posts!

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Be sure to read the updated assignment instructions and good luck with your final 3 posts!

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Be sure to read the updated assignment instructions and good luck with your final 3 posts!

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Be sure to read the updated assignment instructions and good luck with your final 3 posts!

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Be sure to read the updated assignment instructions and good luck with your final 3 posts!

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Be sure to read the updated assignment instructions and good luck with your final 3 posts!

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Be sure to read the updated assignment instructions and good luck with your final 3 posts!

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Be sure to read the updated assignment instructions and good luck with your final 3 posts!

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Be sure to read the updated assignment instructions and good luck with your final 3 posts!

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Be sure to read the updated assignment instructions and good luck with your final 3 posts!

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Be sure to read the updated assignment instructions and good luck with your final 3 posts!

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Be sure to read the updated assignment instructions and good luck with your final 3 posts!

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Be sure to read the updated assignment instructions and good luck with your final 3 posts!

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Be sure to read the updated assignment instructions and good luck with your final 3 posts!

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Be sure to read the updated assignment instructions and good luck with your final 3 posts!

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This article is about the forced sterilization of women in china by the Xinjiang government (among the Uyghur minority, a Muslim ethnic group) and ensured the vast number of birth rates fall. The article is about the exploitation of human rights done by the Xinjiang government to stop the rate of a growing population in Xinjiang. According to current child policy, Uyghur citizens allow having two babies in Xinjiang, but people who have more  than two babies must pay fine and suffers violence and attack by the government in the volunteer office.

To me, this is more genocide of minor community, where major communities ruled and act as reverse dominance. I learned that there should be legitimacy among the community to run a big country rather than devastation one community and stay as an egalitarian society.

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china's xinjiang government confirms huge birth rate drop but denies forced sterilization of women - cnn

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Xinjiang government confirms huge birth rate drop but denies forced sterilization of women

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Chinese officials have officially acknowledged birth rates in Xinjiang dropped by almost a third in 2018, compared to the previous year, in a letter to CNN in which they also denied reports of forced sterilization and genocide by authorities in the far western region.

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This article is about 16 thousand demolished mosques in China in last three years by government under new regulations on religious activities western region of Xinjiang, inhabited by a Uyghur Muslim minority. According to Chinese government the structure of dome is not sinicized ( make Chinese in character or form) and need to reform, but at the same time the miniature is fully damaged. From my understanding, religion is supernatural and part of every human culture and beliefs. As every religion have their own rules and regulation which shapes people life in someway. I think there should be regulation and equalities toward all religions, so one cannot harm one feeling and beliefs by destroying property related to religion and culture.

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Domes and minarets demolished in the name of "sinicization". The destruction occurred in correspondence with the launch of the New regulations on religious activities.

Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The Chinese government has reportedly destroyed or damaged about 16 thousand mosques in the western region of Xinjiang, inhabited by a Uyghur Muslim minority.

This is what emerges from a report released three days ago by an Australian research institute, supported by the US State Department.

The Australian Institute of Strategic Policy, a think-tank sponsored by the Canberra government, claims that 16,000 mosques have been destroyed or damaged; many of them have suffered the demolishing of domes and minarets to be recognized as "sinicized" constructions. In fact, most of the destruction took place in the last three years, i.e. in correspondence with the New regulations on religious activities, officially launched on 1 February 2018.

Among the various duties listed, there is the "sinicization", the submission of thoughts, texts, images and constructions to Chinese culture. Precisely for this reason, oriental-style domes and minarets are considered not "Sinicized" and thus destined to be replaced with "more Chinese" forms or to be completely destroyed. In August 2018, the Weizhou (Ningxia) mosque was in danger of destruction.

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CHINA Xinjiang: 16 thousand mosques destroyed or damaged in the last three years

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Domes and minarets demolished in the name of "sinicization". The destruction occurred in correspondence with the launch of the New regulations on religious activities. Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The Chinese government has reportedly destroyed or damaged about 16 thousand mosques in the western region of Xinjiang, inhabited by a Uyghur Muslim minority.

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This news story mainly talks about the crimes admitted by minors and the relevant policy and laws. In recent years, the figure of offenders younger than 16 has been rising. Among prosecuted juvenile crime cases, the percentage of crimes committed by minors under the age of 16 increased remarkably from 8.9% to 12.6% in 2020. Therefore, an increasing number of people advocate that we are supposed to pay more attention to this issue. In order to respond those concerns, a new draft amendment to the Criminal Law proposing the lowering of the age of criminal liability to 12 was submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress for a second review on Oct. 13. However, when it comes to juvenile cases, prosecutors said they would cling to the principle of “arresting less and prosecuting with more caution”. In my conceit, it is a good way to reduce the minimum age for legal liability. Being aware of the risks of violating the law and the legal responsibility they must hold, juveniles will be less likely to commit crimes. However, according to the policy, we are told that the government also takes some measures to protect the juveniles. Since juveniles can be regarded as the future of the nation, Chinese government pays a lot attention on them. As far as I concerned, China should attach greater importance to education, policy for the education can be perfected. In that way, China can develop and be more prosperous.
news posted on Oct 21, 2020
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By ZHANG YANGFEI | CHINA DAILY

Updated: Oct 21, 2020

The number of offenders younger than 16 has been rising in China in recent years, a Supreme People's Procuratorate official said in an interview published on its website on Monday night.

Data on the handling of juvenile crime cases showed offenders had become younger over the past two years, said Dong Guiwen, director of the top prosecuting organ's case management office, adding that the issue deserved "more attention".

The Supreme People's Procuratorate released data about major cases handled by prosecutors around China in the first three quarters of this year on Monday.

Among prosecuted juvenile crime cases, the proportion of crimes committed by minors under the age of 16 has continued to rise, from 8.9 percent in 2018 to 9.6 percent last year and 11.7 percent from January to September this year, he said, adding that it had been 11.2 percent in the first two quarters of this year and 12.6 percent in the third.

Offenders under 16 years of age but older than 14 bear criminal responsibility for the serious crimes of robbery and rape, and they accounted for more than 70 percent of crimes committed by such minors. Those under the age of 14 who commit crimes are exempted from criminal punishment under the current law.

Supreme People's Procuratorate data showed Chinese prosecutors approved 16,990 arrests of juvenile criminal suspects from January to September, a decrease of 32.4 percent year-on-year. The non-arrest rate was 36.6 percent, a year-on-year increase of 2.9 percentage points, and the non-prosecution rate was 32 percent, up 8.2 percentage points.

Dong said the top prosecuting organ has attached greater importance to juvenile delinquency in recent years. Together with the Ministry of Education, it has carried out activities on campuses across the country to educate teenagers on the rule of law and prevent minors from committing crimes.

Prosecutors have also adhered to the principle of "arresting less and prosecuting with more caution "when it comes to juvenile cases and have granted more leniency except for serious crimes or crimes committed by cruel means, he added.

China's juvenile justice system has always been a widely discussed topic, and rising juvenile violence in recent years has prompted a heated public debate on the age of criminal liability, especially after a series of serious violent offenses that shocked the country and sparked public outcry.

Examples include the killing of a 10-year-old girl in October last year by a 13-year-old boy surnamed Cai from Dalian, Liaoning province, and a 12-year-old boy from Yuanjiang, Hunan province, who stabbed his mother to death in December 2018.The two offenders were both released by the police and exempted from punishment as they had not reached the age of criminal liability.

Despite the common belief that the juvenile justice system should focus on protecting and rehabilitating underage perpetrators, many people say very young offenders should receive punishment for serious criminal offenses.

Responding to those concerns, a new draft amendment to the Criminal Law proposing the lowering of the age of criminal liability to 12 was submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for a second review on Oct 13.

The draft, which could become law after three reviews, also stipulates that minors aged 12 to 14 should be held criminally liable if charges of intentional homicide, intentional injury causing death or crimes committed by cruel means are approved by the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

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By ZHANG YANGFEI | CHINA DAILY Updated: Oct 21, 2020 The number of offenders younger than 16 has been rising in China in recent years, a Supreme People's Procuratorate official said in an interview published on its website on Monday night.

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This article speaks about women is afghanistan. This article is presented as a short video. A Female singer Aryana Sayeed  is facing criticism and discrimmination. She speaks about how women are treated in afghanistan. Women used to be free to wear what they want and do what they want, but now being under the control of the taliban women don't have the same freedom, it is looked upon for women to study, work, or even sing. Aryana speaks of facing and overcoming the discrimation. Reading this I learned how lucky we are to have a society that is open to the cultural shift when it comes to inequality between genders. I also learned how politics greatly influence the way a country or society's culture gets expressed. She stated that women used to be free, but the Taliban changed the thinking of the people thus changing their culture.

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Aryana Sayeed is Afghanistan's biggest female pop star. During Taliban rule, almost all music was banned in the country, and women still face a lot of criticism for performing.

Aryana has used her role as a judge on singing competitions there to inspire other women to follow their passion for music.
Image: Aryana Sayeed Credit: Sherzaad Entertainment Producers: Caitlin Sneddon, Jane Thurlow, Alice Gioia.

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The singer facing death threats in Afghanistan

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Aryana Sayeed is Afghanistan's biggest female pop star. During Taliban rule, almost all music was banned in the country, and women still face a lot of criticism for performing. Aryana has used her role as a judge on singing competitions there to inspire other women to follow their passion for music.

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This article discusses how Japan’s Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry have been utilizing YouTube as means to promote these industries, calling them Kasumigaseki’s first bureaucrat YouTubers. These are short videos created by their staff members covering a variety of content.
I think it is interesting how nowadays politicians and government officials can interact with the common public through social media in a casual manner. This phenomenon was hard to imagine 10 years ago. In China as well, government ministries upload contents on various social media, where people can repost and leave comments. In western countries people can tweet their presidents and prime ministers.
This rapidly emergence of technology and especially social media really changes how anthropologists can approach their studies, and may even create new sub categories in anthropology in general.

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This article is about how Jehovah's Witnesses in South Korea are not being jailed for refusing to join the army anymore. Military conscription is mandatory in South Korea, and until now, those who objected would usually be imprisoned. Instead, they are to work in prisons. Historically Jehovah's Witnesses would be given 18 months or more sentence for refusing to join the military. Almost 20 000 church members have reportedly been imprisoned since 1950. In 2018 the Supreme Court recognized the need for an alternative service that didn't involve weapons. I am glad to see that South Korea will be respecting the religious beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses, and coming up with a different way for them to serve their country. No longer will they be punished for their religion.

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Dozens of Jehovah's Witnesses in South Korea have arrived in jail as conscientious objectors - but, for the first time, they are not there as convicts.

Instead, they are now there as civilian administrators.

Military conscription is mandatory in South Korea, which remains technically at war with the North.

But a new scheme now means that those with faith-based or personal objections will not be convicted and jailed.

Jehovah's Witnesses in South Korea have historically refused military conscription on moral and religious grounds, accepting 18 months or more in jail instead. Almost 20,000 church members have reportedly been jailed since 1950.

But a Supreme Court ruling in 2018 recognised the need for an alternative service - that did not involve the use of firearms or other weapons - for those with faith-based or conscientious objections.

After the ruling, charges against hundreds of men, mostly Jehovah's Witnesses who had refused to serve, were dropped.

The government released from prison hundreds of men who were already serving jail time and had exhausted all their appeals.

Rights groups say conscientious objectors who served prison time often face social stigma, and struggle to find employment after their jail sentence.

The new scheme came into effect on Monday, when 63 conscientious objectors reported to a training centre in Daejeon to serve as prison administrators.

They will work there for three years, rather than the usual 21 months in the army, 23 months in the navy or 24 months in the air force required by military service.

"As a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses, I believe it is my duty to interpret the Bible as it is written and follow the teachings of Jesus," Jang Kyung-jin told the AFP news agency.

Mr Jang cited a passage from the Bible, where Jesus informs his disciples not to use force to defend him as "all who take the sword will perish by the sword".

The 63 will work, eat and sleep in prisons, but will be separated from other inmates and given several weeks of annual leave.

While the Supreme Court ruling has been hailed as a victory by Jehovah's Witnesses, rights groups have argued that the hefty three-year work requirement is simply an alternative punishment.

How does military conscription work in South Korea?

South Korea shares a tense relationship - and one of the world's most heavily-fortified borders - with North Korea, and conscription is seen as key to the country's defence.

Able-bodied men in South Korea are required to serve in the military for up to 24 months by the time they are 28.

In rare cases, people can be granted an exemption from military service - such as athletes who win at the Olympics or the Asian Games, who are given exemptions for raising their country's global profile.

The South Korean government has given one-off exemptions to athletes too - for example, when the country hosted the 2002 World Cup and made it all the way to the semi-finals.

There is currently also debate over whether the K-pop superstars, such as the band BTS, should be exempt, or allowed to postpone military service so they can continue to perform during their peak years.

Under current rules, all seven members of BTS, one of the country's biggest ever exports, will be required to sign up within the next few years, by the time they turn 28.

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South Korean Jehovah's Witnesses start prison work terms

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Dozens of Jehovah's Witnesses in South Korea have arrived in jail as conscientious objectors - but, for the first time, they are not there as convicts. Instead, they are now there as civilian administrators. Military conscription is mandatory in South Korea, which remains technically at war with the North.

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This is an article about the alert call regarding wildlife crime in Hong Kong. The two-year study was done by Amanda Whitfort, a professor at the law faculty, and Fiona Woodhouse, from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals highlights that wildlife smuggling is not considered a serious crime in Hong Kong. Whereas, researchers of Hong Kong university denied the offenses related to wildlife crime. “In the last decade, Hong Kong’s customs department has seized over HK$767 million ($99 million) in trafficked wildlife, including 22 tonne sof ivory, 70 tonnes of pangolin, and 66 tonnes of other endangered species, the report noted.” The reasons behind the smuggling considered less fine and sparing imprisonment. I think the concept of globalization increases the pace of work done, also affects the nations and their boundaries in some way. The idea of financescape affects economies around the world and sets challenges that might lead to crimes in poor nations to overcome the financial situation.

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Hong Kong is thriving as a transnational wildlife smuggling hub because its laws are not strong enough to tackle organized crime running the lucrative trade, researchers said Friday.

With its busy port and transport links, the semi-autonomous territory is a major transit point for illegal parts of endangered animals like elephants, rhinos and pangolins - most of it headed for consumers in mainland China.

Record seizures have been made in recent years.

But Hong Kong University researchers said the confiscations mask the lack of progress, noting: "No wildlife traffickers have ever been prosecuted for money laundering related offences and no syndicates indicted for wildlife smuggling."

The two year study, authored by Amanda Whitfort, a professor at the law faculty, and Fiona Woodhouse, from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, highlighted major deficiencies in the city's battle against the multi-million dollar trade.

The most glaring problem, they wrote, was that wildlife smuggling was not categorised as seriously as illegal drugs or human trafficking.

Hong Kong's serious crimes legislation - which has been wielded against "triad" crime gangs - contains wide investigatory powers for the police, including intelligence gathering, as well as heavier sentences for those convicted.

But wildlife smuggling is not listed as one of the areas covered by the law, and researchers believe its inclusion would allow better investigation into the trade.

In the past seven years, Hong Kong's customs department have seized over HK$767 million ($99 million) in trafficked wildlife, including 22 tonnes of ivory, 70 tonnes of pangolin and 66 tonnes of other endangered species, the report noted.

But while seizures are up, the number of prosecutions remains low.

Compared with other overseas jurisdictions, Hong Kong's sentences have been "lenient, with imprisonment rare and most offenders fined less than 10 percent of the value of the contraband they have smuggled," the review found.

In May 2018 the maximum penalty for smuggling endangered species was increased to 10 years imprisonment and a HK$10 million fine.

But reviewers said some sentencing tariffs still fall below international standards.

Wildlife crimes are taken as seriously by the UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crimes as drugs, firearms, humans and counterfeit goods trafficking.

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Call for tougher wildlife crime laws in Hong Kong

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Hong Kong is thriving as a transnational wildlife smuggling hub because its laws are not strong enough to tackle organized crime running the lucrative trade, researchers said Friday. With its busy port and transport links, the semi-autonomous territory is a major transit point for illegal parts of endangered animals like elephants, rhinos and pangolins - most of it headed for consumers in mainland China.

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In this article it is said that though it is not published anywhere that the women are not allowed to drive but the Turkmenistan police is stopping the women drivers and towing away their vehicles. Not only are the common women but also the women working in police have to face this as they to leave their vehicles and go on without them. It is even said that the interior minister said that women drivers are the reason that so many traffic accidents occur due to which it should be fixed. So, this article shows that women are not treated equally in Turkmenistan and they can find any reason to ban women drivers from driving their vehicle.

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In this article it is said that though it is not published anywhere that the women are not allowed to drive but the Turkmenistan police is stopping the women drivers and towing away their vehicles. Not only are the common women but also the women working in police have to face this as they to leave their vehicles and go on without them. It is even said that the interior minister said that women drivers are the reason that so many traffic accidents occur due to which it should be fixed. So, this article shows that women are not treated equally in Turkmenistan and they can find any reason to ban women drivers from driving their vehicle.

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"A missing first-aid kit, fire extinguisher, spare wheel, tyre jack or warning triangle is enough to have the car impounded. If the woman owner refuses to have the car towed away herself, the police call a breakdown lorry to do the job," Chronicles says.

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"A missing first-aid kit, fire extinguisher, spare wheel, tyre jack or warning triangle is enough to have the car impounded. If the woman owner refuses to have the car towed away herself, the police call a breakdown lorry to do the job," Chronicles says.

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This article is mainly about the new rice varieties which are promoted by a province in China. A new rice strain “Jiyuanxiang No.1” which was planted by the Sun hit the market last year. At the 3rd Heilongjiang International Rice Festival which was held earlier last month, two corporate rice growers won silver and bronze award for growing this new strain. “Jiyuanxiang No.1” won the price as it has the high quality and high yield with a low level of nitrogen fertilizer used for planting. What’s more, Su Cai, general manager of Heilongjiang Zhuangjiaren Seed Industry, said one variety can deteriorate since rice is an inbred crop. Developing new rice strains allow people to ensure rice quality and yield. It means this new rice strain should be advocated and promoted. As for me, this news remind me of the content we learned in the textbook, that is subsistence. As we all know, China is a large agricultural country. And rice strain is a one of the staple crops for Chinese, most of them rely on it. That can explain why China attach great importance to rice strain. At the same time, because of the huge population in China, the rice strain which has high yield is also preferred. There is also one thing deserves noticing, because rice is an inbred crop, one variety will deteriorate, people just try to develop new varieties to help ensure rice quality and yield. From my perspective, it can be regarded as domesticating the planet, and it is obviously effective. To sum up, this new rice strain do bring advantages for Chinese.
news posted on Oct 30, 2020
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HARBIN－While rice grower Sun Zhengling is busy harvesting the crop in Heilongjiang province, her 25-year-old son sells it online, cashing in on the new rice brand's exposure at a recent rice strain contest.

Sun planted the new rice strain "Jiyuanxiang No 1," which hit the market last year.

Two corporate rice growers won silver and bronze awards for growing the new strain at the 3rd Heilongjiang International Rice Festival held earlier this month.

The contest held in Harbin, the provincial capital, involved 726 rice samples sent by growers from 22 Chinese provinces, regions and municipalities, as well as seven countries including Thailand, Japan, Cambodia and Myanmar.

"Jiyuanxiang No 1" growers earned the two awards, because the rice is of high quality and is able to have high yield with a low level of nitrogen fertilizer used for planting.

Known as China's "grain barn", Heilongjiang boasts the country's largest plantations of rice, corn and beans. Rice harvest season is currently underway in Heilongjiang. Data from the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs shows that its grain plantation area reached 14.3 million hectares this year, increasing by over 33,000 hectares from last year.

Sun said even though half her family's 17.3 hectares of rice fields are saline-alkali low-lying plots, the "Jiyuanxiang No 1" has proved to have a yield of about 9,000 kilograms per hectare.

"My son sold 1,000 kg of rice on the social media platform WeChat, earning more than 10,000 yuan ($1,500) over a week," Sun said.

She said she used to rely on grain corporations to purchase the harvest. As the demand for the new rice brand is high, the online retail price has exceeded 10 yuan per kg, which is far higher than the price of 3.2 yuan per kg offered by corporations.

Su Cai, general manager of Heilongjiang Zhuangjiaren Seed Industry, said that "Jiyuanxiang No 1" went on the market in 2019 after the company spent four years developing the new breed and another four years to pass official appraisals for market approval.

Su said as rice is an inbred crop, one variety can deteriorate. Developing new rice strains can help ensure rice quality and yield.

"Winning the awards helps promote the popularity of new rice varieties, so as to boost the seed production in different places," he said.

Nianyugou Valley Wanji Grain Processing in Zhaoyuan county won the silver award for growing "Jiyuanxiang No 1" rice at the contest.

Liu Yunlong, general manager of the company, said the firm helped the seed company to promote the new rice strain as it allows growers to use less fertilizer while ensuring rice output.

"We provided hand-to-hand technical guidance to growers to encourage them to try the new rice variety," he said.

"At the first rice festival held three years ago, the average protein content of 178 rice samples was about 7.5 percent, while at the session this year, the average content dropped to about 6 percent. The decrease suggests that there is less nitrogen fertilizer applied during planting than before," said Zhang Ruiying, deputy director of the grain and products quality supervision and testing center in Harbin under the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

Zhang said adding nitrogen fertilizer at the later stage of rice growth can help increase rice yield but gives it a bad taste. In the evaluation of the quality of new rice strains, experts have included the test of protein content to check the application of nitrogen fertilizer, which has made more and more growers and grain companies reduce the level of fertilizers when planting rice.

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HARBIN－While rice grower Sun Zhengling is busy harvesting the crop in Heilongjiang province, her 25-year-old son sells it online, cashing in on the new rice brand's exposure at a recent rice strain contest. Sun planted the new rice strain "Jiyuanxiang No 1," which hit the market last year.

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This article talks about Mongolia feeling they are losing their culture to china. Fairly similar to what Hong Kong was feeling, A man states what China is Doing is a cultural genocides. In a region that used to be filled with ethical Mongoians now only about 5% of them speak their native language according to the article. I think it is extraordinary to see how much politics can influence a culture. It is also beautiful to see how people come together to protect their culture. Reading these articles and what we learn in class I am really beginning to understand what they mean but culture is ever changing. As wells as how easy it is to lose a culture

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Claims York is seen as "something of an outer Mongolia by the general public" are "preposterous," according to the boss of Yorkshire's tourism organisation.

Lord Singh of Wimbledon made the comments yesterday after Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove refused at the weekend to rule out new speculation the House of Lords could relocate to the city.

Responding to Lord Singh's comments, James Mason from Welcome to Yorkshire, said: "That's just preposterous, it's wrong, it's incorrect and I don't think that's the general feeling of people in the country or across the world.

"That's why we get so many visitors every year and we'll keep flying that flag."

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Claims York is seen as "something of an outer Mongolia by the general public" are "preposterous," according to the boss of Yorkshire's tourism organisation. Lord Singh of Wimbledon made the comments yesterday after Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove refused at the weekend to rule out new speculation the House of Lords could relocate to the city.

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This article is reporting that the remaining 20 thousands poverty population in ShanXi, China has all reached poverty alleviation standard. The program of helping poverty in ShanXi has started since 2014. At 2014, there are 3.29 million of poverty population in ShanXi, however, recently the number has been decreased to 20 thousands. The goal of this program is to let the government give jobs to poverty population to help them earn money and live their lives. The government has come up with different strategies for different groups of people, for example, elders and disabilities. Nowadays, the remaining 20 thousand people has a way to live their lives, which means there is no poverties in ShanXi anymore. I learned that the government should always provide assistance to citizens because these assistance can bring growth in economics.

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新华社太原10月13日电(记者王飞航)记者从山西省扶贫办日前召开的全国扶贫日媒体通气会上获悉，这个省剩余2.16万贫困人口已全部达到脱贫标准，贫困群众"两不愁"质量水平明显提升，"三保障"突出问题基本得到解决。

山西是全国扶贫开发重点省份，2014年建档立卡，全省共识别农村贫困人口329万，贫困发生率13.6%。到2019年底，58个贫困县全部摘帽，7993个贫困村全部退出，区域性整体贫困基本解决，贫困人口由329万减少到2.16万，贫困发生率由13.6%降到0.1%以下。

山西省扶贫办副主任张建成表示，今年以来，山西省紧盯剩余2.16万贫困人口，"一户一案""一户一策"落实开发式扶贫和保障性兜底政策，突出精准施策，减贫防贫两手抓，目前剩余贫困人口全部达到脱贫标准，脱贫不稳户和边缘易致贫户全部落实针对性帮扶措施，各类问题整改基本到位。

其中，对无业可扶、无力脱贫的贫困群众，"一户一公益岗"进行托底安置，今年需要托底安置的6227人全部落实了岗位；对家庭没有劳动力的贫困群众，统筹落实农村低保、养老保险、特困供养、临时救助、残疾人帮扶等政策，逐村逐户逐人查缺补漏解决"三保障"问题。

"下一步要严格落实'四个不摘'要求，落实好防止返贫监测和帮扶，健全完善产业带贫益贫机制，把巩固脱贫成果提升脱贫质量作为稳定脱贫的新起点、全面小康的新亮点、乡村振兴的新支点。"张建成说。

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三保障 扶贫办 发生率 农村低保

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山西剩余2万多名贫困人口全部达到脱贫标准

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新华社太原10月13日电(记者王飞航)记者从山西省扶贫办日前召开的全国扶贫日媒体通气会上获悉，这个省剩余2.16万贫困人口已全部达到脱贫标准，贫困群众"两不愁"质量水平明显提升，"三保障"突出问题基本得到解决。 ...

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In this BBC article, the author explores the social causes and possible solutions behind Japan’s on going social problem, Karoshi, which means death by overworking.

In Japan, it is a norm for office workers to work overtime. They see this as an evidence of their importance and value to the company, and think people who leave as soon as their shift time is over is not loyal nor hardworking, thus is does not contribute to the company. Another factor is that Japan is a highly interdependent society, which means they put the team before themselves, and work for the greater good. These cultural mentality resulted in a negative cycle of overworking individuals. The government have been putting efforts into having workers take more leaves and vacations yet has not been successful.

Japan has a deep rooted culture of handwork and team benefit, whether it is voluntary or not. It is sad how positive values can result in such horrible consequences. This article was written in 2016, with the introduction of premium Friday and hopes for fixing the overworking culture. Sadly, the issue still remains in Japan today and number of overwork related deaths did not decrease by much.

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Death from overwork in Japan is such a longstanding problem it even has its own word, "karoshi".

Now the government and business groups are trying to get workers to take a small step to reclaim their lives by leaving work early one day a month.

The scheme, dubbed "Premium Friday", suggests companies make staff go home at 15:00 on the last Friday of the month, starting in February.

It has been given renewed impetus by the suicide of a woman who was working more than 100 hours overtime a month at Japan's biggest ad agency, Dentsu.

Her death was ruled to be a case of "karoshi" and has led to an investigation, an announcement the firm's chief executive will resign and deep concern in Japan at the country's work culture.

But with around 2,000 deaths a year linked to overwork, few believe the voluntary scheme represents anything more than a small step towards changing attitudes and it is unclear how many companies will take it up.

It is not the first time overwork has been seen as a problem nor the first time anyone has tried to do something about it.

Among other initiatives, the government has in the past tried to make employees take more of the leave they are entitled to - Japan's labour ministry says they only take about half - without much success.

The number of public holidays in Japan this year increased to 16 in part aimed at forcing people to take breaks.

The government has also tried to encourage more flexible hours, allowing government workers to start and leave work early in the summer and even switching off the lights in some offices late in the evening, something Dentsu is also now trying.

Workers are increasingly taking the initiative to go home on time some days too, even announcing it on social media to encourage others to do the same.

But while this has helped change the idea that working excessive overtime is necessarily a good thing, none has had a made much of a dent in the hours themselves.

Around 22% of the population work more than 49 hours a week according to 2014 figures from the Japan Institute for Labour Policy and Training, behind South Korea at 35% but ahead of the US, where 16% of workers put in those kind of hours.

For the government and business groups, there is an element of self-interest too.

Japan's economy has stagnated for more than two decades. The situation has been made worse by low consumption spending and a very low birth rate, both of which are aggravated by workers spending most of their waking hours at a desk.

Productivity and efficiency also suffer from firms having staff perpetually on hand, as companies don't invest in labour-saving technologies.

Toshihiro Nagahama, chief economist at the Dai-ichi Life Research Institute, told the BBC that private consumption could rise by as much as 124 billion yen ($1bn; £860m) every Premium Friday if "100%" of those eligible headed home at 3pm on those days.

But he stresses no one knows how many people will take up the idea and that total participation is unlikely, which could mean a much smaller boost to the economy.

Why would companies and workers not take part? Well, being first to make such a change could be painful.

Companies face higher costs and Japanese workers often feel guilty at leaving their colleagues behind.

"Japanese workers worry about letting down their colleagues" says Mr Nagahama. "They have a strong sense of working as a team."

Having employees work less is especially difficult for Japan's many small businesses, which are battling to keep costs down. The fact that many of them are family-run makes an early walk-out even trickier.

Even with Premium Friday, Mr Nagahama points out some employees may make up the time on other days or even do other jobs in their newly-gained leisure time, which would nullify the point of the scheme.

It is not even clear if the government ministry behind the idea will be participating, though Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshige Seko has reportedly promised that he will not have appointments after 15:00 on those Fridays.

Despite doubts about the scheme, supporters hope the modest goal of an early finish once a month combined with the backing of government and industry will encourage uptake, and eventually more fundamental change in workplace culture.

The campaign is also promoting commercial opportunities for restaurants, shops, travel companies and other businesses who could benefit, in the hope that firms will see the benefit of increased leisure time for employees.

Of course, changing deeply-rooted attitudes to work will be difficult. Many previous attempts have failed. But ironically the effort might be helped by Japanese workers' declining corporate loyalty.

Cut adrift by years of restructuring from the lifetime employment bargain that bound their fathers to a single firm, younger Japanese people may find that the chance to head to the izakaya (pub) a bit earlier some Fridays is just the nudge they need to adopt a better work-life balance.

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Is Japan's culture of overwork finally changing?

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Death from overwork in Japan is such a longstanding problem it even has its own word, "karoshi". Now the government and business groups are trying to get workers to take a small step to reclaim their lives by leaving work early one day a month.

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This article is about Japan's first emperor descends from a powerful goddess. It talks about how ordinary things change one's life and become extraordinary. According to mythologists, japans the first emperor directly connected to the deity Amaterasu who was to believe like sunshine. The flag of japans also represents the sun goddess and according to legend, the sun goddess gave three gifts to jimmu (Japan's first emperor) and which help him to control his empire, as three divine gifts ( a mirror, a jewel, and s sword) by deity represent different symbols and power, which were extraterrestrial technology. I think it is interesting how common things become powerful to influence others. As things around us shape our life as the nature of the universe. For example, it reminds about how technology changes our life and become an essential thing to performs work as a power.

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Ancient Aliens: Japan's First Emperor Descends from Powerful Goddess (Season 6) | History

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This article is about the fact that how the Russian government detained the members of the religious Jehovah group for criminalizing their religious activity and added them to the list of extremists. They have been accused for collecting the money and using that money for religious events. This article depicts that how the people of Russia are not able to exercise their freedom to follow any religion they want as they are stopped by government from doing so due to which many people moved to Finland by applying for the asylum case when the crackdown got intensified. It is the evidence that people do not have freedom to live the way they want to live.

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Jehovah's Witnesses detained 'for extremism' in Russia

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Five members of the banned religious domination are being held on on weapons and extremism charges.

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This article is about how Uzbekistan is going to do the last revision of there alphabet to the Latin alphabet. Throughout the years, the Uzbekistan alphabet has undergone multiple changes to reform the Uzbek language and widen the use. President Shavkat Mirziyoev has decided to hasten the transition, the decree issued on October 21 outlines language policy for the 2020-30 period. By 2030 80 percent of kindergartners should be Uzbek-speaking, also increasing the hours of Uzbek language teaching. Part of the reasoning behind switching to a Latin script is to distance Central Asian states from Russian influence, they want a stronger national identity. Language is an important part of one's culture. I hope Uzbekistan does succeed in distancing themselves and creating a stronger national identity.

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Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoev has issued a decree to hasten the full transition of the Uzbek language from the Cyrillic to Latin alphabet.

The decree issued on October 21 outlines language policy for the 2020-30 period as the Central Asian country continues an on-again, off-again attempt to reform the Uzbek language and widen its use.

One pillar of the decree calls on the government to create a working group within three months to develop and submit to the presidential administration a road map for a full transition to the Uzbek alphabet based on the Latin alphabet.

Another part calls on government officials by April 2021 to be certified in their knowledge of Uzbek.

The document also states that by 2030, 80 percent of kindergartners should be Uzbek-speaking. It also aims to increase the hours of Uzbek language teaching.

Uzbek was written in an Arabic script until the late 1920s, then switched to Latin script as part of a larger Latinization of Turkic languages, before the Soviets introduced Cyrillic in 1940.

In the early 1990s, the newly independent state of Uzbekistan began to transition back to Latin script but Cyrillic is still widely used.

After going through various iterations, a working group at Tashkent State University presented a final draft of the updated Uzbek alphabet based on the Latin alphabet in 2019.

The linguists' updated alphabet consists of 30 characters: 29 letters and an apostrophe to denote a hard sign.

In neighboring Kazakhstan, the process of switching to the Latin alphabet has been going on since 2017, when former President Nursultan Nazarbaev first instructed the government to draw up a timetable for the transition of the Kazakh alphabet to the Latin alphabet.

In both Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, the move to shift to Latin script is in part driven by political considerations in order to distance the Central Asian states from years of Russian influence and develop a stronger national identity in the young states. The Latin script is also considered better suited to Turkic languages.

The Soviet-era transition of Turkic languages to Cyrillic was in part implemented to distance Central Asian states and Azerbaijan from Turkey, which as part of a Westernization drive changed its Persian-Arabic script to a Latin one in the 1920s.

The switch away from Arabic script among Turkic languages was designed to distance Turkey and Muslim Central Asian nations from the Islamic world.

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Uzbekistan Moves To Quicken Transition To Latin Alphabet

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Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoev has issued a decree to hasten the full transition of the Uzbek language from the Cyrillic to Latin alphabet. The decree issued on October 21 outlines language policy for the 2020-30 period as the Central Asian country continues an on-again, off-again attempt to reform the Uzbek language and widen its use.

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As for me, I extremely enjoy news and media curation post. Every week, I would go to browse a lot of news which I would not do in the past. At the same time, I found that reading news is not as boring as I expected. It allowed me to know what happened in the world, and what’s more, through doing this assignment, I began to connected the news with anthropology, for example, religions, laws, traditions and so on. I would go to ask myself why this event happened and why it aroused public attention. In my conceit, this is the most important thing I learned in this class. For the report I enjoyed most, it must be the post of week 4. Because it mentioned the domestic violence in the marriage, it is tough to settle this complicated issue, and it made me think about the women’s status. It impressed me deeply. In the future, I hope I can keep reading news and think about it from anthropological prospective.
(174 words)

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I learned a lot from the news reports we have done over the past two months. It’s been interesting to read what's been going on in other countries around the world but also to see how a lot of the countries that we like to think are different from us have a lot of similarities. Out of all my posts that I made and the articles I read, I would have to say that week 1, 4,  5, and 8 showed me that a lot countries have and in some cases still are participating in the destruction of their peoples (whether their indigenous or not) cultures and how disheartening it is too read about it. I just hope that moving forward in the future there can be more understanding and respect for other people's livelihood and culture and that everyone can coexist but I also understand that it can be a massive undertaking and I believe that slowly we can push the world in that direction.

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Through the past 7 reports posted, I have gained much more knowledge and understanding about the issues which are happening around the world. I have always wanted to get into the habit of reading news on a daily basis yet haven’t been putting efforts into doing so. The news and media curation assignment initiated this routine and allowed me to immerse myself into discovering the world around me.
For instance, my week 3 post regarding the on-going tension between Mainland China and Taiwan gave me the opportunity to dig further into the issue and read about it from a non-Chinese perspective. Despite the mistake in geographical region, week 4 news article was the most eyeopening and interesting report for me to read. Due to my previous lack of knowledge about India, I decided to conduct further research in order to fully understand the situation there. The caste system and absence of equality was quite shocking and sparked my interest in Indian culture in order to understand the reasons behind it.
This assignment not only gave me the opportunity to read and discover a variety of news article, but also made me critically think beyond the surface, what the causes may be and the cultural influence behind it.

Word Count: 209

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This article is about a protest by international students in  Britain against the security laws by the government in China. According to the new law, people how to denounce China and travel to Hong Kong can put under arrest by authorities. There were fights the law in July, on the commemoration of Hong Kong's handover from Britain. The students are more persistent about how to act aboard as they might be monitor due to new regulations. Students who study abroad submitting their work as anonymous with help of professors. Students will be worried about their study abroad due to national security law. The laws are itself a very broad area to cover while doing a study abroad and acting as it includes provoke activities.

I think there is a two-way threat to students from their own country which includes studying abroad itself a threat and can be denied by their own country to entry in. I think the application of the two forces in politics can be applied here. Power is the ability to induce the behavior of others in a way utilizing coercion or threat of physical force and authorities is the ability to induce the behavior of others by persuasion( according to textbook definitions).

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The national security law that China has imposed on Hong Kong is already curtailing speech in the territory - but it is having a far wider impact.

It applies to everyone in the world, everywhere in the world. People who break the law can be prosecuted if they go to Hong Kong.

That has brought an unexpected headache for foreign universities, which are scrambling to work out how to protect their students from saying and writing things that might later be used against them.

Foreign institutions renowned as bastions of free speech are having to deal with Chinese censorship.

Anyone who criticises China and travels to Hong Kong is potentially at risk of arrest under the new law.

But Hong Kong students studying abroad face a particular threat because they will at some point return to the former British territory. They cannot avoid going to Hong Kong in the same way foreigners can.

The law has made them worried about how to act while abroad.

"We are used to the Hong Kong government damaging our speech in Hong Kong, but we expected more freedom to speak in the UK," said one Hong Kong student at Leeds University. "It feels like we are still being monitored."

The fact that she did not want to give her name is an indication of how wary she feels.

Another Hong Kong student at Leeds, who again wished to remain anonymous, said he would now say less in class to try to avoid getting into trouble.

Shaun Breslin, a professor of politics and international studies at Warwick University, said one of his first instincts at the start of this academic year was to dissuade Hong Kong students from taking certain politically sensitive courses.

"But you can't do that because that's denying them an opportunity that every other student from every other part of the world is allowed to do," he said.

"It would be falling into the trap of not self-censorship, but of censoring other people."

So, his university, like others in the UK and the United States, is quickly working out codes of conduct to protect students as much as possible.

"We don't record seminars, you can't associate a specific set of words or opinions with individuals, and we've sent out lots of reminders about etiquette," said Prof Breslin.

At Oxford University, an associate professor involved in Chinese studies is allowing her students to submit their work anonymously to protect them, a position supported by her superiors.

"The university remains committed to academic freedom of speech and thought, and to fully supporting its academics in how they choose to teach," the university said in a statement.

The issue is being debated in many universities.

Sophia Tang, a law professor at Newcastle University, recently held an online seminar about the extraterritoriality of Hong Kong's national security law.

She said Hong Kong students were keen to know how it would affect them while studying abroad.

But that is not easy to assess. One big problem for students is that it is difficult to know what is allowed and what is illegal, because the law was drafted so broadly.

The legislation outlaws behaviour that undermines China's national security, but that even includes acts that provoke "hatred" of the Chinese government.

Does that include criticism of the government?

"A lot of key concepts are very ambiguous, so we don't know what speech has the potential to provoke," said Prof Tang.

Many think the ambiguity is deliberate, to spread fear and uncertainty.

The Chinese government's desire to limit what people say about China from overseas is not new. Mainland Chinese students studying abroad already face the possibility of arrest when they return home for the things they have said overseas.

And China routinely attacks foreign governments, companies, think-tanks, sports personalities - even boy bands.

It recently criticised the South Korean pop group, BTS, when one of its members failed to mention Chinese soldiers while honouring those who died during the Korean War.

Find out more about China-Hong Kong tensions here:

China usually tries to pressure outsiders by using its economic power to sanction those who say things it does not like. That means foreign universities with a financial stake in China are in a vulnerable position.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, there were about 120,000 Chinese students studying in the UK, with many British universities dependent on the income they brought in.

What if the Chinese government stopped them coming in the future? Earlier this year, that is exactly what it advised Chinese students wanting to go to Australia.

Some universities have even closer ties, and so are potentially more exposed. Liverpool University has opened a campus in China with Xi'an Jiaotong University.

It might not affect their work, but even foreign academics specialising in China know there could be repercussions if the Chinese government does not like what they say. Beijing refuses to give some of them visas to enter the country.

"I am generally very careful. I know there is a line you cannot cross," said Newcastle's Prof Tang, explaining the difficulties inherent in dealing with Chinese officialdom.

Prof Tang has close ties with Wuhan University in China.

"I do not want to talk too much about politics," she admitted. "If people ask me whether China has breached international law, I will tell them that I am not an expert in the field."

So, foreign universities have for some years been susceptible to pressure from China. But, as Prof Breslin put it, never before like this.

Beijing's national security law means people across the world could potentially end up being charged in Hong Kong.

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Hong Kong security law: Why students abroad fear it

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The national security law that China has imposed on Hong Kong is already curtailing speech in the territory - but it is having a far wider impact. It applies to everyone in the world, everywhere in the world. People who break the law can be prosecuted if they go to Hong Kong.

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It has been two month doing news and media curation. To be honest, I enjoyed doing this assignment because while I was looking for the news I want, I also read other news at the same time. I learned a lot from the news report I posted. The best example would be people from different cultures can have very different attitudes on one thing. For me, I enjoyed the news report I posted on week 2 because I knew that western people and eastern people have huge difference on their attitudes when they are talking about tattoo. And the news tells that the cultural differences can cause problems in society.

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I did enjoy doing the News and Media curation posts, though I did find it to be a bit of a struggle as time went on. I started to have a hard time linking news articles to anthropology, and I had a struggle with getting through the sea of coronavirus articles. I did like finding out what was going on in the world, I never use to focus too much on the news. Week 2 had to be one of my favourite posts, I found it to be one of the most interesting news articles I have found. This assignment really has taught me to focus on what is happening in the world and I will continue reading more news articles.

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This article is about Hong Kong creating a law that essentially gives the government power to punish or arrest anyone who speaks poorly about China then returns to Hong Kong. This law has students who are studying as international students extremely fearful. This is another example of China’s Government changing the peoples culture, by using free. Freedom of speech is no longer an option for the people of hong kong.I think this is a horrible way to influence a culture. I am slowly learning  one of the reasons cultures change all the types is because of the people in control. If there is always a higher power above us  there will always be change. Out of all the new media I think week 8 is my favourite. Week 8 I can clearly see the relationship to politics in culture, how different it is from Canadian culture. As well as the meaning culture is always changing

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The national security law that China has imposed on Hong Kong is already curtailing speech in the territory - but it is having a far wider impact.

It applies to everyone in the world, everywhere in the world. People who break the law can be prosecuted if they go to Hong Kong.

That has brought an unexpected headache for foreign universities, which are scrambling to work out how to protect their students from saying and writing things that might later be used against them.

Foreign institutions renowned as bastions of free speech are having to deal with Chinese censorship.

Anyone who criticises China and travels to Hong Kong is potentially at risk of arrest under the new law.

But Hong Kong students studying abroad face a particular threat because they will at some point return to the former British territory. They cannot avoid going to Hong Kong in the same way foreigners can.

The law has made them worried about how to act while abroad.

"We are used to the Hong Kong government damaging our speech in Hong Kong, but we expected more freedom to speak in the UK," said one Hong Kong student at Leeds University. "It feels like we are still being monitored."

The fact that she did not want to give her name is an indication of how wary she feels.

Another Hong Kong student at Leeds, who again wished to remain anonymous, said he would now say less in class to try to avoid getting into trouble.

Shaun Breslin, a professor of politics and international studies at Warwick University, said one of his first instincts at the start of this academic year was to dissuade Hong Kong students from taking certain politically sensitive courses.

"But you can't do that because that's denying them an opportunity that every other student from every other part of the world is allowed to do," he said.

"It would be falling into the trap of not self-censorship, but of censoring other people."

So, his university, like others in the UK and the United States, is quickly working out codes of conduct to protect students as much as possible.

"We don't record seminars, you can't associate a specific set of words or opinions with individuals, and we've sent out lots of reminders about etiquette," said Prof Breslin.

At Oxford University, an associate professor involved in Chinese studies is allowing her students to submit their work anonymously to protect them, a position supported by her superiors.

"The university remains committed to academic freedom of speech and thought, and to fully supporting its academics in how they choose to teach," the university said in a statement.

The issue is being debated in many universities.

Sophia Tang, a law professor at Newcastle University, recently held an online seminar about the extraterritoriality of Hong Kong's national security law.

She said Hong Kong students were keen to know how it would affect them while studying abroad.

But that is not easy to assess. One big problem for students is that it is difficult to know what is allowed and what is illegal, because the law was drafted so broadly.

The legislation outlaws behaviour that undermines China's national security, but that even includes acts that provoke "hatred" of the Chinese government.

Does that include criticism of the government?

"A lot of key concepts are very ambiguous, so we don't know what speech has the potential to provoke," said Prof Tang.

Many think the ambiguity is deliberate, to spread fear and uncertainty.

The Chinese government's desire to limit what people say about China from overseas is not new. Mainland Chinese students studying abroad already face the possibility of arrest when they return home for the things they have said overseas.

And China routinely attacks foreign governments, companies, think-tanks, sports personalities - even boy bands.

It recently criticised the South Korean pop group, BTS, when one of its members failed to mention Chinese soldiers while honouring those who died during the Korean War.

Find out more about China-Hong Kong tensions here:

China usually tries to pressure outsiders by using its economic power to sanction those who say things it does not like. That means foreign universities with a financial stake in China are in a vulnerable position.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, there were about 120,000 Chinese students studying in the UK, with many British universities dependent on the income they brought in.

What if the Chinese government stopped them coming in the future? Earlier this year, that is exactly what it advised Chinese students wanting to go to Australia.

Some universities have even closer ties, and so are potentially more exposed. Liverpool University has opened a campus in China with Xi'an Jiaotong University.

It might not affect their work, but even foreign academics specialising in China know there could be repercussions if the Chinese government does not like what they say. Beijing refuses to give some of them visas to enter the country.

"I am generally very careful. I know there is a line you cannot cross," said Newcastle's Prof Tang, explaining the difficulties inherent in dealing with Chinese officialdom.

Prof Tang has close ties with Wuhan University in China.

"I do not want to talk too much about politics," she admitted. "If people ask me whether China has breached international law, I will tell them that I am not an expert in the field."

So, foreign universities have for some years been susceptible to pressure from China. But, as Prof Breslin put it, never before like this.

Beijing's national security law means people across the world could potentially end up being charged in Hong Kong.

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Hong Kong security law: Why students abroad fear it

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The national security law that China has imposed on Hong Kong is already curtailing speech in the territory - but it is having a far wider impact. It applies to everyone in the world, everywhere in the world. People who break the law can be prosecuted if they go to Hong Kong.

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Article deals with how the Soldier killed some of the companion soldiers and had been detained for his this act. It is in the news that it would be due to the hazing and bullying that he had faced from his seniors in the form beating. This kind of pressure had lead him to take this step. This article deals with cultural anthropology that how the culture of Russia is where the soldiers undergo deep pressure and dangerous pranks that seniors put the juniors through during their time in military which leads to mental breakdowns that the soldier id ready to shoot his own fellow soldiers.

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Three Russian soldiers killed in shooting on base near Voronezh

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Security forces hunt a soldier who they say killed three others with an axe and a pistol.