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Philippines’ ‘Paradis Island’ has a message for ‘Attack on Titan’ fans
Nendoroid Colossal Titan & Attack on Titan Playset. Photo by Charlie, Flickr (CC BY 2.0) Paradis Island PH is a vacation resort in the Philippines and it has no connection with the Paradis Island in the popular manga and anime series “Attack on Titan” (進撃の巨人). To make that clear, Paradis Island PH created a Facebook post assuring readers and potential visitors that there were no “titans” at the resort—and the tongue-in-cheek post quickly went viral. The island resort is in Lake Lumot, Cavinti, located in Laguna province, south of the capital region of Metro Manila. It offers recreational activ...
Global Voices
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Myanmar’s ‘civil disobedience movement’ has produced many inventive ways of protesting
Protesters in Myanmar display huge banners with messages rejecting the military government. Photo supplied to Global Voices by a citizen journalist, used with permission Myanmar’s military authorities have banned public assemblies but this has only encouraged protesters to devise new ways of expressing opposition to the coup. After the military grabbed power on February 1, a civil disobedience movement was launched which encouraged the public to stop going to work, boycott businesses owned by generals, and join anti-coup protests. Medical health workers were among the first to support the civi...
Global Voices
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Beijing official signals changes to Hong Kong's electoral system
Xia Baolong. Image from Chinese government's official site. This story was written by Kelly Ho and was originally published by Hong Kong Free Press. An edited version is republished here under a content partnership agreement. A Beijing official in charge of Hong Kong affairs has signaled that Hong Kong will undergo a set of electoral reforms under the leadership of the Chinese authorities, with an aim to block “anti-China” opposition forces from the city’s governing bodies. The Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office (HKMAO) Xia Baolong outlined a sort of code of conduct for Hong Ko...
Global Voices
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Myanmar citizens continue strong opposition to military junta with ‘22222’ general strike
A community protest during the “22222” general strike in Myanmar. Photo by a citizen journalist shared with Global Voices, used with permission On Monday February 22, thousands joined a general strike across Myanmar organized to express opposition to the military government. Dubbed “22222” or “Five Twos” in reference to the date (22/2/21), the strike mobilized the biggest protests since the military grabbed power on February 1. Reports compared the strike action to the nationwide uprising held in defiance of the junta on August 8, 1988 (Four Eights) . The military staged the coup on February 1...
Global Voices
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Updating Uyghur: The power of online discussions for language preservation
Screenshot from YouTube video of Eliyar Tursun channel explaining how Uyghur is written when using the the Arabic script Languages need to adapt to the modern world to catch-up with new technology and concepts if they want to remain competitive, particularly among younger speakers. This is particularly true for Uyghur, a Turkic language spoken in Western China that is under threat due to targeted discrimination conducted by Chinese authorities in the hope that Chinese may appear more attractive and technology-friendly among Uyghur youth. Uyghur linguists have long been aware of the fact that U...
Global Voices
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Prominent Harvard professor pilloried for peddling revisionist history about wartime ‘comfort women’
Image caption: “Comfort women (comfort girls) captured by U.S. Army, August 14 1944, Myitkyina.” Image source: Wikimedia Commons, public domain. A noted American professor at Harvard Law School has been denounced both at home and internationally after publishing an academic paper arguing that claims about Korean women enslaved by Japanese military forces as “comfort women” during the second world war are historically untrue. Critics of the professor, J. Mark Ramseyer, who is the Mitsubishi Professor of Japanese Legal Studies at Harvard Law School, argue the paper ignores standard research meth...
Global Voices
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Kobayashi Settles Dramatic Super Cup Tie with Late Winner
Kawasaki Frontale have proven themselves to be the team to beat for the upcoming 2021 J.League 1 season after they claimed the 2021 Japanese Super Cup title on Saturday, edging out Gamba Osaka 3-2 at the Saitama Stadium 2002 in an exciting and dramatic encounter. Kaoru Mitoma picked off from where he had left off in 2020 and started his 2021 season with a bang, scoring a brace to ensure Kawasaki would have a a healthy lead coming into half-time. Gamba did not go down without a fight though and they soon came back from two goals down to draw the tie 2-2. With extra time looming, Kansai hearts w...
Football Tribe Asia
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Research firm uncovers a pro-Huawei influence campaign
Fake account cluster with AI-generated profile photos shared pro-Huawei content. Screen capture from Graphika's report. The following report was initially published in Chinese on the Stand News on January 31, 2021. It's reproduced on Global Voices under a content partnership agreement. Research by network analysis firm Graphika discovered that a cluster of fake Twitter accounts attempted to influence Belgium's 5G policy in favor of Chinese tech giant Huawei. Released on January 28, Graphika’s 33-page report found at least 14 Twitter accounts impersonating telecommunication experts, writers, an...
Global Voices
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Flights carrying ‘seafood’ between China and Myanmar fuel speculation about Beijing's support for the military coup
Screen shot from HK Citizen News’ video news report on Myanmar protests against military coup. The Chinese government has so far taken no official stand on the military coup by Myanmar's military on February 1, though the fact that China blocked the UN Security Council's condemnation of the junta has led pro-democracy activists in Myanmar to believe that Beijing is backing the coup for geopolitical reasons. Myanmar's citizens began protesting in front of the Chinese Embassy days after the coup took place, and reports of aircraft flying between Kunming (China) and Yangon, Myanmar's largest city...
Global Voices
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Myanmar introduces ‘draconian’ cyber security bill amid growing anti-coup protests
Anti-coup protests have been organized across Myanmar despite the ban on mass gathering. Photo supplied to Global Voices, used with permission Civil society groups in Myanmar are opposing the draft “Cyber Security Bill” which was introduced amid growing opposition to the military government. The bill was sent by the Ministry of Transport and Communications to local telecommunication companies for their review on February 9. The document was leaked online, and this allowed the public to study its content. The bill has 76 sections which contain provisions that empower authorities to order websit...
Global Voices
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