【347-349】 Rohingya Refugees Celebrate Holiday, Remember Home

Original littleflute 漂泊者乐园 2021-10-05

漂泊者乐园微信公众号在线英语学习资料
提示：
1. 回复  president  可收听查看所有《美国总统》文章。
2. 回复  park          可收听查看所有《美国国家公园》文章。
3. 回复  zjmgyy      可收听查看所有《中级美国英语》文章。
4. 回复  bztl           可收听查看所有《VOA标准听力》。

#【347】

AS IT IS

Facebook, Twitter Ban Fake Accounts Linked to Iran, Russia

August 22, 2018

FILE - An iPhone with Twitter, Facebook and other apps, May 21, 2013.

The social media companies Facebook and Twitter announced they have found and banned hundreds of accounts, groups and pages linked to Russia and Iran.

Facebook said Tuesday it removed over 600 pages, groups and accounts linked to Russia and Iran. The accounts, the company said, were involved with “coordinatedinauthentic behavior” that included the sharing of false political material.

Shortly after Facebook’s announcement, Twitter said it had also suspended more than 280 accounts for coordinated disinformation. Many of the removed accounts appeared to have been created in Iran.

Facebook has aimed to improve its security since last year, when it admitted that Russian agents successfully used its services to run political disinformation operations. The efforts were aimed at influencing the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

Other social media companies have also increased their security efforts to find fakeaccounts.

Well-funded efforts

The latest discovery was far larger than the group of fake accounts Facebook reportedly found last month. Facebook removed 32 accounts on Facebook and Instagram in late July that it believed were fake and possibly linked to Russia. Together, the accounts had nearly 300,000 followers. Their content generally related to U.S. political activity ahead of the midterm elections in November.

However, Facebook said the largest group of fake accounts appeared more interested in influencing U.S. foreign policy and politics in the Middle East.

Facebook said it had not finished its examination of the material. It did not say how or why the state-backed actors were behaving the way they did.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told reporters Tuesday afternoon, “There’s a lot we don’t know yet.”

Facebook said it has informed the American and British governments of the efforts. It also informed the U.S. Treasury and State departments because of ongoing sanctionsagainst Iran.

Zuckerberg said, “You’re going to see people try to abuse the services in every way possible ... including now nation states.” He described the campaigns as intelligent and as “well-funded efforts that aren’t going to stop.”

Extending beyond U.S. politics

FireEye is a cybersecurity firm. It informed Facebook of some of latest activity involving Russian- and Iranian-backed accounts. It said that it “does not appear to have been specifically designed to influence the 2018 U.S. midterm elections, as it extends well beyond U.S. audiences and U.S. politics.”

Facebook said its latest action on Tuesday resulted from four investigations. Three involved Iran, and one involved Russia.

The first investigation centered on a group called “Liberty Front Press” that set up several accounts on Facebook and Instagram. The accounts were followed by 155,000 other accounts. Facebook said the group was linked to Iranian state media, based on website registrations, IP addresses and administrator accounts.

FireEye called the Liberty Front Press group an influence operation trying to promote Iranian political interests. These include “anti-Saudi, anti-Israeli, and pro-Palestinian themes,” and support for the U.S.-Iran nuclear deal, FireEye said.

President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the nuclear agreement earlier this year.

FireEye said the group did not appear to be attempting to influence the U.S. midterm elections. But it said that does not necessarily mean these efforts are not happening.

The second group that was investigated also had several accounts and a total of 15,000 followers. The group was linked to “Liberty Front Press” and attempted to access people’s accounts to spread computer viruses. Facebook said it stopped those attempts.

A third group also operating out of Iran had as many as 813,000 followers, and shared political content about the Middle East, Britain and the United States.

In total, the Iranian-linked groups spent about $12,000 in advertising.

A fourth group, connected to the Russian military, attempted to influence politics in Syria and the Ukraine.

Next month, leaders of Facebook, Google and Twitter will answer questions from the Senate intelligence committee about their efforts to fight political disinformation.

I’m Anna Matteo.

This story was originally reported by Ryan Nakashima for the Associated Press Phil Dierking adapted this story for VOA Learning English using other media. Ashley Thompson was the editor.

How do you think social media companies should protect their services from fake accounts? Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.

______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

fake - adj. not true or real

coordinate - v. to make arrangements so that two or more people or groups of people can work together properly and well

cybersecurity - n. the state of being protected against the criminal or unauthorized use of electronic data, or the measures taken to achieve this.

disinformation - n. false information that is given to people in order to make them believe something or to hide the truth

inauthentic - adj. not real, accurate, or sincere

sanctions - n. an action that is taken or an order that is given to force a country to obey international laws by limiting or stopping trade with that country, by not allowing economic aid for that country, etc. — usually plural

IP address - n. a unique string of numbers separated by periods that identifies each computer using the Internet Protocol to communicate over a network.

sanction - n. an action that is taken or an order that is given to force a country to obey international laws by limiting or stopping trade with that country, by not allowing economic aid for that country

*【348】AS IT IS

Eritrea Fighter Pilot Escapes, Calls for Justice for Jailed Compatriots

August 22, 2018

Dejen Ande Hishel spent 15 years in prison before escaping. He’s now calling for justice for the unknown numbers of Eritreans who remain in prison, many incommunicado. (Courtesy Photo)

Dejen Ande Hishel was a fighter pilot in Eritrea. He trained in Russia and flew during Eritrea’s war with Ethiopia in the 1990s. But in 1999, Eritrean officials arrested him. He spent 15 years in an Eritrean prison although he was never charged with or tried for a crime. He escaped in 2014.

Today, Dejen lives in Sweden and is talking publicly about people who were jailed like he was, but remain in prison. Many have been held, without trial, or contact with the outside world, for more than 10 years.

“I feel a sense of responsibility to speak out not only for myself but for all those left in prison,” he told VOA.

End of war

Dejen has a reason for speaking out now. Eritrea and Ethiopia just ended their 20-year border war. The government ordered strong measures connected to the conflict, including required military service for all citizens. Travel in and out of the country is also restricted.

Eritreans are hoping those measures will be loosened and prisoners will be free now that there is peace.

In July, Radio France International said that the Eritrean government freed 35 people arrested for belonging to illegal Christian groups.

Berhane Asmelash is an activist for Eritreans who face religious persecution. He told RFI that the release of the Christians had been planned earlier and were not the result of the peace deal.

The government has not yet admitted the release. VOA sought comment from Yemane Meskel, the Minister of Information, several times. He did not answer.

But, in comments published in The Economist magazine, Yemane said people need to give the government time to make changes.

A map of Eritrea, with sites of possible detention centers plotted, based on data from Amnesty International.

Still in prison

Dejen says his freedom in Sweden is not complete because so many are still in prison in Eritrea.

Semhar Habtezion’s father is among them. Brigadier General Habtezion Hadgu founded the Eritrean Air Force, his son told VOA.

Semhar said his father argued with Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki about how the air force was operated. He also questioned the imprisonment of men like Dejen. The general was arrested and jailed himself in 2003. His family has no information about him.

The situation of men like Habtezion Hadgu occupy Dejen’s thoughts.

“Even when I speak to you from outside the country, I see myself as if I am still in prison because all my colleagues are still there,” he said.

He described Eritrean prison conditions as difficult to survive.

“There are times where you might die due to hunger or sickness.” And, other times, he said, prison officials will not permit medical care for the detainees.

Law and order

The United Nations and activist groups have documented widespread human rights abuses in Eritrea. Human Rights Watch said Eritreans face arrest and imprisonment without reason and they can be held for years without limitation.

The government says all such reports are false and politically based.

Dejen longs for the rule of law and a fair system.

“Whether we solve it through the rule of law or peace, we need to sit down and discuss. If that is the discussion, I would go back to my country tonight. I would stand trial and even go back to jail if there is law and order,” he said.

I’m Susan Shand.

VOA’s Salem Solomon reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.

______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

persecute – v. to treat (someone) cruelly or unfairly especially because of race or religious or political beliefs

colleague – n. a person you work with

due to – adj. because of (something)

*【349】

AS IT IS

Rohingya Refugees Celebrate Holiday, Remember Home

August 22, 2018

Children of Rohingya refugees watch from a window as elders pray inside a mosque on Eid al Adha at Kutupalong refugee camp, Bangladesh, Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh celebrated the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha on Wednesday. The refugees prayed for better lives and wondered if they will ever go back to their homes in Myanmar.

The calls to prayer came early in the large refugee camps. People lined up in temporary structures used as mosques. Children with newly washed clothes watched from a window.

The four-day holiday of Eid al-Adha celebrates the Prophet Ibrahim and his willingness to sacrifice his son. Muslims often kill sheep, cattle or goats on the holiday. Some of the meat is distributed to the poor. But the refugees in this camp are the poor and few gave such gifts.

Rohingya refugees are reflected in a puddle during Eid al Adha celebration at Kutupalong refugee camp, Bangladesh, Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018.

The Muslim Rohingyas have faced generations of discrimination in largely Buddhist Myanmar. They are denied citizenship rights, attacked and sometimes not able to practice their religion.

"We could not pray during Eid in my village for years, we had to pray secretly," said refugee Nurul Alam. "I have freedom here, but I don't want it here."

"We don't belong here," he continued. "It's good that nobody is coming to kill us, but I want to go back where my parents' graves are located."

More than 700,000 Rohingyas entered Bangladesh last year. They are fleeing a campaign of destruction by the Myanmar military and Buddhist mobs. The campaign followed attacks by a Rohingya rebel group.

Thousands of people are believed to have been killed in the attacks by the Myanmar military. Rights activists believe it was the government’s attempt to drive the Rohyngya from the country.

Many in Buddhist-majority Myanmar see the Muslim Rohingyas as illegal migrants from Bangladesh. They call them "Bengalis." Most have long lived in poverty in Myanmar's Rakhine state, next to Bangladesh.

Rohingya refugees perform ablution before offering Eid al Adha prayers at Kutupalong refugee camp, Bangladesh, Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2018.

The events of the past year have made for a sad Eid al-Adha.

"We are happy, but again we are not happy, said 60-year-old Shamsul Alam as he walked to a mosque for prayers. "I had my land…Here I don't have any problem for food, but I don't have what I need."

"I am nobody here," he said.

I’m Susan Shand.

Susan Shand adapted this story for Learning English based on the Associated Press report. Hai Do was the editor.

_______________________________________________________________