Weekly Roundup: January 13

By Justin D. Long, ed.

Perspective, Insight, Context, Analysis

New events

Africa: the world’s biggest iron ore mine has corrupted all who got involved
Afghanistan: Forever on the Brink.
… and, SIGAR’s new High Risk List for Afghanistan.
China: new warning from Beijing to USA over one-China policy: ‘…or revenge’
… Global Times used by China leaders to provide insights they don’t want to say officially.
… Sources estimate Chinese plans to unseat Taiwan President Tsai will intensify this year.
China: surveillance for sale: for a small fee, anyone can purchase detailed info on anyone.
… … (hotel checkins, airline flights, cafes visited, border entry/exit, $ dealings, more)
China: Rural poor bear brunt of the aging crisis.
France: new rules requiring parental permission for minors to travel abroad
… after years of complaints by parents of radicalized teens who went to join jihad groups
India: Mumbai’s streets were more unsafe for women in 2016.
… and, why women in India still feel unsafe.
… and, Christians in India increasingly under attack, study shows.
Iran: ex-President Rafsanjani death, funerals, linked articles.
Iraq: nearly 50% of Mosul casualties are civilians.
… one analysis of why it’s taking longer than expected. But 70% of town taken.
… Iraq had worst terror attacks globally in 2016: nearly 400 in a single bombing last July
Morocco: government bans production, sale of burqa full-face veils, citing security reasons.
Nigeria: in north, humanitarian crisis triggered by Boko Haram worsening; 10m need aid
Pakistan: the rise of religious extremism in Balochistan.
Kazakhstan: New controls on religious travel and literature.
Somalia: Violence continues: tea shop bombing, town captured, US airstrikes.
Syria: OpEd: Assad has won in Syria, but Syria hardly exists.
… 80% under poverty line. 58% unemployment. 500k dead, 2M injured, more…
Turkmenistan: Religious freedom survey, January 2017 (surveys current landscape)
Vietnam: the new religion law tests the faithful, sparks worries about freedom of belief.

New Data

Human Rights Watch, 2017 annual report.
Middle East: 10 social media lessons from the Middle East. Lots of data on usage.
Pew: How America changed during the Obama presidency.
… 2nd half of essay is a review of demographic & sociological shifts
Pew: Evolution of [US] technology, 2017
… contemplate expectations of US mission candidates in this area
Pew: about 20% of adults globally have no formal schooling
… especially true of ‘10/40 Window’
Global cost of smoking is $1 trillion. Much of cigarette sales have moved overseas from US.
Predicting onset of flu epidemics: ‘cold week with average temp < 0 Celsius’
… flu activated 1 week after low outdoor temperatures and low humidity

Longer reads

Piper: thoughts on why more women than men are single missionaries.
… stats in line with my own research, and I think his reasons on motivations are right too.
… another reason: men find it easier to enter into ministry in their own culture (pastoral).
Betts & Jones. The political lives of refugees. An extract from new book.
Bae, Sebastian. The foolishness of strategic decapitation in North Korea.
… there are no simple solutions. Intl community should plan long-term for regime failure.
… it is foolish to believe reunification would be simple, short or cheap.

Lifehacking, Tactics, Skills, Rules

KrebsOnSecurity: Immutable truths about data breaches.
Barking up the Wrong Tree: How to be calm under pressure.
… 3 secrets from a bomb disposal expert: realism, optimism, ‘just the next step.’

UPG Profiles, Travelogues, Stories

The Central Asian women on the front lines of jihad.
China: The secret lives of urban waste pickers.
… and, Eat, pray, love the Communist party: a road trip through Tibet, guided by China
Himalayas: Child monks. ‘Inaccurate captions but great photos,’ says M. Pickett.
India-Kashmir-Pakistan: Cross-border barter trade continues despite violence.
Iran: Images of homeless drug addicts living in graves shock nation.
Iraq: seeing the country beyond the frontlines.
Nigeria: I’m a tourist in Lagos, you have a problem with that?
N Korea: ‘Eight Days in North Korea’
Singapore: Migrant Dreams: Bangladeshi workers in Singapore.
Uganda: Ghost Stories: Idi Amin’s torture chambers.

Futuristics/Technology

#Auto: 16 questions about automated cars.
… declining costs: LiDAR, $89k in 2007. $50 today.
The slow death of FM radio: Norway switches off.
Economist editor on the likely disappearance of display/print advertising by 2030.
#Drones: Nano-drones for US Marines: miniaturized quadcopters.
#AI: Is AI a threat? Are we headed for a singularity? No, and here’s why.
… and, AI100: The artificial intelligence companies redefining industries.
#Banking: Kenya’s M-Pesa platform is so successful, worries it could disrupt the economy.
#Learning: 2016: the year that deep learning took over the Internet.
#Scams/Surveillance: The call center voices know a lot about you:
… AI software scouring social media to match agents to callers.
India: roll out of digital ID collides with rickety reality.
… and, Chinese smartphones are eating up market share in India.
Water: YCombinator looking to fund startups to produce clean water.
What’s new in electronics technology, coming down the pipe, as seen at CES2017.
… and, By 2030, this is what computers will be able to do.
… and, N+1: 13 future tech trends that will shape business and society.

Quotable

“Do not conclude that because thou canst not reach God by thy short stump, therefore he cannot reach thee with his long arm.” ~John Bunyan

“Do not discuss things with people who do not accept disagreement, and do not correct people who do not care if they’re wrong.” ~Benedict Evans

“People of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.” ~Leonardo da Vinci.

Justin Long, a missionary researcher serving with Beyond (a Missio Nexus member) provides the Weekly Roundup. Sign up to get it every week or visit his daily blog: justinlong.org. Member organizations can provide content to the Missio Nexus website. See how by clicking here.