CTHULHU STUDIES;  CEPHALOPODS 

#Cuttlefish Have Complex Cognitive Abilities – Can Make Decisions Based on Future Expectations

TOPICS:Marine BiologyUniversity Of Cambridge

By UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE FEBRUARY 9, 2020

This is a European common cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis. Credit: Pauline Billard

When cuttlefish know that shrimp — their favorite food — will be available in the evening, they eat fewer crabs during the day. This capacity to make decisions based on future expectations reveals complex cognitive abilities.

“It was surprising to see how quickly the cuttlefish adapted their eating behavior — in only a few days they learned whether there was likely to be shrimp in the evening or not. This is a very complex behavior and is only possible because they have a sophisticated brain,” said Pauline Billard, a Ph.D. student in the University of Cambridge’s Department of Psychology and Unicaen, France, and first author of the report.

Cuttlefish foraging behavior can be described as either selective or opportunistic. Observing the European common cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis, when the researchers reliably provided one shrimp every evening, the cuttlefish became more selective during the day and ate significantly fewer crabs. But when they were provided with evening shrimp on a random basis, the cuttlefish became opportunistic and ate more crabs during the day.

Random provision of evening shrimp meant that the cuttlefish could not predict whether their favorite food would be available for dinner each day, so they made sure they had enough to eat earlier in the day. When conditions changed, the cuttlefish changed their foraging strategy to match.

The researchers saw the animals quickly shift from one eating strategy to another based on their experience. By learning and remembering patterns of food availability, the cuttlefish optimize their foraging activity not only to guarantee they eat enough — but also to make sure they eat more of the foods they prefer.

Cuttlefish eat a wide range of food including crabs, fish, and squid, depending on what is available. Despite such a generalized diet, they show strong food preferences. To test this, the researchers tested twenty-nine cuttlefish five times a day, for five days, by putting crab and shrimp at an equal distance from the cuttlefish at the same time and watching what they ate first. All showed a preference for shrimp.

Animals must constantly adapt to changes in their environment in order to survive. Cuttlefish hatch with a large central nervous system, which enables them to learn from a young age. They are capable of remembering things that happened in the past, and using this information to adjust their behavior in anticipation of the future.

Cuttlefish are a type of cephalopod. In evolutionary terms, cephalopods and vertebrates diverged around 550 million years ago, yet they are remarkably similar in the organization of their nervous systems.

“This flexible foraging strategy shows that cuttlefish can adapt quickly to changes in their environment using previous experience,” said Professor Nicola Clayton in the University of Cambridge’s Department of Psychology, who led the study. “This discovery could provide a valuable insight into the evolutionary origins of such complex cognitive ability.”

Reference: “Cuttlefish show flexible and future-dependent foraging cognition” by Pauline Billard, Alexandra K. Schnell, Nicola S. Clayton and Christelle Jozet-Alves, 5 February 2020, Biology Letters.
DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2019.0743

This research was funded by ANR (the French National Research Agency).

Startling ‘Flammable Ice’ Discovery Offers Up Clue to Life on Other Planets

 UNIVERSITY OF ABERDEEN FEBRUARY 7, 2020


Scientists have dubbed this image of a microhabitat that grew in methane hydrate the ‘Death Star’ — it grew from microbial activity at near-freezing temperatures, deep underwater, in one of the countless isolated pockets of saltwater and oil found within methane hydrate. Credit: University of Aberdeen

Scientists studying so-called ‘flammable ice’ in the Sea of Japan have made a startling discovery — the existence of life within microscopic bubbles.

The microhabitats are grown by microbes within tiny bubbles of oil and water found in sheets of frozen gas and ice, and offer a tantalizing clue as to the potential for life on other planets.

The tiny bubbles are scattered within large underwater rafts of hydrate, known as ‘flammable ice’ or methane hydrate, which forms when ice traps methane within its molecular structure.

The discovery of the microhabitats is revealed in a paper published in the journal Scientific Reports, a Nature publication. It stemmed from a larger project led by Professor Ryo Matsumoto from Meiji University in Japan, which was investigating methane hydrate as an energy source that emits less waste-carbon than traditional fossil fuels.

“Providing they have ice and a little heat, all those frigid cold planets at the edge of every planetary system could host tiny microhabitats with microbes making their own tiny atmospheres and ecosystems, just as we discovered here.” — Dr. Stephen Bowden

Dr. Glen T. Snyder, lead author of the study, was melting hydrate to study methane gas when he noticed an unusual powder consisting of microscopic spheroids with mysterious dark cores. He then set about collecting a group of like-minded scientists to investigate further.

Using analytical techniques pioneered at the University of Aberdeen and suited to small sample quantities, Dr. Stephen Bowden from the University’s School of Geosciences was able to show that oil was being degraded in the microenvironments within the methane hydrate.

“In combination with the other evidence collected by my colleagues, my results showed that even under near-freezing temperatures, at extremely high pressures, with only heavy oil and saltwater for food-sources, life was flourishing and leaving its mark,” Dr. Bowden said.

Dr. Snyder continued: “The methane in ‘methane hydrate’ is known to form as microbes degrade organic matter on the seafloor.

“But what we never expected to find was microbes continuing to grow and produce these spheroids, all of the time while isolated in tiny cold dark pockets of saltwater and oil.

“It certainly gives a positive spin to cold dark places, and opens up a tantalizing clue as to the existence of life on other planets.

Dr. Bowden added: “It certainly changes how I think about things. Providing they have ice and a little heat, all those frigid cold planets at the edge of every planetary system could host tiny microhabitats with microbes building their own ‘death stars’ and making their own tiny little atmospheres and ecosystems, just as we discovered here.”

Reference: “Evidence in the Japan Sea of microdolomite mineralization within gas hydrate microbiomes” by Glen T. Snyder, Ryo Matsumoto, Yohey Suzuki, Mariko Kouduka, Yoshihiro Kakizaki, Naizhong Zhang, Hitoshi Tomaru, Yuji Sano, Naoto Takahata, Kentaro Tanaka, Stephen A. Bowden and Takumi Imajo, 5 February 2020, Scientific Reports.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-58723-y

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Optical Backflow of Light Demonstrated For First Time – Theorized More Than 50 Years Ago by Quantum Physicists

TOPICS:OpticsTel Aviv University

By TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY FEBRUARY 7, 2020

“Abnormal” behavior predicted more than 50 years ago may help scientists probe the atmosphere and gauge the environment.

Researchers at Tel Aviv University have for the first time demonstrated the backflow of optical light propagating forward. The phenomenon, theorized more than 50 years ago by quantum physicists, has never before been demonstrated successfully in any experiment — until now.

“This ‘backflow’ phenomenon is quite delicate and requires exquisite control over the state of a particle, so its demonstration was hindered for half a century,” explains Dr. Alon Bahabad of the Department of Physical Electronics at TAU’s School of Electrical Engineering, who led the research for the study. “This phenomenon reveals an unintuitive behavior of a system comprised of waves, whether it’s a particle in quantum mechanics or a beam of light.

“Our demonstration could help scientists probe the atmosphere by emitting a laser beam and inducing a signal propagating backward toward the laser source from a given point in front of the laser source. It’s also relevant for cases in which fine control of light fields is required in small volumes, such as optical microscopy, sensing and optical tweezers for moving small particles,” Dr. Bahabad says.

The study, published on January 16, 2020, in Optica, was conducted by Dr. Bahabad’s graduate students Dr. Yaniv Eliezer, now at Yale University, and Thomas Zacharias.

Light is similar to quantum particles in that both can be constructed from interfering waves. Such a construction, in which several waves are added together to produce a new wave, is known as a superposition. If a special superposition of waves, all propagating forward, is constructed, the overall wave can realize what’s called “optical backflow.”

In their holography experiment, the scientists split and reassembled a laser beam in the form of light waves that propagated at positive angles with respect to an axis. The different light beams had to be constructed very carefully, with precise values for their strength and delay. Once the superposition was created, a small slit was set and moved perpendicularly to the beam to, in effect, measure the direction of the beam in different locations.

The light escaping from the slit was revealed in most locations as moving at a positive angle. But in some locations, the light escaping the slit propagated at a negative angle, even though the light hitting the other side of the slit was comprised of a superposition of beams all propagating at a positive angle.

“We used holography to create a clear manifestation of the backflow effect,” adds Dr. Bahabad. “We realized at some point that we can utilize a previous study of ours, where we discovered the mathematical phenomenon known as suboscillation, to help us design a beam of light with backflow.

“To conclude, if interfering waves, all going in one direction, are constructed in a special manner, and you were to measure the direction of propagation of the overall wave at specific locations and times, you just might find the wave going backward. This wave can describe a particle using quantum mechanics. This surprising behavior violates any intuition that we gained from our daily experience with the movement of macroscopic objects. Nevertheless, it still obeys the laws of nature.”

Reference: “Observation of optical backflow” by Yaniv Eliezer, Thomas Zacharias and Alon Bahabad, 16 January 2020, Optica.

DOI: 10.1364/OPTICA.371494

Obama-backed documentary 'American Factory' wins Oscar


By Sandra Gonzalez, CNN Sun February 9, 2020

Now PlayingNetflix documentary...


Source: CNN
Netflix documentary directors on working with the Obamas (2019) 02:14

(CNN)Barack and Michelle Obama's production company now has an Oscar-shaped feather in its hat.

"American Factory," a film backed by the Obama's Higher Ground Productions, on Sunday took home the award for best documentary feature.

The film, about a culture clash at a Dayton, Ohio manufacturing plant, was the first project produced by the duo's new production outfit and marks a running start for the company.
The film hails from filmmakers Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar. It was released through Netflix as part of a lucrative deal Higher Ground has with the streaming service.

"Working people have it harder and harder these days, and we believe that things will get better when workers of the world unite," Reichert said in her acceptance speech.
The former president congratulated the filmmakers on their win.

Congrats to Julia and Steven, the filmmakers behind American Factory, for telling such a complex, moving story about the very human consequences of wrenching economic change. Glad to see two talented and downright good people take home the Oscar for Higher Ground's first release. https://t.co/W4AZ68iWoY— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) February 10, 2020

"Congrats to Julia and Steven, the filmmakers behind American Factory, for telling such a complex, moving story about the very human consequences of wrenching economic change. Glad to see two talented and downright good people take home the Oscar for Higher Ground's first release," Obama wrote in a tweet.

The film had been competing against "The Cave," "The Edge of Democracy," "For Same" and "Honeyland' in its category.

How India uses colonial-era sedition law against CAA protesters

Legal experts say authorities misuse legal provisions to slap protesters with colonial-era law to stifle dissent.

by Anumeha Yadav20 Jan 2020

New Delhi, India - In the first week of the new year, police in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand registered a criminal complaint against more than 3,000 people protesting against a new citizenship law, accusing them of "sedition" among other charges.

India has seen nationwide protests since mid-December following the passage of Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) that activists and opposition politicians have described as divisive, discriminatory and against the country's secular constitution. The new law is being challenged in the Supreme Court.
More:

In Jharkhand, a tribal assertion met with fierce police crackdown

Microsoft CEO Nadella criticises India's citizenship law

UN report condemns Kashmir's Public Safety Act

The sedition provision, which was drafted by the British colonial rulers in 1870, comes under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code.

Rights activists say the law has been used to suppress dissent in India particularly against marginalised communities and minorities.

Nationwide protests are taking place across India since December 13 against CAA [Javed Sultan/Anadolu]

Over the past 18 months, more than 10,000 tribal farmers in mineral-rich Jharkhand state were accused of sedition in 19 police cases for opposing acquisition of lands for so-called developmental projects.
Law is not meant to suppress people's voice, but to create a sense of security among the people.

HEMANT SOREN, CHIEF MINISTER OF JHARKHAND STATE

Following criticism, Jharkhand's newly elected Chief Minister Hemant Soren announced the withdrawal of sedition charges slapped by his predecessor belonging to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Soren told Al Jazeera that he had asked for an inquiry into why the police used the charge against those who peacefully demonstrated in Wasseypur - a working-class Muslim neighbourhood in Dhanbad district, which was the subject of the 2012 Bollywood hit Gangs of Wasseypur.

"Charge of sedition is a serious allegation which needs to be applied with careful scrutiny. In this case, we have asked the officials to drop the charges and provide an explanation."

"Law is not meant to suppress people's voice, but to create a sense of security among the people. My government will respect law and protect people," said Soren, who comes from the Santhal tribal community.

Soren government has also dropped charges against more than 10,000 Adivasis slapped by the previous BJP government.
Attack on dissent

The sedition provision punishes anyone seen to "excite, or attempt to excite feelings of disaffection against the government", even though this may be by their words alone. It is a non-bailable offence, and has life imprisonment as the maximum punishment.
READ MORE
Crackdown on lawyers narrows road to justice in Kashmir

Jawahar Raja, a lawyer based in New Delhi, explained that once police add the sedition charge, the maximum quantum of punishment increases, and the courts then view it as a serious offence, making it harder for the accused to secure bail, even if booked only for a speech offence. "The process of a long-drawn trial then becomes the punishment," said Raja.

Aloka Kujur was among the more than 10,000 slapped with sedition cases in Jharkhand. She says "the police booked her under sedition for a Facebook post in 2018".

Kujur, who publishes magazines on literature and art, said the police issued a warrant to confiscate her property for her post that mentioned the threat to a rape victim.

"I faced threats online. The local newspapers started publishing official statements saying that anyone with Marxist and Maoist books will be arrested. I had to give away my small collection of books, as I was unsure what will the police misconstrue against me using this sedition charge," she said.

Police continue to misuse the provision even though the Supreme Court in 2016 said criticising the government does not amount to sedition [File: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters]

Kujur recounts how prosecution lawyers called her "anti-national" in the court during her trial.

In a similar case, an 83-year-old Jesuit priest, Stan Swamy, who has documented police abuse in tribal areas across the country, was charged with sedition in 2018 for his Facebook posts. One of his posts was a statement by the then home minister calling for dialogue.

Swamy declined to speak to Al Jazeera as he is facing police case in the western Maharashtra state. His associate Solomon said because of the sedition charge, the elderly activist was forced to stop writing on human rights abuses.
Our state governments are using colonial-era laws to suppress even peaceful dissent of our own people.

SADAF JAFAR, ACTIVIST

Referring to the recent sedition cases, a senior Jharkhand police official admitted that the local police acted with excessive hostility against anti-CAA protesters.

"I cannot comment on use of sedition in previous cases against tribal farmers, but in this instance, the district police action shows a lack of knowledge and a lack of professional competence," Anil Palta, additional director general of police (training), Jharkhand, told Al Jazeera.

"If a provision of prevention of assembly of more than four persons, Section 144 is violated, the protesters ought to have been booked under Section 188, for disobedience, a bailable order. It was very far-fetched of the district police to apply sedition charges."
Harsh police action

The harsh police action against anti-CAA protesters particularly in BJP-ruled states has alarmed rights activists.
READ MORE
India protests: 'Police caught... and shot him'

More than 20 people have been killed in India's most populous state Uttar Pradesh (UP) where some of the initial protests turned violent. Authorities in the state have also said they would seek compensation from protesters for damages to state properties.

Sadaf Jafar, a political activist, was arrested from Lucknow, the capital of UP during anti-CAA protests.

"The police arrested me and imprisoned me for 20 days, I was not allowed to inform anyone," Jafar told Al Jazeera.

"We are supposed to be in an elected democracy, but our state governments are using colonial-era laws to suppress even peaceful dissent of our own people."

Jafar alleged she was tortured and called Pakistani in custody because of her Muslim name. "They beat me so much that three weeks later, my ankles are still swollen and blue, and my limbs hurt when I breathe."
Repeated cases of sedition show the police have been brainwashed to act like colonial masters.

SOLOMON, ACTIVIST

Al Jazeera reached out to the office of the director general of police of UP and the circle officer of the area where Jafar was held but received no response at the time of the publication of the article.

Last December, about 600 anti-CAA protesters were accused of sedition in UP but later police dropped the charge.

Across India, a number of people have been slapped with sedition charges for protesting against the law that people say is part of Modi's Hindu supremacist agenda as it makes faith as the basis for citizenship.

In the BJP-ruled Karnataka state, police invoked sedition case against a student for holding a "Free Kashmir" placard on January 9.

Last August, the Hindu nationalist government stripped Indian-administered Kashmir of its special status and imposed a crippling communications and security lockdown in the Muslim-majority region.

Subsequently, thousands of Kashmiris, including minors, were thrown into jails under Public Safety Act (PSA), which Amnesty International has dubbed "lawless law". Under PSA people can be imprisoned for up to two years without trial.

Between 2016 and 2018, the National Crime Records Bureau data shows, 332 people were arrested under the sedition provision, but only seven were convicted.

Lawyers point out that the problem is not the conviction, but opposition to the government is termed "anti-national", making it easier for the police to make arrests citing any protests as a threat to national security.
Governments exploit legal loopholes

Legal scholars pointed out that the police continue to misuse the provision even though the Supreme Court in 2016 reiterated that criticising the government does not amount to sedition, or even to defamation.

"Though the court upheld the Section 124A of sedition to be constitutional, it has watered down the provision," said Chitranshul Sinha, a Supreme Court lawyer and author of The Great Repression - The Story of Sedition in India.
READ MORE
Crackdown on lawyers narrows road to justice in Kashmir

He added that the Supreme Court said only an action that incites or has the "tendency" to incite violence or public disorder can be construed as seditious. "But the definitions of 'tendency', 'public disorder' have been left open so wide to interpretation that the police routinely use it to suppress dissent," he explained.

Gautam Bhatia, a lawyer and scholar, said colonial-era laws that criminalised any opposition has no place in a democracy.

In his book Offend, Shock or Disturb: Free Speech Under the Indian Constitution, Bhatia has documented how during India's independence movement, the British colonial government had accused Indian nationalist leaders, including Mahatma Gandhi, and cultural activists under the same section for their writings, speeches, and theatre plays.

"The sheer breadth of its language allows it to be misused," said Bhatia.

"The police book thousands as 'unnamed' claiming they will add the names as they get further evidence, and as the case proceeds they are allowed to file supplementary charge-sheets in which they, for instance, can add names of any farmers from a village or a demonstrator or a political organiser, thus keeping a sword dangling over their heads to chill dissent."

Modi, who has been accused of turning authoritarian, has plans to overhaul the Indian Penal Code, most of which draws from the British colonial laws. But it has caused concern among activists as the right-wing government may further add stringent provisions in the law.

It recently amended the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act to empower the government to declare individuals "terrorists" and seize their properties.

Rights activists fear the law can be misused - a charge the government has denied.

Solomon, the Jharkhand activist, told Al Jazeera: "Repeated cases of sedition show the police have been brainwashed to act like colonial masters."

"The result is that the most vulnerable communities suffer."


SOURCE: AL JAZEERA

FEATURE
/
REFUGEES

Striking portraits celebrate individuality of refugee women

Clad in golden dresses made from emergency blankets, female refugees recount experiences in Olga Stefatou's Chrysalis.
8 Feb 2020






Chrysalis portrait series: Samar, 24, from Syria [Olga Stefatou/Al Jazeera]

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For Samar, 24, life has all been about survival.

She was still a teenager seven years ago when, with the war in Syria raging, she decided to flee her country in the hope of a better future.

She first sought refuge in Lebanon, then in Egypt and Turkey, before embarking on a dangerous sea journey on a rainy February night four years ago when she boarded a boat packed with children in a bid to reach Greece's shores.

"I wanted a better life and more freedom," says Samar, one of the more than 1.2 million people escaping conflict, hardship and persecution to have arrived in Europe via Greece over the past five years. But the shutting down of the Balkan borders and an EU-Turkey agreement have since trapped more than 100,000 people in Greece, with most languishing in poor living conditions.

Samar is one of several women to be featured in Chrysalis, a striking portrait series by Greek visual artist and photographer Olga Stefatou that celebrates the individuality of female refugees and asylum seekers in Greece.

In Chrysalis, Stefatou photographs women from Syria, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan inside a neoclassical building in Greece's capital, Athens. Clad in golden costumes made from emergency blankets, the women recount their distinct experiences, perilous journeys and aspirations for the future.

"From the start, it was crucial for me that the women are active participants in the process and express their own individuality, which is often either hidden behind the 'refugee' label or oppressed due to cultural factors," Stefatou says.

Her series of portraits and accompanying texts will be exhibited at the Fire Station contemporary art space in Qatar's capital, Doha, from February 12 to 28, before being shown at Toronto's Aga Khan Museum as part of the Sanctuary exhibition running from March 19 to August 23.

Al Jazeera spoke to Stefatou about Chrysalis, the idea behind it and its reception.

Chrysalis: Nargis, 27, from Afghanistan [Olga Stefatou/Al Jazeera]

Al Jazeera: When did you decide to start the project and why?

Olga Stefatou: I began shooting in early 2018 but I was working on the idea for six months prior. At the time, I used to work as a photojournalist covering the refugee crisis in Greece and became very aware of the various problems faced by refugees and the difficulties in exercising their rights.

I did not feel that simply covering the crisis was enough so I began thinking about a personal project to express a different narrative closer to my own values.

Al Jazeera: Can you provide a few details about the concept behind Chrysalis? How did you select the location and how did the idea of the dresses come about?

Stefatou: My personal work has often focused on gender issues, so on this occasion I was keen to create a project aimed at offering a positive and playful experience, as well as presenting different aspects of these women's personality.

The idea stemmed from a self-portrait I shot for another personal project, 2014's Relative Dating, in which I was running in a forest with a survival blanket in the form of a long golden skirt. Knowing that the blanket has been synonymous with the refugee crisis, I thought I could use this material to create bespoke dresses for the women, and this motivated me to begin putting together all the layers of the visual narrative I was interested in.

Chrysalis portrait series: Elahe, 61, from Iran [Olga Stefatou/Al Jazeera]

From the start, it was crucial for me that the women are active participants in the process and express their own individuality, which is often either hidden behind the "refugee" label or oppressed due to cultural factors. I decided to collaborate for the creation of the costumes with artist and designer Guram Chachanidze. We took into consideration the women's preferences and tried to reflect their personality with each dress. However, this is not a fashion project but a documentary-driven one.

It took me a while to find the right location; I was looking for a place where the women would feel safe and comfortable to change clothes. Wael Habbal, a Syrian refugee whom I met on Lesbos island, introduced me to Communitism, a group running a beautiful neoclassical building in Athens.

When I entered its blue room, I knew I had found the place I was looking for. The concept of the setting, the ceiling light, the different platforms and the Athenian background - they all work metaphorically in the experience and the photographs.

Al Jazeera: How easy was it to convince the women to participate and open up about their experiences? What were the challenges?

Stefatou: Developing this project has been both challenging and a big learning process.

Most of the women were excited to wear a dress created just for them but it was not easy to convince them to take part in the project.

Chrysalis portrait series: Roaa, 27, from Iraq [Olga Stefatou/Al Jazeera]

Most refugee women are vulnerable people who have experienced violence and have become suspicious of others after all they have suffered: unaccompanied minor girls, unmarried young women, single mothers and mothers with children who are waiting for an opportunity to leave Greece and head north to unite with their husbands.

Some of the women in Chrysalis were not allowed by their husbands to take part, while others were not used to leaving the camp or the apartment they live in. All of them have consciously decided to seek change in their lives and are currently facing unimaginable difficulties such as inhumane living conditions, slow asylum processes, closed borders, aggression and poverty. I deeply admire their courage.

Al Jazeera: What struck you the most during your contact with these women? Any particular moment you would like to share?

Stefatou: The women who have so far participated in Chrysalis are powerful individuals who were ready to speak out and stand out despite all the risks. It is very inspiring when passion for life overpowers fear, when the intention to move forward conquers inner conflict. To this day, I try to stay in contact with them and help as much as I can.

Chrysalis portrait series: Nazanin (not her real name), 27, from Afghanistan [Olga Stefatou/Al Jazeera]

I was pleasantly surprised when the women used the project to express something very specific, like Maryam who wanted to express that her body belongs only to her. Leila had the tragic experience to witness the death of 15 people while they were crossing the Turkish-Greek border by boats. Narges wanted to forget the humiliating times she had in the Moria camp on Lesbos.

Nanjanin, whose husband was calling her every five minutes to stop the photo shoot. I was concerned and would respect her decision if she had done so, but she wanted to continue until the end despite facing a lot of pressure. Also, Raha, a burn survivor who is an outstanding woman with a beautiful singing voice and artistic nature. Samar, a very clever woman who took full control of her life in a very young age. And also, 61-year-old Elahe who travelled alone all the way from Iran.

Chrysalis portrait series: Mahboubeh, 33, from Iran [Olga Stefatou/Al Jazeera]

Al Jazeera: What's next for the project and you?

Stefatou: Chrysalis will be exhibited at Doha Fire Station contemporary art space starting on February 12. Its next stop is Aga Khan Museum in Toronto.

I want to continue working on this project for a little while and expand it with more women before concluding it. I feel responsible to present the women's stories in the best possible way as long as they trust me. I am also hoping to edit a short film with backstage footage from the shoot and the interviews.

One of my next goals is to complete a photo book with my photographs and experiences from Myanmar, a project I have worked on for over 15 years.


SOURCE: AL JAZEERA NEWS

It's high time to end medical complicity in torture

The psychologists who stooped to torture, such as James Mitchell, must be held to account.
by William Hopkins an hour ago

Activists demonstrate against the Guantanamo Bay detention camp and call for accountability for torture, near the White House, in Washington, US, Jan 11, 2020 [Mike Theiler/Reute
Last week, American psychologist and architect of the Bush-era torture programme, James Mitchell, took the stand at a hearing at the United States base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He was there to provide evidence in the legal case against five men accused of planning and providing logistical support for the 9/11 attacks. His chilling testimony legitimising torture was yet another reminder of the shameful complicity of medical and health personnel in the horrific crimes committed in recent history under the pretence of "saving American lives".

As a senior psychiatrist who has worked with torture survivors for decades, I have seen the human cost of torture; how it savagely destroys a person and traumatises whole families and societies - all to obtain information that is often false, served up to provide whatever may end the unbearable pain.

I worked with a young man who suffered near-drowning, when waterboarded, who cannot now take a shower or pull a jumper over his head as these actions make him relive the horror all over again. I worked with others constantly reliving the pain and smells of burning flesh. I tried to help people who experience perpetual exhaustion and terror following sleepless nights where they vividly re-experienced beatings, electrocutions, mock executions and sexual violence they endured. I worked with one woman who cannot stop hearing the voice of the man who raped her, who taunted her with the words "you will never forget this, and you will never be able to tell your husband".

Since 9/11, a myriad of human rights abuses have been committed and justified in complete disregard of the United Nations Convention against Torture by countries that once led the way in establishing the torture ban as a legal norm.

Almost two decades have passed since the start of the "war on terror" and the implementation of the US "enhanced interrogation" programme - a clinically friendly name for what until that time had been known by its proper name: torture. So, when he took the stand last week, did Mitchell finally accept responsibility for his crimes? Far from it. He simply gave a testimony mirroring his earlier justifications: "I'm just a guy who got asked to do something for his country".

As a medical professional, my conduct is underpinned by principles of rehabilitation and respect for autonomy. Psychologists like Mitchell and his colleague Bruce Jessen, who helped him create the torture programme, were bound by similar ethics. Their involvement in torture is perverse and one of the worst conceivable violations of our profession. But Mitchell and his colleagues are hardly the only ones responsible for the atrocities committed in this period of recent history. Those crimes ripple beyond the individual. We know from the so-called "torture memos" and other evidence, that the expert opinion of scores of lawyers, doctors and civil officials was sought and relied upon to argue that "enhanced" interrogation techniques do not constitute torture.

The testimonies presented at the Guantanamo hearing this past week were reminiscent of the famous Milgram experiment in the 1960s, which explored how easy it was to replicate the obedience that led to the creation of Nazi concentration camps like Auschwitz. Participants in the experiment who were made to believe that they had inflicted intolerable and even lethal pain on innocent test subjects had repeatedly insisted that they were not responsible for their actions and that they were merely following orders.

It has been extraordinary to see the same moral dereliction on display at Guantanamo. Mitchell’s deflection of personal responsibility by claiming that he was "just doing a job" is unconscionable, but the moral failure is broader than that. The normalisation of the actions of Mitchell and others serves as a warning for what could lie ahead.

US President Donald Trump falsely claims that torture "absolutely works". He promoted figures from that "war on terror" era to prominent positions: Gina Haspel, a woman accused of running a "black site" in Thailand where waterboarding and other interrogation methods were used on suspects, is now director of the CIA. Trump wants to appoint Marshall Billingslea, an official who advocated torture in the post-9/11 era, to the most senior US human rights role.

In the United Kingdom, the government continues to block full transparency on its own complicity in the US torture programme, which parliamentarians on all sides have called for. The elected presidents of countries like Brazil and the Philippines publicly praise torture.

In this frightening climate, it is more important than ever to remind ourselves of what we stand for, and what we are capable of. A society’s tolerance of torture is a good litmus test for that. As one of the characters in the film Apocalypse Now puts it: "In this war, things get confused out there: power, ideals, the old morality ... Every man has got a breaking point".

If we are to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past, the psychologists who stooped to torture should not be called to give evidence against the detainees they abused. They should themselves be on trial. Torture is a crime - and its legitimisation makes for a more dangerous world.

As a health professional and as a human being, I know that we can and must do better. Those responsible for these horrifying actions must be held to account. Our humanity depends on it.

The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial stance.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

William Hopkins

Dr William Hopkins is Senior Consultant Psychiatrist at Freedom from Torture.

France in Africa: Is it all about the oil?

France is backing a Libyan warlord and Chad's dictator. Plus, the economic cost of Brexit.

Despite vowing to stop propping up strongmen in Africa, France is backing a Libyan warlord and Chad's dictator. 

Many welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron’s promise in 2017 to end what was known as “Francafrique”, or France’s sphere of influence over its former colonies in Africa. But many say France is still up to its old games.

In Libya, Macron has thrown his lot behind the renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar, secretly supplying arms and training despite the UN and Libya’s former colonial power, Italy, backing the government in Tripoli. Forces loyal to Haftar have blockaded oil ports and have stopped pipelines, strangling the economy of much-needed funds.

And while fighting so-called "Islamist" militants, France deployed warplanes to attack a rebel convoy in northern Chad, helping to keep President Idriss Deby in power. Deby has faced several coup attempts since gaining power in 1990.

But is it all about the oil?

“Really what Macron has presented is the case for a changed relationship with Africa, not so much a reducing or a retreat from the continent, but much more for putting the relationship on to a new footing,” Paul Melly, consulting fellow at Chatham House, tells Al Jazeera.

“And you can see that most strongly in the relationship with the West African countries, and particularly the very troubled Sahel region on the margins of the Sahara where Macron has argued the case for much more of a partnership approach but also economic reforms.”

Melly adds that France has “long-standing traditional economic and security interests” in a range of countries, from Chad right down through Central Africa, that do not have a good governance record.

Brexit: What does it mean for the UK economy?

“Get Brexit done” – that was the slogan that won the 2019 election for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Britain left the European Union this year but the kind of relationship the country has with the rest of Europe has yet to be decided and the process is unlikely to start until March.

The economic cost of Brexit hit $170 billion, according to Bloomberg Economics, and that number could rise by another $100 billion by the end of 2020.

Counting the Cost examines what Brexit means for one of the worst-performing industrial economies.

Hamish Muress, a senior currency strategist at OFX, tells Al Jazeera: “For our clients, the big questions will be around what happens to the pound and what happens to the euro over the next 12 months.”

Bilal Hafeez, CEO of Macro Hive, says the EU is the UK's largest trading partner, and when the UK was a member of the European Union it enjoyed a free trade agreement.

He adds: “So whatever the agreement is with the European Union, at the end of this year it will not be as free as it once was in terms of frictionless trade …”

Source: Al Jazeera News

Women call for rights, lead change in Lebanon protests

Grassroots women's groups in Lebanon demand more rights and call for recognition of marginalised groups.

Protests in Lebanon are continuing even as a new government under Prime Minister Hassan Diab has been sworn in.

But grassroots women's groups, who were at the forefront of the protests since they started in October, are also calling for the recognition of their rights and other marginalised groups.

Al Jazeera's Sara Khairat reports from Beirut, Lebanon.

Chile's epic dry spell enters a critical phase

Almost half a million people in Chile struggle to access water

A severe drought in central Chile is entering its tenth year - the country's longest ever dry-spell.

Animals are dying, many reservoirs are dry and almost half a million people have no direct access to water for drinking and domestic use.

Al Jazeera's Latin America Editor Lucia Newman reports from Til-til.