Wessex Scene Unreported World Magazine by Wessex Scene

WESSEX SCENE

UNREPORTED WORLD +

hidden places at the university of southampton 04

have you ever heard a story about iraq that isn’t about war? 26

the world’s most bizarre and unknown sports 33

E D I T OR f r e ya mi l l ard editor@wessexscene.ac.uk D E PUT Y ED IT OR C ameron ri d g way deputy-editor@wessexscene.co.uk H E A D OF D ES IG N m ac k en zi e B rown design@wessexscene.co.uk D E PUT Y H EA D OF DE SIGN Hannah egert on design@wessexscene.co.uk H E A D OF IMA G ERY he r mi on e cook image@wessexscene.co.uk H E A D OF MA RKETING lau r a s wi n b urn e publicity@wessexscene.co.uk F E A T URES ED IT OR am y p i ck n el l features@wessexscene.co.uk P O LIT ICS ED IT OR z ach ari ah s h ari f politics@wessexscene.co.uk O P I N ION EDIT OR c har l ot t e col omb o opinion@wessexscene.co.uk LI F E S T YL E ED IT OR j u li a b eazl ey lifestyle@wessexscene.co.uk SCI EN CE & T ECH E DITO R j am e s mos el ey science@wessexscene.co.uk TR AVEL ED IT OR c he ls ea s mi t h travel@wessexscene.co.uk I N T ERNA T IONA L E DITO R i van morri s p ox t on international@wessexscene.co.uk

HELLO WORLD! Our world is gigantic! It’s endless, ever-changing and exciting. As much as we would loved to savour every part of it, even the most avid travellers among us won’t make it to every place on our beloved planet. So it comes as no surprise that we just aren’t capable of knowing everything about everywhere. Sometimes big important things pass us by without ever getting our attention, or often we just don’t focus enough on the small and wonderfully obscure details of life. Our world is filtered, we see what is inside the comfort of our safe bubbles but nothing outside. Here at Wessex Scene we want to pop that bubble. We’ve found stories not only from across the globe that you may have missed, but also stories from right under your nose, like revealing the mysterious tunnel from the Union to Hartley. We also ask questions like, why is it as society we know everything possible about the Kardashian’s and not even close to enough about the civil war in Yemen? We’re all conscientious, caring individuals and no one wants to see harm done to any citizen on this planet. Yet instead of informing us of these horrific atrocities, instead the media turns our heads away so we don’t have to see. That’s not the world we should or want to live in. It is hard to find the unreported, to look beyond the forefront of our lives and cut through the layers of fog, but it is not an impossible task. Maybe it is just something we’ve got to train ourselves to be aware of so that the challenge of digging deeper becomes less daunting. At Wessex Scene, we say now is as good a time as any to start paying the unreported world some attention - so keep reading to get started!

THE EDITOR

SP ORT S EDIT OR dam i an mead en sport@wessexscene.co.uk SUB- EDIT OR far i h ah ch oud h u ry SUB- EDIT OR hannah b ees on SUB- EDIT OR m e gan h art V P D CI E V I E REI L LY vpcomms@soton.ac.uk

FRONT COVER IMAGE BY HERMIONE COOK SUSTAINABLE PLANET MAGAZINE

WESSEX SCENE | WELCOME

FEATURES HIDDEN PLACES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON

THE DARK WEB

OPINION 06

NOT IN OUR BACKYARD... WHY DON’T WE REPORT VIOLENCE AND ISSUES WORLDWIDE?

VIEWS ON THE NEWS: CONFIDENTIALITY CLAUSES AND DISCRIMINATION

WHY THESE TRANSGENDER ISSUES NEED MORE COVERAGE

POLITICS FROM SUFFRAGETTES TO FEMINISM

WINSTON CHURCHILL: HERO OR VILLAIN?

SCIENCE & TECH 14

SUSTAINABILITY IN YOUR CEREAL BOWL

GRAPHENE: THE WATER FILTER THAT COULD SAVE THE WORLD

LIFESTYLE

INTERNATIONAL

UNREPORTED TREASURES: SOUTHAMPTON’S INDEPENDENT CULINARY GEMS

ORIGINS OF TRENDS FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE

WHY THE MICROBEAD BECAME A MAJOR PROBLEM

EGO AND IMPERIAL AMBITION: PUTIN’S BRIDGE

CANADA’S SECRET MISSION TO SAVE GAY PEOPLE FROM TORTURE IN RUSSIA

SNAP JAPANESE GENERAL ELECTION: VICTORY FOR ABE

TRAVEL ISN’T GLAMOUROUS

HAVE YOU EVER HEARD A STORY ABOUT IRAQ THAT ISN’T ABOUT WAR?

BEHIND THE ELEPHANT RIDES

A WHOLE NEW KIND OF TOURISM: CHINA’S FASCINATION WITH NORTH KOREA

SPORT 33

QUIDDITCH - THE MUGGLE’S GAME

THE WORLD’S MOST BIZARRE AND UNKNOWN SPORTS

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TRAVEL

F B . C OM / W S C E N E @OF F IC IAL W E S S E X S C E N E 3

UNREPORTED WORLD MAGAZINE

HIDDEN PLACES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON WORDS BY IVAN MORRIS POXTON IMAGE BY HANNAH SHORT

The University of Southampton’s Highfield Campus holds many hidden and obscure places which, in some cases, have achieved to mythical status amongst the few students who are aware of them. This article looks to shed light on some of the known and alleged obscure places at the university’s main campus. Hartley Library to Union Building tunnel:

A popular rumour among some students is the existence of a tunnel between Hartley Library and Building 42. The entrance to the tunnel in the Union building is said to be near Surge Radio’s headquarters. An embellishment of this rumour is that the tunnel was constructed for some purpose during the Second World War. It’s even been claimed that a former Student Union President stumbled upon it in recent times in a less than sober state. However, when contacting the university for information and possible access, the existence of a tunnel was flatly denied. Although, they did say that there are service ducts which run from the Union Building to Hartley, so perhaps the ex-Student Union President did wander through a link to Hartley Library.

Union Undercroft:

In my investigations into the possible existence of the tunnel to Hartley, I did receive a tip-off and gained access to the undercroft beneath the Cube in the Union Building thanks to the Student Union. Hidden beneath an innocuous metal grid hatch, a less than hospitable ladder awaits anyone seeking to reach the undercroft a couple of metres below the Cube floor. Having cleared the ladder and passed underneath a large connecting pipe of some sort, the undercroft then opens up into four aisles. Over the years, it’s become the storage place for innumerable documents and material related to the Students Union and its activities. These include a pamphlet related to drug advice and old editions of Wessex Scene and the then-pullout section, The Edge, before it left the mothership. One document I came across

dated back to 1969, whereas the most recent was a copy of a Wessex Scene magazine from 2015. However, due to the stifling air down in the undercroft, my glance into items held there was very brief, so perhaps there are documents dating back further.

Snapchat responses:

In our appeal on Snapchat for students’ own favourite obscure places at university, the Valley Gardens were a popular recommendation. Located behind the Union building and the old gym, it’s a lovely spot to take a breather from studies or indeed, study outside on campus. The Department of Biology began running the gardens in the 1960s and over the years, it’s accumulated a number of rare plant species. VP Welfare, Sam Higman, picked it out as her favourite hidden place on Highfield Campus, describing it as ‘a lovely place to de-stress’. One respondent to our Snapchat appeal picked out a corridor that exists between the Union building and Stags as an obscure place on campus, asserting they’d only discovered its existence after they’d graduated. Considering I wasn’t aware of its existence until researching for this article, perhaps he’s right – not enough people know about it! Considering Highfield Campus’ history as an educational establishment for over 100 years, it’s no surprise that there are odd doors and rooms hidden within the university. Overall, the Snapchat responses we received and the personal research I undertook shows Highfield Campus’ nooks and crannies to be multifold, and they have captured the imagination of some students. One can only wonder what hidden rooms and places may lurk at Southampton University’s other campuses…

UNREPORTED WORLD MAGAZINE

The Dark Web WORDS BY AKSHADA RAWAT IMAGE BY HANNAH SHORT What do you think about when someone tells you another world exists other than the world we are part of. Does it scare you or get you excited? Are you excited enough to explore that new world or are you scared to even look at it? The Dark Web, also called the underworld, is the deadliest second world. The word ‘underworld’ sounds scary as we associate it with organised crime and criminals, which obviously gives us the chills. The Dark Web is part of the world wide web, but it exists on darknets, overlay networks which use the internet for access but also uses some specific software. Don’t confuse the Dark Web for the Deep Web. The Deep Web is that part of the world wide web that is kept hidden behind HTML forms. It’s common uses are online banking and web mail. For some movies or magazines we have to have to pay because they are protected by a paywall, so it’s legal online content, whereas the Dark Web is totally different and is generally defined as illegal. In the Dark Web, the darknets are small peer-to-peer networks or large networks such as Tor, Freenet and I2P which are operated by individuals or unknown public organisations. This free software will help you get in the encrypted network and help you to maintain your anonymity online. You won’t see the domain ending with .com or .org, it will end in .onion. No one knows how big the dark web is, but it’s a hundred times bigger than the surface web (the web which is accessible to us). According to some people, the data is not intentionally hidden from people, it’s just that the technology of the current search engine can’t find it. The dark web is totally anonymous and very powerful. You can do anything you want once you get in. You can find illegal trade and activities of all kinds, including: illicit drugs, child pornography, stolen credit card numbers, human trafficking, weapons, exotic animals and copyrighted media. With the dark web, the world is your oyster; if you don’t like someone and wish to kill them, just give the order, make the payments and your work is done. Your enemy is dead. The infamous Silk Road was the first darknet online black market which became the best platform for selling illegal things, especially drugs. It was operated under the hidden servers of the dark web. People were buying and selling anonymously and without traffic

UNREPORTED WORLD MAGAZINE

monitoring. It first came to the Dark Web in February 2011, and was shut down by the FBI in October 2013. Silk Road 2.0 was again shut down by the FBI and Europol on 6th November 2014, and Silk Road 3.0 came offline in 2017 because of loss of funds. Ross William Ulbricht was the owner and founder of Silk Road. Arrested in 2013, he was convicted of eight charges related to Silk Road by U.S. Federal Court in Manhattan and was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole. Tor, the free software that gets you into the dark web, was the concomitant of the U.S Naval Research Laboratory, which made Tor for the political dissenters and informants, enabling them to convey without dread of retaliation. What they did not realise was that it would soon become such a powerful tool for illegal trading. Anonymity is what defines the Dark Web, neither buyers nor sellers know a thing about the other. They do not know who they are selling to or buying from and all the payments are done via Bitcoin, an encrypted digital currency. All kinds of transactions are possible with Bitcoin and it is untraceable. It could be the currency of the future, a decentralized and unregulated money free from the reins of any government. In the Tor software, it’s the closest thing to an ideal approach to buy and sell on the Dark Web. In 2014, a study from the University of Portsmouth by Gareth Owen found that the most uploaded content on Tor was child pornography. The future of the Dark Web predicts that the marketplace will become stronger, Trend Micro foresees ‘the rise of new, completely decentralised marketplaces’ that rely on Bitcoin’s blockchain technology. It predicts that this will be used ‘to implement full-blown marketplaces without a single point of failure’, guaranteeing safe and secure transactions. With Bitcoins becoming much more difficult to track, the report says that ‘cryptocurrencies go hand in hand with Deep Web marketplaces […] in that regard, we’ll see new, advanced ways to make Bitcoins even less traceable than they are now’. It also notes that malware could take advantage of the blockchain technology, making the dark web and all the mysterious illegal activity that goes on there even harder to track and, therefore, making users even harder to prosecute.

‘NOT IN OUR BACKYARD’ WHY DON’T WE REPORT VIOLENCE AND ISSUES WORLDWIDE?

WORDS BY CHARLOTTE COLOMBO IMAGE BY AVILA DIANA CHIDUME

Did you know that Kylie Jenner is pregnant? I’m sure you’ve heard; even though it hasn’t come from the horse’s mouth, the mere assumption and loose ‘sources’ confirmed by TMZ mean that this drivel has been dominating headlines whereas other stories fall into the shadow. Were you also aware that a car bomb in Somalia killed 276 citizens? Maybe you would if you were patient enough to flick through to the very last page of the newspaper…

UNREPORTED WORLD MAGAZINE

The way that some media outlets prioritize news is problematic, to say the least, and whilst I appreciate that different news outlets have different priorities, there is a line. Although you’d expect the headline of The Daily Echo to be about Roger growing the world’s largest potato, you know there’s a problem when some of the main players in the media industry reduce significant global tragedies to a column piece to make way for a front-page close up of Katie Price’s rubbery, play-dough lips. Tragedies such as Grenfell Tower dominated the media and rightfully so, but what about issues such as child marriage, extreme poverty, and FGM? We can all agree on two things. Firstly, those issues exist, and secondly, as decent, empathetic human beings, we do not approve of them. However, since it’s not on our doorstep, it is assumed that we don’t care. As long we can eat our crumpets, drink our tea and stroke a picture of Winston Churchill in peace, nothing else matters, right? But that is simply not true. As shown with horrible events like the Haiti earthquake and the Paris attacks, the British public is actually capable of showing solidarity. We aren’t unfeeling, superficial monsters. We cried for these people, donated to charity, and did everything in our power to make things right. We connected with others in crisis and tried to help them based not on the fact we share a British citizenship, but because we are all fellow human beings. We were enabled to do this due to the extensive coverage this event was given in the media and for once it wasn’t left to a charity to condense everything we should know into a sixtysecond TV ad. Many newspapers would argue that it’s a case of supply and demand. We like celebrity gossip and women marrying trains so that’s what we’ll get until something happens that affects us and only us. Tragedies do not equate to facts and figures, but it just doesn’t sit right with me that I had to do a lot of digging to discover that over 60 people had been killed in suicide bombings at Afghanistan mosques. Human life, rights, and liberties should not be pushed aside as though they don’t matter just because such issues do not impact our daily lives.

have a huge online presence, the very source of the issue is in these countries. One of these individuals indoctrinated alone can hurt an unacceptable amount of people in attacks like Westminster and Manchester. So consider the sheer horrific extent of damage they do in places where they are not only in masses, but also in a position of political power. The story of Malala Yousafzai could have ended a lot differently if it weren’t for media intervention. Better medical care, protection from the Taliban and raising awareness of troubling conditions that we scarcely knew existed made all the difference. She has been able to be a source of inspiration for many and finally get the education she deserves by studying her degree at Oxford. But how many Malalas were there before her? And how many have there been since? This kind of oppression might seem unusual, but that’s because we have liberty and safeguards that many others can only dream of. This is a further example of the media making a change, so I don’t understand this selectivity. Why not go beyond making someone like Malala a ‘symbol’ and instead help the countless others like her who have a similarly optimistic hope for future. That is, after all, what she wants as well. Organisations like the United Nations and European Courts exist to ensure that no matter where you’re from, you are treated with the same dignity and standard. No matter where you are from, a life is a life and it should be treated as the precious gift it is. We are all human beings, whether we’re a few houses down the road or on the other side of the globe. We should be patriotic and look out for people based on our shared humanity alone. I have been told by many that they don’t watch the news because it can be too depressing. Whilst knowing the state of humanity worldwide maybe isn’t as interesting as a funny dog video, it is crucial knowledge. This knowledge at the very least gives us the option to take action and make a difference. Who knows? Maybe if we did there would be fewer problems to report in the first place.

The atrocities committed by ISIS have been evil to the core, and it’s clear that they need to be stopped. Whilst the ‘lone wolf ’ attacks occurring in Europe on behalf of them are incredibly troubling, it barely scratches the surface of the horrors they commit in countries such as Syria. Whilst they

UNREPORTED WORLD MAGAZINE

V I EW S O N T H E N EW S : CONFIDENTIALITY CLAUSES AND DISCRIMINATION

UNREPORTED WORLD MAGAZINE

WORDS BY SARAH WHITTINGTON IMAGE BY AVILA DIANA CHIDUME Few things are said to be as life-changing an experience as becoming a parent, as my (admittedly limited) focus group of family and friends will attest. Suddenly, this new child arrives, entirely dependent on its caregivers for all its needs – emotionally, physically and financially. Apparently, all the planning in the world just isn’t enough to prepare for the weeks and months of intense learning and improvising on how to care for this miniature human. Now, imagine a scenario where either you or your partner, having newly given birth, have returned to work and found yourselves made compulsorily redundant. Imagine being made to feel so unwelcome that you had to leave your job, or were summarily dismissed. That’s got to be a thing of the past, hasn’t it? Surely that couldn’t happen in Britain in 2017? Well, according to an article published by the BBC this month, that is exactly what is still happening to one in nine of 3,000 new mothers questioned as part of an investigation into maternity discrimination. So why on earth isn’t this more widely known? Citing a case of a new mother named ‘Emma’, the BBC explains that it is fairly typical for mothers, once dismissed from their jobs, to settle the case out of court. This is without a doubt the less intimidating option for a new mother, compared with a full-scale employment tribunal. However, this “easy-option” also carries along with it the standard practice of a confidentiality clause, following a settlement which prohibits the employee from speaking out about the case. Tellingly, the BBC quotes lawyer Karen Jackson who says that many offenders employing this practice are ‘household’ names and brands, despite widely-publicised equality legislation which should protect new and expectant mothers from unfair dismissal. The reality, however, seems to be a culture in which discrimination is allowed to occur under the radar via these so-called ‘gag orders’.

UNREPORTED WORLD MAGAZINE

As a first step, it seems fair to me that if these companies wish to dismiss new parents, they should not be allowed to hide their actions in the small print of settlement orders. If we look at the examples set by other countries, from Germany’s dismissal ban which prevents a new mother from being dismissed until four months after birth, to the extensive childcare provision in Scandinavian countries such as Finland, we can see how new parents can and should be supported when returning to work. To say that these are measures which only help new parents would be missing the point. Employers suffer when they lose talented employees. Progression towards equality also suffers when companies are still allowed to see and treat members of their workforce as liabilities simply for having a child. Whilst a universal outlawing of these ‘gag orders’ holds its own problems, surely greater transparency in regards to this particular area can only act to the common good? A ‘gag order’ which ‘protects the individual’ from scrutiny or press exposure is clearly not an argument which withstands scrutiny when applied to these examples of maternity discrimination. Silencing those affected is hiding this increasing problem, and empowering the bad practice of the employer. This is not to say, of course, that this is applicable in all scenarios. Maintaining a degree of confidentiality, such as redacting the names of underage persons or survivors of sexual assault, are measures which offer both a protection and agency to said anonymous person. There is, however, a discrepancy in this comparison; not releasing information to protect an individual in a traumatic case is hardly the same as hiding statistics of maternity discrimination via a confidentiality clause. An environment, then, which prohibited the use of confidentiality clauses in certain situations and forced employers to either change their ways or risk public exposure is surely in the common interest. In the mean time, one would hope that a well directed Freedom of Information request for these ‘household names’ might lay some statistical groundwork for the scale of discrimination currently being swept under the rug.

UNREPORTED WORLD MAGAZINE

WHY TRANSGENDER ISSUES NEED MORE COVERAGE WORDS BY KOLBY PEARSON IMAGE BY AVILA DIANA CHIDUME With media coverage ranging from the likes of Caitlyn Jenner to the remarks made by Trump and his supporters, the overall existence of transgender people is pretty well covered. People understand that transgender individuals exist; that we take up space in their society, schools, and workplaces. My peers have always understood the bureaucracy of being transgender, the paperwork involved and the waiting times to be seen by doctors. However, the hidden and rarely spoken of world that many transgender people live in is rife with mental health issues and discrimination. From unemployment to family life, to violence, and homelessness. Being transgender can place a person in a dangerous situation, but when these people are the youth of today, these issues place everyone’s futures at risk. Being transgender comes with it’s own set of mental health issues; the disconnect a person can feel with their body may be enough to prevent them from living a full life, and a society that dictates that we must have certain characteristics to ‘be’ a certain gender is enough to allow a transgender person to feel that they are not enough, and may never be so. When these feelings are combined with discrimination or the lack of acceptance from friends, family, and wider society, transgender people are often left out on their own. Transgender teens face the prospect of homelessness. The National Centre for Transgender Equality reports that at least one in ten people in the United States are evicted from housing due to their gender identity. Stonewall reported that, in a study of UK pupils, eight out of ten transgender youths have self-harmed, and almost half have attempted suicide. This is usually found to have been caused by bullying, despite many schools having anti-bullying policies in place. I was 14 when I first realised I was transgender. I didn’t know what the word for it was, and I didn’t understand why I felt this way, considering I’d heard of other transgender people knowing since they were very young. The idea was so horrifying to me, and it was because of what I’d heard people laughing about around school that I completely rebelled against these feelings. I attempted to become the most feminine woman I possibly could. I lost friends because I was changing myself, and I lost parts of myself too. Eventually, I grew so disgusted in myself, I began to self-harm. I isolated myself and swore not to tell a soul about my feelings. It wasn’t until I got to university and I saw so many other people like me that I was able to be me. They were able to live their lives, they were getting along with other people. If they could do it, so could I. Two years on, and I am happily out and proud as a transman. The difference in myself is astounding. I am no longer afraid of other people, I am no longer scared to be seen out in public. Acceptance of transgender people is what makes the difference between life and death. Transgender issues need more coverage because people are unaware of the emotional turmoil we go through. Transgender issues need more coverage because cisgender people should understand without transgender people having to constantly explain ourselves. Transgender issues need more coverage because the acceptance of transgender people could literally save lives.

UNREPORTED WORLD MAGAZINE

FROM SUFFRAGETTES TO FEMINISM WORDS BY LISA VEIBER IMAGE BY ALICE CLARK The 21st century has brought an increase in media coverage. Articles are getting online faster and opinions are published easier. While some may think feminism is an old-fashioned trend that is getting more than enough headlines in magazines, the foundation of this movement is often overlooked for what it is believed to be today. First-wave feminism is thought to have emerged during the 19th century, even though the origins of the fundamental belief in gender equality had been set earlier during the Enlightenment and more largely spread after the French Revolution when Rousseau tried to strip women of their rights and properties. This was the first time a collective raised their voice for women’s rights. In the UK, the first organised movement took place in 1865 in a shape of a debating society called Ladies’ Discussion Society where women discussed whether or not they should interfere in politics and public affairs. They refused to become a suffragette movement as they were afraid of being taken over by extremists. In the last half of the 19th century, a great number of societies promoting votes for women were created across the country from London to Manchester to Edinburgh. Yet in their earlier stages those groups were not designed to get the right to vote for women but to promote political literacy instead. After women started to campaign for votes, they separated themselves in two main groups: the suffragists who used peaceful methods such as lobbying to get their voices heard and the suffragettes who attracted more publicity due to their use of violence.

In 1903, Emmeline Pankhurst founded the Women’s Social and Political Union who often used a campaign of violence which resulted in the Cat and Mouse Act which was to protect imprisoned women so they did not end up dying as martyrs. It was only after the First World War when women had replaced men at work that they gained some recognition and some of them obtained the right to vote in an act passed by parliament, but they had to wait until 1928 to fully have the same voting rights as their male counterparts and be eligible for the House of Commons. This story may seem like a closed chapter of history and feminism that has sometimes been stained by the use of violence. Unfortunately, in the wider world women are still deprived of some basic rights. In developing countries, child marriage is still widespread as one out of nine girls are married before the age of 15, according to UNICEF. Women only just gained the right to drive in Saudi Arabia. Women can still be divorced in India if their husband uses the ‘triple-talaq’, a custom by which if they say, text or Skype them saying three times ‘talaq’ they are automatically divorced. In Europe rape-shaming is still happening – it was reported last year that after being raped by a Stanford student, the judge asked the victim what she was wearing and why did she not just cross her legs. Feminism has for too long been known as a movement which wants women to dominate men, but this could not be further from the truth. Feminism, in its essence, simply seeks equality.

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WINSTON CHURCHILL: HERO OR VILLAIN? WORDS BY ZACHARIAH SHARIF IMAGE BY LUCY WHELLER-PARR When we are taught about Winston Churchill, it is only in relation to the great Nazi threat. Winston Churchill, widely regarded as Britain’s best Prime Minister and (according to a BBC poll in 2002) the ‘greatest Briton’, saved our country from terror, tragedy and injustice. But did he enforce all those things too? Many have argued that it was Churchill specifically who had the main role in starving 4.3 million Indians during the Bengal famine of 1943. A war hero, a saviour to his people, but also a racist responsible for the deaths of millions. As a young soldier fighting in Afghanistan, his actions appeared to be far more reckless than necessary. When discussing the Mohmands, a local tribe, he said that ‘All who resist will be killed without quarter’, but perhaps more worryingly this was because ‘the Pashtuns need[ed]to understand the superiority of race’. It is important to understand his racism, as with all racism of the time, in its relevant historical context. But even so, this is not some casual discriminatory remark common of the time, this is justifying an action on the grounds of white supremacy. This racial superiority instilled in Churchill was the driving force behind the Bengal famine of 1943. ‘I hate Indians. They are a beastly people with a beastly religion.’ – Churchill clearly didn’t worry about Britain’s murder, pillage and theft in India. In his tenure as a journalist before politics, he had described the British, compared to the Indians, as the ‘dominant race’, and had described Islam as ‘increasing the fury of intolerance’, ironically not tolerating it. When invaded, occupied and forced to labour, people tend not to be the most tolerant and co-operative. Possibly my favourite quote though on this subject, is Churchill’s following remark. ‘The religion of blood and war [Islam] is face to face with that of peace. Luckily the religion of peace is usually the better armed.’ This is apparently meant without a hint of irony.

begging for their food, but British politicians were outraged at the injustice taking place at the base of Britain’s wealth and status as a world power. Churchill not only dismissed criticism of his policies that helped four million Indians starve to death, but took a bullish and care-free attitude towards this atrocity. In response to a telegram from India begging for food, he infamously replied: ‘Why hasn’t Gandhi died yet?’ Gandhi was another object of Winston’s hatred. When Gandhi started his campaign of peaceful resistance to the British, Churchill remarked that he ‘ought to be lain bound hand and foot at the gates of Delhi, and then trampled on by an enormous elephant’. It is clear that Churchill stood for democracy and freedom only for the British, and utilised the devised racism justifying colonisation to steal, starve and hoard. When proclaiming his wish for partition in India (a move that has caused a whole host of geopolitical turmoil) he stated that ‘I’d rather see them have a good civil war’. Winston Churchill defended Britain, saving millions of lives. Unfortunately, he also defended the British Empire too, killing millions. Heroes are tricky.

Even given this racial pretext, the events of 1943 were still extreme. Food was diverted from the Indians it was meant for, and stockpiled for the already well-supplied British army and its stockpiles, as well as elsewhere in Europe, including Greece and Yugoslavia. Churchill not only stole millions of tons of food from the Indians, but he refused to allow aid from other nations in the Empire. Canada offered 10,000 tons of rice, the US 100,000, but Churchill simply refused to allow aid. Not only were the Indians

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SUSTAINABILITY IN YOUR CEREAL BOWL WORDS BY FARIHAH CHOUDHURY IMAGE BY LUCY WHELLER-PARR Rapid population growth in the last few decades has engendered an untameable global appetite. It is no wonder people are turning to alternative diets and digging in ditches for six-legged sources of protein. Rice is one of the top cultivated grains globally; it is a staple food for many nations not just for lunch and dinner, but in your breakfast cereals too. Since rice and its popular food friends such as maize and barley are in such high demand, is it possible to switch to more sustainable sources of cereal? A European study was pioneered in 2013 called HealthyMinorCereals to investigate how we can maximise alternative cereal grains, such as spelt, rye, emmer and einkorn. The project, due to be concluded in August 2018, aims to reduce the environmental impact of commercial farming, in the hopes of increasing global food security. Cereal products in the EU are heavily fortified with vitamins and minerals in order to ameliorate their nutrient density, in government efforts to increase micronutrient intake in the population. Examples of common nutrients added to commercial cereals include: Vitamins D, B1 (Thiamine), B2 (Riboflavin), B3 (Niacin), B6 and B12, as well as the minerals Iron and Zinc. These are all essential nutrients, meaning the body cannot synthesise them of its own accord, so they must be taken in through your diet. In the UK particularly, Vitamin D absorption is low, due to lack of exposure to sunlight, and a recent recommendation has suggested all adults in the UK should take supplements. Iron levels are often low in women of menstruating age due to the level of blood lost each month. 14

Furthermore, commercial cereal crops are cultivated in conditions to accrue a high yield, in order to meet the increasingly high demand. In order for minor cereal crops to be accepted into the commercial food market, food scientists are working on optimising ideal growth conditions that will ensure the required yield is achieved and that the nutritional value is of a stellar standard. Currently, efforts are being made to genetically characterise these lesser-known crops to ascertain their nutritional quality. Researchers have assessed over 800 genotypes of the crops to find those which have the best resistance against fungal diseases as well as the strongest nutrient quality. Promisingly, these minor cereals seem to retain far greater micronutrient density than conventional wheat varieties. Environmental testing is also being conducted in European zones with differing climates with the help of farmers, to ascertain the best conditions for the growth of the crops. In order to tackle the aforementioned overpopulation and feed the world, unsustainable farming practices have been adopted globally. Overuse of artificial fertilisers, pesticides and vast amounts of energy has had, and continues to have detrimental environmental impacts. It is possible that the advent of projects such as HealthyMinorCereals could start to regulate the commercial food industry, and provide more nutritious food to primary and secondary consumers of the crops, but there is a long way to go until long-term effects can be reversed.

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GRAPHENE THE WATER FILTER THAT COULD SAVE THE WORLD WORDS BY JAMES MOSELEY IMAGE BY ABIDA RAHMAN

In a world where the unreported can seem to be only the hidden atrocities, corruption and a whole range of ongoing conflicts, it’s important to remember that there are positives out there. One of these unreported positives is the development going on with a “miracle” material called Graphene. Graphene has the potential to tackle, and maybe irradicate completely, the issue of water scarcity, a problem that the UN predicts affects over 40% of the world’s population. Graphene was first discovered in 2004 at the University of Manchester and further investigation into its properties saw researchers at the University win the Nobel Prize for physics in 2010. Graphene itself consists of a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a particular manner, a seemingly simple structure but one that has huge potential applications across a range of fields of science. The application that holds possibly the greatest positive impact for this world is its ability to filter salt water, making it drinkable. If this can be done on a large scale, the consequences could be huge. It is thought that the next wars will be fought over water, to some extent conflicts in the Middle East including the Israel-Palestine conflict are already driven, or at least exacerbated, by the lack of drinkable water in the region. With the world’s water usage increasing and its aquifers becoming more and more polluted, our sources for fresh water could soon run dry. 97% of the world’s water is stored as un-drinkable salty sea water. The process of desalinisation is currently the only viable way to turn this saltwater into fresh water but the process is very expensive and energy intensive. However, if this graphene based water filter can be developed so it can be work and be produced on large scales as well as being relatively cheap, people all around the world would be able to utilise the ocean’s reserves for their daily lives.

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Although much research is still needed Professor Rahul Nair from the University of Manchester highlights that this isn’t science fiction and that this technology can be developed successfully: “This is the first clear-cut experiment in this regime. We also demonstrate that there are realistic possibilities to scale up the described approach and mass produce graphene-based membranes with required sieve sizes.” There are a number of issues, too many to realistically list here, but here are two of the main ones. First of all, the safety of using any new material that is involved in producing something that is for human consumption is paramount. They don’t want to be distributing a filter that could be making the water more toxic than it was before! Secondly, the graphene filter works because of its 1 nanometre (0.000000001 metres) wide holes that are just big enough to allow water molecules through and not the salt molecules. However, when submerged in water, these holes swell and become larger, allowing small salt molecules through also, making the filter ineffective. A possible solution to this issue is to use ‘glue’ of sorts to fix the holes in place, and not allow any disfiguration to occur. Despite these problems, everyone has one goal in mind that Ram Devanathan, from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, USA sums up perfectly here: “The ultimate goal is to create a filtration device that will produce potable water from seawater or wastewater with minimal energy input.” To put it in even more simple terms, a world where everyone has access to clean fresh water and it is looking like it will very much be possible.

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UNR EP ORTED T RE A SURE S: SOUTHAMPTON’S INDEPENDENT CULINARY GEMS WORDS BY SOPHIE PITMAN IMAGE BY MARY McGUINNESS WITH THE RECENT ADDITION OF WEST QUAY’S WATERMARK DEVELOPMENT, SOUTHAMPTON’S FOOD SCENE IS LOOKING BETTER THAN EVER. WELL-KNOWN BRAND NAMES SUCH AS WAHACA, FIVE GUYS AND ZIZZI’S ARE REGULARLY BRIMMING WITH STUDENTS AND FAMILIES ALIKE, AND CONTINUE TO FLOURISH. NONETHELESS, AS MORE AND MORE FRANCHISES ENTER THE CITY, IT IS OFTEN EASY TO FORGET ABOUT THE LOCAL, INDEPENDENT RESTAURANTS THAT WE ARE SO LUCKY TO HAVE. HERE’S A SELECTION OF MY FAVOURITE UNREPORTED TREASURES THAT ARE WORTH EXPLORING:

BE L G I UM A N D B L U E S

SAK URA

Located in Southampton’s up-and-coming Cultural Quarter, Belgium and Blues is a quaint, independent bar and brasserie. Set on two floors – The Gin Bar on street level and The Beer Cellar down below – Blues prides itself in having nothing but the best quality produce, with over 40 different Belgium bottled beers, and a similar number of gins, all of which can be enjoyed with a Fever Tree tonic of your choice or a recommended option from the knowledgeable staff. Unlike its drinks selection, Blues’ food menu is simple and paired back, showcasing delicious Belgium classics such as Flemish stew and schnitzels, as well as unfamiliar delicacies such as Bitterballen – a light, deep-fried Belgian snack made with beef and herbs – and its vegetarian alternative, Kroketten.

Off the back of its success as Portsmouth’s first Japanese restaurant in 2009, Sakura recently opened a branch in Bedford Place, maintaining the same authentic decor and love for Japan that has proven so popular at its flagship restaurant. Sakura has demonstrated that Japanese food can be more than just sushi, providing customers with a plethora of dishes that range from the crowd-pleasing – katsu curry, ramen and gyoza (deep-fried or steamed dumplings filled with meat or vegetables) – to the more obscure such as takoyaki (octopus balls) and okonomi yaki, a smoky Japanese sausage pancake. Those with special dietary requirements will not be left disappointed as the restaurant caters for a number of intolerances, supplying nut free alternatives, along with a number of gluten-free options.

RECOMMENDATION: Visit on a Thursday for Steak and

RECOMMENDATION: Try a little bit of everything with a

Mussel Night to grab yourself a big, hearty bowl of House Moules and Frites, accompanied with a glass of the Conker Dorset Dry gin and premium tonic.

STEIN GARTEN Dubbed “Southampton’s German Bar Experience”, Stein Garten will transport you to the streets of Munich as soon as you walk through the door. Decorated to resemble a traditional Bavarian bierkeller, Stein Garten is quintessentially German. Guests can revel in a selection of regional draught beers and ciders in conventional two-pint steins, including the eponymously named ‘Stein Garten Hefeweizen’. Those looking to try some local cuisine have the choice of popular dishes such as bratwursts and beef goulash and a number of home comforts including spätzel – a German favourite with soft egg noodles in a creamy smoked cheese sauce – and succulent roast pork shank.

‘teishoku’ which comes with a variety of sashimi and make rolls, calamari and soups. Pair it with a warm bottle of traditional saké, a Japanese wine not too dissimilar to our mulled Christmas favourite.

BRING & MIX Situated up the road from Sakura, Bring & Mix is the ultimate hidden gem. Sharing a building with Retro Cafe and opening only two nights a week, Mix transforms into a 1920’s speakeasy, offering customers an alternative night-out with a twist. For £19, guests can bring a number of spirits of their choice and indulge in bespoke cocktails made by trained mixologists, who serve them straight to their table.

RECOMMENDATION: The less you know, the better!

RECOMMENDATION: Tuck into a classic chicken and

pork schnitzel, served with red pickled cabbage and a choice of potatoes, alongside a large stein of Krombacher.

UNREPORTED WORLD MAGAZINE

ORIGINS OF TRENDS FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE WORDS BY FREYA MILLARD IMAGE BY MICHALIS RODOSTHENOUS

Trends are an odd concept. Sometimes it feels like they emerge from nowhere, dominate the high street and then disappear off the face of the earth without a trace. However, this is actually far from the case. Like everything else, trends have origins, and I felt inspired to track their untold backstories down for you.

Waist Beads This was a trend I definitely got onboard with whilst experiencing summer camp in the USA a few years ago. There are many reasons why this trend gained popularity: firstly, they can be colourful, and they are super easy to create so you can make them yourselves to be patterned exactly how you like it. They also make great accessories for beachwear and they are just perfect for the summertime. The origin of waist beads is traced back to tribes in Africa, in particular, the Yoruba tribe in Nigeria. African women used to believe that the beads would protect pregnant women and could also be used as birth control – which maybe contradicts itself? The beads were attributed to having healing properties, especially depending on the variety of bright colours and materials used to craft them, such as gemstones, glass, pearls and so forth. Alternatively, they could be used as an effective way to help keep track of weight gain or loss. Once the beads start to get too tight or too loose it would let you know that your body is changing.

SUIT CUFFS Cuffed sleeves go hand in hand with suits and you probably never even stopped to think why. Well have no fear, I’ll tell you exactly what you were not wondering. The reason suits have cuffed sleeves was because, in the 1800’s, the high-class surgeons and doctors needed the ability to lift their sleeves up to their elbows to perform their medical wonders. You may ask yourself why they didn’t just take the suit jacket off but that, in fact, is a ridiculous

question. During that time period it was thought to be distasteful for a gentleman to remove his coat in public. Nowadays the cuffed sleeves have no purpose, because if you need to perform surgery you probably wouldn’t wear your finest suit! So instead, suit jackets include buttons or fancy cuff-links for some unknown reason, maybe it’s just to pay tribute to their origins.

Ear Stretchers This was a body modification trend that swept the UK at the turn of the decade. Not everyone was keen but it didn’t change the fact that ear stretching became common. It didn’t matter what kind of clique you associated yourself with, the fascination with big ear loops was everywhere! In reality, the trend was nothing to do with Western culture. In fact, the furthest thing from it, ear-stretching can even be traced back to Ancient Egypt with the discovery of the Mummy, Ötzi the Ice Man, who had his ears stretched to around 8mm. The Maasai tribe in Kenya had also been using ear stretching long before it ever caught on in the UK. Body modification has been a significant part of their culture, sometimes it was carried out by using weights and other times by increasing the size of the piercing. They would use different sources to increase the size, sometimes stone, wood, and even film canisters. Safe stretching takes a lot of time, therefore the older generation of the tribe had the biggest stretched ears, so it was associated with wisdom.

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High Heels

Mohawks

This is a trend that has nearly always been around and shows no sign of leaving anytime soon. We associate heels with femininity, elegance and extreme regret during a wobbly weekend bender. However, back at the beginning of the trend, this couldn’t have been further from the case. High heels were created to represent the masculine elitist – soldiers! The design came to life in Persia as a matter of practicality during battle. The horseback riders found wearing high heels to be helpful in increasing their balance whilst trying to simultaneously ride and do archery. So I guess that puts us modern ladies to shame who can just about hold our drinks in one hand whilst keeping our balance – or is that just me?

Now this is a bit of a gruesome origin story, and not to sound sadistic, but one of my favourites. Mohawks were the epitome of steam punk for a while, especially during the 70’s. However, long before they took to the stage they originated from a Native American tribe conveniently called the Mohawks. The hairstyle wasn’t just a fashion statement back then, it actually had a very practical existence. The tribe invented the style because they didn’t want other Native Americans to rip their scalps off their heads, which maybe sounds bizarre to us now, but it was actually a common practice that demonstrated victory in battle – kind of like a trophy.

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WHY THE

MIC ROBEAD BECAME A MAJOR PROBLEM WORDS BY HANNAH BEESON IMAGE BY SOPHIE WILLIAMS There has recently been controversy surrounding the use of microbeads in many of our everyday products such as facial scrubs and makeup. Microbeads are tiny pieces of plastic under 5mm and conservationists have claimed that the use of them has serious environmental consequences. But what exactly is so bad about these tiny beads of plastic?

microplastics means that they can be easily ingested by marine life and have the ability to transfer chemicals to and from the marine environment. What happens then is that microplankton consume the beads, slightly bigger fish consume the plankton, and so on until they reach our own plates. Shockingly, a 2016 study found that a quarter of all fish now contain plastic.

In 1976 John Ugelstad made a series of tiny, spherical polystyrene beads of exactly the same size. This was a small, yet revolutionary, medical breakthrough, as they could be used to treat cancer, help with HIV research and they even helped form the technological basis for home pregnancy tests. Yet it is the use of microbeads within cosmetic products which has been the source of ongoing controversy. They are used in many of our everyday products and are small enough to go down our plugholes and pass through water filtration systems.

What scientists fear is that the chemicals within plastics, and chemicals which attach themselves to plastic, could cause poisoning, infertility and genetic disruption in marine life, and these effects could potentially be found in humans if they are ingested in high enough quantities. It is these risks which contributed to the committee calling for a ban on microbeads, especially as they are avoidable. The UN report claimed that ‘the presence of microplastic in foodstuffs could potentially increase direct exposure of plastic-associated chemicals to humans and may present an attributable risk to human health’.

An environmental audit committee has recently called for a worldwide ban on cosmetic microbeads. While they have a definite value to science, the use of microbeads in face scrubs, body washes, and more, is having a ‘ruinous’ impact on the natural world. The website storyofstuff.org has claimed that the billions of microbeads going down our drains every day ‘absorb toxins in the water, are eaten by marine life, and can make their way up the food chain all the way to our dinner plates’. The environmental impacts of microbeads have been widely recognised, with an estimated 86 tonnes of microplastics being released into the environment every year in the UK from facial exfoliants alone, let alone any other products they are found in. The small size of these

While many companies, such as Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Clarins, Estée Lauder and Superdrug have made a voluntary commitment to phase out the use of microbeads in their products by 2020, the committee has said that a national ban would be preferable as it would have advantages for the industry in terms of ‘consistency, universality and confidence’. For such a tiny object, the scale of the problem is truly huge.

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EGO AND IMPERIAL AMBITION:

PUTIN’S BRIDGE WORDS BY JOHN PARNELL IMAGE BY ABIDA RAHMAN

Spanning the Tuzla Spit, a new bridge will link Russia and Crimea. At 12 miles and $3 billion, it will be the longest and most expensive in Russian history. Set to open at the beginning of 2019, the bridge will connect by road and rail the Crimean peninsula at Kercz with the Russian region of Krasnodor at Taman. Others have attempted this before. In 1870, the British Empire built a telegraph wire across the Kercz Strait, linking London with the British Raj. Later, war and icebergs destroyed Hitler and Stalins’ attempts to bridge the gap. Putin’s primary aim is create a land link to the Crimean capital Sevastopol, home to the Russian Black Sea fleet. Founded in 1783, the port city is a lynchpin of Russian naval and amphibious warfare in the Black Sea and Mediterranean. A reliable land connection is paramount for Russian warfare in these theatres: an ever-intensifying need, given the expanding Russian campaign in Syria. Overthrowing a corrupt regime in 2014, the Ukrainian people demanded their right to free-market, rule-of-law reforms. The ousted Kremlin-backed President fled to Moscow, and was soon replaced by a liberal, pro-Western reformer. Terrified of losing Sevastopol port under a fiercely anti-Kremlin government in Kiev, Putin used the revolutionary chaos as a cover to invade the Crimean peninsula: an illegal occupation which remains to this day. 22

Although an independence referendum was held, which recorded 95.5% support for secession, in reality the vote is not a particularly reliable indicator of Crimean people’s feelings towards remaining as part of Ukraine or seceding. This is due to the heavy military presence in the region at the time and the lack of any international observers able to verify the vote firsthand. Pro-EU, democratic, anti-corruption, pro-rule of law, unforeseen and spontaneous: the Ukrainian revolution seemed all too similar to an uprising which might yet wrench Putin from power. To wreck the Ukrainian people’s attempt at reform and liberation, Putin is fighting an undeclared war in Eastern Ukraine, muddying the waters with ‘separatists’ to conceal the real Russian invading force. Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine have been buried in secret. From Estonia to Japan, Russia’s neighbours are alive to the threat posed by this aggressive, gambling ex-KGB man. NATO is stepping up its defences in the Baltic states, deploying thousands of troops in multinational battalions. 800 British troops have been sent to Estonia, another 150 to Poland. RAF Typhoon fighter jets flew Air Policing missions this summer, over the Western Black Sea. After Russian military exercises over the summer (the largest since the Cold War) NATO has also established a 4,000-strong multinational battalion in the Western Black UNREPORTED WORLD MAGAZINE

Sea, prioritising air and sea assets. Plans for the bridge began shortly after the annexation, and the project has been beset with problems. The meteorology and geology of the area poses massive challenges: deep-lying mud volcanoes and a sludgy bottom can’t support the substantial foundations needed for such a big bridge. Russia’s parliament, the Duma, had to pass a special law to allow for unrestricted construction ignoring ecological dangers, and omitting any kind of public hearing. Awarded in June 2015, the contract for the project went to Стройгазмонтаж (Stroygazmontazh), the same company charged with overseeing the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. Owned by Arkady Rotenberg, a personal friend of President Putin, this company was sanctioned by the EU last November for its involvement in the project. As the annexation is illegal, all construction work is illegal too. The second state tender failed due to lack of bidders – foreign investors avoid complicity in Crimea’s annexation, as they are terrified of falling victim to Western sanctions on Putin’s collaborators. Russia’s economy has been battered by American and European sanctions, on top of the cost of an undeclared war in Eastern Ukraine. Rotenberg was already sanctioned as a senior Russian businessman, so risks to him from involvement in this illegal project were lessened. Originally, the total cost of UNREPORTED WORLD MAGAZINE

the project was estimated at $5 billion, but this has since dropped to $3.4 billion. Expanding the ferry service across would have been much cheaper than the $3 billion already ploughed into the project, and would have lasted far longer than the bridge. So why is Putin pushing this project? Pushback from the Ukranian people and the West has given him a bloody nose, and he needs a showy victory. This is not a new trick: the Soviets spent more than a decade and $14 billion building the Baikur-Amar train-line to the Pacific. With their brothers and friends killed on the Eastern Front, the Ukrainian people are now radicalised against Kremlin rule. Ukraine has suffered at Russian hands before, and the Ukrainian Volunteer Brigades won’t permit it again. Ukraine’s volunteer army has for the last three and a half years defended valiantly their homeland from occupation. Thanks to these men, Putin’s war is a disaster. Unable to declare a real victory in Ukraine or Crimea, Putin needs a tangible win to save face. A record-breaking historic bridge will do nicely.

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CANADA’S SECRET MISSION TO SAVE GAY PEOPLE FROM TORTURE IN RUSSIA WORDS BY LEILA SCOLA IMAGE BY JAMES WORSFOLD The Canadian government and an NGO called Rainbow Railroad has secretly given refuge to LGBTQ+ people from Chechnya. For three months a Canadian NGO, Rainbow Railroad, has been working with the Canadian government to provide refuge for persecuted LGBTQ+ men and women from Chechnya, a republic (an autonomous province) in Russia. The programme was only made public at the start of September because the first of the refugees had arrived in Canada, and the NGO now needs help to teach the refugees English, and help them find accommodation and jobs. Before then, due to the sensitive nature of the operation and for the sake of CanadianRussian relations, it was kept quiet. Around 40 people are expected to arrive from safe houses in Russia to different places around Canada. At present, around 22 have arrived, although the numbers are not wholly clear. The Canadian government provided emergency visas for the refugees because of the urgency and gravity of the situation in Chechnya. Since last April there have been reports that the Chechen government, headed by a strongman called Ramzan Kadyrov, launched a pogrom against gay men. Gay men have been arrested, either lured somewhere by security agents on chatrooms or arrested in broad daylight. They have then been detained and their mobile phones searched for names. The men are consequently held for a day or a few weeks and tortured with electricity, starvation and beatings, so they reveal names of other gay men. Eventually they’re released to their families, who are told they’re gay and encouraged to perform an honour killing. Homosexuality in Chechnya is taboo, and the autonomous, very right-wing government, is trying to eradicate it by rounding up gay men, with the Russian government turning a blind eye to this abuse of human rights.

So far, one person is known to have died under torture and two others by honour killings. In total, 75 gay men have managed to contact the Russian LGBT Network who are working to help gays flee to safe locations in Chechnya, and then on to safe houses in Russia. According to the Russian LGBT Network, out of those 75 men, 52 had been tortured. While the international community has raised an outcry at the horrific stories emerging from the region, the Russian government announced it had found no evidence that Chechen authorities had arrested gay men. The Chechen authorities go even further and deny that they are doing anything, because they say that homosexuality does not exist in Chechnya, therefore there can’t be a policy against it. Gay rights have been going downhill in Russia since they banned in 2012 ‘gay propaganda’, any piece of material that endorsed being gay. It was under this law that the new Beauty and the Beast film was banned because it had an openly gay character. The Chechen government is given a lot of autonomy from Moscow because it’s successfully suppressing insurgencies in their volatile region. It’s a deeply conservative Muslim society where honour killings of homosexuals and women go unpunished, and are now actively encouraged. It’s thought that Canada’s programme to help homosexual Chechens is unique in the world. However, as Chechnya continues to persecute, imprison and torture gay men and women, perhaps other countries should follow Canada’s example.

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Yet, the timing seems to have been deliberate. On the one hand, Abe was under heavy questioning in Parliament, and on the other hand, Tokyo’s first female Governor, Yuriko Koike, announced earlier that day that she was forming a new party, Kibo no To (Party of Hope), providing an alternative to Abe’s conservative Liberal Democratic party. Earlier in October, however, Koike announced she was open to form a grand coalition with the LDP. All national surveys predicted the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to take the lead, and having gained enough momentum to win an absolute single-party majority of 284 seats out of 465 seats in the House of Representatives, whereas Kibo no To struggled to gain support and were expected to win only 50 seats. Prime Minister Abe has only lost 3 seats in this campaign, while the Hope Party was the clear winner going from 11 to 50 seats. Abe has thus been reappointed as Prime Minister, as it’s the members of the House of Representatives who choose the Prime Minister and appoint a cabinet.

SNAP JAPANESE GENERAL ELECTION

VICTORY FOR ABE WORDS BY LISA VEIBER IMAGE BY ABIDA RAHMAN

While everyone has been focused on elections in the Western world, another snap general election was somewhat overlooked in the media. Japan was already suffering from a fading economy and difficult mediation with North Korea, when Prime Minister Shinzō Abe called a snap general election.

However, some political analysts were arguing surprising results should not be ruled out, as happened previously with the US and UK elections. Perhaps part of the reason those results were unexpected was that 30% of respondents to opinion polls declined to actually to name a candidate or party they planned to support. The losers of the election are without doubt the left, as opinion polls suggested that it would be unlikely the Japanese Communist Party would win back all of their seats, and indeed, they lost 9 seats, dropping to a total of 12. Meanwhile, the Social Democratic Party barely won two. Further tensions with North Korea should be expected, as Abe will continue his ‘strong diplomacy’ that has increased tensions between the two nations. Abe is also still entitled to continue his plan to revise Article 9 of the Japanese constitution. This currently restricts Japan to a solely defensive military role and was a key proviso of the post-World War Two peace settlement. It has led to complicated relationships with the United States and its current, often less than diplomatic, leader. Shinzō Abe is already the third longest-serving Japanese Prime Minister in post-war times, having briefly held office in 2006-2007 and his latest stint in power dating back to 2012. The policy initiatives which Abe has supported while in office include a controversial toning down in school textbooks of Japanese-inflicted atrocities during imperial times, and an everburgeoning relationship with Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi. At least partly drawn to each other by their shared territorial confrontations with China, the beginning last month of construction of a planned bullet train route in India, to be almost entirely paid for by Japan, indicates the close ties they’ve formed together. Still, if this had been the next big political shock, and the Liberal Democratic Party lost the election, Abe would have been expected to resign, as he had promised to in such a scenario. Additionally, Japan might be now engaging in a slightly different political direction in dealing with North Korea and the economic pressures the country also currently faces.

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H AVE YOU EVER H E ARD A S T ORY ON I RAQ THAT IS N’ T A BOU T WAR? WORDS AND IMAGE BY EMMA BIHAN-POUDEC I will concede that it would be incorrect to state that Iraq isn’t a country that has been torn apart by war, sectarianism and violence for decades. However, to restrict the coverage to these aspects doesn’t reflect the reality of this country. From my short but intense recent first-hand experience in Iraq, I can say that there are many untold stories of courage, resilience, solidarity and tolerance, many more than could ever be told. This is the memory I will cherish from my time as part of a human rights delegation in Iraqi Kurdistan. To meet people that have suffered so much and yet show incredible generosity, kindness and openness, is so far from what the Western media likes to report so extensively of people being intolerant, violent and tribal.

River to the east. You can reach the village of Kashkawa from Dupre by a 10-minute drive. The village of Dupre is a Kurdish Muslim village, whereas the village of Kashkawa is a Christian Assyrian village. Assyrians represent around 5% of the Iraqi population and speak a dialect of Aramaic, also known as Syriac, which was the language of Christ. The Assyrian empire fell in 612 and since, the Assyrians have since known many genocides and attacks, whether in ancient or modern times, and are still present in their ancestral land of northern Iraq. Their suffering and oppression from diverse majoritarian groups has been silenced for centuries now.

There were many occasions during my trip where I smiled, several times a day, thinking to myself how ignorant a lot of people would feel if they met people from Iraq, having to face the prejudices they feel so naturally. However, this article focuses on a truly inspiring experience, visiting the villages of Dupre and Kashkawa.

At our arrival in the village of Dupre, after hours driving through beautiful mountains and plains, we were greeted by the villagers, with warm hugs and hospitality, a rare occurrence in the world today. During our meeting with local families, we were given an overview of the life of the village. One woman stated: ‘we love our village and our lives, we just want peace, we just want the bombings to stop’. She is referring to the cross-borders Turkish bombings while showing us a hole in the roof of her house caused by a bomb.

These two villages are located in Iraqi Kurdistan, in the Nahla valley, about 30 kilometres south of the Turkish border. It’s near the mountains separating Iraq and Turkey, bound by the Khazir river to the west and the Greater Zab

Villagers expressed to us how grateful they were for the solidarity between Kashkawa and Dupre, how both communities help each other when in need. Dupre is a simple village with many family houses, a mosque, a

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water supply, and many agricultural fields which the local population depends upon. In how many places in the world do people only request peace and are content with what life has given them? Not many. As we arrived at the village of Kashkawa, bordering a river, we witnessed the tranquility of this village’s daily life. There were kids swimming in the river, Despacito was blasting from the speakers (we can never escape this song, can we?!) and there was a familial and joyful atmosphere. We enjoyed a meal with the villagers and people came from neighbouring villages to enjoy a sunny day at the river. The image given in the media about Kurdistan or Iraq makes it hard to imagine yourself in a river, smoking shisha and going to the restaurant at night to enjoy a beer, or sitting on a terrace with the village’s families. We also had the honour of assisting with the Sunday service at the village’s church and were introduced to the Bishop. After the mass, a local man showed us pictures of his house in Mosul and told us how Daesh destroyed the Christian churches and marked the houses belonging to Christians. All Christian religious signs were banned and they were forced to pay the ‘jyzia’, a tax on religious minorities. Unable or unwilling to pay, they had to choose between exile or death. Before this account, we felt far from the possibility of atrocity.

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The local Bishop then told us the story of the church, how the regime of Saddam Hussein attacked the village many times, the last time in 1987 destroying it completely, including the church. The current church was built by an NGO in 1993. Every single time, they came back, they rebuilt their homes, church and schools. There’s a deep sense of belonging and co-existence in this village, and whether intimidated or not, they don’t want to leave: ‘We do not want to leave our village or our country, we want to stay here and live in peace.’ With several campaigns of ‘Kurdification’ of Assyrian provinces and centuries of oppression, this minority could have many reasons to seclude themselves and express defiance towards neighbouring villages or communities. Instead, the community of Kashkawa is welcoming, their hospitality is endless and they have lived in solidarity and peace with the village of Dupre for centuries. This story is the testimony of humanity, solidarity and giving and I am grateful for witnessing such resilience. It is a lesson worth learning in Europe.

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WORDS BY AMY PICKNELL IMAGE BY RUBI BLUE COLLINS

Every travel lover has their fair share of travel accounts on Instagram they regularly scroll through, dreaming of their next weekend getaway whilst the dark cloud of procrastination looms over their head. But Instagram travel isn’t real life. The sooner this is realised, the better. Instagram travellers regularly snap pictures depicting white sandy beaches, spacious clean hotel rooms complete with a crystal sea view, and fresh fruit for breakfast delivered straight to their room. When you see a picture of Paris, you’re automatically whisked away imagining waking up in your hotel room adorned with Parisian vintage decor, views of the Eiffel Tower, snacking on a croissant as you rush out the door in your red lipstick, heeled ankle boots clip-clopping through the cobbled streets. Effortless, fashionable, relaxed… this is an idealistic view of travel. Yes – it can be done, with lots, and lots of money. The realities of travel, especially as a student, go something a bit more like this: Waking up when it’s still dark for your 6am flight or arriving at your destination in the middle of the night, agreeing to the most ridiculous flight times because it makes it so much cheaper. Delayed flights… cancelled flights… turbulent, uncomfortable economy class flights with budget airlines, all a far cry from the free champagne and extra legroom experience all these Instagram stars promised us. Walking for miles from the city centre to find your run-down hostel located in the middle of nowhere, asking locals for directions to have them chuckle at you and mutter something under their breath (Yes, this UNREPORTED WORLD MAGAZINE

happened to me!). Walking everywhere until the entirety of your lower body feels numb (no cute ankle boots or taxis here). Feeling hungry after a gross hotel breakfast experience. Sweating so much from walking in Mediterranean weather, that you get heat rash. The list goes on… and that’s just from my own personal experience. I’m lucky enough not to have lost luggage, passports or personal belongings, turned up at a dirty hotel, been scammed or mugged by locals or even airlines but these are all too common for frequent travellers. Travel is sold to us as a life-enriching experience, a chance to escape from the stresses of daily life and jet off to an exotic location, with all other members of the public conveniently hidden from view. We want to see the world without our holiday pictures being tarnished by busy tourists in the background, and to waltz into a different country without any mishaps. But for the very large majority of people, this kind of travel is simply unattainable. We share the world with other people, all wanting this #travelgoals dream too. We should want to travel to experience local cultures and cuisines we would otherwise never have a chance to experience, to see landscapes and places outside of our little homely bubble. Not to make our social media feed look good or impress other people on the internet. If you have the privilege of travel, embrace its imperfection, forget about trying to look good and just enjoy it!

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BEHIND THE

ELEPHANT RIDES WORDS BY CHELSEA SMITH IMAGE BY MARY McGUINNESS We’ve all seen images of people sat atop one of these great animals, with huge smiles on their faces. Adverts for a friendly and up-close experience with elephants are irresistible. It’s sad to think that many don’t know what lies behind this tourist experience. The illegal capture and torture of wild and critically endangered Asian Elephants is the backbone of this cruel sector of the tourism industry. Reports of elephants dying due to over-exhaustion and starvation in the tourism industry is sadly not a thing of the past. Despite campaigns and conservation efforts, it is still occurring today. As long as people are willing to pay good money for a view from an elephant’s back, the industry will continue. In 2014, baby elephants were worth up to $33,000 according to An Assessment of the Live Elephant Trade in Thailand, a report by Traffic. In any terms that’s a lot of money; an attractive reward for poachers who then sell the elephants illegally to the tourism industry. Young elephants are captured and forced apart from their mothers. Tortured and abused in a process called Phajaan, where the elephant is “divorced from its spirit” – roughly translated. The “crushing”, which it is also referred to as, can involve tight confinement of these endangered babies for days whilst they are starved and beaten. When the elephant has no spirit left, it is then considered tamed and ready to be sold in the format of rides.

Asia, we’re all trying to one-up each other’s trip, trying to have the best experience, stories, and photos to show. Sometimes this can take us down a path with an unknown dark side. I would like to believe that if we all knew the horrors that went into having elephants allow you to sit astride their back, elephant rides would be a thing of the past. But the sad truth is so many people still don’t know about the torture and the irreversible damage caused because it doesn’t make travel look good. It’s not a pretty light for an article; not a cheery piece of journalism; so it gets ignored and unreported. So, to all my fellow travellers, please read behind the headlines and consider whether an Instagram picture is really worth it. Don’t be a part of this abusive animal industry and instead visit some of Southeast Asian conservation programmes, or volunteer to help look after rescued elephants at the many rescue centers. Remember these are wild animals, we should observe them from a distance with respect. Always question the welfare of captured animals, make sure your money is going to respectable organizations that take good care of their animals and spread the word when they are not!

With so many of us now heading out to Southeast

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A WHOLE NEW KIND OF TOURISM:

CHINA’S FASCINATION WITH NORTH KOREA WORDS BY HANNAH BEESON

The ‘Hidden Kingdom of Kim Jong-un’, as North Korea is known among tour guides, has quickly become a very real and popular tourist attraction in China. Tour guide Yu Quanqing tells their passengers that ‘this is a mustsee’, revealing the slightly bizarre fascination that many residents of China seem to have developed for North Korea.

‘My daughter’s on her summer holidays and we wanted to see a bit of nature’, before going on to discuss the political differences between the two countries. Another woman, a student, stated that ‘They’re quite backwards. They’re not living in ideal conditions.’ It seems to be a theme that many of the people who go to look at North Korea go to reassure themselves about their own lives.

After renting binoculars for the equivalent of £1.10 a pair, in order to see the North Koreans on the other side of the border better, the tourists are whisked away in a boat down the Yalu River, on the border between the two countries.

Although many of the guided trips tend to stay close to the Chinese border, for those who are not satisfied with gazing across the river, they can choose to take a boat that sits in the middle of the river, completely surrounded by purely North Korean territory for about an hour. For braver souls, you can choose to go on a one or four day trip to Sinuiju, North Korea’s third largest city. You are not allowed to take a mobile phone, and can only take an old film camera. Anyone is allowed, except Americans, Japanese and South Koreans.

The recent drama between North Korea and the US and the tensions surrounding the nuclear tests seem to have done nothing to put off the hoards of tourists that frequently flock to the border. Yu believes that the tourists go to satisfy their curiosity, as they want to see for themselves how poor North Koreans are, admitting that ‘When we look at these North Koreans we feel a sense of superiority’. Up the road from where the tourists pile onto the boat, there are signs reading ‘Cherish a good life. Abide by the border regulations.’ A second one reads ‘Please do not converse or exchange objects with people on the other side of the border.’ It seems that even these warnings do not put off the many tourists who embark on this trip.

China’s tourism authority has not published the total number of visitors from China to North Korea since 2012, when it is said that 237,000 people made the trip. But the state-run China News Service said that visitors from Dandong alone spiked to 580,000 in just the second half of 2016. Although that is only a fraction of the population of China, it appears that this niche tourist ‘attraction’ isn’t going to be going out of business anytime soon.

Some typical sights that can be seen across the border include the North Korean washerwomen who can be seen scrubbing clothes in the river, the soldiers who walk along its banks, and the flag which flies over one river-side community. One woman who had brought her family with her as a day trip stated that the reason she went on the trip was because UNREPORTED WORLD MAGAZINE

QUIDDITCH THE MUGGLE’S GAME WORDS BY DAMIAN MEADEN IMAGE BY SOPHIE WILLIAMS Harry Potter is nothing short of a worldwide phenomenon, with over 500 million copies sold globally and an eightpart film series spanning a decade and grossing nearly $8 billion. So, it’s probably no surprise that the muggle adaptation of Quidditch, the chosen sport of the magical world, is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world at the moment. The format borrows largely from J.K Rowling’s creation, with each team comprising seven players – three Chasers, two Beaters, one Keeper and the Seeker. Pitches are rectangular with rounded corners and span roughly 55 metres, with three hoops at each end. As at Hogwarts, the objective of the game is simple – to score more points than the opposition by the time the ‘Golden Snitch’ – a tennis ball inside a long sock hanging from the shorts of an impartial official dressed in yellow – is captured. Before we get too bogged down in the intricacies of this ingenious take on one of the world’s best-loved games, let’s address the elephant in the room – no, they can’t fly. Broomsticks remain the same, but must remain in contact with the field of play at all times to impede player’s progress. It’s a full contact sport, though luckily the chances of Kenneth Branagh invading the field to magically remove all the bones from your arm are slim. Matches begin with every player minus the two Seekers and the Snitch off the field – after 17 minutes the latter is released before the Seekers join the game a minute later. Chasers handle a slightly-deflated volleyball and, as with the magical game, attempt to put it through one of three hoops, guarded by a Keeper. Beaters in this instance carry dodgeballs, and any player hit with one must drop any ball

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they happen to be carrying, dismount their broom and head back to their own hoops to ‘tap back in’ to the game. Each goal is still worth a valuable 10 points to each team, but crucially the Snitch is only worth 30 points at the end of the match – presumably everyone just needs to upgrade to a Nimbus 2001 and work on their shooting before it matches the 150 points on offer for swallowing – I mean, catching – the Snitch in the books. Matches tend to last around 30 to 40 minutes depending on the nature of the Snitch catch. Let’s be real for a moment – we all know on our 11th birthday we waited, with baited breath, for the post to arrive, craving the sight of that striking red wax seal on a letter sending us to Hogwarts, where our lives would be annually put in danger by dark magic and an indifferent approach to safety. Whilst on that occasion we were all disappointed (and if you weren’t, please get in touch with Wessex Scene for an exclusive interview), at least Muggle Quidditch offers us some salvation. The game might have originated from the US, but luckily for University of Southampton students, the UK’s largest club exists right here on Highfield Campus. The team was founded in 2013 and since then has gone on to become British champions and enjoy success on the European stage, and also have players who represent Britain on the international stage. So, what are you waiting for? Everyone step up to the left side of their broomstick. Stick your right hand over the broom, and say ‘Up!’.

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THE WORLD’S

MOST BIZARRE AND UNKNOWN SPORTS WORDS BY FREYA MILLARD IMAGE BY RACHEL WINTER FOOTBALL, RUGBY, TENNIS, CRICKET… DON’T THESE SPORTS JUST FEEL A LITTLE MUNDANE AFTER A WHILE? IT’S ALL WE EVER SEE ON TV OR READ ABOUT AND I FEEL LIKE IT’S ABOUT TIME WE PUT THE FOCUS ON SOME OF THE MORE OBSCURE SPORTING ACTIVITIES OUT THERE. HERE IS THE MOST WONDERFULLY RANDOM LIST OF SPORTS; I HOPE YOU ENJOY AND MAYBE EVEN FIND A LITTLE INSPIRATION FOR A NEW HOBBY! 34

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EX T R E M E IRO N IN G

SH IN- K ICK ING

There’s nothing quite as satisfying as dangling off a cliffside whilst pressing out the creases in a shirt, am I right? No? Well that’s what the members of Extreme Ironing think, or EI if you’re ‘in the know’. The premise is simple – go outside, bring your iron, a shirt and an ironing board, get yourself into a daring and thrilling situation and well, start ironing. The situations people find themselves in during this sport vary dramatically, from hanging off a cliff-side to chilling in the rush of Times Square or even underwater – which I don’t quite understand the logistics of but fair play.

The sport of shin-kicking just sounds like an average day in my house growing up with four older brothers. If only I had known then the potential I had to take this to a professional level. Two contenders must face each other on the battleground and kick each other as hard and as frequently as they can in the shins. The winner is decided based on how many points are scored or if someone surrenders.

PUM PK IN K A Y A K I N G

There’s even a whole league for this sport; Cardboard Tube Fighters do not mess around! The group is a global organisation which hosts events all across America and Australia and they even have a brilliant motto – ‘Training elite militias of cardboard tube wielding ninjas’ – which you have to admit is pretty epic. During the match two contestants go head to head and have to break each other’s tubes without breaking their own, which is where the real difficulty comes in.

The annual Windsor Pumpkin Regatta is a sport like no other. Contestants climb inside giant brightly decorated pumpkins and race half a mile across Lake Pesaquid, in Canada. The event began in 1999 and has increasingly gained popularity over the years, helped by celebrity entries into the race such as Martha Stewart. A story to inspire you a bit closer to home, however, is artist Dmitri Galitzine‘s 2013 expedition across the Solent in a giant pumpkin boat. Maybe we could create a Southampton Pumpkin Kayaking Society?

C H E S S B O X IN G

The title spells it out really, the members of this sport combined the two very different activities of ‘chess’ and ‘boxing’ to produce a hybrid activity. I know it sounds like they really shouldn’t mix, and yet they do, and as a result the sport is quite intense. There are 11 alternating rounds in total. All the chess rounds must be played within 9 minutes for each player, which sounds incredibly difficult. To win, you must either knockout your opponent, checkmate them in the game or hope the clock runs out on them and the judge rules in your favour.

CH E E S E R O L L I N G

Only in Gloucester would rolling cheese down a giant hill and chasing it be considered a traditional sport. Every year on the last Monday in May, residents, visitors and spectators gather in their masses at Coopers Hill, near Birdlip, to keep up this pre-Roman tradition of chasing cheese. To win, all you must do is catch up with the cheese rolling down the hill at 70mph – easy enough right? Whether you aim to win or not, entering this sport should be something for the bucket list even if it’s just to say you’ve taken part in it one year.

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CARDBOARD TUBE F IGH TING

WOK RACING

Who says woks have to stay in the kitchen? This sport was developed by a German TV Host and basically involves sitting inside a giant wok and sledging down Olympic bobsled tracks. You don’t just have to go it alone either, as there are competitions for four person teams to participate. The first official Wok World Championships came to life in 2003 and was an immediate success, resulting in bigger and better competitions every year. The woks aren’t really anything particularly special either, they are usually just standard ones ordered in from China with the bottoms reinforced with epoxy filling. What makes this sport even better is that the athletes also wear ladles under their feet!

TOE WRE STLING

Yes this is as ridiculous and bizarre as it sounds. Think of a thumb war…but with your toes. I know it’s odd but hey, maybe it’s worth still giving it a go, something to bond over with your housemates and who knows, you might even unveil a hidden talent.