JAPAN: The United States and Japan must “find ways to renew and refresh the alliance for the 21st century,” said President Barack Obama in Tokyo on Friday. He agreed to reopen talks on the contentious issue of the relocation of a U.S. airbase in the island of Okinawa.

CHINA: The general consensus at today’s APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) meeting was that the balance of global growth is shifting towards Asia, with China, India and to some extent Indonesia leading the recovery from the global economic recession.

SUDAN: Eleven people were recently killed in tribal clashes in South Sudan’s Jonglei state. Clashes among rival ethnic groups often erupt over issues of cattle rustling and natural resources. Over 2,000 people have died and 250,000 been displaced in South Sudan since January.

SOMALIA: Twelve Somalis were arrested on Thursday on suspicion of piracy by the French navy. The suspects were captured 650 miles off the coat of Somalia.

Europe has officially emerged from the worldwide economic recession. The European Union expanded by 0.2 percent in the third quarter.

SWITZERLAND: Google Inc. is headed to court over charges of violating Switzerland’s personal privacy laws though the use of its Street View application. The application — which allows users to see a 360-degree view of a street-level location– is being criticized for identifying people without their knowledge.

VATICAN: A four-day symposium to bring the Vatican into the digital age began on Thursday. Officials and bishops are being trained on internet tools such as Facebook, Wikipedia, and Google.

RUSSIA AND CIS:

Russian President Medvedev will meet with US President Obama on Sunday on the sidelines of the APEC meeting in Singapore. On the agenda: a new arms reduction deal and the Iranian and North Korean nuclear programs.

The diaries of a British journalist who was one of the first to write about the 1932-33 famine in Ukraine will go on display to the public for the first time in London tomorrow.

Three people have been killed in a blast in a cemetery in the southern republic of Dagestan. The victims had come to pay tribute to police officer Abdumalik Magomedov, who had been killed last year.

Russia’s police scandal is widening. Two more policemen have posted appeals to President Medvedev on YouTube speaking out against abuse and corruption in the country’s police force: Mikhail Yevsev, who alleges police fabricated cases against innocent citizens, and Gregory Chekalin.

Lake Titicaca in Bolivia Photo: flickr user: Swiatoslaw Wojtkowiak

BOLIVIA: Evaporation due to global warming has caused the Lake Titicaca in Bolivia to be at its lowest level since 1949.

MEXICO: Mexican President Felipe Calderon says he rejects a proposal by business leaders in the border town of Ciudad Juarez for U.N. peacekeepers to enter the town and quell drug-related violence.

CHILE: Michelle Bachelet, the Chilean president, said that there are signs that the economies of Latin America are turning the corner after the global recession.

EL SALVADOR: Aid agencies say that as many as 10,000 people may need food assistance in the Central American country after massive floods which left at least 140 people dead and destroyed acres of crops.

PAKISTAN: A suicide bomber today attacked the northwestern regional headquarters of the Pakistani intelligence agency killing more than 17 people and wounding many more.

TURKEY: A Turkish diplomatic source has said that the head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog (IAEA) revealed the details of a proposal suggesting Turkey as a third-country destination for transport of Iran’s enriched uranium. On another front, the Turkish government announced new details today of its plan to reconcile with its minority Kurds in hope of ending an insurgency that has dragged on for 25 years.

SYRIA: Syrian President Bashar al-Asad, in France to meet with President Nicolas Sarkozy, says Syria wants peace with Israel but questions Israel’s commitment to the process.  The visit comes after talks between Sarkozy and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

ISRAEL:Israeli army officials said today that Israeli troops killed one Palestinian and wounded four others along the Gaza border in what the military described as an attempted bomb attack.

An American Jewish group criticized Hezbollah for removing the “Diary of Anne Frank” from textbooks in a private school in Beirut.

AFGHANISTAN: The Taliban claimed responsibility on Friday for a suicide bombing attack near US military base outside the Afghan capital Kabul. The attack target was a NATO convoy.

In light of the highly-publicized murder of a pregnant Egyptian woman in Germany, Gustin discusses Muslim immigration in France, Germany and the United Kingdom with Daljit Dhaliwal.

Khan explains how 40 million people are uprooted from their homes in Africa, Asia and South America and the root causes of their dispossession.

Two weeks ago, the French government shut down a Calais camp that housed thousands of illegal migrants hoping to deter human smuggling. Al Jazeera English’s Hamish MacDonald reports that many of the migrants remain in Calais with their lives in a state of limbo.

Roman Polanski.

In Switzerland, the lawyer for film director Roman Polanski said Monday he will fight American attempts to extradite Polanski to the United States in a sex case that goes back more than 30 years.

The 76-year-old director was arrested Saturday on arrival in Zurich to receive a lifetime achievement award from a film festival. Polanski pleaded guilty in California to having sex with a 13-year-old girl in 1977, but then fled to France before his sentencing. French officials have expressed astonishment over the arrest, one calling it a “bit sinister.”

Should Roman Polanski be extradited to the U.S. to face sentencing in a case that is now more than three decades old?

Tell us what you think in the comments section below. Please remember to be respectful and on-point in your comments. Malicious or offensive comments will be deleted and repeat offenders will be banned.

Worldfocus producer Mohammad Al-Kassim blogs about Friday’s revelations on Iran.

The news that Iran was building a “semi-industrial enrichment fuel facility” dominated the international headlines today. Here is how the news was covered in some Middle Eastern media outlets.

Iran’s Press TV, a government-funded news channel, broke into its regularly scheduled programming to feature the press conference held by U.S. President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

The 24-hour channel, which is based in Tehran and broadcasts in English, targets viewers outside Iran.

As she was talking to a correspondent in Vienna, Press TV anchor Nargess Moballeghi noted British PM Gordon Brown’s comment that “the most urgent challenge in the world we face today is Iran.” Ms. Moballeghi told her colleague that this statement was completely opposite a statement made by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon who said that it was “climate change.”

On Alalam Web site, a government-funded 24-hour news channel airing in Arabic from Tehran, the top story was same as its sister channel, Press TV. The news article on Alalam was short, quoting Iran’s top nuclear program official who said there is nothing secret about Iran’s nuclear site and that the IAEA is aware of its existence, adding that Iran has the right to have a peaceful nuclear program.

On Al Arabiya, the all-news channel based in Dubai, the news of Iran’s secret nuclear sites overshadowed the rest of the day’s news. Al Arabiya has been very critical in its coverage of Iran’s presidential election.

In general, the channel — which is funded by Saudi money — is critical of Iran’s influence in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia feels that Iran is treading on its territory as the natural leader in the Muslim world.

Al Jazeera Arabic also joined in the coverage of the breaking news with the press conference from Pittsburg, PA. The headline of the story on its Web site read, “World powers pressure Iran,” and the story reported the views of both sides, adding the position of Russia and China. The news article also quoted the Iranian student’s news agency for Iran’s official statement.

Al Jazeera is funded by the government of Qatar and is generally viewed by the Iranian government as relatively biased against Iran.

People in the West assume that because Iran is a Muslim country, it must be friends with many counties in the region. On the contrary, Iran’s neighbors are equally opposed to it obtaining a nuclear program and weapons as the West is. The so-called moderate Arab states –Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan — are quietly calling to disarm Iran nuclear program. Watching these media outlets, one cannot help but notice that the coverage is a reflection of this position.

- Mohammad Al-Kassim

A French Muslim woman wears a niqab in Paris.

Six years ago, I was looking for an apartment in the French capital. Searching for the 5-A buzzer, an American friend and I came across an old French man who thought we were trespassing.

“Vous allez faire un kamikaze?” he shouted, wondering whether we were about to blow up his building.

“Avez-vous un tapis de priere?” he asked in a southern French accent, assuming that we were Moroccans who carry prayer rugs.

We responded that we were just American students, despite our relatively swarthy complexions, and then he proceeded with an extremist anti-Arab rant.

This was my first exposure to virulent French racism and cultural insensitivity. His tirade echoed the xenophobia of the far-right Front National party, which had received 17 percent of the vote in France’s 2002 presidential election.

Today, France is still wracked by intolerance and Islamophobia, despite a long tradition of democracy and dissent. As France struggles to integrate second-generation North Africans who are largely clustered in poor neighborhoods on the outskirts of cities, the Islamic dress controversy continues to rage.

In July, a report by French newspaper Le Monde revealed that just 367 women wear the full Islamic veil in France. The figure makes French President Nicholas Sarkozy seem heavy-handed in his recent declaration that the niqab was “not welcome.” This piece of hard evidence, supplied by data from two domestic intelligence agencies, makes it unlikely that the center-right Sarkozy would pursue an absolute ban. The hyperactive leader is known for his pragmatism, and he doesn’t want to appear too extremist.

The report comes amid a French legislative commission’s investigation on the use of the full veil in public places. The panel seeks to address the style’s popularity, and it will make a recommendation about the usefulness of a ban.

But there is linguistic confusion about the full veil. The Islamic article of clothing in question is actually the niqab (originally from Saudi Arabia), rather than the burka (popular in Afghanistan). An explanatory diagram in Le Point shows the differences between the three primary types of Muslim veil.

An Egyptian woman in Alexandria wearing a Burqini.

The evolution of conservative Islamic fashion does not stop there. In mid-August controversy erupted at a Paris pool surrounding the “burqini,” a bathing suit designed by Australian company Ahiida to uphold the modesty of Muslim women.

An editorial accompanying the niqab statistic in left-leaning Le Monde criticized the need to “legislate for an exception” and further stigmatize French Islam. Declaring the niqab to be a phénomène ultraminoritaire (very rare phenomenon), the editorial recognizes that the several hundred women who wear the niqab are not sufficiently integrated into French culture.

The French are fierce defenders of their secular republic and will defend women’s rights against fundamentalist religious customs such as the veil. But there are disagreements about whether it would be helpful to legislate religious expression in the public sphere.

“We cannot accept that women be prisoners behind a screen, cut off from all social life, deprived of all identity,” said the French president in June, frustrating many cultural commentators such as a blogger at “Moor Next Door“:

The trouble the French may want to worry about is not the burqa as it is worn in France today, but that such a ban, as the headscarf ban has done, will make the garment a greater symbol of Muslim identity and sign of cultural defiance. France has done a good job at finding ways of alienating racial and religious minorities. Indeed, among Western nations it is a leader in this field. This is a quality that does little to further the assimilationist cause the French so actively pursue.

The Le Monde report indeed suggests that most of the 367 women in question are under 30 and wear the niqab to make an explicit political point to defy French society — and in some cases, rebel against their own families. The vast majority of French Muslims reject the full body veils, according to the French intelligence reports. Moreover, according to the French Council of Muslim Worship, wearing the niqab is a personal, cultural choice.

But, unlike the U.S., France values secularism even more than the right to free expression of religion. A “burka ban” would never pass muster in the U.S. But French politicians insist that they will not fight a second battle to separate church from the French state. The first church-state battle was with the Catholic church, from which the government legally separated in 1905.

In 2004, France received much criticism after banning the headscarf in public schools. The law was one of many factors that led to more than a month of civil unrest by minority youths across France in November 2005.

France has Europe’s largest Muslim population, estimated around 5 million. But France does not keep official statistics on race or religion, so this figure could easily be much higher. Regardless, just one in every 90,000 French women wear the full-body veil. And apparently one-quarter of them are converts to Islam.

One French Muslim organization that has been discouraging women to wear the full veil is Ni Putes Ni Soumises (Neither Whores Nor Submissives). Founded by Fadela Amara, a liberal Muslim woman of North African origin, the group promotes a modern combination of Islam and feminism.

Amara, now a minister in Prime Minister Francois Fillon’s right-leaning government, has become far more popular among politicians than among folks in la banlieue (working-class suburbs). Amara told Le Parisien last year:

The burka is a prison, it’s a straitjacket…It is not a religious insignia but the insignia of a totalitarian political project that advocates inequality between the sexes and which is totally devoid of democracy.

- Ben Piven

Photos courtesy of Flickr users I.Diabate and Giorgio Montersino under a Creative Commons license.

But despite a turnaround for those countries, much of Europe is still mired in recession.

Roben Farzad, a senior writer for BusinessWeek, joins Martin Savidge to discuss how fast the world economy is rebounding and to analyze what it will mean for the United States.

Marcus Mabry, the international business editor of The New York Times, joins Martin Savidge to analyze the deepening economic downturn and provide a look at what comes next in the European recession.

Reginald Dale, a senior fellow in the Europe program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, joins Martin Savidge to discuss this divide, the popularity of President Obama verus Candidate Obama in Western Europe and whether Russia will respond to President Obama’s pledge to ”reset” its relationship with  Russia.

The U.S. abstained from voting as it waited for the results of talks between Hamas and Israel mediated by Egypt.

Countries like France and Turkey are also involved in trying to mediate an end to the conflict.

Robert Pastor, a professor at American University and senior advisor to the Carter Center on conflict resolution in the Middle East, joins Martin Savidge to discuss diplomatic efforts by the United Nations and others to end fighting in Gaza. They discuss the rejection of the cease-fire resolution, communication with Hamas and the level of American influence in the region.

A policeman watches an anti-Israel protest in London.

The fighting in Gaza has sent thousands of protesters into streets around the world.

In the Palestinian-controlled West Bank, children joined marchers waving flags and banners on Wednesday supporting the Palestinians in Gaza. In Lebanon, a crowd in Beirut cheered calls to back Hamas and to be ready for more Israeli attacks on Arab countries.

Hundreds of Palestinians in Argentina marched to the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires demanding that Israel withdraw from Gaza, while in Turkey, protesters gathered outside a basketball game scheduled between an Israeli and a Turkish team — forcing riot police to protect the Israeli team members as they fled before the game could be played.

A blogger at “My Random Compulsion” writes from Nablus, a town in the West Bank, about marching in protests there.

Blogger “Yohay” writes about an anti-war demonstration in Tel Aviv and posts pictures.

Blogger “Rayyan” describes anti-Israel demonstrations in London, which marched across the city to the Israeli embassy. Another blogger, ”Sunny” of The Guardian’s “Comment is Free” blog, writes that he attended the same demonstration but was troubled by the religious overtones and other aspects of the march.

Anti-Israel protests in Paris turned violent, and the “ParisDailyPhoto” blog posts images of the resulting damage.

The “Islam in Europe” blog provides an overview of protests across Europe, including some in Germany, Finland and Greece.

In Iraq, a mass rally against the Israeli offensive turned deadly when a suicide bomber blew himself up near the protest.

Blogger “Pamela” writes that a pro-Israel rally in New York City drew wide support.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Joe Cross under a Creative Commons license.

On the diplomatic front, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni met with French leaders in Paris for talks on the crisis. French President Nicolas Sarkozy is scheduled to travel to the region next week, part of mounting international pressure to bring an end to the violence, which has generated protest around the world. 

Israel says it will not consider a truce without international monitors and that it is prepared to launch a ground invasion in Gaza. 

Robert Pastor, a professor at American University and senior advisor to the Carter Center on conflict resolution in the Middle East, joins Martin Savidge to discuss his recent meeting with Israeli and Hamas leaders, prospects for a new truce before an Israeli ground assault begins and potential options for U.S. President-elect Obama and Secretary of State-designate Clinton.

The U.N. marked the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on Dec. 10. Photo: United Nations

Sixty-six of the 192 United Nations member countries signed a nonbinding declaration to decriminalize homosexuality. It was the first time that the issue of gay and lesbian rights has been considered by the U.N. General Assembly.

Another 60 nations supported a rival statement introduced by Syria. 

The U.S. refused to sign the declaration – the only major Western nation to do so. Spokespeople expressed concern about confusing federal and state jurisdiction on laws relating to sexual orientation.

Armenian blogger “Artmika” calls his country’s support of the decriminalization declaration “historic,” writing that it is the first time Armenia has set such an example.

Michael Jones of the “Gay Rights” blog writes that the U.S. should show leadership on the issue, although the fact that the resolution is nonbinding limits its importance. 

France did not have sufficient support for an official resolution, so instead put forth the nonbinding declaration (co-sponsored by the Netherlands). All 27 European Union members supported the decriminalization declaration.

Kate Sheill of Amnesty International writes that even Syria’s statement of rejection, which “deplore[d] all forms of stereotyping” while arguing that domestic laws should be followed, reflected a greater degree of non-discrimination than has previously been seen. 

Blogger William Crawley of the BBC writes about the Vatican’s opposition to the declaration. The Vatican has voiced support of gay decriminalization but argues that the declaration goes too far. 

The “Leaning Straight Up” blog writes that media reports unfairly single out Muslim opposition to the declaration.

International finance expert Roben Farzad of BusinessWeek evaluates these plans and considers the future of the American automotive industry.

The cancellation stems from Chinese anger about French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s decision to meet next week with Tibet’s exiled leader, the Dalai Lama.

For its part, Tibet’s government-in-exile has been debating its approach to dealing with China and has agreed to stop sending representatives to negotiate with the Chinese.

Robert Barnett, a professor of modern Tibetan studies at Columbia University, joins Martin Savidge to discuss China’s attitude toward Tibetan autonomy, Tibetan support for the Dalai Lama and China’s public image. They also discuss the U.S. position on Tibet.

Nationality laws vary greatly around the globe.

In Greece, for example, some children face insecurity and confusion because they are not Greek citizens, despite being born in and living in the country. In Japan, the government may pass a law granting 20,000 mixed race children Japanese citizenship.

When a child is born, he or she can gain a nationality in a variety of ways – from the place of birth or from parents’ nationalities or ethnicities; sometimes automatically and other times requiring an application process.

Standard basis for citizenship:
Jus soli — birthright — a rule that the citizenship of a child is determined by the place of its birth
Jus sanguinis — blood right — a rule that a child’s citizenship is determined by its parents’ citizenship

The chart below details the foreign populations in world countries, residency requirements for naturalization (excluding special factors such as marriage to a national) and types of citizenship.

Data is from 2005, the latest available date for comprehensive comparative information. For more detailed information on citizenship laws and requirements in a particular country, visit that country’s Web site.

	642,000 15.9% of population *	Residence for 1,350 days of past 5 years	Eliminated birthright  citizenship in 2006
	1.2 million 15.1% of population 40.9% are nationals	10 years continuous residence	Blood right
	585,000 14.1% of population 45.2% are nationals	3 years residence	Eliminated automatic birthright citizenship in 2004
	38.36 million 12.9% of population 46.4% are nationals	Legal residency for 5 years	Birthright
	10.14 million 12.3% of population	At least 8 years  residence	Blood right
	6.47 million 10.7% of population 53.1% are nationals	5 years residence	Blood right; delayed birthright (can acquire citizenship on request)
	5.41 million 9.1% of population	5 years residence	Many types of  citizenship (vary)
	974,000 8.8% of population 41.5% are nationals	10 of last 12 years	Blood right; birthright if  no other nationality  acquired
	2.52 million 4.3% of population 47.5% are nationals	10 years residence	Blood right; birthright if no other nationality acquired
	168,000 2.7% of population	3 years residence	Birthright
	1.11 million 2.3% of population	4 of 8 last years	Blood right
	124,000 2.3% of population	5 years residence	Blood right
	2.05 million 1.6% of population	5 years of residence	Blood right
	644,000 0.6% of population	5 years residence	Birthright; recognizes  dual nationality
	596,000 0% of population	Settlement in China	Blood right

*When data on foreign-born nationals is blank, the information is not available.
Sources: United Nations, NationMaster. Photos courtesy of Flickr users under a Creative Commons license.

About 10 percent of France’s population has African or Arab roots. Many speak of racism and discrimination — including derogatory name-calling from President Nicolas Sarkozy himself.

Today, the divide persists, as evidenced by further clashes between youth and police earlier this year.

Worldfocus correspondent Martin Seemungal travels to the town of Epinay, the site of violent riots three years ago, where tensions between the Arab and French populations still remain.

Below, bloggers from France and elsewhere discuss the riots and their roots.

In 2005, blogger Doug Ireland explored the historical and social roots of the riots.

Three years later, the “Johhny Come Latelies” blog writes that nothing has changed and the government’s promises are empty.

“Lauren’s Blog” says that the French media has virtually ignored the causes of the riots, comparing the lack of minorities in French news coverage to U.S. coverage of Hurricane Katrina.

The “BondyBlog” (in French) writes about social issues in the poor French suburb of Bondy, a site of past riots. See Google’s English translation, including a post about the identity crisis of French suburbs on the anniversary of the riots.

The blog’s founder, Frenchman Mohamed Hamidi, has been highly critical of Nicolas Sarkozy.

This year, the U.S. State Department began recruiting international visitors from poor French suburbs in an attempt to quell anti-American sentiment abroad.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy stands with other European leaders at a press conference about the global economy in January 2008.

Nicolas Sarkozy is one of many world leaders who will play a role at the G20 summit on the global financial crisis this weekend. The French president has called for a more internationally coordinated response to the crisis.

Patrice de Beer is a former London and Washington correspondent for Le Monde and writes at OpenDemocracy about Sarkozy’s desire to play a larger role on the world stage. He argues that the French leader is bound to discover that all politics is local.

Nicolas Sarkozy: world leader, local problem

France’s president is a man who relishes crises. As he hops from one to another, from the Russian invasion of Georgia to the financial hurricane, Nicolas Sarkozy thrives in the self-image of “crisis-manager-in-chief” - and strives to make others perceive the halo. It helps that he can - at least until the last day of 2008 - include the “presidency” of the European Union in his portfolio.

The characteristic image of “Sarko” is of a figure popping up, rushing onto or off his plane, seizing an initiative or propelling himself to the frontline and frontpage. There is hardly a European or global issue where the president does not want to interpolate himself (and if it is just too intractable or time-consuming - as in the Democratic Republic of Congo - he can deploy his foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner). And indeed, the bigger the issue the larger the claim. It is no wonder that Sarko now presents himself as a great friend of president-elect Barack Obama, drawing on the capital he gained when he hosted the United States’s next leader at the Elysée palace during the election campaign (while disdaining to find time to welcome Obama’s Republican rival, John McCain).

To achieve this pre-eminence and sustain the profile that accompanies it, he is shameless in borrowing ideas from other leaders (such as Britain’s prime minister Gordon Brown on financial reforms), overshadowing once-friendly rivals (such as Germany and its chancellor Angela Merkel), or pushing himself into the limelight (such as claiming credit for convincing Moscow to sign a ceasefire with Georgia, and Washington over the convening of the G20 summit on 15 November 2008).

[...]But if Nicolas Sarkozy knocks repeatedly at the world’s door, his restlessness extends too to an impatient desire to find urgent solutions (and often merely populist non-solutions) to the many domestic concerns that have come under his voracious inspection. Among the near-limitless reform agenda, the very institutional map of France itself has been redrawn several times even since May 2007. The national structures of the judiciary, military, universities and health services have been shaken to the core - in part to revamp overlapping and often obsolete networks, but also in part to save money in a country Sarkozy himself has called “broke”.

To read more, see the original post.

The views expressed by contributing bloggers do not reflect the views of Worldfocus or its partners.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Foreign and Commonwealth Office under a Creative Commons license.

Giorgio Parisi, a professor at the La Sapienza University of Rome, gives a lesson in front of the Italian Parliament in protest of government education cuts.

Thousands of German students have taken to the streets, demanding smaller class sizes and more teachers. The country’s educational system was criticized by the United Nations in 2006.

The protests are only the latest in a string of demonstrations across Europe that have demanded educational reform.

Over the past month, Italy has seen the largest student demostrations in 15 years — tens of thousands of students and teachers across the country joining to protest a $10.2 billion cut in education and research funds.

The Italian Parliament approved the reforms in a vote last month. Italy’s education system is poor compared to other countries in western Europe.

Blogger “Danielle” outlines some of the cuts and posts images from a protest near her home. Watch a video here.

Blogger “Tim Hedges” defends Italian education minister Mariastella Gelmini, who is behind many of the reforms, arguing that trimming excesses in the system will promote efficiency.

Blogger “Kendra,” an American high school student studying in Italy, writes about the situation at her school, which has gone on strike. She describes the concerns of Italian students.

Educational cuts have also sparked controversy in France, where 11,200 teaching jobs were cut this year.

Blogger “Razvigor” posts an account of a protest in Paris, which featured songs and music.

“Brian’s Education Blog” compares French and British school systems, exploring the pitfalls of education in France.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Andrea Baldassarri under a Creative Commons license.