Agenda stories making the news this month 8 Peru’s merry-go-rounders 8 Angolan activists jailed for reading 9 A volley of protest in Iran 9 Introducing Freddy Lim 9 Mail-order abortion from India 10 Golden goal for child miners in Burkina Faso 10 Innocents detained in Nigeria 11 Pakistani Christians living in fear 11 Ocean litter-pick off the Netherlands PLUS: Scratchy Lines by cartoonist simon Kneebone and

Reasons to be Cheerful.

i n e / G e t t y l d

Fa y e z N u r e

The Big story – saudi Arabia 12 ‘our friends’ Why is the West still cosying up to an ever-more repressive

Saudi Arabia? asks Vanessa Baird. 17 Arming up… and bombing Yemen. 18 saudi activists – who are they and what do they want? Madawi Al-Rasheed examines brave lives and the prospects for change. 21 saudi Arabia – The FACTs 22 Poverty in the land of black gold Paul Aarts and Carolien Roelants on the plight of poor Saudis. 24 oil on the skids Is the kingdom’s oil wealth running out? Nafeez Ahmed investigates. 26 What the saudi leaks tell us An interview with Julian Assange. 28 Gambling with IsIs and Co The Saudi regime is spreading chaos, writes Alastair Crooke.

Features 32 Crocodile smiles and con tricks Fiona Broom reports from Nepal on the scandal of the

‘orphanage industry’.

Mixed media 38 Film reviews The Pearl Button, directed by Patricio Guzmán;

The survivalist, directed by Stephen Fingleton. 39 Music reviews Like a Bird or spirit, not a Face by Sainkho Namtchylak;

De Montevert by De Montevert. 40 Book reviews Where the Dead Pause and the Japanese say Goodbye by Marie Mutsuki Mockett; This Is An uprising by Mark Engler and Paul Engler; Bad News by Anjan Sundaram; Betty Boo by Claudia Piñeiro. PLUS Also out there…

Contents newint.org opinion 36 essay: Who gives a damn about democracy? by Roberto savio. 42 Chris Coltrane Our shadowy, corporate overlords. PLUS: Polyp’s Big Bad World cartoon. 44 Mark engler Revolution beyond the ballot box.

Regulars 6 Letters Refugees deserve better; symptoms and causes; and public vs private. PLUS: Open Window, with guest cartoonist Pedro X Molina. 7 Letter from Bangui Closing our heart to suffering suppresses our humanity,

writes Ruby Diamonde. 30 Country Profile: Cameroon 35 Making Waves Dario sabaghi talks to Kholoud Waleed about her battle for freedom of speech in Syria. 43 Worldbeaters: Recep Tayyip erdoğan Turkey’s president is one of the political class’s more humourless and intolerant specimens. 45 Puzzle Page PLUS: Marc Roberts’ Only Planet cartoon. 46 And Finally Author and reporter Anjan sundaram on self-expression,

dictatorship and the importance of a free press.

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Front cover: Juha Sorsa. Photo sources: DFID under a CC Licence and Chris McGrath/Getty. Magazine designed by Juha Sorsa and Andrew Kokotka. All monetary values are expressed in US dollars unless otherwise noted.