Israel’s war on Gaza takes center stage at Eurovision 2024 · Global Voices
Sydney Allen

Irish group Bambi-Thug perform their song “Doomsday Blue” on the first day of the Eurovision Semi-finals. The group is dressed in the fun, avant-garde getup characteristic of Eurovision performances. Image via Eurovision official YouTube.
While the annual Eurovision Song Contest is best known for its gaudy glitz and glamour, the over-the-top performances often veil regional political tensions and international conflict.
“The World’s Biggest Song Contest” will be held May 7–11, in Malmö, Sweden, and this year all eyes are on Israel — a longtime participant in the European song contest despite its geographical distance — as it participates despite the state’s ongoing genocide against Gaza.
While organizers insist the Eurovision Song Contest is a “non-political event” and even have rules barring participants from sharing political slogans or agendas, activism is nothing new to Eurovision. In previous years, the contest has been used to draw attention to Russia’s war against Ukraine, LGBTQ+ rights and freedoms, gender inequality, and more. Many contestants, voters, and fans alike have historically used the event as a platform to air their grievances and have hidden political messaging in their songs, outfits, or placcards.
In the weeks leading up to the event, protestors steadfastly gathered outside the Malmö city hall, calling on organizers to condemn Israel's violence in Gaza and suspend them from the event.
Protestors gather outside the Malmö city hall in mid-April calling to boycott Israel. Screenshot via Reuters YouTube video.
Swedish organizers are ramping up security around the event in anticipation of protests related to the Israel-Gaza conflict. Ahead of the event, there were widespread calls for Eden Golan, 20, Israel’s contestant this year, to step down, as well as calls to boycott the event altogether if Golan participates. Golan staunchly refused to step down and in an interview with Reuters, said, “I come here to show my voice, to share my love, my gift from God and to hopefully make people feel something and leave a mark in their souls and to unite by music.”
Golan was originally set to sing an original song titled “October Rain” which seemingly referenced the October 7 Hamas-led attack against Israeli settlements. The European Broadcasting Union took issue with the submission and the song has since been altered and renamed “ Hurricane.”
Meanwhile, some contestants are using the platform to voice their solidarity with Palestinians. Eric Saade, 33, Sweden’s 2024 contestant who has Palestinian roots, wore a Keffiyah (traditional Palestinian attire) around his wrist during his performance to protest Israel’s participation, earning praise from fans and criticism from the show’s producers. Eurovision Executive Producer Ebba Adielsson released a statement after, saying, “Eric Saade is well aware of the rules that apply when standing on the Eurovision Song Contest stage. We think it’s sad that he’s used his participation in this way.”
eric saade you will always be iconic 🇵🇸 pic.twitter.com/qTGyjTSgSt
— kellie⁷🎀🍉🥢🐱🐨 (@indigoxseoul) May 7, 2024
During the preliminary competition, Palestinian singer Bashar Murad was chosen to represent Iceland at the event, though he was eliminated before the finals. He used his time in the spotlight to raise awareness of the plight of Palestinians and quickly became a fan favorite. He also collaborated with previous Iceland competitor, the band Hatari, who were almost disqualified during the 2017 Eurovision contest for their political statements about Israel’s occupation of Palestine. Hatari has released numerous songs related to Palestinian liberation.
While Israel’s participation was green-lighted, Belarus hasn’t been allowed to participate in Eurovision contests since 2021 due to the state’s crackdown on protestors and record of human rights violations. Russia has been banned for the last two years since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
When discussing Russia's ban in December 2022, Eurovision’s executive supervisor Martin Österdahl said the ban has been challenging but added, “When we say we are not political, what we always should stand up for are the basic and ultimate values of democracy.”
Ukrainian singer Alyona Alyona performs during Eurovision, with special effects reminiscent of bombs raining down above her. Image via Youtube Screenshot
Since the invasion began in 2022, Ukraine has used the Eurovision Contest to rally public support amidst its ongoing war with Russia. Ukraine won the competition in 2022 and the winning song, “Heart of Steel,” became something of an unofficial national anthem in the country. Last year's Ukrainian contestants chose a song describing the terror citizens have felt during the war, while this year's competitors, Alyona Alyona and Jerry Heil, used imagery and special effects clearly alluding to Russian missiles and dead Ukrainians.
Alyona Alyona and Jerry Heil perform over a video of reposing Ukrainians during their May 7, 2024, performance. Image via YouTube screenshot.
The so-called unequal application of suspensions has driven much of the controversy and calls to boycott this year's Eurovision.
Boycott Eurovision there’s absolutely no reason why israel should still be in the competition while you dropped russia https://t.co/3WbexCLa30
— 🇵🇸 (@Paliefer3) May 1, 2024
Russia continues to be barred from the Eurovision song contest for invading Ukraine. Palestinian flags are banned to avoid ‘politicising’ the event.
But the non-European state of Israel, currently carrying out a genocide in Gaza, is not only participating. Its flag will be… pic.twitter.com/w5z60vSr06
— Jonathan Cook (@Jonathan_K_Cook) May 7, 2024
Find the full video of Eurovision semi-final performances in the video below.


Mexico: Abuse of Force in Salvador Atenco · Global Voices
David Sasaki

With a title quoting the Commissioner of State Security, Wilfrido Robledo Madrid who said that “in Atenco the police did not carry firearms,” Eduardo Arcos posts a photo of a policeman pointing his pistol. Enlace Zapatista has an audio speech, photo gallery, and transcription (ES) which accuses Mexico's mainstream media of “manipulating images, photos, and words” in their coverage of the riots that broke out last week in the small town near Mexico City.


Afghanisan: Dangers of Poppy Eradication  · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Barnett R. Rubin continues to keep a close eye on the heated discussions concerning the prospects and possible results of opium poppy crop eradication in Afghanistan.


Russia: the First Twitter Account Officially Registered as Media Outlet · Global Voices
Gregory Asmolov

Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Telecoms and Communications (RosKomNadzor) officially registered [ru] Twitter account of a microblogger Denis Plenin (@Dplenin) as the first mass media outlet on the platform.


Police Shooting or Police Involved Shooting – Journalistic Terminology Debate – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

June 7, 2015
I use the term “police-involved” to describe police incidents that are investigated by the Special Investigations Unit.
I do so to not judge fault.
I’m reconsidering this terminology after listening to Craig Martin, co-director of the International and Comparative Law Centre at the Washburn University School of Law.
Mr. Martin argues, in a piece published on The Huffington Post:
Compounding this distortion is the use of the passive voice in the detailed account of these incidents. When articles or news reports go on to state that the person “died” in the context of an “officer involved shooting,” they imply or leave an impression of indeterminacy as to cause. Reports of death or disaster in the passive voice insinuate that the event was a result of some natural cause or inevitable chain of events. The victim in the shooting did not mysteriously die, he was killed, and there was a specific agent and cause of his violent death. To say that he died in this passive voice is to disguise both the cause and agency of the killing, and is thus misleading. Consider the difference in tone and implication of the sentence “A policeman shot and killed John Doe,” as compared to “John Doe died in an officer-involved shooting.”
Now, to be clear, this has absolutely nothing to do with justification. Many police shootings are justified. Many may not be. There are arguments to be made about the legal standards in place for justification. But none of that is relevant to the language used to report the basic facts about these shootings. Some may wonder whether the media’s use of language reflects efforts to be “objective” or “neutral” on the issue of legal culpability for the shooting. But this is wrong. Whether it was justified or not, the police shot and killed a person, and any uncertainty over the legal or moral basis for that act ought not to impact on how the fact itself is reported.
I strive for clear and plain language in my practice of journalism.
A fire is a fire, as I say. I don’t use terms such as blaze or inferno as synonyms for fire. I use adjectives to describe the fire.
Why? Because clear language is important especially when much of my communication is done 140 characters at a time.
Is using “police-involved shooting” instead of “police shooting” contrary to my practice practice of using direct and clear language? Yes.
I have a responsibility to use language that is not prejudicial and the common use of “police-involved” by other media may create the impression that I’m making a judgement on the justification of the shooting.
I’m going to weight these factors and make a decision before the next time I write about police shooting incident.
I’m weight towards “police shooting” and making clear in my writing the laws governing police use-of-force.


Rising Voices Seeks Micro-grant Proposals for Blog Outreach · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Application Deadline: June 15, 2007
Rising Voices, the outreach arm of Global Voices, is now accepting project proposals for the first round of microgrant funding of up to $5,000 for new media outreach projects. Ideal applicants will present innovative and detailed proposals to teach citizen media techniques to communities that are poorly positioned to discover and take advantage of tools like blogging, video-blogging, and podcasting on their own.
As the internet becomes more accessible to more people, as computers become cheaper, and as software applications move from the desktop to the web, the so-called digital divide seems to be narrowing. In its place, however, we see a participation gap in which the vast majority of blogs, podcasts, and online video are being produced in middle-class neighborhoods in major cities around the world.
Rising Voices aims to help bring new voices from new communities and speaking new languages to the conversational web, by providing resources and funding to local groups reaching out to underrepresented communities. Examples of potential projects include:
The sky is the limit, but unfortunately funding is not. Rising Voices outreach grants will range from $1,000 to $5,000. Please be as thoughtful, specific, and realistic as possible when drafting your budgets.
Successful projects will be prominently featured on Global Voices.
Completed applications will be accepted no later than Friday, June 15. Please email them to<EMAIL_ADDRESS>Feel free to ask questions in the comments section below or by sending an email to outreach@globalvoicesonline.org


Taiwan: Gtalk Translation · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

PipperL is checking the accuracy of Gtalk translation from English to Chinese (zh), e.g ‘He looks fine’ is translated into ‘he is looking forward to have a fine’ in Chinese.


Cuba: Women in the Cuban Blogosphere · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

Yasmín S. Portales has been posting her research [es] on women's voices in the Cuban blogosphere.


The Evo Morales Debate · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Blog From Bolivia slices and dices the charismatic and ever-controversial Evo Morales, who this post claims “has about as much chance of becoming President of Bolivia after next December’s elections as I have of being Bush’s pick for the US Supreme Court.” Barrio Flores notes that Evo Morales places second in a recent poll.


Somber Scenes as World Mourns Pakistani Children Slain in Peshawar Attack · Global Voices
Rezwan

Students of Army Public School, members of Civil Society, Pak Army staffs and large numbers of citizens held a candle light vigil to mourn the innocent victims. Image by ppiimages. Copyright Demotix (19/12/2014)
A group of Taliban gunmen dressed in military uniforms entered an Army Public School in Peshawar, Pakistan, on December 16 and shot students and teachers walking from classroom to classroom. At least 148 people, 132 of them children, lost their lives in the attack and scores of the students were injured.
The following day, vigils were held in Karachi, Islamabad and other major cities throughout the country, which can be seen in these pictures.
There have also been numerous vigils across the world:
People at those vigils remembered the victims, protested against the barbarism, voiced their anger at the Taliban and echoed that children should be spared from such atrocities.
Here are images of some of those vigils:
A collection of candles and votives lit as part of a vigil in Trafalgar Square, London, to remember the dead school children and teachers killed by the Pakistani Taliban in Pakistan. Image by Emma Durnford. Copyright Demotix (17/12/2014)
A Candlelight vigil for the children of Peshawar is held in Longsight, Manchester outside the Pakistani Community Centre. Image by Barbara Cook. Copyright Demotix (20/12/2014)
Two hundred people gathered in front of the CNN Center in Atlanta for a candlelight vigil to honor victims killed during a Taliban attack on a school in Peshawar, Pakistan. Image by Steve Eberherdt Copyright Demotix (17/12/2014)
Columbia students and other members of the community joined a campus candlelight vigil to support the victims of the Peshawar attacks. Image by Mansura Khanam. Copyright Demotix (17/12/2014)
Indian congress workers and children pay tribute to those killed in the Taliban attack in Peshawar, Pakistan at a candle vigil in Allahabad, India. Image by Ritesh Shukla. Copyright Demotix (17/12/2014)
A candle light vigil and were held at the Pakistan High Commission in Bangladesh, this evening in remembrance of the innocent victims of the massacre at the Army public School peshawar.
Indian people lit candles as they took part in a candle-light vigil in memory of victims killed in a Taliban attack on a military-run school in Peshawar, in Amritsar. Image by Sanjeev Syal. Copyright Demotix (17/12/2014)
Childrens in Sivasagar, Assam lighting candles protesting the attack of Talibans in a school of Pakistan, image by Neelam Kakoty Majumdar. Copyright Demotix (18/12/2014)
Burdwan District Press Club organised a Candlelight Rally in At Burdwan, West Bengal, India, protesting against Taliban terror attack on Army Public School in Peshawar. Image by Sanjoy Karmaker (18/12/2014)
Children holding solidarity messages at the candle light vigil in Lahore, Pakistan. Image by Fatima Arif. Copyright Demotix (18/12/2014)


Turkmenistan: Build Athletes, Not Stadiums · Global Voices
Alexander Sodiqov

My countrymen appreciate the new [sports] infrastructure…, but they generally feel that what really needs to be built aren’t facilities, but actual athletes.
Annasoltan on NewEurasia.net suggests that instead of building lavish stadiums and gyms,Turkmenistan should focus on training athletes that would be able to win international competitions. Yet, she explains why this is not likely to happen:
…I suspect that developing real athletes would risk drawing attention away from our supernatural president – martial artists, horseback rider and race car driver par excellence.


Japan: Eyebrows raised by China’s rise to number two   · Global Voices
Scilla Alecci

Financial data and figures say Japan has now fallen to number three in world ranking.
This month the Japanese government admitted that China has stolen its thunder [en] becoming the second largest economy after the US, as official figures showed that Japan’s gross domestic product was US$1.28 trillion in the second quarter against China's US$1.33 trillion.
By Flickr id xioubin low. CC license.
But this announcement hasn't surprised many Japanese people who had been expecting it to happen sooner or later.
The buzz that media created about Japan being beaten by its Asian neighbor has made many bloggers raise their eyebrows and say: so what?
Ampontan, for instance, warns that China becoming the second largest economy in the world is nothing but a bubble that will eventually burst.
Yesterday, the English-language print media was filled with stories declaring that China’s economy had at last grown to become the second-largest in the world, surpassing that of Japan. One newspaper said it had “seized” second place (as if economies can seize anything), while another reported that it had captured the “second-place crown”.
Perhaps they should be forgiven, for it’s obvious they know not what they do. Many people, more often on the left than not, view the dynamics of national economies as a zero-sum contest–as if they were spectators at a baseball, football, or hockey game. The economists remind us that the potential for win-win is always there, but few people listen.[…]
As Gordon Chang points out in Forbes [en], the Chinese property market has become the 500-lb bubble in the middle of the room. When it pops–and you know it will–investors will take a bath so large the media will be inundated with water sports stories 24/7.
Japan emerged as economic superpower in 1968, when it became the second largest economy in the world, surpassing West Germany.
The “economic miracle” as defined by some scholars [en] was caused by multiple factors including postwar reforms and a high level of industrialization fostered by ‘keiretsu’ [en], a partnership of Government and private industry.
Nowadays Japan, with a population which is only one tenth of greater China's population, has a public debt to GDP ratio of about 200% and a mere 0.1% economic growth rate.
Takaojisan thinks it’s natural that the Chinese GDP passes Japan's as the population is bigger. But he also shares with Ampontan the opinion that the story that China is going to be the largest economy in the near future may go up in smoke.
単純に考え、日本の１０倍の人口がいるから日本の１０倍の購買力があるなどはあり得ず、結局は一部の富裕層が買いあさっているに過ぎない。中国のGDPは、個人消費ではなく、行き場のない金が向かっている投資によるところが大きい。そして、その投資がはじければ、中国の巨大な経済は一夜にして水泡に帰するのだ。なにしろ、経済の実体となりうる個人消費がきわめて限られ、インフラが整備されず、国民生活を支える有形無形の社会サービスがまったく形成されていないからだ。
つまり中国の投資バブルがはじけた場合の崩壊はすさまじいと言える。まさに、実体のない経済が雲散霧消するのだ。[…]
しかし、いずれ日本を経済規模で抜いたとしても、べつにそれがどうと言うことではないのだ。
In addition to the figures that prove China’s economy being greater than the Japanese, experts forecast [en] that this growing power will eventually pass also the US by 2030, becoming then the largest economy in the whole world.
Blogger aen_ukon99 wonders what are the factors considered by the experts when examining a country's economic performance.
それに中国に生産拠点を移した多くの外国企業の生産はカウントされていないのかな？
そして安い労働力の供給元だった中国がこの頃自殺者やストなどで目覚め始めて多くの企業はインドやアフリカに移りつつあるって中国にとっては結構痛い話じゃ無いのかな。
More positive thinkers, like Bos, have taken the news as a reason to look ahead and help their country to utilize those values and strengths that made of it a world power in just a few decades.
まあ、いつか来る順位変動なので仕方がない。
これ以上落ちないように努力と行動と思考と知能を生かしていきたいものだ・・・・・。


Iran: Ganji is Free! · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Kosoof, photo blogger & journalist, shares with us Akbar Ganji's photos with his family & friends after he came out prison. Ganji, writer & journalist, had been in jail for 6 years. He went on hunger strike several times.


Kuwait: One Year · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

It's been a year since someone broke Desert Girl‘s heart, who expresses her feelings in this intense post.


Georgia: Excuse to Invade · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Matt Jay rounds up news on Georgia's military operations against a local warlord who controls the Kodori Gorge, the only part of the breakaway region of Abkhazia controlled by Tbilisi. The blogger says that the escape of the warlord, Emzar Kvitsiani, into Abkhazia may provide Georgia to invade the region.


Russia: Caucasus Situation; Spring Draft · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Window on Eurasia writes about the situation in the North Caucasus – here and here – and about the spring draft into the Russian armed forces.


Medical examiner brings closure to families of deceased homeless people | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Brendan O’Brien
November 3, 2014
Bodies lie in the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office. (Photo by Sue Vliet)
This is part of an ongoing series of articles that put a face on the poor in Milwaukee, 50 years after President Lyndon Johnson declared a “war on poverty.”
Everyone in the neighborhood knew him.
They offered the man food when they saw him and noticed when his health began to slip, when he lost even more weight and walked a bit slower. Despite smoking discarded cigarette butts he picked up off the ground and drinking booze out in the open, he was considered part of the fabric of the neighborhood in the 900 block of South 3rd Street.
They knew he lived behind a two-flat in a brown utility shed. He was allowed to make the shed into a home by the owner of the property, for whom he regularly did small manual labor jobs, such as shoveling snow and mowing the grass.
“He was just happy there. He didn’t want anything else,” said George Prentice, the property owner. “He was what he was and you weren’t going to change him.”
But when two frigid weeks passed without seeing the man, a concerned neighbor busted through the shed’s small door, which was padlocked from the inside. He entered the 4-by-5 foot shelter, furnished with a bookcase and a chair. It was also equipped with a microwave, television and space heater powered by an extension cord that ran from the two-flat.
A file cabinet contains case files of the unclaimed and unidentified bodies.. (Photo by Sue Vliet)
In the center of the shed, warmed by the space heater that remained on and plastic garbage bags covering the door jambs, the neighbor found the man laying on a pile of blankets, dressed in five shirts and jackets, two pairs of pants, a pair of socks and boots.
He was dead.
Jenni Penn, an investigator at the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office, arrived at the shed moments later and began the process of positively identifying the man and informing his family of his death.
Penn is part of a team at the examiner’s office that investigates 30 to 40 cases a year of unidentified and unclaimed bodies, many of whom are homeless. She attempts to reunite them with their next of kin, some of whom they have not been in touch with for years or even decades.
“I love the thrill of finding the family; it’s a very rewarding part of the job,” she said. “When you are dealing with death, not everything is rewarding.”
Many of these cases are emblematic of the lives of the homeless in Milwaukee. Some struggled with mental illness. Others were alcoholics and drug addicts. Most had not been heard from by family and friends in years. They died alone and their bodies were found in parks, under viaducts and on sidewalks. Some drowned while others froze. Most had very few worldly possessions, maybe just a few dollars in their pockets and the clothes on their backs.
Some of the city’s chronic homeless men and women are regular clients of Mr. Bob’s Under the Bridge, an outreach program of Advent Lutheran Church, that hands out toiletries and clothing each weekend in Zeidler Park. Bob Burmeister, who runs the organization, gets to know them and hears through the grapevine when one of them is in trouble or dies.
“When you think of a coroner’s office, you think they don’t care. That’s not true in Milwaukee,” Burmeister said. “They could just say, put them in a box and put them in the ground. But they have compassion and heart and a death means something to them.”
The County of Milwaukee budgets less than $400 for each unclaimed body handled by the medical examiner. A Wisconsin statute requires medical examiners around the state to make an effort in notify next of kin of their deceased family members, Penn noted.
The job of identifying homeless individuals who have died begins at the scene, where, hopefully, a driver’s license or some other identification is found to point to who they might have been. Investigators and detectives then search the Internet, using genealogy sites, and calling veteran and Social Security officials in Washington D.C. They also reach out to area schools, prisons and health care providers in the area, to try to piece together the deceased’s identity and find their relatives, explained Penn.
“I view them as a challenge. I think about how sad someone’s life went that way, but I also try to understand it,” she said. “They are deceased, I can’t fix that. But what I can do is find family. Whether or not they want anything to do with the burial, at least I have a sense of accomplishment that the family was found.”
Through a driver’s license and Veteran Affairs records, Penn positively identified the man in the shed as Randy Buch. A 53-year-old veteran, Buch was treated years ago at the Clement Zablocki VA Medical Center for addiction. Penn identified him and tracked down family members who had not seen him for 17 years, all within a day.
Other cases are not as easy to close. On Nov. 11, 2012, an 11-year-old volunteering in a clean-up effort near the McKinley Marina found a human skeleton lying on a shower curtain in the woods. Investigators spent five months solving the mystery of the deceased’s identity, an effort that included running DNA tests and sending the skeleton to the University of North Texas Center of Human Identification’s Lab of Forensic Anthropology. The search also involved more than a dozen interviews with possible family members, calls to the University of Wisconsin Registrar’s Office and Marquette Dental School and futile inquires at more than half a dozen hospitals in the area. After five months, investigators determined the remains belonged to Harry Bubolz, a 70-year-old veteran, who earned a degree in economics from the University of Wisconsin in 1964.
“Where it takes months to find family, those are the ones that stick out in my mind,” Penn said. “The key is to never give up and keep going.”
Paul Ellis appreciated the compassionate effort made by the examiner’s office. Ellis is still shaken when recalling the police visit that informed him of his 55-year-old brother Allen’s death four months earlier, on July 4, 2012. Allen Ellis was found on the sidewalk in the 1000 block of East Lyons Street. Paul Ellis said his brother led a rough life, but he thought Allen was getting by until he heard the news of his passing.
“We were devastated, but it was nice to have closure,” he said. “It meant a lot to us.”
Cases involving individuals who have common last names and those who seem not to have any connections to the local community tend to be tougher to solve, said Penn, who has been with the coroner’s office for 17 years. The key to success in finding next of kin is thinking like a genealogist and working backwards through their lives, starting with the most current possible connections, she explained. A former county hospital nurse, Penn said she has failed to solve only one or two cases out of the 100 she has worked on during her tenure.
“They are not heartbreaking,” Penn added, “Because I have been doing this so long, I would have [had] my heart broken too much.”


Blog Carnival Against Gender Violence · Global Voices
Jennifer Brea

Black Looks announces a 16-day blog carnival against gender violence.


UNICAL flays academics for asking students to write exams at homes | EduCeleb
12th August 2021
The authorities at the University of Calabar (UNICAL) has frowned at the increasing rate of sorting and other academic-related malpractices going on in this school as they accuse lecturers of being the architect of this heinous crime.
In a memorandum published on one of the university’s notice boards, the management revealed that some lecturers have been fingered to have indulged in this act as they provide students with scripts to write their examinations outside the university.
The memo signed by the University’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Michael Okom noted that students now take their exams in hotels, at home and other relaxation places which is solely against the rules and regulations of the system.
The management further urged all the academic staff involved in this act to stop with immediate effect in order to prevent the wrath of the school.
See the memo below content is reproduced below.
“It has come to the knowledge of management that some teaching staff have revived the obnoxious and abhorrable acts of sorting, extortion and sex for grades/sexual harassment.
“Some departments and lecturers have been specifically fingered and investigations have commenced. Management also has information to the effect that lecturers have resorted to giving students scripts to write exams at homes, hotels and relaxation places.
“All those involved in these despicable activities are hereby warned to desist and repent. In fact, they will soon be invited to interact with the Disciplinary Committee.”


Journey House publishes book about Little League trip to Puerto Rico | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Alexandria Bursiek
May 4, 2017
Felix Mantilla signs a book for coach Guerrero Duran and his son Alan Duran, 11. (Photo by Alexandria Bursiek)
Last summer 14 students from the Felix Mantilla Little League traveled to Isabela, Puerto Rico, to visit the home of the team’s namesake. About 50 people went on the trip, including Felix Mantilla, the former Milwaukee Braves player, parents, Journey House staff members, Little League coaches and Felix “Tony” Mantilla Jr.
The group wanted to document their experience, so Journey House CEO Michele Bria asked her daughter, Malulani Bria, to take photographs. After they returned — with 5,000 photos in hand — Michele Bria decided they would produce a coffee table book, called “Changing Lives in 5 Days.”
The 120-page book, the first published by Journey House, details the trip through photos, journals and quotations. It was presented to the families of the Little League players and other community members at a recent book launch. All the players who attended the trip were given a free copy, signed by Felix Mantilla, who played on the 1957 Milwaukee Braves World Series-winning team.
Eugene Manzanet, Journey House board chairman, speaks at the book launch about the trip to Puerto Rico as Michele Bria and Malulani Bria look on. (Photo by Alexandria Bursiek)
Journey House has run the Felix Mantilla league since 2014, when the United Community Center decided it could no longer operate the program. Eugene Manzanet, chairman of the Journey House board, explained that when organization leaders were offered the opportunity to run the league they decided to blend athletics with education through the Felix Mantilla Little League Education and Cultural Exchange Program.
“The base of everything is education,” said Manzanet. “We wanted to give these kids an opportunity to see the world, understand their culture a little bit better and get out of Wisconsin.”
As part of the exchange program, Journey House is hoping to bring baseball players from Puerto Rico this summer to tour Milwaukee and learn about the city’s culture. However, Bria said no official plans have been made.
Journey House received funding for the trip from individual investors and a number of organizations including North Star Providers, a philanthropic organization, and Marquette University High School.
“None of these kids were just given the opportunity. They all earned the opportunity,” Manzanet explained. He added that all of the students had to write book reports and do research about the culture, history and geography of Puerto Rico before going on the trip.
Doshin Rivera, Jr. looks over “Changing Lives in 5 Days.” (Photo by Alexandria Bursiek)
They also prepared on the baseball field. Julio Cruz, assistant coach for the league, said the players practiced on the hottest days in Milwaukee to get in the habit of drinking a lot of water. Despite the coaches’ best efforts to prepare the players for the heat in Puerto Rico, Cruz said they were not ready for it.
The team played against a few local teams in Puerto Rico and, after the second game, the Milwaukee players decided to give away their all-star jerseys to the other team members, who wore T-shirts.
“It was this moment of saying thank you. They literally took their uniforms off their backs,” Manzanet said. “They got it; they understood what we were trying to do.”
“I was kind of sad about it,” said Alan Duran, 11, a Felix Mantilla Little League player. “But we can go to the store and [get] another one. They couldn’t, so I felt good about it.”
The idea for the trip came from Felix “Tony” Mantilla Jr., who thought that the exchange program would motivate more students to get involved in the league, and would give them the opportunity to learn more about other places in the world.
Mantilla Jr. explained that he would like the program to expand. “My hope is that in future years it will be multiple teams coming from here to take advantage of that same trip.”


Cameroon: Solar light & WiFi · Global Voices
Sokari Ekine

Afromusing writes about a recent initiative in Cameroon that links a solar street light with WiFi and network technology which she suggests could go hand in hand with the $100 computer launched at this years WSIS.  One comment on the post is worth mentioning.    “It sounds like a good initiative, but I hope that the laptops can be made on the continent (Africa), or else it will be yet another lost opportunity for en masse job creation.” – Negroponte and MIT take note.


LASUBEB releases 2020 placement test scores | EduCeleb
30th October 2020
The Lagos State Examinations Board has notified the general public, especially the Public and Approved Private Primary Schools in the State that the Year 2020 Placement Test by Continuous Assessment Scores (CAS) has been released to Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (LASUBEB).
The Lagos SUBEB has released the lists of Primary Six Pupils to all the Six Education Districts in the State for Placement into Public Junior Secondary Schools (JSS).
Parents/Guardians were advised to kindly check their wards’ Placement at the various Primary Schools they attended.
In the meantime, the Examinations Board wishes to inform all duly registered Approved Private Schools in the State to get in touch with the Board through their Zonal Officers for the collection of CAS Results to further process the placement of their pupils into the State Public Junior Secondary Schools at the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Maryland.


Jamaica: Get with the (Interactive TV) Program!  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

You can buy the exclusive rights to such shows but you can’t do that and treat them as if they’re the kind of traditional uni-directional, analog content that’s on its way out without raising the ire of your viewers.
The Voice is stirring up some discussion in Jamaica – and not just because of Tessanne Chin.  Annie Paul explains.


India: Muslims and Political Parties · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Indian Muslims on the civic elections in Malegaon, which was rocked by bomb blasts last year. “So, does it helps if you are concentrated in a region, play communal politics and still be acceptable to the mainstream? Or can you be a party of only the majority group and still be fine? And when no political party in India is tackling the real issues of Indian Muslims namely poverty and education, is it really a bad idea to have someone who can fight for their rights and help address their genuine grievances?”


Twitter Manifesto Against Violence Targeting Mexican Netizens · Global Voices
Elizabeth Rivera

After Aleph Jiménez [es] -a member of the #YoSoy132 movement- disappeared in Ensenada, Mexico on September 21, 2012, the website Pulso Ciudadano (Citizen Pulse) republished a Twitter Manifesto [es] against violence targeting netizens to remind us of the danger citizen journalists face in the country.


Uruguay: Montevideo Marathon · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

Martín Balao writes about the 13th Annual San Felipe and Santiago de Montevideo marathon [es] that will take place on December 15th through the streets of the Uruguayan capital.  For this race, each runner will have a special computer chip tied within their laces that will help calculate their time.


Serbian Groups Stage Blackout to Protest Media Intimidation By Tax Authority · Global Voices
Filip Stojanovski

Screen shot of the Twitter profile of Vukašin Obradović, owner and editor of Novine Vranjske, featuring a header photo from September 18 “I stand with Vranjske” protest featuring the hashtag.
More than one hundred media outlets and NGO websites staged a website blackout on September 28, in an act of resistance against media control and intimidation in the country.
“This is how it looks when there is no media freedom” – Today 150 media and organizations in #Serbia are going black to alert on the situation in the country#StojimUzVranjske #ZaSloboduMedija #StopMedijskomMraku pic.twitter.com/aZ0GJg0KG7
— Marion Dautry (@MarionDautry) September 28, 2017
The blackout is the latest in a series of events following the September 18  closure of Novine Vranjske (“Vranje Newspaper”), an independent weekly magazine that covered Southern Serbia for 23 years.
Vranjske owner and editor-in-chief Vukašin Obradović explained that the newspaper was forced to close down due to administrative harassment and other forms of state pressure, particularly from Serbia's Tax Authority. In a statement about the closure, the European Federation of Journalists noted:
[Obradović], his family and his colleagues experienced multiple non-investigated instances of harassment and persecution, ranging from repeated direct threats, car tampering, offices robbed, to inspections and controls leading to the economic suffocation of the newspaper, peaking this year.
On the morning of September 19 Obradović locked himself in the newsroom and began a hunger strike. He was hospitalized the next night for health reasons, but then left the hospital on September 20 of his own accord. He soon after published an open letter to the director of the Tax Authority asking for clarification of the closure, citing evidence that the newspaper had paid all its taxes, which came in the form of a state-issued certificate. He noted that his firm had been subjected to selective justice since 1994, including inspections by Tax Authority and Bureau of Labor, with malicious intent to compromise them. The agency has not responded thus far.
Using the hashtag #StojimUzVranjske, meaning “I stand with Vranjske,” journalists and other free speech advocates staged protests in person in Belgrade on September 18, and online. Two print newspapers also expressed solidarity with Vranjske.
Behind a black front page, Danas daily republished a selection of the investigative articles from Vranjske which made it a target of the regime. Vreme featured the hashtag and provided an overview of media freedom issues.
Kupujem samo novine na kojima piše #StojimUzVranjske @OnlineDanas , @NedeljnikVreme pic.twitter.com/1H9ww8jzpR
— Antonela Riha (@RihaAntonela) September 28, 2017
I am buying only those newspapers that stress that they stand with Vranjske: Danas daily and Vreme weekly.
Some leading journalist organizations also joined the protest movement, including Balkan Insight, one of the few independent media outlets that produces news from Serbia in English.
@BalkanInsight Serbia's page will not be available today as we join the campaign to raise awareness of the declining media freedom in the country#StopMedijskomMraku #ZaSloboduMedija #StojimUzVranjske pic.twitter.com/5BRA4TVWdu
— Gordana Andric (@shnjoof) September 28, 2017
Even though the number of websites participating in the blackout action might seem large at first glance, this is just a small portion of the overall number of around two thousand media outlets in Serbia. Most of them keep silent or are openly complacent towards ruling party propaganda.
U Srbiji je registrovano preko 1800 medija. A mrak nikad veci.Vise propagandista nego novinara. #StojimUzVranjske #upitnik
— Dušan Mašić (@dusanmasic) September 26, 2017
Even though over 1800 media outlets are registered in Serbia, the media situation had never been darker. There are much more propagandists than journalists. #IStandWithVranjske #Upitnik [a TV show which dared to conduct an interview with Obradović]
It is an open secret that authorities misuse Serbia's tax authority as a tool for punishing disobedient media.
Independent weekly Vreme (“Time”) noted in its September 28 issue that Kikindske novine (“Kikinda Newspaper”) had laid dormant for three months in 2015, and was blocked for six months due to a reported error of Tax Authority.
According to Vreme, the Tax Authority has failed to respond to journalist inquiries whether it conducts similar controls in pro-government media companies such as Politika and Informer. Both of them had recently published libelous ‘dossiers’ by a secretive organization called Antidot – New Media Network Western Balkans. The dossiers portrayed leading local investigative journalism organizations such as BIRN, CINS and KRIK as producers of “para-media contents” and foreign mercenaries used by the US to “topple Balkan governments.”
Antidot was formerly owned by the lawyer of Stanko Subotić, a well-networked businessman convicted for organized crime perpetrated during the reign of Slobodan Milošević. After the newspaper Blic revealed this connection in April 2015, the Antidot portal changed ownership in attempt to “cover up its tracks.”
Vreme also reported that the bank account of publisher Adria Media Group was also blocked after its tabloid Kurir (“Courier”) started criticizing the regime of President and former PM Aleksandar Vučić, even though their tax debt was confirmed to be zero dinars. “AMG claims that in less than three months they received over 60 tax controls, however the Tax Authority has not issued any public information about the case,” noted the expose.
On the other hand, regime-friendly media companies such as Pink TV suffered no consequences when dealing with the Tax Authority, in spite of owing hundreds of millions of dinars to the state in unpaid taxes.
In 2016, the Center of Investigative Journalism (CINS) discovered that Pink received over 7 million euros in state loans, despite its debts, which legally render the company ineligible for loans.
In Milosevic's times they were killing journalists. Now they are killing journalism. #StopMedijskomMraku #ZaSloboduMedija #StojimUzVranjske
— Srdjan Cvijic (@srdjancvijic) September 28, 2017
Hashtag translations: #StopMediaDarkness #ForMediaFreedom #IStandWithVranjske
Media freedoms have been deteriorating in Serbia in recent years, under the rule of the populist regime headed by President Aleksandar Vučić, who served as Minister of Information in the Milošević's governmet, and who styles himself as a pro-European reformer. His party, the Serbian Progressive Party is a member of the European People's Party (EPP).
The methods of the Serbian Progressive Party echo the practices used in neighboring countries ruled by EPP member parties. For example, Macedonia's former ruling party (voted out in 2017) also used proxy propaganda groups misrepresenting themselves as think-tanks and civic actions to produce libelous dossiers. These were similar to Antidot's efforts to target activists and journalists, and state institutions for administrative harassment of independent NGOs and media, as well as impunity for criminal activities against them.


Azerbaijan: Cuisine · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Carolyn & Jesse's Azerbaijan Peace Corps Blog introduces its readers to Azerbaijani cuisine. Although the blog says that the nutritional value of many of the meals on offer is questionable it concludes that there are some “real treasures in the country” and provides a culinary tour of some of them.


Netizen Report: Venezuela’s Conflict Moves From the Streets to the Screen · Global Voices
Netizen Report Team

An officer of the Venezuela's Bolivarian National Police watches protesters in Maracaibo, 2014. Photo by Maria Alejandra Mora (CC BY-SA 3.0)
On the night of June 28, Internet users across Venezuela reported that multiple major web and social media sites had gone dark. According to the media organization Venezuela Inteligente:
DNS servers of the State’s Internet Service Provider CANTV were not responding to DNS requests for Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Periscope, preventing users from accessing these platforms.
An hour later, users were able to access those sites again. This wave of censorship comes in a moment when Venezuela’s government is facing record levels of public opposition and unrest, and a rapidly escalating economic crisis that has led to widespread hunger and threats to public health countrywide.
Internet access has significantly deteriorated since May 2016 when the government declared a (still ongoing) state of emergency and officially authorized online content filtering. In May 2017, the Index on Censorship published evidence of 41 websites being blocked in the country.
While authorities may see social media censorship as a useful short-term mechanism for limiting speech that sparks public unrest, they too rely on Internet access to communicate with their citizens.
Just last week, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro ordered officials to investigate Twitter employees in Venezuela for suspending the accounts of 180 government employees and chavistas, as supporters of former president Hugo Chavez are known. Maduro vowed to “unmask” the identities of the Twitter officials responsible and to create thousands of new accounts to continue the “battle on social media.”
On June 29, well-known Vietnamese human rights blogger and community leader Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh (who blogged under the name Mother Mushroom) was sentenced to 10 years in prison after a Khanh Hoa district court convicted her of distorting government policies and defaming the Communist regime on Facebook and in interviews with foreign media outlets.
Vietnamese authorities also forced professor Pham Minh Hoang into exile on June 24. Hoang was stripped of his nationality in May and forcibly removed from his house on June 23. He said he was detained for 24 hours before authorities forced him onto a plane to Paris. He is now separated from his wife and young daughter and unable to take care of his disabled older brother. A blogger and member of Viet Tan, the Vietnamese democratic political movement, Hoang was detained for 17 months beginning in 2010. He has conducted trainings on cybersecurity, human rights and leadership skills since his release. “I still have a little hope, one day, to come back to live and die in Vietnam,” he told Associated Press.
Cuban journalist Manuel Alejandro León Velázquez was arrested by Cuban state security officers in Guantanamo province and detained for two days. Police also confiscated electronic equipment, mobile phones, several hundred dollars worth of US, EU and Cuban currency, and his passport and press card. León Velázquez is a reporter for the independent news website Diario de Cuba and has covered hurricane relief efforts and infrastructure challenges in eastern Cuba. He has been summoned for a meeting with police on July 3, who charge that he has been distributing “false news.”
A video journalist and the director of the news website Rif24 was arrested on June 6 in the Rif region of Morocco, where protests focused on the declining economy, poor infrastructure and government corruption have been taking place since October 2016. Mohamed al-Asrihi is currently in pre-trial detention on charges including practicing journalism without official accreditation and receiving foreign funding from “separatists” abroad. He is reportedly being held in solitary confinement in Casablanca's Oukacha Prison.
A video clip of Charlie Chaplin’s ‘The Great Dictator’ has been blocked on YouTube at the behest of the military-backed government of Thailand. Internet users reported on June 24 that the video clip with Thai subtitles was inaccessible on YouTube. The page for the video instead displayed the standard message: “This content is not available on this country domain due to a legal complaint from the government.”
“The Great Dictator”, a Hollywood film by comedian Chaplin, parodied the rise of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in 1940. June 24 is the day when Thailand commemorates the 1932 revolution which ended the country’s absolute monarchy.
Internet users are anticipating that the majority of VPN apps for individual use will be inaccessible in mainland China by July 1, 2017. Whisperings of a state ban on unauthorized VPNs spread widely on Twitter and Weibo after the popular VPN service provider Green announced that the company would cease operations by July 1. That date is sensitive because it marks the 20th anniversary of the transfer of Hong Kong from British to Chinese power. However there is not conclusive evidence of a direct connection. The move may also indicate a forthcoming ban has been expedited. China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology had announced that it will ban “illegal services”, including unauthorized VPNs, in March 2018.
After Gabon and the Gambia shut down networks during recent elections inquiring minds want to know if Kenya will follow in their footsteps during upcoming elections on August 8. In a press statement, Kenyan ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru affirmed, “We are a digital country and that is not our intention. It is not even a remote fall back position.”
Documents leaked to ProPublica demonstrate how Facebook advises moderators to remove — or preserve — messages that users report as hate speech. Among other directives, the guidance tells moderators to remove hate speech that targets “protected categories” of people who include, in one example, white men, but not black children.
Facebook will not release data about political campaign ads posted on the site, despite requests from researchers who say the information is critical for accountability and preventing fraudulent advertising during elections. US television broadcasters are required to provide details about the cost and schedules of ads, but this information is not easily attainable for online advertising, despite substantial shifts toward digital rather than broadcast ads.
Gmail has long scanned the content of its users emails in order to serve up targeted advertising to them. That practice may be ending by the close of this year, according to an announcement from the company, a decision privacy advocates are cautiously welcoming.
The UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women is soliciting input for a report on online violence against women and girls. Submissions should be sent by September 30, 2017.
Afef Abrougui, Ellery Roberts Biddle, Marianne Diaz, Don Le, Elizabeth Rivera, Laura Vidal, and Sarah Myers West contributed to this report.


Honduras: Increased Militarization · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

RNS from Honduras Culture and Politics says that, “Daily life in Honduras is increasingly much like it was under the military dictatorship of the early 1980s. In the name of security, the country is gradually being militarized.”


Hong Kong: Shaping Hong Kong’s Digital Future · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Charles Mok blogs his speech on the conference: “Shaping Hong Kong's Digital Future”.


Bulgaria: 30,000 Protest Against Cuts and Pension Reform · Global Voices
Ruslan Trad

According to the trade unions, between 25,000 and 30,000 people protested in Sofia on Wednesday against the new pension reform, social cuts and the cancellation of the majority of trains in the country (a photo; videos – here and here). The police sent to contain the rally supported the people's demands by wearing ribbons in the colors of the Bulgarian national flag on their uniforms. MPs from the ruling party tried to talk with the protestors, but were booed. The protests will continue because of the cancelation of talks between the government and the trade unions.


China: Microsoft Hacked into Olympics? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Hecaitou posted a photo of the Olympic Opening with a Microsoft blue screen projection. Netizens were discussing whether it was an intentional design or a mistake.


Laos: Plain of Jars · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Maikulian posts a picture of “Plain of Jars” taken in Phonsavan, Laos. “Plain of Jars” refers to historic sites in Laos containing thousands of stone jars.


Trinidad & Tobago: Speaking Out Against Sexual Abuse  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

The case of a 12-year old girl, who recently gave birth to her stepfather's child in Guyana, gets Outlish talking about feminism, education and the everyday reality of women in the Caribbean, while journalist and blogger Lisa Allen-Agostini says it is time to speak out about child sexual abuse.
Writing at Outlish, Tonya Haynes, the co-ordinator of CODE RED for gender justice, talks about her initial reaction when she heard the news:
The newspapers reported that after the [caesarean section] surgery she was resting comfortably. I’m not sure what they meant by that. But I know that news made me uncomfortable.
What about her right to a life free of violence? Why did this girl’s community fail to protect her from sexual abuse? Why, when they found out about it, did they remain silent? What about her right to a life free of violence?
This is why I’m feminist. Because I know the answers to those questions, and I don’t like them.
She views the problem not solely in a sexual context, explaining:
For all the attempts to convince me that there is no gender inequality in the region, and that we have made collective peace with the other forms of inequality, I know better.
I know that we view children in a hierarchical relationship to adults. We expect them to be seen and not heard. We tell them to know their place. We fail to protect them on a massive scale. How safe are public spaces now for teen girls? For gay, lesbian and transgender youth? For young men anxious to prove themselves? Hell, for grown women who just want to walk, or exercise in peace?
This is why I’m feminist. Because any form of inequality or discrimination needs to be redressed. Because gender inequality cuts across other forms of oppression.
Let’s break this down a bit.
Only 10% of Caribbean 18-30-year-olds access tertiary education, according to Sir Hilary Beckles, Principal of the University of the West Indies’ Cave Hill Campus. While we’re busy crunching the sex ratios of university education we’re forgetting the majority of Caribbean people (women and men) who just don’t have access to university. Now I’m not saying that finding out why so many young men are turned off formal education isn’t important. It is.
What I’m saying is that we also need to talk about the 90% of women and men who don’t have access. We need to talk about the Ponzi scheme that is the Common Entrance exam, which most Caribbean children take at age 11. We need to talk about how this system essentially bars many of them from access to education in the first place.
The post goes on to detail the experience of the CatchAFyah New Generation Feminist Grounding, which was recently held in Barbados:
We learnt from each other. Tracey-Ann from Jamaica shared that though her mother supported her human rights activism, she had asked her not to appear on television identifying as lesbian. Safety is a daily negotiation among partners, family and community.
Ifasina from Belize shared that because of her organization’s HIV prevention work the groups’ members were stigmatized as all being HIV positive themselves. They persevered out of a sense of conviction for the importance of their work. They went on to not only be awarded by UNAIDS for their community work, but to also win over the community members who now seek them out for the sexuality education, which they provide on location at fetes and parties.
These everyday acts of courage constitute and sustain Caribbean feminism.
Lisa Allen-Agostini, who writes for a mainstream newspaper, republishes her most recent column on child sexual abuse because:
My column in today’s Trinidad Guardian was supposed to be formatted in a certain way and it isn’t. The lack of formatting makes it incredibly difficult to read and I am sure it will make no sense whatsoever to whoever reads it there. That’s why I’m here, to repost the column with the correct formatting. I also want to share it far and wide because it’s about child sexual abuse and we can never say too much on that topic.
Referring to the high-profile Sandusky case in the United States, she talks about the importance of breaking the silence about the issue:
We in Trinidad and Tobago might imagine the Sandusky story is some alien thing, and that this could never happen here. We would be very wrong. There is child sexual abuse happening in this country at this very moment. Somewhere not far from you there is a boy or girl being seduced by someone he or she trusts, seduced with cake and money and weed and PS3’s, and love, or the facsimile of it. This seeming love is the thing that draws child victims in and shuts them up. Because the one who is seducing them seems to care, sometimes more than their own parents and siblings. These monsters will give hugs and back rubs and listening ears. They will know just what a child wants and give it unstintingly. And then they will take what they want.
She makes the point that in the Sandusky case, “it is not the victims’ silence that is the most horrifying part, but the silence of their community”:
The Grand Jury testimony gives stories of people who walked in on Sandusky lying on top of boys, showering with them, having oral sex with them, raping them. Some reported what they had seen to a superior, and those superiors did not do what the law mandated: report it to the police, investigate and take measures to protect the boys who may have been molested. (In one case, a mother did report it to the police, who subsequently dropped the investigation.)
If a child you know says a respected adult is making him or her uncomfortable, what is your first impulse? Is it to ask questions, or to brush the child aside? Do you listen to the silence, or compound it with your own? Whatever the outcome of the Sandusky trial let us take one thing away from the horrendous story: Break the Silence.
In closing, Tonya Haynes makes the point that:
Caribbean feminism is not some giant hairy man-eating monster anxious to claw its way to the top and destroy the family and society in the process. It’s a movement of ordinary diverse women (and men) like the ones I had the privilege of spending two days with: passionate, courageous and committed to being the change they want to see.
Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that?


China’s Rule of Law is in Full Retreat · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Recently a Chinese law scholar Jiang Ping had a public talk criticizing the retreat of China's rule of law. His speech is now translated at Chinese Law Prof Blog.


Sokoto govt to partner ABU on irrigation | EduCeleb
9th September 2020
Sokoto State Government has sought collaboration with Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) in order to go into massive irrigation farming all over the state next dry season, Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal has said.
The governor explained that the decision was informed largely by the need to mitigate the COVID-19 effects and regain losses suffered by farmers this farming season following devastating floods that hit several rice and sugarcane farms in different parts of the state.
Governor Tambuwal, who received in audience the Vice-Chancellor, Ahmadu Bello University, Kabir Bala and his entourage in Sokoto on Tuesday night, noted that this would be part of his government’s strategies to help boost farmers morale in the state.
“We must prepare to go into massive irrigation farming immediately next dry season to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 and losses suffered by our teeming farmers as a result of the devastating floods that ravaged many parts of the state,” he said.
The governor described the Vice-Chancellor’s visit as timely, saying the proposal by the University on the need for Sokoto government to take advantage of its various farming techniques and other agricultural services offered by the institution’s agric complex was well thought out.
The state government, according to him, was now determined to engage the services of the University to train more of its extension workers and fresh graduates wishing to venture into farming.
Governor Tambuwal also said his government would prefer the University to handle the job given the key role ABU had played towards the development of agriculture in Nigeria, particularly in northern Nigeria.
The governor, who also described agriculture as a strategic business in northern Nigeria, said over 85 percent of the state population were farmers.
While congratulating Professor Kabir Bala on his well-deserved appointment as Vice-Chancellor, Tambuwal said universities as citadel of learning should remain the think-tank for government at all levels.
“We really know the role universities play in developed nations; so we need to adjust ourselves here and move closer to our universities for collaboration for the overall benefit of our society,” he said.
Earlier in his remarks, the Vice-Chancellor said they came to Sokoto to see him as a major stakeholder in the affairs of the University and to inform him of the effort being made to improve its lot.
The Vice-Chancellor, who thanked Governor Tambuwal for the audience granted him and his entourage, equally expressed appreciation to the state government for building and donating a student hostel to the University.


Kyrgyz Revolution Photos · Global Voices
Ben Paarmann

By posting photos of last year's Kyrgyz Revolution, Edil Baisalov looks at the people that were behind the ousting of former President Akayev (RUS).


Brazil: Rio carnival will have LGBT samba school · Global Voices
Paula Góes

Arco-Íris de Amor [Love Raimbow], the first LGBT samba school, will parade Rio de Janeiro Carnival next year, according to Thiago Velloso [pt].


Kidnappings: Bandits Attack Another Convoy On Kaduna-Birnin Gwari Highway, Kill Many - Liberty TV/Radio - News - Voice For All! Vision For Alll!
Publisher (F.BA)
December 24, 2021
The incident occurred at Unguwar Geda, few metres from Zankoro, a dreaded location along the highway.
A resident, who pleaded anonymity, said his younger brother is among those who were kidnapped. Another resident of Udawa, Mohammad Umaru, confirmed that his younger brother was also killed in the attack.
However, the Kaduna State Police Command is yet to comment on the incident.
It would be also recalled that the Police had earlier said over 40 of the passengers who were kidnapped on Wednesday had been rescued.


Israel: Sharon’s Re-election Campaign · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Dave says that Sharon is now “campaigning” for re-election in the area of Israel that, Dave suppose, matters the most: the United States. Why? He says, because that’s how people win elections in the new century, they campaign in a totally different country. And that demographic that he is targeting in the U.S. wants to see settlements built, bigger, fatter and on more and more Palestinian land.


Liberia: Revive Liberia · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Revive Liberia is a blog by Revive Liberia Missions, Inc., a wholly volunteer, non-denominational Christian group committed to improving the physical and spiritual lives of the people who live in post-war Liberia.


Turkmenistan: Wild Cards · Global Voices
Nathan Hamm

Sean Roberts reports on wild cards in Turkmenistan's succession struggle.


The Archbishop of Cyprus Says He’s ‘Satisfied’ With a Far-Right Party’s Election Success · Global Voices
Veroniki Bacharidi-Krikoni

Chrysostomos II., the Archbishop of Cyprus, at the Horasis Global Russia Business Meeting in April 2013. Photo by Richter Frank-Jurgen. CC BY-SA 2.0
An Orthodox archbishop's “satisfaction” with a far-right party's election success in Cyprus has caused a stir on the Greek-speaking web.
Cyprus went to the polls on Sunday, May 22. The country's ruling conservatives won the general elections with about 30% of the vote, while National Popular Front (ELAM) earned its first seats in the legislature. ELAM, which has political links to the notorious Greek neo-Nazi movement of Golden Dawn, describes itself as representing “popular and social nationalism”. It is hostile to immigration and skeptical of the benefits of belonging to the European Union.
What really was the election's scene-stealing moment, however, was the reaction of Orthodox Archbishop Chrysostomos II of Cyprus to the news that two members of ELAM would now sit in Parliament.
Asked to comment, he said:
I didn’t believe they would get in but I can say I’m satisfied. Other voices will be heard now. Many times you need extremists so the others are more careful.
Below is the YouTube video (uploaded by user Reporter) with the archbishop's message in Greek (last 10-15 seconds):
In the past, Chrysostomos had declared in a newspaper interview that “most ELAM views are crystal clear and reflect mine”.
His remarks sparked much discussion online. There is a long-standing strife over the separation — or lack thereof — of church and state in Greece and by extension Cyprus, so perceived meddling of the Orthodox Church in politics fed the flames of debate even more.
A comment below the above mentioned YouTube video read:
i ekklisia na kamnei tin doulia tis k na men mplekete sta politika dromena…
Church must do her job and not meddle in politics…
In an opinion article titled “Arch-Fascist the II, The End” on news portal Cyprus News, Leontios Filotheou (@leontios_ on Twitter) used harsh language against the religious figure:
Επικίνδυνος είσαι. Και φασίστας.
Δεν είναι εξάλλου η πρώτη φορά. Ήταν οι «κρυστάλλινες τους απόψεις». Ήταν τα «καλά παιδιά». Και ήρθε και το κερασάκι. «Η ικανοποίηση από την είσοδο του ΕΛΑΜ στη Βουλή. Για να ακούγονται κι άλλες φωνές».
Μα γιατί; Άμα θέλαμε να ακούσουμε κανά φασίστα σε ακούγαμε εσένα; Χρειαζόμασταν λες και το ΕΛΑΜ;
Και τι σε ικανοποίησε ακριβώς;
Το ότι είναι ένα παράρτημα της Χρυσής Αυγής;
Σε ικανοποιούν οι απόψεις τους σε ότι έχει να κάνει με τον άνθρωπο; Με το συνάνθρωπο μας;  Με το μετανάστη; Τον πρόσφυγα; Τον κατατρεγμένο;
Σε ικανοποιεί που δεν καταδικάζουν το ναζισμό; Σε ικανοποιούν οι σβάστικες; Οι αγκυλωτοί σταυροί; Και όλα αυτά που έστειλαν εκατομμύρια ανθρώπους σε φούρνους στο μεγαλύτερο έγκλημα της ανθρωπότητας;
Σε ικανοποιεί το στυλ τους; Τα μαύρα; Η στρατιωτική πειθαρχία;
Τι στο διάολο σε ικανοποιεί επιτέλους;
You are dangerous. And fascist.
However, it's not the first time. They had their “crystal clear views”. They were the “good fellas”. And then, the best of all. “The satisfaction that ELAM entered the Parliament. So that other voices will be heard now”.
But why? If we wished to listen to a fascist, we would listen to you. We don't need ELAM as well, do we?
What satisfied you exactly?
The fact that it is a Golden Dawn branch?
Are you satisfied by their point of view regarding humans? Our fellow citizens? Migrants? Refugees? The oppressed?
Are you satisfied that they don't condemn Nazism? Are you satisfied by swastikas? By angled crosses? By all that sent millions of people to be burnt in furnaces, the biggest crime of humanity?
Are you satisfied by their style? Black clothes? Military discipline?
What the fuck satisfies you, after all?
Others underlined the rise of far-right politics across Europe and the relationship between conservative thinking and austerity measures imposed in recent years in various European Union countries, as Cyprus has itself faced a financial crisis some years ago:
Η είσοδος στην κυπριακή βουλή των φασιστών του ΕΛΑΜ βεβαιώνει ότι λιτότητα & Τρόικα είναι ο μεγαλύτερος στρατολόγος του σύγχρονου φασισμού!
— Leonidas Vatikiotis (@LeonidasV) May 22, 2016
ELAM fascists’ entrance into the Cypriot Parliament ensures that austerity and the Troika [the tripartite committee formed by the European Union Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund] are the largest recruiters of modern fascism!
Σοκ απο την είσοδο στην κυπριακή Βουλή του ακροδεξιού ΕΛΑΜ. Το φίδι απλώνεται σε ολη την ΕΕ. Κ ειναι μεγαλύτερος κίνδυνος απο τα ελλείμματα.
— Aggeliki Spanou (@AggelikiSays) May 22, 2016
Big shock by the entrance of far-right ELAM into the Cypriot Parliament. The serpent spreads all over EU. And this is a bigger danger than financial deficits.
“Serpent” refers to the phrase “the serpent's egg”, which is a common expression in Greek meaning the rise of fascism or Nazism. In fact, it's the title of a 1977 movie by Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, inspired by a line from Shakespeare, presenting a post-war Germany sunk into poverty and inflation.
Of course, there were messages of support, either from far-right politicians or social media users, that considered ELAM to be guilty only of expressing true and patriotic nationalistic values.
A tweet by Christos Pappas, a Greek Golden Dawn member of parliament, proclaimed:
ΖΗΤΩ ΤΟ ΕΛΑΜ
ΖΗΤΩ Η ΧΡΥΣΗ ΑΥΓΗ
ΔΥΟ ΚΡΑΤΗ ΕΝΑ ΕΘΝΟΣ
ΔΥΟ ΚΟΜΜΑΤΑ ΕΝΑΣ ΑΓΩΝΑΣ pic.twitter.com/pNkHXOBze2
— CHRISTOS PAPPAS (@PappasXA) May 30, 2016
Long Live ELAM
Long Live Golden Dawn
Two countries, one nation
Two political parties, one struggle
News reports or Facebook posts were full of comments praising the ELAM's win or the archbishop's words:
Γιώργος Χατζηθεοδωρίδης ΣΥΓΧΑΡΗΤΙΡΙΑ ΣΤΟΥΣ ΚΥΠΡΙΟΥΣ ΠΑΤΡΙΩΤΕΣ ΓΙΑ ΤΗΝ ΕΠΙΛΟΓΗ ΤΟΥΣ
Congratulations to Cypriot patriots for their choice
27/05/2016 02:43
Πολύ σωστά τα λέει ο αρχιεπίσκοπος Κύπρου
Archbishop of Cyprus speaks the right things
“Many voices must be heard, extremist ones as well, so that the others are careful and not decide immediately, just because they have the power”.
Very good stance, except the bit about “extremist ones”. It would be better to say “popular right-wing parties”.
ELAM has taken a nationalist stance in the ongoing negotiations with Turkish Cypriots to reunite the country. Currently, the island is split down ethnic lines between an internationally recognized Greek Cypriot south and a breakaway Turkish Cypriot north, the result of Turkey's invasion in 1974 following a military coup in Cyprus that aimed for Greece to annex it and therefore unify the two.


Australian National TV Airs Lewd Twitter Handle About Prime Minister · Global Voices
Kevin Rennie

Screenshot courtesy Twitter user @kobijv (Kobi J A VanBennekom )
It seems that hardly a day passes without Australia's Prime Minister Tony Abbott (@TonyAbbottMHR) becoming the eye of a media storm. The latest controversy involves the media itself, both old and new.
State-owned Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) has apologised for allowing the words ‘AbbottLovesAnal’ to be broadcast during an episode of popular TV program Q&A, in which a panel of public figures answer questions from the audience. The ‘offensive’ phrase was a Twitter handle; the program, which is broadcast live, features an onscreen feed of tweets from viewers who participate under the hashtag #qanda.
The tweet itself read:
i prefer ones twitter feed to their biographies #qanda
At Mashable Australia, editor Jenni Ryall (@jennijenni) explained that it is the second time this year that the ABC TV program Q&A has offended the PM.
In June, the program came under fire for having controversial figure, Zaky Mallah, in its audience. He told the panel that politicians were causing Australians to leave and join the Islamic State.
Mallah was charged in 2003 under Australia's anti-terrorism laws but found not guilty. The earlier episode involved Mallah's question to a parliamentary secretary (junior minister) about his case. In June 2015 Prime Minister Abbott asked “Which side is the ABC on?” adding that “heads should roll” because the ABC had rerun the program without censorship.
Can't believe #abbottlovesanal is trending in Aus. Isn't #qanda in enough strife without adding #analgate to it. pic.twitter.com/C3CcUqGe0M
— Kobi J A VanBennekom (@kobijv) August 24, 2015
The Twitterverse responded to ABC's latest faux pas under a number of hashtags including: #AbbottLovesAnal, #QandA or just a ‘Q&A‘ search. Perhaps this comment best captures the Twitter noise:
#AbbottLovesAnal I have nothing to add I just want this to continue trending.
— Keegs (@keegs) August 25, 2015
A detailed analysis is beyond the scope of this post, so please explore the links.
Meanwhile the offending Twitter account has been removed. At this stage it's not clear whether it is an unlikely case of self-censorship or action by Twitter itself.
ABC management seems to have learnt a political lesson from the earlier controversy. It did not remove the tweet from its program repeats or online iview version, but blacked out the contentious twitter handle.
Satire site The Shovel mirrored what was happening in realpolitik but joked about the futility of attempts to muzzle the media:
After a terse phone call from Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull, the ABC has agreed to remove the offending tweet from repeats of the episode, to ensure those who watched the live broadcast are the only people to see the tweet.“I think through our swift actions we’ve managed to stop this from growing further,” a Government spokesperson said.
If the old cliché about all publicity being good publicity is correct, then the Abbott government should easily win the next election.


Trump Administration Will Let States Require People To Work For Medicaid | WUWM 89.7 FM - Milwaukee's NPR
Alison Kodjak
Published January 11, 2018 at 7:34 AM CST


Iran: Hope, Joy, Envy as Egypt Breaks Free · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

Iranian bloggers welcomed the departure of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak today with both joy and envy. It is an amazing coincidence that Mubarak was brought down on exactly the 32th anniversary of the 1979 revolution when the Shah was overthrown.
Some bloggers also use the occasion to remind readers that the Green Movement is calling for demonstrations on Monday, February 14 in the name of Egypt and Tunisia.
Mamlkate Darim? (means ‘What country?’) writes :
Egyptians slept for 18 days in the streets and now they rejoice. We, Iranians, have slept for 32 years [referring to 1979 revolution]..what country do we have?
Sedaye Zendani (means ‘Voice of prisoner’) says [fa]:
Egyptian people got their rights. We will go on Monday, 25 Bahman [February 14] to the streets and celebrate for you. We were supposed to get the same right as the Egyptian people, but they were smarter and got it sooner than us. Now we must go to the streets to demand our rights, and celebrate the will of this nation for victory. To celebrate the victory of a nation, we need neither a leader nor permission.
Mihanparast (means ‘Patriot’) writes [fa] with irony, “Why did Mubarak have to leave now, he could have waited two days and left with Seyed Ali [Ayatholah Khamenei].”
Rag be Rag congratulates[fa] Egyptian brothers and sisters and says, the key to victory is keeping religion and state separated.
Greenlights writes [fa] that for all the blood spilled on the ground he will take part in the 14 February demonstration.


Costa Rica: Chinchilla to Answer Questions Via Web · Global Voices
Silvia Viñas

The blog Fusil [es] posted a YouTube video [es] where Costa Rican president Laura Chinchilla talks about her efforts to communicate with the citizenry. As Fusil explains, she will respond via YouTube to questions asked on Google Moderator through Pregúntele a la Presidenta [es] (Ask the President). Users will select what they consider the most important question and Chichilla will answer the top 3 questions based on those votes.


Nepal: Politics and Maoists · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Blogdai reflects on politics in Nepal - the Maoists, the political parties and why Amnesty International is leaving Nepal alone for the moment.


Bangladesh’s Budget: Comments and Analysis · Global Voices
Rezwan

“Lavish Budget but poor plan?” An ordinary citizen posts comments and analysis on the recent Bangladesh budget for the financial year 2013-2014.


USA: Research on terrorism · Global Voices
Fred Petrossian

John Maszka has launched a survey on his blog concerning terrorism. He says “I’m interested in the correlation between American foreign policy and terrorism”.


Meet Puerto Rican Feminist Organization “Proyecto Matria”  · Global Voices
Firuzeh Shokooh Valle

A collaborator of Proyecto Matria [es] shot a video about the Puerto Rican feminist non governmental organization in English, as a gift and a way to spread the word about the wonderful work they do. Proyecto Matria supports the development of women by offering alternative housing and comprehensive services in areas such as education, psychosocial support, and entrepreneurship to overcome situations of violence and gender discrimination.


Burma/Myanmar: The name game · Global Voices
Luisetta Mudie

Just a little conversation…about romanization. Burma Underground throws its hat into the ring on the Burma/Myanmar naming debate.


Enabling Permanent Residents To Vote Municipally is ‘Smart Thing To Do’ - New Canadian Media
Don Curry
May 12, 2015
The North Bay City Council voted last night 8-2 in support of the right of permanent residents to vote in municipal and school board elections.
Letters will be sent to Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, the appropriate ministries and Leader of the Opposition to request a change in provincial legislation. The move follows a similar motion by the City of Toronto, and other southern Ontario municipalities are examining the issue as well.
The vote was not an overnight sensation. It was the result of two years of work that culminated with a council presentation and six-minute video presentation that you can see here:
The video and council presentation was broadcast live to the community on Cogeco TV. Produced by Canadore College student Chris Robinson for course credit, the video features well-known North Bay residents speaking passionately about the issue.
Throughout the evening, which I found rewarding, Mayor Al McDonald and Councillor Mike Anthony, who moved the motion, had very favourable comments about the North Bay & District Multicultural Centre and its partnership with the city.
It was the end of a journey that began with a discussion led by Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI) Executive Director Debbie Douglas at one of our OCASI board meetings two years ago.
While I am thrilled with the vote by North Bay City Council, I realize it doesn’t end there.
She spoke about the recent vote in favour by Toronto City Council and mentioned the work of Desmond Cole, who led the charge. On my drive back to North Bay after that OCASI meeting in Toronto, I thought, “Why not North Bay?”
We have a supportive mayor and I thought there would be enough council members that could be persuaded to support the initiative. Douglas got me in touch with Cole and he offered support and guidance the rest of the way.
While I am thrilled with the vote by North Bay City Council, I realize it doesn’t end there. The provincial government has to change the legislation to allow permanent residents to vote in municipal and school board elections. Municipalities do not have that power, as they are creatures of the province.
While North Bay is the first Northern Ontario municipality to support the initiative, there is support in a number of southern Ontario cities. Outside of Ontario, the City of Halifax passed a similar motion.
The movement is growing and is landing in the laps of provincial governments.
The need for change is, in part, being fuelled by recent federal government changes that create barriers to Canadian citizenship. Increasing application fees from $400 to $630, increasing the residence requirements from three of the last four years to four of the last six and the processing backlog all add years to the process.
Changes to the citizenship test have made it harder to pass, with pass rates dropping from 83 per cent in 2011 to 73 per cent in 2012. Two of our staff members gave the test to a North Bay service club and half the members failed.
Opponents say that Canada offers dual citizenship, and so it does, but more than 50 countries do not, including two top source countries, China and India. That is a barrier for someone who, for example, needs to return to his/her source country to take care of a dying or sick relative for an extended period.
Preventing [permanent residents] from voting, as retired Nipissing University professor Bill Plumstead says in the video, is not moral, is not ethical, and is not right.
Opponents say that the change dilutes the value of Canadian citizenship. Our video points out that it strengthens the value, by providing a first step toward inclusion at the local level.
Permanent residents pay taxes, own homes, own businesses and employ people and have their children in school, but have no say on how their local taxes are spent. Enabling permanent residents to vote municipally, as a first step toward Canadian citizenship and full voting rights, is the smart thing to do to help newcomers integrate in to the community.
Preventing them from voting, as retired Nipissing University professor Bill Plumstead says in the video, is not moral, is not ethical, and is not right.
For more information go to http://cityvote.ca and get your municipality on board with this growing movement.
Don Curry is the Executive Director of the North Bay & District Multicultural Centre, Co-Chair of the North Bay Newcomer Network Local Immigration Partnership Initiative and Northern region board member for OCASI. He is also a board member of Pathways to Prosperity, a national immigration research organization.
Don Curry is the President of Curry Consulting, which provides immigration solutions for rural and northern Canadian municipalities, and an NCM director (2022 - 23). He is also the Founding Executive Director of The North Bay & District Multicultural Centre, a multi-award winning immigrant settlement agency with offices in North Bay and Timmins. It is the lead agency for the Local Immigration Partnership project, the North Bay Newcomer Network and the Timmins Local Immigration Partnership.


Heavy Shootings between Seleka Soldiers and Bozize Loyalists in Bangui, CAR · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

On the morning of December 5 in Bangui, heavy weapon fires were heard in several districts of Bangui, the capital city of the Central African Republic. Eye witnesses and journalists are reporting on twitter via the hash tag #Bangui. Here is an update by Vianney Tricou on site at 9:51 am local time :
#Centrafrique #Bangui. Violents combats à Boy-Rabe, quartier Fouh (Hôp de l'Amitié) et Gobongo. Antibalakas présents dans le 4e arrondt.
— Vianney Tricou (@viantricoff) December 5, 2013
Violent clashes in Boy-Rabe, the Fouh district (around Amitié Hospital) and Gobongo district. Antibalakas (ed's note: literally, anti-machettes men, armed men close to former president Bozize) are present in the 4th borough.
@peggybrug posted the following photo of Sekela soldiers patroling the city :
Les ex #seleka patrouillent dans #Bangui #centrafrique situation "très incertaine" selon Unicef sur place pic.twitter.com/YeL8sdG99l
— Peggy Bruguière (@peggybrug) December 5, 2013
Ex-Seleka  soldiers in the city. Very worrisome situation in #centrafrique according to UNICEF on site
One of the villagers Issa Roua reports on the recently attacks  [fr] via Christophe Boltanski :
Les assaillants étaient près de quarante. Ils venaient des villages environnants. On a reconnu deux d’entre eux. Ils ont encerclé le campement et commencé avec les enfants
There were about forty attackers. They came from close by villages. We recognized some of them. They circled the camp and started with the kids..


Ukraine: “A Family!” · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Scenes from the Sidewalk shares a story of another formerly homeless Ukrainian child who now has a home.


Hong Kong: Waterloo for Pan-dem · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Yesterday was the district council election day in Hong Kong. The pro establishment party Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong has won 115 seats, while the pan democratic clan has lost one third of their seat. Erynnyes describes yesterday as the darkest day for the pan-dem.


Azerbaijan: Great People’s Day · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

Activists in Azerbaijan have opened a Facebook page, 11 March – Great People's Day in Azerbaijan / 11 Mart – Böyük Xalq Günü, to attract support for their plans to protest after being inspired by popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia.


British Council, Young Readers Library to launch 30 Books Challenge | EduCeleb
Press Release
16th June 2019
The British Council in conjunction with the Young Readers Library are to launch the 2019 edition of the 30 Books Challenge, which will build on the success of the previous year.
The 30 Books Challenge scheduled to hold from 22nd July to 20th August is aimed at instilling a culture of reading in children and stimulate their minds while engaging them in a fun and productive way during the forthcoming summer holidays.
Adults/parents are encouraged to read along to bond with their children/wards and model the reading culture to them.
The theme for this year’s reading challenge is Space Chase.
The event is scheduled to happen in Port Harcourt, Kano, Lagos and Abuja.
Attendance to the launch event is free, but participants are to register for the challenge.
The challenge will culminate with an award ceremony in September to recognise outstanding participants and children authors.


Humanitarian Aids: Lack Of Funds Forces Closure Of UN Programmes In Yemen - Liberty TV/Radio - News - Voice For All! Vision For Alll!
Publisher (F.BA)
August 22, 2019
Lackof funds has forced the United Nations, UN to closedown life-saving aidprogrammes in Yemen.
UNHumanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, Lise Grande says money pledged by MemberStates to fund the programmes had failed to materialise.
Grandereportedly said they are desperate for the funds that were promised.
Ata fundraising event in February, the UN and its humanitarian partners werepromised two point six billion dollars to meet urgent needs of more than twentymillion Yemenis. To date, less than half of this amount has been received, thestatement quoted the coordinator as saying.
Accordingto a statement, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs wasforced to suspend most of the country’s vaccination campaigns in May.


Elections: INEC To Create Additional Polling Units - Liberty TV/Radio - News - Voice For All! Vision For Alll!
Editor 2
November 1, 2019
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC said itwould by the first quarter of 2020, take courageous decisions on thecreation of additional pulling units.
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman Information andVoter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, announced this at a dialogue sessionorganised by the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room Situation Room, in Abuja.
The session was held with INEC Resident ElectoralCommissioners, RECs, ahead of Bayelsa and Kogi states governorship elections.
Okoye said that the Commission would consult critical stakeholdersand take bold steps and decisions on the creation of additional polling unitsand alterations and or adjustment of constituencies.
He said that the Commission could no longer continue withthe ad-hoc procedure of creating Voting Points and Voting Point Settlements.
The current arrangements of voting points, according to him,is stop-gap measures to ease the voting process and create opportunities forpeople in new settlements not covered by previous polling units.
Okoye said that the Commission would also work incollaboration with the National Assembly and the office of the Attorney-Generalof the Federation in effecting reforms to the electoral legal framework.


Thailand: Flood Situation on Twitter · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Thais use the hashtag #ThaiFlood to monitor the flood situation in Thailand while English updates are available through the hashtag #ThaiFloodEng


Inside the NNS Newsroom: Got something meaningful to say? We want to hear from you | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
O. Ricardo Pimentel
October 5, 2022
Guns. Crime and punishment. Poverty. Jobs.  Redistricting and voting. Food insecurity. Housing. Educational attainment or lack thereof. Health inequities. City budgeting. Struggling communities and all the other problems – systemic or otherwise – that challenge  residents.
Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service prides itself on reporting on the myriad issues confronting the North and South side communities. The list above is but a partial list of the issues we cover.
Another point of pride: Including in our stories the voices of people tackling and living with such issues.
But these are people talking to us. In this fashion, they help us bring clarity and understanding to these issues. We believe that information can be empowerment.
Here’s what we want to get better at: Giving you and your voices a more direct path to the community – a more direct way to let your voice be heard.
It is the premise behind the Community Voices section of our online news service. But we know that we cannot possibly talk to everyone with the wisdom and the ideas that lead to solutions.
Community Voices gives people who live in the neighborhoods we cover – and people who work to solve their problems – a forum to call attention to issues and to advance possible solutions.
We are issuing a call for more of this.
What’s contained in Community Voices is commentary. The articles, in journalism jargon, are op-eds. That means, more often than not, they contain opinion.
Opinion journalism is a much maligned concept. That, however, is because it is too often misunderstood.
The best commentary is not about just spouting what is top-of-mind. They are not rants nor license for name-calling or just getting things off your chest.
The best commentary pieces are those that make legitimate efforts to persuade. This necessarily involves building arguments and then supporting them. The best commentary marshals facts to arrive at valid conclusions – as in, here’s problem X, here are the facts that prove it is a problem, and here are the facts that point to a solution or the beginning of one.
The best commentary does not argue in a vacuum. It acknowledges the counterarguments to what is being proposed and addresses them.
Good commentary can also call attention to needs many are unaware of.
They can get out of the box to arrive at unorthodox solutions, again, buttressed with facts.
They can celebrate or highlight successes, decry traditional tactics or strategies to deal with problems and can educate people on resources they need to improve their lives.
They can entertain – not all have to be about weighty issues. They can make us laugh. They can make us cry.
Just as news stories require reporting and attributed facts, so does good commentary.
We want your voice and your views.
We are looking for commentary in the 700-word range.
Keep in mind, we are a nonprofit dependent on grants, in-kind funding and contributions. We do not have an immense budget.
That means we don’t pay for freelance commentary. We wish we could but can’t.
So we’re looking for Community Voice commentators who want to expose the community to their voices and ideas simply for the benefit of the community – its growth, success, education and empowerment.
We are looking for commentators who want to move the dial on bettering our community.
You don’t have to run an organization, have a PhD or other degree or be an acknowledged expert in any particular field – though we welcome commentary from these sources as well. We will give priority to those writing from the communities we cover and those tackling the issues with which these communities grapple.
Got an idea for commentary? Send me a pitch.
Got one written? Send it to me.
Send it to<EMAIL_ADDRESS>Put commentary in the subject line.
We won’t accept all submissions. Take a look above for what we’re looking for.
We want your voice in Community Voices.
O. Ricardo Pimentel is managing editor of Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service. Reach him at oscar.pimentel@marquette.edu


Guyana: Invasion of the four-leaf clovers · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

Contrary to popular belief, in Guyana-Gyal's garden, four-leaf clovers aren't so rare. . . .


2020 Video from Libya shared as Taliban trying to fly Black Hawk Helicopter - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
September 2, 2021
A video accompanied by a post is being widely shared on social media claiming that the Taliban in Afghanistan were trying to fly the US’ leftover Black Hawk Helicopter. Let us fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video of Taliban trying to fly the Black Hawk Helicopter.
Fact: The video is from Libya and not from Afghanistan. Libya since 2019 had a conflict between UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) and a coalition of armed groups led by Qadhafi-era military defector Khalifa Haftar known as the Libyan National Army. On 04 June 2020, GNA-aligned forces were towing the Mi-35 helicopter captured at the outskirts of Tarhuna, Tripoli. A defunct Mi-35 helicopter gifted by India was seized by the Taliban recently, but the video is not related to this seizure. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
When reverse image search is done on the screenshots of the video, a tweet with a similar video was found. The tweet made on 05 June 2020 says that GNA-aligned forces were towing the Mi-35 helicopter captured at the outskirts of Tarhuna, Tripoli. Tripoli is the capital of Libya. Therefore, the video is old and not from Afghanistan.
#Tripoli: last one for the day, GNA-aligned forces towing an #LAAF helicopter (Mi35) captured near Fom Melgha, at the outskirts of #Tarhuna
Pretty sure no driving test prepares you for this… pic.twitter.com/ywVPxDcWgo
Taking the cue that the video is from Libya, an article was found when searched in google with relevant keywords. On 04 June 2020, the Libyan National Army’s (LNA) Mi-35 helicopter was captured by Turkish-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) and driven on the streets of Tripoli Airport. Similar videos of the incident can be seen here and here. So, the video is not related to Afghanistan and the Taliban.
Libya, which holds Africa’s biggest oil reserves, has been mired in conflict since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising against long-time ruler Muammar Gaddafi. In recent years, the country was split between a UN-recognised government in the capital Tripoli (GNA) and a coalition of armed groups led by Qadhafi-era military defector Khalifa Haftar known as the Libyan National Army. The chaotic war had drawn in several outside powers and foreign arms and mercenaries. They signed ‘permanent ceasefire’ on 23 October 2020.
On 31 August 2021, the United States of America had completed the withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan. The Taliban then declared victory and independence and took control of the Kabul airport. According to reports, the United States military had disabled 73 aircraft, 27 Humvees, weapons systems, and other high-tech defence equipment before boarding the final flight from Kabul.
A viral video on social media suggests that a defunct Mi-35 helicopter was seized by the Taliban at the Kunduz Airbase. There are reports that the helicopter seized by the Taliban from Afghan National Defence Forces may have been gifted by India to Afghanistan. India gifted four of these helicopters to Afghanistan earlier. ‘Indian defence forces declined to comment on the issue, saying that they would not like to comment on the internal matters of Afghanistan’ according to this article.
To sum it up, 2020 Video from Libya is shared as Taliban trying to fly Black Hawk Helicopter.


FUNAAB staff begin three-day warning strike | EduCeleb
12th January 2021
Members of the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities (SSANU), Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) chapter, on Tuesday, began a three–day warning strike to back their demands from the Federal Government.
The members, who were armed with placards with various inscriptions marched from their secretariat around the campus, chanting solidarity songs to proclaim their grievances, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
NAN reports that some of the inscriptions read: “Stop depriving us of our legitimate entitlements”, “We say no to academic headship of non-teaching units” and “Pay us our earned allowances” among others.
Speaking with journalists, the chairman of the association, Mr Rotimi Fasunwon said it was unfortunate that after several agreements with the Federal Government, it had refused to accede to their demands.
Fasunwon said the Federal Government had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of SSANU and Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) in Nov. 2020 but had reneged on its promises.
He, however, said the union would not hesitate to proceed on an indefinite strike if their demands were not met.
“If they want peace in the university and want students to resume, let them implement the MoU.
“These three days protest in the university is just the beginning and if we see that government is not doing its part, then we might go for a full-fledged strike action,” Fasunwon added.


Trinidad & Tobago: Waste Not · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“The next time you see your neighbor’s garbage scattered on the road don’t think of it as an unsightly mess but as an opportunity to get to know them better”: Blogging from Trinidad and Tobago, This Beach Called Life gets trashy!


India: Forget the public school · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

A recent post on the Freakonomics blog on a 10 year old Indian boy writing in, sparks a post that talks of government schools being uniformly worse than private schools world over, regardless of the country.


Lebanon: The Three Little Pigs  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Ms Leventine, from Lebanon, adapts The Three Little Pigs to update us on the situation in Lebanon.