Govt dismisses viral WhatsApp message on Zimsec exam leaks - ZimFact
Ngoni Mhuruyengwe
January 13, 2021
CLAIM: The Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council’s (ZIMSEC) Mathematics and English exam papers for the ongoing November session have been leaked, with 15 schools and 20 pupils being named as culprits.
Source: Message circulating on WhatsApp
VERDICT: FALSE. The WhatsApp message is fake.
The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, under which ZIMSEC falls, has dismissed as false, a viral WhatsApp message claiming that some examination papers in the ongoing November public examination session had been leaked and would have to be re-written.
The WhatsApp message also lists 15 schools and 20 students as having been implicated in the exam paper leaks.
The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education’s director of communications and advocacy, Blessings Taungana Ndoro, told ZimFact that the WhatsApp message was false and designed to cause alarm.
“Parents, guardians, teachers and students should not panic because of such messages,” Ndoro said.
“The Zimbabwe School Examination Council would never send out or publish names of students who are under the age of legal majority citing them as criminals.”
As is typical of fabricated images and notices, the WhatsApp message’s heading bears ZIMSEC’s name, to make it look official and authentic.
However, the message is replete with both spelling and grammatical errors, a key give-away for fabrications.
ZIMSEC


DRC: Possibility of a Runoff · Global Voices
Alice Backer

Friends of the Congo  offers preliminary results of Sunday's presidential election including the possibility of a runoff between Kabila and Bemba, an outcome that according to the blogger falls in line with the spirit of an aborted proposal made during the Sun City talks.


CJN To New Judges: Be Fair, Firm At All Times. - Liberty TV/Radio - News - Voice For All! Vision For Alll!
Publisher (A.M)
May 7, 2024
Justice Ariwoola reminded the judges to stay on the side of fairness and integrity.
Ariwoola gave the charge in Abuja on Monday while delivering a keynote address at the induction course organised for newly appointed judges of the superior court of records.
The CJN likened the Judges’ position to that of a priest in the temple of justice, adding: “As new entrants into the judicial system, it requires that you have an understanding of the legal, ethical and natural qualities of the technician of the law.”
Speaking further at the event, the CJN tasked the Judges to remain steadfast in the face of challenges that may arise by upholding and protecting the rule of law, their integrity and that of the judiciary.


Old and unrelated visuals are passed off attributing them to cyclone Shaheen - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 6, 2021
In the wake of cyclone Shaheen, made a landfall near Al-Khaburah, Oman this Sunday, couple of videos, one showing cars being swept away in floods (here) and the other of a cloud burst (here) are being shared attributing them to cyclone Shaheen. Another video of  dense clouds over a seacoast (here) is also being shared attributing it to cyclone Shaheen and Pakistan. Through this article let’s fact-check the claim made in these posts.
Claim: Visuals related to cyclone Shaheen.
Fact: These visuals are old and have nothing to do with recent cyclone Shaheen. While one video shows visuals of flash floods which occurred in Sharjah last year, another video shows dense cloud formation along Bheemili beach, Visakhapatnam in June 2021. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Video 1:
These visuals actually show vehicles being swept away in flash floods in Sharjah back in 2020. Reverse image search of the screenshots of the video led us to a 2020 news article that reported the same video. As per the article, the visuals are of cars being washed away in flash floods which have occurred in Sharjah back in 2020.
Video 2:
This video is available on the internet at least since 2019. Reverse image search of the screenshots of the video led us to an Instagram post that shared the same video back in November 2019. As per the description, the video is of a tornado, which occurred in the Gwadar coast , Pakistan.
Further, a YouTube channel uploaded the same video attributing it to Gwadar, Pakistan back in 2019. Although we could not identify the exact location and the source of the video, the presence of the video on the internet since 2019 confirms that the video is not related to recent cyclone Shaheen.
Video 3:
Reverse image search of the screenshots of the video yielded multiple Telugu news videos which reported the same visuals. As per one such news report, the visuals show dense cloud formation over Bheemili beach in Visakhapatnam in June 2021.
A couple of other news reports which reported the same visuals as from Bheemili beach, Visakhapatnam can be seen here and here.
To sum it up, old and unrelated visuals are passed off attributing them to cyclone Shaheen.


Migrant workers paid a huge price for COVID-19 - 360
Manish K Jha
Published on June 19, 2023
The mass movement of migrant workers during the pandemic allowed India’s authorities to weaken labour rights.
When COVID-19 took hold in India millions of migrant workers fled the cities back to their villages to wait out the lockdown.
As they waited at home — sometimes for months — there was a seismic shift in their relationship with the government and their employers.
On the pretext of responding to the emergency, central and state governments introduced several labour policies that impacted workers adversely.
At every stage — migration, lockdown and return — labour control was consolidated through exceptional rules and guidelines without any debate or scrutiny.
When the government had to respond to the migrants’ desperate exit from the cities, its response came in the form of an advisory to employers not to terminate their workers’ contracts and ensure the payment of full wages.
The advisory was non-binding and therefore destined to fail. Instead, there were large-scale job losses, layoffs and non-payment of wages or wage cuts.
However, after realising the extent of economic damage that labour shortages could entail, employers and the government tried to prevent the migrant workers from leaving.
Huge numbers of informal sector workers (construction, domestic work, home-based work, handloom and power loom sector, beedi making and brick kilns) were pushed into an even more insecure, unsafe, and unprotected sector, subject to non-formal and non-standard employment practices.
The Indian government seized the opportunity provided by the pandemic and proposed drastic changes in labour laws by combining 44 central labour laws and around 200 state-level laws into four labour codes.
Although the Indian Parliament had already passed the Code on Wages before the pandemic; the remaining three — the Industrial Relations Code, 2020; the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020; and the Code on Social Security, 2020 — were hurriedly passed by parliament during the lockdown.
Although these codes compromised workers’ rights and increased the uncertainty of employment conditions, they were justified on the ground that the previous labour laws were tedious, costly to implement and resulted in employers adopting strategies to circumvent them.
State governments seized the opportunity as well and changed their labour laws either by amending their provisions or suspending some others. They in effect transferred risks from the employers to the workers.
This allowed industries in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh to increase the working day from eight hours to 12 hours for six days a week, in violation of International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention on the hours of work, to which India is a signatory.
In Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, the industries were not even required to pay overtime to workers.
These states scrapped the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946 which requires employing firms to define and submit to the certifying officer the terms and conditions of employment. Except for Haryana, all the other states announced that these changes would be in force temporarily.
Gujarat announced that except for laws about the payment of minimum wages, safety norms and compensation for workers for industrial accidents, no other provisions of the labour law would apply to new companies that wished to operate in the state for at least 1,200 days, as well as for those that had already been operational for that period.
This regime of labour control was deeply embedded in official policies during the pandemic. The term “labour-control regime” refers to the social need of the market economy to integrate labour into the production system and structure the labour process.
Exercising control is easier when the labour market has migrants and casual workers, production takes place outside the organised sector, trade unions are weak or absent, work schedules are flexible and subcontracting is prevalent.
Shock mobility ensures a ready supply of labour which is both insecure and vulnerable, willing to accept lower wages, work harder and longer, and with little or no claim on social security, labour rights and entitlements.
The opportunity provided by the pandemic-induced shock mobility was used to push through a neoliberal economic agenda, which sees the government’s specific function as producing a conducive environment for the operation of the free market and then retreat.
During the pandemic, ‘ease of doing business’ was presented as the rationale for contracting out work and increasing labour market flexibility by changing labour laws and mandatory government oversight. Such policies tend to exacerbate inequality during disasters or crises.
The fact the shock situation was deployed for maximising the interests of business and compromising the work and social security of migrant labour has been a telling reality of the neoliberal political economy in operation.
The pandemic was also used for the expansion of the platform and gig economy, which swiftly made inroads into everyday life. This sector works on replacing one set of migrant workers with another to keep the wages low, making the worker easily replaceable and providing minimal labour protection.
The pandemic put vulnerable migrants at greater risk of life and livelihood while India’s various governments responded with impunity, compromising the dignity of the workers and controlling their mobility.
Government defended the demands of corporations leading to the expulsion of marginal workers and their subsequent incorporation into an emerging political economy under more severe conditions of precarity.
As the pandemic showed, an infusion of shock in society only made worse the vulnerabilities of migrant workers.
Manish K Jha is a Professor at the School of Social Work at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India. His research interests include social policy, structural social work, poverty, and social justice, migration, and middle classes in Indian cities.
This article is part of a Special Report on ‘Shock mobility’, produced in collaboration with the Calcutta Research Group.
Editors Note: In the story “Shock mobility” sent at: 14/06/2023 16:53.
This is a corrected repeat.


Nepal: The US Ambassador · Global Voices
Neha Viswanathan

Blogdai on the US Ambassador in Nepal – “No one on the international scene goes more out of their way to acknowledge, magnify and give a blundering, tacit approval to Nepal's Maoists more than U.S. Ambassador to Nepal, James F. Moriarty. “


Sao Tome & Principe: “Africa is your Home” · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

Santomean sociologist Humbah Aguiar tells a story on colonialism and the repression of the African people. Part I, II and III [pt] from “Africa is your home” can be watched at his Youtube channel.


Egypt: The New Governorates · Global Voices
Tarek Amr

Sandmonkey, from Egypt, wrote here about the presidential decree to create two new governorates, 6 of October and Helwan.


[Webcast] Internet Censorship and the Remembrance of Infowars Past · Global Voices
Berkman Center for Internet and Society

Every Tuesday, the Berkman Center for Internet & Society hosts a public lunch gathering in our conference room in Boston. Each session involves a short presentation by a guest speaker or one of our community members, talking about a challenge that emerges from his or her current work. We are excited to partner with Global Voices to bring these presentations to a wider audience.
Title: Internet Censorship and the Remembrance of Infowars Past
Date: February 26, 12:30pm ET
Presenter: Jon Penney
With Internet censorship on the rise around the world, organizations and researchers have developed and distributed a variety of tools to assist Internet users to both monitor and circumvent such censorship. This talk will examine more closely some of the international law and politics of such censorship resistance activities through three case studies involving past global communications censorship and information conflicts— telegraph cable cutting and suppression, high frequency radio jamming, and direct broadcast satellite blocking— and the world community’s response to these conflicts.  In addition to illustrating some of the legal, political, and security concerns that have animated historical instances of global communications censorship, the talk will aim to extrapolate lessons and insights for Internet censorship (and its resistance) today, such as the legality of censorship and its circumvention, the effectiveness of monitoring efforts, and the role of international institutions in disrupting (or facilitating) communications.
Jon is a lawyer, Research Fellow at the Citizen Lab / Canada Centre for Global Security Studies, Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto, and a doctoral student in information communication sciences at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, where his interdisciplinary research explores regulatory chilling effects online.
In 2011, he was a Google Policy Fellow at the Citizen Lab–where he helped lead the ONI Transparency Project while contributing to projects like the Information Warfare Monitor–and, at Oxford, was Project Coordinator for the Privacy Value Networks Project, a large scale EPSRC funded research project on data privacy. A native Nova Scotian and graduate of Dalhousie University, he studied at Columbia Law School as a Fulbright Scholar and Oxford as a Mackenzie King Scholar, where he was Associate Editor of the Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal. He has also worked as a federal attorney, policy advisor, and taught law at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand.
His research interests include constitutional/human rights law, intellectual property, and digital media policy & culture, particularly where these areas intersect with censorship, privacy, and security.
Follow Jon on Twitter: @jon_penney


Egypt: Liberation Square on Liberation Day · Global Voices
Tarek Amr

This post is part of our special coverage of Egypt Protests 2011.
Yesterday I went to Tahrir Square (Liberation Square) twice, the first time was in the morning, before the resignation of Mubarak, which was right after his last speech the night before.
Egyptian blogger and singer, Nadya Shanab, wrote here how the speech and the Army's announcement that followed toyed with people's emotions.
Disappointment was one of keywords that could describe how everyone felt after the speech. Raafatology wrote about the speech and how it wasn't any different from Mubarak's previous speeches. Each time people expected him to say something and he announces something else.
He then wondered if Mubarak was just playing with one of his final cards.
It seems that Amr Ezzat has read Raafatology's question and decided to answer his question in his own blog.
Tahrir Square was really full as Amr expected, but people were as silent as they've never been before. I stayed there for a while then I decided to go back home. On my way back, I passed by Maspiro. There were a few people demonstrating there. I felt their disappointment, but also I was sure that they will not stop till they achieve their goals and topple the regime. Later on, on my way to home, I heard the news coming from one of the radios nearby, Mubarak was finally forced to step down. I still couldn't believe it. I rushed to my home and tuned to as much news channels, tweets, and blogs as I could.
Photo taken by Ramy Raoof under Creative Commons license
Happiness was everywhere in the Egyptian blogosphere, but each one decided to express his happiness his own way. Some like, Egyptian-Wish, were proud of what they've done, and looking forward to the future.
Some others like Zeinobia were speechless.
Some like Mohaly, and despite the torture and corruption, were sure that their dream will come true someday.
And some others like Raafatology still cannot believe it.
Later on, I decided that to go to Tahrir Square for the second time in row, but this time to celebrate with the people there. From the moment I stepped out of my home I realized that I don't have to wait till I reach the square to see the celebrations, as I can see them right in front of my house that is kilometres away from the square. All the way till I arrived to Tahrir Square people were chanting, dancing, and waving their flags. In the past decades the only thing that brought people to celebrate in the streets was football matches, but yesterday way more people were in the streets, way more happier, and celebration for a reason way more important than a football match.
This post is part of our special coverage of Egypt Protests 2011.


India: Blogger Meetup · Global Voices
Paul Frankenstein

Kiruba Shankar announces that there'll be a Chennai Blogger meetup this weekend.


Teachers’ Day in Korea (2) · Global Voices
Hyejin Kim

Different perspective about Teachers’ Day in Korea, to add to the longer post on the left side. An English teacher in Korea shared her joyful experience of Teachers’ Day and her teaching experiences with Korean students on her blog.


To Understand a Culture, Read the Women - New Canadian Media
Tazeen Inam
May 14, 2017
Canadian woman authors believe that our society tends to equate femininity with a sense of flawlessness. Women have to be impossibly perfect in so many different ways that it’s just another way of imposing oppression on them.
“I really want to show about my characters that it’s not a bad thing to fail, it’s not a bad thing to make mistakes,” says Sarah Raughley, author of the “Fate of Flames“.
Raughley longed to work with characters who have the courage to pick themselves up when they fall, in contrast with setting up ideals for women that are very difficult to live up to.
Her characters are not everyday superheroes. Four teenage girls are the only people who can save the world from the massive beasts who are terrorizing the world. One girl stands for each element: fire, wind, air, and water.
“But they don’t have those masks on their faces, everyone knows who they are,” Raughley explains.
Her characters are criticized for being too whiny and annoying because they make mistakes, they fight too much, they are weak and make many mistakes.
“So I was thinking that what are the expectations for women? Especially since these are teen girls, they haven’t figure out themselves, let alone having to carry this huge destiny to fight giant monsters,” she added.
At the Festival of Literary Diversity, in Brampton, ON, the panel of “Wonder Women” featured authors of young adult literature. They spoke about the protagonists from their stories, stressing that strength is not the same as perfection. But rather that it is in the courage to rise up from devastation and defy all odds by reaching your destination.
Shoilee Khan, the panel moderator, opened the discussion introducing the protagonists of the selected books as women of the present, who everyone aspires to be or would like to befriend.
“They are fierce, they are stoic, but they are tender and they have this enigmatic aura of cool about them,” she says.
She said that there is a dichotomy of softness and strength exhibited by the characters, that can be translated into real life situations women face everyday.
“They rise up against obstacles not with complete fearlessness but with a magnetic combination of illation and frailty, first for themselves and then through that self-respect, serve their communities in profound and integral ways,” Khan added.
The panel then discussed a character with an arsenal of dangerous and desirable skills: Kai Cheng Thom’s Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liar: A Dangerous Trans Girl’s Confabulous Memoir.
Thom is a writer, performer and psychotherapist.
Thom’s unnamed protagonist is a martial arts expert who runs away from her abusive parents’ house. Raised in a city called “Gloom”, she escapes to the glamorous and dangerous “City of Smoke and Lights” where she is forced into oppressive factory work governed by a racist system of castes. However she is able to find herself as a trans-Asian femme and finds a community with other trans-femmes.
Thom suggested that for transgenders there is something about femininity that’s degrading all the time, that they are weak and hyper-sensitive. But her book starts with this really intense physical strength as opposed to a trans-woman that is helpless and constantly subjected to violence.
The protagonist loves using her strength, power and speed, until she encounters Kimaya. A mother figure whose nurturing personality is unable to mask her fierce power, Kimaya serves as a mentor figure that helps her realize that there are different kinds of strength.
She discovers a desire for safety and a longing for closeness but struggles to have intimacy that is also safe.
“That’s the journey that my character takes and I found out in my life too,” says Thom.
Another panelist, M-E Girard in her debut novel, sought a balance in her character when she puts them together with a combination of femininity and masculinity.
M-E Girard is a YA fiction writer and a proud feminist, her debut novel is “GIRL MANS UP”. Her lesbian character, Pen, wrestles with the external pressures societal norms bestow upon her when she exhibits both masculine and feminine qualities.
Although she is a strong protagonist and her choice of clothing and friends makes her imperfect and independent, all Pen wants is to be the kind of girl she’s always been. Pen realizes that respect and loyalty are hollow words, and in order to be who she truly wants to be, she’ll have to “man up”.
“My character is tender in some ways and she is also fierce and strong in her own way. Some of it [is] modeled after her masculine ideal and some of it is modeled [after] her feminine ideal. So it’s kind of a big mess,” says Girard.
Celebrating Canada’s 150th anniversary this year, founder and creative director of FOLD, Jael Richardson, says that she was inspired by the famous indigenous writer, Lee Maracle’s quote “if you want to understand the heart of the culture, read the women”. Richardson observed that at every session or panel, the audience was touched by something they weren’t expecting to hear.
“They are always surprised by the wealth of stories, writers and ideas they encounter, and it’s really powerful because that’s when real change happens,” she added.
The second annual FOLD festival was held from May 4 – 7 and hopes to bring change by highlighting the voices of women authors who offer a different perspective.
Tazeen is based in Mississauga and is a reporter with the New Canadian Media. Back in Pakistan where she comes from, she was a senior producer and editorial head in reputable news channels. She holds a master’s degree in Media and Communication and a certificate in TV program production from Radio Netherlands Training Center. She is also the recipient of NCM's Top Story of 2022 award for her story a "A victim of torture, blogger continues fight for human rights in Pakistan"


Minister Reiterates FCTA’s Support For NMA In The Provision Of Quality Healthcare To Residents - Liberty TV/Radio - News - Voice For All! Vision For Alll!
Publisher (A.M)
March 29, 2023
The FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello has reiterated the support of the FCT Administration for the activities of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) in the provision of quality healthcare to residents of the territory.
The Minister stated this when he received a delegation of the NMA, FCT chapter, led by its chairman, Dr. Charles Ugwuanyi on a courtesy visit to the FCTA, on Tuesday, March 28, 2023.
Malam Bello who welcomed the association’s proposed medical outreach to all the Area Councils in the Territory, pledged the support of the FCTA for the success of the programme.
The Minister commended the NMA for the support and cooperation the FCTA has enjoyed from the association while also urging the members to always be good ambassadors of the country in the discharge of their duties wherever they find themselves.


Egypt: V for Verifiying Virginity · Global Voices
Nermeen Edrees

This post is part of our special coverage Egypt Revolution 2011.
Following the  appalling confirmation  that virginity tests were conducted for female protesters who were detained during the Egyptian revolution, rage took over not only Egyptian females but also males who couldn't believe that those who fought for dignity and freedom had been attacked in such a humiliating way.
When the testimonies came out in March 2011, the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) denied the action. However, the general who lately admitted that virginity test were conducted justified that the female detainees were not ‘normal’ Egyptian girls, and that SCAF conducted the tests to avoid sexual harassment accusations.
This video, from Tahrir Diaries, features a testimony from one of the girls tested:
The claim that the position taken to avoid sexual harassment accusations by sexually and emotionally harassing peaceful female protesters was actually met by a tornado of rage and disdain.
Michelle Gonzalez wrote:
Any individual can be raped, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender, sex, sexual history, religion, etc.  The arguments being made by this anonymous government official are factually incorrect and morally reprehensible.
While Zeinobia said:
I love the fact that whenever I speak about #VirginityChecks with anyone it considers it as a violation for humanity without discussion
Confirming the fact that violating a woman's privacy is an act of harassment Michelle says in the same post:
Requiring a woman to share personal details about her sexuality with government officials is a violation of her right to privacy.  Information about one’s own sex life should not be subject to sanctioning by the state nor should it be used to manipulate an individual’s credibility.
A banner from a stand against SCAF which reads: "Our Daughters are a Red Line".
In a post that addresses the roots of sexual harassment in Egypt, Ayman Ashour elaborates the objective of the virginity tests from his point of view:
The objective was the sexual humiliation and ultimately the shame of these women. Those who conducted this shameful operation were well aware of Egyptian hymen obsession. the term counter revolution has been used a lot in Egypt recently, rarely have I seen such a clear example of blatant criminal counter revolutionary behavior, a cruel and violent attempt to take back Tahrir from these brave honorable women.
Hymens have always been a debatable subject in Egypt..the accusations and action taken is not only a slap in the face of the Egyptian people's better half, but also a setback for two of the revolution's principles  – dignity and freedom.
This post is part of our special coverage Egypt Revolution 2011.


Kuwait: Racist Ramadan Show · Global Voices
Haitham Sabbah

Many of the Kuwait bloggers as well from Bahrain are calling to boycott one of the TV shows after they came to a conclusion that ‘Qerqea'an‘ is a racist show and nothing funny about.


Drowning in Refuse, Lebanon’s Capital Is Now Zigzagged by ‘Rivers of Garbage’ · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

“Rivers of garbage” zigzag the Lebanese capital Beirut after the first winter rains. Photo credit: You Stink Page on Facebook
It rained in Lebanon, and Beirut's rubbish, which has been pilling up alongside roads for months, turned the capital's roads into “rivers of garbage.” The mounting rubbish, which activists have been protesting against for months, clogged up the city's drainage system, and fears of a cholera epidemic don't seem unrealistic.
On the You Stink campaign page on Facebook, activists warn of a cholera outbreak:
شو منقول لولادنا بكرا؟ ايه نحنا الجيل اللي شاف اول طوفان زبالة؟ ايه نحنا الجيل اللي اجت الكوليرا عايامه؟
ولمن يسألونا ليه صار هيك؟ شو منقلهم؟ ما تواخذونا كنا ملتهيين بمشاكل السياسيين بين بعضهم وقنعونا أنها مشاكلنا وما خلونا نتوحد؟ شو منقلهم؟ نزل كم شاب وصبية آدمي بس ما خلينا عصاية غير ما حطيناها بدولايبهم؟
#مستمرون #طلعت_ريحتكم
What will we tell our children tomorrow? That we are the generation which witnessed the flood of rubbish? That we are the generation which saw cholera outbreaks? And when they ask us why that happened, what do we tell them? Do we tell them we are sorry because we were occupied with the problems of politicians with each other after they convinced us that they are our problems and did not allow us to unite? What do we tell them? That a number of young men and women took to the streets and we did all we could to stop them?
The secular You Stink, or Tol3et Re7atkom movement, started a wave of protests in August which attracted thousands of Lebanese from all walks to life to protest against the trash crisis, which soon expanded to include a broader range of demands as other groups joined the demonstration bandwagon. It kicked off calling for sustainable solutions to the waste problem, and got people on the streets, but the situation quickly escalated beyond trash towards addressing larger problems related to corruption within the current government.
From the primary concern of protesting against the officials’ mishandling of the refuse problem following the closure of the country's largest landfill in July, protesters called for the government's resignation, an end to corruption and fresh parliamentary elections, among other demands. Lebanon, already suffering from a poor infrastructure and daily electricity cuts, has had no president for over a year. In 2009, its parliament extended its term until 2017, with no elections, citing instability as a reason.
On Blog Baladi, Najib warns:
So what exactly happens when it starts to rain? Heavy rainstorms will “cause the garbage to disintegrate into the soil reaching underground water reserves such as natural wells and fossil water (non-renewable)”, which means that diluted garbage would “sink into the soil, spreading downwards and outwards in a characteristic brush-stroke shape known as a plume, contaminating soil and water as it moved”.
Other problems include:
– Landfills contaminate the air that we are breathing with various toxic substances.
– Contaminated water could lead to the widespread of several diseases such as Cholera, Typhoid, Dysentery and Dengue Fever. Add to that typhoid fever, food poisoning, gastroenteritis, and enteric fever.
– Populations exposed to untreated chemicals witness an increase in cancer rates.
He also shares this photography post, showing photographs to roads with overflowing rivers of garbage.
Health blog eTobb warns:
heavy rainstorms [..] will cause the garbage to disintegrate into the soil reaching underground water reserves such as natural wells and fossil water (non-renewable). These reserves serve as a main source of water for a very big percentage of Lebanon’s population and with all the contaminants seeping into them, we are bound to get our share of this unexplainable pollution in our drinking, cleaning and irrigation water.
On social media, bloggers were quick to share videos and photographs of the crisis, they have spent months warning people about.
Lebanese blogger and Global Voices contributor Joey Ayoub shares this video showing a “river of garbage” winding itself where a road is:
This is #Lebanon now. As we warned months ago, this was bound to happen. Video from the #طلعت_ريحتكم page. pic.twitter.com/yEWtypZudY
— Joey Ayoub جووي أيوب (@joeyayoub) October 25, 2015
Blogger and Global Voices contributor Abir Ghattas adds:
Garbage in #Lebanon is a concrete exmple that cant b ignored by any1, it represents: the corruption, no election, no work, no accountability
— Abir Ghattas (@AbirGhattas) October 25, 2015
Lebanese satirist Karl Sharro too joins the choir:
The traditional ‘running of the garbage bags’ festival in Lebanon. A highlight for tourists, locals alike pic.twitter.com/1pFvkkgVT6 v @LeNajib
— Karl Sharro (@KarlreMarks) October 25, 2015
This tweet has been retweeted 130 times so far.


Hate crimes direct threat to Canadian multiculturalism - New Canadian Media
Baisakhi Roy
October 9, 2021
Highlighting the prevalence of online hate speech and its impact on racialized communities, one of the panelists at the 4th annual Metropolis conference on multiculturalism chose to give her online presentation without video.
“The unfortunate truth is that law enforcement has not been effective. It’s very difficult to get charges laid for hate crimes under the Canadian Criminal Code,” said Elizabeth Simons, deputy director of the Canadian Anti-Hate Network, a nonprofit organization that monitors hate groups and hate crimes in Canada, on the last of the three-day event.
“Law enforcement is historically very reluctant to lay charges on any of those types of incidents and crimes which have an aggravating hate element to them.”
Statistics show the rise of hate groups as well as hate crimes and incidents against various communities and people of colour, especially those wearing visible symbols of their faith, have become alarmingly frequent in the recent past. As the all-female panel noted, a combination of anonymity offered by social media, divisive identity politics, as well as the prevalence of conspiracy theories and misinformation, has abetted hatred, with devastating consequences.
According to Dr. Barbara Perry, considered an expert on hate crime and right-wing extremism, after Donald Trump was elected president of the United States in 2017, there has been a 47 per cent increase in police-reported hate crime and a 151 per cent increase in anti-Muslim hate crimes. She said this was “unprecedented,” particularly within a “Canadian context.”
“If we saw that in any area of crime, we would be calling for a national inquiry, research into why this is happening,” she said. “But crickets. No outrage was expressed at this development.”
A recent report by Statistics Canada stated that law enforcement only reported 1,946 hate crimes in 2019, even though there were more than 200,000 self-reported hate crimes in Canada that same year, according to data released from the 2019 General Social Survey. Respondents mentioned that more than half of those incidents involved extreme violence. In 2020, the hatred has been mainly directed towards Black people as a reaction to the Black Lives Matter movement and towards Asians in the context of COVID-19.
“More Muslims have been killed in targeted hate attacks in Canada than any other G7 country in the past five years because of Islamophobia. So, this is having real impacts,” said Amira Elghawaby, director of programs and outreach at the Canadian Race Relations Foundation (CRRF).
Elghawaby said one way to tackle the issue is through the government’s proposed online legislation, which it has promised to implement within its first 100 days in office.
“Those are some of the solutions, but there’s lots more discourse and discussion to be had in communities that work to address some of these really concerning gaps and support,” she said.
Notably, one of the biggest barriers to reporting a hate crime has been law enforcement agencies’ definitions of a hate crime and their lack of willingness and capacity to respond to complaints. Community members therefore shy away from reporting hate crimes out of fear of being harassed and mocked by law enforcement who may not take them seriously.
According to Perry, over-policing is also an issue for a whole array of communities like Muslims, Blacks, Indigenous and LGBTQ communities who have a historically fraught relationship with law enforcement.
“In my conversations with a whole array of different communities, you get this perception of both the under-policing, and the over-policing of those communities, both of which contribute to that lack of trust,” she said. “People talk about trying to report an incident of hate crime and being talked out of it….That is a huge problem.”
The Canadian Race Relations Foundation (CRRF) and YWCA Canada recently launched their #BlockHate campaign, which aims to raise awareness of the fallout of ignoring hate speech and racism online.
“Sometimes people minimize the corrosive effect of hate speech. With this campaign we wanted to start a conversation and also humanize people who are at the receiving end of this hate,” said Anjum Sultana, national director of public policy, advocacy and strategic communications at YWCA Canada.
The session opened with a campaign video about Carla Beauvais, a Black Montreal-based columnist and social entrepreneur. Beauvais became the target of racial abuse last June after being featured in a local publication for a mobile app for Black entrepreneurs she created following the murder of George Floyd. The experience profoundly traumatized her and caused her to re-examine her sense of belonging in society.
According to Sultana, with these series of videos, the campaign has tackled different forms of hate speech online. Their next one, produced in partnership with the CRRF, will direct its focus toward anti-Asian hate, and will be out on International Human Rights Day.
Sultana hopes this call to action will inspire people to intervene when they see online hate or even if they are witness to an incident as a bystander in a real time scenario.
So, what does this rise in hate towards racialized communities do to the multicultural mosaic that is Canada?
Experts believe that as long as the systemic barriers that communities are facing aren’t addressed, the ideals of multiculturalism remain aspirational.
“Multiculturalism is important in the sense that it really strikes away from perhaps the American kind of melting pot ideology where everyone has to assimilate,” Sultana said.
“In multiculturalism, the ideal is that everyone can retain who they are…But I think we need to have an evolution of this thinking, and I think we really need to think about how not all of us are experiencing the same reality.”
Baisakhi Roy is a writer and journalist based in Oakville. Her work has been published in several Canadian media outlets including The Globe and Mail, Huffington Post Canada, Chatelaine, Broadview and CBC. Her areas of interest and expertise lie in the intersections of immigrant life and culture in Canada. She is an avid Bollywood fan and co-hosts the Hindi language podcast KhabardaarPodcast.com.


Russia, Georgia: Coverage of Patarkatsishvili’s Death · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Foreign Notes reviews coverage of Badri Patarkatsishvili's death.


Bermuda: Web 0.9 · Global Voices
Georgia Popplewell

The Limey praises local paper the Bermuda Sun for publishing a story on last Friday's demonstration on its web site the same afternoon, prompting the Royal Gazette to retort that “its reporters and editors were busy getting Saturday's paper out.” But the Limey doesn't buy it: “in my opinion, the problem is that the RG (and the MON) do not place as much importance on their website as the Sun is starting to do. There have been other occasions when the Sun has broken a story on its website while the RG has been content to wait until the next day. Even after the RG's reporters and editors have produced a version of the paper, it's not unusual for it to fail to appear online. . . . Elsewhere in the world they’re talking about “Web 2.0”. Here in Bermuda, it sometimes seems like we're stuck in the pre-Web 1.0 era.”


State Schools Superintendent Candidates Face Off 1 Week Before Election - WPR
Ross Terrell
March 28, 2017
Wisconsin’s teacher shortage and the effect of President Donald Trump’s proposed budget would have on the state’s professional development were among the topics state schools superintendent candidates sparred over Tuesday in Milwaukee.
Incumbent Superintendent Tony Evers and challenger Lowell Holtz, a former district superintendent for Whitnall and Beloit schools, appeared together at a debate at Marquette University, a week before voters head to the polls.
Evers, who is seen as the more progressive candidate in the officially nonpartisan race, blamed the state’s shrinking teacher supply on Act 10, the controversial law required public sector employees to contribute to their benefits and eliminated most collective bargaining. Evers said a key to refilling the teacher pipeline is making sure high school students understand the importance of the profession.
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“We have to change the rhetoric,” Evers said. “We have to honor the profession. We have to make sure that our teachers are elevated in the right place. We have lost a generation of young people going into the profession. We can change that and I think we have to pay our teachers more.”
Holtz, who has courted conservative support, argued the GOP-backed Act 10 is not the problem. Instead, Holtz said the problem is teachers’ frustrations with the state’s evaluation system.
Holtz said teachers have told him the system takes too much time away from class preparation and that he didn’t have many reservations about President Trump’s proposed budget.
“The money that was put into the public school choice was tremendous,” Holtz said. “There was some for vouchers for choice, but a lot was public school choice. The thing that caught my eye was the reduction in the teacher training, and I have to see how that’s going to play out.”
Evers called the proposed $35 million cut to professional development for Wisconsin breathtaking.
He said Trump’s budget would increase spending in areas such as national security but on the backs of kids.
Wisconsin Public Radio, © Copyright 2024, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.


Dominica: Principles of Parenting · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Writing from Dominica, The Hand I Fan With is “of the firm opinion that modern parents…have totally lost all perspective as it regards good parenting.”


Qatar: Royal spending $10m a year on a drag racing team · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

At Qatar Living, OfMyHeartShape links to an article which says that 22-year-old Qatari Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Thani will be spending $10 million a year on a drag racing team.


South Korea: Libel? · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Michael Hurt expresses his frustration as a foreigner in South Korea. This time, his friend is caught in a libel case because he has told the truth.


Poland: Demography · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

The beatroot writes: “Poland’s population is shrinking faster than any other country in the EU. Strange that, in a country that claims to be 95 percent Catholic, don’t you think?”


Fuel: FG Has No Plan To Remove Subsidy – Minister - Liberty TV/Radio - News - Voice For All! Vision For Alll!
October 17, 2019
The Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Silva has assured Nigerians that the Federal Government has no immediate plan to remove fuel subsidy.
The Minister made this known while fielding questions from legislators at a joint session of National Assembly Committees overseeing the oil sector.
Silver said that the official daily consumption rate of petrol in Nigeria does not reflect the actual consumption rate. He maintained that government does not believe that Nigerians consume over 60 million litres of fuel daily.
Read this: Equalisation Fund Arrears: Fuel Scarcity Looms As IPMAN Threatens Private Depot Owners
According to the Minister, there is lot of smugglingand lots of our neighbours are taking advantage of the cheaper price inNigeria.
He said that Nigeria was subsidising for almost half of Africa which was verydifficult to manage.
He added that government was working to close up suchleakages and when achieved, the cost of subsidy would be bearable. He said thatfixing the refineries would also help to reduce the cost of subsidy and thatgovernment was doing lots to get the refineries working again


Iftar held at HDFC Barabanki given false communal spin - Alt News
Nilofar Absar
21st May 2022 / 4:23 pm
Photographs of iftar being served post namaz at an HDFC branch in Uttar Pradesh’s Barabanki were widely shared on Facebook with a communal spin. The incident took place during the month of Ramzan around April 24, 2022, within the bank premises.
The viral images were shared with the caption: “These photographs aren’t from a mosque but taken at a bank. It is from an HDFC bank branch in Barabanki. Roza, iftar and namaz are being offered here on a regular basis. This has been happening for years now. This false pretence of “secularism” must be strongly opposed.”
Pro-BJP propaganda outlet OpIndia reported the event while stating that “only Muslim customers” were invited to the iftar. It also claimed that SP leader Osama Ansari graced the occasion with his presence. The event upset members of the Hindu nationalist organisation Bajrang Dal. Sunil Singh, the organisation’s convener for the Awadh province, is quoted in the OpIndia article, as stating, “Today they offered prayers in a bank. Tomorrow they will read namaz somewhere else. The administration should take action against them.”
Alt News performed a keyword search in Hindi and came across several reports describing the event as a great example of “Hindu-Muslim” unity.
We also found a detailed video report covering the event on YouTube.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RBKcYUicoc]
The following excerpts with time-stamps, from the above video report, are essential to understand the bank’s rationale behind organising the iftar party and to establish that Hindu festivals are also celebrated within the bank premises:
At 1:35/6:11, the deputy manager of the bank branch can be heard saying, “All customers regardless of their religion have been invited to the iftar party.” This statement directly disputes the unfounded claim made in the OpIndia article about only Muslim customers being invited to the iftar party.
Further at 1:50/6:11, SP leader Osama Ansari can be heard saying, “This is a grand gesture by HDFC that reinstates some faith in Hindu-Muslim brotherhood at a time when communal tensions in India have peaked. It sends a positive message to society. People from all religions work in this bank and it is heartening to see the kind of effort that has been put into organising this iftar.”
At 2:21/6:11, a reporter is heard asking the SP councillor, “Are Hindu festivals also celebrated in this manner at the bank”? The councillor’s response follows, stating, “Earlier, Holi Milan Samaroh was also held at the bank. Other festivals are also celebrated here. Everyone is invited regardless of their religious identity. I have been associated with the bank for the past 15 years and I have seen all festivals being celebrated here.”
In the same video report, at 3:24/6:11, the bank cluster head can be heard saying, “Organising such gatherings is a good way to connect with our customers. At 3:35/6:11, he says, “All festivals are celebrated with the primary objective to connect with customers. We also celebrate festivals like Hanuman Jayanti, Holi, Diwali…”
At 3:48/6:11, the manager of the bank, Zaheer Abbas, can be heard saying, “HDFC’s objective is to always connect with its customers and to ensure that everyone moves forward together.” At 4:01/6:11, the manager says, “Our philosophy is to stay connected with our customers at all times. This is how our customers feel safe banking with us. The other name for banking is trust.” At 4:42/6:11, the manager further mentions, “Such programs have been conducted at the bank as a matter of practice. This is not a new occurrence, we were only delayed by the pandemic. But connecting with customers is of prime importance. Apart from religious celebrations we also conduct industry meets. Sometimes, we even arrange for get-togethers to sanction loans instantly.”
It is evident from the above excerpts from the video report that the iftar organised by the bank was based on a business decision to connect with customers and implies no affiliation to any community based on religious identity.
In addition to the above, we also found a report by Dainik Bhaskar in which videos and photographs of other religious festivals like Holi and Diwali being celebrated at HDFC, Barabanki, have been shared.
The report states that the iftar party held within the bank premises infuriated members of the Bajrang Dal who demanded an inquiry into the matter. They also threatened to forcefully have the Hanuman Chalisa recited within the bank premises in the absence of stringent measures being taken to investigate the people involved in organising iftar.
According to this report published by Jagran, the Deputy District Magistrate, Nawabganj, Sumit Yadav said, “Information has been received about such a video going viral. An investigation will be done. Action will be taken if any violation of banking rules is found.”
Alt News also got in touch with a senior bank official (administration) in Barabanki who requested anonymity while stating, “I can confirm that other religious celebrations are held in the bank and customers from all faiths are invited to partake.”
To conclude, HDFC Barabanki organised an iftaar party to connect with all customers, regardless of their religious identities. This was given a political as well as communal spin to portray partiality.
Nilofar Absar is a lawyer by training and a storyteller by nature who takes a keen interest in the lives of people belonging to South Asian diasporic communities.
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PDP Hails Buhari Over Successes Against Banditry, Other Crimes In Zamfara - Liberty TV/Radio - News - Voice For All! Vision For Alll!
May 27, 2020
The Zamfara chapter of Peoples Democratic Party PDP has expressed satisfaction with the efforts of the Federal Government in the fight against banditry and other crimes in the state.
This was contained in a statement signed by the party’s State Secretary, Hashimu Modomowa in Gusau.
The party dissociated itself from the recent remarks by the state Commissioner for Rural Development and Cooperative, Abubakar Abdullahi, in which he accused the federal government of paying more attention to COVID-19 than banditry.
According to him, the federal government has done fairly well in fighting banditry and other crimes in the state.
Modomowa also appreciated the federal government for granting the request of Zamfara government in reviving mining activities in the state.
He said this would go a long way in reducing crime by providing job opportunities to the teaming youths of the state.
The PDP secretary stressed that the government and people of the state would continue to appreciate the federal government’s commitment in containing armed banditry and menace of COVID-19 pandemic.


Iraq: Samara Dam Threat · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Iraqi blogger Ladybird reports that: “Haq Agency received serious information indicates that occupation forces preventing vehicles from crossing ‘Samara Dam’ bridge [see it on Goolge maps], claiming there is a truck loaded with explosives on the bridge.”


Panama: Traffic Congestion Sparks Online Reports and Complaints · Global Voices
Ariel Moreno

Transport is one of Panama's biggest problems. Panama City is constantly growing. It's advantageous geographical location has, in recent years, made it a benchmark for world trade. Alongside Chile and Mexico, it has been one of Latin America's fastest growing countries [es].
However, the transport system has become a real headache for all Panamanians, whether they use public transport or they are fortunate enough to own their own vehicle.
The constant works and long-term improvements organised by the government have turned the centre of the city into a transportational chaos. Amongst the major works, an underground metro system [es] is being built that will run across a large part of the city, but this has meant the closing of certain main roads during its construction.
Post-work congestion.  Photo used with permission of  photographer Eirene Moreno.
Social networking sites have become daily reflections of the experiences of Panamanians throughout the “tranques” (a local slang term for traffic congestion). Accounts are beginning to appear on Twitter such as ¡Vía Noticias y más! (Highway News and More!) (@traficologo) [es] which has more than 18,000 followers and describes itself as follows:
¡El que madruga y tiene Twitter, Dios le ayuda!.. Brindamos reportes de Tráfico, tiempo, noticias e información variada desde Panamá.
Traffic Panamá (@TrafficPanama) [es], another very popular feed with more than 20,000 followers, says it is:
La forma de llegar mas rápido a tu destino, información de Trafico y temas de actualidad, cargados de opiniones diversas y polemicas
The interaction between Twitter users is varied and on-going, such as those who see the funny side of it all like Maria Elisa Cabal (@MareCabal) [es] who writes:
Jaja dizque aquí en #panamá no hay tranque sino caravana laboral
Others, like Gaby Acosta (@gabygabs27) [es] are voicing their anger over the never ending traffic congestion:
Cuánto más hay que madrugar para encontrar transporte o para no encontrar tranque? #Panamá
There are also those who try to enjoy the beauty of certain parts of the city, like Crisabel Delgado (@Crisalina01) [es] who took a photo of a Guayacan flower and shared it on her feed:
La belleza de mi Panama, la contemplo en el medio del tranque. @RobaMorena :D
A number of videos of the congestion can be found on Youtube.  n October 2011, a user known as pipolopez shared this short video:
According to the blog Mirando hacia Panamá [es] the situation is not as bad as it's made out to be; the blogger also points out that the situation is the same as in any city and that the blame lies with those who chose to use their cars even just to go as far as the street corner.
La verdad es que acabo de volver de un mes de vacaciones familiares en Panamá y la situación del tráfico no me pareció tan calamitosa como la pinta la voz pública. Es verdad que las avenidas no están tan vacías como en mi álbum de la Ciudad de Panamá de los años setenta y hasta ochenta (miren mi album de la Ciudad de Panamá). Es verdad que después de las 4 p.m., el viernes, más te vale no intentar cruzar el Puente de las Américas pensando ir y volver de Veracruz en menos que canta un gallo. Pero tampoco es para tanto, ni hay tantos accidentes como dicen, ni la gente es tan grosera como las pintan y claro, como en todas partes tienes que entrar en la fluidez del tráfico, con todos tus derechos y, sin jugar vivo más de la cuenta, no dejarte comer… y todo sale bien.
The “traque” is a part of Panamanians’ daily lives and social networks are for the most part helpful as a means of venting and prevention. On April 9, 2012, the Trending Topics PTY account (@TrendingsPanama) reported  that the term “Traque” was the number one most used in interactions between Panamanian users.


FEC Approves N42bn For Roads Reconstruction In Northeast - Liberty TV/Radio - News - Voice For All! Vision For Alll!
Publisher (F.BA)
August 25, 2022
Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, said this while briefing State House Correspondents at the end of the weekly hybrid FEC meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
According to Sadiya, the four memoranda presented and approved by the Council are road construction and reconstruction for five States of the Northeast region namely Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Gombe and Bauchi.


Nigerian professor bags predatory 'best researcher award' | EduCeleb
28th December 2020
A Nigerian senior academic at Joseph S Tarka Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Dr Louis Oparaku, has been conferred an international research award, which EduCeleb.com can report is predatory.
Oparaku got the bogus award of the “best researcher award in the academic world of science, engineering and medicine” by an organisation named VDGOOD.
Our investigations established that VDGOOD is a predatory award issuer with multiple addresses in India.
Findings by EduCeleb.com further show that the organisation that also publishes predatory journals keeps multiple email addresses to contact unsuspecting academics around the world.
Another Nigerian lecturer, Nura Yakubu of the University of Maiduguri had in 2019 got a bogus award from an organisation whose only presence is on Google sites.
The beneficiary of the VDGOOD award, Oparaku had his first degree in Agricultural (Soil and Water) Engineering from the University of Nigeria, N sukka in 1980 and a Post Graduate Diploma in Photogrammetry and Airphoto Interpretation for Environmental Resources Planning and Management at the Institute of Agronomy, Florence, Italy in 1984.
His master’s degree in Soil Conservation and Land Reclamation Engineering was at the University of Southampton, England in 1986 while his PhD in Environmental and Resources Planning was at the University of Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria in 2016.
Meanwhile, a statement from the Federal University of Agriculture, Markudi said Oparaku’s PhD research work on the gullies of Idah-Ankpa Plateau of the Anambra Basin was described as the “best of its kind” by VDGOOD.
“The Idah-Ankpa plateau comprises the whole of Igala land in Kogi state and the Ogbadibo local government area in Benue state. Here the underlying geological formations consist of the highly erodible ajalli sandstones, the more resistant upper coal measures and the most resistant lower coal measures,” it said.
The VDGOOD noted that the researcher’s findings and publications on gully erosion on Idah-Ankpa plateau have been “generating global interest among researchers in the field”, hence his invitation to present the subject of his research and subsequent merit awards.
Reacting to the award, Oparaku, who is the senior lecturer in the Department of Agricultural and Environmental Engineering, said since he innovated a procedure for estimating the volume of solids exuded from a gully.
He is said to have received over 20 invitations to international conferences and workshops to throw more lights on his work.
The don who is also an environmental consultant noted that funding of trips for more research works has been a major hindrance, but expressed the hope that with encouragement from international bodies, more will be done.
According to the don, even with some hindrances on the way, he was able to carry out 21 publications in local and international journals and 3 articles as chapters in edited books.
“Out of the 21 journal publications, I’m the first author in 12 and the sole author in two. I’m also the sole author in three of the articles published as chapters in edited books”.
He said, at the moment, seven of his papers are being solicited for publication as chapters in edited books, including a publication of his work in an Elsevier journal which was emblazoned on their website as adjudged the best-written and most – innovative article in the journal.
Predatory awards are out to fleece unsuspecting academics to be given unsubstantiated rewards for achievements they have never reached.
They usually contain overloaded words and generic terms too good to be true, according to American based professor, Farouq Kperogi.
The recent bogus appointment of Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State as a professor of e-governance is one closely related instance what the don drawer attention to the craze for international recognition among compatriots.
Such nominations as in the case of what VDGOOD did, are not as exclusive as one being awarded to the best in a given field.
Findings by EduCeleb.com revealed that Oparaku is not the only beneficiary of such a bogus award from the dodgy Indian firm.
This medium obtained copies of different emails purportedly nominating various academics to as best for similar awards.
Some sums of money would be collected for such awards even yet undisclosed until the winner sends their CV to the organisation.
In one instance, an academic was congratulated for “winning the Prestigious Scientist Award in the International Scientist Award on Engineering, Science, and Medicine”.
Another was selected for her “Research Profile for the International Scientist Awards on Engineering, Science, and Medicine”.
One other email noted that a beneficiary read, “Congratulations from VDGOOD Professional Association for winning this Inspirational Scientist Award, and Your Research profile has been nominated by our committee members and it has been awarded.”
One uncommon item in these emails is that the beneficiaries were supposed to pick up their awards on conflicting dates in 2021.
In one instance, the beneficiary was to get awarded between 11th and 12th February, 2021 at Pondicherry, India.
Whereas to another, the award ceremony would hold between 6th and 7th March, 2021 in Goa, India.
The third of the email EduCeleb.com obtained show that the award ceremony would hold between 6th and 7th February, 2021 at Coimbatore, India.
The award for Oparaku puts the address of VDGOOD in Chennai, India.
Curiously, there are dissimilar signatories to each of the supposed award letters and none carries a full name of the person.
Ms Riya, Event Co-ordinator, VDGOOD Professional Association signed one while another has Ms Pranita. S, Event Organizer, VDGOOD as announcer. The other was signed by Ms Sanjana, Event Co-ordinator, VDGOOD Professional Association.
Calls to spokesperson of the university, Mrs Rosemary Waku were yet to respond to enquiries as whether the university was aware of the predatory status of Oparaku’s award as at press time.


Old photos from different cities linked to earthquake hit Tajikistan - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 15, 2021
A collage with the images of collapsed buildings is being shared on social media claiming it as the visuals of the recent earthquake that hit Tajikistan. An earthquake of magnitude 6.3 on the Richter scale hit Tajikistan on 12 February 2021. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Photos of massive destruction caused by the earthquake in Tajikistan.
Fact:  The first photo shared in the post is from the 2018 earthquake that hit Sicily city in Italy.  The other photo shows a collapsed building in the 2020 earthquake hit Elazig city in Eastern Turkey. These photos have nothing to do with the recent earthquake that hit Tajikistan. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Image-1:
On reverse image search of the photo shared in the post, a similar photo was found in a news article published on 27 December 2018. This article reported it as the visuals of collapsed buildings in the earthquake hit Sicily region in Italy. Sharing a similar photo, ‘BBC’ published an article on earthquake hit Sicily region. In the article, it is reported that a 4.8-magnitude earthquake hit Sicily near Europe’s most active volcano, Mount Etna. The news articles published on the 2018 Sicily earthquake can be read here and here.
Image-2:
On reverse image search of the photo shared in the post, we found a similar photo in a news article published on 24 January 2020. This article reported it as the visual of a collapsed building after a massive earthquake of magnitude 6.8 hit the Elazig province in Eastern Turkey. A similar visual is found in the ‘CNN’ article published on massive destruction caused by the earthquake in Eastern Turkey. The news articles published on this incident can be read here and here.
To sum it up, old photos from different earthquake hit cities are shared as the recent photos from earthquake hit Tajikistan.


Argentina: Maradona Betrayal and Worship · Global Voices
David Sasaki

Brandan compares Maradona's recent donning of a Brazilian football jersey to “Michael Jordan wearing a CCCP warm-up during the Cold War.” Meanwhile, Argentine journalism professor Julian Gallo says that blogger and author Leandro Zanoni has published a book about Diego Maradona's life in the media. In a followup post, Gallo clarifies that “the post … about the launch of the book about Maradona doesn't show any sympathy for its subject.” Then, “according to the emails I received yesterday and the comments so far, the level of fanaticism that many Argentineans have with this ex-football player is shameful.”


Mexico: Giant Crack in Ice Rink · Global Voices
Eduardo Avila

A huge crack appeared in the middle of the ice rink that was set up in the zócalo of Mexico City.  Isopixel [es] has the latest photo.


Barbados, U.S.A.:  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Barbados Underground says that “the queue of ‘expectation’ for Barack Obama, has already started to form”.


Migrant workers protest video from Tolichowki is shared as that from Old City - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 4, 2020
A video is shared on social media claiming it represents the situation in the Old City (Hyderabad) where people are violating the lockdown conditions. Let’s fact-check the claims being made.
Video of people violating lockdown conditions in Old city (Hyderabad).
Fact: The video is captured when migrant workers stuck in Telangana due to lockdown came onto the streets in Tolichowki asking the government to send them to their native places. Hence, the claim that the video is from Old City isFALSE.
When searched on the internet about people gathering during the lockdown in Hyderabad, it was found that the incident took place in  Tolichowki. Also, by using Google maps it can be noticed that some of the shops seen in the video are in Tolichowki.
The video shows migrant workers who have been stuck in Telangana due to the lockdown marching on the streets at Toli Chowki in Hyderabad on 03 May 2020, demanding that they be sent back to their native places. News reports about these protests can be read here and here. The statement of the police regarding the incident can be watched here.
To sum it up, video of migrant workers marching on the streets at Toli Chowki in Hyderabad, demanding that they be sent back to their native places is shared as that from Old City
Did you watch our new video?


Afghanistan: “The Afghan Star” Fever · Global Voices
Adil Nurmakov

Hadi1121 reports that Afghanistan now suffers from a new kind of fever, “The Afghan Star” fever. This is an “American Idol” type show run by Tolo Television, where contestants sing and mobile phone owners vote them to the top.


South Korea: Datemates or Sexmates? · Global Voices
Jose Manuel Tesoro

The Lost Nomad finds an article about the emerging phenomenon of no-strings-attached “datemate” relationships in South Korea.


FG Buckles, Says No Removal Of Petrol Subsidy Now - Liberty TV/Radio - News - Voice For All! Vision For Alll!
Publisher (F.BA)
January 25, 2022
She said the government had made provisions for subsidy in the 2022 budget from January to June this year, adding that government will forward a request to the National Assembly to make additional provisions for fuel subsidy from July this year till a time deemed appropriate for its eventual removal.
According to her, all payments on fuel subsidy ordinarily would cease as from July, 2022.
The minister spoke as the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, pleaded with the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, and Trade Union Congress, TUC, to shelve the planned strike schedule for Thursday nationwide against fuel subsidy removal.
The NLC, however, insisted yesterday that the planned strike would go on, saying it will not believe government until the suspension of subsidy was effected.
The union also petitioned the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, giving reasons for insisting on the scheduled protest.


2022 Budget: President Buhari, Osinbajo To Expend N3.087bn On Travels - Liberty TV/Radio - News - Voice For All! Vision For Alll!
Publisher (F.BA)
January 5, 2022
Details of the 2022 budget, which was signed into law by Buhari on Friday, indicated that the President plans to spend 2.309 billion naira on trips, while the vice President was allocated 778.2 million naira for the same purpose.
The budget also showed that Buhari would spend more money foreign travels than within the country. He will spend 1.533 billion naira on foreign trips and 775.602 million naira within the country. Osinbajo is also expected to spend 476 million naira on foreign travels and 301.964 million naira on his travels within the country.
It also showed that President Buhari would spend 301 million naira on foods and catering, while his Honorarium and Sitting Allowance was allocated 174. 176 million naira.
Osinbajo was allocated 156.662 million naira for food stuff and catering services, as well as, 20.26 million naira for meals and refreshments for his functions.


East Timor: Want a Native First Lady · Global Voices
Preetam Rai

Republika Banana wants Francisco Guterres “Lu Olo” to win the upcoming presidential elections in East Timor as the blogger wants a native first lady. The other candidates either have foreign wives or are unmarried. One of the other candidate has a East Timorese wife but she has not lived long in East Timor.


Brazil: Training Citizen Media in the Suburbs of São Paulo · Global Voices
Sara Moreira

A new citizen journalism project is underway in the poor, marginalized suburbs of São Paulo. Journalist Bruno Garcez launched blog Mural [pt] where he posts citizen media tips and interacts with his students. The new citizen reporters are also invited to publish their reporting and explain the process they have followed.


Photos of a girl who survived a bomb attack in Syria in 2016 are falsely passed off as a Palestinian girl - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 30, 2023
A collage of three photos, each showing an alleged Palestinian little girl being carried by different individuals, is doing the rounds on social media with a claim that these images show the girl being rescued on three separate days at three different locations. This fact check aims to shed light on the validity of this statement.
Claim: Collage showing a Palestinian girl being saved on three different days at three different locations.
Fact: These photos have nothing to do with Palestine. The three images included in the collage all originate from the same incident in Aleppo, Syria, in August 2016. They do not depict separate rescue events or locations.  Hence, the claim made in the post is False.
Firstly, we performed a reverse image search on each photo in the collage. The search results led to an article that included an image that features the man on the right side of the collage and the same girl. The photo, taken by Abdalrhman Ismail of Reuters, shows a young girl who survived an air strike attack in Aleppo, Syria, on 27 August 2016.
Further, based on the results from the reverse image search, we identified the men in the other two photos. The man on the left and the man in the middle were also in the same location in the rescue effort. The girl is first carried by the man on the left, and he is seen passing her off to the man on the right of the college in these two photos (here and here) available on Getty Images. You can also see the same little girl sitting in a vehicle in this photo published by Reuters. This was shot on the same day.
A CNN article published the middle image (cropped version) from the viral collage (here), linking it to the same attack that happened in Aleppo. All evidence points to these three photos being taken on the same day during the same rescue operation. The claim suggesting that the girl was saved on three separate days at three different locations is, therefore, incorrect.
To sum up, photos of a girl who survived a bomb attack in Syria in 2016 are falsely passed off as a Palestinian girl being saved on three different days at three different locations.


Post From Community: Rocketship Public Schools names executive director for Wisconsin region | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Elise Hill
August 9, 2022
Editor’s note: Posts from the Community is the place for community announcements and event postings. If you have a community-oriented event you feel our readers would be interested in, please submit here.
Rocketship Public Schools has appointed an executive director for its Wisconsin region, which consists of two high-performing charter public elementary schools serving a concentration of students from disadvantaged backgrounds in North and South Milwaukee.
Kadeem Gill, previously Managing Director of Exceptional Student Education at Breakthrough Public Schools, will now oversee all aspects of the school network in the region. Gill is a career educator who brings deep experience in classroom, school, and network leadership to Rocketship. Gill’s tenure at Breakthrough Public Schools was marked by partnership with families, leadership on increasing diversity in hiring, and commitment to serving students of all abilities with excellence, which helped to steer the organization to new heights of impact.
“Kadeem’s life proves the power of choice in public education. Kadeem understands firsthand the devastating consequences of a lack of educational opportunities for all kids, as he was chosen to attend a gifted and talented school while his brothers remained behind in a poor performing local school. Kadeem ended up at Princeton, while one brother was lost to gun violence and another to prison,” said Ralph Weber, Chairman of the Board of Rocketship Public Schools Wisconsin. “Kadeem’s record of achievement and experience, along with  his  passion for  equity in education, impressed the entire board. As we launch new efforts to overcome enduring achievement gaps for Milwaukee children and their families, we are thankful Kadeem will be leading Rocketship Public Schools Wisconsin.”
Gill was chosen for the leadership position after a selection committee screened a wide variety of candidates of different backgrounds. Board Chair Ralph Weber led the search committee, with assistance from a diverse panel of Rocketship leaders from both the regional and national level. Rocketship parents interviewed Gill and participated in our selection process as well.
“What school system is going to allow you as a parent, especially as a new parent to come in, be on a committee and to actually interview the senior most leader of the organization? It was so uplifting and made me feel that the organization really cares about me and my opinion as a parent,” said Ieshia Wiggins, parent at Rocketship Transformation Prep. “And I am so excited for Kadeem’s leadership! It was an easy pick for me because Kadeem has everything we need in Milwaukee. All of us collectively as a parent committee were unanimous that he was it.”
Gill is a proven leader in eliminating achievement gaps for low-income students of color. During his tenure at Breakthrough and in spite of the challenges of remote instruction due to COVID, the network supported scholars with exceptional learning needs to increase proficiency in literacy and math by 8 percentage points. The team also decreased the number of scholars performing two or more grade-levels below by 18 percentage points in both subjects. Prior to Breakthrough, Gill was the Senior Director of Special Populations at Explore Schools in Brooklyn, New York, where he led a team of network-based and school-based leaders to achieve a 5-year charter renewal as well as outstanding student academic growth. Gill began his educational leadership journey serving as special education director at the Equity Project Charter School in New York’s Washington Heights neighborhood, and taught special education for many years in the Bronx.
“We are so excited to have someone of Kadeem’s caliber, experience, and passion leading Rocketship Wisconsin in its next phase of excellence and impact,” said Preston Smith, Co-Founder and CEO of Rocketship Public Schools. “Kadeem is not only a pedagogical expert, but his personal experiences and deep connections with our communities make him an even more powerful, authentic leader. Kadeem embodies the mission of Rocketship Public Schools to unleash the potential of students, staff, and families.”
Gill attended Princeton University, earned a Master’s Degree from Hunter College in Special Education, a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership from the Bank Street School of Education, and is currently working on his Educational Doctorate Degree in Leadership and Innovation from New York University.
“I started my career as a special education teacher because I wanted to help students that society too often gives up on,” Gill said. “That shared mission is what drew me to Rocketship. At Rocketship, we serve a majority of students of color, students living in poverty, and students whose families are immigrants or refugees. We work to unleash the potential inside of every student that we serve, and when our students go on to attend other middle and high schools, they enter those schools prepared to succeed, with parents who know how to advocate for their students. I’m excited to help Rocketship continue to excel here in Milwaukee, Wisconsin so that more students have access to a high quality public education at the elementary school level, which benefits our entire system of public education.”
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About Rocketship Public Schools
Rocketship Public Schools is a nonprofit network of high-performing public elementary (K4 through 5th grade) charter schools serving disadvantaged communities across the country. The organization launched in 2007 with a vision to eliminate the achievement gap in every community it serves. Rocketship schools consistently rank among the top 10% of all public schools serving similar student populations.Through its high-performing public school model, Rocketship Public Schools propels student achievement, develops exceptional educators, and partners with parents who enable high-quality public schools to thrive in their community. Visit http://www.rocketshipschools.org/ to learn more.


Israel: Gay Marriages and the Torah  · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

Jewneric  discusses the Torah, homosexuality and gay marriage in Judaism.


Hamilton City Council GIC for July 2017 – TPR Hamilton | Hamilton's Civic Affairs News Site

July 11, 2017
It was a jam packed Council GIC agenda Monday as Council held its only GIC meeting for July. The Public Record’s coverage of this meeting includes 10 stories on the various items.
Here’s the summary (video links at bottom of story):
Hamilton City Council spent over an hour in closed session getting ready for their fight at OMB to keep their gerrymandered wards, approved a new Scoring Criteria for the Sale of West Harbour Lands, debated – with over an hour of party political speeches – provincial legislation Bill 148, approved HD streaming by the City of Council meetings, approved a new Council agenda system, approved incentives to Union Gas for an expansion of gas service to Sheffield, approved a city-wide Land Sales Policy, heard a presentation from the Hamilton Port Authority, gave staff authority to approve fee rebates along Barton and Kenilworth, confirmed the receipt of $33-mil from higher levels of government for sewers, and received a report on reserve accounts.
Here’s a run down of the issues, and links to stories on each:
The morning portion of the meeting video covers the Port Authority, Union Gas, and the Minimum Wage / Bill 148 debate. It can be viewed on The Public Record’s YouTube page here.
The afternoon portion of the meeting covered the remaining items, it can be viewed on The Public Record’s YouTube page here.


Post From Community: North Side pop-up farmers markets — every Tuesday in August from 3:30-6:30 p.m. | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
Sarah Bregant
August 2, 2022
Editor’s note: Posts from the Community is the place for community announcements and event postings. If you have a community-oriented event you feel our readers would be interested in, please submit here.
Northwest Side Community Development Corporation (NWSCDC) is bringing our North Side Pop-up Farmers Market series back for the third annual season from 3:30-6:30 p.m. every Tuesday in August at the following locations:
We’ve got local vendors selling a variety of fresh veggies, juices, plants, candles, salsa, flowers, popcorn, children’s books, clothing, body care products, and more!
Our flyer includes a $3 coupon good for any product at the market, plus we’ve got raffle prizes each week. We aim to host the markets rain or shine but will cancel in the event of heavy rain or severe weather. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for cancellation updates.
We proudly accept SNAP/EBT.
Hope to see you there!
Questions can be directed to Sarah Bregant at<EMAIL_ADDRESS>or<PHONE_NUMBER> x.8104


APC Crisis: NWC Investigates Shuaibu’s Allegations Against Oshiomhole - Liberty TV/Radio - News - Voice For All! Vision For Alll!
June 7, 2019
The All Progressives Congress, APC National WorkingCommittee has set up a five-man disciplinary committee to investigateallegations leveled by its Deputy National Chairman North, Lawal Shuaibu,against the party’s National Chairman Adams Oshiomole.
APC National Publicity Secretary, Lanre Isa-Oniluwho made this known in a statement in Abuja said the five-man committee wouldparticularly investigate Shuaibu’s allegation against Oshiomole on issuesinvolving the collective decisions of the Committee.
Issa-Onilu added that the Committee which passed avote of confidence on Oshiomhole took the decision at the end of its 38thregular meeting.
He said the committee would also investigate allegedinstigation of Senators and members of House of Representatives by Shuaibuagainst the decision of the party on the choice of presiding officers for theNational Assembly.
The APC spokesman said the committee, which would beheaded by Otunba Niyi Adebayo, is mandated to submit its report to the partywithin seven days from today.


Ukraine: Interview With Kyiv Post’s Editor-in-Chief · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Part 1 of an interview with Brian Bonner, editor-in-chief of the Kyiv Post – by David Brauer, at MinnPost.com's Braublog.


Haiti: Cost of Dying · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Cuaderno Latinoamericano links to an Associated Press story on the high cost of dying in Haiti: “The cost of a funeral is more than most Haitians make in a year, and it costs a good amount just to pick up the body from the morgue.”


Reformist Members of Iran’s Parliament Push to Free Green Movement Leaders Under House Arrest · Global Voices
Center for Human Rights in Iran

Reformist members of the Iranian parliament want to free the Green Movement leaders under house arrest. Image from ICHRI and used with permission.
This report was first published on the Center for Human Rights in Iran website.
Reformist members of Iran’s Parliament have established the “Committee to Seek an End to House Arrests” following the recent hospitalization of 79-year-old political opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi.
“We want resolve this matter without any media sensationalism or political hype,” said Ghasem Mirzaei Nikoo in an interview with the state-funded Iranian Labor News Agency on August 8, 2017. Nikoo is a member of the Parliament's Hope Faction, which supports Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
The reformist member of parliament added that the committee had already held a preliminary meeting with Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani to discuss ways to move forward.
Karroubi, along with fellow opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi (75) and his wife Zahra Rahnavard (71), has been isolated under state security in their homes since 2011 for encouraging the peaceful protests of the Green Movement against the results of the widely disputed 2009 presidential election. Both he and Mousavi ran for the presidency in 2009.
Karroubi was taken to a hospital in Tehran on July 24 for low blood pressure. Two days after he was admitted, he underwent a TIPS procedure that corrected a vein blockage, according to his son, Hossein Karroubi.
He was discharged on July 28, but within hours his condition took a turn for the worse and he was taken back to the hospital where he received an angiography on July 31.
Mir Hussein Mousavi (right) became the “leader” of the Green Movement after he changed his campaign colours to be the same as those of the protests against what millions perceived were fraudulent elections. Mousavi, his wife Zahra Rahnavard (middle), and another reformist candidate, Mehdi Karroubi (left), were arrested for “inciting sedition.”
President Hassan Rouhani, who promised to work towards releasing political prisoners during his 2013 election campaign, has been silent on Karroubi’s hospitalization. On August 1 his government spokesman Mohammad Bagher Nobakht expressed hope for his recovery.
“While we wish these dear individuals will be healthy, we hope nothing will happen to upset their families or the people,” said Nobakht. “We should make efforts to protect national interests and bring peace to society.”
“The door is open [for a resolution],” he added. “The supreme leader has not declared any solution impossible.”
According to comments by officials familiar with the case, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has long insisted that the three must apologize for their role in the peaceful mass protests of 2009, which were violently repressed by the state.
Gholamreza Heidari, a member of the “Committee to Seek an End to House Arrests,” told the Iranian Labor News Agency he was disappointed in Rouhani’s lack of action.
“It is paradoxical that the people have demanded an end [to the house arrests] and the president himself has made some favorable statements, but we are not aware of him taking any action in this regard,” he said:
We are not saying that only the president should do something about this, but after all he is the head of the Supreme National Security Council and he has made some promises in his 2013 and 2017 campaigns, and under the constitution he has a duty to protect the basic rights of the people.
During the campaign that led to his re-election in May 2017, Rouhani indirectly suggested he wanted the case resolved as crowds chanted for an end to the house arrests. “We will go to the voting booths to end captivity,” he said at a rally in Zanjan on May 15.
Rouhani was more direct during his 2013 presidential campaign.
“We can provide conditions such that over the next year, individuals who were imprisoned or put under house arrest for the 2009 events are released,” he said at a campaign rally at Sharif University in Tehran on May 13, 2013.
Several legislators as well as political and civil rights activists tried to visit Karroubi at the Rajaei Cardiovascular, Medical & Research Center in Tehran while he was receiving treatment in late July. Many were turned away.
Karroubi was discharged from the hospital and returned to house arrest on August 10, 2017.


Singapore: Transgender women campaign vs discrimination · Global Voices
Mong Palatino

Transgender women in Singapore have launched a campaign to end discrimination against their community.


Minimum Wage: Labour And Federal Government In Final Move To Forestall Strike - Liberty TV/Radio - News - Voice For All! Vision For Alll!
Publisher (F.BA)
October 15, 2019
The Federal Government and Labour unions are involvedin a last minute negotiation, to forestall a nationwide strike by workers,schedule for October 16.
Labour has resorted to the strike option, following anapparent inability of government and labour to find a way out of the minimumwage logjam.
The two parties have engaged in endless and oftenfruitless meetings, raising anxiety and frustrations among public sectorworkers, who have waited patiently over the months for the new wage.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngigewhile speaking at the continuation of a conciliatory meeting, said it is anopportunity for information sharing and an avenue to soften ground for a finalmeeting today, Tuesday. He told the labour leaders to be open-minded in theirdialogue so that both parties could get a way out of the minimum wage logjam.
Also speaking, the Deputy President of the NigerianLabour Congress, Amaechi Asugwuni, who spoke for organised labour said themeeting was called by the minister to share information with labour leaders.


Russia: Ex vice premier banned to travel abroad · Global Voices
Vilhelm Konnander

Ilya Yashin of El pueblo unido jamás será vencido reports [RUS] that opposition politician and ex Prime Minister of Russia, Boris Nemtsov, has been banned from leaving the country for the next half year due to a libel suit by financial mogul Gennady Timchenko.


Libya: UN Envoy Says Elections Postponed, New Date Expected Within 30 Days - Liberty TV/Radio - News - Voice For All! Vision For Alll!
Publisher (F.BA)
December 24, 2021
The UN envoy made this known after her 10 days visit to the county to help implement intra-Libyan political, security and economic dialogues.
Having arrived in Libya on December 12, Special Advisor, Williams, said she had heard “time and again the overwhelming desire of Libyans to go to the ballot box.
The Libyan presidential election was scheduled to be held with the first round on December 24 and the second round on January 24, 2022.
She added that the overwhelming desire of Libyans to go to the ballot box would determine their future and to end the long transitional period through the holding of inclusive, free, fair, and credible elections.
The High National Elections Commission on Wednesday announced that despite being technically prepared, it was unable to meet the December 24 date set by the political roadmap for national elections.


Russia: More on Nashi’s Goebbels Plagiarism · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

Sean Guillory of Sean's Russia Blog has a message to the pro-Kremlin youth movement Nashi (aka Putinjugend): “Plagiarizing Joseph Goebbels is unacceptable.”


Armenia: Rallies, Revolution & the Numbers Game · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

The Armenian Patchwork posts photographs from major rallies staged in Yerevan’s Liberty Square by two of the country’s nine candidates for the 19 February presidential election in Armenia. On Friday, Vahan Hovannisian and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation — Dashnaktrutyun (ARF-D) held theirs and set a precedent for the most Western like as well as a new record for attendance. The following day, former president Levon Ter-Petrossian held his, gathered a few thousand more, and continued along the same “revolutionary” path followed since prematurely starting his pre-election campaign last September.


Covid-19: FG Reduces N252bn Privatisation Target, N1.5tn Customs Revenue - Liberty TV/Radio - News - Voice For All! Vision For Alll!
April 1, 2020
TheFederal Government has announced that it had cut its revenue target from privatisationby 50 per cent.
TheMinister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, made the announcement in a meeting betweenthe executive arm of government and the leadership of the National Assembly inAbuja.
Themeeting, according to a statement by the Senate President media office, wasmeant to review the 2020 budget and Medium Term Expenditure Framework againstthe background of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on global economy.
Shealso announced the reduction in revenue expected from the Nigeria Customs Servicefrom 1.5 rillion naira to 943 billion naira.
Thefinance minister confirmed a review of the budget oil benchmark from 57 dollarsto 30 dollars per barrel.
Shesaid this was done to prepare for the worst case scenario as well as insulatethe Nigeria economy against any form of unexpected crisis.
Ahmedalso told the leadership of the National Assembly that budgeted revenues forthe Nigeria Customs Service had been reduced from N1.5tn to 943 billion due toanticipated reduction in trade volumes.


Why the Caribbean Should be Interested in the Internet’s Future · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

ICT Pulse explains why the Caribbean should become more involved in shaping the future stewardship of the Internet.