What did courts say about media trials, reservation laws, and status of education?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
January 27, 2021
In this edition of the roundup of important court judgments, we look at cases where constitutional courts made important observations & issued directions about what constitutes media trials, retrospective application of certain reservation laws, the status of education, and environmental clearance for highways.
Bombay HC: Media Trial during investigation interferes with administration of justice
In disposing of a batch of PILs seeking regulation of media trial, the Bombay high court made several important observations & issued directions on “media trial”, how it interferes with the administration of justice and hence amounts to ‘contempt of court’ as defined under the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971.
The judgement begins by expressing that the issue raises questions of contemporary importance touching upon the right of the press/media to express views freely, the right of the deceased to be treated with respect and dignity after death, the need to ensure investigation of the crime to proceed on the right track without being unduly influenced by media reports based on “investigative journalism”, and the right of the accused to a free and fair trial as well as the right not to be prejudged by the media.
With respect to the “administration of justice”, any report of the media, having the propensity of tilting the balance against fair and impartial “administration of justice”, could make a mockery of the justice delivery system rendering ‘truth’ a casualty. The duty of the media to have news items printed/telecast based on true and correct version relating to incidents worth reporting accurately and without any distortion/embellishment as well as without taking sides, cannot, therefore, be overemphasized.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Dutta and Justice GS Kulkarni also discussed the status of regulation of cable television networks in India with respect to the Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act (CVTN) which were brought into effect from September 29, 1994. The ‘Programme Code’ enshrined in the Act is emphasised. One of our earlier articles discusses this in detail. They observed that media trial not only runs counter to the Program Code framed under the Cable TV Act but also interferes with the criminal investigation by police.
Considering the provisions of the CTVN Act and the CTVN Rules, and the Programme Code as stipulated under rule 6 of the CTVN Rules, the bench concluded that it would apply to the telecast which is in the nature of a media trial having adverse consequences on an ongoing criminal investigation. The bench expressed that the media ought to avoid/regulate certain reports/discussions touching upon any on-going investigation into a criminal offence and that no report/discussion/interview should be presented by the media which could harm the interests of the accused being investigated or a witness in the case or any such person who may be relevant for any investigation. The judgement highlights that over the last six months, several High Court has also expressed concerns over the practice of “media trial”.
Accordingly, the court directed the media to exercise restraint from printing/displaying any news item and/or initiating any discussion/debate/interview of nature, as indicated below;
Based on such parameters, the Court also held that the media coverage by the Republic TV and Times Now against Mumbai police in the case pertaining to the death of late actor Sushant Singh Rajput is prima facie contemptuous.
Furthermore, the Bench has also held that the Press Council of India guidelines on reporting shall be applicable to the electronic media as well. It has directed all complaints regarding a programme’s contents to be dealt with immediacy by an authorized officer of the Central Government under the Cable TV Network Act without involving a private body like the National Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA) set up by the National Broadcasters Association.
Jharkhand HC: Retrospective application of 10% EWS quota is against Articles 14 and 16
In the case of Ranjeet Kumar Sah and Uttam Kumar Upadhyay vs. State of Jharkhand and others, the Jharkhand high court held that retrospective application of 10% EWS quota is against Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution.
The issue in front of the court was that there were vacancies for the post of Assistant Engineer (Civil) in the year 2013 and pursuant to this, the advertisement was published in 2015. The number of unreserved posts advertised was 105 vacancies. There was no EWS reservation of 10% quota applicable at that point of time. The cut-off date for age eligibility was specified to be 01.08.2013 and it was also specified that the age of eligibility to participate will be 21 to 35. Though the selection process was initiated, the same was not concluded by way of a selection test. The department further published Advertisement No.05 of 2019 to make an appointment for the post of Assistant Engineer (Civil). The earlier advertisements were not completed and they have been superseded by the current advertisement, which contains merged vacancies of advertisements of 2013 and 2015 and also current vacancies of 2019.
The Government of India through an office memorandum dated 31.01.2019 published its decision of 10% reservation for EWS in direct recruitment in civil posts and services in the Government of India. The State of Jharkhand also introduced the reservation quota of 10% for EWS in the civil posts and services of the Government of Jharkhand. The amendment in the reservation rules of 2001, were brought into effect to the extent of increasing the percentage of reservations to 60%.
The petitioners submitted that since they are not EWS candidates, the applicability of reservation quota on this count is adversely affecting their right on earlier vacancies. Due to the merger of vacancies, the seats which were available in the year 2013 and 2015, have been brought under the cover of the current advertisement of the year 2019, wherein 10% reservation for EWS have been made applicable retrospectively for all the earlier vacancies, that were part of the earlier selection process. A total of 52 seats have been earmarked for EWS candidates separately, but these seats have been carved out from the unreserved quota but this has to be done on post facto vacancies.
The judgement clarifies that the court was not examining whether the reservation up to 60% is valid or not. The only question that was by the Court as to whether EWS reservation can be given effect retrospectively or not.
On that question, a single bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi held that the retrospective application of the 10% EWS quota is against Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India. Consequently, the State Government is directed to modify the Advertisement of 2019 to the extent that 10% quota for EWS shall not be made effective retrospectively for the vacancies of the years 2013 and 2015. It was concluded that the ongoing appointment process is not based on constitutional mandate and therefore it is illegal.
Allahabad HC: Education in the state has been taken as a business or industry
In the case, Sai College of Education and another vs. the State of UP, the high court made strong remarks on the status of education in Uttar Pradesh, which the court hold has been taken as a business or industry.
The matter before the court was with regards to the admission of twenty-five students in B.Ed. course. The facts on record show that twenty-five candidates belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were recommended for admission through centralized counseling. None of the candidates, so recommended, was given admission rather appellants/petitioners’ institution admitted other twenty-five students.
By way of an appeal, a challenge was made to the judgment dated December 2020 whereby the writ petition preferred by the appellants/petitioners (Education Institutions) was dismissed.
To justify their action, the appellant/ petitioners (Education Institutions) held that the candidates named for the admission in the centralized counseling were not inclined to take admission and for that, a copy of the affidavit of few candidates was enclosed. The court pursued the affidavits and found it to be in a cyclostyled manner.
The Bench of Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal observed that the affidavits were obtained by appellants/petitioners’ institution containing the same language which cannot happen if it is to be given by different candidates on different dates. The affidavits having the same language were created at the instance of the appellants/petitioners’ institution and seem to have been given to get a refund of the amount paid online. Most importantly, the fact further remains that out of twenty- five candidates/students recommended for admission, it cannot be that none would take admission. The court took a strong stance at the state of education in Uttar Pradesh and expressed the following:
In conclusion, the high court did not find any illegality in the judgment of the Single Judge and dismissed the appeal challenging the earlier judgment.
The court was inclined to send the matter to the National Council for Teacher Education (N.C.T.E.) for appropriate action which includes de-recognition of the institution looking to their conduct, but for the reason that N.C.T.E. is not a party to this appeal as well as to the petition, the Court refrained to take suo-moto cognizance but warned the institution not to indulge in the practice of nature referred herein.
Supreme Court: Segmentation of project as a strategy to avoid environmental clearance not permissible
In the case of the National Highways Authority of India vs. Pandarinathan Govindarajulu and others, the apex court while observing the there was no requirement for obtaining environmental clearance for NH-54 A, held that segmentation of a project cannot be adopted as a strategy to avoid environmental clearance impact assessment.
The matter was regarding the environmental clearance for expansion of National Highway 45-A between Villuppuram to Nagapattinam. The project of widening and improvement of the existing 4-lane carriageway in the State of Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry was bifurcated into four packages. Approval was granted by the Competent Authority, i.e. Special District Revenue Officer (Land Acquisition), National Highways No. 45-A in March 2018. The process was initiated for the acquisition of lands required for the project.
Writ Petitions were filed in the High Court of Madras by certain aggrieved farmers and public interest litigants questioning the commencement of the project without obtaining environmental clearance.
Upon reviewing all the submissions, the apex court held that there is no requirement for obtaining environmental clearances for NH 45-A Villuppuram -Nagapattinam Highway as land acquisition is not more than 40 meters on existing alignments and 60 meters on realignments or bypasses. In doing so, the apex court set aside the Madras High Court judgment which had held that it is necessary.
The bench of Justice L. Nageswara Rao, Hemant Gupta, and Ajay Rastogi also observed that the adoption of segmentation of a project cannot be adopted as a strategy to avoid environmental clearance impact assessment. Therefore, it directed the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India to constitute an Expert Committee to examine whether segmentation is permissible for National Highway projects beyond a distance of 100 kms and, if permissible, under what circumstances.
The bench also directed NHAI to strictly conform to the EIA notifications in the matter of acquisition of land being restricted to 40 meters on the existing alignments and 60 meters on realignments, and also to fulfill the requirement of reafforestation in accordance with the existing legal regime.
The bench emphasised that development and the environment must go hand in hand.
Featured Image: Important court judgments


Undertones: What’s behind Bangladesh’s neutrality about Russia’s invasion? · Global Voices
Civic Media Observatory

Illustration made by Global Voices.
This story is part of Undertones, Global Voices’ Civic Media Observatory's newsletter. Find out more about our mission, methodology, and publicly available data. Subscribe to Undertones.
In Bangladesh, Russian favoritism is subtle but can be detected through deep observation. At first glance, narratives regarding Russia’s war on Ukraine reflect Bangladesh’s foreign policy principle of neutrality. In March, Bangladesh abstained from condemning Russia’s invasion at the United Nations General Assembly, citing its philosophy of “friends to all, malice to none”.
When digging deeper, however, justifications vary, from a perceived economic dependence on Russia to anti-U.S. imperialism and historical friendship with the Soviet Union. These arguments are part of a larger pro-neutrality narrative promoted by the political and intellectual elites to the general population. All in all, government officials, scholars, and religious preachers more or less tacitly support Russia in its invasion of Ukraine.
Yet, self-censorship plays a large role in Bangladesh, contributing to the fact that only a tight set of narratives are visible. Bangladesh has dropped 10 notches for freedom of expression on Reporters without Borders’ latest Press Freedom Index. The Digital Security Act (DSA), adopted in 2018, has been used to arrest journalists and activists critical of the government or local political leaders. For many observers, this law has created a “culture of fear” in order to quell dissent online.
Today, pro-Russia narratives continue to spread online, especially on Facebook and YouTube.
Behind a general message of neutrality, different Bangladeshi actors use historical, ideological, and economic arguments to not ruffle Bangladesh’s relationship with Russia. Media narratives are not usually openly anti-Ukraine or anti-West, but most of the wording and tones reflect a pro-Russia leaning.
The historical alliance between Bangladesh and Russia, stemming from the USSR's support for Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan, is one of the central justifications used by Bangladesh for its neutral stance in the Russia-Ukraine war. This argument is frequently found in the country’s largest editorial media, such as the Daily Star, the Daily Sun, and BDnews24.
In 1971, the Soviet Union diplomatically supported Bangladesh’s struggle in its Liberation War. It is an important factor in popular narrative and historical memory and therefore is the easiest to exploit. Following independence, Russian authors and literature were widely read and distributed in the Bengali curriculum. In Bangladesh, people have grown up with reminders of Russia’s support of their state’s independence.
Government officials often mobilize this argument, leaving out the Cold War context of the time. The USSR supported Bangladesh as part of its strategic alliance against anti-Communist Pakistan and the United States.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has notably said that given how “Russia had safeguarded Bangladesh against the United States” in 1971, it merits a friendly reciprocation at present, especially as it is alienated on the world stage. Russia and the USSR are intentionally conflated, even though Ukraine was also part of the Soviet Union.
Chinmay Prasun Biswas, a former commissioner of taxes, describes Bangladesh's reluctance to take a stance on the Russia-Ukraine war as being a result of Bangladesh's long-standing history and relationship with Russia, the influence of which extended to the political, literary, and cultural spheres. Given his position as a former government official, his opinions may be accepted by people to be true. More analysis here.
More related items: BD_196, BD_210, BD_217
The ideological undertone
In Bangladesh, popular religious scholars preach Islam and guide followers in forming political opinions. Many of them preach an exclusionary view of Islam and promote anti-West narratives in Waz Mahfil, events where people gather to listen to religious scholars in mosques, public squares, and on social media. Although these scholars are popular, many citizens do not endorse them. They have been subject to the police’s anti-terrorism efforts.
In general, U.S. military incursions in the Middle East have resulted in strong anti-U.S. sentiments within intellectual and religious circles in Bangladesh. Anti-U.S. imperialism sometimes morphs into anti-Ukraine sentiment, even though there seems to be a blind spot about Russia's involvement in Syria.
According to religious scholars, the Russian aggression in Ukraine is a response to U.S. provocation by way of NATO expansion. Nor is the Ukrainian refugee crisis treated as an urgent problem. Instead, these scholars allege that there is hypocrisy, pointing to Muslim refugees who have been turned away by European nations. Anti-semitism — visible in how Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been targeted for his Jewish background – is also rampant.
The religious scholars’ justification for not supporting Ukraine is multi-faceted. It includes the following: “A Muslim should not have any sympathy for Ukraine as they are friends with the US (the oppressor of Islam)” (media item), “A Muslim should not have any sympathy for Ukraine as their leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is Jewish” (media item), and “A Muslim should not have any sympathy for Ukraine as they have indirectly killed Muslims in the wars in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan, by siding with the U.S.” (media item).
During a YouTube debate on the Russia-Ukraine war, Enayet Ullah Abbasi, a popular religious speaker in Bangladesh, was asked about how Muslims in Bangladesh should react. He replied that “Muslims should either remain silent or support Russia, there is no option for the Muslims to support the US”, adding that “Muslims have no option to support Ukraine because the President of Ukraine is a Jew and believes in Zionism…Jews are the biggest enemy of the Muslims.” A good number of commenters believe that Abbasi’s opinion is logical and fact-based. More analysis here.
More related items: BD_100, BD_101, BD_102, BD_104, BD_115
More about a related narrative: “Muslims should not have sympathy for Ukraine”
Bangladeshi officials argue that choosing a side in the war could potentially risk their economic and security interests, even though Bangladesh has strong commercial ties with the United States as well, especially for its large textile and garment industry.
Bangladesh imported 45 percent of its wheat from Ukraine and Russia and is now switching to India. However, most importantly, Bangladesh is relying on Russian investment – USD$13 billion – for its first nuclear plant, and on Russian-made military hardware. Since the onset of the war in Ukraine, Bangladeshi officials have feared that international sanctions on Russia would delay the completion of the nuclear plant’s construction.
This article informs that the construction of the Rooppur nuclear power plant in northwestern Bangladesh will continue despite international sanctions against Russia for its aggression in Ukraine. This news came on the same day as the UN General Assembly vote where Bangladesh abstained from condemning the war launched by Russia against Ukraine. More analysis here.
More related items: BD_197, BD_215


Serbia: Football and the EU · Global Voices
Veronica Khokhlova

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CCTV video of boy attacking girl with knife shared with false communal spin - Alt News
Kinjal
30th December 2021 / 7:18 pm
CCTV footage of a boy stabbing a young girl on the street is viral on social media. It has been claimed that the attacker was Asraf Ali who stabbed an eighth-grade female student with a knife after she resisted his advances. The video is circulating with the hashtag ‘#लव_जिहाद’ (#Love_jihad).
Twitter handle ‘@VishalRuhelaIND’ made the same claim while sharing the clip. It received more than 2,000 views as of this writing. (Archive link)
छेड़खानी का विरोध करने पर आठवीं की स्कूली छात्रा को असरफ अली ने दिनदहाड़े चाकुओं से छलनी किया। सारे वामपंथी और मीडिया खामोश हैं।#लव_जिहाद pic.twitter.com/9Qk8nxHnPQ
— 🕉📿Kshatriya Vishal Ruhela🇮🇳 (@VishalRuhelaIND) December 22, 2021
Several Twitter users also posted the video.
The visuals are widespread on Facebook with the accompanying claim.
Alt News performed a keyword search which led us to a few news reports covering the incident. On December 22, Aaj Tak reported that a boy attacked an eighth standard female student with a knife in Gopalganj, Bihar. The incident took place in Pratappur village under the jurisdiction of Manjhagarh police station.
The report added that the police investigation found that the accused would often harass the victim. She even complained to his family members, but he did not stop. When the girl was returning from school one day with her friends, the boy attacked her with a knife. The girl’s friends ran away but bystanders rushed to the spot after hearing her scream and took her to a hospital.
A TV9 Hindi report identified the accused as Guddan, son of Asraf Ali, a resident of Pratappur village. It is worth noting that the viral message states the name of the attacker is Asraf Ali. However, the individual behind the stabbing is actually Ali’s son.
We also reached out to the Manjhagarh police for more details on the case. An officer informed us that there was no communal angle to the incident and both the victim and accused were from the same religion. The accused fled from the scene of the crime but was subsequently found and arrested by the police.
The video has, thus, been shared with a false communal spin. Both the victim and the perpetrator hail from the same community.
Kinjal Parmar holds a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology. However, her keen interest in journalism, drove her to pursue journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication. At Alt News since 2019, she focuses on authentication of information which includes visual verification, media misreports, examining mis/disinformation across social media. She is the lead video producer at Alt News and manages social media accounts for the organization.
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Soldiers are paid a Siachen Allowance of Rs 14,000 a month - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
February 15, 2016
The tragic death of 10 soldiers posted on the Siachen Glacier has renewed debate on the harsh climatic conditions in such high altitudes and the related health effects. The Indian Soldiers posted on the Siachen Glacier are paid a special allowance of Rs 14,000 per month. The 7th Pay commission has proposed an increase of 50% in this allowance. Soldiers at such high altitudes require 55 items out of which 20 are imported.
The Indian troops have been deployed at Siachen Glacier at an altitude of about 20,000 feet for decades to protect the borders. The soldiers brave the harshest climatic conditions to guard the strategic border post. Such harsh conditions result in multiple health related issues. As per a DRDO bulletin, high altitude is characterized by hypoxic environment, cold and ultraviolet (UV) radiations, which causes adverse effect on work efficiency and cognitive functions of an individual along with acute mountain sickness, and sometimes debilitating frostbite or life threatening diseases like high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) and cerebral edema (HACE). The Life Sciences wing of DRDO is focused on developing diagnostic, preventive & treatment protocols for acute mountains sickness, HAPE and other such conditions faced by soldiers posted on the glacier.
The Indian Army extends various types of allowances to the soldiers. They are also paid a Siachen Glacier Allowance. Officers/Sepoys posted to the Siachen Glacier are paid a special monthly allowance apart from their monthly salary. The current Siachen allowance for Junior Commissioned Officers (JCO) and others is Rs 14,000 per month. The Seventh Pay Commission has proposed to increase this amount to Rs 21,000 per month.
More soldiers died from the threat of the harsh climatic conditions and accidents related to that than the enemy bullet. A total of 879 soldiers have died on the Siachen Glacier since 1984 till date due to climatic conditions, environmental and other factors. 33 of them are Officers, 55 of them are JCOs and the rest of 791 are Sepoys/Jawans.
Various wings of the DRDO like the Defence Institute of High Altitude Research (DIHAR) and Defence Food Research Laboratory (DFRL) produce & supply food for soldiers posted on high altitudes like Siachen. These wings of the DRDO develop various food materials suitable to Siachen and other such high altitude regions.
The soldiers posted on the Siachen Glacier and other such high altitude areas require 55 items of clothing and mountaineering equipment. Out of these, 20 items are imported. The Indian Army is authorized to maintain two sets of special clothing and mountaineering equipment for Siachen and  High Altitude areas. Out of these, one set is authorized to the troops in the field formations and the second set is maintained as reserve. The items are imported from various countries like Switzerland, Canada, Italy, Singapore, Austria, France, Norway, United Kingdom, Poland, Sweden, Australia and United States of America.
Items used by the soldiers include the following. The Army needs about 27000 sets of these items each year.
The government takes steps for up gradation and search for newer items which will save lives and increase the combat efficiency of troops deployed in areas like Siachen. To promote indigenous production clothing and other material, a seminar with Indian Technical Textile Association was held in 2015 followed up by trial of items in Siachen Glacier and sharing of trial reports with Indian Industry for further improvement to meet the stringent requirements of such areas.
More than 7500 crore rupees were spent in importing such equipment in the last 4 years.
Featured Image:”AFP PHOTO / Indian Defence Ministry”


USA, Colombia: “Nothing new for Plan Colombia 2” · Global Voices
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“About an hour ago, the State Department released the broad outlines of its 2008 aid request. Its so-called “Function 150″ document gives us a rough, but pretty fair, estimate of what the Bush administration is asking Congress to give Colombia next year.” According to Adam Isacson of the Center for International Policy, that amounts to “Nothing new for Plan Colombia 2.”


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In Mutatione Fortitudo comments on news that a donkey costing $18,500 has been purchased using funds from the Azeri State Budget. The blog says that  $179,700 was spent on such purchases last year and wonders why.


COVID-19: Nigeria’s Pandemic Death Toll Rises To 813 As Total Infections Hits 38,344- NDDC - Liberty TV/Radio - News - Voice For All! Vision For Alll!
Editor 4
July 23, 2020
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC through its twitter handle, said there are so far 38,344 confirmed cases, while 15,815 patients discharged with 813 deaths. The agency data showed that eight Nigerians died from COVID-19 complications, as at July 22.
It said Lagos, the epicentre recorded 180 cases, the highest daily toll, followed by federal Capital Territory, FCT with 86.
The Centre also noted that Kaduna recorded 56, Edo, 47, Ondo, 37, Kwara, 35, while Ogun and  Rivers states have 19 cases each; Kano and  17 cases, Ebonyi and Enugu have 16 cases each while Delta state has  7 cases, Bayelsa has  4, Bauchi 3 and Abia state has 1 case.
It also explained that a multi-sectoral National Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) activated at Level 3, continues to coordinate the national response activities in the country.
NCDC said a sudden loss of taste and smell with fever, headache or runny nose may be COVID-19 and not malaria.


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Private vs. public: predicting and preparing for future pandemics - 360
Michael Bartos
Published on March 28, 2022
More agile global governance of the pandemic response must be established while COVID-19 is still prominent.
COVID-19 turned into a US$22-trillion disaster killing more than six million people globally partly because the dots between warning and action were not connected.
Some governments took quick and precautionary action, especially those that had invested in their public health infrastructure in the wake of SARS, as in Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam and South Korea. Most sat on their hands until the early weeks of March 2020 when they had domestic evidence of widespread disease.
With contested authority and a deluge of conflicting information, where national public health institutions had been under-funded and were sidelined, they were unable to cope. Commercial information-management operations spotted the gap in the market. They nimbly pivoted their data and information management systems to the pandemic, promising governments support to make critical decisions amid all the uncertainty of a fast-moving crisis.
Palantir, an American software company, begins its latest product pitch like this: “The dominant nation-states and companies that define our way of life will be the ones that get software and use of data right”. The UK National Health Service and the US Centers for Disease Control used Palantir’s data-integration products in the early months of the pandemic.
Salesforce, another US company, was brought in to bail out the Australian state of Victoria when its contact-tracing system buckled under the pressure of soaring case numbers in mid-2020.  Danish-owned UK health-data-management company Airfinity found its niche as the go-to source for data on vaccine production, supply and delivery, and was used widely by news organisations, governments and multilateral institutions.  There are lessons to be drawn from this type of targeted innovation, but long-term public health goals do not sit comfortably with providers whose raison d’être is to sell a product that gives you a comparative advantage over others. The agenda needs to be set by governments – private organisations can bring a set of agile tools to help, but they need to be within parameters of equity and national good defined by the public sector.
The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, has recommended the United Nations General Assembly and the G20 create a global health threats council, bringing together selected heads of state and international luminaries to give pandemic response urgency and political weight.
The WHO has expanded its surveillance efforts by creating a new Berlin-based Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence, headed by Chikwe Ihekweazu, formerly director of Nigeria’s Centre for Disease Control. The hub intends to go beyond epidemic surveillance to apply collective intelligence efforts across a whole range of epidemic-relevant public health, social, political and economic domains.
The Epidemic Intelligence for Open Sources network, a core part of the hub, will continue to trawl through thousands of signals, including 34,000 web pages daily, to pick up and verify reports that may require closer attention. In 2021 it analysed 519 million COVID-related tweets. It links other networks including the ProMED network of infectious disease scientists that noticed the first Chinese press reports of the Wuhan cases. And while extensive negotiations are required to bring 194 states into agreement, the WHO is edging towards a new pandemic treaty.
Among the most contentious issues will be inspection powers – some are calling for the new treaty to enshrine powers like those of chemical weapons or nuclear-accident inspectors, who are able to bypass red tape to speed to outbreak locations. But despite the global good such powers might represent, national sovereignty is fiercely guarded.
The systems for an orderly global vaccine rollout collapsed in a flurry of vaccine nationalism; conclusive demonstration that health – nationally and globally – is better protected as a public good and not a competition. Successive variant waves have been driven by rampant transmission and replication of SARS-CoV-2 in unvaccinated populations, quite aside from the inequitable burden of disease and death. The task now in front of the multilateral system is whether short-term beggar-thy-neighbour approaches can be put aside in favour of the greater good.
As the wash-up of the global pandemic begins, the major questions are: what has been learnt, and more importantly, which of those lessons will inform future changes? The key finding of the independent panel was that the global system for pandemic alert and response failed to join up. It was not that the early warning came too slowly — Wuhan clinicians were aware of an unusual cluster of pneumonia of unknown origin in the city’s hospitals. The problem was that the global response to this early warning was too slow.
It is not clear that the proposals made so far to remedy the gap between alert and action will get to the nub of the problem. They mainly build on what worked well during COVID-19.
In May 2021 the UK under its G7 presidency announced a global pandemic radar to protect health systems by “spotting diseases before they cause future pandemics and enabling the rapid development of vaccines, treatments and tests”. The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), a global non-profit vaccine-development body established in the wake of the 2014-16 Ebola crisis, was among the first to spring into action at the advent of the pandemic, commissioning vaccine research in January 2020 – within days of publication of the SARS-CoV-2 genome sequence. In March 2022 CEPI committed to a ‘100 day’ target for safe, effective vaccines in response to the next “disease X” but in a sobering warning that global attention may already be moving on, it garnered only US$1.5 billion of the US$3.5 billion in funding replenishment it was seeking.
The race is now on to establish more agile global governance that recognises pandemic preparedness and response as a global public good. There are plenty of technical advances that can populate such a system, but what is fast running out is the political will to create it while COVID-19 is still fresh in our minds.
Michael Bartos is Honorary Associate Professor, School of Sociology, at the Australian National University. He was lead editor attached to the Secretariat of the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response.
He has conducted research on gaps in pandemic prepareness and for the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response funded by WHO through consultancy contracts.


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Albania’s tourism industry is on the rise, increasing risk of child sexual exploitation, warns new report · Global Voices
Ardi Pulaj

Durrës is one of the tourist beach destinations in Albania. Photo by Genti Behramaj, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
As tourism begins to play an increasingly significant role in Albania's economy, one Albanian NGO warns that with the travel and tourism industry being a key contributor to the economic and sexual exploitation of children, the country's young people may be at risk.
In their recently published report, the Child Rights Centre Albania (CRCA/ECPAT Albania) expressed concern that the authorities in both the tourism sector and child protection system lack information and knowledge on the links between the travel and tourism industry and child sexual exploitation. The report represents the first research conducted in Albania on the sexual exploitation of children in the tourism industry.
Sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism puts at risks the most vulnerable children. Our latest research “Sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism in Albania” shows that up to 40% of children live in poverty, 14% of them in e extreme poverty! 1/3 pic.twitter.com/dYXnuVI4GC
— Altin Hazizaj (@AltinHazizaj) September 23, 2022
Tourism contributes to the development of a country's economy, especially in sectors such as travel, culture, gastronomy, and hospitality. In 2021 alone, Albania received more than 5.6 million foreign visitors, most of them from the European Union.
But as the CRCA/ECPAT Albania research reveals:
“Child poverty remains one of the major issues for the exercise of the rights of the child, affecting at least 40 percent of children. The development of travel and tourism sector in Albania and the increase of both local and foreign tourists has amplified the risks of sexual exploitation of children in the tourism. In recent years, Albania has recorded an increase in sexual crimes against children, including the sexual exploitation of children in prostitution, while trafficking for the purposes of economic and sexual exploitation continues to affect a high number of children.”
According to CRCA/ECPAT Albania, it is evident that no Albanian company in the field of travel and tourism has signed the Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism. The sector itself has never engaged in the fight against sexual exploitation of children and does not provide any information on the protection of children from sexual exploitation.
Altin Hazizaj, Chief Executive Officer of CRCA/ECPAT Albania, stated at a public event unveiling the results of the study in Tirana on September 21:
“The main recommendations of the study focus on the development of new laws, policies and programs by the travel and tourism industry and the child protection system, aiming to put the protection of children from sexual exploitation at the center of all the initiatives, while law enforcement agencies and tourism operators should increase the level of information and training of staff on this issue, including the membership of hotels in the Code.”
The common term used for sexual exploitation of children in the context of travel and tourism (SECTT) is “child sex tourism.” In their report, CRCA/ECPAT Albania warns that this terminology fails to name the criminal nature of child sexual exploitation, instead implying that these crimes are some form of “tourism.” They reiterate the issue definition used by the initiators of the Code, that states:
SECTT is not another form of tourism, it is a crime – and should be named as such. Offenders who abuse and exploit children are not ‘sex tourists’ – they are criminals.


Macau: An unpopular Chief Executive coming to town · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Yesterday Fernando Chui Sai On, Macau's former secretary for social and cultural affairs, announced that he had obtained 286 nominations from the territory's 300-member election committee which implies that he will automatically become the next chief executive of Macau.
Different from Hong Kong, Macau has been a very apolitical city and its citizens are not very critical of the government even though they are aware of the corruption among top ranked government officials. The most notorious case is the Ao Man Long's billion dollars corruption scandal. However, this time some citizens have decided to speak up and self-organize against Fernando Chui.
In a major forum in Macau, cyberctm, a poll (dated June 17) shows that around 80% netizens have voted against Fernando Chui for being the next chief executive. Here are some of the comments explaining why:
LST0011 (2009-5-12)
無用架!你老豆有無水呀?你老豆有無佢老豆咁有面呀?你有無佢咁無齒呀?你有無佢咁中意帶住屋企人去行街同做人呀? 無呀嘛,咁咪抵佢做咯…就係咁簡單!
2014 (2009-5-12)
應該係研究某人係唔係要坐牢, 而非係唔係做特首
亞嬸 (2009-5-13)
上世紀勁大貪官和珅係皇帝面前都係一隻討皇帝歡心的狗奴才…..只有狗奴才先會懂得主子的喜惡……..競選澳門的特狗的致勝之道—首要都係要取得亞爺歡心…
icezero1001 (2009-5-14)
明知自己冇民望都出來參選,睇來佢背後勢力都幾大
ohmybuddy (2009-5-15)
反對貪官奸商做特首!!澳門前途一片黑暗!!!
愛瞞停轉日 (2009-6-11)
中央已放棄澳門
A majority of the netizens who voted against Fernando Chui believed that he is another corrupted businessman who had given and will continue to give favor to his family business with his political power. For example, this forum post (zh) pointed out that he had given a health reform consultant contract to his own circle.
Moreover, when he acted as the secretary for social and cultural affairs, he was responsible for the East Asian Game, and it turned out that the government had exceed the budget for more than 2 billions. The following youtube video challenges Fernando Chui's integrity and ability to be Macau's CE:
The video also pointed out that as the secretary for social and cultural affair, he approved the construction of Macau-China Liaison Office building which destroyed Macau's historical and cultural heritage.
Last month (around mid May), some citizens wanted to publish an advertisement in major newspapers to voice out against Chui but their bank account was suspended by the Macau Commercial Bank. Mainstream media had censored away all the negative public opinions and Internet forum becomes the only channel for the public to discuss the CE election.
In spite of all the public discontent, Chui gained more than 90% vote in the small circle CE election committee. It is likely that the latent political tension within the community will probably increase in coming years.


Data: What is the status of Water-borne diseases in India?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 15, 2022
Water-borne diseases in India cause a huge disease burden while also resulting in significant loss of life. It is a major cause of death in Children under five. Since water-borne diseases can only be reduced by access to safe drinking water, the government launched the National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) in 2009, which is now called the Jal Jeevan Mission.
Among the many things that are life-giving, water stands out as the most critical. Our lives are intrinsically related to water because 60% of our body is water only. Every human needs to consume a certain quantity of water to just function normally. And this consumption of water should be of certain acceptable quality standards. Any imbalances in these standards could make water the most lethal life-taking fluid. In other words, “What Gives Life, Can Also Take Life”.
Access to safe drinking water can improve living standards & life expectancy by reducing the disease burden. Globally, around 2 billion people consume water contaminated with faeces. The consumption of such unsafe water can result in water-borne diseases. According to a 2020 report of  WaterAid India, 1 in every 10 people do not have access to a safe drinking water source.  In India, these water-borne diseases are estimated to pose an economic burden of approximately 600 million USD per year, as per a UNICEF update. Areas with poor sanitation, inadequate supply and unhygienic practices have a high probability of water-borne disease transmission. If left untreated, these could translate into larger outbreaks, causing a public health emergency. Acknowledging the importance of water and sanitation, the United Nations adopted ‘Clean Water and Sanitation’ under goal 6 of the Sustainable Development Goals. Reducing the incidence of water-borne diseases is only possible by providing access to safe & affordable drinking water.
In India, the responsibility of providing healthcare facilities lies primarily with the state government as ‘Health’ is a State Subject, and the Union government provides technical and financial assistance to the states. Since water-borne diseases have the potential to become outbreaks, these are captured under the Integrated Disease Surveillance Program (IDSP).
In this story, we look at the data related to the prevalence of water-borne diseases in India over the last few years. The data is primarily sourced from annual National Health Profiles published by the Central Bureau of Health Intelligence, Jal Jeevan Mission dashboard, and parliamentary questions.
What are water-borne diseases?
In simple terms, these are the diseases that have ‘water’ as the common mode of transmission. This transmission could be either due to the direct consumption of such contaminated water or through food. In addition to direct consumption, using contaminated water for personal hygiene or recreation could also potentially cause diseases. There are four major water-borne diseases that are rampant across the world and India:
How is the data regarding these water-borne diseases collected?
As stated earlier, these water-borne diseases have the potential to transform into outbreaks, causing a public health emergency. To prevent such rapid spread, the Government of India initiated a program called IDSP in 2004, with the assistance of the World Bank. The primary objective is to detect such outbreaks and provide early warnings. Under this, ‘Surveillance Units’ are set up at all the three levels of the government – Central, State and District. The data is collected on a weekly basis and is directly uploaded at the district level.
The reporting is done in three formats:
The data is then collected and collated by the designated person, who must be familiar with these reporting formats. After the collation of data, if there is a sudden increase in the cases, it must be informed to the Designated Surveillance Officer (DSO).
These forms have a list of diseases that are to be identified and reported by the designated person. The daily figures are collated under tally sheets and each record is stored for future reference. More on this is available in the IDSP Manual for medical officers.
The trend in water-borne diseases in India:
Diarrhea accounted for more than 85% of the major Water-borne disease cases
Among the four major water-borne diseases in India, diarrhea is the most widely reported one, followed by typhoid and viral hepatitis. The cases of cholera are very minimal in comparison to these three. Over the years, from 2013-19, Diarrhoea accounted for more than 85% of all the cases reported under these heads. Rest is comprised of Typhoid, also called enteric fever, with around 14% of the cases and hepatitis with 1% of all the cases.
Huge inter-state variation in the incidence of water-borne diseases
There is a huge inter-state variation in the cases relating to water-borne diseases. Nine states accounted for more than 65% of all the cases reported on diarrhea and typhoid. This category of states is not homogenous- both relatively developed states like Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and relatively less developed states like Odisha, UP, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan are a part of this group.
Significant increase in Diarrhoea cases in 2019
As noted earlier, Diarrhoea cases make up most of the water-borne disease-related cases. As per a report in IndiaSpend from 2018, diarrhea alone is responsible for more than 60% of the deaths that are caused due to water-borne diseases in India. It is the second leading cause of death in children under the age of five years. Across the states, over the years, there is no clear pattern of the incidence of this disease. Most of the states showed a spike in the year 2019, after which there is a decline in the number of cases of diarrhea reported. However, only in Telangana, there is a clear pattern of reduction over the years.
Efforts to minimize water-borne diseases:
Safe Drinking Water and proper sanitation measures are necessary to prevent the outbreak of water-borne diseases. To achieve these goals, the Government of India launched National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) in 2009. The objective of the scheme was to provide every rural person with safe and adequate water for all purposes. In 2019, the scheme was subsumed under Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) to provide potable water to every rural household by functional tap connection by the year 2024. Despite the presence of such a program for 13 years, there has not been significant progress in the achievement of objectives. Only 10 states and UTs have been able to provide tap water connection to more than 90% of the households and only 48% of total households in India have a tap water connection as per data on of the JJM as of 13 April 2022.
Water Testing is critical to measure standards
Water testing is an important mechanism to ensure that the provided water is safe and meets acceptable quality standards. Currently, this testing is done in two ways: through field testing kits and to collect samples and test them in the laboratories. These laboratories are spread across India to ensure adequate testing across the country. The status of the country-wise availability of laboratories and the samples tested during 2021-22 as of 14 April 2022 is as below.
Climate change increases the likelihood of water-borne diseases:
Climate change leads to a series of cascading events – flooding, heavy rainfall, and increased temperatures across the globe. Because of these events, the transmission pathways are more likely to get affected. As a result, the likelihood of food and water-borne diseases would exacerbate further. Changes in the duration of seasons could also extend the transmission season’s length, further increasing the vulnerability of these diseases.
India is one of those countries that could get severely impacted due to climate change and global warming. Adequate measures should be taken as early as possible to mitigate the effects of climate change on the spread of infectious diseases, which could burden the health sector further.
Featured Image: Water-borne diseases


Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago: Crime Approach  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

“The idea that we are in CARICOM and a one size fits all is not possible.  What is suitable for Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica might not be necessarily so for Barbados”: Barbados Underground suggests that one nation's approach to tackling crime may not be necessarily right for another.


How Myanmar Voted on Historic Election Day · Global Voices
Juan Cebu

Citizens earnestly wait and watch the live ballot counting in front of the office of the opposition party. Photo by Irrawaddy shared on Facebook.
Despite some reported irregularities, Myanmar succeeded in holding a peaceful general election on November 8. A total of 91 political and ethnic parties participated in the election. The current ruling party, Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), is led by the President Thein Sein; while the opposition party, National League for Democracy (NLD), is headed by Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
Regardless of the election results, 25 percent of the seats in Parliament are reserved for the military. This is based on the 2008 constitution drafted by the army to ensure that it continues to wield influence in the civilian government. Furthermore, Aung San Suu Kyi is constitutionally barred from becoming president even if her party wins majority of the votes because she was married to a foreigner and she has foreign children.
Although it is technically Myanmar's second general election, many consider the November 8 event as the country's first free and fair election.
Myanmar was under a military's dictatorship for 50 years. In the 1990 election, Aung San Suu Kyi's party won with a landslide victory but the military ignored the results and took control of the government. In 2010, the government allowed some political reforms like the holding of election although it was accused of rigging the results.
Some of the issues that marred the pre-election campaigning include the reported massive errors in the voters’ list, disenfranchisement of some ethnic groups like the Muslim-dominated Rohingya, and the perceived biases or flaws of the election commission. Despite these challenges, many citizens continued to believe in the promise of the November 8 election to promote change in society.
Many people used slogans such as အသဲကြားက မဲတပြား (A Ballot From Our Heart) and ပြောင်းလဲချိန်တန်ပြီ (Time to Change) which reflected the popular sentiment about the general election.
Below are some of the observations shared by voters during election day on various social media platforms.
Some people lined up as early as 4 a.m. even though polling stations didn't open until 6 a.m.
Ye Ling Aung tweeted a photo of people queuing to vote.
The very first 10 people went into the voting station. Now I am the first in line. #MyanmarElection #Myanmarvotes pic.twitter.com/HlR1FZSdGG
— Ye Lin Aung (@yelinaung) November 7, 2015
Many people posted photos of their ink-stained fingers to show that they had voted. Blogger Ei Myat Noe Khin shared her thoughts about the significance of the day:
Well, for the rest of people, Nov 8th would be just an another Sunday, hanging out with friends, and do stuff but for us, Myanmar citizens who are going to vote, it’s not just another day
Kenneth Wong explained what this symbol could stand for:
ယခင်က အာဏာရှင်တို့ လက်မထောင်ခဲ့ကြ၏။ ယနေ့ မြန်မာလူထုတို့ ဂုဏ်ယူဝင့်ကြွားစွာ မင်စွန်းသောလက်သန်းများ ထောငြ်ပကြလော။
My Burmese friends who have voted are proudly sharing photos of their ink-stained fingers — proof of casting a vote. You might say, today the Burmese people give the old regime the finger!
Activist Khin Ohmar noted that many people complained about not finding their names on the voters’ list, while some people testified about receiving multiple voter approval cards. She also read some news that the ruling party is leading in the army constituencies.
After the polling stations close at 4 p.m., people were anxiously waiting for the preliminary results. Journalist Lupa Aung praised those who are working overtime at the polling station:
မဲရုံမှာ တာဝန်ကျတဲ့သူတွေကို လေးစားပါတယ်
သူတို့ အခုထိ ထမင်းမစားရသေးသူတွေ ရှိတယ်ဗျ။
အပြောင်းအလဲ အတွက် သည်းခံစိတ်ကို အလေးပြုပါတယ်။
လူပအောင်
Respect those who are on duty at the polling station. Some of them have not even eaten the whole day. Salute their patience working for change.
A crowd gathers in front of the NLD office in Mandalay to watch the live counting of ballots. Photo shared by Nik Nayman on Facebook.
Meanwhile, in Kayah state's capital city of Loikaw, the arrival of ballots with 5,000 pre-counted votes has angered candidates and voters. Josephine Nan Mu reports:
5,000 pre-votes arrived out of nowhere in an election commission office in Loikaw. Where it came from is quite blurred. Fighting other representatives and whoever in charge there!
The arrival of ‘advanced’ votes took place in several areas across the country. This news worried the public and electoral watchdogs. Burma Partnership, a network of democracy and human rights advocacy organizations, monitored that the suspicious votes benefited the ruling party:
In Myitkyina around midnight, advance votes arrived, which were mostly for USDP. The same situation with the arrival of advance votes in Monywa, Lashio, Taunggyi. In remote and ethnic areas where it is strategic for the Burma Army, it seems they will not allow the NLD or ethnic opposition party to win.
But surprisingly, the opposition is not objecting:
What is interesting is that the NLD candidate who had already won by vote counts last night is not objecting this illegitimate arrival of the advance votes at midnight. It will be interesting to see whether the NLD as a whole will respond to the arrival of these midnight advance votes.


Madagascar: Singles, Beware of Bloggers ! · Global Voices
Abdoulaye Bah

Andriamihaja, a young blogger from Toliara (a city in southern Madagascar) lists  ten reasons not to date a blogger. [fr] One of the reasons is:  “the rare times they will ask you for advice, it is probably to get materials for their blogs.”


A Nation Engaged: Job-Seeking Milwaukeeans Clear On How To Create Opportunities for More Americans | WUWM 89.7 FM - Milwaukee's NPR
WUWM 89.7 FM |
Published September 20, 2016 at 5:00 AM CDT


Trinidad & Tobago: Mohammed’s Statements · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

B.C. Pires and Guanaguanare take note of the fallout over the recent statements of the Police Service Commission Chair, which suggested that there is a racial imbalance in the service.


Australia: Jakarta bombings bring personal reactions · Global Voices
Kevin Rennie

With three Australians among the nine deaths, responses to the terrorist bombings in Indonesia  on Friday 17 July were not confined to the political blogs.
Specialist social network sites in Australia reacted soon after the news broke.
Overlander 4WD Magazine hosts a forum on its online website. D200 dug gave a personal view:
Our eldest son was in Jakarta this morning and had planned to attend a breakfast meeting at one of the bombed hotels. So this is pretty close to home for me. I traveled through Indonesia in the 1970s and found Indonesians to be enormously friendly kind and hospitable.  …Talking to my son today he confirmed that the general population of Indonesians have not changed, they remain incredibly friendly welcoming and hospitable.
Jakarta Bombings Forum
TrevG at RealSurfers Forum was less than hopeful:
I sometimes wonder how far they can push it before “normal” humans feel that “offence” is the best form of defence.
Sort of like “do unto others, before they do it to you”
Not advocating it, personally but I do despair for the future of the world at times.
Bombings in Jakarta
Peter Martin is economics correspondent for two major daily newspapers, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. His initial reaction was one of outrage.  He quoted a very strong reaction to the 2005 London bombings :
I was angry when I arrived at work to be told the news. Really, really angry.
It put me in mind of this , written on the website of the London News Review hours after the 2005 London subway attacks. (Apologies for the language – it's necessary)
The Indonesia bombings were really, really stupid
Duncan Graham, a Perth journalist who blogs at Indonesia Now  , gave a measured analysis at On Line Opinion. He looked at Indonesian responses:
SBY’s instant and unequivocal response does indicate a welcome rejection of past equivocation. That included tolerating outlandish theories to brush away the idea of homegrown Islamic terrorism.
and concluded:
Most Indonesians are tolerant pluralists, genuinely friendly, proud of their country, and keen to meet and help visitors. Proportionally there are probably no more fanatics in Indonesia than Australia but the chance of meeting one ready to do serious harm is rare – there and here.
Jakarta bombings: bad things and evil people
Regular political blogger Duckpond explored the motives of the bombers:
Clearly, by targeting international hotels they were intending to harm international visitors, and it is not surprising that Australians and New Zealanders have been killed and injured. In that sense, it is personal. The people responsible for the bombing must feel that we have caused them harm. I just wish they would tell us what their grievances are rather than take such an extreme action.
It will probably turn out those who have organized this horrific action against their fellow human beings will claim to be strongly religious. As far as I know Islam teaches compassion and peace, and right conduct in the pursuit of war.
After quoting an Al Jazeera report, he suggested other reasons behind the bombings and raised questions of  morality on both sides of the terror war:
Thus it would seem that the attack is an act of vengeance with a view to damage the Indonesian economy following the successful presidential election. Seen in this light, the bombing would appear to be “criminal” without any religious or social justification. I note that using drones to attack and kill civilians is similarly “criminal”.
JAKARTA BOMBING


What will become of the Commonwealth under Charles III? - 360
Craig Prescott
Published on May 5, 2023
Republicanism was seen as a move against Queen Elizabeth II during her reign. Now the Commonwealth is at a crossroads.
With the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the glue that bound 56 disparate nations is gone. The future for the British Commonwealth is less certain under Charles III.
The Commonwealth faces two main questions: the constitutional future of the Commonwealth realms, and the future of the Commonwealth itself.
Elizabeth II personified the monarchy’s link to the past. For good or ill, she was part of the Commonwealth story
The Commonwealth grew from eight to 56 nations under Elizabeth. During her reign, republican sentiment was  viewed as a move against the Queen. It’s now portrayed as a move towards full nationhood.
The Commonwealth was designed as a community of equals. It was never intended to be a second version of the British Empire — countries such as Rwanda, Mozambique and Gabon joined despite lacking any connection to the United Kingdom’s colonial past.
In addition to the UK, the Commonwealth realmsare the 14 countries where the king is head of state. The king is represented by a governor-general, who exercises on his behalf the powers held by the Crown — making it, in this sense, the only international monarchy. As they are independent countries, the future of the monarchy is a question for each Commonwealth realm.
While it is one thing for the UK to retain the monarchy, it’s another question for the realms. It may not make sense for the Head of State of Australia to be a monarch who lives thousands of kilometres away.
In the Commonwealth realms, the monarchy has been viewed as a link to the ‘mother country’ as each realm gradually became an independent state. But it could also be seen as preventing fully independent states from achieving complete nationhood.
Being the head of state of 15 countries increases the demand on the royal family for engagements. Each realm is entitled to expect the monarch, as head of state, and by extension, members of the royal family to conduct domestic engagements. This has been one justification for the British royal family to be larger than its European counterparts.
However, the king has let it be known that he wishes to “slim down” the monarchy  with fewer royals conducting engagements, which will make it increasingly difficult to meet demands and expectations. If the monarch is absent from a realm, then the question of becoming a republic may answer itself.
In some realms, even if there is a majority in favour of becoming a republic, delivering change can be problematic.
Should they seek to replicate the position of governor-general with an indirectly elected president chosen by the legislature or pursue a directly elected model? Both approaches have their challenges.
Allowing the legislature to appoint the president via an indirectly elected model would be the least constitutionally disruptive, but may not prove popular among the public — as Australia found in 1999. And politicians are naturally wary of being directly elected by the public as it could challenge their authority.
The presidency of the Republic of Ireland may provide the best of both worlds: directly elected but without challenging the authority of government or parliament to govern. A president can serve for seven years, renewable once. To seek election, they must be nominated by at least 20 members of the Oireachtas, or four of the 31 county or city councils. A president who has served one term can nominate themselves to seek reelection for a second term, but their powers are strictly regulated by the Constitution. By convention, the president steers clear of matters of party political controversy.
Any move to a republic must comply with the pre-outlined procedures for a constitutional change. For example, in Jamaica, a two-thirds majority of both houses and a referendum is required to become a republic — a significantly higher hurdle than in other countries.
In Guyana, the constitution only requires a simple majority from the members of the National Assembly, and became a republic in 1970. Barbados moved to a republic more recently in 2021, meeting the threshold for a two-thirds majority. This was an easy threshold to meet, as the Barbados Labour Party, which campaigned on the promise of becoming a republic, won a landslide at the 2018 referendum. Barbados showed the key political dynamic of republicanism — if there is the will to become a republic, it cannot be suppressed forever.
Becoming a republic does not mean total rupture from the past. Since 2007, a Commonwealth realm that became a republic no longer needed to reapply for membership of the Commonwealth. Barbados has become a republic, but remains a member of the Commonwealth, as have Malta which became a republic in 1974 and Mauritius which became a republic in 1992.
The question is, what does being a member of the Commonwealth mean? This is a difficult question to answer.
In 2012, the UK’s House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee concluded “The Commonwealth is failing to realise its great potential. In recent years it has been too often both silent and invisible: silent on occasions when members flout its principles and invisible to its people.”
Over ten years later, little has changed. But the links between Commonwealth members are much deeper than merely sharing a monarch. It has a particular role in fostering democracy and the rule of law amongst its members.
For example, through electoral observation missions and providing a forum to share best practices on issues such as anti-corruption. On cybercrime, the Commonwealth assisted Botswana and Trinidad and Tobago with the reform of their legislation.This is an example of how the Commonwealth can assist small states. These are defined as those with a population of less than 1.5 million, which make up 33 of the Commonwealth’s 56 members. These small states sit alongside members of the G8, Australia, Canada and the UK, and much larger countries including India, Pakistan and Malaysia.
The Commonwealth more generally can provide a form for small states to get their particular concerns heard, not only in the Commonwealth, but more broadly amongst other international organisations.
Members of the Commonwealth enjoy close relations with each other. All the members from Africa are also part of the African Union. Australia, New Zealand and Canada continue to maintain deep links with the UK. Together with the United States, they are all members of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing arrangement. Australia, together with the UK and the US, have created AUKUS, a security pact which aims to facilitate Australia’s nuclear capability.
The nature of its membership means  the Commonwealth may be uniquely placed to play a role in combating climate change. Countries such as Bangladesh, the Seychelles and Mauritius may bear the brunt of climate change, while countries including India, Canada and Australia are some of the world’s highest emitters of CO₂. But to do so, the Commonwealth would need to secure a unity of objectives and a set of institutions which it has never done before.
While the future of the Commonwealth and its realms may be changing, it still provides a grounding root for many nations. Becoming a republic does not mean severing all links with Britain. That has never been the case and will not be.
Dr Craig Prescott, Bangor University, Wales. He writes widely on constitutional and political issues in the UK. He is currently writing Modern Monarchy to be published in early 2024 by Agenda Publishing.
The author declares no conflict of interest.


Rising Voices Outreach Projects Get Straight to Work · Global Voices
David Sasaki

It was less than a month ago that we announced the first round of Rising Voices outreach projects but already those first five projects have made incredible progress. Let's make a quick dash around the world to see what a little hard work and a lot of collaboration can achieve.
First stop, Colombia. Álvaro Ramirez, Jorge Montoya, and Juliana Rincón originally submitted two separate project proposals both focused on working class neighborhoods in Medellín and both with the same objectives. They are now all working together and have formed an organization called HiperBarrio with the tagline Historias Locales, audiencia global, or “Local Stories, global audience.” They have already registered a domain and the website is under currently construction.
Just one week after receiving confirmation of their Rising Voices outreach grant, Álvaro Ramirez and Mauricio Múnera organized a video blogging workshop at the public library of the poor and often violent neighborhood of La Loma San Javier. Álvaro documented the first three workshops with a series of photographs taken by the young participants themselves. Here is a description of their first experience with video blogging:
Luego subimos a la sala de computadores y lectura de la Biblioteca del barrio y en grupitos de dos y tres se sentaron a aprender a manejar el Movie Maker, a crear un juguete audiovisal de 30 segundos de duración con fotos tomadas de internet para luego subirlas a YouTube.
Trabajaron con rapidez y mucho entusiasmo asistidos en la parte técnica por Juan Diego, Mauricio, Diego y mi persona. En la parte estética y de contenido no necesitaron mayor ayuda. La creatividad demostrada fue impresionante y fácilmente se ponían de acuerdo en la forma como querían armar sus pequeñas experimentos.
They worked quickly and with a lot of enthusiasm and were assisted with some technical help from Juan Diego, Mauricio, Diego, and myself. In regards to aesthetic and content, they didn't need any help at all. The creativity they demonstrated was impressive and they easily discovered how they wanted to go about each of their small projects.
Juan Diego showing HiperBarrio participants how to use Windows Movie Maker.
You can see all of the videos that the students have made so far on YouTube. Here is just one example which was produced by Sebastian, Jessica, and Susana. It is titled “Susana's Super Skates.”
The text reads:
The new roller skates.
Are practical and comfortable.
And at low prices.
Try them out.
Barbie roller skates.
As you can see, these three already have a bright future in marketing. Here is another video, this time produced by Guillermo Alvarez and Ivan Dario Merchan. It is called “Colombia, Land of Scenery and Contrasts.”
The text reads:
Colombia, land of images.
There is a lot of talk about war in Colombia
Life and scenery
Dance, joy, and entertainment
… culture, faith, and hope
… We are also
You'll hear much more about the HiperBarrio project in Colombia in next week's introductory podcast. But for now let's move on to Bangladesh and the Nari Jibon project. Just about the same time that HiperBarrio was starting to give videoblogging workshops in Medellín, Nari Jibon organized its first blogging workshop with professional Bangladeshi blogger Razib Ahmed who heads both SouthAsiaBiz.com and IndiaRaj.com.
Apparently the workshop was inspiring as Nari Jibon bloggers have been publishing posts at a prolific rate. Of particular note is a five-part story about a young Bangladeshi girl who was forced into sex work. Both Taslima Akter and Animesh Chandra Bain have been instrumental in integrating blogging into Nari Jibon's existing classes for young women from Dhaka.
The next three projects are still in their planning phases, but even their planning has been impressive. From Bolivia, Hugo Miranda has described the difficulties that he, Mario, and Eduardo have been having in finding an ideal cyber cafe to hold their outreach workshops [ES] in El Alto:
Esta situación se repite en la mayoría de los Cafés Internet, ahora si bien se encuentran también cafés Internets de entre 40 y 50 maquinas, el estado en que las maquinas se encuentran es también es lamentable, me encontré hasta con equipos Pentium I y Pentium II que utilizaban XP FENIX (Sistema liviano de XP para equipos de 300 Mhz con 64 MB en RAM ), que obviamente no permitiran un buen desarrollo del Taller.
From Kolkata, India, Bishan Samaddar has eloquently described the goals of Neighbourhood Diaries which will kick off sometime in October. Likewise, Vickie Remoe-Doherty is hard at work in Freetown, Sierra Leone despite the madness of election season and the deteriorating health of her grandmother.
If you haven't already, don't forget to check out the introductory podcast to the Nari Jibon project. Early next week we'll be bringing you the first part of the introductory podcast to HiperBarrio in Colombia.


24°C setting for air conditioners is recommended for energy conservation - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 19, 2021
A post recommending to use air conditioners above 26 degrees with the fan on is being shared on social media platforms. The post claiming to be from the Ministry of Power cites some health-related and energy conservation reasons for doing so. Through this article let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: For optimal utilisation, the Ministry of Power recommended to use air conditioners above 26 degrees Celsius, for energy conservation & health reasons.
Fact: The Central government in consultation with the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) has notified new energy performance standards for Room Air Conditioner according to which all brands and types of star-labelled RACs, which are rated from one star to five stars based on their energy efficiencies shall ensure default setting of temperature in the room air conditioners at 24 degrees Celsius, with effect from January 1, 2020. Further, the BEE has cited energy conservation as the rationale behind this move. However, neither the Ministry nor the BEE has mentioned any of the health issues like hypothermia, arthritis, etc. as a reason behind their move. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
Google search with relevant keywords led us to a press release by PIB dated 06 January 2020. As per the article, the central government in consultation with the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) has notified new energy performance standards for Room Air Conditioner (RACs) on 30 October 2019, according to which “All brands and types of star labelled room air conditioners, namely, Multi-Stage Capacity Air Conditioners, Unitary Air Conditioners and Split Air Conditioners which are rated from one star to five star, based on their relative energy efficiencies up to a rated cooling capacity of 10,465 Watts (9,000 kcal/hour) and manufactured, commercially purchased or sold in India, shall ensure default setting of temperature in the room air conditioners at twenty-four degrees Celsius with effect from the 1st January 2020”. This basically means that when we switch on our air conditioner, it will start by default at 24 degrees Celsius default temperature. A Times of India news article which reported the same can be read here. In all likelihood, this central government notification could have been the basis for the viral message in the post.
However, back in 2018, the Bureau of Energy Efficiency has issued guidelines for all commercial and public buildings like airports, hotels, shopping malls, government buildings, etc. to optimize the temperature setting at 24-25 degrees Celsius by setting the air conditioner temperature accordingly. Further, the BEE has cited energy conservation as the rationale behind this move.
As reported by PIB back in 2018, BEE gave a lowdown on their recommendations regarding the setting of air conditioner temperature. However, neither the Ministry nor the BEE has mentioned any of the health issues like hypothermia, arthritis, etc. as a reason behind their move. Also as per the lowdown, India is not the only country to regulate the functioning of air conditioners. According to BEE, ‘Japan introduced a default setting for air conditioners at 28 degrees Celsius. While in the U.S, states like California have enforced limits on lowering the air condition beyond 26 degrees Celsius’.
To sum it up, central government has recommended a default setting of 24 degree celsius for air conditioner’s sold or manufactured in India for energy conservation.


10 women football stars whose talent and activism are changing the game · Global Voices
Romina Navarro, Violeta Camarasa, Laila Le Guen, Atsushi, Lully Posada, Lara AlMalakeh, Ardi Pulaj, Ardita Osmani, Rohith Jyothish, Sanjib Chaudhary

Collage courtesy of Violeta Camarasa.
From the United Arab Emirates to Thailand, Chile or Nigeria, football is the most popular sport on our planet among men and women.
Nearly 30 years after the first Women's World Cup took place in China in 1991, prejudice towards women playing football is “continuous across many regions of the world,” according to a recent report by world players’ union Fifpro. Women are challenged by adverse labor conditions, discrimination, sexual harassment, and unequal pay.
Despite these challenges, women's football began to be taken seriously in recent years, and not only because of the talent on the field. Women have been speaking up about sexism in their profession, news media stories on women's football have multiplied and corporate sponsors have started to pay attention. Luxury magazine Business Destinations wrote:
Women’s football has been taken to another level, with the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup signalling a new era of professionalisation.
Here is a short list of female footballers from around the globe who are changing the rules of the game through their talent and activism:
Last November, while the world devoted tributes to the late football legend Diego Maradona, a young Spanish footballer raised some eyebrows. Twenty-four-year-old Paula Dapena refused to pay homage to the adored Argentinian player before a match in Pontevedra, Spain, arguing that his skills as a footballer were not enough to wipe away multiple allegations of abuse and violence against women. Her gesture was rewarded in Spain with the award of Cidade de Pontevedra 2020, and she became a new symbol of feminism, but it came at a cost: she became a target of harsh online harassment, which included death threats.
Around the world, women who stand out in any sports often suffer from online harassment and trolling.
A post shared by Paula Dapena (@paulads14)
Unfortunately, online harassment is not the only form of abuse women football players face. Sexual harassment has also been well documented. As a player of the Afghan Women National Team, Khalida Popal raised her voice in 2019 to add to the anonymous sexual abuse allegations made against the president of the Afghan football federation, Keramuddin Karim. FIFA barred Karim from the sport for life, yet the team had to stop training because of the scandal.
After a career-ending injury, Popal founded the Girl Power organization, which uses sport to help motivate and empower minorities in Europe. She is also event director of the Afghanistan Women's National Football Team as well as an ambassador of Street Child World Cup.
A post shared by Khalida Popal (@khalidagirlpower)
Megan Rapinoe, winner of the Ballon d’Or Féminin and Best FIFA Women’s Player in 2019, has gained worldwide recognition both for her career on the football field with the US women’s national soccer team and for her anti-racist, feminist and LGBTQ+ activism in sports. She was included in Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2020.
Together with the US squad, Rapinoe joined the calls in 2019 for equal pay, which led to an ongoing lawsuit against their federation. In an interview with the BBC, the player shared her message to other women:
“Don't settle for anything less, go for equal, go for more.”
Disparities of pay between women and men football players has been studied in Chile, Colombia, United States and Argentina, where many women footballers are not paid at all, as they play as amateurs. In places such as Australia and the US, working conditions, which are arguably better than in other regions, are the result of the players joining unions that represent their professional interests. In September 2020, Brazil announced that it will become one of the few countries to give equal pay to their women's and men's football teams.
A post shared by Megan Rapinoe She/Her ?? (@mrapinoe)
In September 2020, Yuki Nagasato, a 33-year-old Japanese 2011 World Cup winner and a prominent forward for Chicago Red Stars at the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), caused a sensation in Japanese society by announcing her temporary transfer to men’s amateur team Hayabusa Eleven.
In an interview for FIFA, Nagasato said she could compensate for physical differences with her fast decision-making skills. “I want women to be respected and seen for their talents first, not their gender,” she added.
Japan Football Association is set to launch the first-ever women’s professional league in Japan in autumn 2021, the Women Empowerment League, which aims not only to develop women's football in Japan and encourage female participation but also to enhance diversity in general in Japanese society.
A post shared by YuKi Nagasato (@yuki_nagasato)
Iranian-American Katayoun “Kat” Khosrowyar is the first female coach in the Iranian National Women’s League. The 33-year-old moved to Iran from Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she was born, to join the national football team at the age of 17. She went on to become a coach for 14, then eventually 19 teams.
In a country where women face barriers to move, dress and train freely, Khosrowyar scouted girls from rural areas and pushed to put the team in international competitions.
In 2011, her team was disqualified from a second-round Olympic qualifying match because of the competition's ban on wearing the hijab, the headscarf which is required wear for women in Iran. FIFA had previously accepted headgear, but the hijab covers the neck as well, which was deemed unsafe, although there was no evidence for this health hazard. After three years of campaigning, women were allowed by FIFA to wear a “head covering for religious reasons,” and so “Kat” and her team finally got permission to compete internationally again.
A post shared by Kat Khosrowyar (@kat.khosro)
“I never had proper gear or boots or even a ball. I grew up playing football with a ball made out of socks,” said Sabitra Bhandari, the highest-scoring woman footballer in Nepal, in an interview with The Kathmandu Post. “But it is because of the lessons that the sock ball taught me that I’m where I am today,” she said. “My father and mother tried to discourage me from playing with the boys, but I managed to convince them.” Today, Bhandari is the highest-scoring footballer in the Indian Women’s League. She and Anita Basnet were the first Nepali women to play in the Indian Women’s League.
A post shared by Routine of Nepal (RONB) (@routineofnepalbanda)
Nadiya Nighat, 24, is the first female football coach from  Jammu and Kashmir. Choosing to play football was not easy for Nighat, who grew up in a middle-class Muslim family in a conservative neighborhood. In spite of her determination, the lack of a state women’s football team in Jammu and Kashmir meant that she had to give up her dream of representing India in a major tournament. Instead, at the age of 19, she chose to start her own football academy so that she could coach young girls who would eventually have a chance to represent their country. She has earned her AFC D & C coaching licenses and is set to apply for her B-license next time around. An A-license will qualify her to be a coach of the national women’s football team. At present, Nighat is coaching Kashmir’s first all-women’s football team Real Kashmir FC.
A post shared by Nadiya Nighat (@nadiyanighat)
In December 2020, Mara Gómez debuted as the first trans player in a women’s national football tournament in Argentina. She is not a global first, as there are other trans footballers in American Samoa, Spain, Canada, and England. Gómez set this precedent in a country where football is entwined with national identity.
Gómez joined the club Villa San Carlos (VSC) in January 2020 but because of the pandemic lockdown she had to wait months for the Argentine Football Association's authorization as a professional player. On November 28, when she finally signed her contract with VSC, she shared on her Instagram account:
It’s been a long journey, too many obstacles, too many fears and sorrows.
What once made me think that I would never be someone, that I would never have a chance, today is reversed, today I’m fulfilling one of my biggest goals in life, the one I thought essential and that would never happen.
Today I am officially a player in the top division of female football in Argentina.
A post shared by Mara Stefania Gomez (@maragomez.oficial)
On her FC Barcelona profile, Asisat Oshoala is introduced as one of Africa’s best players, and with good reason: Among other accolades, the captain of Nigeria’s national team, the Super Falcons, was named Africa’s best woman footballer of the year in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2019. Growing up in Ikorodu, a neighborhood of Lagos, Oshoala started her career locally with FC Robo, before joining Rivers Angels sports club, a prominent Nigerian football team.
In 2015, she signed with Liverpool where her international career took off. She’s also played for Arsenal and Dalian Quanjian FC before joining FC Barcelona Femeni in 2019, becoming one of the top goal scorers on the team.
Things haven’t always been smooth-sailing for Oshoala. In several interviews, she opened up about her struggle to convince her family that football was a suitable career choice:
“No, my parents never supported me at the initial stage because I was exceptionally good in my academics. I had to drop out of school to the chagrin of my parents. It was not an easy decision but with the benefit of hindsight, I think it was the right one.”
Today, through the Asisat Oshoala Foundation, she supports young girls in Lagos who aspire to follow in her footsteps. The foundation's goal is to encourage their self-confidence in the face of great obstacles and to give them a leg up in finding a club.
A post shared by Asisat Oshoala (M.O.N) (@asisat_oshoala)
Delphine Cascarino is a 24-year-old right winger playing for Olympique Lyonnais in France’s Division 1 Féminine. According to Foot d'Elles, a project dedicated to promoting football played by women, she blends organization and instinct with technique and athleticism.
Cascarino tasted World Cup glory at the U-17 Women’s World Cup in 2012. At the age of 22, Cascarino already had 10 major trophies to her name with Lyon; 3 Champions League, 3 Coupes De France and 4 French League titles.
She was nominated Player of the Match after Lyon's 3-1 triumph over Wolfsburg in the Union of European Football Associations Women's Champions League final in 2020.
A post shared by Delphine Cascarino (@delphine_cascarino)
À la prochaine Cascarino.
Ne joue pas juste pour montrer au monde ce que tu peux faire. Joue pour montrer aux filles qui t’entourent ce qu’elles peuvent faire.
Ce maillot est pour toi.
See you next time, Cascarino.
Don't play just to show the world what you can do. Play to show the girls around you what they can do.
This jersey is for you.


#JeSuisCharlie: Muslims Have Nothing to Apologize For · Global Voices
Elia J. Ayoub

Screen grab from Journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin's Facebook page.
I participated in the online support campaign #JeSuisCharlie and I still support all attempts, by anyone, to highlight the importance of freedom of speech.
I was never a big fan of Charlie Hebdo, but that they have the right to publish whatever they want is, for me, non-debatable. If you’re bothered by something, write about it, ‘complain’, do something – that’s your right. I couldn’t care less if you think that drawing a Messiah or a Prophet (capital M and P are intentional) is offensive. Being offended is not a right, it’s your choice.
Besides the horrific attack, what bothered me the most was thousands of people asking, “why aren’t Muslims condemning this?”
The answer is they are, you’re probably just ignoring them. Muslims, like pretty much anyone else – except the Neo-Nazis who relish it -, have been condemning terrorism since Day 1, which, for most Westerners it seems, started on September 11, 2001.
How is being a Muslim relevant here? If you were a Muslim, I understand the need to do so given the environment you’re living in. Every time a Muslim farts somewhere in the West, there has to be a certain number of ‘fellow Muslims’, preferably in the West and Middle East who condemn them, a scenario exclusive to Muslims, not Christians or Jews. How can ‘we’ connect to the “Muslim World”? Why isn’t the “Muslim World” more tolerant? Just look at these questions, how they’re phrased.
Please, stop it.
There is no such thing as the Muslim World, just as there is no such thing as the Christian World or the Jewish World or the Buddhist World. There are countless Muslim communities in the world, with similarities, as human beings and as part of the same religion, but with many more national, cultural, and individual differences. There are Australian Islams and there is French Islams and there are Saudi Islams and Malaysian Islams. Hell, there’s even a Chinese Islam (would you believe it?!) – fun fact: Aladdin was a Muslim Chinese. What kind of discussion would a Sufi Turk have with a Saudi Wahhabi and with a Twelver Shia Iranian? You’d need an interpreter first of all to translate and I can assure you that yours truly, an Atheist, would have more to talk about with the Sufi and Twelver than the Sufi and Twelver would with the Wahhabi, or even with each other. In fact, I have a feeling that Saudi Wahhabism, which is located where the West’s favorite oil kingdom is located, is the most detested ideology in Islamic history. Where are the ‘Is Wahhabism a threat to Civilization’ debates?
Am I to apologize for the support of State Terrorism by fellow Atheists such as Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens? Am I asked by Theists “why aren’t you condemning them!”? How many Christians need to apologize for the Terrorism of the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda ‘in the name of Christianity’? How many Christians had to apologize for the Wisconsin Sikh Temple Shooting (the terrorist thought they were Muslims)? Why do Christians get to it’s-politics-not-religion it, but not Muslims?
Netanyahu gets a boner whenever terrorism strikes in the West – he knows how to use that as hasbara (public diplomacy) – and prefaces “we as Jews” whenever he declares that Gazan children are about to be slaughtered. Over 500 children were murdered in Gaza in 50 days last summer – which he called “making noise“. Would Bin Laden have gotten away with calling 9/11 ‘making noise’? Do I message my American Jewish friends every time this Neo-Nazi par excellence makes a racist speech (which happens to be all of his speeches)? Do I message that one Ugandan man I met in my travels and ask him to please speak out in the name of Ugandan Christianity?
This is absurd. It’s collective ridicule. It's collective punishment, and collective bullying of 1.6 billion people who subscribe to the Islamic faith. That’s a lot of people regardless of whether the #KillAllMuslims folks wish to accept it or not (note: a huge number of them seem to be Americans, not Europeans). Why is it that we have debates with the title “Is Islam a Religion of Peace?” – debates that don’t necessarily even include Muslims. What kind of question is that? And haven’t you already answered it yourself? The only common denominator in such debates is not Islam itself, but hatred of Muslims.
And any discussion that includes some vilification of that old heterogeneous, not-a-historical, religion is a no-brainer. Think of how insulting it must be to hear the word “Moderate Muslims” describe pretty much every Muslim in the world as though they were a minority in a sea of madness. Imagine, for just a moment, what it must be like to be a Muslim in the post 9/11 West.
Breivik killed 77 in Norway & no-one asked me as a white male of Nordic Christian background if I felt the need to condemn it. #CharlieHebdo
— ChristianChristensen (@ChrChristensen) January 7, 2015
Just to make things clear. This is not a defense of Islam, nor is it a criticism of Islam. Both deal with very vague concepts that are decontexualized and removed of all meaning. Words like ‘terror’ and ‘tolerance’ only mean something when the ‘Other’ is being depicted, not when we talk about ‘Us’. Which Islam should I be defending/attacking? Whose Islam? The Islam of the 21st century? The Islam of Europe? France? Saudi Arabia? Egypt? Turkey? Malaysia? China? Australia? The Islam of Tariq Ramadan? Mehdi Hassan? Abdul-Aziz ibn Abdullah Al Ash-Sheikh? Rahmi Yaran? Can we put them in a category? Can we put 1.6 billion people in one category? I have absolutely no idea how to do that, and I have yet to read any article by anyone who did. Islam exists in society, with its own context, its own time, its own detractors and supporters.
This is a criticism of a very dangerous game that only benefits the very wealthy who are immune of the repercussions of mindless hatred. It is the average food seller on the street that will be attacked, not the Saudi Grand Mufti – the latter can do whatever the hell he wants (repeat after me: Oil). It is the poor Muslim immigrant from Tunisia who will be punished, not the rich Muslim ‘investor’ from Qatar. This very, very, very dangerous – I cannot stress this enough – game of Othering never ends well, which is exactly what the Neo-Nazis want. As a non-Muslim French commentator, sitting alongside a local Muslim Mufti, said on French television yesterday evening: “this is not just an attack, but a trap.” And let’s not fall for this trap. This terror attack was a terror attack, period. Condemn them, ask them to explain themselves, ask them to apologize.
Based in Lebanon, Joey Ayoub covers Palestine, Lebanon and the Middle East for Global Voices and runs the blog HummusForThought, where this post was originally published. He wishes to push fellow Atheists to speak out against discrimination of all kind, including religious groups. He tweets at @JoeyAyoub


Nursing and Midwifery Council releases professional exam results | EduCeleb
29th October 2020
The Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria has released of results of the Professional Examination for Midwives held in September 2020.
This is following the approval of the Honourable Minister of Health for the release of results of the Professional Examinations for Midwives.
A breakdown of the results show that Seven – hundred and sixty – six (766) candidates were successful in the examination representing 94% pass among the Post-Basic Midwives.
For the Basic Midwives, Sixty-four (64) candidates were successful in the examination representing 81% pass.
In the case of Community Midwives, Forty-three (43) candidates were successful in the examination representing 77% pass.
Heads of the training institutions are therefore directed to check for the result of their institution(s) online as from Thursday 29th October, 2020.
A statement from the council added that, “Successful candidates are hereby directed to visit the Nursing and Midwifery Council Nigeria Portal (portal.nmcn.gov.ng) to Friday 30th October, 2020.
“Please note that online registration formalities including payment is to be completed within ninety (90) days. Also note that late registration attracts a penalty fee of Thirteen Thousand Naira (N13,000.00) only per applicant after ninety (90) days.”