Latest news with #Somali-language
Hindustan Times
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
China and Russia are deploying powerful new weapons: ideas
SIXTY LUCKY students got the chance to train as journalists last year at African Initiative, a new press agency in Bamako, Mali's capital. Trainees were given online and in-person lessons in reporting, with the promise that three of them would eventually be hired as full-time staff at the agency. The catch, as reported by Forbidden Stories, a network of investigative journalists, was that African Initiative is run by Russian intelligence. Many Western countries are winding down their efforts to broadcast to the world. In March President Donald Trump pulled funding for Voice of America and its sister networks, and dismantled USAID, which funded thousands of journalists around the world. Public broadcasters' budgets have been trimmed everywhere from Australia to Canada and France. A battle of ideas is under way. As Western countries quieten down, others are speaking up. China and Russia are investing hundreds of millions or possibly billions on disinformation, Tim Davie, the director-general of the BBC, reportedly said on May 14th. 'The future of our cohesive, democratic society feels, for the first time in my life, at risk,' he said in a speech. He called for increased funding to double the reach of the BBC's World Service Eighteen months ago RT, Russia's state-controlled news network, launched a bold advertising campaign in countries including Mexico, India, Serbia and Tunisia. 'Why won't Britain return the Koh-i-Noor diamond?' asked an RT ad on the front page of the Times of India. Last year it opened the RT Academy, which trains journalists in Africa, South-East Asia and China. Sputnik, another state-run Russian news organisation, recently launched an Africa service. RT and Sputnik have been expanding in Latin America, where they share producers, camera crew and office space with Venezuela's Telesur and Iran's HispanTV, according to Emanuele Ottolenghi of the Foundation for Defence of Democracies, an American think-tank. Smaller countries are distributing news around the world, too. Turkey's state-run TRT news network launched an Africa service in 2023, opening a Somali-language branch in March. It has been hiring former BBC staff, according to an ex-BBC reporter. Besides promoting Turkey's good deeds in Africa, where it invests in infrastructure and exporters arms, TRT delights in poking fun at former colonial powers. The biggest investment in foreign journalistic operations seems to have been made by China. Xinhua, a state-run news agency, has increased its Africa bureaus from a 'handful' two decades ago to 37 last year, according to the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies (ACSS), a think-tank within America's defence department. Like Russia, it also offers training and scholarships to journalists: the China Africa Press Centre flies African reporters out to Chinese media outlets for ten-month assignments to absorb their newsroom culture. StarTimes, a Chinese firm, is now the second-largest digital-TV service in Africa. Chinese news is especially strong on social media. While American congressmen fret about TikTok, China appears to be relying on Facebook, an American social network, to spread its message internationally. The most-followed news organisation on Facebook is not CNN or the New York Times, but CGTN, China's state-run TV network, which with 125m followers is just ahead of Shakira, a pop star. Despite the fact that Facebook is banned in China itself, the five most-followed news organisations on Facebook are all Chinese, disseminating news in English (see chart). The Chinese organisations appear to have bought much of their reach using Facebook advertising. None of them is anything like as popular on other social networks. (On YouTube, for instance, the top four news channels are all Indian; on TikTok, the most-followed news account is Britain's Daily Mail, followed by Saudi Arabia's Al Arabiya.) Facebook's ad library reveals a sophisticated operation, with Chinese outlets trying out multiple ads before pouring dollars into the most effective. Some ads are innocuous clickbait, showing off Chinese tourist hotspots. Others are politically charged: last year Xinhua paid Facebook to boost a story implying that Filipino fishermen in disputed waters were spies, with the hashtag #fishyfishermen. Does this kind of promotion count for much? A study in the Harvard Misinformation Review examined nearly 1,000 Facebook ads bought by Chinese state media in 2018-20, which were seen 655m times, mainly outside the rich world. The authors, Arjun Tambe and Toni Friedman, found that when a country saw more of these ads, its media produced more positive coverage of China—for instance, dubbing pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong 'riots'. With exposure to more ads came more pro-Chinese coverage of subjects including covid-19 and China's economy. As well as distributing news under their own brand, countries are doing deals to insert their stories into local titles, which are often grateful for cheap content. Xinhua has an agreement with Kenya's Nation Media Group, giving it access to that firm's eight radio and TV stations, 28m social-media followers and 90,000 daily-newspaper readers in four African countries, according to the ACSS. RT reportedly has contracts with more than 30 African TV stations to broadcast its content. Russia is particularly keen on this kind of 'narrative laundering', in the words of Victor Ilie of Snoop, a news site in Romania. As audiences grow suspicious of outlets like Sputnik, Russia is increasingly co-opting influencers. Romania's presidential election was cancelled in December after its security agencies claimed to have uncovered a Russia-led influence operation on TikTok; in a re-run this month another pro-Russia candidate came first. Western countries still have loud megaphones. On YouTube, the BBC's Hindi-language channel has more followers than its English one; on Facebook its Burmese-language page has more followers than Fox News. And despite dwindling resources, independent journalists in contested regions are carrying on. Ziarul de Garda, a Moldovan outlet, has lost 40% of its salary budget since America stopped funding donors. Yet its boss, Alina Radu, is determined: 'We have a rule in our newsroom. Russia never gets relaxed about Moldova. So we have to never get relaxed as well.' Get 360° coverage—from daily headlines to 100 year archives.
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Old and unrelated footage falsely linked to DR Congo death row inmates
' Over 100 death row inmates executed,' reads a text overlay on a TikTok post published on January 11, 2025. The video shows three different clips stacked on top of each other. The first clip, labelled 'Before execution', shows a group of men who appear to be prisoners dressed in blue and yellow uniforms. They are lined up before officers shove them into a waiting vehicle. Some of them are crying and begging as armed policemen look on. The second clip is labelled 'During' and shows footage of several men tied to poles in an open field before fire is opened on them. Uniformed police officers and a man in a blue shirt can be seen speaking in the video, but their words are not audible. The bottom clip features white caskets covered in white cloths with flowers on top, laid out in what looks like a stadium with a crowd of onlookers. Men dressed in white hazmat suits then lift the caskets and start carrying them. The final images show the coffins on the back of trucks. Since 2003, when 15 people were reportedly executed for armed robbery, the DRC had observed a de facto moratorium on executions, meaning that although death sentences were issued, they were not carried out (archived here). However, the Congolese government announced an end to the moratorium in March 2024, reinstating capital punishment particularly for treason and banditry (archived here). Two months later, eight soldiers were handed death sentences after being charged with desertion and cowardice while fighting the M23 armed group (archived here). Dozens of others were also sentenced in August and September over what the country's army said was a coup attempt (archived here and here). On January 6, 2025, the Congolese government reportedly announced plans to execute over 170 death row inmates convicted of armed robbery (archived here). The resumption of executions in the DRC was met with international condemnation, with human rights organisations calling for the abolition of the death penalty (archived here and here). However, the video being shared on TikTok is misleading. AFP Fact Check conducted reverse image searches on keyframes from the videos to find the original footage. The results established that two of the clips from the TikTok footage are old and unrelated to the DRC death row convicts. We found that the footage used in the 'during' clip was first published on the YouTube channel of Somali-language account XOGSAN TV on June 27, 2021 (archived here). '18 Al-Shabaab members shot dead in Galkayo city today,' reads the video title in Somali. Galkayo is the capital of Somalia's north-central Mudug region. Other Somali media outlets reported on the executions in a similar context at the time (archived here and here). We found footage matching the one used in the 'after' clip in a video published on X by DRC-based journalist Daniel Michombero on September 2, 2024 (archived here). According to his post, the footage shows the burial of 200 displaced persons, whose bodies were displayed at the Unity Stadium in Goma, in the DRC's east. DRC-based photojournalist Arlette Bashizi published photos from the memorial service and burial site on her Instagram page, reporting that the deceased were killed during clashes between the M23 armed group and the country's armed forces (archived here and here). The images were captured by Bashizi for Reuters, and the news outlet used them in article on the memorial service (archived here). In addition to the flowers on the coffins and the handlers in white hazmat suits, Bashizi's photos also feature the stadium's name, Stade de L'Unité (Unity Stadium in English), which is visible in the TikTok video and mentioned in Michombero's post. The first clip from the TikTok video – labelled 'before' - correctly shows death row inmates in the DRC. An extended version of the clip was published on X by the country's justice minister, Constant Mutamba, on January 5, 2025 (archived here). According to the post written in French, the prisoners in the video, locally known as 'Kulunas' or 'urban bandits', were being transferred to high security prisons. Speaking at a conference the following day (see from minute 19:29), Mutamba said that no executions had occurred yet but that 'more than 300 young Kulunas [had] been sentenced'. He specified that the sentences range from two years in prison to the death penalty for some (archived here). Mutamba added that the convicts still had several legal remedies, such as appeal and cassation, before the sentences would become final and 'it is only when this has been exhausted that the death penalty is carried out'. DRC President Felix Tshisekedi reiterated this in his address at the diplomatic corps on January 18, 2025 (archived here). 'Concerning the thorny issue of the death penalty... (its application is) limited solely to cases of terrorism and treason within the army,' he said one minute and eight seconds into the speech. 'It is important to emphasise that to date, no executions have been carried out.' Amnesty International has urged the DRC to halt the planned executions, citing fears of 'imminent mass executions by the authorities amid a lack of reliable information about the status of people sentenced to death' (archived here). AFP Fact Check debunked similar claims on the purported DRC executions in French.
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Old and unrelated footage falsely linked to DR Congo death row inmates
' Over 100 death row inmates executed,' reads a text overlay on a TikTok post published on January 11, 2025. The video shows three different clips stacked on top of each other. The first clip, labelled 'Before execution', shows a group of men who appear to be prisoners dressed in blue and yellow uniforms. They are lined up before officers shove them into a waiting vehicle. Some of them are crying and begging as armed policemen look on. The second clip is labelled 'During' and shows footage of several men tied to poles in an open field before fire is opened on them. Uniformed police officers and a man in a blue shirt can be seen speaking in the video, but their words are not audible. The bottom clip features white caskets covered in white cloths with flowers on top, laid out in what looks like a stadium with a crowd of onlookers. Men dressed in white hazmat suits then lift the caskets and start carrying them. The final images show the coffins on the back of trucks. Since 2003, when 15 people were reportedly executed for armed robbery, the DRC had observed a de facto moratorium on executions, meaning that although death sentences were issued, they were not carried out (archived here). However, the Congolese government announced an end to the moratorium in March 2024, reinstating capital punishment particularly for treason and banditry (archived here). Two months later, eight soldiers were handed death sentences after being charged with desertion and cowardice while fighting the M23 armed group (archived here). Dozens of others were also sentenced in August and September over what the country's army said was a coup attempt (archived here and here). On January 6, 2025, the Congolese government reportedly announced plans to execute over 170 death row inmates convicted of armed robbery (archived here). The resumption of executions in the DRC was met with international condemnation, with human rights organisations calling for the abolition of the death penalty (archived here and here). However, the video being shared on TikTok is misleading. AFP Fact Check conducted reverse image searches on keyframes from the videos to find the original footage. The results established that two of the clips from the TikTok footage are old and unrelated to the DRC death row convicts. We found that the footage used in the 'during' clip was first published on the YouTube channel of Somali-language account XOGSAN TV on June 27, 2021 (archived here). '18 Al-Shabaab members shot dead in Galkayo city today,' reads the video title in Somali. Galkayo is the capital of Somalia's north-central Mudug region. Other Somali media outlets reported on the executions in a similar context at the time (archived here and here). We found footage matching the one used in the 'after' clip in a video published on X by DRC-based journalist Daniel Michombero on September 2, 2024 (archived here). #RDC : enterrement de 200 corps des déplacés, les corps sont exposés dans le stade de l'unité de la ville de de larmes et de pleur dans la ville de Goma ce lundi 2 septembre 2024. — Daniel Michombero /Batubenga (@michombero) September 2, 2024 According to his post, the footage shows the burial of 200 displaced persons, whose bodies were displayed at the Unity Stadium in Goma, in the DRC's east. DRC-based photojournalist Arlette Bashizi published photos from the memorial service and burial site on her Instagram page, reporting that the deceased were killed during clashes between the M23 armed group and the country's armed forces (archived here and here). View this post on Instagram A post shared by Arlette Bashizi (@arty_bashizi) The images were captured by Bashizi for Reuters, and the news outlet used them in article on the memorial service (archived here). In addition to the flowers on the coffins and the handlers in white hazmat suits, Bashizi's photos also feature the stadium's name, Stade de L'Unité (Unity Stadium in English), which is visible in the TikTok video and mentioned in Michombero's post. The first clip from the TikTok video – labelled 'before' - correctly shows death row inmates in the DRC. An extended version of the clip was published on X by the country's justice minister, Constant Mutamba, on January 5, 2025 (archived here). According to the post written in French, the prisoners in the video, locally known as 'Kulunas' or 'urban bandits', were being transferred to high security prisons. #RDC 3ème vague des kuluna transférés aux prisons de haute sécurité, ce dimanche 5 janvier 2025. — Constant Mutamba (@ConstantMutamba) January 5, 2025 Speaking at a conference the following day (see from minute 19:29), Mutamba said that no executions had occurred yet but that 'more than 300 young Kulunas [had] been sentenced'. He specified that the sentences range from two years in prison to the death penalty for some (archived here). Mutamba added that the convicts still had several legal remedies, such as appeal and cassation, before the sentences would become final and 'it is only when this has been exhausted that the death penalty is carried out'. DRC President Felix Tshisekedi reiterated this in his address at the diplomatic corps on January 18, 2025 (archived here). 'Concerning the thorny issue of the death penalty... (its application is) limited solely to cases of terrorism and treason within the army,' he said one minute and eight seconds into the speech. 'It is important to emphasise that to date, no executions have been carried out.' Amnesty International has urged the DRC to halt the planned executions, citing fears of 'imminent mass executions by the authorities amid a lack of reliable information about the status of people sentenced to death' (archived here). AFP Fact Check debunked similar claims on the purported DRC executions in French.
