Author: Steven Sahiounie

In its latest compliance report, WhatsApp reveals that it banned over two million accounts in India between May and June for “harmful behavior” and other rules violations, including sending a “high and abnormal rate of messages.” While only a fraction of its 400 million-strong user base in India, the number of blocked accounts is significant since it is roughly a quarter of the eight million bans WhatApp hands down globally each month. Noting that 95% of the accounts were blocked for exceeding limits placed on the number of times messages can be forwarded in the country, the platform said its “top…

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on Friday that the country’s security force has identified individuals responsible for instigating the “anarchy and mayhem” that led to the recent outbreak of deadly unrest. Speaking during a visit to Ethekwini Municipality, one of the worst-impacted regions, Ramaphosa stated that the government is “extremely concerned” about “instigated” unrest and looting, which has resulted in dozens of deaths. “We will not allow anarchy and mayhem to unfold in our country,” he vowed, confirming the identification of instigators and the arrest of one perpetrator. Ramaphosa’s announcement was coupled with 25,000 soldiers being deployed to prevent further violent uprising. “What we…

Wikipedia fails to reflect relevant viewpoints on hot-button topics and describes center-left establishment worldviews, its co-founder Larry Sanger said. This consensus reality is prone to nefarious manipulation by powers that be. “There is a big nasty complex game being played behind the scenes to make the articles say what somebody wants them to say,” Sanger said this week, blasting the current community culture at Wikipedia. “There are all kinds of tricks that people can play to ‘win’ it.” Sanger, who launched –along with Jimmy Wales– the world’s premier website for reference materials, has become a vocal critic of his brainchild. He jokingly…

The Turkish intelligence opens recruitment offices to transfer Syrian militants to “Afghanistan”. The Turkish authorities continue their approach of exploiting the militants of the Syrian factions and using them as militias in the regional conflicts, to recently open more than 13 offices within their areas of control in northern Syria in order to attract Syrian militants to travel to “Afghanistan” and fight there. Most of the registration offices for the Syrian militants wishing to travel to “Afghanistan” have spread in Idlib countryside, in addition to several other offices that were opened within the areas under the control of the “Al-Hamza”…

Security chaos continues as new explosions hit Jarablus, northeast of Aleppo A motorcycle bomb exploded yesterday, Wednesday, at night in the city of “Jarablus” in the northeastern countryside of Aleppo, which is under the control of the Turkish forces and their factions. An SDC local source said that the explosion occurred on “Al-Nahr” road in “Jarabulus” and resulted in injuring 3 persons, including a gunman, of varying degrees, and they were taken to the hospital for treatment, while no party claimed responsibility for the bombing The source added that an IED planted by unknowns was discovered near the location of…

In January, Joe Biden minced no words when warning presidential appointees that he would fire them “on the spot” if they treat their colleagues poorly. Former staffers of US Vice President Kamala Harris said they were not surprised about reports of a tense atmosphere in her office as they described similar experiences dating back more than a decade, Business Insider reported on Wednesday. The news outlet’s report singled out interviews with 12 ex-staffers during Harris’ stints as San Francisco’s district attorney from 2004 to 2011, California’s attorney general (AG) between 2011 to and 2017, as well as a US senator from 2017…

A new book by two Washington Post reporters, detailing the last year of Trump’s presidency, has made explosive claims that military top brass feared the president could instigate a coup if he lost the 2020 presidential race. Former US President Donald Trump has rejected fresh allegations that he planned a coup in the US if the 2020 presidential election went in Joe Biden’s favour. “Despite massive Voter Fraud and Irregularities during the 2020 Presidential Election Scam, that we are now seeing play out in very big and important States, I never threatened, or spoke about, to anyone, a coup of…

The death toll from the weeklong unrest triggered by the jailing of South Africa’s former President Jacob Zuma has seen a sharp rise across the country, with the government having increased the number of security forces to quell the violence. Government officials in Pretoria announced on Thursday that the number of fatalities in South Africa’s unrest had risen to 117 as the country called up its army reserves to contain the chaotic situation across the country. The figure showed a sizable increase from the toll of 72 announced the previous day. The acting minister in the presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, told…

Human rights groups have called on Japan to stop its participation in a real estate project on lands in Myanmar leased from the country’s junta, whose dark record of human rights violations has worsened since seizing power in a February coup d’état. A number of rights groups, including Human Rights Now, Human Rights Watch, Japan International Volunteer Center, Justice For Myanmar, and Mekong Watch, on Thursday condemned Japan’s involvement in construction projects on lands belonging to Myanmar’s notorious military, known as the Tatmadaw. “Even before the coup, we were raising concerns to the Japanese government and businesses about the dangers of…

China has warned the US to “stop conducting political manipulation” after the American Senate passed a bill to ban the import of all products from Xinjiang region, which is home to the ethnic group of Uighurs. The mostly Muslim-Turkic ethnic group of Uighurs, which makes up about 45 percent of the population in Xinjiang, has long accused China of cultural, religious, and economic discrimination. The US, in particular, spearheads such allegations in the West. China has repeatedly denied claims of human rights abuses in Xinjiang. It believes exiled separatist groups are planning “attacks” in the resource-rich Xinjiang, which is strategically…