Notices by Zecharias Zelalem (zekuzelalem@dair-community.social), page 6

This special citation by the Pulitzer Prize committee is an insult.

To refuse to even mention that these are Palestinian media workers...and then to intentionally avoid distinguishing between those living and working in Gaza in extremely dangerous conditions and at risk of death at any moment...and everyone else covering the conflict remotely from North America or Europe, belittles the sacrifices of Palestinian journalists.

It's an attempt at sugarcoating Israel's direct role in their murders.

A far more proper citation was the one UNESCO made last week, which specified that it was honoring Palestinian journalists for its 2024 Press Freedom Prize. The UNESCO award failed to use updated figures for murdered media workers, and didn't identify the perpetrators of bloodshed.

But at least, this doesn't dehumanize Palestinians, as the statement names them and thanks them by adding that humanity has "a huge debt to their courage and commitment to freedom of expression."

Guess who won the Pulitzer for best International Reporting? The New York Times. Anat Schwartz et al.

Well oh well.

Utterly ridiculous from the Pulitzer Prize committee today.

This Pulitzer citation supposedly honoring 🇵🇸 journos doesn't actually do so.

"Journalists & media workers covering the war in Gaza" includes everyone, Palestinian or otherwise.

The citation fails to mention the nationality of the journalists who "died" (euphemism which downplays the worst recorded journo slaughter), or the identity of their killers, the Israeli army.

Please compare with the 2022 citation for 🇺🇦 journalists.

@nitin Well I ended up reading the whole thing. Very insightful, I appreciate the expertise! I wasn't aware of just how lopsided the missile defense to offense costs ratio is, and the idea of India being somewhat at Israel/Russia's mercy as a result...eveything from foreign policy alignment to the intl relations "security dilemma" theory explored. Very thorough for a short piece! Do you regularly share your content here? If not where can one follow your work?

My latest story for the Globe & Mail newspaper: cheap armed drones, manufactured by the likes of UAE, Turkey, Iran & China, are causing mayhem across Africa.

Sudan, Libya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Burkina Faso & Nigeria, have all seen drone massacres in recent times. Co-authored with legendary journo Geoff York, we cite five atrocities caused by drones that now cost as little as $1 million.

Also features survivors of a Feb 19 drone massacre of 30 civilians in Ethiopia.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-cheap-imported-drones-fuel-a-surge-of-deaths-in-africa/

Modern day wars are increasingly ending in unwinnable quagmires. It is forcing more and more warring entities to begrudgingly contemplate face to face talks with their enemies.

These drones are being pushed by their sellers as a solution for quagmires: a tool to finish off enemies without suffering huge casualties. As such, drones are emboldening more and more military commanders in chief to put off talks, as they think their new toys are the tool for a cost effective victory (N.B they aren't).

Ethiopian government Facebook troll farm exposed.

Today, the BBC published a long form investigation in Amharic that I hope is made available in English for non Ethiopian audiences soon.

A 3 month investigation revealed that Ethiopian ruling party institutions have swarmed Facebook with inauthentic pro government accounts which like, comment and share content favorable to the party, and spread disinformation and hate speech that targets opponents.

https://www.bbc.com/amharic/articles/cp6gnd20675o

During their 3 month probe the BBC managed to infiltrate secret Telegram group chats, where party officials distribute content for dissemination. Group members include civil servants, supporters and influencers & paid individuals who operate as many as a dozen fake accounts, all spewing pro government propaganda.

Typical accounts may have a profile picture of a model or a beautiful girl stolen from the internet, & include promotional pictures of officials including Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

BBC sources revealed that the administration of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, houses troll farms at two hub offices in the city.

The operatives are known as the ruling party's "media army."

This screengrab from a media army Telegram chat includes instructions on what to post and threatens those who aren't liking or sharing enough.

"Operatives who aren't seen participating in today's campaign will have their names listed & reported to the mayor's office," reads the third post.

Monday marked a full year since the war in Sudan began.

In 2021, rival military generals Hemedti and Al Burhan ousted the civilian leadership, hijacking a planned transition to democracy. The country was now at the mercy of men implicated in massacres and weaponized rape dating back to Darfur 2003. Recipe for disaster.

Their fallout has killed tens of thousands of Sudanese and displaced millions.

Al Jazeera put together an excellent podcast for the grim anniversary.

https://www.aljazeera.com/podcasts/2024/4/16/the-take-remembering-one-year-of-war-in-sudan

The war that has pit Sudanese military head General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and Rapid Support Forces commander General Mohamed "Hemedti" Dagalo, has seen Egypt & Ukraine align with Al-Burhan while the UAE & Russia side with Hemedti.

Saudi Arabia is overseeing dialogue. Riyadh has ties with both generals, as both facilitated Sudanese military backing of the Saudi led anti Houthi coalition in Yemen.

Democratic aspirations of the Sudanese masses are hardly on the agenda of any of these players.

Despite the many regional and global powers jostling for interests, there was no Gaza like paralysis at the UN Security Council last month when a resolution calling for a Ramadan ceasefire in Sudan was drafted. It passed, with 14 member countries favouring, none opposed and Russia abstaining.

But it didn't matter. The resolution didn't get the support of the men who mattered: Al Burhan and Hemedti.

War raged on in Sudan throughout Islam's holiest month.

https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2024/3/9/un-security-council-calls-for-ceasefire-in-sudan-during-ramadan

This weekend marked 30 years since the start of the Rwandan genocide, one of the darkest chapters in African history.

Some 800,000 Tutsis and Hutu moderates were massacred during 100 days of bloodshed by Hutu extremist militias, before rebels from the mostly Tutsi RPF (Rwandan Patriotic Front) seized the capital and ended the slaughter.

The then RPF rebel commander and now President of Rwanda Paul Kagame, held a ceremony over the weekend, honoring the victims.

Imagine you're at an ATM machine & learning that you could withdraw hundreds of thousands...beyond what your account balance lists. A dream!

Well, it was the reality for customers of the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia a bit over a week ago. A "systems glitch" had people able to withdraw unlimited cash. Word got around the country fast, & CBE ATM machines at college campuses across Ethiopia had long lineups of students withdrawing huge sums of money!

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-68599027.amp

Within 24 hours, the CBE patched up the glitch. By then, those who had made withdrawals, mostly university/college students, had spent money on expensive phones, laptops, jewelry or paid off debts. The CBE began freezing bank accounts and everyone who had naively made withdrawals received warnings that failure to return the money would lead to criminal charges.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-68615717.amp

According to the CBE, over 5,000 people made off with over a billion Ethiopian birr (around $20 million). After the warnings, the newly wealthy masses began returning their ill gotten gains. A little over half of the money had been returned by yesterday.

https://www.barrons.com/news/ethiopia-bank-clients-on-last-warning-over-millions-lost-in-glitch-31a281dd

But a number of people have told various local media that they are unable to repay the bank. Some paid off debts, others purchased items that can't be refunded.

The bank began warning people that it would publish a list of all the names of those who hadn't paid up, along with their bank account numbers on their official website.

This triggered discussion: it goes without saying that the people are in the wrong. But naming & shaming them for profitting off of the bank's own massive f**k up?

After the bank's Tuesday deadline expired, it went ahead and carried out its threat. The full names, bank info & branch (which will identify the city or district where most of them reside) of 565 people who went on a withdrawal frenzy, uploaded on PDFs to the bank's website (link).

Some say it's instant karma. Others say, it's punishing broke students who made costly errors & will be publicly shamed forever. And of course the police knocks on the door will follow.
https://combanketh.et/cbeapi/uploads/New_No_repayment_alphabet_e1dcbe678e.pdf

""We're stressed out" say students who withdrew the CBE's money; what did they spend it on?"

That's the title of the BBC Amharic's story after speaking to students on the list who bought all kinds of things, including cryptocurrency apparently. The photo though🙂

It's pretty worrying that campus students, the country's future, were the ones most implicated.

Messy situation.