Human Rights

22 May 2019; AFP: Sri Lankan social networks saw a surge in fake news after the Easter suicide bombings a month ago despite an official social media blackout, highlighting the inability of governments to contain disinformation, experts said.

A nine-day ban on platforms including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and WhatsApp was introduced following the Islamic State-claimed attacks on churches and hotels on April 21 which killed 258 people and wounded nearly 500.

MOSCOW, May 22. /TASS/: The United States is fanning tensions in the Persian Gulf in the hope somebody may lose one’s nerve, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the media on Wednesday.

"It is essential to avoid fanning tensions, contrary to what the United States and some of its allies in the Persian Gulf have been doing in the hope that somebody will lose one’s nerve," Ryabkov said.

22 May 2019; DW: Philippine youth, who make up more than half of their country's population, are generally anti-establishment. Their failure to make an impact on the mid-term polls raises many questions about the future of the country.

22 May 2019; DW: Millions of Europeans are being exposed to far-right propaganda on Facebook ahead of the EU elections, a report by the Avaaz NGO shows. The activists say their research prompted an "unprecedented" cleanup by Facebook.

Fake news, fake quotes, and movie clips presented as proof of migrant misdeeds are only some of the tactics used by far-right Facebook pages, activists from the US-based Avaaz movement said when presenting a new report on Wednesday.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Six people have died in election rioting in the Indonesian capital, authorities said Wednesday, as supporters of the losing presidential candidate burned vehicles and battled police and the government announced restrictions on social media.

Itanagar, May 21 (PTI) Suspected NSCN militants Tuesday gunned down sitting MLA and NPP assembly poll candidate Tirong Aboh and ten others, including his son and security personnel, in Tirap district of Arunachal Pradesh, a top police officer said.

Aboh (41), who represented the Khonsa West constituency, was seeking a re-election from the seat.

Srinagar, May 22: Two Kashmiris have been killed in an alleged encounter with Indian security forces in Kulgam district, an Indian army official said.

The Indian security forces' spokesman alleged that a cordon and search operation in Gopalpora area of Kulgam was conducted following information about presence of Kashmiris separatists.

DALLAS (AP) — The shooting deaths of two transgender women and the stabbing of a third are being investigated to determine whether they are connected, police in Dallas said Tuesday.

No arrests have been made. The most recent killing occurred over the weekend.

“These cases, although not directly related at this time, do have some similarities the public needs to be aware of,” Maj. Vincent Weddington said during a news conference .

VISTA, Calif. (AP) — A female hitchhiker who accused former NFL player Kellen Winslow Jr. of raping her after he picked her up testified Tuesday that she did not flee or defend herself because the muscular football star had threatened to kill her.

Winslow’s attorneys said the two had consensual sex and suggested she had a drinking problem. They said she has given inconsistent statements and lied to the jury about being sober for 30 years, pointing out that she has been arrested 11 times for public intoxication.

BARQUISIMETO, Venezuela (AP) — Andreina Cordero started the year skipping meals so her three kids could eat. Her husband, a construction worker, was out of a job. And the family’s savings had been devastated by the nation’s hyperinflation, limiting Cordero’s children to a diet of rice, beans, pasta and fried corn patties.

But the family got a break from their daily struggle to feed themselves this spring when a social worker enrolled them in a program run by a Silicon Valley startup that is donating cryptocurrency to hundreds of Venezuelan families.