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LGBTQ+ People In Ethiopia Blame Attacks On Their Community On Inciteful And Lingering TikTok Videos

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Kenya’s NAIROBI — Members of Ethiopia’s LGBTQ+ community claim to experience a wave of online harassment and physical assaults, and they attribute a large portion of this to the social media platform TikTok, which they accuse of neglecting to remove messages encouraging the whipping, stabbing, and murder of homosexual and transgender individuals.

According to House of Guramayle, a local LGBTQ+ support group, some TikTok users are also outing Ethiopians by revealing their names, photos, and online accounts on one of the nation’s most widely used social networking sites.

In Ethiopia, homosexual behavior carries a maximum 15-year prison sentence. While LGBTQ+ persons have historically experienced abuse, activists claim that the antagonism has reached a new level in the predominantly conservative East African nation, whose population of nearly 120 million is split between Christianity and Islam.

The co-founder of House of Guramayle, Bahiru Shewaye, said that TikTok was being exploited to encourage violence. Many videos have been reported to TikTok, according to Bahiru, but “we are still waiting for them to take action.”

The Associated Press looked at several videos on Thursday that seemed to violate the community rules of TikTok by encouraging violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

On Friday night, Ben Rathe, a spokeswoman for TikTok, claimed that the company had taken down the videos and banned the users for breaking its community standards.

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Members of Ethiopia’s LGBTQ+ community claim to experience a wave of online harassment and physical assaults.

A well-known evangelical Christian pastor urges gay individuals to be publicly stripped naked and whipped in one video that the AP saw.

The pastor’s account has over 250,000 followers. “Then (gay) people all over the world would say, ‘Oh, these (Ethiopian) people, this is what they do to gays, therefore we will not go to that country,'” the pastor says. It was published on August 5.

Another TikTok user advocated stabbing gay men in the buttocks in a video uploaded on August 2. A third was published this week, and a young man said, “We should find them and kill them,” followed by a foot-stomping motion.

The videos are in Amharic, the national tongue of Ethiopia.

Uncertainty surrounds the tapes’ origins, but Bahiru claimed that Uganda’s recent anti-LGBT law—which calls for the execution of those who engage in “aggravated homosexuality”—is a factor.

LGBTQ+ Many Ethiopians have recently fled overseas; according to reports, the increased hateful content has made them feel insecure. One nonbinary individual claimed they were assaulted by a group of guys in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital, last month and are currently in the neighboring country of Kenya.

They said, “It is very terrifying.” “I believe I will remain here as long as the situation in Ethiopia persists. Even though everything has always been horrible, this time feels different.

ethiopia

Members of Ethiopia’s LGBTQ+ community claim to experience a wave of online harassment and physical assaults.

Another LGBTQ+ man claimed to have been outed twice on TikTok. He is a student in Addis Ababa. He was severely beaten by a bunch of classmates at a restaurant in May, not long after the first outing video surfaced online; they shattered his cheek.

After that, “I don’t feel safe at school, so I stopped going,” he claimed. The footage, he claimed, was later taken down.

Late in July, the second outing video was uploaded and has now received over 275,000 views. Photos of different people and groups are displayed in a slideshow with the caption “Homosexuals live freely in Ethiopia.” It reads, “Let’s kill them; give us their address.”

Public institutions in Ethiopia have been charged with fostering discrimination. In a message published on Facebook last week, Addis Abeba’s tourism office urged hotels not to permit “homosexual activities” on their property and that “action will be taken” if they did. The bureau is a division of the Addis Ababa city government.

The local police department soon after established a hotline for reporting “illegal activities that deviate from the law and social values.”

This group was already at risk, according to Bahiru. But it has gotten out of hand because of the new scope of these appeals for violence.

Advocates for the LGBTQ+ community have long cautioned that online abuse and bigotry can result in physical violence offline.

According to the advocacy group GLAAD’s Social Media Safety Index released earlier this year, all major social media platforms, including TikTok, do a poor job of shielding LGBTQ+ users from hate speech and harassment, especially those who are transgender, non-binary, or gender non-conforming.

SOURCE – (AP)

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Trudeau Rocks to Taylor Swift While Montreal Burns

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Trudeau, Montreal

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has come under fire yet again after a video surfaced on X, showing him dancing at a Taylor Swift performance while anti-Nato protestors ransacked downtown Montreal.

Trudeau attended Taylor Swift’s concert in Toronto on Friday night. Before Taylor Swift approached the stage, X shared a viral video of him dancing and singing along to the song “You Don’t Own Me.”

The image of Trudeau dancing amid violent protests in Montreal generated widespread indignation online. Some social media users even compared Trudeau to the ancient Roman dictator Nero, known for “fiddling while Rome burned.”

Don Stewart, a Member of Parliament (MP) representing part of Toronto, called out the prime minister in a post on X.

“Lawless protesters run roughshod over Montreal in violent protest. The Prime Minister dances,” Stewart wrote. “This is the Canada built by the Liberal government.”

“Bring back law and order, safe streets and communities in the Canada we once knew and loved,” the MP added.

On Saturday, the day after Taylor Swift’s concert, Trudeau condemned the anti-NATO protests, calling them “appalling.”

Anti-NATO activists set off smoke bombs and marched through Montreal’s streets waving Palestinian flags. According to the Montreal Gazette, rioters set fire to automobiles and battled with police.

Pro-Palestinian protests

Protesters also tossed tiny explosives and metal objects at officers. At one point, the mob torched an effigy of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Police used tear gas and batons to disperse the gathering, and three persons were arrested for attacking officers and impeding police operations.

Masked protesters were seen burning flares and bashing storefront windows in videos and photographs shared on social media. Pro-Palestinian protests have been taking place across Canada since the Israel-Gaza conflict began late last year.

Critics have lambasted Trudeau for doing nothing to stop the violent pro-Palestinian marches, with some claiming he has fueled anti-Israel sentiment in Canada.

On Friday, Trudeau stated that Canada would respect the orders of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which issued an arrest warrant for Mr Netanyahu, even if it meant arresting the Israeli prime leader on Canadian soil.

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Calgary Zoo Admits Human Error in Death of Baby Gorilla

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Baby Gorilla, Calgary Zoo
The zookeeper's negligence caused the death of a 2-year-old baby gorilla

The Calgary Zoo has admitted in a public statement that a zookeeper’s negligence caused the death of a 2-year-old baby gorilla. Eyare, a newborn gorilla, died last week after being slammed in the head by a hydraulic door.

The accident occurred when a zoo worker attempted to separate Eyare from the rest of the gorilla tribe for a solitary training session.

The gorilla died from significant head injuries, according to the zoo’s statement.

“This tragedy has struck us all in the deepest way imaginable,” Colleen Baird, director of animal care at the Calgary Zoo, said during a news conference. “Eyare’s brief but meaningful existence gave so much joy to our community, and all will sorely miss her. We will do everything possible to prevent repeat accidents.”

According to Baird, the staff member involved was immediately removed from the workplace and will be reassigned to another area of the zoo. The Calgary Zoo stated that it would take preventive steps, such as specialist personnel training and animal behavioral training, to avoid a similar incident.

Calgary Zoo Questioned

It is not the first time an animal at the zoo has died from negligence at the Calgary Zoo. A capybara was accidentally crushed by a hydraulic door similar to the one that killed Eyare in 2019.

An otter died in 2016 after being entangled in an “unauthorized” pair of jeans that a zookeeper had dropped in its enclosure. In 2013, a penguin died in “a freak accident” after swallowing a stick.

Animal Justice, a Canadian group that promotes animal welfare, has called for an independent investigation of animal safety and oversight at the Alberta facility.

“The Calgary Zoo appears to have a higher rate of animal deaths compared to other zoos, and in light of Eyare’s death there should be a systematic review of the zoo’s operations and practices, conducted transparently by the government or another outside party,” according to Camille Labchuk, the executive director of Animal Justice.

The Calgary Zoo refuted that it has more animal deaths than other zoos, emphasizing that it adheres to operating requirements and has maintained accreditation by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ independent Accreditation Commission since 1978.

“We love and care for more than 4,000 animals representing over 100 species that call our zoo home,” stated a Calgary Zoo representative.

“Human error-related deaths in animals are quite infrequent. We have lost two animals in the last ten years: a North American river otter in 2016 and ‘Eyare’ this week.

While rare, even one human-caused death is too many. These unfortunate instances have served as vital learning experiences, prompting us to examine and tighten protocols to provide the greatest level of care.”

Baird said at the news conference that using hydraulic doors is “common practice with accredited zoos,” adding that the facility will consider switching to alternate doors to improve safety.

The Calgary Zoo, which established the Wilder Institute in 2021, caters to nearly 4,000 creatures, including six more western lowland gorillas.

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Canada’s Lotto Max Jackpot Climbs to $80M

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Lotto Max in Canada has reached $80 million for only the second time in Canadian lottery history. Friday’s draw sought a winner for a $75 million pool, but the top reward remained unclaimed as of Saturday, increasing the jackpot.

Only once did the jackpot reach $80 million in September, when it broke the previous record. Before that, the prize was $75 million, a record.

The Lotto Max prize maximum was boosted earlier this year, enabling for jackpots of more than $70 million. The cap is now at $80 million.
While a greater fee may encourage more people to play, the odds of winning the lottery remain extremely low.

According to the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, the odds for a $5 ticket are around one in 33,294,800.

While there was no jackpot winner in Friday’s draw, someone did match six of the seven winning numbers, plus a bonus, earning them a payout of more than $320,000.

Lotto Max History

Lotto Max is one of three national lottery games in Canada, overseen by the Interprovincial Lottery Corporation. The game was introduced on September 19, 2009, and its inaugural draw occurred on September 25, 2009. It replaced Lotto Super 7.

The odds of winning the Lotto Max are 1 in 33,294,800. This is correct to a point but misleading.

Let’s have a look at the rules:

  1. Players choose 7 numbers out of 50
  2. Numbers cannot be repeated
  3. Numbers are automatically sorted into ascending order
  4. Each play buys 3 lines
  5. Each play costs $5

Seeing that players choose 7 out of 50 non-repeating numbers, the equation for the total number of possible combinations (this is different from permutations where the order in which the numbers appear is significant) when playing the Lotto Max is 50! / (7! x 43!)

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