Russian pranksters target Bernie Sanders
Vovan and Lexus posed as Greta Thunberg in a call with the Vermont senator

Posted 16 February 2020


Screenshot from Vovan and Lexus’ YouTube video of their prank call with US Senator Bernie Sanders.

In the heat of the US Democratic primary, Senator Bernie Sanders would appear to be the latest international politician to fall victim to Russian pranksters Vovan and Lexus, the pseudonyms of Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexey Stolyarov. At least, that's what the pranksters claim: the Vermont senator's campaign office has not yet commented on the recording's authenticity.

On 13 February, an animated video was uploaded to the comedians’ YouTube channel featuring the audio of Sanders’ 11-minute call with whom he believes to be Greta Thunberg and her father Svante. “Greta” praised the senator's ecological proposals and offered to provide an endorsement for his presidential campaign. The video soon descends to the strange when the pranksters suggest that Sanders would gain the youth vote if he starred in a rap video with Kanye West and Billie Eilish. The senator laughs cordially at the suggestion that he would have to wear gold jewellery.

It doesn't take long for Russia to feature in the call, when “Greta” and her father express their concerns about an upcoming trip to the country and ask Sanders for his advice. The senator tells them that “to the best of [his] knowledge, Putin is very bad on climate change,” warning them against “just walking in there and getting used as a photo opportunity,” and advising them to research the ecological situation in Russia and urge the Russian leadership to “transform their energy system.”

Sanders is then asked whether he believes it is possible to “lead the United States towards communism,” to which he responds that democratic socialism has far more in common with governance in Sweden than in the Soviet Union.

Then things go downhill when “Greta” and her father express interest in Sanders’ visit to the Russian city of Yaroslavl in 1988. They jokingly suggest that he was a sleeper agent for the KGB, the Soviet secret police, which has altered the senator's memory in case the CIA discover the truth. “Is this what you really believe?” asks Sanders, incredulously. “Greta” responds that it is time for her to activate him with a special phrase. The call abruptly ends.

It is not known when Vovan and Lexus recorded their latest call, but they did allude to a prank with Sanders in a Tweet shortly before its release:


Сделать ли нам пранк с Берни Сандерсом? / Should we do a prank with Bernie Sanders?

— Пранкер Вован (@evilprank) February 12, 2020

Sanders, if the voice is indeed the senator's, was not the first politician pranked by Vovan and Lexus and will probably not be the last. This January, they used much the same script against Califonia Congresswoman Maxine Waters, and then in a call with actor Joaquin Phoenix. The duo shot to international prominence in 2015, when they phoned Elton John posing as Vladimir Putin — the singer believed he was speaking to the Russian president via a translator.

The mischievous pranksters insist that they have no political agenda, stressing that they have also pranked celebrities. Nevertheless, it has not escaped the attention of international media that their choice of victims seems to coincidentally align with whoever is in the Kremlin's bad books — particularly if they are Ukrainian politicians and western public officials deemed hostile to Russian interests. These have included French President Emmanuel Macron, former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, North Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin, the Ukrainian oligarchs Ihor Kolomoiskyi and Rinat Akhmetov, and many others. There has been much speculation as to how two pranksters are able to dial through directly to foreign heads of state with such ease — leading some to suspect, such as the lawyer Mark Feygin, that they may have a helping hand from the Russian security services.

The pranksters laugh off that suggestion, but have been asked on several occasions why they have never once prank called Putin. In a January 2019 interview with Ukrainian news portal Strana.Ua, they claimed that Putin knew who they were, and cited technical problems in reaching him:

Translation
Original Quote


It's not that easy to call through to Putin. Putin, and several other heads of state, have a completely different system of communications. Putin doesn't have a telephone, first of all. The channels through which he communicates are encrypted. If we're talking about the CIS states, then every president has encrypted communications. Theoretically, even if we wanted to, we wouldn't be able to reach them.

In a March 2016 interview with the BBC's Russian service, Lexus was more open about their reticence:

Translation
Original Quote


We are nevertheless aimed at doing what is necessary for Russia. We understand that some recordings, including incriminating ones, would be harmful to our country; other political forces would play on them and get dividends. We believe that corrupt officials and others have to be fought in any case. But every concrete case needs to be assessed so that the country does not suffer politically as a result.

Questions about Vovan and Lexus's intentions will no doubt continue to be asked — until and unless the pranksters be their boldest yet by trying to dupe a prominent Russian politician.

Written by RuNet Echo

Hong Kong's labor laws aid and abet the abuse of foreign domestic workers

Written byKatie McQue

Posted 16 February 2020 14:38 GMT




Foreign domestic workers take a break on their rest day in central Hong Kong. Photo by author.

Her body is heavy with fatigue after a 17-hour shift, but Janey*, 29, finds it impossible to fall asleep. She scrolls through her Facebook newsfeed in an effort to distract herself from the hunger pangs. It’s midnight, and her working day will begin again in six short hours.

Janey traveled to Hong Kong from the Philippines two years ago to take up a job as a live-in domestic maid for a family. She knew the work was going to be hard, but she didn’t expect her living conditions to be so difficult. Janey told me in an interview that:

The food here is very limited. My employer just gives me instant noodles, you have to train yourself to be able to eat them every day. I can also eat leftovers but sometimes there isn’t enough.

Families that employ maids are legally obligated to provide them with a private room, yet Janey sleeps on the sofa in the living room of the 700-square-foot apartment that houses the five people she waits on. She keeps her possessions in bags.

Hong Kong’s 350,000 domestic workers come mainly from poorer Asian countries such as the Philippines and Indonesia and are essential to the functioning of the city. Getting a job as a maid enables these women to send money back home to provide much-needed support to their families. Janey, a graduate in computer programming, is ambitious and determined to start a career in her field, but there aren't jobs in the Philippines, she says.

According to a 2017 report by Mission For Migrant Workers, a Hong Kong-based NGO, nine out of ten maids suffer from insufficient rest, two out of five do not have a private room, one in five have reported ill-treatment by their employers, and 25 percent are given insufficient food.

Much of the abuse these maids face is abetted by employment laws. For instance, Hong Kong’s domestic workers are legally required to live with their employers. This rule has created a breeding ground for abuse. According to Nicole Lai, Organisation Secretary at the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions:

Because maids have to live with their employers, the hours are long. They either work or sleep. Sleep may also be interrupted; they are often asked to work and are often caring for children and the elderly, which can involve working at night.

Living with their employers affords maids very little privacy, and makes them more vulnerable to physical and sexual abuse. In cases where this happens, it is very difficult for them to get help. They are afraid to report cases to the police and cannot easily leave the home to do so anyway, adds Lai.

It is commonplace for Hong Kong households to have at least one maid. The busy and expensive city has a scarcity of daycare facilities for young children. By law, the minimum wage for a domestic worker is HK$4,630 (595 US dollars) per month. Families who may not be able to comfortably afford this sum may be tempted to squeeze as much work as possible from their domestic worker.

Gabriela*, 32, from Mindanao island in the Philippines, reports experiencing this. She took out a loan to pay a recruitment agency US$ 1,200 to place her with a supposedly reputable employer. The agency assured her that she would be treated well and would work a standard eight hours per day, six days per week, in her new home. She told me:

When I arrived at my employers’ house, I gave them my contract. But they told me that it is just a piece of paper that doesn’t mean anything, and I must live by the family’s rules because they paid a lot for me.

In reality, Gabriela is made to work from sunrise until past midnight, doing everything from cooking, helping look after three children and two elderly parents, and cleaning and washing the family car:

I can’t sit down for even one second because my employer doesn’t want to waste it. Sunday is my holiday but I still work 8 hours then, when I’m supposed to have the whole day off.

But leaving is almost impossible. Gabriela must earn money to pay back her loan, and she needs to send money home to support her elderly mother. She’d like to complain to Hong Kong’s Labour Department, but she’s afraid of being fired.

Breaking an employment contract through resignation or by being fired puts foreign maids in an impossible situation, because immigration laws stipulate that a domestic worker must find a new employer within two weeks, or leave Hong Kong. Finding a new job in the space of two weeks is highly unlikely. As Lai points out:

The Hong Kong labour department can’t issue new documents in that time even if they do find a new employer. It also takes four to six weeks for the immigration department to issue new visa documents.

Leaving and re-entering Hong Kong also means incurring the expense of costly recruitment agency fees and flights all over again.

Should a domestic worker get pregnant, Hong Kong's maternity laws are often not upheld by the employer. In such cases, a domestic worker is typically fired, meaning she swiftly loses her income, home, residency visa and access to healthcare.

Children born to women who overstay their visas inherit the same immigration status as their mothers — undocumented.

Migrant workers who become pregnant often seek help from Pathfinders, a local NGO focused on helping foreign domestic workers which operates several shelters for migrant workers who are pregnant or have recently given birth. Pathfinders’ CEO, Catherine Gurtin, told me that:


Our beneficiaries often arrive hungry, sick, undocumented and homeless. They are often unable to return home financially, or because they are too pregnant to fly or because their Hong Kong-born baby is undocumented.

Jessie*, from Luzon island in the Philippines, is in her early 20s. She was just eight weeks from her due date when I interviewed her in one of Pathfinders’ shelters. She learned she was pregnant after taking a mandatory pregnancy test before beginning a new contract as a maid, and then lost her job. She says she’s too scared to tell her family and can’t go home out of fear of her safety.

Pregnant maids not fired by their employers still encounter significant challenges. Under the government’s live-in rule, domestic workers have to live in their employer’s home even during their maternity leave. Unsurprisingly, most employers are unwilling to accommodate a baby, so they are often left in the care of the state until the mother can take them home.

A joint statement provided to Global Voices by the Hong Kong government’s Labour and Immigration Department said:


Any change to the “live-in requirement” that foreign domestic helpers must reside in employers’ residences will go against the rationale for importing Foreign Domestic Helpers and the fundamental policy that local employees (including local domestic helpers) should enjoy priority in employment.

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government does not tolerate and takes stringent actions against any abuse or exploitation of foreign domestic helpers. Any reported case of physical abuse or violation of the statutory provisions such as non-payment/under-payment of wages, non-granting of weekly rest days and statutory holidays, etc. will be thoroughly investigated, and if there is sufficient evidence, the culprits will be prosecuted.

*Names have been changed to protect identities.

Harold Burson (1921-2020), the PR giant!

Published Feb 06, 2020 11:38am

Menin Rodrigues

"He saw the potential for PR to be a global enterprise, and he did more than anyone to professionalize the discipline."

The passing away of ‘the most influential PR person of the 20th century’ is critical to this time and age (the 21st century) in terms of finding someone with his foresight and calibre and able to wear that mantle responsibly - as did Harold Burson.

They don’t come like him anymore and it would probably take courage and leadership for successors to reinvent the prerequisites of PR in a global space that is becoming more disruptive with every passing day.

Burson played that distinguished and critical role to make the world he lived, worked and indulged in, a better place for the generations that are in his boots today. Therefore, we, as practitioners of multiple mediums of communications, have a solemn responsibility to use this management tool of bridging relationships – national, corporate and personal – effectively.

To understand that “he saw the potential for public relations to be a global enterprise…” speaks volumes of a man who, coming back from reporting World War II in 1946, tried to figure out why it was necessary to have a good communications handle on how nations and industry wanted to move on. To turn a new page and be perceived in a world that was rushing towards new inventions and business models.

IBM were experimenting with their first computers during this period; there were no Twitter handles then and neither the notion of ‘fake news’ exist. Everything that stemmed from the minds and pens of great wordsmiths like Burson and his contemporaries were the last word. In the true sense, his persuasive pen, which churned out strategic messaging, was mightier than the sword! No wonder, he went on to be recognised as the most influential PR person of the 20th century.

The world at that time, with the US in the limelight, was on the threshold of development and industrialisation. It was a time of high economic growth and prosperity for America during the period 1945 to 1964 - and Burson was at the centre of all that was evolving. He saw the opportunity, for the US and for the profession of public relations, took decisive measures, invested in people and in a countrywide infrastructure and achieved his goals with conviction and success.

Burson opened his PR business in 1953 and found himself immersed in everything that was occurring at that time. He identified opportunities and took up challenges that were critical to the country, economy and businesses. He nurtured talents and built a team of people with exceptional skills. He formalised the research function and used data to develop strategies to measure the impact of campaigns.

“As a living legend in the business of public relations Harold Burson was always accessible, he was always surrounded by throngs of people, mainly young professionals from various agencies at industry events. He was humble, modest and gracious but always precise and forever one to offer a suggestion with a smile,” writes John Graham of Fleishman Hillard.

Burson was a thinker, emphasising the importance of ethical practice and of treating PR as a management discipline. The critical part of that definition is that “there are two components that comprise public relations: one is behaviour, the other is communications.” Of the two, he clearly saw corporate behaviour as the most important: “Our job as public relations professionals is two-fold. It is to help our clients or employers fashion and implement policies and actions that accord with the public interest.”

This humble PR giant was often called upon during crisis situations, developing a reputation for deft crisis management that made him a favourite of embattled corporations and foreign governments. From advising Johnson & Johnson in the aftermath of the cyanide-laced-Tylenol murders in 1982 to representing Union Carbide in 1984, after the gas-leak that killed 2000 people in a pesticide plant in Bhopal, Burson was the go-to-man for deliverance.

He told New York Times, “We are in the business of changing and moulding attitudes and we aren’t successful unless we move the needle, get people to do something. But we are also a client’s conscience, and we have to do what is in the public interest.”

In a speech to the Institute for Public Relations Research and Education in October 2004, he offered his definition of PR as the “discipline that helps reconcile institutional or individual behaviour in a manner that accords with the public interest and, when effectively communicated, creates opinions or attitudes that motivate target audiences to specific courses of action.”

He founded Burson-Marsteller in 1953 via a partnership with ad executive Bill Marsteller and then built the firm into an industry powerhouse with $4.4 million in revenue by 1969 and then $64 million, with 2,500 employees in 50 offices, a decade and a half later. In 1979, Burson sold the firm to Young & Rubicam, which was in turn bought by WPP in 2000. He stepped down as Burson’s CEO in 1988. Burson-Marsteller was merged with Cohn & Wolfe into BCW in early 2018.

Before starting Burson-Marsteller, he had already planted the seed of his future empire by establishing the Harold Burson Public Relations firm in 1946, soon after the war had ended.

According to Donna Imperato, global CEO of Burson Cohn & Wolfe: “He was the wisest person I knew, with the highest level of integrity, humility and kindness. Harold inspired tens of thousands of public relations and communications professionals around the world. His values and affinity for life will always be the core DNA of Burson Cohn & Wolfe. It has been my extraordinary privilege to have known Harold Burson as a colleague, a mentor and a friend.”

Burson was born in Memphis on February 15, 1921, the son of English immigrants, Maurice and Esther (Bach) Burson. He graduated from high school at 15 and worked his way through the University of Mississippi writing articles (at 14 cents per column inch) for The Commercial Appeal in Memphis.

In addition to his career in PR, Burson made many contributions to society, serving as a presidential appointee to the Fine Arts Commission, founder of the Kennedy Centre Corporate Fund, a board member of the World Wildlife Fund, and an executive council member for the Centre for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, his alma mater.

Menin Rodrigues is a corporate communication consultant, writer and historian.meninr@gmail.com

Pakistan will not be blacklisted, say scholars
Anwar Iqbal February 18, 2020

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is unlikely to blacklist Pakistan during its annual meetings in Paris but may keep it on its watch list, says a US scholar of South Asian studies. — FATF website/File


WASHINGTON: The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is unlikely to blacklist Pakistan during its annual meetings in Paris but may keep it on its watch list, says a US scholar of South Asian studies.

The meetings began on Monday but the plenary session, which will decide whether to keep Pakistan on its watch list, also known as the grey list, begins on Feb 19.

“It’s too early for Pakistan to be removed from the grey list — that will be decided at a meeting later in the year,” says Michael Kugelman, a scholar of South Asian affairs at the Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington.

“What is clear to me is that Pakistan will not be blacklisted.”

But Uzair Younus, a non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council, Washington, says “indications are that Pakistan will probably be off the grey list in the coming months, if not weeks”. This, he argues, “will allow financial capital flows to grow further, which is good for the economy, at least in the short term”, said the scholar at a recent seminar on Pakistan at the US Institute of Peace, Washington.

FATF’s plenary session, which will decide whether to keep Pakistan on grey list, begins on Feb 19

“US officials believe Pakistan has made enough progress with its FATF action plan, and the conviction of Hafiz Saeed on terror financing charges will be an encouraging sign for FATF members too,” says Mr Kugelman.

“The question of the grey list is more complicated. Washington is still looking for wholesale and irreversible steps, and the revelation that Masood Azhar is ‘missing’ won’t go down well. This suggests that unless things change in the coming weeks, Pakistan may have trouble convincing FATF to be removed from the grey list.”

Madiha Afzal of Brookings Institution, Washington, says in a tweet that militant leader Hafiz Saeed’s conviction is “significant” but it’s important to see how his appeal is dealt with.

She raises the question being asked by some in Washington: Will Hafiz Saeed’s “conviction eventually be overturned, especially if Pakistan comes off the FATF grey list?”

Some are also raising the concern expressed when Pakistan was first put on the grey list in 2018, the “listing can push Pakistan further into China’s orbit.”

Pakistan was previously placed on the grey list in 2012-2015 but was removed in 2016 after legislating drastic reforms to its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing regulations. Pakistani officials pleading the country’s case in Paris believe that if they convince a few Western nations that the actions they have taken since the last FATF meeting in October 2019 would eradicate terrorist financing, Islamabad could be out of the grey list.

Recently, China, which now chairs the FATF, issued a list of priorities for its presidency, which includes “closely monitoring and reporting on the financing of ISIL, AQ and Affiliates”.

It also highlights the need to “work on confiscation and asset recovery; best practices to improve the transparency of beneficial ownership”.

The priorities also talk about “mutual evaluations of Russia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Korea, Japan and South Africa; and the first 5th year follow-up assessments of effectiveness for Norway, Spain, Australia, Belgium and Malaysia”.

But it does not mention Pakistan. In a statement issued after FATF’s October 2019 meeting in Beijing, China warned against targeting Pakistan to please others (India) and hailed Islamabad’s effort to fight terrorist financing and money laundering.

Another key FATF member, Turkey, also strongly supports Pakistan. On Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had told Pakistan’s parliament: “We will be supporting Pakistan at the Financial Action Task Force meetings, where Pakistan is subject to political pressure.”

Malaysia also supports Pakistan’s efforts to get off the grey list. And the support of these three countries is enough to block India’s moves to blacklist Pakistan.

But to get off the watch list, it needs support from other nations, particularly the United States. Last week, a senior US official, Assistant Secretary Alice Wells, appreciated Hafiz Saeed’s conviction. Her statement was interpreted as indicating that Washington does not want to blacklist Islamabad, but it may want Pakistan to do more before supporting its efforts to come off the grey list.

Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2020

Right-wing minister claims being trans is a Jewish plot to make humanity androgynous

JOSH MILTON FEBRUARY 17, 2020

Rick Wiles spoke to Jana Ben-Nun during a run of TruNews. (Screen captures via TruNews/Right Wing Watch)


A right-wing minister Rick Wiles has claimed that being trans is a “Zionist plot” that will destroy humanity as we know it.

Uh, sure, Jan.

This is the latest anti-LGBT+ salvos by evangelical Wiles after he said that the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak is somehow caused by trans children.

Right Wing Watch reported on last Wednesday’s edition of the program TruNews.

Messianic Jewish folk Steve and Jana Ben-Nun of Israeli News Live trafficked in similar anti-LGBT+ attitudes to Riles on the show; Jana and Wiles discussed the conspiracy that trans folk are “putting specific things” in food and water to make the world “androgynous”.

Yup.

What happened?

The strand of the Jewish faith states that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah, and that salvation comes only from accepting him as your saviour.

Jana spewed out hurtful, unvarnished stereotypes on the show: “They want to get Gentile riches, and they want to run the Gentiles.

“They don’t consider Gentiles [to be] fully human beings.”

Moreover, Jana later explained that the “endgame” is to remake humanity in the image of Adam.

Rick Wiles, self-proclaimed “citizen reporter” and host of TruNews. (Right Wing Watch)

In the Haggadah, a sacred text recited at the Seder on the first two nights of the Jewish Passover, it states that Adam was androgynous.

Adam “wasn’t male or female, he was made male and female in one body, and this is why you see the transgender agenda today”.

The comment prompted Wiles to ask: “Is the transgender movement get its origin in Zionism?”

Oh, boy.

Jana responded with a resounding: “Yes.

“It gets its origin in Zionism, and it gets its origin in the Talmud, Zohar, and Kabbalah.

“It’s a Kabbalahistic doctrine of Adam Kadmon. They have this doctrine called Tikkun Olam – repairing the world – so how do they want to repair the world.

“They want to bring [humanity] to the original.

“Who was original? Adam, he was androgynous.

“So now they’re putting specific things in food, in drink, and basically their end game is to make humans on Earth that will survive – whatever it is they are bringing – androgynous.”

“What they are really trying to do is undo God’s creation,” Wiles said.

“They are at odds with the Creator.”

In other words, the pair claimed that trans folk are conspiring to make people androgynous, like Adam, a creation of God, which is apparently an affront to God because it goes against his creation, which was Adam, who was androgynous.

Right.

Rick Wiles: Wuhan coronavirus is God ‘purging’ trans children.

The pastor’s claim comes after he blamed COVID-19 on the “vile, disgusting people” who are “transgenderising little children”.

Speaking on TruNews, Wiles said: “Spirit bears witness that this is a genuine plague that is coming upon the earth, and God is about to purge a lot of sin off this planet.”

The morality rate of the coronavirus strain had hurtled towards the 2,000 mark across the last week, but, Chinese health officials said, has since levelled off and stalled to around 1,770 deaths with 70,500 infected in mainland China alone.

Authorities issued an edict to round-up those who have, even potentially, acquired the virus as part of a “wartime” campaign to contain the outbreak.

Pinning global disasters on people who don’t correspond with his own worldview is entirely in keeping with Wiles, who has previously blamed “gay Nazis” for the Las Vegas mass shooting, and “the sexual perversion movement” for Hurricane Harvey.

More: adam, God, Judaism, rick wiles, zionism

LIFE

Gay saunas and bathhouses could be about to return to San Francisco for the first time in almost 40 years

WILL JASON KENNEY RETURN TO CASTRO STREET TO ORGANIZE 

HOMOSEXUALS  FOR THE GOP LIKE HE DID IN THE EIGHTIES

Franklin Graham insists he’s not homophobic, queer people are just ‘truthophobic’, in bizarre rant at UK

PATRICK KELLEHER FEBRUARY 17, 2020


Anti-LGBT hate preacher Franklin Graham (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Pro-Trump evangelical leader Franklin Graham has said people in the UK are “truthophobic” after his tour there was cancelled due to his anti-LGBT+ comments.

Graham hit out at people who campaigned to have him banned from preaching in venues across the UK in a Facebook post.

“Opposition to the Gospel shouldn’t really surprise us,” Graham wrote on Facebook. “Jesus warned that it would come.

“As you may know, my eight-city evangelistic tour across the UK has been met with resistance by LGBTQ activists who inaccurately claim that I am homophobic, Islamophobic, and say that I speak hate.”

Franklin Graham believes the people of the UK are ‘truthophobic’ and ‘free-speech-ophobic.’

He continued: “Anyone who knows me or has heard me speak knows that this really isn’t true – but, I DO preach the TRUTH of the Gospel. Could it be, rather, that these folks are truthophobic or free-speech-ophobic?”

He added: “This is really a fight for truth, and the Gospel is what is really being ‘banned’ from these venues. It really boils down to the fact that they disagree with the message.”

Could it be, rather, that these folks are truthophobic or free-speech-ophobic?

Graham’s tour,which was scheduled to feature a series of messages form the Bible and concerts that impart biblical principles, was set to begin in May.

But convention centres dotting the UK pulled out the evangelist’s from its calendars, with many of the events set to overlap with the nation’s Pride Month celebrations.

One venue cited the Christian’s views as “incompatible” in a statement.

Venues in the UK pulled out over his past anti-LGBT+ remarks.


The Utilita Arena in Newcastle was the final venue to announce it had axed the preacher, following the lead of venues in Birmingham, Newport, Glasgow, Milton Keynes, Sheffield and Liverpool.

A London date, also planned, never even secured a venue.

The religious leader previously preached to millions across US stadiums in events called crusades.

In the scheduled tour, he invited the queer community to attend for spiritual guidance, but enforced his stance that homosexuality is a sin.

Since then, Graham has sought to play down his long record of anti-LGBT+ hatred as he prepares to head to the UK for a controversial trip during Pride Month, claiming that he preaches “love” in a letter to the LGBT+ community.

However, it didn’t take long for the mask to slip – and Graham is already back to praising claims that gay weddings will lead to homelessness and “fatherless children".

To the surprise of nobody, Franklin Graham is back to hating on gay people, after denying he’s a hate preacher
NICK DUFFY FEBRUARY 17, 2020

Franklin Graham takes the stage at a Trump rally (Photo by Mark Wallheiser/Getty Images)

Fresh from his emphatic denials that he is an anti-LGBT+ hate preacher, Franklin Graham is back at work targeting gay people.

The pro-Trump evangelical leader has sought to play down his long record of anti-LGBT+ hatred as he prepares to head to the UK for a controversial trip during Pride Month, claiming that he preaches “love” in a letter to the LGBT+ community.

However, it didn’t take long for the mask to slip – and Graham is already back to praising claims that gay weddings will lead to homelessness and “fatherless children”.

He spoke out in support of reverend Robert Grant Jr, who delivered an anti-LGBT+ sermon to the Virginia House of Delegates last week.
Preacher claims gay weddings lead to homelessness and fatherless children.

Grant Jr, who had been invited by a Republican lawmaker to deliver an invocation, told the chamber: “I pray that we do not provoke God’s anger by making laws that can destroy the fabric of this great state. Please do not provoke his anger and bring wrath upon this state by what you create as law.”

He continued: “I pray that this chamber will uphold the Virginia family, that the bills and laws being passed will always protect the Biblical traditional marriage as God instructed the first man and the first woman in the Bible.

“That the two shall be one flesh, that a man and the woman shall be fruitful and multiply. We should never rewrite what God has declared, it’s not yours to change or alter.

“Marriage is to join a biological male and a biological female in holy matrimony, not to provoke the Almighty God.

“Without laws to protect traditional marriage, Virginia will be reduced to increased fatherless children and welfare victims and homelessness, a tax burden to us all.”

The prayer faced heckles from pro-LGBT Democrats present, with one delegate yelling: “Is this a prayer or a sermon?”

The House of Delegates speaker then brought the speech to an abrupt end

Franklin Graham praises anti-LGBT+ sermon.

Weighing in on the anti-LGBT_ sermon on Facebook, Graham said he “loves” the preacher – though presumably not in the way that makes God so angry.  

Anti-LGBT hate preacher Franklin Graham (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

He wrote: “Here’s a guy who’s got guts for Jesus. Democrats in the Virginia House of Delegates treated this African American pastor with contempt.

“Reverend Dr Robert M Grant Jr was invited to pray and he took a stand for life, marriage, and biblical principles. He was heckled by some, some walked out, and then he was cut off by the gavel of the Democratic Speaker of the House.

“They didn’t want to hear the truth. But what Pastor Grant said was truth. He’s right – these are crucial times. He urged lawmakers to honor God’s laws and be aware of His judgment.

“You can see what happened in the video in this news link. I just love this guy.”

Graham is known for praising Vladimir Putin’s anti-gay laws and blaming gay people for a “moral 9/11”, and has previously declared that gay people are “the enemy” of civilisation.

Trans woman makes history representing Pakistan at United Nations
PATRICK KELLEHER FEBRUARY 17, 2020


Aisha Mughal (R) at the United Nations convention (Twitter)


A woman from Pakistan has become the first openly trans person to take part in a United Nations convention on violence against women in Geneva.

Aisha Mughal, who works with the Ministry of Human Rights in Pakistan, was one of the country’s delegates at the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

The delegation was led by the country’s Ministry for Human Rights, which also completed a review of Pakistan’s 5th Periodic UN CEDAW Report.

Trans rights expert Aisha Mughal praises Pakistan for progress.

Writing on Twitter following the convention, Mughal praised her country for giving her a place at the table.

“I am really grateful to my boss for believing in me and for making me part of Pakistan’s Government delegation to UN CEDAW,” Mughal wrote.

“I acknowledge the efforts of my government for mainstreaming the transgender community of Pakistan.”

I am really grateful to my boss @RabiyaJaveri for believing in me and for making me part of Pakistan's Government delegation to UN CEDAW. I acknowledge the efforts of my government for mainstreaming the transgender community of Pakistan. ♥️ pic.twitter.com/QpMlQJwIrp
— Aisha Mughal (@_aishamughal) February 15, 2020

Speaking to SAMAA TV, Mughal said: “Many transgender women have attended these conventions before but they were representing civil societies.”

“This was the first time a transgender was a member of a government delegation.”

I acknowledge the efforts of my government for mainstreaming the transgender community of Pakistan.

She praised her country’s record on trans rights, saying: “Pakistan has become an example for the entire world.

“With all the support from the government, I feel proud to be a Pakistani transgender woman.”

The country recently introduced free healthcare for transgender people.

Mughal’s achievement comes just weeks after Pakistan extended free healthcare to trans people in a landmark move.

All trans people in Pakistan will now be eligible for free medical treatment, including transition-related care.

The government is giving trans people a special health card that will give them access to an existing government health insurance scheme, which was introduced in 2015 to provide health cards for those earning less than $2 a day, although trans people will not face that financial test.

Prime minister Imran Khan said that his government was “taking responsibility” for trans people, who say they are routinely denied treatment and can face harassment or ridicule from hospital staff and patients.

It also plans to set up separate hospital wards for trans patients, according to Dr Zafar Mirza, a special aide to Khan for health services.
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More: Aisha Mughal, Pakistan, Trans, UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, United Nations

Pakistan to consider importing insecticides from India to fight locusts


By Asif Shahzad,
Reuters•February 17, 2020


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Pakistan to consider importing insecticides from India to fight locusts

FILE PHOTO: A desert locust is seen in a grazing land in Nakwamuru village, Samburu County

By Asif Shahzad

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan is likely to import insecticides from arch-rival India to brace itself for any locust attacks this summer, bypassing a ban on trade between the neighbouring nations.

A copy of Cabinet agenda for a Tuesday meeting seen by Reuters has the import option on it.

Pakistan severed all diplomatic and trade ties with New Delhi in August after India revoked the special status of Kashmir, a disputed territory between the two rivals, who have fought two of their three wars over the Himalayan region.

"Yes definitely, there is a fear of locust attack in June- July, this is the reason we are planning and preparing in advance," Dr Falak Naz, Director General Department of Plant Protection, Ministry of National Food Security and Research, told Reuters.

China, currently battling the coronavirus outbreak, is the other place from where Pakistan can import the insecticides.

Pakistan declared a national emergency over locust swarms early this month after the food ministry gave a briefing to parliament, warning that the country was facing the worst locust infestation in two decades.

Desert locusts, large herbivores which resemble grasshoppers, are said to have arrived in Pakistan from Iran, and have already damaged maze, cotton, wheat and other crops.

Khusro Bakhtiar, the national food security minister, quoted by local English language newspaper The Express Tribune, said in the briefing that the locust swarm was currently on the Pakistan-India border.

"Action has been taken against the insect over 0.3 million acres (121,400 hectares) and aerial spray was done on 20,000 hectares," he said.

Swarms of desert locusts have invaded eastern Africa, ravaging crops, decimating pasture and deepening a hunger crisis. United Nations says hundreds of millions of the insects have swept over the Horn of Africa in the worst outbreak in a quarter of a century


(Writing by Asif Shahzad; Additional Reporting by Syed Raza Hasan in Karachi, Pakistan; Editing by Toby Chopra)

Pakistani journalist murdered after warning of threats against him

CPJ

Washington, D.C., February 17, 2020 -- Pakistan authorities should take swift action to launch a thorough and credible investigation into the murder of journalist Aziz Memon, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Memon, who worked for the privately-owned Sindhi TV channel KTN News and the Sindhi-language Daily Kawish newspaper, was found strangled to death in an irrigation ditch yesterday near the town of Mehrabpur in the Naushahro Feroze District of Sindh province, according to news reports.

“The tragic murder of Aziz Memon deserves swift justice, which is something Pakistani authorities have repeatedly failed to deliver for journalists,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Steven Butler. “Given the victim’s previous allegations of threats from local officials, it is essential that the investigation be free from political meddling.”

Months earlier, Memon released a video, now circulating on Twitter, in which he said officials of the opposition Pakistan People’s Party and local police had threatened him over his reporting. His reporting included allegations that individuals were paid to attend a widely publicized 2019 “train march,” in which PPP Chair Bilawal Bhutto Zardari stopped at train stations to give speeches. The PPP is the dominant political party of Sindh province.

Fawad Chaudhry, Pakistan’s federal minister for science and technology and the former information minister, called in a Twitter post for the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take notice of the case, and for the Federal Investigation Agency to investigate the murder.

PPP Chair Bhutto Zardari issued a statement condemning the murder and called for a swift and impartial investigation. An email sent to the PPP asking for comment about the allegations against the party was not immediately answered.

Naushahro Feroze Senior Superintendent of Police Mohammad Farooq told CPJ that police were interrogating three individuals in connection with the murder. He added that while Memon had complained about police threats a year ago, Memon did not report any threat to police in the last six months.

Journalists in Sindh have been protesting for months against what they have called abuse by police, as CPJ reported in December. Pakistan ranked 8th on CPJ’s 2019 Global Impunity Index, with 16 unsolved killings of journalists in the past 10 years. Of the 34 journalists who were murdered for their work since 1992, when CPJ began keeping detailed records, partial justice has been achieved in only three cases, according to CPJ research

Pakistan Urged To Bring Journalist's Killers To Justice
February 17, 2020By RFE/RL

An employee of a local television channel shows a picture of slain journalist Aziz Memon on his mobile, after a demonstration to condemn his killing, in Hyderabad on February 17,

International media freedom watchdogs are urging Pakistani authorities to ensure that the killing of a journalist whose body was found in an irrigation waterway does not go unpunished.

Aziz Memon’s body was found with wire tied around the neck on February 16 near his hometown of Mehrabpur, in the southwestern province of Sindh. The initial investigation suggested he was strangled to death before his body was thrown into the canal.

In a statement on February 17, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said the “murder…deserves swift justice, which is something Pakistani authorities have repeatedly failed to deliver for journalists.”

A reporter for KTN TV and the newspaper Kawish, which are owned by Pakistan’s largest Sindhi-language media group, Memon is the first Pakistani journalist to be killed this year, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF). It said four Pakistani journalists and a blogger were killed last year in connection with their reporting.

Memon was last seen when he set off on February 15 to do some reporting in the nearby locality of Behlani.

The Paris-based RSF quoted fellow journalist Akhlaiq Jokhiyo as saying that both he and Memon’s wife believed he was targeted in connection with his reporting.

Months ago, Memon released a video message saying he was receiving threats for his coverage of a news story.

The threats seem to have been triggered by his coverage of the so-called Train March, a campaign of protests and rallies organized nearly a year ago by the opposition Pakistan Peoples’ Party, according to RSF.

Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk, urged Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah to do “everything possible” to ensure that those responsible for the killing are brought to justice.

Meanwhile, the federal government and parliament should “quickly finalize a law protecting journalists and combatting impunity, in order to rein in the spiral of violence against media personnel,” Bastard said.

“Given the victim’s previous allegations of threats from local officials, it is essential that the investigation be free from political meddling,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Steven Butler.

Pakistan ranked 8th on CPJ’s 2019 Global Impunity Index, with 16 unsolved killings of journalists in the past 10 years.

Of the 34 journalists who were murdered for their work since 1992, partial justice has been achieved in only three cases, according to the watchdog.
With reporting by RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal