• chevron_right

      The week around the world in 20 pictures

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · 18:45


    War in Gaza, the election in India, clouds of dust in Athens and the London Marathon: the last seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists

    Warning: this gallery contains images that some readers may find distressing

    Continue reading...
    • chevron_right

      How cheap, outsourced labour in Africa is shaping AI English

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Tuesday, 16 April - 10:43

    Workers in Africa have been exploited first by being paid a pittance to help make chatbots, then by having their own words become AI-ese. Plus, new AI gadgets are coming for your smartphones

    Don’t get TechScape delivered to your inbox? Sign up for the full article here

    We’re witnessing the birth of AI-ese, and it’s not what anyone could have guessed. Let’s delve deeper.

    If you’ve spent enough time using AI assistants, you’ll have noticed a certain quality to the responses generated. Without a concerted effort to break the systems out of their default register, the text they spit out is, while grammatically and semantically sound, ineffably generated.

    The images pop up in Mophat Okinyi’s mind when he’s alone, or when he’s about to sleep. Okinyi, a former content moderator for Open AI’s ChatGPT in Nairobi, Kenya, is one of four people in that role who have filed a petition to the Kenyan government calling for an investigation into what they describe as exploitative conditions for contractors reviewing the content that powers artificial intelligence programs.

    Continue reading...
    • chevron_right

      The truth about hair relaxers: in the US, lawsuits over cancer. In Africa, soaring sales

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Wednesday, 10 April - 10:00

    Despite criticism for the use of potentially harmful chemicals, companies are still selling the products around the world

    It was just before Christmas, and eight-year-old Gloria Moraa sat holding a mirror as her aunt painted her curls with chemicals that would straighten every strand. “All the young girls would get matching hairstyles for the holidays, and relaxers were fashionable back then,’’ says Moraa, now 28, who lives in Nairobi, Kenya.

    She no longer straightens her hair because she thought it was starting to thin. But over the years, Moraa used almost every relaxer on the market , with one goal: making her coily hair silky. The ingredients didn’t matter.

    Continue reading...
    • chevron_right

      As a widow, I faced humiliation and stigma. Now I’m speaking up for others | Roseline Orwa

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Wednesday, 3 April - 05:00

    I’m working to help vulnerable women in my home country of Kenya, but millions around the world face deep-rooted injustices

    In February, Asenath Rotich became a widow , after the death of her partner, marathon runner and world record-holder Kelvin Kiptum, in a road accident. Unlike the majority of more than 8 million widows in Kenya, Rotich’s future is being provided for. The government has built her a house and is working to secure a job for her so she can care for her two children.

    In contrast, consider the recent case of Silvia that was shared with me by a community radio journalist. Silvia is a 39-year-old widow with five children, whose home in Siaya County was demolished during a land ownership dispute. Despite widespread media coverage and public outcry, justice remains elusive for her.

    Continue reading...
    • chevron_right

      ‘It’s mission impossible’: fear grows in Kenya over plan to deploy police to Haiti

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Thursday, 28 March - 09:30

    Deal to send hundreds of officers to Caribbean country amid spiraling gang violence is facing intense public and legal scrutiny

    Haiti’s raging gang insurrection has prompted growing concern in Kenya over plans to deploy hundreds of paramilitary police officers from the East African country on a UN-backed multinational mission to counter the violence.

    “If they come back in body bags, what will [Kenyan President William Ruto] tell the nation?” said Ekuru Aukot, leader of the opposition Thirdway Alliance, who last year filed a legal challenge against the deployment.

    Continue reading...
    • chevron_right

      Kenyan Del Monte farm seeks human rights manager after claims of violence

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Friday, 22 March - 07:00


    Exclusive: new role created after Guardian uncovered allegations against company’s security guards

    A vast Del Monte pineapple farm in Kenya that supplies most British supermarkets is advertising for a human rights manager to address its “human rights challenges” in the wake of allegations of killings and violence by its security guards.

    The job advert says the candidate will need to “develop a detailed action plan to address human rights challenges in the workplace and in surrounding communities”.

    Continue reading...
    • chevron_right

      ‘I saw many people suffer’: former Del Monte Kenya guards speak of violence on pineapple farm

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Friday, 15 March - 19:09

    Exclusive: former guards tell of clashes on farm that is facing civil claims over allegations of killing, rape and beatings

    Former security guards at a vast Del Monte pineapple farm in Kenya have spoken for the first time describing violent clashes between guards and thieves at the plantation, which is facing civil claims over allegations of killing, rape and beatings by its guards.

    Earlier this month Del Monte announced it would be outsourcing its security operations at the farm to G4S, sacking its 214 in-house guards.

    Continue reading...
    • chevron_right

      Haiti crisis: gangs attack police stations as Caribbean leaders call for emergency meeting

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Sunday, 10 March - 03:39

    National palace guards set up security ring after gangs attack at least three police stations in Port-au-Prince

    Police and palace guards worked on Saturday to retake some streets in Haiti’s capital after gangs launched massive attacks on at least three police stations.

    Guards from the National Palace accompanied by an armored truck tried to set up a security perimeter around one of the three downtown stations after police fought off an attack by gangs late Friday.

    Sporadic gunfire continued to be reported on Saturday. The unrelenting gang attacks have paralysed the country for more than a week and left it with dwindling supplies of basic goods. Haitian officials extended a state of emergency and nightly curfew on Thursday as gangs continued to attack key state institutions.

    Continue reading...
    • chevron_right

      Kenya agrees to security deal to deploy 1,000 police officers to Haiti

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Friday, 1 March - 15:55

    It’s not clear if the new agreement can circumvent the Kenyan high court’s earlier ruling that such a deployment is unconstitutional

    Kenya and Haiti have a security deal to try to salvage a plan for Nairobi to deploy 1,000 police officers to the troubled Caribbean nation to help combat gang violence that has surged to unprecedented levels.

    Kenya agreed in October to lead a UN-authorized international police force to Haiti, but the Kenyan high court in January ruled the plan unconstitutional , in part because of a lack of reciprocal agreements between the two countries.

    Continue reading...