The Post Office Is Deactivating Mail Sorting Machines Ahead of the Election

The United States Postal Service is removing mail sorting machines from facilities around the country without any official explanation or reason given, Motherboard has learned through interviews with postal workers and union officials. In many cases, these are the same machines that would be tasked with sorting ballots, calling into question promises made by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy that the USPS has “ample capacity” to handle the predicted surge in mail-in ballots.

Source: The Post Office Is Deactivating Mail Sorting Machines Ahead of the Election

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Instagram deletes gay Muslim comic strip after Indonesia outrage

JAKARTA: Instagram on Wednesday (Feb 13) shut down an account that published comic strips about the struggles of a gay Muslim in Indonesia after it sparked a backlash in the world’s biggest Islamic nation.

The move comes after Indonesia’s communications ministry sent a letter to the social media giant warning that the “pornographic” content violated an electronic information law.

The now-deleted account, which had about 6,000 followers, published a dozen posts depicting a gay Muslim man named Alpantuni who talked about discrimination and his life in a conservative family.

Source: Instagram deletes gay Muslim comic strip after Indonesia outrage – Channel NewsAsia

After Mugabe, Zimbabwe Still Enforces A Law Against Insulting The President

Mnangagwa

Bailed out from remand prison, the 32-year-old activist makes weekly visits to the police station while state prosecutors deliberate over a date to start his court hearing. He’s on trial for pointing at a presidential portrait at a public hearing in the city of Bulawayo. In front of the Commission of Inquiry, an independent body mandated to investigate the Aug. 1 post-election violence, Mkhwananzi accused President Emmerson Mnangagwa of being responsible for his father’s death. A year since Mnangagwa seiz

Source: After Mugabe, Zimbabwe Still Enforces A Law Against Insulting The President : NPR

Egyptian actress charged with obscene act for wearing revealing dress at Cairo Film Festival

An Egyptian actress is to face trial for appearing at a film festival wearing a revealing dress. Rania Youssef was charged with inciting “immorality and promoting vice”, after a group of lawyers made a complaint to the country’s chief prosecutor.

The 44-year-old appeared at Cairo Film Festival on Thursday wearing a black leotard covered by a see-through overdress with criss-cross detailing and a large bow belt.

Three lawyers accused her of committing an obscene act in public, “inciting debauchery and temptation”, and “spreading vice in ways that violate established norms in Egyptian society.”

Source: Egyptian actress charged with obscene act for wearing revealing dress at Cairo Film Festival

Black Friday shoppers throw punches in Walmart, wrestle TVs in merch scrum

It’s Black Friday, and you know what that means: People trading in their dignity for discounted toys and paper towels.Two men brawled in the aisle of a Walmart on Thanksgiving evening. It’s not clear what the tussle was over, but women jumped in and cursed them out.

Source: SEASON’S BEATINGS: Black Friday shoppers throw punches in Walmart, wrestle TVs in merch scrum – The American MirrorThe American Mirror

A third of all food worldwide is wasted before it reaches the plate, says study

A third of the world’s food is lost before it ever reaches anyone’s plate, a panel of global experts has warned as it called for a war on waste to improve worldwide diets.Waste and spoilage in harvesting, storage, transport and shops accounts for an estimated 1.3 billion tonnes of food a year and squanders huge amounts of resources.

Source: A third of all food worldwide is wasted before it reaches the plate, says study

Indian brides given bats to keep abusive husbands in check

Hundreds of brides at an Indian mass wedding have been given wooden bats and urged to use them as weapons if their husbands turn abusive.

Messages such as “for use against drunkards” are written on the paddles, which measure about 40cm (15in) and are more traditionally used for laundry.

Gopal Bhargava, a state minister in Madhya Pradesh, said he wanted to highlight the issue of domestic abuse.

He told the women to try to reason with their husbands before using them.

But if their spouses refuse to listen, they should let the paddles – known as mogri and usually used to beat dirt out of clothes – “do the talking”, he said.

Source: Indian brides given bats to keep abusive husbands in check – BBC News