children

“Appalling and Unacceptable”: Leak Shows Facebook Knew Its Algorithms Spread Hate & Harmed Children

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.AMY GOODMAN: We begin today’s show looking at a massive leak of tens of thousands of internal Facebook documents that show the social media’s own research indicates its algorithm helps boost disinformation, hate speech and political unrest around the world and that Facebook executives knew about it but kept the damning information hidden from the public. The leak also implicates Facebook in issues of child safety and human trafficking, while it prioritized profits over people’s welfare. The documents were behind a sweeping investigation by The Wall Street Journal and were unveiled by whistleblower and former Facebook…

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5 October 2021

Democracy Now (U.S.A)

“Disaster for Me and My Children”: Afghan Doctor Describes Escape from Kabul After Taliban Takeover

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.AMY GOODMAN: Coming up, we’ll talk about the almost total abortion ban that just went into effect in Texas last night midnight. But this is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org. I’m Amy Goodman, with Juan González, and we continue to look at Afghanistan as we’re joined by an Afghan doctor who fled Afghanistan last week with his four children and his wife. The family was airlifted to Doha, Qatar, after spending days trying to get into the Kabul airport. From Doha, they flew to Germany, then to the United States, arriving Saturday. Dr. Wais Aria joins us now.…

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1 September 2021

The Canary UK

September phase out of £20 Universal Credit uplift to further impoverish nearly 3.5 million children

Support us and go ad-freeAlmost three and a half million children will be affected by the cut to Universal Credit (UC) payments from next month, figures suggest. Levelling down There were more than 1.8 million households containing around 3.4 million children claiming the benefit as of May 2021, according to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). A temporary £20 a week uplift, introduced to help claimants weather the storm of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic and described as a “lifeline”, is to be phased out from late September. The Canary has previously reported on the argument that the £20 uplift was never enough by itself and still left…

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17 August 2021

Democracy Now (U.S.A)

Gov. Abbott Is a “Direct Threat” to the Children of Texas: Houston Doctor on Mask Bans, Kids & COVID

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.AMY GOODMAN: Many schools are reopening this week. We begin today’s show looking at the rise of COVID-19 infections in children as the highly contagious Delta variant continues to spread. Many hospitals across the country are reporting record numbers of children hospitalized especially in areas with low vaccination rates. The New York Times reports, in a single day last week, Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock had 19 hospitalized children; Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida, had 15; and Children’s Mercy Kansas City in Missouri had 12. Some of the children were in…

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10 August 2021

The Canary UK

Refugees, including children, held in ‘shocking’ and ‘completely inappropriate’ conditions

Support us and go ad-freeWomen with babies and children were among 56 migrants packed into a small room in “shocking” conditions in Dover, the home secretary has been told. Priti Patel has been sent a letter by Yvette Cooper, chair of the Home Affairs Committee, raising “serious concerns” after MPs visited the Kent Intake Unit. As well as concerns over overcrowding and the length of stays, the committee was “very concerned” about the “clear risk” of a Covid-19 outbreak. In the letter, Cooper said: “I am writing to raise serious concerns about the shocking conditions the committee observed during its visit to the Kent Intake Unit yesterday. “The…

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30 July 2021

The Canary UK

Government accused of tearing apart mothers and children in its plans to build 500 new cells

Support us and go ad-freeCampaigners say plans for 500 extra prison places for women will ‘tear families apart‘ as they urge the government to reconsider. The Ministry of Justice announced in January that up to 500 new cells would be built in women’s prisons. Prison reform activists say the extra places, combined with plans to increase prosecutions, will incarcerate more women rather than focusing on prevention. Now representatives from 70 organisations have signed a joint letter to the secretary of state for justice and the lord chancellor expressing their “grave concern” with the plans. The proposals The Ministry of Justice announced the 500 new cells would be built…

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27 July 2021

The Canary UK

Children in custody held in conditions resembling solitary confinement during the pandemic

Support us and go ad-freeThe Alliance for Youth Justice (AYJ) has published a damning report revealing the “devastating” impacts of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic on children in the youth justice system. The AYJ’s wide-ranging findings include safeguarding concerns, youth offending institutions depriving children of education and contact with their families – “amounting to solitary confinement” – and delays in court proceedings. The report argues that marginalised and disadvantaged children and young people continue to bear the brunt of worsening conditions in England and Wales’ youth justice system. Children’s rights issues The AYJ highlights “safeguarding concerns” for all children as a result of lockdown measures, suggesting that the state and…

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23 July 2021

Democracy Now (U.S.A)

How the Pandemic Fueled Global Hunger: 2.5 Billion Lack Nutritious Food, 1 in 5 Children Are Stunted

The COVID-19 pandemic has fueled a sharp increase in the number of people going hungry worldwide, along with conflict and the impacts of climate change. A new report on the state of food security and nutrition in the world found about one-tenth of the global population were undernourished last year, more than 2.5 billion people did not have access to sufficiently nutritious food, and one in five children now face stunted growth. Saskia de Pee, the World Food Programme’s head of systems analysis for nutrition, describes how the impact is “going to be long-term.” Source link

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15 July 2021

Democracy Now (U.S.A)

Free the Children: Advocates Demand Biden Close Fort Bliss Detention Center Holding 800 Migrant Kids

Migrant children held by the Biden administration are reporting suicide and escape attempts and conditions of spoiled food, extreme heat and panic attacks in the largest so-called emergency shelter for migrant children in the U.S., at the Fort Bliss military base in El Paso, Texas. More than 14,000 migrant children are currently in the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services, which has set up 15 emergency sites like the one at Fort Bliss to get them out of overcrowded Border Patrol holding facilities. Vice President Kamala Harris did not visit the Fort Bliss tent city on her recent visit to the southern border, and Department…

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29 June 2021

The Canary UK

The UK military should stop recruiting children, human rights organisations say

Support us and go ad-freeThe UK military must stop recruiting under 18s, a coalition of human rights groups has urged. An open letter to defence secretary Ben Wallace said the military should change its recruiting policy. Human rights organisations such as Liberty, Medact, Amnesty, War Child, and Amnesty International UK signed the letter. The letter highlights that while “most states worldwide now allow only adults to be recruited”, the British Army “still recruits more soldiers at 16 than any other age”. And they said this was especially true for combat infantry roles. The letter rejected the military’s claim that joining up helps kids: The army argues that it…

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24 June 2021