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2019: CSO develops GPS tracker, app to monitor polls

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By: Oliseama Okwuchukwu

A Civil Society Organisation (CSO), Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) on Thursday said it would deploy a Global Positioning System (GPS) tracker to monitor the 2019 general elections.

Ms Idayat Hassan, CDD director while addressing a news conference on the centre’s “One-Stop-Shop for Analysis” of the 2019 General Elections’’, said that the centre would also inaugurate an election app for effective observation.

Hassan who was represented by Mr Shamsudeen Yusuf, a Senior Programmes Officer in organisation, said that the newly developed GPS-enabled CDD election tracker would be deployed to enable accredited field observers report on the election process.

“The tracker will also help us track where the observers are reporting from for quality control purposes.

“ The tracker is developed in a way that also allows citizens and journalists to register and report only on incidents on the day of elections.

“ The Centre is also deploying Telerivet – SMS-based platform for reporting and documenting data relating to Election Day activities.’’

Hassan said that the centre had also concluded its plan to inaugurate an Election Analysis Centre (EAC) as a “One-Stop-Shop’’ for rigorous analysis of the 2019 general elections.

She said that the EAC would be located at Fraser Suite, 294 Leventis Close, Central Business District, FCT, Abuja.

According to her, it is aimed at providing accurate and real-time analysis of events in the build-up to the polls, election day and post-election period in a more captivating, enriching and systematic manner.

She said that it would also provide informed analysis grounded in historical facts and data spanning 1999-2015 general elections, inclusive of off-cycle polls in the country.

Hassan said that 3,500 trained observers would be deployed to monitor the elections in all the 36 states, the 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs) and the 2,642 political wards in the country.

The CDD director said that the observers were being trained to carefully observe and report back on the accreditation and voting process, including movement of sensitive materials, opening of units, setting up of polling units, and accreditation and voting.

She said that the CDD’s EAC would have political scientists, historians, gender, conflict experts, data analyst and communication experts who would interrogate pre-election, Election Day and post-election events from a contemporary and historical lens

Hassan said that embedded in this analysis centre would be CDD’s fake news centre, adding that fake news could trigger fear and violence during election.

This, she said was the reason for CDD’s fact-checking team to spot, identify, investigate and counter fake news during the elections.

“For the first time in the history of Nigeria, there will be a live telecast of election analysis by a CSO tagged #Decision2019 on Arise TV available on DSTV Channel 416, Sky 519 and GoTV Channel 44.’’ She said.

She said the aim was to create a platform for impartial analysis using evidence and data to explain polls to the citizens.

Hassan said that the programme would inform voters about procedural matters and arrangements for the conduct of the elections, serve as a non-partisan platform for INEC to communicate its messages to the electorate.

Mr Damilola Praiseworth, Communications Officer, CDD said that the centre was leveraging on technology to examine the integrity of the elections.

Praiseworth said that this became imperative due to the loose link in Nigeria’s election collation process, adding that CDD and Policy Legal Advocacy Centre (situation room) was partnering to operate an Election Fusion Centre (EFC).

He said that EFC would tally and verify election results from all the 8,809 ward collation centres (WCCs) across the country.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that CDD was partnering with Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), MacArthur Foundation, National Endowment for Democracy (NED), and National Democratic Institute (NDI), among others to achieve this. (NAN)

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The Peruvian Government Has Officially Classified Transgender, Nonbinary And Intersex People As “Mentally ill”

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According to the country’s ministry of health, the controversial decision was made to ensure the country’s public health services could “guarantee full coverage of medical attention for mental health” for the trans community.

It also categorises “dual-role transvestitism,” “fetishistic transvestism,” and “other gender identity disorders” under the same bracket of mental illness.

The new law will change language in the Essential Health Insurance Plan (PEAS) to reflect the view of trans and intersex people as a mental health disorder.

Trans groups across Peru have loudly condemned the decision as a step backwards for the country’s already complex relationship with LGBTQ+ rights.

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Math Teacher Accused Of Having Sex With 2 Students And Getting Pregnant For One Tearfully Reveals The Baby Was Taken Away From Her

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The UK teacher who had a baby with an underage student while on trial for having sex with another teenage boy broke down in court after revealing her newborn baby girl had been “taken away” from her.

Manchester math teacher Rebecca Joynes, 30, sobbed to jurors over how her baby was taken “24 hours after being born” this past January — and now she only sees her for nine hours a week, Joynes told jurors on Monday, May 13, according to the Manchester Evening News.

“At the moment I have contact with her three times a week for three hours and that’s it,” she said through tears.

Joynes was arrested and released on bail on orders not to have unsupervised contact with anyone under 18 after allegedly grooming her pupil, known as Boy A in court, by buying him a $430 Gucci belt before bringing him to her apartment for unprotected sex.

She was suspended from school and eventually fired, but soon after, she began having a relationship with a 15-year-old boy, known in court as Boy B, whom she had a baby with in January.

Joynes, who has denied having sex with either boy when they were underage, told the court that when she learned of the allegations against her she had gone to the second boy in a “panic” and he deleted all of her phone’s content.

The former teacher denied having a sexual relationship with the second boy until after he turned 16 and she was already suspended from teaching.

According to her narration,

She said he had added her on Snapchat twice, which she only accepted the second time because she thought he “wanted to tell her something.”

Joynes said a friendship developed and he quickly became her “best friend” even though the boy would make flirtatious and sexualized comments toward her when he was drunk.

She told jurors that it wasn’t until after his 16th birthday that he messaged her saying “I’ve left school now” with a winky face.

After she received notice that she had been dismissed from her job, he went to her apartment, where following an emotional conversation, they had sex.

The two then entered a relationship that Joynes described as “quite toxic” telling the court how the teenager was “very controlling.”

After discovering she was pregnant, Joynes hid love notes for the boy to find around her apartment.

The notes eventually led to a piece of baby clothing that had the words “I love my daddy to the moon and back” written on it.

The court was told that she gave birth to their baby girl in January, but following an emergency court hearing, the newborn was taken away from Joynes.

Joynes has denied two counts of sexual activity with Boy A; two counts of sexual activity with Boy B; and two counts of sexual activity with Boy B while being a person in a position of trust.

Her trial is ongoing.

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First Man To Receive Pig Kidney Transplant Has Died

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The first Man to receive a genetically modified pig kidney transplant has died two months after the operation.

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), which carried out the procedure in March, announced Sunday, May 12, that Richard “Rick” Slayman, 62, has died.

They said there was no indication his death was a result of the transplant.

Transplants of other organs from genetically modified pigs have failed in the past, but the operation on Mr Slayman, who was suffering with end-stage kidney disease, was hailed as a historic milestone.

In addition to kidney disease, Mr Slayman also suffered from Type 2 diabetes and hypertension.

In 2018, he had a human kidney transplant, but it began to fail after five years.

Following his pig kidney transplant on March 16, his doctors confirmed he no longer needed dialysis after the new organ was said to be functioning well.

“Mr Slayman will forever be seen as a beacon of hope to countless transplant patients worldwide and we are deeply grateful for his trust and willingness to advance the field of xenotransplantation,” MGH said in a statement.

Xenotransplantation is the transplanting of living cells, tissues or organs from one species to another.

MGH said it was “deeply saddened” at his sudden death and offered condolences to his family.

Mr Slayman’s relatives said his story was an inspiration.

“Rick said that one of the reasons he underwent this procedure was to provide hope for the thousands of people who need a transplant to survive,” they said.

“Rick accomplished that goal and his hope and optimism will endure forever.

“To us, Rick was a kind-hearted man with a quick-witted sense of humour who was fiercely dedicated to his family, friends, and co-workers,” they added.

While Mr Slayman received the first pig kidney to be transplanted into a human, it is not the first pig organ to be used in a transplant procedure.

Two other patients have received pig heart transplants, but those procedures were unsuccessful as the recipients died a few weeks later.

In one case, there were signs the patient’s immune system had rejected the organ, which is a common risk in transplants.

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