VOA launches programming in Sindhi

1 July 2022

VOA launches programming in Sindhi

Voice of America today launched a new webpage in the Sindhi language (voasindhi.com), under VOA’s Urdu broadcasting service. Sindhi is spoken mostly in the southeastern region of Pakistan and by more than 35 million speakers throughout South Asia.

The new language webpage will include content on world news, current affairs, science, technology, women’s issues, education, as well as bilateral relations between the U.S. and the South Asian region and its population.

“This new service will provide Sindhi speakers the critical news and information they need, as well as contribute to telling America’s story in that region,” explained Acting VOA Director Yolanda López. “I look forward to seeing more people being served by VOA and our programming through this new language.”

Broadcasting to Pakistan since 1952, VOA’s Urdu service reaches more than 6 million people weekly. The addition of the Sindhi language to VOA’s global offerings will broaden VOA’s audience in Pakistan over time.

With the addition of Sindhi, Voice of America now broadcasts in 48 languages, nine of which are languages spoken in South and Central Asia.

[Source: VOA press release]

France 24 Observers: “The Smugglers of modern-day Iran”

29 June 2022

France 24 Observers: “The Smugglers of modern-day Iran”

From the France 24 Observers: an in-depth investigation into smuggling networks of Iran.

With more than 36% of its economy coming from the informal sector, a significant proportion of consumer products sold in Iran are smuggled (alcoholic beverages, clothing, electronic products, food supplements, vehicle spare parts, etc.)

The goods are transported by three types of smugglers: The “Kulbars” are active in the West, bringing consumer goods across the mountains from neighboring Iraqi Kurdistan. The “Soukhtbars” haul gasoline and diesel across the desert plateaux in the east, to Pakistan. And The “Shootis” transport all kinds of goods from city to city across the country in cars that have been customised to carry heavier loads at high speed.

Ershad Alijani, journalist for the France 24 Observers and RFI’s Persian service, has been following these three groups of smugglers since 2019.

« The Bloody Silk Road – The Smugglers of modern-day Iran », seldom-seen images offer an immersion into the depths of a world that is little known, even in Iran.

« The Bloody Silk Road – The Smugglers of modern-day Iran »

Saturday July 2^ndat 10.45am on France 24* (Paris time)

From July 4^thon RFI’s digital platforms in Persian

[Source: France 24 press release]

Premium content from MBC GROUP’s Shahid exclusively onboard Emirates’ ice

29 June 2022

Premium content from MBC GROUP’s Shahid exclusively onboard Emirates’ ice

Emirates partners with Shahid, the world’s leading Arabic streaming platform, to offer premium content exclusively onboard its award-winning inflight entertainment system, ice.

Shahid is part of MBC GROUP, the largest and leading media company in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

This partnership makes Emirates ice the only channel to offer access to highly popular titles by Shahid Originals, aside from the streaming service’s own premium-subscription online platform.

From July 2022, all Emirates customers can enjoy an extensive selection of over 135 hours of Shahid content from 15 shows with something to appeal to all members of the family. Programme subtitles also make the content accessible to an even bigger international audience onboard Emirates.

The newly added content from Shahid adds to the extensive collection of Arabic content already available on Emirates with over 420 channels of audio and 170 channels of films and TV shows.

In total, Emirates’ award-winning ice inflight entertainment system, with over 5,000 channels, offers an unmatched breadth of content in 40 languages to cater to its global customer base, with more than 4,000 hours of movies and TV, and close to 3,500 hours of music and podcasts.

Patrick Brannelly, Emirates’ Senior Vice President Retail, IFE & Connectivity said: “We are excited to welcome the world’s leading Arabic streaming service content onboard – so passengers can catch up on all their favourite entertainment inflight, just as they do at home. We look forward to growing the partnership and making even more of their popular shows and movies available to our customers in the future.”

Natasha Matos-Hemingway, Chief Commercial and Marketing Officer (VOD) at MBC GROUP added: “We are extremely proud to partner with Emirates, an award-winning airline who, like us, is always striving to give the best to their customers. Emirates is our first airline partner, and their global footprint enables us to reach viewers from many new markets and broaden the reach of our shows and brand – there is no better match for our ambitions.

“We are excited to offer Shahid’s content for Emirates’ customers to enjoy, just in time for the busiest travel season of the year.”

Shahid’s biggest original production Rashash, which has been hugely popular in the Arab region, will be streamed for the first time by an airline on-board Emirates. In addition, Emirates customers can enjoy a broad range of exclusive Shahid Original titles and other hit MBC GROUP titles including: Anbar 6, Hell’s Gate, Dor Al Omor, Nemra Etnein, Al Shak, Al Jedar Al Rabea, Rahn El Tahqiq, 2020, Bi Saraha Ma’a, Dofa’at Beirut, Aghani Min Hayati, Kaf w Dafoof, and Salon Zahra. Content originates from territories including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Kuwait, Egypt, and Lebanon.

In addition to entertainment, Emirates ice offers a range of other practical features, such as checking the status of the flight while en route; a real-time view of the sky during take-off and landing from cameras that are fixed on the aircraft’s nose, tail and underbelly; a helpful travel guide about Emirates’ hub Dubai; EmiratesRED; the world’s first inflight TV shopping channel; and a range of personal development content including LinkedIn Learning.

Prior to their flight, Emirates customers can browse through over 5,000 channels of on-demand movies, music, TV shows, box sets, and documentaries, and create their very own playlist on The Emirates Mobile App, and sync it on board for a more personalised travel experience.

For more information, visit Emirates/inflight-entertainment

[Source: MBC press release]

VOA Spanish programmes win Gabriel, Chesapeake Bay Emmy Awards

29 June 2022

VOA Spanish programmes win Gabriel, Chesapeake Bay Emmy Awards

Voice of America’s Spanish broadcasting service won a first place 2022 CMA Gabriel Award in the Single Story – National Release: Radio – Spanish language category for its special radio feature “Impacto cambio climático en la sobrevivencia regional” (“Climate Change – Impact on Regional Survival”).

Supported by VOA Spanish correspondents in Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, senior editor Gioconda Tapia Reynolds, producers John Burnett and Héctor Contreras, and coordinator Judith Martin Rodriguez, explored the issue of climate change in four Central American nations seriously affected by natural disasters, including drought, hurricanes, storms and floods and their deadly effects on agricultural production.

“What an honor for the VOA Spanish service to win two such prestigious awards,” said Acting Latin America Division Director Sandra Thomas-Esquiv e l. “These two stories – so different, yet both so compelling – really showcase the depth and variety of quality program offerings VOA Spanish produces for its audiences.”

VOA’s Latin America division also received a 2021 National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter Emmy Award in the category of News Feature – Light Feature (Single Report and Multiple Reports). VOA Spanish TV reporter Iacopo Luzi won an Emmy for “Cuando las cigarras se convierten en un postre de chocolate” – (“When cicadas become a chocolate dessert”). The story attracted the judges’ attention for its creative presentation of the subject. For some, cicadas are a plague. However, Luzi found a local business owner who decided to create a recipe to eat the insects and saw the recent “invasion” of the Washington Metropolitan area by cicadas as a business opportunity.

Initiated in 1965 and administered by the Catholic Media Association, the Gabriel Awards honor excellence in film, broadcast, and cross-platform media productions released in the United States and Canada.

The National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter is one of the largest of The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences with more than 1,500 members. It oversees The Emmy Awards regionally, including all media outlets in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia.

[Source: VOA press release]

RFE/RL condemns Ihar Losik’s addition to Terrorist Watch Registry

29 June 2022

RFE/RL condemns Ihar Losik’s addition to Terrorist Watch Registry

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) condemns the Lukashenka regime’s addition of imprisoned RFE/RL Belarus Service journalist Ihar Losik to a terrorist watch list.

Losik was arrested by Belarusian agents in June 2020 and tried on fabricated charges including “organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order” and “preparation for participation in riots.” After a five-month trial held behind closed doors, Losik was found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in prison in December 2021. Since his arrest, Losik has faced severe physical and psychological pressures, and has undergone weeks of hunger strikes to protest his detention and charges.

“This escalation is an egregious abuse of the state’s authority and underlines the Lukashenka regime’s contempt for journalists who expose the truth,” said RFE/RL President and CEO Jamie Fly. “We continue to demand Ihar’s immediate release from prison so he can be reunited with his wife and daughter.”

Losik’s addition to Belarus’ terrorist watch list is the latest escalation in the country’s assault on free press in the region. Earlier this month, Andrey Kuznechyk, a journalist with RFE/RL’s Belarus Service was sentenced to six years in a maximum-security prison on the bogus charges of creating or participating in an “extremist organization.” Belarus Service journalist Aleh Hruzdzilovich also received a sentence of one and a half years in a penal labor colony in March for “taking part” in mass protests that he was covering on assignment.

Additionally, RFE/RL was added to Belarus’ registry of “extremist organizations” in December 2021, RFE/RL’s bureau in Minsk was raided and sealed by Belarusian security forces in July 2021, and numerous other journalists on assignment to report on the disputed August 2020 presidential election were harassed, detained, and stripped of their accreditations.

RFE/RL’s Belarus Service, known locally as Radio Svaboda, with a monthly average of over 33 million visits to its websites and 59 million page views, was first established in 1954 and is a leading provider of news in one of Europe’s most restrictive societies, defying the government’s virtual monopoly on domestic broadcast media.

[Source: RFE/RL press release]