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Pete Chonka

@petechonka.bsky.social
93 followers 79 following 11 posts

Researching/teaching/learning at KCL Digital Humanities. Tech, politics, language, mobility, Horn of Africa. Union stuff too. .

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Reposted by Pete Chonka
Da Underfunded Ouroboros @trufflehog.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
You know AI is going great when a UN conference has to explicitly demand of its speakers that they only say nice things about the plagiarism and environmental destruction machine
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Pete Chonka @petechonka.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
New paper of mine on complexities of researcher engagement in online and IRL armed conflict, focusing on Somali/LasAnod war case study. journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
journals.sagepub.com
(De)constructing research ‘expertise’ in transnational participatory warfare - Peter Chonka, 2026
Focusing on a case study of offline and online violence in Somalia/Somaliland and the disputed city of Las Anod, this article presents an (auto)netnographic ana...
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Modern Languages Open @modlangopen.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
NEW | '“No Language Left Behind?” Predictive Text, Generative AI and Dilemmas of Digital Inclusion for Marginalized Languages' by @petechonka.bsky.social, Stephanie Diepeveen & Yidnekachew Haile. ➡️ Read it #OA: bit.ly/MLO-Chonka @isabellezaugg-phd.bsky.social @aiatkings.bsky.social
A purple banner to the left which reads 'The Digital Lives of Greater South Languages' with the MLO logo in white. This is next to artwork of a translucent glass dome with tiny people below stood observing the orb surrounded by a black spiky cage. The artwork is by Abel Tilahun titled “Chrome” (2019). This image is available via Creative Commons license, and was originally commissioned for the chapter: Zaugg, Isabelle (2019). “Imagining a Multilingual Cyberspace: How the Internet damaged linguistic diversity and what you can do to fix it,” in Finding CTRL: Visions for the future internet.
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Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.blacksky.app · 18/02/2026
i shouldn’t give this piece any more attention than it has already garnered but i feel like it is worth pointing out some flaws in the argument/unquestioned assumptions thread 1/
post by Rutger Bregman (@rutgerbregman.com‬) 

reads: Absolutely brilliant piece about the Left's TOTAL blindness on AI. Their dismissal of AI risks mirrors how climate deniers treat CO2. 

Will probably get a lot of nastiness for this on Bluesky, but I guess that's part of the same problem.
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Rift Valley Institute @rvinews.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
‘Care and Politics in Action’ examines how Somali businesswomen in Zambia mobilized humanitarian relief to Puntland. By Sahra Ahmed Koshin, Nauja Kleist and Karuti Kanyinga. An output of the D-Hum project involving DIIS, IDS–University of Nairobi, Rako and RVI. tinyurl.com/CareandPolit...
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University and College Union (UCU) @ucu.org.uk · 22/01/2026
The University of Sheffield has stopped paying staff. Not for striking but for refusing to work unpaid to make up for strike days they were already docked for. This is punishment, not negotiation. And it’s completely reckless. www.ucu.org.uk/article/1438...
ucu.org.uk
Union condemns continued docking of staff pay following strike action at University of Sheffield
The University and College Union (UCU) has today condemned the lockout and withholding of staff pay at the University of Sheffield following lawful industrial action
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Mark Kersten @markkersten.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
Israeli forces on Wednesday killed at least 11 Palestinians in Gaza, including two 13-year-old boys, three journalists and a woman, hospitals said, on one of the war-battered enclave 's deadliest days since the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel took effect in October. www.npr.org/2026/01/22/g...
npr.org
Israeli fire strikes journalists and children in Gaza
Israeli forces on Wednesday killed at least 11 Palestinians in Gaza, including two boys, three journalists and a woman, hospitals said, on one of the enclave 's deadliest days since the ceasefire took...
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Pete Chonka @petechonka.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
Using the Somali language for AI - podcast from Mogadishu. Abdimalik and I talking with Aweis (SPA) on importance and challenges of translation for digital rights, and our collaboration with AGA (Af Soomaali/Somali) www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BIR...
youtube.com
Af Soomaaliyeynta Erayada Loo Adeegsado Garaad-Gacmeedka (AI) I Adeeg Wanaag Podcast
YouTube video by Somali Public Agenda (SPA)
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Peter Albrecht @peteralalbrecht.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
Read our latest article: Beyond war and politics: Somali kinship and everyday service delivery - co-authored with Abdirahman Edle and Karuti Kanyinga🇸🇴🇰🇪🇩🇰 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
tandfonline.com
Beyond war and politics: Somali kinship and everyday service delivery
Analyses of Somali kinship groups often focus on their mobilisation during conflict, while their contributions to service provision receive less attention. We engage literature on authority in cont...
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NUJ London Freelance @nujlfb.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
Kerrang! journalists’ strike shows true metal. In December freelance writers at music magazine Kerrang! showed the power of coordinated, collective action. buff.ly/0LjzPiK #FreelanceWin
buff.ly
Kerrang! journalists’ strike shows true metal
In December freelance writers at music magazine Kerrang! showed the power of coordinated, collective action.
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Iona Craig @ionacraig.com · 08/01/2026
I know there’s a lot going on in the world right now. But this spectacular fallout between Saudi and UAE is going to reshape the region and impact events beyond. It’s hard to overstate the Saudi anger at the UAE that’s expressed by revealing step-by-step details + officer names in the UAE operation
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University and College Union (UCU) @ucu.org.uk · 08/01/2026
On Tuesday, the Israeli military invaded Birzeit University, attacking students with live ammunition. Israel's scholasticide is a core part of its attempt to obliterate the collective life of the Palestinian people. We have written to Yvette Cooper urging the British government to take action.
Letter from the University and College Union (UCU), dated 8 January 2026, from general secretary Dr Jo Grady to the UK foreign secretary. The letter condemns Israeli military attacks on Palestinian education, including a raid on Birzeit University, calls these actions “scholasticide,” and urges the UK government to hold Israel to account through diplomatic, military and economic sanctions.
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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
If the Palestine Action hunger strikers die - which they could do at any moment, as they are now very close to the end - it will be the government that killed them. Today’s column explains why. Please share, and write urgently to your MP. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Let’s be clear: if the Palestine Action hunger strikers die, the government will bear moral responsibility | George Monbiot
The three remaining hunger strikers have been convicted of nothing. Yet with astonishing cruelty, ministers refuse to listen to their reasonable demands, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
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Pete Chonka @petechonka.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
Regardless of the debate about the legitimacy of its independence claim, the explicit use of the example of Somaliland to erase Palestine (and enable genocide) sickens me www.middleeasteye.net/news/israeli...
middleeasteye.net
Israeli foreign minister in Somaliland: 'Unlike Palestine, it's not a virtual state'
Gideon Saar expected to visit Berbera port on first visit to Somaliland since Israel recognised breakaway region
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Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.blacksky.app · 03/12/2025
an important read for at least 2 reasons: 1. shows how big tech operates on intuitions and vibes and not rigorous research 2. this is a masterpiece in how to breakdown complex scientific concepts in simple language and elegant pros that captivate the lay reader taranis.ie/datacenters-...
taranis.ie
Datacenters in space are a terrible, horrible, no good idea.
There is a rush for AI companies to team up with space launch/satellite companies to build datacenters in space. TL;DR: It's not going to work.
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Pete Chonka @petechonka.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
So glad we're hosting this again. I'll also be speaking about the Get the Vote Out campaign for our branch's local dispute on academic freedom around Palestine, protection of staff, divestment from genocide and essential governance reform at KCL. Join us!
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Rift Valley Institute @rvinews.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
New XCEPT report by Hilina Berhanu Degefa on women’s participation in Ethiopia’s ethnonational armed groups. Completed through the Women Researchers Fellowship in the X-Border Local Research Network, where RVI is a core partner. Read here: tinyurl.com/w8dupaah
tinyurl.com
"We fought as fighters, not as women": women's participation in ethnonational armed groups in Ethiopia - XCEPT
Ethnonational mobilisations — characterised by a strong sense of national and political identification, whether organised along ethnic, religious, or regional political identifications — tend to flatt...
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KCL UCU @kclucu.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
🚨🚨 Calling on all KCL UCU members: TODAY is the last ⭐️safe day⭐️ to post your ballots for both national and local disputes! VOTE today, VOTE yes and put them in the POST!! 📦 📦 ➡️ ALSO if your ballot papers arrive later than today please contact us as we can deliver in person on Friday afternoon 💫💫
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KCL UCU @kclucu.bsky.social · 12/11/2025
🗣️🗣️How is the UCU National ballot connected to and distinct from KCL UCU’s local ballot? An explainer from @jamiewoodcock.com KCL UCU’s branch chair ⬇️
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KCL UCU @kclucu.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
#wearekcl #wearetheuniversity
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KCL UCU @kclucu.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
‘Shared values?’ This is meaningless when your university invests in genocide. VOTE in our local ballot for Palestine and against this wilful silence against oppression www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/affi... ➡️ kcl.web.ucu.org.uk
timeshighereducation.com
Affirming shared values will help academic freedom weather the storm
The Magna Charta Universitatum matters more than ever as university freedoms become sharply contested, say Shitij Kapur and Liviu Matei
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Nanjala @nanjala.bsky.social · 30/10/2025
Dusk-to-Dawn curfew in place in Tanzania as protests continue following the national election yesterday. Incumbent Samia Suluhu is accused of intimidation and arbitrary arrests of leading opposition figures, including Chadema leader Tundu Lissu who is charged with treason and was not on the ballot.
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Pete Chonka @petechonka.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
Here we go! It's taken a lot of work by the branch to get to this ballot. Palestine IS a workplace issue. ESPECIALLY in our workplace. Local ballot papers drop next week. #WeAreKCL #FreePalestine
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Greg Egan @gregegansf.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
“Well-meaning” people are using machine translation to write Wikipedia articles in languages that they don’t speak themselves, accelerating the degeneration in quality of the web corpus for several languages with relatively few native speakers. www.technologyreview.com/2025/09/25/1...
technologyreview.com
How AI and Wikipedia have sent vulnerable languages into a doom spiral
Machine translators have made it easier than ever to create error-plagued Wikipedia articles in obscure languages. What happens when AI models get trained on junk pages?
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Pete Chonka @petechonka.bsky.social · 14/10/2025
Our Somali language gen AI event follows the exciting #SomaliWeek 'Tech for Growth: Somali Businesses in Action' session (in the same venue). Join for both! www.kayd.org/all-events/e...
kayd.org
Tech for Growth: Somali Businesses in Action — Kayd
From the marketplace to the metaverse, Somali entrepreneurs and innovators are finding new ways to connect with customers, strengthen communities, and expand their impact. This event celebrates Somali...
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Pete Chonka @petechonka.bsky.social · 14/10/2025
Looking forward to our #SomaliWeek event on Saturday, where we'll be talking about our collaboration with AGA on the Somali AI Lexicon, and the implications of gen AI on Afka Soomaaliga www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/generative...
eventbrite.co.uk
Generative AI and the Somali language by Peter, Said & Mohamed
Generative AI and the Somali language: educational tools, social impacts and digital rights(Peter Chonka, Said Salah & Mohamed Abdimalik )
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Nanjala @nanjala.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
Two people in my extended circle are on the Global Sumud Flotilla, aiming to break the siege on Gaza. They are asking us all for increased vigilance as the flotilla enters the high risk zone. You can follow the progress of the flotilla at www.globalsumudflotilla.org/live
WE ARE LESS THAN 160NM FROM GAZA, 10NM FROM THE HIGH RISK ZONE STAY ALERT
Witness brings protection. g ww.globalsumudflotilla.org/live
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UCU Scotland @ucuscotland.bsky.social · 08/09/2025
Busy @ucuedinburgh.bsky.social picket lines this morning at Edinburgh University with staff striking to defend jobs and oppose the biggest cuts seen in Scottish higher education #SaveHE #NoCompulsoryRedundancies #StopTheCuts
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Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.blacksky.app · 03/09/2025
this!
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Private Eye Magazine @privateeyenews.bsky.social · 03/09/2025
“I’m not sure I want to give way to the right” From the new Private Eye, in shops now.
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Jonathan Leader Maynard @jleadermaynard.bsky.social · 01/09/2025
The International Association of Genocide Scholars, the main association of experts on genocide and mass violence, has just passed a resolution declaring that Israel’s actions in Gaza amount of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. genocidescholars.org/wp-content/u...
genocidescholars.org
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Saul Staniforth @saulstaniforth.bsky.social · 28/08/2025
Journalists in London have held a vigil for their Palestinian colleagues murdered by Israel in Gaza. The vigil was organised by the London Freelance Branch of the NUJ
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Sally Hayden @sallyhayd.bsky.social · 27/08/2025
Irish Times front page today. Tried to write instead of just screaming. www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025...
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Shannon Vallor @shannonvallor.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
Slow clap for the headline
defector.com
It Took Many Years And Billions Of Dollars, But Microsoft Finally Invented A Calculator That Is Wrong Sometimes | Defector
It’s not AI winter just yet, though there is a distinct chill in the air. Meta is shaking up and downsizing its artificial intelligence division. A new report out of MIT finds that 95 percent of compa...
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Digital Humanities @ King's College London @kingsdh.bsky.social · 14/08/2025
📢 We’re hiring a Lecturer in Computational Humanities Education (Academic Education Pathway). 📔 Contract: Full-time, indefinite contract 🗓 Apply by: 25 August 2025 Full details here: my.corehr.com/pls/kclrecru... #DigitalHumanities #AcademicJobs #Hiring
my.corehr.com
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KCL UCU @kclucu.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
We've written to KCL Management urging them to urgently lobby UK Government to enable safe passage for Chevening Scholarship students from Gaza to the UK. Considering the level of institutional complicity that KCL has with the genocide, it's really the LEAST they can do. See our statement below.👇
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KCL UCU @kclucu.bsky.social · 28/07/2025
An open letter to KCL management, condemning punitive misconduct disciplinaries against Palestine Encampment students, is currently circulating with 250+ signatories. We copy the text of the letter ⬇️
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NUJ London Freelance @nujlfb.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
ICYMI: our teach-in at parliament - 'When the only journalists are being slaughtered' report Thanks to our sponsor @johnmcdonnellmp.bsky.social and speakers @rosesrebellion.bsky.social @bendepear.bsky.social @petechonka.bsky.social @Mariam_Elsayeh, Menna Hijazi. Sharp insights 👇
buff.ly
'When the only journalists are being slaughtered...' | The Freelance
...how to report a genocide? Our meeting in Parliament
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Jason Mosley @jasonmosley.bsky.social · 19/07/2025
If you haven't already, do have a look at @petechonka.bsky.social's recent RVI report, 'Digital Governance and Security in the Horn of Africa', which looks at digital finance & social media in #Somalia, #Ethiopia & #Kenya. In-depth research and highly topical.
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KCL UCU @kclucu.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
Results are now in on our consultative e-ballot on academic freedom and staff safeguarding ➡️ we PASSED the threshold for a valid result with 🌟91% 🌟sharing our concern that management is not doing enough to protect us and our rights kcl.web.ucu.org.uk/2025/06/11/c...
kcl.web.ucu.org.uk
Consultative ballot on academic freedom and staff safeguarding at KCL
VOTE to show management that you’ll take a stand for academic freedom and the safety of colleagues at KCL! What is this dispute about? What are the demands? In March, KCL UCU formally notified manage...
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Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 03/07/2025
Difficult to express how I feel about those in our politics and media who are more concerned about what some rapper said at Glastonbury than fact that, as a matter of deliberate policy, the Israeli government is paying mercenaries to murder starving civilians for fun. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Gaza aid contractor tells BBC he saw colleagues fire on hungry Palestinians
The Israel- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has strongly denied the allegation.
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KCL UCU @kclucu.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
Over the last year, your colleagues, comrades and friends at KCL have been harassed for defending Palestinian rights, upholding academic freedom and union activism. THIS is why we are balloting members NOW. But what exactly has been happening?
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KCL UCU @kclucu.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
🇵🇸 ✊ Yesterday at our KCL UCU General Meeting members voted in favour of 2️⃣ motions calling for ⭐️ a consultative ballot on possible industrial action to protect academic freedom; and ⭐️reaffirming our commitment to campaigning for KCL to divest from genocide. Full wording ⬇️
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Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.blacksky.app · 23/05/2025
"We were excited to have a panel accepted on the role of technology in genocide in Gaza at this year’s Computers, Privacy & Data Protection (CPDP) conference in Brussels. However, CPDP then requested that Access Now & others remove the word “genocide” from panel titles & descriptions. We declined."
Two accepted panels on Palestine were targeted after the preliminary programme was published online: Technologies at war: The role of tech companies and the EU in facilitating war crimes and genocide in Gaza, and Cyber Surveillance and Data Violence in Palestine: Protection, Practice, and Legality. CPDP approached the panel organisers and advised them to remove the word ‘genocide’ in the titles and descriptions, including references to crimes and violations of international law. 

CPDP then unjustifiably singled out these two panels with a disclaimer that read: “The text of this panel represents the opinions of the Panel Organiser and not those of CPDP. The case before the ICJ regarding the categorization of Israel’s activities in Gaza has yet to be decided.” Upon the request of the panels’ organisers, the disclaimer was removed. 

Discussions about human rights abuses, atrocity crimes, or genocide do not require a court ruling to be legitimate. At the core of international law and human rights work is prevention — a responsibility that also extends to private companies, which are expected to identify and mitigate risks of contributing to such abuses. These obligations are clear under the Four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The  International Court of Justice (ICJ), in its provisionary measures orders, affirmed the responsibility of state and non-state actors to take actions in the face of a clear and imminent risk of genocide.  Multiple UN bodies and experts, genocide scholars, and leading human rights organisations have already categorised the Israeli conduct in Gaza as genocide that has met all legal elements of this crime.
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KCL UCU @kclucu.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
📢 The next TUC-sponsored Workplace Day of Action for Palestine is this Thursday 15 May (12.30pm) on Nakba Day. KCL UCU will hold a rally outside the Strand Building. Join us to stand for justice in Palestine 📢https://images.app.goo.gl/nJRNV3yxKYpfWgUq7
images.app.goo.gl
Workplace Day of Action for Palestine | Stop the War
Found on Google from stopwar.org.uk
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KCL UCU @kclucu.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
KCL UCU sends its solidarity to the students who have, since Monday evening, re-occupied King’s Strand campus quad to protest our university’s continued complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza and oppression of the Palestinian people. Our full statement ➡️ docs.google.com/document/d/1...
docs.google.com
KCL UCU Encampment Solidarity Statement
KCL UCU sends its solidarity to the students who have, since Monday evening, re-occupied King’s Strand campus quad to protest our university’s continued complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza and opp...
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Sally Hayden @sallyhayd.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
New ICRC statement #Gaza
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KCL UCU @kclucu.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
🗣️🗣️Our next KCL UCU General Meeting is happening ⭐️TOMORROW 30 May 1-3pm ⭐️ with a pre-meet 1-1.30 for people who have not been to a General Meeting before. Please do come along, online on Teams or in person. The more the merrier!🗣️🗣️
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KCL UCU @kclucu.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
Event: Hands off our universities // Defend campus protest // Solidarity with Gaza - 1 May ucw4palestine.org/2025/04/21/e... via @UCW4Pal
ucw4palestine.org
Event: Hands off our universities // Defend campus protest // Solidarity with Gaza – 1 May
Hands off our universities Defend campus protest Solidarity with Gaza Thursday 1 May – 5.30pm BST- Online International RallySign up here: Speakers:   Pranav Jani, American Associat…
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Biruk Terrefe @terrefebiruk.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Yemen: Dozens of African migrants killed in US strike, Houthis say - BBC News
Houthi-run media report the bodies of 68 people have been recovered from a migrant detention centre in Saada.
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