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Mariam Nawaz Sharif, the daughter of Pakistans Prime Minister speaks to media after appearing before an investigation in Islamabad. Photograph: Reuters

The date of the public release of Microsofts Calibri font has become an unlikely factor in an alleged corruption scandal in Pakistan.

A company linked to the daughter of Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif was named in the 2016 Panama Papers leak, leading to a supreme court investigation.

High-end London property bought with what was referred to in 1998 by the head of Pakistans federal investigation agency, Rehman Malik, as ill-gotten wealth earned through corrupt practices, is owned by two British Virgin Island companies. One of them, Nescoll, had Mariam Nawaz Sharif listed as the sole shareholder.

The resulting report said Sharif had disclosed her ties to the firm. But the 2006 disclosure was typed in Calibri, the year before Microsoft made that font publicly available, leading to allegations the documents were forged, and an online campaign calling it fontgate.

Pakistani media and opposition parties took to Wikipedia to investigate the claim, while someone allegedly tried to change the articles content to say Calibri was available from 2004.

While the online encyclopaedia says the font was developed by a Dutchman, Lucas de Groot in 2004, it adds that Calibri only reached the general public on 30 January 2007 with the launch of Microsoft Vista and Microsoft Office 2007, when it became the default font.

Wikipedia, by its open nature, is loath to bar its pages to anonymous edits except on controversial topics such as Donald Trump. But it has suspended editing on its Calibri page until July 18 2017, or until editing disputes have been resolved.

One supporter hailed the block, saying people seeking to edit the page are trying to save a corrupt political party on corruption charges. Others praised Wikipedia for its quick response and said it was proof of the companys integrity.

Opposition parties have urged Sharif to step down after the investigation found a significant disparity between his familys declared wealth and known sources of income.

Cricketer-turned-opposition leader Imran Khan said Sharif had lost all moral authority and must resign immediately. Sirajul Haq, the leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, also demanded Sharifs resignation.

But Sharifs allies dismissed all the allegations against him and the report.

Its trash, said defence minister Asif Khawaja, saying the report was full of flaws.

Sharif has denied wrongdoing and said his familys wealth was acquired legally.

Link:
'Fontgate': Microsoft, Wikipedia and the scandal threatening the Pakistani PM - The Guardian

These days, when people dont know anything about a subject, the first thing they might do is consult Wikipedia, the user-updated online encyclopedia. For people curious about Pennsylvania Speaker of the House Mike Turzai (R-Marshall Township), however, they might want to rethink that decision.

For the past few years, editors have been shaping Turzais page, consistently removing critical information about the speaker and replacing it with paragraphs about his legislative accomplishments, and peppering the entry with phrases like a relentless champion. Turzai is even credited for leading an agenda that improved the states business climate, but without citing any sources.

While many minor changes to Turzais page have been made by active, volunteer editors with usernames like Psyden or Cwobeel, its the praise-laden changes that raise questions, especially because one editor is linked to the offices of the Republican Caucus of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, of which Turzai is the highest-ranking member.

William Beutler runs Beutler Ink, a Washington, D.C.-based business that helps large clients craft fair and accurate Wikipedia pages. Beutler says people with biases for or against Turzai shouldnt be editing his page. There are a lot of good editors out there, but they care a whole lot less [about personal bias] than these anonymous editors trying to influence the page, says Beutler. Its clear that there are still not enough editors to keep everything at a high level of quality.

Modifying politicians Wikipedia pages is nothing new. Members of the U.S. Congress and their staffs have been editing their own Wikipedia pages since 2006, sometimes fluffing them with overt praise. The Twitter account @congressedits was created in 2014 to track those edits, giving the public more transparency about whether edits comply with Wikipedias Neutral Point of View (NPOV) guidelines. But Beutler says there are no similar measures for state houses.

With Wikipedia attracting millions of viewers a day, and more Americans using the site as a reference tool, should Pennsylvanians be more skeptical of Wikipedia pages, particularly those of politicians looking to gain influence? Someday soon, Turzais influence could extend beyond Speaker of the House.

In May, the Associated Press obtained a letter sent by Turzai to Pennsylvanias Republican Party committee informing them hes considering a run for governor in 2018, and asking for their support. News reports since the fall of 2016 have also indicated Turzais interest in running for governor.

On Nov. 30, 2016, a nameless editor with an IP address of 192.216.120.25 removed from Turzais Wikipedia an unsourced section page that read: In 2012 he came under fire for admitting that Pennsylvanias Voter ID Law was actually designed to cause voter suppression and win the state for Mitt Romney in a [speech] to the Republican State Committee. He also came under fire for insulting and screaming at parents who wanted medical marijuana legalized to treat their children which 88% of the [states] voters supported. This editor, whose IP address is listed on multiple IP address locator websites as the House Republican caucus in Harrisburg, justified this removal by writing in the edit section of the site, The statement is inaccurate. Turzai NEVER said Voter ID legislation was about suppressing votes.

The editor is correct: Turzai never actually said those words. But many observers inferred that thats what he meant when he saidin a 2012 video, Voter ID, which is going to allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania, done. Also, the editor never explained why Turzais medical-marijuana opposition was removed, even though its been well documented and was properly sourced on the Wikipedia page.

This isnt unusual behavior for the editor linked to the Pennsylvania House GOP. This editor has injected paragraphs into Turzais page since 2013, detailing legislative accomplishments with descriptions like historic and conservative. In fact, on July 7, just hours after Pittsburgh City Paper contacted Turzais office to request comment for this story, edits were made to Turzais page from the same IP address, including the removal of the pages only critical sentence, which said, In 2012 he came under fire [for] remarks he made about Pennsylvanias Voter ID Law and Mitt Romney winning the state in a speech to the Republican State Committee. This sentence was sourced from a 2012 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article.

CPs requests for comment from Turzais office and the states House GOP caucus went unanswered.

Since 2005, the IP address linked to the House GOP caucus has made some edits to pages on topics including college football and Pennsylvania high schools, but the majority of edits have focused on Republican state politics.

In 2015, large sections were removed from state Rep. Daryl Metcalfes (R-Cranberry) page. The page originally listed legislation proposed by Metcalfe that many consider anti-LGBT and anti-immigrant, and replaced it with paragraphs about Metcalfes pro-life stances. The computer linked to the IP address also completed similar edits to the pages of state Rep. Seth Grove (R-York County) and state Rep. Nicholas Miccarelli III (R-Delaware County).

Beutler says altering Wikipedia information like this can have a powerful influence.

See the rest here:
Pennsylvania House Speaker Mike Turzai's Wikipedia edited by account tied to House Republicans - PGH City Paper

NUALA CAREY IS a national treasure.

I mean, is there anything she cant do?

Source: RT

Source: RT

An honourable mention here for her performance of Baby One More Time by Britney Spears.

Source: Crystal Swing

Her spiritedShannonbridge side lost their quarter final match to Crystal Swings Derek Burke and Castleisland Desmonds, unfort.

But still. A for effort.

She is an absolute vision of youth.

We demand to know Nuala is purchasing the illusive elixir shes inevitably drinking to maintain that complexion and slow down the cruel hands of time.

Maybe shes succeeded in stopping time altogether. As far as Irish conspiracy theories go, this is one Im fully on board with.

One Wikipedia user, having noticed Nuala was excluded from the list of contestants on RTs reality TV extravaganza Cabin Fever, amended the list accordingly.

Source: Wikipedia

So, how old was Nuala Carey when she took part in the show?

Source: Wikipedia

Also, seemingly, Nualas place of origin is simply the atmosphere.

Remarkable.

How naive of me to thinkthiscould be achieved through a good SPF and two litres of water a day.

Pop culture, web gems and social Ireland, Daily Edge via Facebook. Just click Like.

Read more here:
How old is Nuala Carey? Wikipedia put her at 'babe' years of age - DailyEdge.ie

Anne Marie Morris' page on Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia, was temporarily changed to describe her as a 'British Conservative party politician and a racist'.

The Wikipedia entry was later amended to describe the political storm which hit the Newton Abbot MP after she was recorded using the racially offesive term 'n****r in the woodpile' during a debate on Brexit with eurosceptics. But for a short time when anybody searched for her details online, this is how she was listed on Wikipedia and the image was copied and circulated on Twitter.

It was later amended to read: "Anne Marie Morris (born 5 July 1957, London) is a British politician who was elected at the 2010 general election as the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Newton Abbot.

"In July 2017, Morris had the Conservative whip suspended following the emergence of a recording of her using the racist idiom "nigger in the woodpile". " Listen below to the original recording.

Read the rest here:
Anne Marie Morris Wikipedia entry changed to call her a 'politician and a racist' - Devon Live

KARACHI: A Wikipedia page containing information about Calibri font was locked for editing on Tuesday after several users tried to change the release date of the font from 2007 to 2003.

The Joint Investigation Report (JIT) had earlier claimed that the font used on some of the documents submitted by the Sharif family was Calibri. The documents related to 2006. However, the font was only made commercially available January 30, 2007. After the report was made public, Calibri font became a top trend on twitter. People also started searching for it on the Internet. Some people belonging to Pakistan rushed on to Wikipedias Calibri page and edited the information about Calibris commercial launch from 2007 to 2003. There were over three dozen revisions in less than 24 hours. The Wikipedia administration then locked the public editing option for Calibri Font page, stating: This article is currently protected from editing until July 18, 2017, or until editing disputes have been resolved.

Amir Ata, an IT expert and blogger, told Daily Times that the Calibri Wikipedia page saw some unusual and elevated activity. Most of the revisions were focused on changing the release date of the font. No marks for guessing why this was the case, he said.

Published inDaily Times, July 12th , 2017.

Here is the original post:
Wikipedia locks Calibri font page amid controversy - Daily Times