Plane crash kills 19 in South Sudan: regional official

JUBA, South Sudan - Nineteen people were killed on Sunday when a small plane crashed into a lake in the center of South Sudan, while four survived, a regional official told AFP.

Regional information minister for the Eastern Lakes state Taban Abel Aguek said a plane, carrying 23 people, had crashed in the central town of Yirol as it came into land.

"The number of people we have confirmed dead is 19 people and four people survived," said Abel, adding that two children were among the survivors as was an Italian citizen.

He said the Anglican Bishop of Yirol, Simon Adut, was confirmed among the dead.

The pilot and co-pilot, a staff member with the International Committee of the Red Cross, a Ugandan who runs a private clinic in Yirol, a government official and two army officers were also confirmed dead.

"The whole town is in shock, the shops are closed, some people have taken their relatives for burial. It is a commercial plane that crashed," Abel told AFP.

"When the plane was landing the weather was foggy and this was not a good situation for plane landing."

The UN broadcaster Radio Miraya posted a picture on its Twitter account of the twisted wreckage of the plane submerged in water.

Overloading of planes is common in South Sudan, and this was believed to have contributed to the crash of a Soviet-era Antonov plane upon takeoff in Juba in 2015 which left 36 people dead.

In 2017, 37 people had a miraculous escape after their plane hit a fire truck on a runway in northwestern Wau before bursting into flames.

South Sudan was plunged into civil war in December 2013, when President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar of planning a coup, leaving tens of thousands dead and millions displaced.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Algeria blocks social networks to prevent exam fraud

Algiers, Algeria - Algeria temporarily blocked access to social networks on Sunday to prevent cheating after leaked papers forced hundred of thousands of students to resit high school final exams.

Facebook and Twitter have been blocked since late Saturday and are to remain inaccessible to millions of Algerians until after the last test on Thursday, a telecom source told AFP.

The decision "is directly linked to the baccalaureate" and aimed at "protecting students from falling prey to fake questions" posted online, the source said.

More than 500,000 students out of the 800,000 who had sat the exams known as the "baccalaureate" this month were being re-tested Sunday, the education ministry said.

It said most of the leaks cover science subjects and mathematics.

"The authorities have chosen the simplest solution," said information technology expert Younes Grar.

He said the risk of fraud could have been prevented if the authorities had chosen to encrypt the exam questions and printed them at exam centers instead of transporting hard copies across the country.

"The decision to block social networks penalizes millions of Internet users," he said.

According to official estimates, 18 million Algerians out of a population of 40 million are active on the Internet and social networks.

On Sunday some users said they faced difficulties accessing websites, including Google, although authorities had said only social networks would be blocked.

Dozens of people, including the heads of national exam centres and teachers, were arrested this month on suspicions of leaking the final exam papers.

The leaks have sparked outrage in the oil-rich country.

Education Minister Nouria Benghebrit broke down in tears in public this month when she was told of the leak.

A police statement carried by Algeria's APS news agency on June 7 said cybercrime investigators had identified individuals who had "published (exam) material on social networks" as well as those who facilitated the leak.

Egypt also reported cheating this year at high school exams.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com