Al-Sadr's followers start sit-in in Iraqi parliament as opponents prepare for counter-protest

STORY: Al-Sadr's followers start sit-in in Iraqi parliament as opponents prepare for counter-protest DATELINE: July 31, 2022 LENGTH: 0:02:04 LOCATION: Baghdad CATEGORY: POLITICS SHOTLIST: 1. various of protests by followers of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in Baghdad STORYLINE: Hundreds of followers of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr started on Saturday an open sit-in inside the Iraqi parliament building in central Baghdad, while his political opponents called on their supporters to prepare for a counter-protest. "The people choose the open sit-in in the parliament," Ibrahim al-Jaberi, head of al-Sadr's office, wrote on his Facebook page. Earlier in the day, hundreds of al-Sadr's followers broke into the Green Zone, which houses the main government headquarters, residencies of some top political leaders and some foreign embassies, and entered the Iraqi parliament building for the second time in three days. A statement by the Iraqi Health Ministry said up to 100 people and 25 security personnel we

Tanzania's art center fosters artistic growth for community

STORY: Tanzania's art center fosters artistic growth for community DATELINE: March 26, 2022 LENGTH: 00:04:10 LOCATION: DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania CATEGORY: CULTURE SHOTLIST: 1. SOUNDBITE (English): REBECCA MZENGI COREY, Executive director of Nafasi Art Space 2. SOUNDBITE (English): AHMED BATENGA, Freelance photographer and graphic designer 3. various of the Nafasi art space 4. various of an artist painting 5. various of artists singing STORYLINE: A glance at a sprawling compound on a rough industrial plot filled with shipping containers in the Dar es Salaam commercial capital's Mikocheni area does not raise any feelings to a passer-by. But a walk into this unassuming compound leaves the passer-by agape. It is home to Nafasi Art Space in which the art platform has turned the shipping containers into artistic studios and a warehouse exhibition gallery. Studio spaces, residencies, workshops, film screenings, festivals, performances, exhibitions, children's art activities, and much more have filled the compound