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Errors in the summary of the featured article

Please do not remove this invisible timestamp. See WT:ERRORS and WP:SUBSCRIBE. - Dank (push to talk) 01:24, 29 September 2022 (UTC)

Errors with "In the news"

Goma

• In an ongoing offensive, the Rwandan-supported March 23 Movement captures Goma, the capital of North Kivu province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The primary article, Battle of Goma (2025), says "On January 27, M23 claimed the capture of the city. However, fighting seemed to have continued in several parts ... The government claimed later that morning that its troops are still holding the Goma International Airport and other key points in the city." The number of troops seems quite small for a large city -- about a thousand -- and so claims of capture and control seem contentious. As this war has been ongoing for years, we should expect the fighting to continue.

For a fresh report on the current situation, see Have rebels taken control of Congolese city? which is dated two hours ago and doesn't provide a clear answer. I notice it explains that M23 captured Goma before but were pushed out again and so this place has a history of being contested. Andrew🐉(talk) 12:24, 28 January 2025 (UTC)

The situation does appear to be in flux. Western media have confirmed that M23 control the city centre [1] [2], and this afternoon there are multiple reports that the government troops at the airport have surrendered [3] [4]. So while it's possible that M23 doesn't control all of the city, it does seem to be in control of most of it, including the most strategically important parts (main roads, city centre, port, airport). I don't think the ITN blurb could explain all those nuances, we're better off leaving them to the article to sort out. Modest Genius ^talk 16:18, 28 January 2025 (UTC)

No, Western media have not confirmed this. The first source above was written in Nairobi and talks of a rebel claim. The second source was written by someone on the Rwandan side of the border and cites a phone call to someone "cooped up in his home". There certainly seems to be ongoing chaos and fighting but it still seems to be a war zone rather than consolidated and uncontested control.

What interesting from these reports is that the city is right on the border with Rwanda and there's twin city of Gisenyi on the Rwandan side of the border. There are lots of Hutu refugees displaced from Rwanda there and Rwanda seems quite involved in this for this reason. Because of this, the place has a long history as a hot spot and this is a continuation of the conflict.

Andrew🐉(talk) 17:24, 28 January 2025 (UTC)

It's worth noting that the BBC, Reuters, and CNN reported that "Congolese security sources" and French intelligence have said that the airport has been captured by M23. The BBC reported that 1,200+ soldiers surrendered at the airport and were taken prisoner. The fighting is still going on, although AFP says that the scale of the fighting today has been less than yesterday. Romanov loyalist (talk) 17:45, 28 January 2025 (UTC)

The BBC is quoting AFP about the airport and their source is anonymous – "a security source". But note the lead of the BBC item which is currently dated just 5 hours ago, "Rebels appear to be edging closer to taking control of the key city of Goma". So, we reported it as captured yesterday while the BBC still says there's ongoing fighting and it's not over yet. We have jumped to a conclusion. Andrew🐉(talk) 22:37, 28 January 2025 (UTC)

Lukashenko

• "Alexander Lukashenko is re-elected as the president of Belarus, after banning opposition candidates." I know we're supposed to be neutral and all that, but "re-elected"? Is there no other word available? freshacconci (✉) 22:23, 28 January 2025 (UTC)

  There was an election, he won the election. The voting was not considered free and fair by third party observers, for reasons such as the banning of opposition candidates. It's just a simple statement of facts. Harizotoh9 (talk) 11:28, 29 January 2025 (UTC)

  If anything it's the "after banning opposition candidates" part that should be removed. We have a longstanding policy of not editorialising election blurbs, even where there's widespread suggestion that it's not free and fair... but I suppose banning opposition candidates is so blatant that it can stand as stated. Either way, the election certainly took place and Lukashenko won it.  — Amakuru (talk) 14:36, 29 January 2025 (UTC)

  I think the current wording is a good compromise. It's a factual statement, not a subjective judgement. I agree it's best not to put opinions about fairness in blurbs, but simply saying he was elected would be misleading. The main opposition parties were not permitted to stand candidates, it's good that our blurb reflects that. Modest Genius ^talk 19:20, 29 January 2025 (UTC)

Romania/netherlands

Why is "are stolen" bolded? Should just be stolen.Sportsnut24 (talk) 12:48, 29 January 2025 (UTC)

Linking to just "stolen" would be an easter-egg link, as Stolen is a different page (a disambiguation page as it happens) and the bolded link doesn't point there - we don't want to trick readers into thinking the link simply goes to that page. This is longstanding practice at "in the news" and other sections of the main page.  — Amakuru (talk) 14:40, 29 January 2025 (UTC)

Errors in "Did you know ..."

Current DYK

Did you know... that a profile of artist Mark Hearld said his "wrens and squirrels, field mice and owls" help a child care about the planet better than telling them it is burning?

How is this an interesting fact? Hearld didn't even say it. It's not even a fact about Hearld. Did you know that a profile of an artist said this? ꧁Zanahary꧂ 19:11, 29 January 2025 (UTC)

Pinging @Miraclepine and @Thriley ꧁Zanahary꧂ 19:17, 29 January 2025 (UTC)

Personally I don't regard hooks being interesting or otherwise as within the scope of WP:ERRORS. This page is for factual inaccuracies, missing citations and suchlike. If you want to vet the hooks for level of interest, I suggest getting involved with the process at WP:DYKN and WP:DYKQ before they hit the main page! Cheers  — Amakuru (talk) 19:19, 29 January 2025 (UTC)

Such reports are made on Errors pretty frequently, and often lead to pulling or changing. ꧁Zanahary꧂ 19:20, 29 January 2025 (UTC)

It's cited, in the bolded article, true, and (IMHO) interesting-ish. Not sure what the problem is. Floquenbeam (talk) 19:21, 29 January 2025 (UTC)

Errors in the summary of the featured list

Friday's FL

(January 31)

Monday's FL

(February 3)

Errors in the summary of the featured picture

Notice to administrators: When fixing POTD errors, please update the corresponding regular version (i.e. without "protected" in the page title) in addition to the Main Page version linked below.