Stories about Feature from February, 2020
An Italian national is the index case patient of COVID-19 disease in Nigeria
Lagos is a commercial hub in Nigeria and the likelihood of a rapid spread of COVID-19 to other parts of the country is a looming possibility.
A renaissance is underway for Mongolia's literature lovers
Mongolia's long and bitterly cold winters provide ample time for reading. Luckily, the country's publishing market is booming — popular histories and translated fiction are the most sought after.
What kind of rumours were circulating during the 2020 Taiwan presidential election?
"...a majority of the rumors were aimed at dividing the Taiwanese society. They provoke people’s emotions and split the community into two political camps."
Migrant workers in Thailand organize against exploitation by the country's fishing industry
Off the shores of Thailand, a seafood industry flourishes. Here, debt-bondage and slavery are standard workplace practices. But workers are organizing unions to fight back against exploitation.
Rising attacks against journalists for reporting about the conflict in north Mozambique
There has been an alarming increase in the number of threats made against journalists who are covering the armed attacks in the northern province of Cabo Delgado.
Journalists seek justice as attacks continue in Colombia
"...when journalists are silenced, the whole of society is attacked.”
Despite calls to move, a women-led protest in India challenges the Citizenship Amendment Act
"If we can sacrifice so much for this protest, can’t people tolerate a slight inconvenience?"
Chinese censorship demonstrates it can afford the cost of ‘the death of media’
A massive number of groups and user accounts were removed by platforms following the death of Dr. Li Wenliang, which set social media on fire.
Pipeline problems for indigenous peoples on Russia's Yamal Peninsula
As gas pipelines creep across Russia's Yamal Peninsula, the lives of local reindeer herders are changing radically. Russia's energy companies say it's for the best — indigenous rights activists are sceptical.
Two Iranian rights activists revisit the November 2019 internet shutdown
“Hundreds of protestors were killed in a matter of three days and most of the world was not aware of what happened.’’
Indonesian superhero cartoon fights for the environment and the Balinese language
"The inspiration for the creation of the superhero character of Luh Ayu Manik Mas is the strong, tough and resilient Balinese women who themselves are like superheroes."
Japan edges ever closer to a COVID-19 epidemic
As a ship with 454 infected passengers remains quarantined at berth in Yokohama, the likelihood of a potential epidemic within Japan has slowly started to sink in.
Life on the margins: The Lyuli people of Uzbekistan
Aleksandr Barkovsky, a photographer who has worked with the community, says that ordinary Uzbeks still know little to nothing about their Lyuli neighbours.
For Rohingya refugees, ID systems have brought coercion, violence and denial of ethnic identity
"They told us they would withhold rations and that we couldn’t stay in the camps. So we had no choice."
Positive energy floods Chinese social media as over 60,000 infected with COVID-2019
As of February 15, there are 66,577 infections and 1,524 deaths as a result of 2019-nCoV -- which has not stopped Chinese social media from being flooded with positive energy.
India's forgotten persecution of Chinese migrants
"If this episode destroyed so many lives, what kind of chaos, let alone wholesale injustice, can we expect with citizenship laws and tests applied much more widely than in 1962?"
New report makes grim predictions for ‘Fortress RuNet’
The most recent annual report by Russian NGOs Agora and Roskomsvoboda draws some troubling conclusions about what lies in store for the RuNet in years to come.
In Lebanon, journalists and activists who cover protests face threats
Media professionals have raised their voices against the use of excessive force against them while they are trying to cover the mass protests.
Semi-quarantined: Living with the coronavirus outbreak in Hong Kong
"The park is half-empty, but we have decided to let our daughter enjoy a few hours of daily sunshine. We are determined not to let ourselves be overwhelmed by fear."
Viral prank video mocks Putin's cult of personality
Russian blogger Bashir Dokhov hung a huge portrait of Putin in the elevator of a Moscow apartment block. He then installed a camera to record the reactions of stunned residents.
Rising prices, heavy taxation threaten sustainability of age-old art in Punjab, India
The famous decorative inlay wood carving art of Hoshiarpur in Punjab, India is in decline because of an increase in the price of Shisham wood.
