Stories about Weblog from September, 2024
Seeking independence from Chinese exports, Brazil enters bid to explore rare earths
Rare earths are essential for the green energy transition, however, they are also difficult to mine and harmful to the environment, leading to the “rare earth paradox.”
‘Houses yes, shacks no': The housing project that came out of Portugal’s Carnation Revolution
Influenced by collective housing projects, the process involved architects, social workers, and the general population. Among the mottos of the period was "Houses are for the people. Down with exploitation"
Some Caribbean podcasts to tune into on International Podcast Day
After a somewhat slow start, Caribbean influencers began to embrace the format over the past decade, as Internet usage in the region increased — and many have established regular audiences.
Russia’s hybrid book censorship and propagandistic agenda
The Song of Achilles by Madeleine Miller and A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara, among other books, are suspected of spreading “LGBT propaganda.”
Japan-born Nepali children struggle to ‘be Nepali’
Japan has become a key destination for Nepali migrant families, but their children must adapt to Japanese education, facing difficulties transitioning back to Nepalese education upon returning home.
Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley lays global issues bare in a stunning speech at the UN
The climate crisis. Neocolonialism. Reparations. Inequity. War. Justice. Peace. Was there anything Prime Minister Mia Mottley didn't cover in her address to the United Nations' General Assembly?
Censorship in the modern world
Communication expert from Bosnia and Herzegovina warns that "censorship through noise" blurs the distinction between fact-based reporting and completely fabricated information.
How social media is fueling geopolitical tensions in the Horn of Africa
"TikTok, in particular, has emerged as a stage where complex geopolitical tensions are reduced, dramatized, and frequently distorted."
Ghanaians rally online demanding justice for citizens arrested in protests against illegal gold mining
"[I]llegal gold mining is destroying the environment, making people ill, adding to water scarcity and damaging farmlands and crops such as cocoa."
Ex-editor of Hong Kong’s Stand News Chung Pui-kuen jailed for 21 months for sedition in landmark case
Kwok Wai-kin, the designated judge for national security trials said the defendants were not conducting genuine media work, but participating in the so-called resistance then.
Iran’s new president must address repression of artists, dissidents at UN Assembly
"Forced confessions, work bans, and restrictions on mobility as lesser-known tactics of the Iranian regime, which nonetheless have powerful effects on victims."
Young Kenyans use technology to mobilize against Finance Bill amid disinformation surge
During the anti-finance bill protests, widespread false information distorted the movement’s message and sowed division among participants and the public.
Trinidad & Tobago renames its premier performance auditorium after trailblazing pianist Winifred Atwell
In reassessing the ways in which colonial narratives continue to be upheld through statuary and other symbols, renaming the beloved performance space for a native daughter has been well received.
Anura Kumara Dissanayake wins Sri Lanka’s presidential election and calls for snap parliamentary elections
Sri Lankans made history by electing Anura Kumara Dissanayake as Sri Lanka’s ninth executive president in the September 21 presidential election.
The impact of China's fishing policies on West Africa
Climate pressure and overfishing have reduced domestic fish output in China, forcing Chinese fishing vessels into overseas waters. Fishermen in West Africa are paying the price.
Indigenous People defend traditional farming in northern Thailand
"We make a living. We follow the system laid down by our ancestors. What rotational farming fields were like 300 years ago, the fields are the same as back then."
Ecuador: Two journalists who revealed corruption and drug trafficking forced into exile
Journalists of the digital media platform La Posta accuse the National Police and the Attorney General's Office of planning to "assassinate" them while they receive criticism concerning their journalistic ethics.
What is behind the Kremlin’s increasingly anti-immigration line?
Anti-immigration rhetoric is meant to introduce into the official nationalism the idea that “Russian civilization” must be protected not only from the West but also from the south.
Israel's deadliest day in Lebanon kills 500, sparks war crimes outcry
Israeli airstrikes across Lebanon left hundreds dead and thousands displaced
A Japanese schoolboy was killed in China, raising concerns about increasing xenophobia
As anti-Japanese sentiment spreads in China, the second hate-crime in two months is raising questions about the country’s nationalistic education and how it is spreading xenophobia.
Hong Kong Article 23: Three jailed over a seditious T-shirt, bus graffiti, social media posts in six months
At least 14 people have been arrested on suspicion of violating Article 23 since the law was enacted on 23 of March, 2024.
