Stories from June, 2020
No medicine, no healing: Sudan’s pharmaceutical crisis
Since 2016, medicine prices in Sudan have risen exponentially. To make matters worse, the government’s central bank lacks the foreign currency necessary to import essential drugs from abroad.
Americans, your fantasies about Canada enable Canadians’ complacent sense of white superiority
When it comes to racism, the United States is far more advanced than Canada. At least Americans can talk about race. Canadians can't.
Serbian parliamentary vote campaign taps Greek beaches, Chinese robots
"I love Serbia. Considering the fact that I am a kind of smart technology, it is obvious why I choose to be in Serbia."
Philippines media faces ‘eternal threat of punishment’ after cyber libel convictions
"If we can’t hold power to account, we can’t do anything," Rappler CEO Maria Ressa said after her conviction.
Taking Hong Kong's temperature: What future for the protest movement?
From last year's two million protest to today's "yellow economic circle", local resistance has taken many shapes.
Migrant workers face racism and rampant human rights violations across the Gulf
Migrant workers in the Gulf region are being subjected to a fierce campaign calling for their deportation that is riddled with racist speeches and hatred.
Jamaica’s Brian Heap, Caribbean regional winner of the 2020 Commonwealth Short Story Prize, talks storytelling
"Jamaican language [...] is designed to subvert the English language. I love its frequent juxtaposition of archaic English words and African expressions and syntax, [...] used to sometimes devastating effect."
Speaking with Jamaica’s Brian Heap, Caribbean regional winner of the 2020 Commonwealth Short Story Prize
"Jamaica is so rich in stories [...] It’s so important for us to delve into the inner life of Jamaican subjects."
How Trump's ‘game-changer’ drug is boosting nationalism in Brazil and India
The claim that there’s a cure for COVID-19, but that powerful actors prevent access to it, allows these leaders to cast themselves as saviors.
Impoverished youth in the Middle East turn to cheap — sometimes deadly — alcohol
When large-scale alcohol poisoning outbreaks occur, they make the news in the Middle East, but where is the political will to tackle this sensitive and controversial issue?
How can Nepal's literary tradition make its mark on the global scene?
Director of Global Literature in Libraries Initiatives shares insights into how Nepali literature can reach wider audiences.
A new game plays with ideas about how disinformation works in East Africa
"Chose Your Own Fake News" is an online game that teaches new internet users how to be more discerning about the information they receive and encounter in digital spaces.
Remembering Marco Leung, the first to die in Hong Kong's anti-China extradition protests
"It has been a year since you left us. I remember that you were the first person who said the Five Demands."
‘Where is the center of the story?': Revisiting the traditional view of Russia's Muslim communities
Global Voices spoke to academic Danielle Ross about her challenging view of the history of Islam and Islamic reform in Russia.
Going far together: The East African diaspora steps up to address COVID-19 in their home region
To tackle the lack of information about COVID-19 and a shortage of PPE, members of East Africa’s diaspora in the US are taking action to help their homelands from afar.
Part II: Roadblocks to health care for women during COVID-19 in East Africa
Under COVID-19 curfew in Kenya, transport providers have either been unable or unwilling to transport pregnant women in labor to health facilities for fear of harassment by security agencies.
Part I: Health care information access for women during COVID-19 in East Africa
In Kenya, pregnant women struggle to get uninterrupted access to sexual and reproductive health-related information and education during the pandemic — on and offline.
COVID-19 is rapidly exhausting Bangladesh healthcare system amidst alarming rise of infected people
As Bangladesh tries to figure out which lockdown measure is the answer, public healthcare systems are failing largely, resulting in no signs of the COVID-19 contraction curve plateauing.
French police arrest Félicien Kabuga, alleged financier of genocide in Rwanda
After 26 years on the run, Rwanda genocide suspect Félicien Kabuga was arrested in a Parisian suburb on May 16 and transferred to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda on June 3.
Surprise in Papua New Guinea as Prime Minister rejects the renewal of license for major gold mine
Papua New Guinea's decision not to renew a major mining lease has ignited an intense discussion about its economic impact and the future of the country’s mining sector.
Between Kolkata, Saint-Petersburg and Paris: An interview with novelist Shumona Sinha
"Literature does not pretend it can change the world, but it can unveil the human condition, plant seeds of hope, of dreams of a better world...."