Stories from June, 2022
Malaysian lawyers behind ‘walk for judicial independence’ facing police probe
"The actions of the police have set a bad example for the citizenry, as it conveys the message that citizens are not free to exercise their constitutional rights ..."
The overturning of Roe vs. Wade unsettles the Caribbean, most of which doesn't have progressive abortion laws
"Apart from women deeply inculcated with religious dogma, the time cannot be far off when women throughout the Caribbean will use their voting power to demand the right to choose."
A corny TV exorcism possesses Turkish social media
In Turkey, a woman named Pelin Hürman who describes herself as metaphysics expert, performed an exorcism on a TV show and quickly became a laughing stock on social media.
Istanbul police violently break up PRIDE March and arrest over 300 people
This year marks the 30th anniversary of Istanbul LGBT+ Pride Week. While local authorities banned all PRIDE events, protestors still took to the streets, marched, and chanted slogans.
Memes, mourning and metaphors as Hong Kong's iconic Jumbo Floating Restaurant sinks in South China Sea
Hongkongers have been sharing memes and metaphors, as well as conspiracy theories in reaction to the sinking of the city's iconic floating restaurant in the South China Sea.
Undertones: Is there a perversion of decolonial narratives in Mali?
With the military junta and Russia's increasing presence in the region, Mali is undergoing an information warfare
Amanat anthology: Women writers from Kazakhstan make their voices heard in English
Women writers from Kazakhstan seldom get their voices heard in English, but a new anthology in translation, called Amanat, opens the door for anglophone readers to an often ignored literature.
In Tbilisi, thousands attend the ‘march for Europe’ to support Georgia's EU bid
The march comes days after Georgia's bid for EU membership was deferred by the European Commission.
In Sri Lanka, state-sponsored disinformation and suppression of dissent taint COVID-19 response
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Sri Lankan government has used the digital space to further an authoritarian agenda, affecting the digital rights and freedoms of citizens.
Illegal timber trade persists in The Gambia's Upper River Region
A large number of trees were illicitly felled in Kundam, a village in Tumana District in the Upper River Region, by 'unknown culprits' allegedly working with forestry officials, who denied the claim.
I did not come to flirt, but only to buy lemons
"I hope the day comes when buying lemons is just that and the shop is not another place where individuals are treated according to what they are supposed to have under their skirts."
Ending violence against women across the peacetime–wartime continuum
In armed conflict, women are deliberately targeted with the specific intention of harming the societies they belong to, or opportunistically harmed, outside of a campaign, with no fear of sanction.
Decoding Chinese online lexicon: How Jade came to represent the Chinese President Xi Jinping
Overseas Chinese dissidents have successfully reinterpreted the term “Fei Cui” (jade) to mean “negating Xi” and “Xi dies.”
Brazilian Indigenous group Univaja demands probe into murders of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira
Ten days after they went missing while working in the Javari Valley, a remote corner of the Amazon in Brazil, the Brazilian Federal Police confirmed the murders of the two men.
The battle of crypto dreams in Myanmar
Myanmar’s crypto revolution is at the beginning of the tug of war between repression and resistance, and will play a critical role in Myanmar’s political revolution.
New national park in North Macedonia plagued by continued development projects
One year after officials announced they would establish a new national park in North Macedonia, the land is under siege as developers push to construct hydro plants in the park.
How Flavour and Phyno pioneered the revival of Nigeria's Igbo highlife music
Flavour revolutionized highlife by adapting it for dancing in nightclubs and parties. Phyno successfully fused hip-hop and pop into highlife with such finesse.
Women refugee claimants are disenfranchised by gender-blind screening in Hong Kong
Refugees in Hong Kong face discrimination, a biased claimant process, and social pressure — particularly among women and vulnerable populations.
Brazilian facial recognition ruling can set an important precedent for country-wide use
This lawsuit could generate a "process of recognition that this is a wrongful practice, both on the side of the public authority, as well as the private enterprise."
Pacific groups celebrate Ocean Week by opposing deep sea mining
Various Pacific groups celebrated Ocean Week and Ocean Day on June 8 by calling on officials to reject deep-sea mining (DSM) in the region.
Meet the team behind the Bangkok Pride Parade
After a hiatus of nearly two decades, the Pride Parade returned to Bangkok, Thailand, on June 5, drawing crowds of LGBTQ+ community members, sex workers, feminists, political dissidents, and corporate advocates.
