Stories from October, 2018
Madagascar citizens demand transparency in a fishy deal with China
The livelihoods of Madagascar’s coastal communities will be seriously threatened if they must compete with the potential catch capacity of these fishing boats.
Israa Al-Ghomgham, a Saudi woman facing the death penalty for peaceful protest
Al-Ghomgham, and many other Saudi Shiites, took to the streets in 2011 to demand better rights.
For Calypso History Month in Trinidad & Tobago, #metoo does a double-take on empowering tunes
Readers offer a few suggestions for calypsos that make female empowerment their priority.
A Mozambique surfwear retailer thought is was a good idea to name their store “Hitler”—Netizens disagreed
The "Hitler" store, which seems to have been in business since early October, is located in one of the largest shopping centers in the country.
‘Voice for the Ocean’ gives European citizens a say on the future of ocean conservation
"It is necessary to connect European citizens and ocean lovers to the political sphere in order to discuss, make progress, and protect the ocean together."
Brazilian journalists face hacking, doxxing and other threats as election draws near
141 cases of threats and violence against journalists have been registered during the coverage of 2018 elections.
Death by bureaucracy? Russian regulators slap independent news site with sky-high fine
"It obviously means bankruptcy and imminent closure for the magazine."
All art is political: A conversation with Patricia Kaersenhout
"We all have ways in which we are a victim and a perpetrator."
Arrested in Saudi Arabia, and then disappeared: Yemeni writer Marwan Almuraisy
In the authoritarian kingdom, the crackdown against independent voices has escalated under Mohammed Bin Salman's rule.
No more photos of sleeping MPs? New rules restrict what media can cover in Tasmania Parliament
"Who do these politicians think they are? They are elected by the public, and the public is absolutely entitled to see how they behave."
Ukraine is outsourcing law enforcement to private companies that don't respect human rights
Their mandates are based solely on contracts signed between them and the city -- which vary a lot from city to city -- and mechanisms of accountability are virtually nonexistent.
Interactive maps become a tool to fight crime in Mexico
Collaborations such as the use of interactive mapping tools reflect the situation of citizens living with security issues. These citizen tools are a practical response to the problem.
Will Syria follow in the UAE's footsteps and censor VoIP services?
A policy banning VoIP services will present a direct threat to Syrians’ rights to privacy and freedom of expression.
Burundi clamps down on international NGOs and rejects human rights criticisms
In September, the National Security Council announced all NGOs – except in hospitals and schools – were suspended for three months from October 1, and mining companies for one month.
In Iran, state-sanctioned messaging apps are the new hallmark of internet nationalization
Since they censored Telegram, Iranian officials have deployed aggressive measures in an effort to promote national messaging services.
Trinidad & Tobago loses ‘The Mighty Shadow’, the ‘bassman’ of calypso
"When all other calypsonians in the early 1970s had six sheets of music, Shadow had seven, the additional one for the bass guitar."
Education in transition: how transgender teachers are transforming schools in Brazil and Colombia
"It’s a healing pedagogy because it tries to repair the wounds of hate, anger, and discrimination that everyone who has a body experiences in school, not only transgender people."
Landslide victory for Bhutan's centre-left party following peaceful general elections
This is only the third democratic elections to take place in the tiny, landlocked South Asian country since it abolished its Monarchy and adopted a new constitution in 2008.
As China legalizes Xinjiang ‘re-education camps’, Weibo netizens cheer on
China has switched its public relations tactics from denying to defending the camps, and the u-turn immediately reflected back on the social media conversation.
Chinese artist Badiucao sends ‘Make Wall Great Again’ hats to Google, in protest of company's return to China
“I want [Google] to know it is a mistake to collaborate with China’s censorship. It is as shameful as Trump’s wall ... an invisible wall online — the great firewall.”
Digging up the lost George Lucas Japanese 1980s TV commercials
Japanese Twitter has unearthed a series of 1980s Japanese TV commercials featuring George Lucas singing the praises of consumer electronics giant Panasonic.
