Hey, this is Sham, your very own news curator. For this issue only, I want to try something different, bear with me: What if I only curate the news for you? That way, I get to tell you about so much more that happened last week. Share your feedback by filling out this short survey. Next week, I'll return to the normal layout :)
Issue #304 includes stories from a dentist from Somalia, a bisexual mother of two from Ghana, a human rights lawyer from Kenya, the Afro-Argentine community in Argentina, a female business owner from Afghanistan, a super-mysterious forest in China, a daring decision on gender equality in Japan, and so much more.
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Somalia
- Abdi Latif Dahir for The New York Times writes about the first and still the only free ambulance service operating in Mogadishu (a city of over three million people). It's called Aamin Ambulance and was founded by a dentist named Dr. Abdulkadir Abdirahman Adan.
- Dahir also writes about the political situation in the country now as 328 lawmakers have just elected Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (he was president before). But: The Al-Shabab (who are linked to Al Qaeda) already have political power, meaning they collect taxes, decide some court cases and control the streets. Some Somalis fear that a new government might not even matter.
Ghana: Remember when the 21 LGBTQ+ activists were arrested in Accra last year on May 20? The charges were eventually dropped and they got out... but depression, isolation and fear is what this whole episode of police violence brought upon them. For African Arguments, Rita Nketiah who is a researcher at Human Rights Watch writes about how much that damaged their lives after their release.
- Quote: "MF, a bisexual mother of two, returned home after her release in 2021 to an angry husband who refused her entry and denied access to her children. Most of her family members disowned her, her husband has closed her shop, and she no longer attends her mosque for fear of judgement and ridicule. Today, she is seeking asylum because life has become unbearable."
Kenya: In an opinion piece for Al Jazeera, human rights lawyer Stephanie Musho writes about the many consequences that the overturning of Roe v Wade in the United States could have for Kenya. Why? "In many African nations, key women’s rights initiatives are being sustained only thanks to funding received from the West. In Kenya, for example, 95 percent of sexual and reproductive health aid comes from the US."
South Africa
- Abortion has been legal since 1997 in South Africa. But it's still not accessible to a lot of women. As a result, more and more women are risking their lives by getting secret affordable but unsafe abortions. Tebadi Mmotla for New Frame asks why in this podcast episode.
- Sazi Bongwe and Dennis Webster for New Frame also met some of the 70 survivors of apartheid crimes who have been occupying the Constitutional Court in Braamfontein, Johannesburg. What they want: To speak with president Cyril Ramaphosa about reparations for crimes that were committed against them during apartheid. For example, meet Joyce Ntoni, a 79-year-old woman, whose daugther died as a result of her role as an activist in the anti-apartheid struggle. Ntoni, like the other survivors, have been sleeping on the floor with no shelter.
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Mexico: Núria López Torres for The New York Times writes about an Indigenous people in Mexico: the Seri. She's also taken some really intimate and breathtaking pictures, look at her Instagram. There are only 1,000 Seri people worldwide, they mostly live in a corner of the Sonoran Desert (northwestern Mexico) and they are already negatively impacted by climate change and drug trafficking.
Haiti:
- Catherine Porter, Constant Méheut, Matt Apuzzo and Selam Gebrekidan for The New York Times write a long-read about Haiti's very complicated and sour historical relationship with France. Did you know that the colonization of Haiti made many French (and European) families super rich today? The New York Times tracked down and spoke to more than 30 descendants of families that received payments under Haiti’s independence debt. (Btw: The New York Times makes it sound like they uncovered this history but that's not true. No more 'Columbus'ing allowed, U.S. media.)
- 11 women from Haiti drowned on May 13 after a boat carrying migrants capsized near an island of Puerto Rico. Dozens more are believed missing, 38 people survived because the U.S. Coast Guard rescued them. One of those rescued was arrested on charges of human smuggling. More and more people are fleeing the gang violence and kidnappings in Haiti; it's simply not safe at the moment. Syra Ortiz-Blanes writes about it for Miami Herald.
Colombia: The country's constitutional court approved medically-assisted suicide. It is the first Latin American country to legally allow death by suicide for those suffering serious or incurable illnesses. Beware: Euthanasia is something different as it involves medical staff. However, medically-assisted suicide is carried out by the patient itself while a medical professional is somewhere nearby. Thanks to the rights group DescLAB who filed the lawsuit before the court. Lucía Franco writes about this historic legal decision in Spanish for in EL PAÍS.
Argentina: The country is finally asking citizens about their ethnic identity for the very first time. "Are you a descendant of Africans or indigenous people?" is the big question. Some scholars hope that this will be a change from Eurocentric views on how the nation was built. Mar Centenera talks to the Afro-Argentine community about it for EL PAÍS.
- Quote: "The state is beginning to repay the historical debt it owes us. For the community it is extremely important, because based on these data it will be possible to develop public policies to get out of invisibility and be able to access basic rights."
The census will also include questions on gender and sexuality. Natalia Arenas for Cosecha Roja writes in Spanish why this data might also finally put an end not just to white but also to cis Argentina.
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Pakistan: The country might have its first billion-dollar venture (a 'startup unicorn') soon. Zuha Siddiqui for rest of world writes about the Pakistani tech startup industry, and the two startups that might make it to the billion-dollar valuation: Bazaar Technologies and Airlift.
Afghanistan:
- David Zucchino and Yaqoob Akbary for The New York Times write about the female protesters against the Taliban's decree this month that requires women to cover themselves from head to toe.
- Quote from one of the protesters: "If we don’t protest, the world won’t know how badly Afghan women are oppressed."
- Mirzahussain Sadid for Alive in Afghanistan speaks to a number of women currently still running their own business in Afghanistan. Like Mahbuba Mohammadi who has been running a store selling women's accessories in Pul-e Surkh for the past five years. She is the sole breadwinner for her family at the moment.
- Quote from Mohammadi: "Our sales were consistent before the collapse, we were earning around 1,000 Afghanis per day (currently around $11 USD), but since the restrictions by the Taliban, that has been cut in half."
India:
- Amanda Taub for The New York Times writes about how the decisions of one English man in the 17th-century 'inspires' many abortion laws in the United States, United Kingdom and India today.
- Mujib Mashal and Bhadra Sharma (also for NYT) write about how the alcohol ban for 100 million people in one Indian state in 2016 hasn't really fought the alcoholism and domestic problem ever since because, well, people are going to neighbouring Nepal to drink instead.
- Also, did you hear about the death of the legend musician Shivkumar Sharma a few weeks ago? If you don't know him, he's made music for many popular movies including Chandhi or Lamhe. Also, look at him perform here.
Sri Lanka: 42 Tamil refugees have decided to go on hunger strike on Chagos Island. Why? They belong to a bigger group of 89 Tamil refugees who have been detained for more than seven months in a British military base in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Haroon Siddique writes about it for The Guardian. Btw, did you know that Chagos Island actually 'belongs' to Mauritius? However, in 1968 the United Kingdom was like, 'nope, we claim it anyway' even though a UN court has ruled this illegal.
China:
- The United Nations high commissioner for human rights Michelle Bachelet is under a lot of pressure at the moment. A group of 40 politicians from 18 countries are like, 'don't go to China this week. You'll lose all credibility!'. Why? Bachelet wants to visit Kashgar and Ürümqi in Xinjiang. And, according to many human rights organizations, China has forced an estimated one million or more Uyghur people into prison-like places in the region. A lot of people worry that China might not let her see sh*t.
- And then, there is a science news headline that stuck with me last week. Helena Horton for The Guardian writes about a really mysterious discovery last week. Scientists found an ancient forest at the bottom of a giant sinkhole in the Guangxi region (southern China), with trees up to 40 meters tall. 'Omg, we might find plants and animals that we've never seen before!!'
South Korea: Everybody was super worried that president Yoon Suk-yeol might shut down the Ministry of Gender Equality once elected. I mean, he had promised it during his campaign. But it seems like that he's backed off for now. This matters a lot because South Korea ranks pretty low globally when it comes to gender equality in pay, political advancement and economic participation. More about this, read what Michelle Ye Hee Lee, Seung Min Kim and Michael Kranish write for The Washington Post.
Japan: Asahi writes that the government, starting this summer, will require 18,000 big companies to publish data on just how unequal female employees and irregular employees are being paid. 'We just want to make things better for women in Japan,' they say. Let's see.
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Speaking of Japan... a 24-year-old man there got US$360,000 by mistake. An official from a rural town had sent it to him, again, by mistake. The lucky guy was like, 'nah, this mistake is my TikTok manifestation come true', took it and then proceeded to lose all of it in online casinos. Now, the town is suing and he has been arrested.
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That's it from me.
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