Hey, this is Sham, your very own news curator. Today, you're reading the exclusive version VIP Members usually get. Don't you worry, VIP stands for Very Important Potatoes. No classists allowed here. If you like this newsletter this long (no pun intended), take advantage of my New Year's discount here and become a Very Important Potato yourself. I'll be eternally grateful for your support.
Issue #363 takes you to El Salvador (murders fell 70%?!?!) and Cuba (It's official: Spain f*cking lied about the end of the slave trade, like everyone else). Plus, the first Pakistani rap song, Ugandan birdwatchers, lowest turnout ever in Bangladeshi elections, Stella McCartney perfume bottles and African designers, Kashmiri female rappers, and an AI-generated politician in Mexico, so much more.
Much love,
Sham
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🔍 Estimated reading time: 10 min 🔍
You have access to all of my sources by clicking on what's underlined.
Big shout-out to Wikimedia Commons for the helpful maps.
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El Salvador says murders fell 70% in 2023
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What happened
In El Salvador, the number of murders dropped by almost 70% in 2023. This decrease is linked to the government's strict actions against crime gangs.
Why this matters
Now, the murder rate is just 2.4 out of every 100,000 people. That's super low, especially compared to other places in the Americas. Only Canada's doing better. Some 6 million people live in this Central American country.
Tell me more
So, the Justice and Security Minister, Gustavo Villatoro, said there were 154 murders last year. That's way down from 495 the year before. To give you an idea, back in 2021 and 2020, they had over 1,000 murders each year, and in 2019 it was over 2,000. People seem to like President Nayib Bukele's hard-line approach to dealing with gangs. But, this approach isn't exactly gentle – we're talking about fast arrests and locking people up without much legal help.
Is this good news?
It's great that murders are down, but it's not all good news. There are some serious worries about human rights. Reports of torture and deaths while in police custody are pretty alarming. Since they declared a state of emergency in early 2022, which was all about getting tough on gangs, the police have arrested about 75,000 suspected gang members. But here's the thing – human rights groups the Central American University's (UCA) Observatory of Human Rights says that there's been a lot of abuses, like over 5,000 cases, and around 190 deaths linked to this crackdown. Some folks are even saying the government's not telling the whole story about how many violent deaths there really are. Plus, they want to hold mass trials for those imprisoned. However, the government says if they find people they arrested who aren't actually linked to gangs, they'll let them go. Already, about 6,000 people have been released.
Zoom out: In response to a recent surge in violence, Ecuador’s new President Daniel Noboa announced recently that his country would build two maximum-security prisons inspired by El Salvador’s CECOT, the biggest jail in the Americas.
Tell me more about politics in El Salvador
It all revolves around Nayib Bukele, the country's president. He's young, a crypto fanboy, pretty charismatic, veeeery popular and "increasingly authoritarian," says Carlos Dada, editor of the news organization El Faro. And... that's poses a whole lot of problems for many, specifically journalists. "El Faro was the first Salvadoran media outlet born in democracy," Dada noted in a speech in September at Columbia University, where he accepted an award from the International Press Institute. "Now democracy is almost completely gone, and yet, thanks to an innovative, modern, and greased propaganda machine, Mr. Bukele is the Latin American president with the highest popular support, which raises a paradox: the communities we serve don’t support us." Bukele isn't also particularly migration-friendly. Recently, El Salvador started charging a huge fee – we're talking about US$1,130 – to travellers from India or African countries, even if they're just stopping over. This move came right after Bukele had a chat with a U.S. official. Bukele is seeking a second five-year term in the Feb. 4 election.
Fun fact: Bukele once commissioned a massive Trump painting. The artist? Francisco Antonio LĂłpez Benavides.
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Transatlantic slavery continued for years after 1867, historian finds
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What happened
Spain announced the end of the slave trade in 1867, but historian Hannah Durkin discovered (for the English-speaking world) that this wasn't entirely true. Slave ships continued to arrive in Cuba until at least 1872.
Why this matters
Now we (in the English-speaking world) know that the slave trade in Spain continued for years after it was supposedly abolished.
Tell me more
Durkin found evidence of two ships arriving in 1872. One had about 200 people, and the other, possibly an American ship, had 630 people. She also came across some reports from explorer Sir Henry Morton Stanley. He had visited Benin in 1873 and reported on the slave trade in Ouidah, a significant African slave port (in fact, the second-biggest on the continent). According to Durkin, about two million people, or one in six of all enslaved people sent to the Americas, came from there.
Why now?
Durkin hit the jackpot with some old newspapers that just got digitized. They further backed up similar findings by "Cuban historians", as The Guardian mysteriously writes. They, too, found out that the slave trade was still happening in the 1870s. Durkin's book book hasn't been published yet and I intend on getting it so I can find out which historians' names we're missing out on. Neither The Guardian nor The Times acknowledge these previous research efforts by the Cuban historians, which is frankly a little mind-boggling to me. "Historians haven’t easily been able to consult those sources before, which is one reason why I was able to find so much," Durkin says.
Did the slave trade continue elsewhere as well?
Yes, the slave trade did continue in some regions even after it was officially banned by various countries. Laws to stop it were kinda weak, and slave traders found sneaky ways around them.
Since the slave trade was a global issue, it was hard to control and stop completely. The slave trade was mainly done by sea, making it even more difficult to monitor and prevent. It wasn't until the end of the 19th century that efforts to stop the slave trade really became effective. This change came about because of a lot of different reasons; resistance by enslaved people themselves, more naval patrols to enforce the bans, etc. In some places, enslavers had to be paid back in damages to agree to stop.
What now?
She's putting all this research into a book called "Survivors: The Lost Stories of the Last Captives of the Atlantic Slave Trade." Drawing on previously unseen archival material, it tells the story of the Clotilda, the last U.S. ship of the Atlantic slave trade. She found out about most of its 110 captives and even tracked down their descendants. Durkin's research challenges previous assumptions about the origins of the Clotilda's captives, revealing that most were Yoruba speakers from the same town in present-day Nigeria.
- Details: "It was, Hannah Durkin observes, a miracle that 108 survived the journey. Packed like sardines and subsisting on occasional gulps of vinegary water, approximately 1.8 million slaves had died on the hellish Middle Passage; 10.7 million Africans survived, reaching the New World, where they enjoyed a life expectancy of seven years," writes Pratinav Anil in their review for The Times.
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Nature: African birds of prey are at an increased risk of extinction following a population “collapse”, a new study has warned. Researchers found tropical raptors species, including the martial eagle and bateleur (pictured), had disappeared from large swaths of the continent in the last few decades. (Nature.com)
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Japan: The death toll from the magnitude 7.6 earthquake in the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, on January 7, increased to 100 people. At least 211 others are still missing. (AP)
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Myanmar: Tatmadaw airstrikes killed at least 17 people including nine children and wounded 20 more in Kanan village, Sagaing. (ABC News) But, in better news, in the same week, Myanmar announced the pardon of 9,652 prisoners, including 114 foreigners, to mark the country's independence day. (Reuters)
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Bangladesh: Citizens of Bangladesh voted in a general election with opposition parties boycotting the election. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina called the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) a "terrorist" organisation. Voter turnout was around 27.15 percent, as of an hour before polls closed, "lowest turnout I have ever seen". (Al Jazeera)
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Iran: Islamic State claimed responsibility for the double bombing in Kerman, Iran, which killed 89 people. (BBC News)
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South Korea: South Korean opposition politician Lee Jae-myung was stabbed in the neck in Gadeokdo, Busan. (The New York Times)
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Afghanistan: A spokesman for the Vice and Virtue Ministry of the Taliban in Afghanistan announced the arrest of an unspecified number of women for wearing "bad hijab", in the first known crackdown on the dress code since the Taliban's return to power in August 2021. (AP)
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Sierra Leone: Sierra Leone’s former President Ernest Bai Koroma was charged with four offenses including treason in connection with a failed coup in November. (Financial Times)
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Iraq: Prime Minister of Iraq Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani announced that the Iraqi government is beginning the process to remove the U.S.-led international military coalition from the country after a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad yesterday killed a militia leader. (Reuters)
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Angola: Angola announced its decision to leave the OPEC oil cartel. (The Wall Street Journal)
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Kuwait: Mohammad Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah is appointed as Prime Minister of Kuwait. (Reuters)
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Nepal / Russia: Nepal suspended the issuance of permits to its citizens to work in Russia and Ukraine after 10 Nepalis were killed while serving in the Russian Army. (Reuters) In the same week, Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a decree granting Russian citizenship to foreigners who fight for Russia in the war against Ukraine, and for their families. (Reuters)
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Egypt / Ethiopia / Sudan: Egypt said that negotiations to end the long-standing dispute with Ethiopia and Sudan over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) have hit a dead end. (ahram online)
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South Africa: Marine shells discovered in the Blombos Cave on South Africa’s coastline may have been used as personal ornaments 100,000 years ago, a new study published in the Journal of Human Evolution has found. The authors, from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa and the University of Bergen in Norway, said the study used archaeological and historical evidence to propose a trend that captures the evolution of the human practices to change the appearance of the physical body. (nature.com)
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Philippines: Philippine President Bongbong Marcos signed a law that permits electronic tax filing in the country. (Reuters)
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United States / Uganda (I'm a little on the fence about whether this is Good or Bad): The U.S. has removed Uganda from the list of nations eligible to benefit from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) due to the enactment last spring of its "Anti-Homosexuality Act." (Part of me is, 'Yes, consequences!' and another part is, 'Who removes the U.S. from any lists for their many morally dubious decisions?') (africanews)
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Read... "Taking flight: why the sky’s the limit for a women’s birding club in Uganda" (article) by Patience Akumu for The Guardian. I've never really understood birdwatching, but this personal shortcoming did not hinder me from enjoying reading about the Uganda Women Birders Club, a group of 80 female birdwatchers in Uganda, who are breaking barriers in a traditionally male-dominated field. The club, led by Judith Mirembe, meets every Sunday in Entebbe, where they explore and enjoy, well, watching birds. Uganda is known as a paradise for birdwatchers, housing about 50% of Africa's bird species and 11% of the world's.
Check out... Togo’s Palais de Lomé's solo show for Kossi Aguessy ( website), a Togolese-Brazilian industrial designer and artist. His work was not typically in the galleries of Togolese art spaces but in the collections of museums across the globe, from the Museum of Modern Art to the Centre Pompidou. His art? Paintings and larger than like aluminium sculptures that included reimagining’s of traditional African masks and figurines, like so and so. Interestingly, Aguessy also designed products for the likes of Coca Cola, Swarovski, Yves Saint-Laurent and Cartier to name a few, and his most recognisable design is perhaps that of the award-winning Stella by Stella McCartney perfume bottle. Btw, Togo's Palais de Lomé, which sits on 26-acres of land and was the country’s first major art and culture park, was originally opened in 1905 under the German colonial empire. Today, however, the building is open to the public, and they're planning a lot of exciting things for it, too.
Watch… "Fakhar-e-Alam – Bhangra Rap" (music video, 4 min), Pakistan's first rap song. It was released in 1993 and became a major headliner on Pakistani music charts right away. Fun fact: The guy is still a celebrity today. Fakhar-e-Alam interestingly also became the first and, to date, the only Pakistani in world history to circumnavigate the globe in a solo flight, in what he called Mission Parwaaz. He was aiming for a 28-day schedule and was planning on flying to 30 airports around the world. He currently hosts TV shows, sports broadcasts, and high-profile national and international productions.
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Anam Nasir (Rapper Annie), Mehak Ashraf (Menim), and Iqra Nisar (Yung Illa) are just some of the names of female MCs from the hip-hop scene in Kashmir, India. Fun facts I got from this reading this Feminism in India article: Menim began at the age of 12, sparked by none other than Eminem, Rapper Annie crafts her rap compositions in Kashmiri, Urdu, and English, and Yung Illa's idol is Pakistani rapper Talha Anjum (I love his flow so much, check out my favorite song of his in this newsletter's very own Spotify playlist, 'Go Global Weekly' or scroll above for his music video in my Recommendations section).
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In Mexico, a presidential candidate named Xóchitl Gálvez announced an AI version of herself as an official spokesperson for her campaign. She named it "iXóchitl."
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Hey, I'm Sham, the person behind this newsletter. Since 2014, I email a bunch of strangers once a week, curating news headlines from Asia, Africa and the Americas. I work under the assumption that, here in the West (I live in Berlin, Germany), we don't read or know much about the global majority, aka the rest of the world.
My goal is to help you burst your Western-centric bubble.
If you want to know more about me, visit my website or follow me on Twitter or Instagram.
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