Hey, this is Sham, your very own news curator. You're receiving the first-of-the-month paid version of this newsletter for free. If you become a paid subscriber here, all of your Monday mornings will look like this, and I crown you "supporter of independent journalism". I have student discount for those that need it, just write me :) No questions asked, I trust you.
Issue #367 takes you to Somalia (do you know what it's like to be a female journalist there? The country made some moves towards gender equality in media) and to Mexico, specifically Mexico City (where people are talking out loud about whether killing bulls should remain part of their "national tradition" or not). Plus, this issue unexpectedly turned into a fangirl moment for aging, very talented people. I introduce you to very, very famous people: a Māori artist (who passed away last week), a Japanese entertainer (never married, no children and loves it) and an Afghan singer (who has the perfect heartbreak song for all of my single VIPotatoes). Brazil's queer funkeiras (female funk artists) are also featured here, criticizing the machismo and homophobia of trending Brazilian Funk songs on your TikTok ForYou page, and so much more.
Thank you for your support,
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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Somali media just took a huge step towards gender equality
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What happened
Bilan, an only all-women media crew in Somalia, is about to launch a groundbreaking current affairs TV show. For the first time, a woman will host it, and at least half the panel will be women too. This is a big deal for Somali TV.
Why this matters
This is a huge step towards gender equality in Somali media.
Tell me more
Bilan was established in 2022 with support from the United Nations Development Programme, with six journalists led by Nasrin Mohamed Ibrahim, one of the few female senior news producers in the country. The project was set up to offer women a safe space to tell the stories they wanted to tell, and has covered a wide range of under-reported stories, including Somalis living with HIV, child abuse and postnatal depression. Based in Mogadishu and supported by Dalsan Media (one of Somalia’s largest media organizations), they've now got EU funding to grow bigger and better over the next three years. This includes hiring more journalists and supporting investigative reporting. "We hope this will be a game changer for the Somali media scene, opening up new opportunities for women journalists and shining a light on new subjects that have been ignored, particularly those that are important for women," said Jocelyn Mason, UNDP’s representative in Mogadishu. It's set to kick off on International Women’s Day, March 8, taking inspiration from the BBC's Question Time. Bilan will be fully independent to pick its own projects which will be aired on TV, radio, print and online by Dalsan Media Group, and international media houses as well.
What's Somali media like?
The media scene here is mostly run by men and focuses a lot on politics. The Bilan team has faced its fair share of discrimination and danger, from societal pressure to the threat of violence. "All journalists are in danger in Somalia. We are targeted by Islamist militants and face the everyday risk of being blown up by suicide bombs," Ibrahim writes in her opinion piece for The Guardian in 2022. Female journalists have many other challenges, starting with their families, who often believe journalism is a shameful profession for women. They face sexual harassment in the office and abuse in the streets. "For too long, Somali women journalists have been treated as second-class citizens and Somali news has ignored the stories and voices of half the population; now we are in charge of the boardroom and the narrative," said Nasrin Mohamed Ibraham, Bilan’s chief editor.
- Fun fact: Bilan translates to "bright and clear" in Somali.
- Dig deeper: What's it like being a camerawoman in Somalia? There's a pretty revealing mini-doc by BBC News Africa featuring Somali camerawoman Maryama Omar. The sexism she faces is out of this world. (I wish it was 'out of this world', but it's precisely the world we live in.)
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Bullfighting has returned to Mexico City – for now
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What happened
Last week in Mexico City, bullfighting events resumed at La Plaza México, the largest bullfighting arena globally, sparking significant controversy and protests.
Why this matters
Bullfighting holds cultural significance and is legally permitted in several countries besides Mexico and Spain, including France, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, and Ecuador. However, it's a practice that involves the killing of bulls, which is contentious and has been banned or modified (to non-lethal forms) in other regions due to growing animal rights concerns. The case in Mexico City is particularly noteworthy because the city's arena plays a crucial role in the economic aspects of bullfighting and the career development of bullfighters (matadors).
Tell me more
The practice, locally referred to as "fiesta brava," was initially suspended in 2022 by a federal judge's ruling, influenced by a human rights group's argument against the "degrading" treatment of bulls. This suspension was challenged, and the Supreme Court said bullfights could happen while they decide if it's legal or not. On the day it resumed, a huge crowd watched Sunday at the largest bullfighting arena in the world as matadors fought and killed six bulls, as James Wagner reported for The New York Times. More than 300 protesters from several animal rights groups marched nearly three and a half miles down a busy street and stopped traffic to La Plaza México. A protester painting the word "murderers" in Spanish on an entrance to La Plaza México. Luis Antonio Rojas took this impressive picture of the activist (it's part of the carousel). Activists are hopeful a final ruling this year will ban the sport for good.
Why the focus on Mexico City?
Mexico City's bullfighting ring is a big deal. It's where the most important fights happen and where bullfighters become famous. It also brings in big crowds, only second to soccer games. José Saborit, the director of a national bullfighting organization called Tauromaquia Mexicana, said the practice remained particularly popular in some smaller towns and that, except for soccer, no other events regularly draw 30,000 to 40,000 people the way La Plaza México does.
What's the history of bullfighting?
Bullfighting started in Mexico around the 1500s when the Spanish brought it over. It's been a tradition for a long time. Since 2013, five of Mexico’s 31 states have prohibited bullfights. Zooming out, five American countries have banned it as concerns over animal rights grew.
What are the pros and cons of banning bullfighting?
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Pros: The push for banning bullfighting is primarily driven by concerns over animal rights, with advocates highlighting the practice's cruelty and the growing movement against it, both globally and within Mexico.
Cons: But others say bullfighting is important for jobs and money (the head of a bull breeders' association said it generates 80,000 jobs.) They also think stopping it would be unfair to people who enjoy this tradition. They worry it would harm the economy and take away jobs.
Did you know that the debate over bullfighting also intersects with political ideologies? For example, in Spain, the far-right movement, represented by the Vox party, has openly supported bullfighting. This support frames the practice not only as a cultural issue but also as a political one.
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Chile: Chile declared a state of emergency as wildfires kill at least 64 people across the country. (NPR)
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South Africa: The five African cities with the highest crime rate in 2023 were all in South Africa, new research showed. (The Conversation)
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Namibia: Namibian President Hage Geingob dies in a hospital where he was receiving treatment. (Reuters)
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Niger: Twenty-two people were killed during a mass shooting at the village of Motogatta in the Tillabéri Region, in Niger. (Barron's)
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Iran: Four Kurdish men were executed in Iran after being convicted of planning a bomb attack ordered by Israel's Mossad on a military equipment factory. " The execution of these four prisoners was based on confessions under torture and without a fair trial, and is considered an extrajudicial killing," said Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of the Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) group. (Al Jazeera)
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Burkina Faso: London-registered Endeavour Mining sued its Burkinabé workers, who put their tools down last week, in an attempt to force them back on the job. Endeavor Mining won the case. (Mining Technology)
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South Korea: A gift accepted by the country's first lady has set off very public debates about ethics and revealed ruling party divisions just weeks before legislative elections. (The Korea Herald)
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Malaysia: The Malaysian Pardons Board reduced the prison term of former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak from 12 years to 6 years of imprisonment. (Rappler)
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El Salvador: El Salvador (most likely) re-elected its popular but authoritarian president. At the time of writing this issue yesterday, the results had not come in yet.
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Nigeria: Nigeria devalued its naira currency to a record low, the second major devaluation in eight months, bringing the official exchange rate close to the black-market rate. The move was part of a wider package of market-friendly reforms from President Bola Tinubu, part of efforts by the country to address "one of its worst socioeconomic crises in decades," a columnist in Punch, Nigeria’s biggest newspaper, wrote. (Punch)
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South Africa: Former President Jacob Zuma is suspended from the African National Congress, the party he led from 2007 to 2017. (BBC News)
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Guatemala: The European Council applied sanctions to Attorney General of Guatemala María Consuelo Porras and three of her collaborators, as well as to a judge, for undermining democracy, the rule of law, and the transfer of power. (Prensa Libre)
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Burkina Faso / Niger / Mali: Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso have severed ties from ECOWAS, a key West African bloc. This is West Africa's "Brexit" moment. (Reuters)
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Eswatini: On February 9, 2024, King Mswati III is scheduled to officially open parliament and approximately a week later, Finance Minister Neal Rijkenberg will deliver his annual budget speech. Eswatini’s parliament should provide sufficient resources to protect women against violence and to effectively implement the 2023-2027 National Strategy to End Violence in Eswatini, Human Rights Watch said last week. (HRW)
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Pakistan: Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife have been sentenced to seven years in prison on a charge that their 2018 marriage broke the country's laws, officials and their defense lawyers have said. The verdict follows another case in which Khan, who is also a cricket legend in the country, and his wife Bushra Bibi were sentenced to 14 years in prison on Wednesday after being convicted of corruption. (Sky News)
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Tech: Neurotechnology company Neuralink announced it had implanted its brain–computer interface in a human brain for the first time, and that the person was "recovering well" with "initial results showing promising neuron spike detection". (The Guardian)
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Senegal: President Macky Sall of Senegal on Saturday suspended elections that were due to be held on Feb. 25 — hours before political parties were set to commence official campaigns. (Al Jazeera)
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Sierra Leone: Three young girls, aged 12, 13, and 17, named Adamsay Sesay, Salamatu Jalloh, and Kadiatu Bangura, respectively, died in the North West province. These deaths are reported to be the result of traditional genital cutting, a practice deeply rooted in certain cultural rituals. (This is why I put this news under Good news:) Following these deaths, the police arrested several parents and soweis (senior women). (The Guardian)
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Kenya: 10,000 women in cities across Kenya took to the streets to protest (I'm celebrating the fact that this many people took to the streets and not) a rise in femicides. Twenty-one women in the East African country were killed by men in January alone, according to Usikimye, a non-profit organisation that campaigns against sexual and gender-based violence (GBV). (openDemocracy)
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Read... "A Woman Who Shows Age Is No Barrier to Talk Show Stardom" (article) by Motoko Rich. I have talked about this before on my social media channels, but I wish I saw more profiles of aging, successful women in business. A recent Saturday profile by The New York Times' apparently heard my wish and wrote about one of Japan’s best-known entertainers, Tetsuko Kuroyanagi. Kuroyanagi has interviewed guests such as Meryl Streep, Mikhail Gorbachev (who recited poetry on her show) and Lady Gaga on her talk show, "Tetsuko’s Room," since 1976, earning a Guinness World Record last fall for most episodes hosted by the same presenter. She's still pretty active, has a YouTube account where she does vlogs (for example, about her trip to Hawaii). She has championed the deaf and is a good-will ambassador for UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund. Kuroyanagi never married or had children. "With a unique job, it’s better to stay single. It's more comfortable," she said.
Watch... "A special interview with Selwyn Muru", ( mini-documentary) by Te Ao with Moana. I didn't mean to dedicate this issue to aging, very talented people, but here I am, introducing you to another one. I hadn't heard of Selwyn Muru until he passed last week. Māori artist and broadcaster Herewini Murupaenga passed away peacefully surrounded by whānau (Māori for extended family). Murupaenga, who is widely known as Selwyn Muru, from Ngāti Kuri and Te Aupouri, was 86 years old. Along with contemporaries like Para Matchitt (leading figure in Māori contemporary art from the 1960s), Ralph Hotere (widely regarded as one of New Zealand/Aotearoa's most important contemporary artists), he sought to fuse Māori culture with modernism, proudly wearing the influences of artists like Picasso. He was once described as one of the most original Māori thinkers of his time. He also forged paths in journalism and both radio and television broadcasting, wrote for stage and screen, and was an accomplished musician.
Listen to… Sapafunk. ( article) Do you know about MC Marie, MC Mano Feu and MC Lalão do TdS? They are three out of many funkeiras (female funk artists) behind Sapafunk, a small and growing subgenre of Brazilian Funk, a creation of Brazil’s largely Afro-Brazilian favela communities. If you listen to Brazilian Funk (and you have looked up the lyrics), then you have probably noticed that many songs are very... well, encouraging of drugs, violence, machismo, the objectification of women and child eroticization even. "Novinhas," slang for young teenage girls, are often the subject of mainstream funk putaria (funk with aggressively sexual lyrics). Wrapped up in the genre of funk at large, the Sapafunk artists explain, is a total focus on the sexual desires of men. These funkeiras are flipping that on its head—but it doesn’t mean it’s PG-rated; for example, listen to " A Dyke Olhou pra Mim". MC Mano Feu explains: "I used to have a prejudice towards funk putaria, but I deconstructed this. Like, if what's popular right now is talking about sex, I'm going to talk about mine, about what's good for me. The guys are out there spouting a lot of bullshit. Only their pleasure has visibility, mine doesn't. We talk about our pleasure without denigrating or humiliating anyone. Hey, if we're going to talk about sex, let's talk about ours." Reminds me a lot of the "conversation" we had about W.A.P by Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B a few years back.
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Are you heartbroken? Nashenas, one of the most famous Afghan singers, has a song for you for Valentine's Day / Happy Single Awareness Day. Listen to the song while you read the translation of the lyrics here (unless you speak Pashto, of course). Born Mohammed Sadiq Habibi in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar in 1935, Nashenas (his stage name, which loosely translates as "unknown,") earned a doctorate in Pashto literature in Moscow, worked as a civil servant and a diplomat in the Communist government of Afghanistan. 1991, he made it out, with absolutely nothing to his name. A few months ago, Nashenas at the age of 88 made his first public performance in two decades at a venue in Beverwijk, the Netherlands. The New York Times' Mujib Mashal wrote a beautiful Saturday profile of him and about that day.
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So, there was this pigeon that people thought was spying for China, and it got caught in Mumbai, India, about eight months back.
The bird had some rings on its leg and stuff written on its wings that looked a lot like Chinese. At first, everyone was convinced it was up to no good, spying and all.
But then, the police found out that the pigeon was actually just a racing bird from Taiwan that got lost and ended up in India by mistake.
It is now free... like a bird. *cue Nelly Furtado*
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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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