Tag: International news

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Briefs News

World in brief: China’s mass detention of Muslim, Koalas killed by fires, and Indigenous collaboration on Frozen II

On Nov. 24, leaked classified documents showed China’s strategic plan of mass detention for ethnic minorities. They were obtained and verified by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) in collaboration with CBC News and other media organizations around the world. Identified as the China Cables, the documents describe the large-scale incarceration and brainwashing of Uighurs, a predominantly Muslim minority in China’s Xinjiang province. Adrian Zenz, a leading researcher on the Uighur crisis, estimates that more than 1.8 million Uighurs are or have been imprisoned over the last three years. “What we are looking at in Xinjiang is probably the largest internment of an ethno-religious minority since the Holocaust,” said Zenz, in an interview with CBC. 

Record-breaking fires continue to devastate Australia’s East coast as yet another heatwave worsened the situation last week. Various media reported that more than 1 million hectares of New South Wales and Queensland have been ripped apart by the devastating bushfires which destroyed more than 300 homes. While bushfire season is not uncommon for the country due to dry weather, several scientists agree that this year is abnormally overwhelming, and for all types of lives. The chairman of the Australian Koala Foundation, Deborah Tabart, estimates that over 1,000 koalas weren’t able to flee the fires and lost their lives, reported the Daily Mail.

Disney is fostering Indigenous collaborations with Frozen II as it hit the theatre over the weekend. Critics over cultural appropriation from the first movie adopting Scandinavia’s Indigenous Sámi culture led the Hollywood magnate to work on the sequel with a team of Sámi experts from Norway, Sweden, and Finland, as reported by CBC. The group was constituted of Sámi artists, historians, elders and politicians. They were consulted on the historical aspect of the storyline, the costumes and the songs to ensure that their culture would be properly represented onscreen.

 

Graphic by @sundaeghost

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Briefs News

World in brief: First week of public hearings, Venice under water and a new Netflix rival

Venice faced its worst flooding in 50 years, leaving St. Mark’s Square under a metre of water last Tuesday. Reuters reported that the Basilica was submerged for the sixth time in the past 1,200 years – but the fourth time since 2000. After declaring a state of emergency, Venice’s Mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, also told reporters that climate change was to blame, referring to the high tides as “apocalyptic.” A study published in Quaternary International back in 2017 argued that Venice will be underwater before the next century if no actions are taken to counter climate change.

The first public hearings in 21 years began on Wednesday for Trump’s impeachment inquiry. It is set to investigate whether or not the President abused his presidential powers and sought help from the Ukraine government to undermine Democratic candidate Joe Biden. Politico reported that standout moments included the House moving from quid pro quo to officially accusing the President of “bribery,” and the testimony from the Acting Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor reporting another previously unknown phone call between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Trump. Also an important moment was U.S. diplomat Marie Yovanovitch’s testimony, which Trump denigrated on Twitter, claiming “everywhere Marie Yovanovitch went turned bad.” If the inquiry ends up proving Trump’s wrongdoing, he would become the third American President to be impeached.

A new streaming platform that was launched on Nov. 12 is set to offer access to Fox, Pixar, Marvel and National Geographic productions. Disney Plus comes as another big player against Netflix, Apple TV, Amazon Prime and HBO, among others. Subscribers can expect to find Disney classics such as The Lion King and Star Wars on the streaming service. While Disney has been accused in the past of being culturally offensive, the service deemed wise to include the message “may contain outdated cultural depictions” prior to some of its movies. The platform is available for $8.99/month or $89.99/year in Canada.

 

Graphic by @sundaeghost

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Briefs News

World in brief: The Berlin Wall, Bolivia’s unstable democracy, and virginity tests

This weekend marked the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. More than 100,000 people celebrated this historical event in the city, where images and videos from Nov. 9, 1989, were projected onto buildings, reported the Associated Press.  German Chancellor Angela Merkel took the opportunity to remind the world of the danger of taking democracy for granted. “The values on which Europe is founded – freedom, democracy, equality, rule of law, human rights – they are anything but self-evident and they have to be revitalized and defended time and time again,” said Merkel during the official ceremony, as reported by various outlets. Built after the end of World War II, the Wall divided East Berlin, occupied by the Soviets, from the West, controlled by the Western allies for 28 years during the Cold War.

Instability in South America continues to grow as Bolivia President Evo Morales resigned after nearly 14 years in power. On Monday, the country entered what the Associated Press referred to as an era of political uncertainty, after Morales stepped down over ongoing protests about the legitimacy of his re-election, earlier in October. Morales, the first Indigenous Bolivian president, had controversially abolished the limits of presidential terms, even after the 2016 referendum showed a majority were against that decision. While Carlos Mesa, who finished second to Morales in the election, called this a “democratic popular action,” BBC South America correspondent Katy Watson pointed out the fact that the military was behind what few people dared to call a coup, which strongly endangers the country’s democracy.

American rapper T.I. prompted strong backlash after revealing in a podcast that he’s been taking his 18-year-old daughter for annual hymen checkups, to make sure she’s still a virgin. In a segment aired on Ladies like us last Tuesday, which has since been removed, T.I. explained that “not only have we had the conversation, we have yearly trips to the gynecologist to check her hymen. Yes, I go with her … I will say, as of her 18th birthday, her hymen is still intact.” Medical experts were quick to denounce his comments, stating that there is no such thing as a scientific-based virginity test, but rather a shameful procedure, reported The New York Times.

 

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Briefs News

World in brief: Impeachment, leaders at the UN and rescued Nigerian captives

A formal impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump was officially made on Sept. 24. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the inquiry will investigate whether the President abused his presidential powers and sought help from the Ukraine government to undermine Democratic candidate Joe Biden. The Associated Press reported that the allegations came after a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in which you can hear Trump asking for help finding incriminating actions by Biden’s son.

“The president must be held accountable,” Pelosi said. “No one is above the law.”

Global leaders met on Sept. 23, in New York for the 74th session of the UN General Assembly. Discussions on the climate crisis and a possible armed conflict between the United States and Iran were among the headlines. French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson stood against the U.S. and Iran conflict, urging them to resume negotiations over the ongoing tensions in the Middle East, reported Reuters. Greta Thunberg also made a heartfelt plea, but towards the inactions of leaders regarding the climate crisis. She arguably dropped her most powerful quote yet with “how dare you” in a video that was shared more than 50,000 times.

On Sept. 26, more than 300 captives were rescued from a building that housed an Islamic school in northern Nigeria. Many reports described the survivors mostly as children, boys aged around 5 to their late teens, walking in chains. Police declared that seven people, teachers at the school, were arrested in the raid. Such schools are known to be abusive, yet parents lacking financial resources often opt to leave their children in the hands of the school boards. CBC reported that earlier this year, Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari, himself a Muslim, was planning to eventually ban the schools. It is still unclear how long the children were retained.

 

Graphic by @sundaeghost

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Briefs News

World in brief: Spotlight on the Climate Change and the Kashmir ongoing lockdown

Lockdown in the Himalayan region of occupied Kashmir, claimed by both India and Pakistan, hits its 50th consecutive day on Sept. 23. At the beginning of August, the Narendra Modi-led Indian government revoked the special status of the region, dividing the Muslim-majority state into two territories to be controlled by the federal government. Videos of torture, midnight raids and detentions of thousands of people from the academic elites have led Amnesty International to call for the resolution of the conflict. The NGO reported that more than 8 million people are under extreme lockdown, as cellphones and the internet remain disconnected.

On Sept. 20, American youth took to the streets of New York City to protest the climate crisis. Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted that more than 60,000 people attended the march, and CNN reported that 1.1 million students had been excused from class to participate. The movement has gained a lot of attention in the past weeks, as Greta Thunberg called on people worldwide to join this youth-led strike. Over 150 countries have stepped in and are organizing protests from Sept. 20 to the 27th. Montreal is expected to host the biggest protest yet, on Sept. 27.

A year-long study on climate change began on Sept. 20, as an international team of researchers left for the central Arctic. Global News reported that the $150 million expedition will be conducted by over 600 scientists from 19 countries, including the United States, Germany and China. They seek to expand understanding of climate change and develop further models that can predict changes in the weather.  The expedition is described as one of the most complex studies ever attempted in as hostile an environment as the Arctic.

 

Graphic by @sundaeghost

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Opinions

New drinking rules are missing sober thought

Breathalyzing club-goers targets the wrong customers

As university students on a budget, I think most of us are familiar with the concept of pre-drinking. Maybe too familiar. If you drink, you’ve likely sat on a friend’s couch with a glass of cheap booze, chasing after that little buzz that will get you rolling for the night. After all, who wants to spend $12 on a drink at the bar, when you can split a bottle with some friends at home?

Looks like the tradition is going down the drain—in London, at least.

According to the London Evening Standard, a new practice is being tested in some of London’s clubs: a breathalyzer on entry. The practice will “enable doormen to breath test revellers they suspect are intoxicated so they can bar them from entry.”

Ideally, this would cut down on violent crimes that are suspected of being the product of inebriation.

On one hand, my heart rallies against anything that can be seen as discriminating against people trying to save a quick buck. Even pre-drinkers aside—what of those who are bar-hopping? Pub crawls practically live in London—what of that time-old tradition? According to the article, officers even acknowledge pre-drinking, and target it specifically with this new procedure, hoping it “will cut down on binge drinking and ‘pre-loading’ where young people get drunk on cheap drinks before going out.”

The focus here is on “cheap drinks.” Why should it matter if people are getting drunk on cheap drinks before? A part of me can’t shake the feeling that there is an economic side to this debate. Is this really a question of cutting down on violence, or cutting down on people coming into your establishment without buying alcohol?

At the same time, I feel like if the violent crimes have reached the point where such a measure is required, this one simply does not measure up. The breathalyser would only trigger a positive (meaning a refusal of entry) if you are double the blood alcohol driving limit.

I can’t help but think that that’s really high. Yes, that will stop entry from people who should not be having any more drinks. But wouldn’t the rowdy bar-goers, the ones presumably causing mischief, be below that limit? In my experience, the people who have caused the most trouble have always been too drunk to drive, of course. But I imagine that by the time you are double that, you won’t be looking for a fight—just a toilet bowl, and maybe some aspirin for the morning.

I’m sure that this measure had good intentions, but all the good intentions in the world will not compensate for bad implementation. I doubt that this will have any effect on violent crime inside of London’s pubs and clubs—all it will do is alienate those who are trying to have fun on a budget, and maybe cut off some people that the bartender would have cut off anyway.

London’s officers could perhaps benefit from some nice, sober thought—maybe over a drink at my place.

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Opinions

Don’t look now: library porn is totally a thing

For once, there might be more to see offline than online

Walking around Concordia, it’s hard to deny that mid-terms are almost upon us. The signs couldn’t be clearer, especially when watching the undergrad students.

In all my years as a student and T.A., I have never seen a more dedicated group. They barely answer when called on in class, do not raise their heads when walking the halls, and keep a pathological focus in the library. Students always seem to be studying on whatever electronic device they find themselves in front of—be it a laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

Curious one day, I peered over someone’s shoulder to see what subject they were studying with such intensity.  They were looking at a news report about a former student of Oregon State University (OSU), Kendra Sunderland, who made a popular video in the school’s library.

Sunderland’s work was not published on the school’s website, or even YouTube—rather, PornHub. As its name implies, the 17-minute video was uploaded to a free pornographic website, and features exactly what one would expect.

What makes this different is that it was filmed, in its entirety, in the OSU library. To make matters worse, it is clear within the film that students were using the library at the time, all unaware of what was happening. They pass in the background, not looking up, as she masturbates on a desk.

After the story broke, students were in disbelief.  In an interview with Kezi 9 News on Jan. 30, current OSU student Shelby Wilson said that she was “surprised someone was in our library doing that. I feel like it’s always packed. I don’t know how anyone could get away with it.”

This is sentiment shared by OSU, who stated the same day in a press release that the library services approximately 30,000 people every week. To their knowledge this is the first instance in which something like this has happened.

Somehow, Sunderland was able to record this and not have anyone in a busy library look up from their things long enough to realize what was happening.

The video has since been removed by PornHub. Sunderland has since left the school, saying to The New York Daily News on Feb. 6 that it would be too awkward to return.  This is probably for the best, as OSU has banned her from campus, stating her behavior “does not represent the values of the university.”

Sunderland will now appear before a judge on charges of public indecency. If charged she may face a $6000 fine and up to a year in prison.

Makes you wonder what would have happened if one student wasn’t so studious. How much are we missing by not looking up?

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