🗺️ Picks of the Week — October 16
🗺️ Picks of the Week — October 16
Kilimanjaro On Fire, Thailand State of Emergency, Kyrgyzstan President Resigns, Azerbaijan-Armenia Drone Attacks, End World Hunger for $330 Billion, Indigenous People’s Day
Hello! Happy Friday and welcome to another edition of Picks of the Week. Today we travel to Thailand whose government has declared a state of emergency after continued student-led protests have engulfed the country, to Kyrgyzstan whose president followed in the footsteps of the country’s prime minister and resigned, to Tanzania where fires are ablaze across the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro, to Azerbaijan whose conflict with Armenia has escalated further with the introduction of drone warfare, to the U.S. where a growing number of states and cities are switching from celebrating Columbus Day to Indigenous People’s Day, and we look at a new study that suggests world hunger could be ended by 2030 for just $300/£253 billion.
Be sure to check out Monday’s podcast with Michael Hudson of ICIJ, and last week’s with the Wall Street Journal’s Louise Story. On Monday we’ll have New Scientist’s chief reporter Adam Vaughn on to talk about their ongoing Covid-19 coverage, and what the pandemic means for flu season and climate change. Also check out this week’s Inside The Middle East and yesterday’s Election Dissection of what went down in Northern Cyprus, Lithuania and Tajikistan.
And as ever, thank you for supporting what we’re doing, especially Tania who gave us some serious Twitter love on Wednesday. Okay, I’ve done enough talking. Amy, over to you…
Job Corner
Some deadlines for full-time jobs heading into the weekend. Subscribe below for full access to more than 800 journalism jobs and internships.
ProPublica — Copy Editor — New York/Remote (October 19)
CBC — Video Journalist — Toronto (October 21)
DerbyshireLive — Reporter — Derby (October 22)
LincolnshireLive — Reporter — Lincoln (October 22)
The Daily Mirror — Associate Editor — London October 22)
Data Corner
And some datasets used in today's newsletter…
War and Protests — War and protest data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project
Fires — Global fire weather database from NASA
World Hunger — Data on global hunger and undernourishment from Our World In Data
Thai Government Declares State of Emergency
Thailand’s government declared a state of emergency yesterday after tens of thousands of people defied the authorities and took to the streets of Bangkok to support pro-democracy protests. The decree bans gatherings of five or more people and the publication of news or online messages that “could create fear” or “affect national security”. For the past three months, students have led protests calling for the country’s monarchy to relinquish some of its power and wealth, and have demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha.
Thailand’s unrest began in 2014 when a military coup ousted Yingluck Shinawatra, the country’s first female prime minister, and handed power to Chan-ocha, a former commander-in-chief of the Thai Army. The protests re-ignited earlier this year when the pro-democracy Future Forward Party was forced to disband, after a court ruled that it had received a loan of around $6m/£4.6m from party founder Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit that was initially labeled as a donation, making it illegal. No end to the protests appears to be in sight.
Thailand announces emergency decree to quell protests
Kyrgyzstan President Quits
Protests have also erupted in Kyrgyzstan, and just days after the country’s Prime Minister Kubatbek Boronov quit, the president followed and also resigned amid mass protests over disputed election results. Parties close to President Sooronbay Jeenbekov won last week’s parliamentary election in a landslide, but opposition leaders questioned the legitimacy of the result, and violent protests immediately ensued. Protestors broke into parliament and even released detained opposition party figures from prison. Jeenbekov said he made the decision to step down to stave off further violence, saying “For me, peace in Kyrgyzstan, the country’s integrity, the unity of our people and calm in the society are above all else.” Parliament is set to meet today over whether to approve the resignation.
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Fires Erupt On Mt. Kilimanjaro
We move to Tanzania next where fires have blazed atop Africa’s tallest mountain for the best part of the past week, wreaking havoc on its delicate ecosystem. Kilimanjaro is one of the most popular climbing destinations in the world, and the fires reportedly started at a rest stop for climbers, with preliminary evidence suggesting that a fire used to prepare food for tourists could be the culprit. Strong winds and dry grass have meant the fires have only grown larger and stronger, forcing helicopters to step in to provide extra support to volunteers on the ground. Although no deaths or injuries have been reported, a two-mile stretch of alpine has already burned, and scientists warn that the loss of trees now may make the land more vulnerable to similar fires in the future.
Mount Kilimanjaro on fire
Drones Introduced in Azerbaijan-Armenia War
As we covered last week, the conflict over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region that began late last month continues to intensify, with the death toll rising to around 600. A Russian-brokered cease fire was agreed last weekend, but the truce has already been broken and activity has further escalated with the addition of cheaply made drones into the mix. While it’s believed they haven’t caused any civilian casualties yet, the drones supplied by the likes of China, Israel and Turkey have given Azerbaijan a distinct advantage, already causing widespread damage to hundreds of residential and administrative buildings in the region.
As the Los Angeles Times reports, “The drones have turned the hostilities from a bloody, bare-knuckled ground fight waged with infantry and Soviet-era ordnance into a deadly game of hide-and-seek against an all-too-patient — and often unseen — airborne enemy.”
And as NBC News reports, “One particularly startling video seems to show Armenian soldiers desperately firing into the sky as an ominous buzzing sound increases in pitch like a German World War II dive bomber. Seconds later, a drone plunges into the roof of a bus, its 50-pound warhead consuming the vehicle in a ball of fire.”
Previous Picks of the Week
🔎 Picks of the Week — October 9
🔎 Picks of the Week — October 2
🔎Picks of the Week — September 28
🔎 Picks of the Week — September 18
World Hunger Can End for $330 billion
Approximately 690 million people around the world went hungry in 2019, and the pandemic could grow that number by another 95 million. But a new study backed by the German government has found that world hunger can be solved for a cool $330/£253 billion. The researchers combined data from 23 countries and found that the milestone could be met if national governments doubled their current annual donations to $14/£11 billion for the next 10 years. The governments would also need to double the incomes of 545 million small-scale farmers, and limit agricultural emissions in line with the Paris climate agreement.
The study used an AI-powered approach that analyzed half a million reports to find the best interventions and their price tags. The researchers concluded that the keys to reaching the goal include matching agricultural spending with current technology spending, and making sure to invest more into female farmers, who are often unable to access the latest advancements in agricultural technology.
Credit: Ceres2030
Indigenous People’s Day
We finish with the news that 14 U.S. states, Washington D.C. and more than 130 cities celebrated Indigenous People’s Day on Monday, honoring the history and culture of the country’s Native Americans. The day marked an increase to the 10 states that celebrated last year, as more governors and mayors are making the switch from celebrating that other guy. While attitudes and efforts to support indigenous communities appear to be improving, the U.S. still has a long way to go to make up for its violent history with America’s original inhabitants.
On Thursday the U.S. Census ended and citizens of Indian country already fear they were severely undercounted, partly due to the pandemic, which has hit the Navajo Nation and other tribal communities especially hard. Voter suppression is another core issue, as many Native folks lack official mailboxes or government IDs, and are subject to various voter suppression measures.
If you’d like to learn more about the issue, check out the piece I wrote for Native News Online. And also this piece on TikTok star Nathan Apodaca and his Native identity. For the journalists reading, the Native American Journalists Association have a useful guide to covering Tribal nations.
That’s it for today. See you next week for more fun inside and outside of the newsroom. 👋