We asked people around the world to share developing news stories from their countries.
Here’s your May reminder that we all live in a news bubble.
Welcome to Navigo’s fifth dispatch of News Without Borders! We’ve already sourced stories from Navigo friends in 25+ countries. Keep ’em coming! After all, our goal is to foster cross-cultural understanding and promote new perspectives from around the globe.
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— Nicholas Graham Platt, Justin Barry
🇰🇪KENYA LAUNCHES ITS FIRST SATELLITE 🛰️
The University of Nairobi partnered with Japan’s space agency to launch Kenya’s first satellite into orbit. The million-dollar cubed device will orbit the Earth every 90 minutes, providing Kenya with weather, mapping, and environmental data over the satellite’s 12 to 18 month lifespan. Advances in technology have lowered the barriers to space exploration… giving more countries access to the final frontier.👽
📍John Muchangi, 38, Journalist
🇯🇵JAPAN: WOMEN ALLOWED IN JAPANESE BULLFIGHTING RINGS FOR THE FIRST TIME
For centuries, women weren’t allowed to enter bullfighting rings in Japan. The rings — ritually purified with salt and sake before matches — are considered sacred by fans, and women were thought to be too “impure” to enter.
📍Mina Hamamoto, 28, Financial Analyst
🇨🇴COLOMBIA: VETERINARIAN CHARGED WITH SMUGGLING HEROIN INSIDE PUPPIES 🐶
A Colombian vet who allegedly used puppies as drug mules has been extradited to the US after more than 10 years on the run.
📍Miguel Angel Guerrero, 38, Engineer
🇲🇾MALAYSIA: WORLD’S OLDEST PRIME MINISTER ELECTED AT 92
Mahathir Mohamad, the nation’s former leader, came out of retirement at the age of 92 to win a majority of parliamentary seats and oust the former party’s grip on power. He’s a known anti-semite and homophobe, has had hundreds of millions of dollars go “missing” on his watch, and has a habit of imprisoning his political opponents.
📍Rimka Sandhu, Entrepreneur, 28
🇧🇷BRAZIL: MOTHER SAVES GROUP OF CHILDREN BEING ROBBED AT GUNPOINT ON MOTHER’S DAY
While waiting for a Mother’s Day party to begin, a group of elementary school children was held at gunpoint by a man attempting to steal a bag. An off-duty female police officer — who moonlights as a badass mother — sprung to action, fired two rounds at the robber, and subdued him until the arrival of medical and police assistance. The whole scene was caught on the school’s video security system.
Sao Paulo, once one of the most violent cities in the world, has seen a dramatic drop in crime in recent years. The rate of homicide has declined from 52.5 murders per 100,000 people in 1999, to 6.1 per 100,000 in 2018, which is five times lower than the national average.
Experts attribute this decline to a rise in employment of young men, and tight control over access to guns and alcohol.
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🇮🇷IRAN: WOMEN TAKE THE STREETS IN UNPRECEDENTED PROTESTS AGAINST MANDATORY HIJAB
On Dec. 27, 2017, Vida Movahed stood bareheaded on a utility box in one of Tehran’s busiest cross streets, waving her white head scarf on a stick to peacefully protest Iran’s mandatory hijab policy. Within days, images of the 31-year-old woman, who was detained and released several weeks later, became an iconic symbol — going #viral.
More context:
Other young women have begun to follow suit, posting pictures of themselves waving their hijabs on social media and generating new hashtags. The protests are unprecedented in the nearly 40-year history of the Islamic Republic.
What’s happened since:
This has not gone without notice or punishment. Hijab-related arrests remain common and numerous. Since late December, police have arrested at least 33 people for their involvement in protests against the compulsory hijab. In 2014, Iranian police announced that “bad hijab” had led to 3.6 million cases of police intervention.
Background:
The leader of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, made the hijab compulsory in 1979. Mass protests by women were unsuccessful in overturning the edict. Pro-hijab campaigners invented the slogan “Ya rusari ya tusari,” which means “Either a cover on the head or a beating,” and supervisory “committees” — often composed of women in full chadors — roamed the streets and punished women who they deemed poorly covered.
📍Zina, 45, Computer Assistant
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