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last update: sunday, 11pm (berlin time)
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We need to talk about how we treat women
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India: A 23-year-old woman was set on fire by a gang of men on her way to court to sue the man she accused of raping her. (The Guardian)
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U.S.: Ride-hailing company Uber reported around 6,000 sexual assaults on its U.S. rides in 2017 and 2018. The victims involved both drivers and passengers. (The New York Times)
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Pakistan/China: The Associated Press got ahold of a list of 629 names of girls and women from across Pakistan who were sold as brides to Chinese men and taken to China. Who sold these girls? Their families – and they got €1,500 for each in return. That's the price of a new Macbook Air. (AP)
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Right now, world leaders are in Madrid, Spain for the COP25 climate change conference to discuss ways to stop climate change. (UNFCCC)
However, southern Africa is already suffering some of its worst effects (Reuters) – with Zimbabwe going through the worst drought in a century right now. How bad? It has caused the Victoria Falls waterfall – also known as the largest waterfall in the world – to almost completely stop flowing in this year's dry season. (The Guardian)
- Why it matters: Victoria Falls is one of southern Africa's biggest tourist attractions and one the most impressive natural wonders in the world. (National Geographic)
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Biggest IPO ever! But kinda... meh.
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Last week, Saudi Arabia pulled off the biggest initial public offering (IPO) in history, raising $25.6 billion by selling shares in its giant state-owned oil monopoly Aramco. (CNN)
- The IPO valued Aramco at roughly $1.7 trillion, making it the most valuable publicly traded company in the world ahead of Apple, which is worth about $1.15 trillion.
Here’s the but: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) himself was kind of underwhelmed, thinking 'i thought we're gonna hit well beyond $2 trillion.' Plus, the offering itself was pretty meh. Aramco, which listed just three billion aka 1.5% of shares, was reportedly more popular among more or less Arab investors than the really rich international people. (Reuters)
Zoom out: MBS had been working to sell a piece of Saudi Aramco for nearly four years. Mission kinda accomplished.
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The truth about Xinjiang is finally out
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Reminder: For at least the last three years, Chinese authorities in the western region of Xinjiang have been putting men and women — largely Muslims of the Uighur, Kazakh and Kyrgyz ethnic minorities — in so-called vocational centers against their will. Why? 'We will teach them to be better Chinese citizens,' they said.
Now, for the first time, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists’ China Cables investigation has revealed classified Chinese government documents that provides proof that there is something massively wrong going on in the country right now. (ICIJ)
- The Chinese government said, 'theyre fake lol'. Experts were like, 'no man we know theyre real'.
The truth:
- These "vocational centers" were designed to be run like prisons.
- Called 'students', the people held up in these centers against their will for at least a year have done nothing wrong.
Oh, the ICIJ? Those are the bad motherf*ckers responsible for Panama Papers, Implant Files or the Luxembourg Leaks. Support them.
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Two countries last week talked about losing their heads of state.
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- Finland: Last week Antti Rinne resigned as prime minister because everybody said, 'you did a s*itty job at dealing with all those strikes for two weeks'.
- Who's next? Maybe 34-year-old (!!!) Minister of Transportation and Communications Sanna Marin. (Reuters)
- U.S.: Yes, the impeachment process is still very much live. And it's picking up heat. If you're wondering why I am not covering it, there are at least eight (some daily) podcasts solely focused on that. (The Verge)
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Three countries decided, 'we need to talk'.
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- Afghanistan: The Taliban said, 'yo we're talking to the U.S. about peace again'. (Aljazeera) The Afghan government is still waiting for an invitation to join the party.
- Why this matters: Maybe now is the time to end a 18-year-old war.
- Hong Kong: It's been six months now and thousands of people in Hong Kong still want to be heard by the government's Chief Executive Carrie Lam. (HKFP)
- France: A national strike began in France over president Emmanuel Macron's plans to switch up the way the country gives money to people after they're done working their entire lives. (NPR) France’s labor unions say the plan is bad for those not earning much and those who have/had part-time jobs. The result: around 245 protests. (The Connexion)
- The big but: Don't tell anyone but this isn't really about the pension problem and more about general opposition to the government. Many in France are unsatisfied with both Macron and his far-right sparring partner Marine Le Pen.
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And one was just, 'nope. We are not having this conversation.'
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Indonesia: More than 34 people tried to raise the Morning Star flag (which represents the independence movement of West Papua province) and were arrested for it. The charge: treason. (RNZ)
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What happens when nothing happens
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A boat capsized last week and 58 refugees aka people died off the coast of Mauritania. Luckily, the rest – between 100-120 others – survived. (The Guardian) Mauritania will soon be launching an investigation into those responsible, including possible trafficking networks.
- Why this matters: This was one of the deadliest disasters in the sea this year.
- The facts: Former ex-president Yahya Jammeh f*cked up the country's economy for 22 years. The country got rid of him in 2017, but the new president isn't all that experienced. As a result, more than 35,000 Gambians arrived in Europe seeking refuge between 2014 and 2018, according to the UN migration agency.
For my German speakers: I talked about this on Die Wochendämmerung. Give it a listen.
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Last week, a man threw a hand grenade
at a migrant children's centre –
but it did not explode. (The Guardian)
A haiku from Spain.
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The end.
Do you think this newsletter is worth keeping up? If yes, whlw is on Patreon (with 70 patrons!!) and open for your support.
Have a great week,
Sham
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Has this been forwarded to you? whlw: what happened last week? (website) is a weekly news summary, personally crafted and curated by Sham Jaff, freelance journalist based in Berlin, Germany.
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