A recap of international news stories by Newsendip: a “blouse tax” in Brazil, the challenge of energy supply in tech, access to abortion in Italy, and more.
- Faking your kidnapping in Australia
- A “blouse tax” in Brazil
- Loud women banned in Korean gym
- Hotel rooms for unmarried couples in Morocco
- Giving asylum to climate refugees in the Philippines
- Costly ventilators in Hungary
- Microsoft securing its energy supply
- Access to abortion in Italy
- Autonomy of the sea for Indigenous Chileans
- Fees x10 to leave Turkey
Chinese students targeted by kidnapping scams in Australia
Since last August, at least four Chinese students have been manipulated into staging their own kidnappings to extort ransoms from their parents. The scammers use information gathered on social networks to falsify documents, make their victims believe they are linked to a crime, and threaten with extradition to China if they don’t pay a large sum of money. Then, they advise them to organize a fake kidnapping and send photos to their relatives abroad.
A tax on imported blouses in Brazil
Brazil’s Parliament passed a bill known as the “blouse tax” on imported goods worth up to 50 dollars. It is part of a set of packages that initially aimed to boost the domestic automotive industry by promoting the adoption of clean vehicles but was added at the last minute. In Brazilian political jargon, the inclusion of such an unrelated measure in a project is referred to as a “tortoise.” Like a tortoise found in a tree: If it’s there, someone put it there. The tax targets products sold by foreign e‑commerce platforms like SHEIN or Alibaba where Brazilians buy affordable clothes, such as blouses, and nurture the fast fashion business.
A Korean gym’s rule shines light on discriminatory practices in South Korea
A gym in South Korea has ignited a nationwide controversy by displaying a sign banning “ajumma” (aunties) from using its facilities. Ajummas are stereotypically characterized by vibrant clothes and permed hair, and often perceived as loud and self-determined. In an attempt to justify the ban, the gym distinguished between “ajumma” and other women, stating that ajumma “like free things regardless of their age” and are “stingy with their own money but not with other people’s money.”
Booking a hotel room for Moroccan unmarried couples
The Moroccan Minister of Justice announced earlier in June that unmarried Moroccan couples can now book a hotel room without showing their marriage certificate. A strategy to circumvent the rule used by unmarried couples was to book two different rooms, enter the hotel separately, and then discreetly meet up in one of them. Airbnb and other accommodation rental sites do not systematically check marriage contracts. Single women are also no longer prohibited from renting a hotel room in their city of residence. The Moroccan penal code still prohibits sexual intercourse out of wedlock.
Climate refugee bill in the Philippines
The Philippine government proposed a bill to guarantee protection for migrants forced to leave their countries because of the consequences of climate change, particularly those living in the 39 Small Island Developing States such as the Seychelles, Belize, or Mauritius. In 2022, 33 million people were internally displaced because of natural disasters. Late last year, Australia offered climate asylum to Tuvalu in exchange for a say in the micro-island security pacts it may sign, in a context of scrutiny about Chinese influence ambitions over Pacific islands.
COVID-19 ventilators for people with sleep apnea
Hungary has been trying to find a solution for 12,000 ventilators purchased hastily and under questionable circumstances during the COVID-19 pandemic, which have proved to be unusable. They have been sitting in warehouses and, incurring significant costs for the government despite attempts to sell or auction them. But officials have proposed another solution: converting them for use by individuals suffering from sleep apnea.
When investing in AI, Microsoft also looks at energy supply
Having recently announced a series of large investments in Europe, Microsoft is paying attention to securing its energy supply, a major upcoming challenge for the data center industry. “When we look at where to invest we look at two things: one is people and the other is energy,” said Microsoft president after agreeing to invest 3.2 billion dollars in Sweden. Sweden’s hydroelectric and wind power capacities were a plus, but the company also took favorably the “restarted focus on clean energy” from the government with investments to develop nuclear energy. But when asked whether the company would invest in Swedish nuclear power, Microsoft’s President replied: “We’re not making any announcement about that today.”
In 2022, data centers used energy equivalent to France’s annual energy consumption.
The precarious state of abortion access in Italy
Italy legalized abortion in 1978 but Meloni’s far-right party has introduced laws to deter women from seeking abortions on national or regional levels. The population’s general favorability toward the legalization stands at around 70% but nearly 65% of Italian gynecologists refuse to perform abortions on moral grounds, a figure which soars to 90% in some areas in the south.
Indigenous claims for coastal waters in Chile face resistance from the fish farming industry
Legislation enacted in Chile in 2008 aiming to protect the ancestral rights of Indigenous populations in coastal marine areas sparks controversy in Chile. Small groups have used it to claim autonomy over thousands of hectares of sea, which critics argue is an abuse of the legislation. The demands have heightened social tensions, leading fish industry workers to organize protests to safeguard their jobs from Indigenous claims.
The international departure tax for Turkish travelers
The Turkish Ministry of Finance has launched talks to drastically increase a fee applied to Turkish travelers going abroad. The foreign departure fee, already raised twice since 2018, could be multiplied by 10, reaching 1,750 lira ($53) in September in the search for public revenues to combat record inflation. In countries like Germany — which also recently raised it but for different reasons — France, and the United Kingdom, departure taxes are passed on directly to all passengers at the price of their ticket. Other countries, such as Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, and Ireland, have no international departure tax at all. But in Turkey, special counters are set up at airports so Turkish citizens can pay their departure tax.
