Youtube removes channels run by Myanmar’s military
On Friday, the popular video-sharing platform Youtube announced that it had removed five channels run by Myanmar’s military amid ongoing violence after a coup last month. Myanmar has been facing mass protests demanding an end to its military rule and the release of their detained elected leaders. This decision comes about a week after Facebook banned all pages run by Myanmar’s armed forces. The channels taken down include the state network and the military-owned Myawaddy Media. In addition, Google, which shares a parent company with Youtube, blocked 34 Youtube channels linked to the country following Myanmar’s general election in December.
Pope Francis calls for an end to violence on first trip to Iraq
Pope Francis made his first international trip since the start of the pandemic on Friday, March 5. This is the first papal visit to Iraq by the pontiff, stating that Iraq’s dwindinling Christian community should have more prominent roles as citizens with full rights, freedoms and responsibilities. Pope Francis also met with Iraq’s most revered Shia Muslim cleric in hopes of fostering interreligious dialogue between the two. 10,000 Iraqi Security Forces personnel were deployed to protect the Pope, with curfews being enforced to limit the spread of COVID-19. While the Pope has had both doses of the Pfizer vaccine, along with his entourage, there are still fears the trip could become a super-spreader due to the expected large crowds.
Berlin Film Festival awards first gender-neutral prize to Maren Eggert
Last Monday kicked off the start of the Berlin Film Festival, which awarded Maren Eggert, a German actress, with its first gender-neutral acting prize. This new award was announced by the festival last August with the intention that both actors and actresses could compete in the same category. Eggert won for her performance as a museum researcher in the film “I’m Your Man.” This decision by the Berlin Film Festival could have an effect on other film award ceremonies, such as the Oscars. The idea of gender-neutral awards has been previously welcomed by stars such as Cate Blanchett and Tilda Swinton, sparking heated debate.
Popular Italian dictionary urged to change sexist definition of ‘woman’
As of Friday, 100 high-profile figures signed a letter to the Treccani, a leading online Italian dictionary, to change its definition of the word woman. The campaign around the changed definition argues that the list of synonyms contain derogatory terms that reinforce misogynistic stereotypes: the synonyms given in Treccani’s definition for the word include 30 terms used to describe sex workers. Treccani has not yet responded.
