Yes, having your photo taken with a blue and yellow scarf, asking a DJ to play a Ukrainian song, scribbling a pacifist slogan on the walls of public toilets, so many small gestures of dissidence now punishable by trial in Moscow. THE New York Times immerses us in a drawn investigation, a long format, on this silent repression against those who refuse the special military operation in Ukraine. Russian justice accuses them of harming the image of the army or the authorities by displaying their rejection in public on the social network Vkontakt, or in their private conversations on WhatsApp. Over the first eighteen months of the war, more than 6,500 convictions or fines were inflicted on ordinary Russians, professors, entrepreneurs, building guards. It has even become routine in the courts. In the country of Vladimir Putin, where 20% of citizens say they are opposed to the war.
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For its part, Israel is trapped in the war in Gaza
This is the analysis of Haaretz, for whom the Hebrew State is caught between its conflict against Palestinian armed groups and the confrontation with Lebanese Hezbollah and other militias supported by Iran, despite the military superiority of the Israeli army. The losses inflicted by Hamas and Hezbollah outline a Vietnamese-style scenario for Haaretz, because this human cost adds to a financial abyss. The war in Gaza costs more than $200,000,000 a day, according to calculations by the Tel Aviv newspaper.
Time for annual reviews
The New Yorker, for example, looks at Donald Trump in his rearview mirror. The figure of the billionaire is essential for the progressive magazine which does not hide its “ Trumpschmerz », a German portmanteau word invented to define anxiety in the face of a possible return to power of the ultra-conservative leader, favorite of the Republican Party. Donald Trump, who does not hide his desire to “ revenge against the media, the justice system and his democratic adversaries » worries the editorial staff of New Yorkerwho plans to spend the year 2024 curled up under a duvet until the US presidential election in early November.
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2023 also remains the year of artificial intelligence
For better or for worse, depending Rest of World. The media therefore takes stock of the progress of so-called AI generative », capable of creating texts, images from a simple command line. This is evidenced by the success of ChatGPT, used nearly two billion times in less than a year to compensate for the lack of inspiration of university students or journalists. For example, AI, which also fills other gaps, such as that of the mothers of the disappeared in Argentina, with the help of the MID Journey application, the Instagram account iabuelas imagine what happened to the children kidnapped forty years ago under the dictatorship of General Videla. A dangerous fantasy for some, a tool to never forget for others.*
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Part of traditional Chinese medicine risks collapsing
This is what the South China Morning Post about the Ejiao, the medicine supposed to have anti-aging properties and made from the leather of donkeys. It is necessary to kill 5,000,000 quadrupeds each year to meet the growing demand in the Middle Kingdom. The market for Ejiao rToday represents nearly 8 billion dollars, or 50% more than ten years ago. Problem: production today depends on imports from Brazil and African Union countries. But last month the AU backed a report calling for a 15-year moratorium on the slaughter of donkeys and the trade in their hides. The 55 member states of the continental organization must decide on this possible ban next February. The debate is the same in Brazil, where the donkey has great cultural importance. And for the South China Morning Postthis could cause the animal to disappear in China, while many farmers still need it to transport their products.
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