March 29, 2024

Monday Briefing | October 4

October 4, 2021 headlines include protests throughout Brazil calling for Bolsonaro’s impeachment and anti-abortion actions in China and the US.

Photo courtesy of cnn.com

Stories to follow: 

Country-wide protests against Bolsonaro demanding his impeachment 

On Saturday, tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in cities and towns across Brazil, demanding for President Jair Bolsonaro’s impeachment. His critics are angry with the government for its poor handling of the coronavirus pandemic, a sketchy economic record, and deterioration of the environment. The protests are believed to be organized by the opposition parties and trade unions, and were held exactly a year before the country is set to hold its elections. 

Over the past few months, Bolsonaro has seen a rapid decline in his popularity, as a record 58 per cent Brazilians now consider his performance as “bad” or “very bad”, according to PoderData. As the frequency of protests in Brazil continues to increase, Bolsonaro’s key opponent, former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva now has a substantial lead over the president in the polls. However, as Bolsonaro’s position weakens, he is becoming more insurgent – directing his election campaign against the Supreme Court, legislature, and other members of the “deep state”. 

 

What’s uniting the world’s two-largest powers? It’s not rosy 

At a time of growing US-China rivalry, the two largest powers in the world are aspiring towards a somewhat common domestic goal: suppressing women’s abortion rights. On Saturday, the US saw abortion rights protests in each of the 50 states. Thousands protested against the Republican proposal to severely undermine abortion rights and demanded the Supreme Court to protect Roe v. Wade. These protests over the weekend precede the beginning of Supreme Court’s “extraordinarily controversial” new term on Monday. 

Meanwhile, in China, after a series of measures to ramp up the country’s declining population, now the government is planning to reduce access to abortions for “non-medical” purposes. While there are no details out yet, the announcement of the policy has left many women concerned over losing access to abortion rights. 

 

Duterte to retire next year 

The Philippines’ controversial president, Rodrigo Duterte, has announced that he would retire instead of contesting for the vice presidency next year when he finishes his current presidential term. The president said that he made his decision because the country’s opinion polls suggest public opposition against his potential vice-president candidacy. Meanwhile, his daughter and mayor of Davao City, Sara Duterte-Carpio, announced her decision to run for presidency, along with Sen. Bong Go – a key aide of Duterte – as her running mate. 

 

This week in JPI:

“Over the past year, the Chinese government has unleashed a breathtakingly-wide crackdown on its technology companies and a plethora of other significant business groups.” Visit JPI Online to read Srijan Shukla’s article about Xi’s new reforms here. 

 

Happening this week: 

The coming week kicks off the 2021 edition of New York Comic Con, which will be held from October 7 to October 10. One of North America’s biggest cultural events is finally back in person, as well as online. The venue is the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on Eleventh Avenue in Hell’s Kitchen. For more details, visit the event’s website here. 

 

In your free time: 

SNL is back! The first episode of the season aired this past Saturday with host Owen Wilson and musical guest Kacey Musgraves. The full episode can be found on Hulu and clips can be seen on Youtube. Try to catch it next Saturday for host Kim Kardashian West and musical guest Halsey.

This week’s Monday Briefing was brought to you by Srijan Shukla.

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