The IAS Gazette

Sept 26: Rightist Giorgia Meloni becomes Italy’s first female prime minister on Sunday (Sept 25), As protests over the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody flared, Iran restricts access to various social media platforms on Wednesday (Sept 22), Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi meet on Friday (Sept 23) to contain the rising tensions on Taiwan.

By 2050, the proportion of the world’s population that is over 60 years old will nearly double from 12 per cent in 2015 to 22 per cent. Now, countries are making a technological shift: more incorporation of technology in people’s livelihoods, more reliance on technology, and more usage of technology to improve the lives of everyone. But, if the world’s ageing population is increasing in numbers, will this technological shift leave this vulnerable group of people out? Here is how Homage, a caregiving startup, makes use of technology in a way that is truly for the good of society.

Sept 19: Hundreds killed in deadliest Azerbaijan and Armenia border clashes since 2020, Chinese delegation banned from attending Queen Elizabeth II’s lying in state, Five soldiers killed in Israeli airstrike on Syria’s Damascus International Airport.

On July 5, 2022, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe declared that Sri Lanka was bankrupt. Days later, protesters stormed his office as well as former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s, forcing him to flee and eventually resign. What did the government do to attract the ire of Sri Lankans? How did a vibrant trading and tourism hub become a failed state? Ryan from The IAS Gazette investigates the series of unfortunate events that led to Sri Lanka’s economic crisis.

Sept 12: North Korea passes law cementing its right to use preemptive nuclear weapons for self-defence last Thursday (Sept 8), US pledges another US$2.6 billion (S$3.64 billion) in new aid for Ukraine and allies, and led its allies to reaffirm their commitment to Ukraine, Queen Elizabeth II passes away aged 96, her son Charles III ascends to the throne last Thursday (Sept 8).

Sept 5: Colombia and Venezuela restore full diplomatic relations, The United Nations (UN) releases long-awaited report confirming allegations of abuse in Xinjiang, Russia’s Gazprom indefinitely suspends natural gas flows.

Scientists have been raising the alarm on climate change since the late 1950s, increasing the severity of concern especially in recent years. True to human nature’s propensity to procrastinate, the deadly two degree increase in global temperatures is rapidly approaching. Claire from the IAS Gazette investigates the buzz around ‘Clean Energy’ to see if it is truly a saving grace or another perfunctory performance by world leaders.

August 29: The death toll from monsoon floods in Pakistan crossed 1,000 on Sunday (Aug 28), Fears of a nuclear disaster were heightened on Sunday (Aug 28) as heavy artillery was fired at the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, Moderna sued vaccine makers Pfizer and BioNTech on Friday (Aug 26) over alleged infringements of its patents on mRNA technology.

Continuing on his exploration of surveillance technologies and their implications, Lim Ghee Yang presents a breakdown of the insidious link between plastic surgery and the devices and applications we use in our everyday lives. Should we be wary of how the media can affect the perception of the self? Technology maverick Balaji S. Srinivasan put it best: “If code scripts machines, media scripts human beings”.

August 22: US and Taiwan announced last Friday (Aug 18) start of trade talks amid tensions with China, President Biden signs climate change, healthcare and taxes into law last Tuesday (Aug 16), Singapore to repeal Section 377A of the Penal Code as announced last Sunday (Aug 21).