Thor is not welcome in Malaysia

This issue starts off with good news from Sierra Leone, Malaysia's anti-LGBTQ+ government, and lastly, a lil' political status update from Brazil (everybody's in election mood right now). Plus, a possible vaccine for Lyme disease, the first-ever asylum was granted to a Kurdish man from Turkey in Japan, and a species of iguana makes a comeback in Ecuador after nearly 200 (!) years, and so much more.

Every person from Sierra Leone can finally own land there

As of last week, everyone in Sierra Leone is allowed to own land anywhere, no matter what tribe or gender. (The Sierra Leone Telegraph)

Why this matters:
There have been some deep inequalities and discrimination in the ownership and control of land in Sierra Leone. Some eight million people live in this West African nation. It is one the poorest countries worldwide (around 30 percent of the population suffers from chronic hunger, according to the World Food Program) even though it has a lot of mineral resources.

Wait. Who was allowed to land before?
Only certain people. For example, under previous laws, descendants of formerly enslaved people could not own land outside Freetown. Plus, now women too can finally register land ownership everywhere in the country as part of a married couple. The new change will also bring some much-needed changes to the way land is being managed for palm oil farming. Local communities (especially in the south) and foreign companies have been fighting over land for a long time now. Now, landowners can negotiate the value of their land with investors and prevent it being leased out without their consent. (Luxembourg-based company and the biggest agribusiness company in Sierra Leone) Socfin is, of course, :( about this news. (Reuters)

For my German speakers:
I talked about the new laws and land grabbing in Sierra Leone in detail in my weekly podcast column in Die Wochendämmerung after a long summer break.

I read about protests in Sierra Leone. Are they related to this news?
No. Hundreds of people have been protesting against higher prices for food, fuel and fertilizers. 'It's getting too expensive to live,' they say. Inflation is at 28 percent (June; in May, it was 25 at percent). The protests have turned violent. At least 16 civilians and four police officers were killed, many more injured in the capital Freetown and the city of Makeni (Bloomberg). Amnesty International writes that they have heard reports of more than a hundred people arrested. United Nations' Michelle Bachelet (she's the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights) has called on the government of Sierra Leone to hold "prompt, impartial and thorough investigations" into the violence against civilians. People are also calling for President Julius Maada Bio to step down. 'This is a long time coming, tbh,' (basically) says Alhaji U. N'jai, a Sierra Leonean social and political analyst. (The New York Times) To be continued.

Zoom out:
It could get pretty serious. In Sri Lanka, months of similar protests forced the country's president to step down last month. There are also protests in Ghana and Ecuador.

Btw, did you know that Sierra Leone just banned smoking in public places? (The Sierra Leone Telegraph)

Malaysia's government is banning LGBTQ+ movies

Malaysia is banning LGBTQ+ movies left and right. Last week, it has confirmed that Disney's Marvel film Thor: Love and Thunder and Pixar animated film Lightyear are too LGBTQ for cinema-goers in the country. (Variety)

What happened?
Both movies were submitted by distributor Disney for classification and censorship by the country's Film Censorship Board (LPF). Variety reported that in both cases the LPF asked for cuts that the studio chose not make, leading to a no-release. The film's producer, Galyn Susman, was like, "It's great we are a part of something that's making steps forward in the social inclusion capacity, but it's frustrating there are still places that aren't where they should be." (The Conversation)

• Did you know that Lightyear (Trailer) is banned in 16 or more Muslim-majority countries like Egypt and Indonesia, too? Los Angeles Times' Tracy Brown makes a beautiful case why banning this movie is a very sad thing to do.

But why?
Apparently, the government and its religious department (also known as Islamic Affairs Department or JAKIM), are...