Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Melissa Chan

Paul French @chinarhyming.bsky.social · 6h

M.F Griffith (by day a Hong Kong education inspector who created several art syllabuses from the 1950s to 1970s), Watercolour, Hong Kong Village Study, Signed & Dated 1977

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Reposted by Melissa Chan

Jana Václavíková @janavacl.bsky.social · 4h

Dystopický grafický román You Must Take Part in Revolution začíná v realitě, na protestech v Hongkongu v roce 2019. Končí v roce 2035 ve válce mezi ČLR a fašistickými USA. Víc o knize, která vznikla i v Praze, prozradili autoři @melissakchan.bsky.social a @badiucao.bsky.social

@irozhlas.cz

‚Kdyby nebylo Prahy, kniha by nevznikla.‘ Temný román přibližuje mladým hrozby čínského režimu

Autoři si v temném románu vymysleli technologie, které policie z budoucnosti používá k zatýkání protestujících, mezi nimi robotické psy. Stejnou technologii představily čínské ozbrojené složky letos.

www.irozhlas.cz

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Melissa Chan @melissakchan.bsky.social · 5h

🇨🇿 ‚Kdyby nebylo Prahy, kniha by nevznikla.‘ Temný román přibližuje mladým hrozby čínského režimu ➡️ So amazing our graphic novel YOU MUST TAKE PART IN REVOLUTION received coverage in Czech media! CC: @badiucao.bsky.social

‚Kdyby nebylo Prahy, kniha by nevznikla.‘ Temný román přibližuje mladým hrozby čínského režimu

Autoři si v temném románu vymysleli technologie, které policie z budoucnosti používá k zatýkání protestujících, mezi nimi robotické psy. Stejnou technologii představily čínské ozbrojené složky letos.

www.irozhlas.cz

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Melissa Chan @melissakchan.bsky.social · 2d

Aziz Ansari and Bill Burr shocked Human Rights Watch — @hrw.org — won't take their money. Yeah, guess what. The org has integrity and isn't interested in helping celebrities turn dirty money into clean money.

Human Rights Watch Says It's 'Not Too Late' for Riyadh Festival Comedians to Support Free Speech, Declines Their Donations

Human Rights Watch said it's "not too late" for the comedians who participated in the Riyadh Comedy Festival to come out in support of free speech.

www.thewrap.com

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Melissa Chan @melissakchan.bsky.social · 2d

🇻🇪 Can't believe I have to say this, but just because Trump also opposes Maduro's regime does not mean there's an issue with María Corina Machado. The MAGA administration's hostility to Caracas should not take away from the very real authoritarianism Venezuelans are fighting.

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Reposted by Melissa Chan

The New York Times @nytimes.com · 2d

Breaking News: The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to María Corina Machado, a Venezuelan opposition leader, for her work promoting democracy.

María Corina Machado Is Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize: Live Updates and Video

The Norwegian Nobel Committee praised “her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela.”

nyti.ms

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@ghoshworld @ghoshworld.bsky.social · 2d

The Nobel Peace Prize committee has made some terrible choices — Kissinger, Arafat, Obama, et al — but I can’t think of a time they gave the prize to a man who was unleashing his armed forces against his own people.

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Melissa Chan @melissakchan.bsky.social · 2d

By the way — from an editorial standpoint, I personally don’t like calling them the Nobel Peace Prize “winner.” The human rights activists have often suffered deeply and it’s not about “winning.” Given the sombre issues people and orgs face, it’s about recognition.

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Melissa Chan @melissakchan.bsky.social · 2d

If I could decide the Nobel Peace recipient, maybe José Andrés’s World Central Kitchen for work from Ukraine to Gaza. Or the singularly brave Gisèle Pelicot, a French woman meant to live an ordinary life who made extraordinary decisions when faced with unthinkable trials.

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Melissa Chan @melissakchan.bsky.social · 2d

🇩🇪 Berlin! Our book talk will be part of Berlin Freedom Week, the capital's inaugural annual forum to mark the fall of the Berlin Wall and its lessons for today. What an honor! Join @badiucao.bsky.social and I on Monday, November 10th at 7 PM! 🔗 Grab your tickets: li-be.de/programm/bad...

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Melissa Chan @melissakchan.bsky.social · 4d

Look ya'll have seen me hustling to sell my graphic novel YOU MUST TAKE PART IN REVOLUTION. I too, would hold a rock show of tens of thousands if I could pull it off. My publisher would love that. So I respect Milei's hustle. But buy my book, not his. 😆➡️ melissachan.com/revolution

Crazy Ass Moments in LatAm Politics @asslatam.bsky.social · 4d

President Javier Milei of Argentina had a rock show to celebrate his new book, called "La Construcción del Milagro" (The Construction of the Miracle).

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Melissa Chan @melissakchan.bsky.social · 4d

... Ukrainian novelist Sofia Andrukhovych, Czechia's Radka Denemarková, Booker winner Paul Lynch, Iranian filmmaker Ayat Najafi, Spanish artist Miquel Barceló and his breathtaking exhibition opening, and performances including from Panzetti & Ticconi, and so much more! 📸 Snaps by Jan Slavík. (2/2)

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Melissa Chan @melissakchan.bsky.social · 4d

What a weekend in Prague presenting YOU MUST TAKE PART IN REVOLUTION with @badiucao.bsky.social. DOX Centre for Contemporary Art's festival line-up was incredible: there was Daniel Kehlmann author of THE DIRECTOR, the inimitable Palestinian writer Adania Shibli... (1/2)

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Melissa Chan @melissakchan.bsky.social · 5d

I am so grateful to contribute a guest post on Taiwan to @barrymalone.bsky.social's fantastic newsletter, Proximities, which aims to highlight non-Western news stories. I've been a reader from day one and I highly recommend you hit subscribe:

What you're not hearing about Taiwan

A guest post from Melissa Chan

www.proximities.news

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Melissa Chan @melissakchan.bsky.social · 5d

"In a world where China and the United States are moving fast and hitting hard, the EU has been too slow, too timid, and too wedded to a rulebook the others have torn up," writes @noahbarkin.bsky.social:

Watching China in Europe—October 2025

www.gmfus.org

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Reposted by Melissa Chan

Barry Malone @barrymalone.bsky.social · 7d

Delighted to have a guest post from @melissakchan.bsky.social in Proximities today. She has written an explainer about Taiwan with a level of depth and insight you rarely see elsewhere. Please give it your time.

www.proximities.news/p/what-youre...

What you're not hearing about Taiwan

A guest post from Melissa Chan

www.proximities.news

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Reposted by Melissa Chan

PEN America @penamerica.bsky.social · 11d

Restrictions on books in public schools have become “rampant and common,” according to a new report by the free speech organization PEN America, so frequent in some states that they are now considered “routine and expected part of school operations"... Read free: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/01/b...

‘Rampant’ Book Bans Are Being Taken for Granted, Free Speech Group Warns

www.nytimes.com

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Melissa Chan @melissakchan.bsky.social · 10d

Arrived in Prague and thinking of Václav Havel's great line: "Each person is capable, to a greater or lesser degree, of coming to terms with living within the lie."

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Reposted by Melissa Chan

Marcel Dirsus @marceldirsus.com · 10d

Is it because there are no organisations that could get Americans out into the streets? In France (or Germany, or Italy...) trade unions would be key. Churches would probably call for protests or strikes, too

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Melissa Chan @melissakchan.bsky.social · 10d

ICYMI: Am late to this but appreciate @dhpierson.bsky.social, Berry Wang, and Billy H.C. Kwok's coverage of Hong Kong's vanishing dim sum carts. I've always resented restaurants' moves away from cart service as the petty bourgeois decided it wasn't genteel enough:

Hong Kong’s Dim Sum Cart ‘Aunties’ Make Their Final Rounds

www.nytimes.com

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Melissa Chan @melissakchan.bsky.social · 10d

I have news for Bill Burr: There is also stand-up comedy in Russia and China. And it’s soma for the masses — entertainment — until you accidentally cross some liminal line and get f***ed. When has comedy ever been good when you can’t 🖕 the people in power.

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Melissa Chan @melissakchan.bsky.social · 10d

“They are setting the stage for the institution of the military to undergo the same processes of moral collapse and moral deregulation as are now unfolding in the civilian sphere,” writes @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social:

A Holistic Plan for an Authoritarian Military

Trump and Hegseth unveil a plan to make the military an authoritarian institution and adapt the notion of the battlefield and the enemy for domestic use.

open.substack.com

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Melissa Chan @melissakchan.bsky.social · 10d

“It’s not like air traffic controllers will stop working... Saying these are government shutdowns teaches Americans the government isn’t necessary, since stuff seems to mostly work.” From @matthewstoller.bsky.social:

Wall Street Gets to Keep Its Government Open

The Antitrust Division and FTC have suspended merger challenges, but not merger approvals. It's weird how 'government shutdowns' don't close the parts of government Wall Street wants.

open.substack.com

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Melissa Chan @melissakchan.bsky.social · 10d

Bill Burr’s gobsmackingly idiotic insight the Saudis are “just like us” because he didn’t see an execution highlights the danger of autocracy / fascism: normal people perpetrate it. Italians and Germans were pretty normie. It’s called the banality of evil, Bill.

Bill Burr Defends Riyadh Comedy Festival Performance: “They Got A F***ing Chili’s Over Here”

As many of his peers condemn the Riyadh Comedy Festival and its participants, Bill Burr appears to have found a new following.

deadline.com

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Melissa Chan @melissakchan.bsky.social · 11d

🇲🇽 One president people are happy with: Mexico's Claudia Sheinbaum with 70-80% approval ratings! One year into her leadership, I spoke to Zirahuén Villamar and Alex González Ormerod of The Mexico Political Economist (www.mxpe.org) to learn more: bit.ly/dw-newsdesk-mexico

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