MEAphotogallery (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Editorial

Modi wields the sceptre in India more than ever

What was a sunny Pentecost weekend for you and me took on the colours of a political high mass in India. MO* contributor Gie Goris: "The images leave no doubt: Modi is wielding the sengol."
Alpha Photo (CC BY-NC 2.0)
Editorial

‘The need for in-depth journalism is increasing, as is its value’

Thanks in part to artificial intelligence, the amount of superficial information disguised as journalism will increase even more briskly, writes editor-in-chief Jago Kosolosky. 'At such a time, the need for in-depth journalism is increasing, as is its value.'
© Belgaimage / Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD
Analysis

‘For lobbyists, Europe is the Wild West’

To those who think of misinformation only in terms of troll factories operating from the caverns of dark regimes ­– think again. Disinformation is just as much linked to the legitimate business world in Western countries, working in all subtlety and better organised than ever ­– and there are millions to be made from it. 
Pixabay
Opinion

‘The shift to a post-growth economy is not just a matter of survival, but above all a matter of progress’

As political leaders gather for a conference at the European Parliament on how to move “beyond growth”, a group of academics and civil society organisations see the geopolitical crisis as an opportunity to disengage from the socially and ecologically harmful growth competition.
© Elien Spillebeen
Interview

‘Belgium in danger of missing the train of truth and reconciliation’

Without apologies, reparations are incomplete, believes professor of African history and human rights expert Bonny Ibhawoh. If Belgium wants to offer credible criticism of human rights violations in Africa, it must also be able to name its own past violations. ‘Human rights are no selection menu.’
© Moritz Van Dungern
Opinion

Open letter: Against the “sustainable” destruction of the rainforest and the people who live in it

Following Milo Rau's theatre performance Antigone in the Amazon, the Landless Workers Movement MST and some experts and activists wrote an open letter denouncing the practice of greenwashing by the Brazilian company Agropalma.
© Pieter Stockmans
Report

Free Palestine on bikes: ‘If Israelis can go anywhere in this country, so can we’

A group of Palestinians from Bethlehem uses bicycles as a means to 'win their freedom'. They ride everywhere, including across the Israeli border, without a permit. MO* journalist Pieter Stockmans crossed the desert with them, cycling from Palestinian Bethlehem to the Dead Sea in Israel.
 © Justine Corrijn
Report

The absurd life story of stateless Salim

Salim was born in Saudi Arabia, just like his parents. Beyond their genes, he unfortunately also inherited their statelessness. Belgium recognised Salim as stateless but refuses to grant him a residence permit. Salim cannot return. Nor can he stay. Read his story here.
©Luka Matic/Münchner Wunderkammer
Interview

‘We are not just victims, we are mostly survivors – and that should be celebrated’

‘I did not want to remain silent when I can talk, when I can do something with the horror that happens to people in war.’ So, Bosnian-Croatian theatre maker Tea Tupajić invited a number of Yezidi women used by IS as sex slaves to tell their story in detail for one last time.
© Christiaan De Beukelaer
Interview

Setting sail for climate action - but will it work?

Christiaan De Beukelaer would spend three weeks doing fieldwork aboard an old sailing ship. The COVID-19 crisis broke loose and weeks became months. Christiaan wrote down his personal odyssey in “Trade Winds”. Gie Goris spoke to him about the role and impact of shipping on the climate.
© ID/ Kristof Vadino
Analysis

Who is accessing refugees' private data?

Should the government want to access your smartphone and social media, would you consent? Europe collects private data from refugees. Who has access to it and what they use it for is often unclear. 'I was afraid of being deported, so I handed over my phone. It was like handing over my whole life'.
© Bart Lasuy
Editorial

‘It takes more than one dollar per Congolese to sustain the Central African forest’

The world's most powerful lung is no longer the Amazon, but the Congo forest basin. MO* editor John Vandaele investigated how the international community protects the immense forest. The key question: can Congo boost its prosperity without cutting down its fragile forests? Some final thoughts.

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