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@asiandispatch

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A pan-Asia publication and network, free-to-read, focusing on people’s rights, governance, climate change, science & technology, conflict, and health.

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CCNow is thrilled to announce the winners of the 2026 CCNow Journalism Awards!

Our awards program honors excellent reporting on many critical dimensions of the climate story. Together, their work constitutes the leading edge of climate storytelling.

Judges awarded three Journalists of the Year, three Emerging Journalists of the Year, and CCNow issued our second-ever Lifetime Achievement award.

Judges also named up to three winners in each of 14 subject-based categories, such as the Nature, Health, Food & Agriculture, and Extreme Weather categories in this carousel.

We’ll post more winners in subsequent carousels with #CCNowAwards🏆.

View all the winners and their work at coveringclimatenow.org…

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Some stories are difficult to report and even harder to leave behind.

Interviewing these families was one of the hardest assignments we’ve worked on. Despite everything they were going through, they still answered our calls, spoke to us and allowed us into some of the most painful moments of their lives.

After we finished the ground reporting, I couldn’t bring myself to start transcribing the interviews for several days. The pain I had witnessed was still on my mind.

ہم نے اتنی تکلیف میں بھی ان بچوں کو اپنے لیے انصاف مانگنے کے لیے احتجاج میں دیکھا، ان کے والدین کو دیکھا۔ یہ سارے لمحات ہمارے لیے بھی بطور صحافی حوصلہ دیتے رہے کہ ہمیں اس کہانی کو جلد مکمل کرنا ہے۔

These parents are still fighting for justice, while their children face not only the consequences of HIV, but also stigma and social isolation from schools, neighbours, landlords and even relatives.

The allegations surrounding unsafe medical practices and the hospital remain a matter of investigation and accountability. What is clear is that these families deserve answers, dignity, treatment and justice.

HIV does not spread through sitting together, studying, playing, sharing food or ordinary social contact. Yet misinformation and stigma continue to isolate children who are already fighting for their health.

This investigative report was produced with my colleague and fellow journalist Hamna Iqbal Baig. Together, we spent days on the ground listening to families and documenting what they were going through.

This story was difficult to report. But these families insisted that their voices be heard.

Read the full story — link in bio.

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Opinion: Over 40 countries are moving to restrict teenagers’ social media access, following Australia’s under-16 ban. But the evidence the bans rest on is mixed, age checks have already leaked the ID selfies of nearly 70,000 Australians, and surveys suggest many teens simply stayed online – with VPNs, borrowed devices and fake moustaches.

In our Sunday op-ed, Prateek Waghre of the TechGlobal Institute argues that politics is outrunning the evidence, and that the people most affected – teenagers themselves – are missing from the debate entirely.

Comment pieces reflect the author’s views, not the Maldives Independent’s editorial position.

Read it via link in bio.

This op-ed was originally published by Asian Dispatch on June 12, 2026 and has been republished with permission.

All comment pieces are the sole view of the author and do not reflect the editorial policy of the Maldives Independent. If you would like to write an opinion piece, please send proposals to editorial@maldivesindependent.com.

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Disclaimer: This video has been procured from the YouTube channel of Asian Dispatch, a Pan-Asian digital journalism

📚 Uprising by Tahmima Anam
🏷️ Orwell Prize Political Fiction Shortlist 2026

Tahmima Anam’s Uprising reminded me of the movie “ Gangubai Kathiawadi” because both these narratives explore how marginalized women navigate spaces shaped by patriarchy, capitalism, and social injustice, transforming vulnerability into agency and survival into resistance.

This book sits at the beautiful intersection of climate fiction, feminist fiction, political fiction, and Marxist thought, weaving together questions of class, environment, gender, and revolution.

Thank you @bookreviewsbyalmas for introducing me to this work .
Read this with @talesof_spb and @thebookishbai , and thoroughly enjoyed our discussions .

#feministliterature #politicalfiction #orwellprizeforpoliticalfiction #climatefiction #literaryfiction

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It started with a photo that should have remained private. Instead, it returned altered—sexualized and manipulated. For M, that moment blurred the line between what is real and what is fabricated, but the impact was undeniably real.

M’s experience is not isolated. Across the country, similar cases are emerging, often with consequences that extend far beyond the screen.

AI is making it easier to create and spread such abuse in seconds, often without consequences for perpetrators. As the technology advances faster than legal and platform responses, victims are left to deal with fear, stigma, and a system that struggles to protect them.

Read the full story at projectmultatuli.org

#AI #AIandGender #GenderViolence #ArtificialIntelligence #ProjectMultatuli

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My latest story for @asiandispatch on how the war in west asia is hurting fishing communities in Indus Delta.

Link in bio-

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Recently, Kaivalya Plays facilitated a workshop for a cohort of journalists from India and Germany as part of Journalism Connect: Rewiring Trust in Media, a fellowship led by the Goethe-Institut in collaboration with Asian Dispatch.

The programme brings together journalists working across reporting, fact-checking, digital media, and long-form storytelling, engaging with questions around misinformation, AI, and declining trust in media.

Led by Varoon, the session used applied improvisation to explore how trust, bias, and interpretation operate within newsroom environments through live, participatory scenarios rather than discussion alone.

As one participant reflected, “it is very easy inside a newsroom to argue… without listening properly.”
Another described the session as “relaxing yet thought-provoking… one that made us reflect without feeling drained.”

Drawing from his own experience in journalism, Varoon’s work focuses on how narratives are constructed, how perspectives are formed, and how communication shifts in real time.

This continues to be part of Kaivalya Plays’ larger practice of applying theatre beyond performance, working with professionals across fields to engage with complex, real-world challenges.

#AppliedTheatre #Journalism #goetheinstitutmünchen #AsianDispatch #TrustInMedia

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AI isn’t just changing how we work. It’s changing how harm happens.

Our latest survey reveals a disturbing reality: AI is making online abuse against women easier, faster, and more widespread.

A single prompt can be used to manipulate images, impersonate someone, or spread sexualized content without consent. For those targeted, the impact can be immediate and deeply distressing.

What these findings show is not an isolated problem, but a growing pattern of AI-facilitated gender-based online violence.

⚠️ This content includes references to digital sexual abuse and violence, which may be distressing.

Full story coming soon.

#AI #AIandGender #GenderViolence #ArtificialIntelligence #ProjectMultatuli

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Will be in Switzerland this June to present “In the Shadows”, an @asiandispatch crossborder reporting project that unearths and problematises neocolonial ideas of conservation across hostile borders in South Asia. Thank you for nominating us @truestoryaward ! This reaffirms my belief in alternative spaces and BIG ambitions that legacy and dominant institutions are too compromised to fill.

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𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗦𝗜𝗚𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗧𝗢 𝗦𝗣𝗢𝗧𝗟𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧

Our media partners are shaping how the world sees what’s next in tech-amplifying stories that matter across markets.

📍 9-10 April 2026 | Marina Bay Sands
🎟 Get Your Free Visitor Pass (use code TECHFOMO): Link in bio
🎟 Get your Conference Pass at 50% OFF - use code ASIATECHPASS (access to exclusive insights and paid stages): Link in bio

𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑢𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑓𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑠 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦

#GITEXAIASIA #GITEXASIA #MediaPartners #TechMedia #SingaporeTech

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We had an exhilarating and deeply engaging week at the IndiaAI Impact Summit 2026, contributing to conversations shaping the future of AI governance, public infrastructure, and open ecosystems in India and beyond.

Across panels, roundtables, and hackathons, our focus remained constant: AI must be open, participatory, resilient, and grounded in democratic accountability. The Summit conversations were energising, but the real work continues beyond the stage.

#IndiaAIImpactSummit2026 #ResponsibleAI #AIGovernance #PlatformGovernance #OpenSourceAI

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Is AI making us dumber?

That is the provocative question raised in a recent The Economist article, and it deserves serious attention. The piece highlights growing evidence that heavy reliance on AI tools may be reshaping how we think, learn, and create.

AI is now part of everyday life. It answers questions, writes text, summarises information, and speeds up decision-making.

Used well, it can enhance learning, creativity, and productivity. Used unthinkingly, it risks replacing effort rather than supporting deeper thinking.

The real issue is not AI itself. It is how we use it.

Research published in Nature Human Behaviour suggests that AI can support learning when designed to prompt reflection, explanation, and active engagement, rather than simply delivering answers.

For children and young people, this distinction matters even more.

Childhood and adolescence are formative periods for developing reasoning, problem-solving, empathy, and resilience.

If AI becomes a shortcut that removes effort and reflection, we risk raising a generation that consumes answers without learning how to think. Used intentionally, however, AI can strengthen learning and curiosity.

This is not a call to reject AI. It’s a call for responsible, intentional use.

Children should be supported to:

✅ Ask questions before accepting answers

✅ Understand how AI systems work and where they can fail

✅ Recognise bias, misinformation, and manipulation

✅ Use AI as a learning tool, not a replacement for thinking

Parents, educators, and technology companies all have a role to play. Safety-by-design, transparency, age-appropriate safeguards, and strong digital literacy are essential.

AI will shape the future. The real question is whether it will strengthen human intelligence or quietly erode it.

AI should support human thinking, not replace it, especially when children are involved.

What do you think? Is AI sharpening our minds, or slowly dulling them?

Illustration: ChildSafeNet

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