Rhett Ayers Butler, Mongabay founder and CEO, has been named to the 2025 Forbes Sustainability Leaders List, which honors 50 global leaders working to combat the climate crisis.
“Mongabay has tended to fly under the radar. We’ve focused on the journalism rather than promoting ourselves, so this recognition is especially meaningful — and it reflects the contributions of everyone involved,” Butler said.
The recognition is a milestone in a journey that goes back some 25 years to when Butler was a teenager visiting a rainforest in Borneo.
“I vividly remember cooling my feet beside a jungle creek when a wild orangutan emerged in the canopy overhead. We made eye contact — just for a few seconds — but the moment stayed with me,” he told Forbes.
He later learned that the forest where he had that profound experience was to be destroyed for pulp and paper. That devastating news sparked in him a lifelong commitment to conservation; he eventually quit his tech job in Silicon Valley and started Mongabay out of his California apartment.
“My parents weren’t thrilled about the idea,” he recalled. “I was often asked when I’d get a ‘real job.’ It took several years — and external recognition — for them to see that Mongabay could be a ‘real job.’”
Today, Mongabay is a global newsroom with roughly 1,000 contributors across more than 80 countries, producing podcasts, videos and articles in seven languages from bureaus in Latin America, India, Africa and Brazil. Hundreds of local media outlets republish Mongabay content, worldwide.
All that work, expansion and outreach are in service of the same goal: “to ensure that credible environmental information is available to everyone — especially those with the power to act,” Butler told Forbes.
Unlike many media outlets, Mongabay doesn’t measure success in clicks or pageviews. Instead, it focuses on “meaningful, real-world outcomes,” Butler added.
To that end, the organization engages directly with policymakers and local communities most affected by environmental degradation. Mongabay’s planned story transformer initiative, for example, will use AI with human editors to repackage original reporting into audio and local languages for frontline communities that may struggle with barriers in access, language or literacy.
Mongabay’s direct engagement has made tangible impacts on the ground. In Gabon, coverage of a community’s fight against a foreign logging company helped lead to the revocation of the company’s permit, a first in Gabon.
Reporting from Paraguay linked illegal deforestation to cattle and leather, helping push the EU to include leather in its anti-deforestation law.
In Peru, Mongabay’s reporting on United Cacao practices contributed to the government revoking its permit, the company’s delisting from the London Stock Exchange and the protection of nearly 100,000 hectares of rainforest.
“These aren’t abstract wins — they’re forests still standing, communities empowered and ecosystems given a second chance. Bearing witness to both the threats and the possibilities reminds me daily that telling these stories matters,” Butler said.
Banner image: Rhett Butler in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay
Australia’s Optus vows to cooperate with probes amid outrage over emergency call services outage Reuters
An outlet for the Australian communications company Optus in Sydney. Optus chief executive Stephen Rue said an outage that prevented calls to emergency services and led to three deaths was “absolutely tragic” IslanderNews.com
‘Let Australians down’: Telco outage leaves three dead, triggers govt probe and public backlash Malay Mail
‘Cost-cutting’ hasn’t just led to job losses, it’s led to loss of life: analyst Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Fourth death confirmed due to Optus outage issues tickernews.co
A fourth person died during Optus’s network outage on Thursday, its CEO has confirmed.
Stephen Rue said in a statement released on Saturday afternoon that the telco was “saddened to learn of a new fatality in Western Australia, which appears to have occurred during the outage period”.
“I am deeply saddened by this further news and extend my heartfelt condolences to the person’s family and friends,” he said.
It comes after Optus confirmed the emergency calls were offline for nearly 14 hours, during which four people died – including an eight-week-old baby. Two deaths occurred in South Australia and two in WA.
Rue said that WA police advised Optus that they believed the “individual likely attempted to contact triple zero for assistance”, adding that the company would work with authorities to “understand more of what has occurred”.
The CEO earlier confirmed that two customers had called Optus during the outage on Thursday to warn the telco that triple zero calls were not working, but the complaints were not escalated.
Rue told reporters on Saturday afternoon: “We now know we were informed by two individuals that they could not connect into triple zero, and this information was not surfaced with the relevant escalation at that time.”
“Early review suggests that we had not handled these calls as would be expected,” he said.
Earlier on Saturday, the South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, said triple zero calls were out of action for 10 hours – eight hours longer than Optus initially claimed – but Rue confirmed on Saturday afternoon the timeframe was more than 13 hours.
The CEO confirmed the planned technical upgrade began at 12.30am on Thursday but was cut short at 1.50pm after the telco was notified by SA police that there was an problem.
“Once notified, we stopped the upgrade, restoring triple zero, and began to confirm with relevant stakeholders, such as police and other regulatory and government agencies and departments that we had experienced an outage impacting triple zero,” he said.
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Rue said Optus commenced welfare checks, and during which it learned three people had died during the outage.
“Once we had this information and were confident of its accuracy, we shared this with our board, with the ACMA (Australian Communications and Media Authority), the federal government and other bodies,” he said.
On Saturday, the federal government confirmed the ACMA would conduct an investigation.
SA police, which had also worked through Friday night conducting welfare checks on 150 people whose triple zero calls failed, confirmed an eight-week-old boy from Gawler, on Adelaide’s northern fringe, and a 68-year-old woman from Queenstown, a suburb in the city’s north-west, had died during the outage.
The third death linked to the outage, which involved up to 600 attempted triple zero calls, was a 74-year-old Western Australian man, the state government confirmed on Saturday.
“It is shocking and it is completely unacceptable that people’s lives have been put at risk, and of course, with deep sadness, I can confirm that one 74-year-old man has passed away,” Labor minister John Carey said at a press conference.
“WA police are now making safety checks on the calls that did not get through, and they’re working through that.”
Malinauskas said he was not informed about the outage until Optus had commenced a press conference announcing it to the public. He told reporters he had never witnessed “such incompetence” from an Australian communications company.
The premier said that only after its press conference on Friday did Optus give SA police the details, including the names of the deceased.
“They’ve got to make sure they’re letting our emergency services know … all the information the moment they have it, before they think about crafting a media statement,” Malinauskas said.
“It is somewhat extraordinary we had a situation (on Friday) after everything that had unfolded, that we were still struggling to get information from Optus to allow police to do their work.”
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Carey echoed the premier’s words on Saturday. “It is unbelievable, and the way that Optus has even just released the news, I think, is appalling.”
Rue said on Saturday afternoon that he had asked his team to make a plan for establishing a formal notification process between the telco and authorities during such incidents.
“I’m sorry that the lack of this process led to the late notification of the premiers and chief ministers,” he said, confirming they were contacted at the same time as Friday’s press conference was held.
“Optus will be appointing an independent person to lead a review into this entire incident, from every aspect. I hope to confirm that person in coming days.
“The loss of the lives of three people, two in South Australia and one in Western Australia, is absolutely tragic. I would again like to extend my deepest condolences to their families and friends.”
The SA police commissioner, Grant Stevens, told the premier on Friday night that Optus had only supplied the suburbs where the deaths had occurred.
“I then called the CEO of Optus and thankfully, it was rectified following that,” he said.
“But the lack of information flow from Optus to the South Australian government’s appropriate authorities is somewhat bewildering, and it raises a lot of questions.”
The federal communications minister, Anika Wells, said the incident was “incredibly serious and completely unacceptable”.
“The impact of this failure has had tragic consequences, and my personal thoughts are with those who have lost a loved one,” she said in a statement.
In a press conference on Saturday, Wells said Australians had “every right to be livid that Optus cannot get these basics right”.
“Optus have let Australians down when they needed them most.”
All telecommunications providers were obliged to ensure they carried emergency service calls, and the outage would be thoroughly investigated, Wells said, adding that the government would wait until state authorities and communications regulatory bodies had completed their investigations before considering possible consequences for Optus.
The federal opposition’s communications spokesperson, Melissa McIntosh, expressed deep concern the triple zero camp-on arrangements to divert calls to other carriers like Telstra or Vodafone had also failed.
The outage occurred almost two years after more than 10 million Optus customers and businesses were disconnected for more than 16 hours in November 2023.
People could not call triple zero on landlines, although it was still possible on a mobile.
The telco was fined more than $12m for breaching emergency call rules during the nationwide outage.
Rue took over as the company’s chief executive in 2024 from Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, who resigned over the 2023 outage.
Suryakumar Yadav’s India are all set to take the field against Pakistan once again as the two teams gear up to fight it out on the field in the Asia Cup 2025 Super 4s match on Sunday at the Dubai International Stadium. Ahead of the marquee contest, the question on everyone’s minds is whether India will stick with their no-handshake policy against the arch-rival after what happened last Sunday (September 14). Following India’s dominant seven-wicket win, none from the Indian contingent shook the hands of their opponents as the camp shut the dressing room door when Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha and coach Mike Hesson came nearby.
Suryakumar Yadav’s India will take on Pakistan in the Asia Cup Super 4s game on Sunday. (REUTERS)
Even at the toss, Suryakumar avoided a handshake and eye contact with the opposition captain. In the aftermath, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was offended and wrote to the ICC about the conduct of match referee Andy Pycroft.
Several former Pakistan cricketers, such as Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Akhtar, Basit Ali, and Mohammad Yousuf, criticised India for failing to uphold the “spirit of cricket.” It must be stated that this was the first match between the rivals after the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor.
In the build-up to the game, fans in India demanded a boycott, criticising the BCCI for going ahead with the match against Pakistan despite the national sentiments.
Also Read: Oman captain issues urgent plea to the BCCI after post-match chat with Suryakumar Yadav
Hence, it is no surprise that a journalist asked Suryakumar whether the Indian team will behave the same way in the upcoming match. However, the T20 captain remained tight-lipped about the matter.
Here’s how the conversation went between the reporter and Suryakumar
Reporter: In the last match against Pakistan, apart from the bat, India did well in the remaining aspects as well. In the next match, can we expect India to do the same as in the previous game?
Suryakumar Yadav: “What other things are you talking about? (laughs). You are talking about our performance with the ball? (laughs). “It is a good contest between bat and ball. The whole stadium is packed to the rafters. The best thing is to put your best foot forward and do the best for your country.
‘Preparation has been really good’
Suryakumar Yadav also said that his side isn’t under much pressure to play against Pakistan as the focus remains on looking after the process and doing what is necessary. He also added that his message to his boys has been to avoid the outside noise and focus on the task at hand.
“I feel our preparation has been really good leading into the tournament. We have also had three good games, so we are actually focusing on what we can do best. As I said at the toss as well, we want to follow all the good habits that we have been doing from the last 2-3 games. We take it one game at a time, but as you said, it doesn’t give us an edge that we have played them once; we had a good game. But we have to start from scratch. Whoever plays well will win,” said the 35-year-old.
“Close your room, switch off your phone and sleep. I think that’s the best. It is easy to say, but it is difficult because sometimes you meet your friends, you go out for dinner, but it is up to you what you want to listen to and what you want to have on your mind. But I have been very clear with the team, if you want to do well, then it’s important to shut the noise from outside. I am not saying shut the noise completely, but take what is good for you. Rest, I feel everyone is good,” he added.
SYDNEY, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) — An Australian-led study used prehistoric feces to uncover how molecular fossilization occurs, revealing new insights into what ancient animals ate, the world they lived in and what happened after they died.
The study, published in the journal Geobiology, examined 300-million-year-old fossilized droppings, or “coprolites,” mostly from the Mazon Creek fossil site in the United States, according to a statement released Friday by Australia’s Curtin University.
The coprolites were already known to contain cholesterol derivatives, which is strong evidence of a meat-based diet, but the new research explored how those delicate molecular traces were preserved and survived the ravages of time.
Usually, soft tissues are fossilised due to phosphate minerals, but scientists from Australia, the United States, Sweden and Germany found molecules were preserved thanks to tiny grains of iron carbonate scattered throughout the fossil, acting like microscopic time capsules.
“Fossils don’t just preserve the shapes of long-extinct creatures; they can also hold chemical traces of life,” said study lead Madison Tripp, adjunct research fellow at Curtin’s School of Earth and Planetary Sciences.
“It’s a bit like discovering a treasure chest, in this instance phosphate, but the real gold is stashed in the pebbles nearby,” Tripp said, adding the findings deepen scientists’ understanding of molecular preservation, crucial to gaining insights into the ancient world.
“Carbonate minerals have been quietly preserving biological information throughout Earth’s history,” said Curtin University Professor Kliti Grice, adding expanded analysis of diverse fossils spanning different species, environments and eras confirmed consistent mineral-molecule preservation patterns.
Understanding which minerals best preserve ancient biomolecules lets scientists target fossil searches more effectively, focusing on conditions that increase the chances of finding molecular clues about ancient life, Grice said.
Researchers said the findings could help build richer pictures of past ecosystems, including diets, interactions and decomposition processes.
“It brings prehistoric worlds to life in molecular detail,” Grice said. ■
Scientists have warned that research into “mirror life” organisms — hypothetical life forms made up of molecules that perfectly mirror those found in regular life — should be stopped.
Theoretically, it’s a cool idea. But some scientists are worried that these life forms, if they’re ever realized, could turn into a major risk for the world around us by turning into an unstoppable force that spreads without limits, overrunning and choking out natural organisms in its path.
As Nature reported last year, mirror organisms could pose risks to pretty much all existing life if unleashed. They’d be like the ultimate invasive species, with no natural predators, and capable of evading pathogen detection systems found in nature because they’re just so radically different.
In a 300-page technical report published by Stanford University in December, scientists laid out the risks posed by mirror life, from pandemics to crop losses and ecosystem collapse.
“The consequences could be globally disastrous,” coauthor Jack Szostak, a Nobel-prize-winning chemist at the University of Chicago, told The New York Times at the time.
Other scientists, however, say these risks are completely overblown, as Nature noted in a follow-up article this week, pointing out we’re likely still many years away from synthesizing larger mirror molecules, let alone entire organisms. And even if it did come to exist, and it did escape the lab, some experts think that nature would have ways to defend itself.
The disagreement has shaken the scientific community. This week, researchers convened in Manchester, UK, to debate whether research into mirror life should be allowed or halted.
Proponents of the research argue that “reverse chirality“ molecules could be used to create promising new drugs, as they’re not as readily recognized by the human body’s enzymes and immune system. At the same time, such a resistance could be potentially dangerous, allowing drugs to proliferate uncontrollably in the body, according to Nature.
Biochemist and pharmaceutical founder Sven Klussmann told the publication that it’s worth considering the risks.
“But we should not panic yet, and we should not restrict research too early,” he said.
However, not everybody agrees. A group of scientists with the nonprofit Mirror Biology Dialogues Fund has sponsored meetings to discuss the dangers of creating mirror-image cells, with some members choosing to drop the research entirely.
So far, scientists have found ways to produce short strands of mirror-image DNA, RNA, and amino acids. But larger and more complex molecules remain a challenge.
Ting Zhu, a molecular biologist at Westlake University in Hangzhou, China, argued in a Nature opinion piece that the risks are exaggerated.
“Amid the race to take action, it is important not to let concerns and anxieties obscure our judgement of the underlying unknowns,” he wrote.
“It is crucial to distinguish mirror-image molecular biology from hypothetical scenarios in the distant future, such as the creation of mirror-image organisms,” the piece reads.
Zhu told Nature that synthesizing a mirror-image ribosome, a particle that contains RNA and information to build proteins inside living cells, “could dramatically accelerate pharmaceutical discovery by enabling high-throughput production of mirror-image peptides.”
Other researchers agree that the dangers are overblown.
University of Alberta chemical biologist Ratmir Derda told Nature that mirror life is already “here on Earth,” pointing out that the human body has already evolved to detect mirror-image sugars.
“They’re being used by certain life forms,” she said. “It would be unfair to say that we’re completely unprepared.”
In a commentary piece for Science, organic chemist and drug discovery expert Derek Lowe urged caution.
“For what it’s worth I think that we are sufficiently far from producing any actual organisms that I am not worried about this research,” he wrote. “But I think it is prudent to think about what could eventually happen, and perhaps set some tripwires for the future.”
More on mirror life:Scientists Horrified by “Mirror Life” That Could Wipe Out Biology As We Know It
Perhaps the Eurovision ban is starting to bite, because three years after Russia was booted from the beloved song contest following the country’s invasion of Ukraine, it is reviving a Soviet-era version of the camp competition.
The Intervision Song Contestwill see 23 artists from around the world — including one representing the U.S. — offer a heady mix of musical styles, from moody Belarusian pop to Colombian folk and high-energy Vietnamese rap at an arena in the capital of Moscow on Saturday night.
Unlike the Eurovision Song Contest, which mainly includes European countries and a few others like Australia and Israel, Intervision bills itself as a truly global event by offering artists from countries around the world, including those in the Global South, a chance to compete for the top prize of 30 million rubles (roughly $360,000).
“Back in the Soviet times, the government would decide to promote a positive image of Russia abroad. We need to promote an objective image. We want to be known with all our merits and shortcomings,” Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a news conference this week in response to a presubmitted question from NBC News.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, second from left, during a briefing on preparations for the Intervision International Song Contest in Moscow on Tuesday.Sergey Guneev / Sputnik via AP
Asked whether Russia was using the competition as an exercise in soft power, he replied, “If by soft power you mean the opportunity to let people know about us, then of course we’re interested in this.”
A pop phenomenon drawing around 160 million viewers each May, Eurovision began at the height of the Cold War in 1956 as a technical experiment to try and broadcast a simultaneous program across the member stations of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
A divided continent hadmirror organizations like the NATO defense alliance in Western Europe and the Warsaw Pact in Eastern Europe, and the EBU in the West matched by the International Radio and Television Organisation (OIRT) on the other side of the Iron Curtain.
In answer to Eurovision came Intervision, which was broadcast by the OIRT on several occasions between 1965 and 1980, with contests held in what was then Czechoslovakia and later in Poland.
But Dean Vuletic, who has written and edited books on Eurovision and led a research project on Intervision, says Russia is getting its history wrong with the relaunch, “presenting Intervision as something that was Russian- or Soviet-led, but it actually wasn’t.”
Instead, he said, the competitions “weren’t that focused on the Soviet participants,” although they had to be invited. Having studied the archives of Czech and Polish TV stations, he said it was “astonishing how critical they are of the Soviet participants.”
He added that it was actually created during a period of liberalization in an attempt “to promote East-West cooperation in popular music and television,” and Western performers like Gloria Gaynor were invited to perform in the intervals. Performers from Eastern Europe were also hoping to be signed by Western labels, he added.
English singer Linda Lewis performing at the Intervision Song Contest in Sopot, Poland in 1977.Tassilo Leher / United Archives via Getty Images file
Before it was kicked out in 2022 after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia was frequently a top-10 finalist at Eurovision, which Vuletic called “a huge platform for cultural diplomacy for any country,” big or small.
The country’s leaders “saw it as a very prestigious cultural project and one which could reach a huge amount of people,” he added.
But Eurovision’s embrace of LGBTQ rights drew the ire of conservative Russian lawmakers and the country’s Orthodox Church, particularly after the 2014 victory of bearded drag queen Conchita Wurst.
Saturday’s Intervision contest is getting a full-court press promotion from organizers, who have drafted a series of celebrity “ambassadors” to get the word out. Among them are Dima Bilan, a Russian singer who won Eurovision in 2008, and Alexander Ovechkin, the Washington Capitals hockey star, who holds the record for most goals scored in NHL history.
The goal is to “promote universal, spiritual, family, cultural, ethical, and religious traditions of different nations,” according to the competition’s website, although that seems potentially at odds with the entrant representing the U.S., Vassy, who has a history of performing at Pride events and supporting LGBTQ rights.
Vassy, an Australian-born singer living in Los Angeles, has been a vocalist on dance tracks from David Guetta and Tiësto, while several of her own topped Billboard’s Dance Club Songs chart in the 2010s.
The 42-year-old, whose real name is Vasiliki Karagiorgos, was a last-minute addition to the contest after the previous selection pulled out due to “unforeseen family circumstances.”
Her outlook is markedly different fromthat of Russia’s entrant, Shaman, who mixes politics and pop and rose in popularity after he became a strident supporter of the war in Ukraine.
Vassy. Robin L Marshall / Getty Images for GLAAD
So vocal is his backing of the Kremlin that he has ended up on Australian and European Union sanction lists.
Russia will be hoping that Shaman’s popularity can bring a younger audience to the contest as well as his fans, many of whom are based outside major Russian metropolises like Moscow and St. Petersburg, according to Yulia Yurtaeva-Martens, a researcher at the Free University of Berlin who has written a book on Intervision.
With his fulsome embrace of Russian nationalism in his music and performances, Shaman is viewed by the government as “a new political symbol for new audiences,” according to Yurtaeva-Martens, adding that it was unlikely they would have chosen anyone else because he “was the best choice for the Russian government.”
Meanwhile, Kenya’s Sanaipei Tande is competing with her song “Flavour,” an Afropop tune that mixes English and Kiswahili.
In between rehearsals in Moscow, she said in a Zoom interview this week that she hadn’t heard of Intervision before this year and was only really familiar with Eurovision because 2011’s contest had featured Norwegian-Kenyan singer Stella Mwangi.
For artists who may have had success at home, performing at Intervision is a chance to step onto a larger stage, she said. In her case, this is both metaphorically and literally true because “the live arena is so huge.”
“I’ve never seen any stage in my country that’s this big,” she said, adding that coming to the Russian capital “to compete against other international artists — that, for me, has put me on a whole new level.”
The fact she had been selected and was representing Kenya was a victory in itself, she said.
“I mean, $300,000 wouldn’t be such a bad thing to add on to that,” she saidwith a laugh. “But just being here and being able to perform on this stage and experiencing things on a whole new level, that already is a win.”
From publishing to the music and film industries, growing numbers of Western artists are calling for a cultural boycott of Israel over the Gaza war, hoping to emulate the success of the apartheid-era blockade of South Africa.
With most Western governments resistant to major economic sanctions, growing numbers of celebrities, musicians, and writers are hoping to build public pressure for more action.
“There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that, globally, we’re at a tipping point,” British actor Khalid Abdalla (“The Kite Runner,” “The Crown”) told AFP after signing a petition calling for a boycott of some Israeli cinema bodies.
The open letter from Film Workers for Palestine has gathered thousands of signatories, including Emma Stone and Joaquin Phoenix, who have pledged to cut ties with any Israeli institutions “implicated in genocide” — a charge Israel has repeatedly rejected.
The Film Workers for Palestine pledge is distinct from other previous arts and culture Israel boycotts in naming specific Israeli cultural institutions that the letter’s signatories are boycotting. Those include major Israeli film festivals like the Jerusalem Film Festival, Haifa International Film Festival, Docaviv and TLVfest, the LGBTQ film festival in Tel Aviv.
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“The avalanche is happening now, and it’s across spheres. It’s not just in the film worker sphere,” Abdalla added during an interview on Friday.
Several winners at this week’s Emmy Awards, including Javier Bardem and “Hacks” actor Hannah Einbinder, spoke about Gaza, echoing similar statements at the Venice Film Festival earlier this month.
Hannah Einbinder accepts the award for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series for ‘Hacks’ during the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards on September 14, 2025, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, California. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
And on Thursday, British trip-hop pioneers Massive Attack announced they were joining a music collective called “No Music for Genocide” that will see artists try to block the streaming of their songs in Israel.
Meanwhile, authors have signed open letters against Israel, several European nations have pledged to boycott next year’s Eurovision song contest should Israel participate, and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is leading a push to exclude the country from sports events.
Israeli conductor Ilan Volkov announced last week at a concert in Britain that he would no longer perform in his home country.
Inside Israel, many artists worry about the consequences of the boycott movement.
Israeli conductor Ilan Volkov stunned the audience with an emotional speech denouncing Israel’s war on Gaza at the BBC Proms in London.
Volkov, who led the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall, said he carried “great pain” and could no longer stay silent.… pic.twitter.com/GCLeNpostZ
Israeli screenwriter Hagai Levi (“Scenes from a Marriage”, “The Affair”) told AFP earlier this month that “90 percent of people in the artistic community” were against the war.
“They’re struggling, and boycotting them is actually weakening them.”
Antisemitism
Hakan Thorn, a Swedish academic at the University of Gothenburg who wrote a book on the South Africa boycott movement, said it appeared to be comparable to the current boycott movement against Israel.
“I think we are seeing a situation which is comparable to the boycott movement against apartheid South Africa,” said the sociologist. “There was definitely a shift in the spring of this year when the world saw the images of the famine in Gaza.”
Israel disputes findings of famine in the Strip and blames aid delivery problems on Hamas looting and the inability of UN and international agencies to adequately deliver the goods.
The international boycott of South Africa’s white supremacist government began in earnest in the early 1960s after a massacre of black protesters by police in the Sharpeville township.
Anti-Israel protestors and BDS activists hold Palestinian flags and a banner reading ‘Country of apartheid … Israel,’ during a demonstration prior to the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 in Basel, Switzerland, May 17, 2025. (SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFP)
It culminated with artists and sports teams refusing to play there, with boycott busters such as Queen and Frank Sinatra facing widespread public criticism.
Thorn said many public figures were reluctant to speak out about the Gaza war, which was sparked by the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, that killed some 1,200 people and saw another 251 hostages taken. Since then, attacks on Jews have also spiked worldwide, according to data from Jewish community groups in several countries.
According to Thorn, accusations of antisemitism have led to fewer people speaking out against the Gaza war.
“The history of the Holocaust and criticism of the pro-Palestinian movement for being antisemitic has been a serious obstacle to a broader mobilization against what Israel is doing right now,” said Thorn.
A campaign to boycott Israel, known as the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, began 20 years ago. Israel accuses BDS supporters of antisemitism, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu frequently labels critics of the country as “Hamas sympathizers.”
BDS activists hoist an anti-Israel banner in Belfast, Northern Ireland, April 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
David Feldman, who heads the Institute for the Study of Antisemitism at Birkbeck College at the University of London, said such statements have created “a lack of confidence over what the boundaries of antisemitism actually are.”
“Any eruption of antisemitism is concerning, but any attempt right now to identify the movement to boycott Israel with antisemitism is missing the point,” he told AFP. “It is a vehicle of protest against Israel’s destruction of Gaza and the ongoing murder of people.”
Apartheid lessons
Although the anti-apartheid movement is referenced by today’s campaigners against the Gaza war, history provides some sobering lessons for them.
After the start of the South Africa boycott movement, it took 30 years before the regime fell, exposing the limits of international pressure campaigns.
A mass funeral takes place in Sharpeville, South Africa, for victims of the Sharpeville Massacre in which 69 people were killed when police opened fire on black demonstrators protesting against the government’s apartheid policies and the arrest of their leaders, March 30, 1960. (AP Photo)
“By the early 1970s, it’s true to say that boycott was the defining principle of a self-identified global anti-apartheid movement, but the movement on its own was not enough,” Feldman, who wrote a book about boycotts, added.
The real pain was caused by the gradual asphyxiation of the South African economy as companies and banks withdrew under pressure, while the end of the Cold War sharply increased the country’s isolation.
Colon cancer, also known as colorectal cancer, is a type of cancer that affects the large intestine (colon) or rectum. Early detection can significantly improve outcomes. Therefore, regular screenings and awareness of symptoms and risk factors are crucial. Also read | Gastroenterologist shares 8 foods that can lower the risk of colon cancer
Dr Salhab said that colon cancer is highly preventable if caught early. (Freepik)
Dr Joseph Salhab, a gastroenterologist from US-based Advent Health hospitals, took to Instagram on September 16 to share a post about colon cancer that ‘may save yours or a loved one’s life’. He wrote in his caption, “Colon cancer is one of the most preventable cancers if caught early.”
Colon cancer is highly preventable if caught early
In his post, Dr Salhab said, “One thing I constantly hear from my followers is that they feel like their symptoms are brushed off, causing fear and anxiety- and they don’t know what to do. Use this guide to track your symptoms and bring it to your next doctor’s appointment. That way, you and your doctor can work together to decide whether the symptoms are serious and what steps to take.”
Keep simple journal to track colon cancer symptom
According to Dr Salhab, here is what to do: “Keep a simple journal. Write down when each symptom started, how often it happens, and whether anything makes it better or worse. Even details that feel irrelevant — like whether it happens after certain foods, during stress, or at a particular time of day — can help your doctor put the puzzle together.”
Bowel and rectal symptoms of colon cancer
Dr Salhab said here are the bowel and rectal symptoms to watch out for:
1. Rectal bleeding (bright red, dark, or mixed with stool)
2. Blood on toilet paper or in the bowl
3. Black/tarry stools (melena)
4. Change in bowel habits lasting longer than a week (persistent diarrhea, constipation, or alternating)
5. Stools that become thin or flat (“pencil-shaped”)
6. Feeling like you didn’t fully empty (incomplete evacuation)
7. More frequent stools or urgency
8. Painful urge to pass stool (tenesmus)
9. Mucus in the stool
Abdominal and digestive symptoms of colon cancer
Dr Salhab added that you watch out for these abdominal and digestive symptoms:
10. Abdominal pain that lasts weeks, especially if it’s persistently in the same spot
11. Pain that changes with eating, sleep, or activity
12. Bloating or distension that doesn’t improve
13. Early satiety (feeling full after a small amount)
14. Nausea or vomiting without another explanation
15. Symptoms of bowel obstruction: severe pain, no gas or stool, vomiting
Whole-body symptoms of colon cancer
According to Dr Salhab, these are the whole-body symptoms to not ignore:
16. Unexplained weight loss
17. Fatigue or weakness
18. Iron-deficiency anemia (especially in men or postmenopausal women)
19. Loss of appetite
20. Night sweats
21. Unexplained fever
Dr Salhab listed risk factors to be aware of
• Family history of colorectal cancer or advanced adenomas (precancers)
• Lynch syndrome, FAP, or other hereditary syndromes
• Long-standing ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease
• Prior history of colorectal cancer or polyps
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This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice.
