Migrant Bodies in the Land/City/Seascapes of 2000s Turkish Cinema

In this essay, I explore the land-, sea-, and cityscapes in six films (five Turkish and one Turkish German)—Bliss, The Wound, Rıza, Broken Mussels, The Guest, and Seaburners—and their use of place and non-place. Hamid Naficy’s concept of transitional space and Marc Augé’s notion of non-place, based on Foucault’s concept of heterotopia, will be the basis of the theoretical discussion. I focus on what I see as a major shift in the representation of the migrant experience in the Turkish cinema of the early and late 2000s, a shift from the land- and cityscapes to films whose setting is the seascape. This shift, I argue, corresponds to changes in the phases of migration that flow within and through Turkey, and both government policies and the public perception.

Modeling the Global Dynamic Contagion of COVID-19

The COVID-19 infections have profoundly and negatively impacted the whole world. Hence, we have modeled the dynamic spread of global COVID-19 infections with the connectedness approach based on the TVP-VAR model, using the data of confirmed COVID-19 cases during the period of March 23rd, 2020 to September 10th, 2021 in 18 countries. The results imply that, (i) the United States, the United Kingdom and Indonesia are global epidemic centers, among which the United States has the highest degree of the contagion of the COVID-19 infections, which is stable. South Korea, France and Italy are the main receiver of the contagion of the COVID-19 infections, and South Korea has been the most severely affected by the overseas epidemic; (ii) there is a negative correlation between the timeliness, effectiveness and mandatory nature of government policies and the risk of the associated countries COVID-19 epidemic affecting, as well as the magnitude of the net contagion of domestic COVID-19; (iii) the severity of domestic COVID-19 epidemics in the United States and Canada, Canada and Mexico, Indonesia and Canada is almost equivalent, especially for the United States, Canada and Mexico, whose domestic epidemics are with the same tendency; (iv) the COVID-19 epidemic has spread though not only the central divergence manner and chain mode of transmission, but also the way of feedback loop. Thus, more efforts should be made by the governments to enhance the pertinence and compulsion of their epidemic prevention policies and establish a systematic and efficient risk assessment mechanism for public health emergencies.

Burkina Faso: Jihadist landscape will become murkier

Significance These included the death of 53 gendarmes at Inata in November and an ambush that killed over 40 government-affiliated vigilantes near Ouahigouya in December. Public anger is producing protests and backlash that have put President Roch Marc Christian Kabore’s administration under intense pressure, including possible coup plotting exposed by arrests this week. Impacts Local dialogue efforts with jihadists may be inhibited by harder-line government policies. Kabore’s administration will struggle to define and pursue its ‘national reconciliation’ project. Burkina Faso’s 2021-25 national development plan may deliver modest improvements in growth prospects. Burkina Faso will have longer-term problems operationalising military cooperation with neighbours.

CO2 Emission from Brickfields in Bangladesh: Can Ethical Responsibility by Doing Reduce Level of Emission?

Recent years’ rapid urbanization and then rural to urban migration have created increasing demands of bricks usages in Bangladesh. However, brick industry has been largely using inefficient, dirty technology and burns woods-coal. It injects huge volume of CO2 in atmosphere. For policy guidance on the issue, this study analyzes the basic issues of CO2 emission from brickfields in terms of marginal damage (MD) analysis. Findings show that the marginal social costs are higher than marginal private (producer of bricks) costs where brickfields are benefiting with the expense of Bangladeshi society as a whole. As time passes by, rises of brick-prices have been causing upward trends of welfare losses where producers’ surpluses are dominating in the total surplus. This economic situation has been causing higher deadweight loss year after year. Addressing the issues, national strategies and policy actions are needed. Reforestation efforts can be achieved in multi-faucets: brick-fields’ charity, government policies on planting trees & policies on motivational efforts inspiring citizens of Bangladesh. Motivational policy can be: i) inspiring celebration individual’s “Birthday, Having 1st child in family and Event of marriage” by planting trees, ii) forcing to utilize green tech in brick kilns and iii) conducting academic research where financial supports are in need. Keywords: brickfields, effluent gases emission, causes social costs & deadweight loss, reforestation, motivational efforts of government policies

Sixty Percent of Foods Advertised in Grocery Store Flyers are Not In-line with Canada’s Food Guide

Purpose: To evaluate foods advertised in discount and premium grocery flyers for their alignment with Canada’s 2007 Food Guide (CFG) and assess if alignment differed by food category, season, page location, and price. Methods: Weekly flyers (n = 192) were collected from discount and premium grocery chains from each of 4 seasons. Health Canada’s Surveillance Tool was used to assess food items as in-line or not in-line with CFG. Results: Of 35 576 food items, 39.7% were in-line with CFG. There were no differences in proportions of foods not in-line in discount versus premium flyers (60.9% and 60.0%, respectively). Other Foods and Meat & Alternatives were advertised most (28.0% and 26.3%, respectively; P < 0.001). Milk & Alternatives were the least advertised food group (10.3%). Vegetables & Fruit (19.6%), Grains (21.6%), Milk & Alternatives (20.6%), and Meat & Alternatives (20.2%) were promoted least in Fall (P < 0.001). A higher proportion of foods advertised on middle pages were not in-line (61.0%) compared with front (56.6%) and back (58.8%) pages (P < 0.001). Not in-line foods were more expensive ($3.49, IQR = $2.82) than in-line foods ($3.28, IQR = $2.81; P < 0.001). Conclusions: While there was no difference in healthfulness of foods advertised in discount versus premium flyers, grocers advertised more foods not in-line with CFG. Government policies to improve the food environment should consider grocery flyers.

Reincarnation of MSMEs after the Government's Policy on Economic Recovery Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic in Indonesia

Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are experiencing a slump due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is feared that it will be challenging to get back up. At this time, the Indonesian government has issued policies through several ministries, including the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Health, to stabilize the national economy. Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are the pillars of the national economy, so that this sector needs attention during this pandemic to reincarnate in a better direction. This study aims to find a correlation between government policies and the revival/reincarnation of MSMEs. Data was collected through a questionnaire distributed through the MSME group on Facebook. To find Carried out the relationship between the two variables, the Spearman correlation test. The results found that the level of strength of the relationship or correlation was 0.619, indicating that there was a strong correlation between government policies on the Reincarnation of MSMEs and had a unidirectional relationship that showed a positive value so that the better the government's alignment with government policies will further improve the state of the Reincarnation of MSMEs towards positive growth.

Proactive measures to eradicate Malaysia’s poverty in IR4.0 era: a shared prosperity vision

Background: In the country’s shared prosperity vision, Malaysia aspires to uplift the bottom 40% household income group (B40) by addressing wealth and income disparities. By 2030, the nation seeks to eradicate poverty through the provision of employment opportunities and career progression plans. A grey area between the nation’s aspirations and actions in practice can be observed because the goals have not been achieved despite numerous efforts aimed at the upliftment of the B40 group. The nation is still way behind its targeted outcomes despite various policies being implemented, which could be attributed to the mismatch between government policies and that of organisational practice. Thus, this study explores the rationale of strategic government intervention in managing B40 talent in the IR4.0 era. Methods: A general qualitative inquiry method that used 11 semi-structured interviews was carried out with representatives of Malaysia’s policy makers’, training providers, and trainees. All Interview questions centred around measures, importance and outcomes of B40 youth training from a multi-stakeholder perspective. Data were thematically analysed in five stages using NVivo. Results: Training, which includes IR4.0 era digital skills, is the key to uplifting the B40 youth to eradicate poverty. Proactive measures are imperative in the success of B40 youth training towards poverty eradication. Conclusions: This study contributes to the existing literature and helps practitioners by addressing the current gap in Malaysia’s aspirations versus organisational practice. Stakeholders should formulate proactive strategies to ensure that the right trainees are matched with the right training providers and government policies. A linkage between government policies and industry requirements needs to be established as opposed to the present discontinuity. A structured training needs analysis should be applied through a collaboration between industries and governments. Then, B40 individuals commonly found in lower-level positions can be pooled into the career pathway towards a shift into M40.

Government Policies on Agro-Tourism in Indonesia

In developing countries, tourism positions the government not just as a policymaker, but also as a party that assists in the implementation of policies. Government initiatives towards the promotion of agro-tourism, for example, are implemented by agro-tourism-related legislation and policies. However, agro-tourism development has not been optimal due to a lack of communication and coordination between parties, as well as inadequate execution of legislation or regulations controlling agro-tourism. The purpose of this study was to assess and examine government agro-tourism legislation and policies in Indonesia. The study is qualitative in nature, evaluating and analysing ten government's agro-tourism legislation and policies, with data collected through document analysis and in-depth interviews and analysed descriptively. The findings demonstrate that the government's agro-tourism regulations include controlling cross-sectoral collaboration in agro-tourism development, certification for agro-tourism guides, the establishment of agro-tourism commissions, and agro-horticulture business arrangements, among other things. Regulations and policies are ineffectual because there is a lack of engagement, coordination, and synergy among the parties involved in agro-tourism. Collaboration is required not just in terms of bureaucracy, but also in terms of resources in order to establish, promote, and maintain agro-tourism sustainability. The suggestions and limitations of the current study are also discussed.

House price revival may drag on Israel’s economy

Significance Short-term government policies have consistently failed to contain price increases, much less lower them. As a result, sharply rising housing prices over more than a decade have raised costs for many families. Impacts The growing need to meet climate change-related targets may slow the infrastructure development needed to expand housing supply. Housing affordability could re-emerge as a major political issue. The post-pandemic era may spur changes to the housing market, easing price pressures in urban areas that experienced the sharpest increases.