Four things to expect this week

Posted April 15, 2019

It’s Monday, it’s a new week, and while we won’t pretend to know everything that’s going to happen over the next seven days, we have some sense of what’s coming up.

Here’s your briefing on some of the most important and interesting stories happening in the week ahead.

1) Pulitzer time

On Tuesday, the winners of the 2019 Pulitzer Prizes in journalism, fiction and music will be named.

It’s the most prestigious prize in journalism, and often acts as a reminder of the most important issues the world has faced over the previous year.

Last year for example, the winners included pieces about the #MeToo movement, sexual abuse by men in authority, white nationalist violence, refugees in Myanmar and the Philippines war on drugs.

If any of this year’s winners are for investigations into the US president, he may well react as he did in late March, when he called for the winners to be stripped of their prizes.

2) An ‘urgent‘ programme airs

Image copyright Getty Images

On Thursday, what’s being described as an “urgent” documentary on climate change, fronted by Sir David Attenborough, will be broadcast in the UK.

The hour-long film on BBC One will look at some of the significant effects of climate change that are already being felt, but will also apparently take an “unflinching” look at what may happen in the future.

But it will also offer advice on what individuals and governments can do to prevent further damage, with Sir David reflecting on the changes he himself has witnessed over the decades.

“Sir David Attenborough might as well be narrating a horror film,” one review says.

3) Indonesia’s epic election

What’s happening?

Indonesia’s presidential, parliamentary and regional elections take place on Wednesday.

There’s a lot to be decided in one day and whoever comes out on top will lead the world’s largest Muslim country until 2024.

Logistically, the elections will be quite a feat. Take in some of these numbers:

almost 245,000 candidates across the country
800,000 polling stations
close to 192 million registered voters
only six hours to vote
about 80 million millenial voters – almost the equivalent of Germany’s population

In the presidential race, it’s between the incumbent, Joko Widodo, who rose from humble beginnings to run on a pro-poor platform in 2014, and Prabowo Subianto, a former military general he defeated last time around.