[jacknews]

Apart from just celebrating that a group of teens won a competition, there are several newsy points, though all beg further questions.

The fact that a team of girls from Afghanistan built a robot. That seems amazing, but what were the circumstances around that? An all-girl tech team from Afghanistan seems like a political statement in itself; was there a boy's team, or a mixed team, for example? Were they poor kids? Was an NGO involved and in what capacity? Did they just get together and build the robot after reading wikipedia?

The fact that they won a prize in an EU competition. Was that based purely on merit, or were there political considerations? Eg "poor girls from war-torn country should be supported", or "The NGO behind this should have their work promoted", or "Public snub/rebuke to trump's disgusting visa policies", etc. Or should we be hearing more about an imminent improvement in agricultural productivity?

The fact that it's quite a saccharine narrative, and has raised questions and suspicion. That says something both about the news system, and society, I think. It seems sad that we can't just celebrate achievement without considering (with justification) the hidden forces shaping the landscape.

Etc. Cui Bono?

[lackdaisacal]

I did some digging and found a Forbes article that goes into more detail. Their prize was won in the 'Entrepreneurial' stage of the competition, enough they won more with their sales pitch than anything else.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kionasmith/2017/11/29/afghanist...