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As summer draws to an “unofficial” close after Labor Day, things tend to get busier. People are back from vacations. Kids are back in school. The weather cools off enough to make outdoor events feel less like hanging out in an oven.

But even though we’re all busy trying to keep up with everything that’s happening locally, I also like to take a peek at what else is going on around the world as well. Here are a few recent stories from the Associated Press that caught my eye:

Firstly, I was intrigued by a story from eastern Europe about a project meant to bring more renewable energy to the region.

Romania, Hungary, Georgia, and Azerbaijan are teaming up to install a power line under the Black Sea. That line will transmit energy generated by wind farms in Azerbaijan through the country of Georgia and then to its destination in Romania and Hungary. The goal is to hopefully reduce costs for consumers in those countries.

They’ve been working towards the project since 2022 in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The European Union decided then to reduce their independence on energy generated from Russia. Leaders in Romania noted that the prices were higher in their corner of Europe because of the lack of energy diversification.

It sounds like an interesting project that will benefit many people (and also help combat climate change). But the article didn’t answer my most pressing question, which was “how do you install a power line under a whole sea?” I’m curious how long something like that takes!

Over in southeast Asia, the small country of East Timor recently celebrated their 25th Independence Day. The country is officially younger than even me!

There was a time that East Timor was under Portuguese colonial rule, and then neighboring Indonesia took over in 1975. But in 1999, the United Nations backed a referendum in the country for independence. It was overwhelmingly successful, and the Indonesians withdrew (though not without some conflict as they left). Since then, they’ve been an independent nation of approximately 1.3 million people.

As I read this article, it struck me that some of the interviews were with people who lived through the tumultuous transition from colony to country. In the United States, there is obviously no one still around from the days we broke away from British rule. So it can be easy to take for granted what we’ve had for so long. This was a good reminder that, for some people, independence is something they’re still getting used to.

The next story I read caught my attention because the headline was “Claw machine games are Rio de Janeiro’s new public enemy.” Not exactly something you’d expect to see! How can those silly little arcade games to win cute stuffed animals be a menace to society?

But apparently police in the Brazilian city are cracking down on the machines because they are considered “games of chance,” like slot machines which are illegal. They are even investigating whether or not the local organized crime groups are running the claw machines.

Most people might think the claw machine is a test of skill – you have to have just the right amount of patience and precision in order to maneuver the claw into picking up the plushie you want to win. But analysis of previously recovered machines unveiled that they’re programmed to only “win” after a certain number of attempts. These are different than the machines back in the day, when skill was actually required.

One avid player noted with disappointment that the machines just don’t live up to expectations when compared to the past. Now they’re often too “weak” to pick up any stuffed animals.

I guess that means it’s a good thing that police are taking these “menaces” off the streets of Rio these days, huh?

Lastly, I enjoyed a feature article about “beatmakers” in Senegal’s hip-hop scene. Hip-hop is mostly male-dominated anywhere in the world, but the woman interviewed in this story was working to change that in her African home country.

She was inspired by American DJs from the 1970s and 1980s who were able to create beats on their turntables between the songs they played. Today, of course, all of the beats are created with software on a computer. She first got interested while a student at university, and later trained with a program to learn more.

Now she teaches a beatmaking class herself, and her students are other women as well, to encourage more to get into the music-making scene. The biggest problem these days is accessibility, and to break free of cultural standards that can hold them back.

Singing is the more traditional way for women in the country to get into music. But by learning how to create beats, they can write music or pursue careers in sound production and more. They can enjoy music in a different way.

I always enjoy reading stories about women who are able to become trailblazers in life, opening up new opportunities for people as they go.

All of these stories were interesting to me in different ways. Even though they’re all happening thousands of miles away from us, we can find commonalities in our own experiences. From learning about renewable energy projects to thinking about arcade claw machine experiences, life goes on all around the world.

No matter how busy we are.

Holly Taylor is a Staff Writer for Roanoke-Chowan Publications. Contact her at holly.taylor@r-cnews.com or 252-332-7206.