Category Archives: Activism

UK must act to stamp out ‘curse’ of plastic sachets, say campaigners

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Calls for sachets to be included in UK and European legislation banning other single-use items

The government must act urgently to stamp out the “curse” of single-use plastic sachets, billions of which are helping to fuel the global plastics crisis, campaigners are warning.

A coalition of more than 50 business leaders, politicians and campaigners is demanding that the plastic sachets – used for everything from ketchup to shampoo – be included in European and UK legislation outlawing other “throwaway” items such as plastic straws and cotton buds.

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Met upholds complaint of woman ‘deceived’ by undercover officer

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Police inquiry finds credible evidence of Andy Coles deceiving 19-year-old activist into sexual relationship

An internal police investigation has uncovered credible evidence that an undercover officer deceived a 19-year-old woman into a long-term sexual relationship.

Andy Coles has denied that he had an intimate relationship with the woman while he infiltrated political groups in the 90s, dismissing her claims as “lurid”.

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Joaquin Phoenix urges people to ‘go vegan’

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The Baftas awards frontrunner joins protestors on Tower Bridge in London to campaign for a meat-free world

Oscar and Bafta nominee Joaquin Phoenix has made a plea for people to “go vegan” as he led an animal equality protest in central London.

The actor gathered activists for a protest where he dropped a 390-square-foot banner from Tower Bridge that declared: “Factory farming destroys our planet. Go vegan.”

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Greta Thunberg files application to trademark her name

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Climate activist also applied to register name of climate movement Fridays for Future

The climate activist Greta Thunberg has said she has applied to register her name and that of the Fridays For Future movement she founded in 2018, which has gone global and catapulted her to international fame.

The move would allow legal action against persons or companies trying to use her name which are not in line with her values or that of her movement, she said.

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Ai Weiwei on his new life in Britain: ‘People are at least polite. In Germany, they weren’t’

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Devastated by his time in Germany, which he regards as still Nazi, the artist has moved. As he unveils a powerful virtual reality artwork, he talks about needing a monster to fight – and why he’d like to be a barber

‘When we filmed this,” says Ai Weiwei, “the elephants didn’t know what to do. Once they were used for labour, and now they have lost their job.” The artist is talking about the groundbreaking documentary he has just made about unemployed logging elephants in Myanmar. You watch the film, shot with 360-degree virtual reality technology, through a special headset. Turn your head slowly and your view gradually changes. Turn your head 180 degrees and the picture changes completely.

“When they lost their job,” he continues, “each elephant had a few people to take care of it, so those people also lost their job.” Ai (Weiwei is his first name and means unknown or future) relates to the elephants as readily as he does to the subject of the second part of his VR project – this one about the lives of Rohingya refugees in a Bangladeshi camp.

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YouTube ads of 100 top brands fund climate misinformation – study

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Avaaz says firms are unaware commercials being played alongside misleading videos

Some of the biggest companies in the world are funding climate misinformation by advertising on YouTube, according to a study from activist group Avaaz.

The group found that more than 100 brands had adverts running on YouTube videos on the site that were actively promoting climate misinformation. The brands, including Samsung, L’Oreal and Decathlon, were unaware that their adverts were being played before and during the videos.

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‘Staggering number’ of human rights activists killed in Colombia, UN reports

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Despite a peace accord aimed at improving conditions in rural areas controlled by illegal armed groups, 107 defenders died in 2019

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has expressed alarm at the “staggering number” of social activists killed in Colombia despite a peace accord aimed at improving conditions in poor, rural areas.

According to the UN, 107 human rights defenders were killed in 2019, a worrying number that could grow to 120 as investigations are completed. At least 10 activists have been reported killed in the first two weeks of 2020.

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One year to save the planet: a simple guide to fighting the climate crisis in 2020

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Veganism might help and it’s always good to avoid flying. But the answer to Earth’s emergency must involve political, collective action – and there are countless ways to get active

The impact of the climate crisis is all too visible. Bushfires have killed more than 20 people in south-eastern Australia and forced thousands more to flee their homes. Floods and storms have left hundreds dead and many more destitute in Argentina, Uruguay, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi. And in the UK, record temperatures were seen last summer and this winter.

Last year, people across the world took to the streets to demand goverments act to slash greenhouse gas emissions. Did you watch and wonder what you could do to help the global climate movement?

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Amazon threatened to fire employees for speaking out on climate, workers say

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Revealed: emails show group of employees who called for stronger climate action by the company were told they risked dismissal

Amazon has threatened to fire employees for speaking publicly about the company’s role in the climate crisis, tech workers at the retail giant have revealed.

Related: Trump campaign credits impeachment for helping to fundraise $46m – live

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2019: the year in US protests – in pictures

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Tens of thousands of teachers walked off the job in Los Angeles, American women gathered for their third annual march in Washington, Iowans protested abortion bans, Texans declared Donald Trump ‘not welcome’ in El Paso and students in New York City rallied around Greta Thunberg in calling for action on climate change

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Jane Fonda on joining the climate fight: ‘It’s back to the barricades’

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The veteran actor and activist has been arrested four times after being inspired by Greta Thunberg and disgusted by Trump

Jane Fonda has unusual plans for her 82nd birthday: she wants to spend the night in jail.

The American actor and political activist – who has been protesting about inaction over the climate crisis at the US Capitol every Friday – has been arrested four times and kept overnight once. Her lawyers have helped her avoid serious charges. But she says the acts of civil disobedience have pulled her out of a depression she sunk into after Donald Trump took office.

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‘Google is no longer listening’: four fired workers file charges against tech giant

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The employee-activists accuse the company of attempting to quash employee organizing, in violation of federal labor laws

The four worker-activists who were fired by Google during Thanksgiving week plan to file federal charges alleging that their former employer fired them to quash worker organizing, in violation of federal labor laws.

Google told its staff of approximately 100,000 last week that the employees were fired for “clear and repeated violations of our data security policies”, according to a memo obtained by Bloomberg. But in defiant interviews with the Guardian on Monday, the workers rejected that justification as a pretext.

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Chilean police officer arrested after shooting students at protest

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Other officers have been accused of a beating and sexual abuse as unrest enters third week, with 2,000 injured

A Chilean police major who shot two students during a school protest has been arrested as a wave of political unrest enters a third week and the number of injured in street violence topped 2,000.

Maj Humberto Tapia was arrested by detectives on Thursday and charged with illegally discharging his shotgun inside a public school that had been occupied by students on Tuesday. A call by the beleaguered principal led to a confrontation with students in which Tapia fired into the floor, sending buckshot ricocheting into the legs of students.

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Iraqi PM calls on protesters to reopen roads after civil unrest

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Adil Abdul-Mahdi says ongoing protests in Baghdad have cost the country billions of dollars

Iraq’s prime minister called on anti-government protesters to reopen roads on Sunday after a month of major rallies to demand wide-ranging political change.

Adil Abdul-Mahdi called for markets, factories, schools and universities to reopen after days of protests in the capital and across the mostly Shia south. He said the threat to oil facilities and the closure of roads had cost the country billions of dollars and contributed to price increases that affected everyone.

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MPs pledge to stop abusive language during general election

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Cross-party MPs vow to ‘promote compassion’ as part of #StopTheNastiness campaign

Leading politicians from major parties have signed a pledge to avoid hateful language during the general election campaign, as a growing number of MPs cite relentless abuse as their reason for stepping down from parliament.

The group Compassion in Politics has launched #StopTheNastiness, which aims to encourage candidates to “campaign with respect, call out hate, and promote compassion” over the next six weeks. It also urges the public to contact their local representatives and ask them to back the pledge, and calls on the media to avoid exacerbating abuse.

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WhatsApp ‘hack’ is serious rights violation, say alleged victims

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Activists speak out after being warned of alleged cyber-attack to infiltrate mobile phones

More than a dozen pro-democracy activists, journalists and academics have spoken out after WhatsApp privately warned them they had allegedly been the victims of cyber-attacks designed to secretly infiltrate their mobile phones.

The individuals received alerts saying they were among more than 100 human rights campaigners whose phones were believed to have been hacked using malware sold by NSO Group, an Israeli cyberweapons company.

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‘Unprecedented’ murder charges for loggers in deaths of indigenous activists

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Two timber executives and three loggers charged in shooting deaths of activists who battled illegal logging in Peruvian Amazon

Prosecutors in Peru have charged five men in the timber industry with the 2014 murders of four indigenous activists who had battled illegal logging in the Amazon jungle.

Two timber executives and three loggers have been charged with the shooting deaths of the activists, the prosecutor Otoniel Jara, who works in Peru’s remote Ucayali region, told the Associated Press on Wednesday.

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Barack Obama takes on ‘woke’ call-out culture: ‘That’s not activism’ – video

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The former US president Barack Obama has spoken against call-out culture. 'I do get a sense sometimes now among certain young people ... that the way of me making change is to be as judgmental as possible about other people and that's enough.' Obama said that achieving change was a much more difficult issue than simply using social media. 'That is not activism, that is not bringing about change. If all you're doing is casting stones, you are probably not going to get that far,' the 44th US president said at the third Obama Foundation summit on Tuesday

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‘Bosses take note’: why GM’s strike could inspire more collective action

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More Americans engaged in work stoppages last year than since 1986 – and the successful GM strike may encourage other union leaders, experts say

The recently ended General Motors strike was part of a surprisingly large recent wave of walkouts, and by many measures, the 49,000 strikers emerged so well from their 40-day showdown with the US auto giant that the results could help inspire more worker militancy and strikes, labor analysts and experts say.

“They did pretty well,” said Kristin Dziczek, vice-president of industry, labor and economics at the Center for Automotive Research, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. “They got more money. They got a pathway to regular employment for temporary workers. They defended their healthcare” when GM was seeking to sharply increase the premiums the United Automobile Workers (UAW) members paid.

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‘The climate doesn’t need awards’: Greta Thunberg declines environmental prize

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The teen activist implored politicians and people in power to ‘listen to the best available science’ in an Instagram post

The Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has refused to accept an environmental award, saying the climate movement needed people in power to start to “listen” to “science” and not awards.

The young climate activist, who has rallied millions to her “Fridays for Future” movement, was honoured at a Stockholm ceremony held by the Nordic Council, a regional body for inter-parliamentary cooperation.

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