Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
The ‘golden voice of Africa’ has just released his final album. And though he is visibly tired, he is still in love with his guitar
Salif Keita, Mali’s most famous musical son, is going home. “I’m returning to the land,” he says. “I was a farmer’s son. I am a farmer’s son. Now, I will go back to the country and cultivate.” Cultivate what? I ask, not for the first time. Keita does not answer, not for the first time. He closes his eyes and falls silent. When he does speak, it is bursts of a few words and short, stilted answers.
I am in a modest hotel suite in the north of Paris with one of the greatest musical talents the African continent has ever produced. Keita, known as the “golden voice of Africa”, has enjoyed a career spanning more than half a century. Now nearly 70 years old, he is known not just for his extraordinarily powerful and passionate voice, but for the genetic condition he has called albinism that has made him, he says, “white of skin and black of blood”. He has sung for Nelson Mandela, and in aid of Ethiopia. He continues to sing to highlight the desperate plight of those with albinism across Africa, giving his time and talent to raise funds.
Emma Hughes tells of her fears as group await sentence for halting deportation flight
One of the 15 activists convicted of a terrorism offence for blocking the takeoff of a deportation charter flight from Stansted has spoken of her anguish before the group’s sentencing this week, saying she fears a “horrific” separation from her newborn son.
The Stansted 15, who were convicted at Chelmsford crown court in December of endangering the safety of an aerodrome, hope they will be given non-custodial sentences, though the offence carries a maximum of life imprisonment. Their convictions under the Aviation and Maritime Security Act 1990, were condemned as a “crushing blow for human rights” by Amnesty International. Their lawyers have lodged an appeal.
Demonstrators gather for 80 events across 31 cities including London, Berlin and New York to protest violence against women and the gendered impact of austerity
We’re wrapping up our live coverage of the 2019 Women’s March. Thanks for reading.
A few more images from marches around the country:
Tens of thousands take to city streets to protest against violence and the impact of austerity on their lives
Propelled by a mass public rendition of Sisters Are Doin’ It for Themselves and accompanied by a thudding police helicopter overhead, hundreds of protesters have rallied in central London in solidarity with an estimated 89 Women’s Marches worldwide.
In Athens, Berlin, Washington DC and Los Angeles, to name just a few, tens of thousands of demonstrators turned out to protest against violence against women and the impact of policies of austerity. They also had some choice words for Donald Trump and Theresa May.
Demonstrators march on the streets of Washington, Berlin and London on Saturday as part of the global Women's March to protest against violence against women and the impact of policies of austerity
Tony Abbott in second place as activist group looks to extend list of targets
Peter Dutton is the most unpopular Australian politician among GetUp supporters, with the activist organisation now looking to extend its “hard right” MP target hit list for the upcoming federal election.
The home affairs minister, who is already facing an established GetUp campaign against him in his marginal Queensland seat of Dickson, dominated the activist group’s poll of most loathed politicians, attracting 22,028 first-place votes.
“The guards told me I was a political prisoner, and for that I don’t get anything,” said Chacón, speaking by phone from Caracas, where she is on conditional release. “Without seeing the sun, you lose a sense of time, you don’t know if it’s day or night – it’s horrible.”
Obama had billed the Trans-Pacific Partnership as a chance for the US to write the rules of trade in the world's fastest-growing region - while also curtailing China's influence It was one of US President Donald Trump's very first acts: to pull out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a sweeping 12-nation trade agreement that had been the centrepiece of President Barack Obama's strategic "rebalance" toward Asia. Trump had charged that such deals hurt American manufacturing, and on January 23, 2017, he signed the withdrawal order in the Oval Office.
Driving around San Juan, the sight of blue tarpaulins is almost inescapable. Nailed over people's roofs, the tarps continue to provide the only shelter for tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans one year after Hurricane Maria tore through the island, causing extensive damage to homes, hospitals and schools.
New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker urged Democrats disappointed by Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to turn their despair into action as he made his national debut in Iowa as a Democratic presidential prospect. Racing from Saturday afternoon's Senate confirmation vote in Washington, Booker breezed into the Iowa Democratic Party's top fall fundraiser to try to make a positive impression on roughly 1,000 party activists.
If the allegations of Professor Christine Blasey Ford against Brett Kavanaugh are true, then he was a juvenile criminal. He and a friend plotted out how to get girls inebriated, force them into an upstairs side room, turn up the music to drown out screams, jump on top of them, and have their way with them.
Last year, Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said: "Our job at Facebook is to help people make the greatest positive impact while mitigating areas where technology and social media can contribute to divisiveness and isolation." As a Vietnamese musical artist who grew up in a totalitarian society, I can attest to the positive impact Facebook can make.
The group states : "Amnesty International believes that the vetting of Brett Kavanaugh's record on human rights has been insufficient and calls for the vote on his nomination for Supreme Court of the United States to be further postponed unless and until any information relevant to Kavanaugh's possible involvement in human rights violations - including in relation to the U.S. government's use of torture and other forms of ill-treatment, such as during the CIA detention program - is declassified and made public."
Responding to President Donald Trump's remarks at the United Nations General Assembly, Margaret Huang, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA, stated: "President Trump continues to attack human rights not only within his own country, but also within the UN system built specifically to protect and promote human rights. "The US should be building up, not tearing down, international mechanisms that hold governments accountable for their abuses.
A long-expected, controversial deal between the Chinese government and Catholic leaders in the Vatican has sparked opposition, including inside the Church itself. The provisional agreement, which will see the Vatican recognize the legitimacy of bishops appointed by the Chinese government, comes at a time when the ruling Communist Party is cracking down on "illegal" Christian groups in the country.
When David Cole agreed to become national legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union in summer 2016, he was dead-certain about the outcome of the November presidential election. "Hillary Clinton was going to win the presidency, she would name Justice Scalia's replacement, and for the first time in four decades, we would have a liberal-majority Supreme Court," Cole recalled while delivering UC Davis School of Law's annual Edward L. Barrett Jr. Lecture on constitutional law on Sept.
Kesha was inspired by Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to write her latest song, "Here Comes the Change," a powerful rallying cry to continue the fight for equality. The acoustic guitar-led anthem, which features Bob Dylan-esque harmonica and tom-tom drums, will appear on the soundtrack for "On the Basis of Sex," the Ginsburg biopic starring Felicity Jones and Armie Hammer.
The meeting, which was quite lengthy, addressed some of the allegations regarding some political activists and well as some of the actions taken by Qatari-funded Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated groups, according to Said Abdel Hafez, Chairperson of the Forum for Development and Human Rights Dialogue. The Egyptian delegation explained to the committee that politicizing the issue negatively affects the efforts of the United Nations.