Leaders around the world have paid tribute to Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the cleric, social activist and giant of South Africa’s struggle against apartheid, who died on Sunday aged 90.
Residents of Cape Town and the Soweto township in Johannesburg also described their feelings about 'the arch' who has been described as the moral conscience of his nation
Continue reading...Tutu did not spare those in power in the ‘rainbow nation’ – a phrase of his with unfulfilled aspirations
From the moment he resigned from his post as a schoolteacher rather than comply with the orders of the racist, repressive apartheid regime in South Africa in 1958, Desmond Tutu never deviated from his principles, fighting for tolerance, equality and justice at home and abroad. This brought him love, influence and a moral prestige equalled by few others on the African continent or beyond.
But Tutu, the cleric and activist who died on Sunday in Cape Town aged 90, was not just outspoken in support of the causes he felt to be right – such as LGBT rights – but a fierce and implacable opponent of what he felt to be wrong. Criticism was often tempered with humour. On occasion, it was delivered straight. This earned him enemies, and still does.
Continue reading...Parliamentary committee accuses ambassador of interference over tweet in support of recognising interim government
Libya’s political crisis has taken on an increasingly international dimension after the UK was accused of defending corruption and interfering in internal processes by calling for the interim government to remain in power pending the rescheduling of delayed elections.
The country’s first presidential elections, scheduled for 24 December, were indefinitely postponed at the last minute, largely because fierce disagreements over who should be allowed to stand had not been resolved.
Continue reading...Jared Schmeck, 35, tells Oregonian he has ‘nothing against’ president to whom he repeated ‘Fuck Joe Biden’ rightwing meme
The caller who ended a conversation with Joe Biden with the rightwing meme “Let’s go Brandon” – which means “fuck Joe Biden” – has insisted he was joking and meant no disrespect to the president.
“At the end of the day I have nothing against Mr Biden,” Jared Schmeck, 35, told the Oregonian newspaper. “But I am frustrated because I think he can be doing a better job. I mean no disrespect to him.”
Continue reading...It is not known if Chen Quanguo’s replacement by Guangdong governor Ma Xingrui signals fresh approach
China has replaced the Communist party official widely associated with a security crackdown targeting ethnic Uyghurs and other Muslims in the far-west region of Xinjiang.
The state-owned Xinhua news agency said in a brief announcement on Saturday that Ma Xingrui, the governor of the coastal economic powerhouse Guangdong province since 2017, had replaced Chen Quanguo as the Xinjiang party chief. Chen will move to another role.
Continue reading...Archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu, the cleric and social activist who was a giant of the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, has died aged 90. Tutu, described by foreign observers and his countrymen as the moral conscience of his nation, died in Cape Town on Boxing Day.
Excitable, emotional and charismatic, Tutu won the Nobel peace prize in 1984 and chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), the controversial and emotional hearings into apartheid-era human rights abuses. This is his life, in his own words
Fortified camp for thousands of soldiers thought to have been used by Emperor Claudius during conquest of Britain in AD43
A large Roman fort believed to have played a key role in the successful invasion of Britain in AD43 has been discovered on the Dutch coast.
A Roman legion of “several thousand” battle-ready soldiers was stationed in Velsen, 20 miles from Amsterdam, on the banks of the Oer-IJ, a tributary of the Rhine, research suggests.
Continue reading...Described as South Africa’s moral compass, Desmond Tutu, the anti-apartheid Nobel peace prize-winning activist for racial justice and LGBT rights, and retired Anglican archbishop of Cape Town, has died aged 90. An uncompromising foe of apartheid, Tutu worked tirelessly but non-violently for its downfall
Continue reading...Groups from the continent are going elsewhere, tour operators say, deterred more by passport and visa rules than the pandemic
Post-Brexit changes to Britain’s immigration rules have triggered an unprecedented collapse in bookings for school trips from the continent, organisers say, with countries such as Ireland and the Netherlands now more popular than the UK.
While the pandemic has depressed European school travel in general, the number of short-stay educational visits planned in 2022 to alternative EU destinations where English is widely spoken is significantly higher than inquiries for UK visits.
Continue reading...Desmond Tutu, the cleric and social activist who was a giant of the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, has died aged 90
More reaction to Tutu’s death from South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa, and the archbishop of Cape Town, Thabo Makgoba:
Ramaphosa said:
The passing of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu is another chapter of bereavement in our nation*s farewell to a generation of outstanding South Africans who have bequeathed us a liberated South Africa.
Desmond Tutu was a patriot without equal; a leader of principle and pragmatism who gave meaning to the biblical insight that faith without works is dead.
Desmond Tutu’s legacy is moral strength, moral courage and clarity. He felt with the people. In public and alone, he cried because he felt people’s pain. And he laughed * no, not just laughed, he cackled with delight when he shared their joy.
The loss of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Mpilo Tutu is immeasurable. He was larger than life, and for so many in South Africa and around the world his life has been a blessing. His contributions to struggles against injustice, locally and globally, are matched only by the depth of his thinking about the making of liberatory futures for human societies. He was an extraordinary human being. A thinker. A leader. A shepherd. Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this most difficult time.
“The Arch meant everything to me,” said foundation chief executive Sello Hatang. “I first met him during the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and was privileged to work with him on a number of projects over the years. He was a friend to Madiba and to the Foundation.”
Continue reading...The never-ending pandemic forces people to do their best to balance living a decent life and making responsible choices
When Sean Williams, 50, caught a breakthrough case of Covid-19 in November, he felt guilty and embarrassed. His 14-year-old tested positive, too; both were “double-vaxxed” and probably caught it from his 11-year-old daughter, who got it in school two days before her scheduled first vaccination.
“It’s impossible to talk about without going through this whole tortured thing about how careful you were before you got it,” says Williams, who lives with his family in New York City. “Also, this horrible feeling that you have to stutter your way through a clarification that you do believe in science, you did get vaccinated, you’re, like, not a fascist, even. It’s landmines all the way down.”
Continue reading...Silvio Berlusconi is among those waiting in the wings if the prime minister decides to leave the stage and forces an early election
Italians have been enjoying an unusual period of political harmony – Mario Draghi, the prime minister, brought decisive, competent leadership in the midst of the pandemic, and the economy is growing fast. But that could be thrown into jeopardy when parliament elects a new president in January.
An opaque ritual described as being akin to the appointment of a new pope, the topic is dominating the political debate as the outcome could leave Italy with a predicament at a critical juncture: should Draghi, the former European Central Bank chief credited with restoring stability and confidence in the country, remain prime minister, or become president?
Continue reading...The resumption of killing whales for profit for the first time in over 30 years is offering little cause for celebration
You don’t have to look far to find evidence of Wada’s centuries-old connection to whaling. Visitors to the town on Japan’s Pacific coast are greeted by a replica skeleton of a blue whale before entering a museum devoted to the behemoths of the ocean.
At a local restaurant, diners eat deep-fried whale cutlet and buy cetacean-themed gifts at a neighbouring gift shop. At the edge of the water stands a wooden deck where harpooned whales are butchered before being sold to wholesalers and restaurants.
Continue reading...This year’s appeal has already raised over £500,000. We report on an organisation supporting Indigenous communities against wealthy vested interests
José Méndez walked up the mountain behind his rural Ch’orti’ Mayan community of Corozal in eastern Guatemala. He pointed towards an abandoned home of the plantation owner who used to run this hillside. “Right outside that house they killed our three compañeros, the exact same day the county government recognised us as an Indigenous community with rights to the land.”
Further up the mountain, in the mist of corn and coffee fields, Méndez shows off a large water reservoir that irrigates the community’s crops as well as small household gardens of nutritious and medicinal herbs. “This is what we sacrificed for. To recover our land and our water to have a chance to survive here.”
Continue reading...Two members of international humanitarian group unaccounted for after killings in Kayah state
Two people working for Save the Children have gone missing after a massacre in eastern Myanmar that left more than 30 people dead, the international aid group has said.
Photos of the aftermath of the Christmas Eve killings in Mo So village, just outside Hpruso township in Kayah state, spread on social media in the country, fuelling outrage against the military that took power in February after ousting the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Continue reading...Thirty-one-year-old man, who appeared to be a bodyboarder, pronounced dead in San Luis Obispo county
California authorities have closed some beaches in San Luis Obispo County after a 31-year-old man was pronounced dead following an encounter with a shark on Friday.
The fatality marked the first death in a shark attack in 18 years in the area, which lies roughly midway between Los Angeles and Jan Jose.
Continue reading...New South Wales has recorded its highest ever Covid daily caseload, with 6,288 new infections announced today – by far the highest number of cases in any Australian state since the pandemic began.
Record Covid cases were reported across Australia on Christmas Day as overwhelmed testing clinics were forced to close and tens of thousands of people spent the holiday in isolation.
I would sincerely appeal that they do not again consider closing churches and places of worship.
I think this country has shown that people can make good judgements themselves.
We’re at that point of saying we understand the risk. We know what we should do. Most people are sensible and cautious. We don’t need stronger impositions to teach us what to do.
Continue reading...Two dozen conspirators forced workers to pay fees for travel and housing while forcing them to work for little to no pay
In June, a farm worker from Mexico, who requested to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, was transported through a trafficking network from Monterey to work on farms in Georgia.
They paid the traffickers 20,000 pesos, about $950, loaned from their mother, taking frequent trips back and forth to Monterey, before being told it was safe to leave. Then they were finally transported across the border.
Continue reading...Observer investigation uncovers new trafficking gateway to the west after 500 migrants found in shocking conditions in Serbia
When construction began to great fanfare in 2019, the Linglong car tyre factory outside of Belgrade was heralded as the jewel in the crown of Serbia’s burgeoning strategic partnership with China.
Two years later, 500 Vietnamese construction workers were allegedly found last month working in conditions of forced labour with their passports confiscated and living in cramped and degrading conditions.
Continue reading...Cheap street pizza is one of New York’s charms, but could supply chain problems and inflation this spell the end?
“Well, you can never go wrong with bread, cheese and tomato,” Lou Reed, poet of the New York streets, would sometimes remark as he passed by one of the city’s multitude of pizzerias.
The late musician was a fan of Coney Island’s legendary Totonno’s, close to the site of of one of the first recorded pizza parlors established by Italian immigrants in the 1880s.
Continue reading...