Move follows previous and current staff complaining of toxic working environment at global advocacy group
The global advocacy group for gender equality Women Deliver has launched an investigation into allegations of racism and discrimination within the organisation.
Its CEO, Katja Iversen, a G7 advisor on gender equality, has issued an apology and taken a leave of absence until the conclusion of the investigation.
Continue reading...Statues of colonialists and brutal leaders have been toppled by protesters or removed by governments in recent weeks as campaigns to bring down monuments to historical figures tainted by racism and slavery spread around the world.
In Belgium, during Black Lives Matter protests, numerous statues of King Leopold II, whose brutal rule of Congo caused an estimated 10 million deaths through murder, starvation and disease, were defaced and covered in red paint. While in the UK, Oxford University’s Oriel College voted in favour of removing its statue of the Victorian imperialist Cecil Rhodes.
In response to the latest action, the historian David Olusoga looks at the significance of these statues and examines the impact they have had on the victims of colonialists and imperialists, as well as the cost borne by their descendants
Understanding fear of stigma is essential in the battle against coronavirus in Niger’s capital. All photographs by Juan Haro for Unicef
It feels strange to cover the coronavirus crisis in Niger. Everyday life is taking its normal course, but you sense a strangeness in the air. It is manifested in the neighbourhoods, in the space between people. In a society where physical contact is part of the fabric of things, social distancing remains a challenge.
Continue reading...When asylum seekers seen landing on Chios vanished, a local journalist’s investigation put him at odds with authorities
When Ioannis Stevis moved back to his native island of Chios after a long career in journalism he could not have imagined that his retirement project would eventually put him at odds with his own government.
But the local online news service he created, Astraparis, ended up bearing witness to one of the most significant stories in recent European history: the ongoing refugee crisis.
Continue reading...Lockdown precipitated an exodus of day labourers and “wallahs” but as monsoon season breaks their loss is being felt
As the monsoon lashes Mumbai and black clouds darken the skyline, the city is in the grip of nostalgia for the men who used to keep daily life ticking as rhythmically and comfortingly as a Swiss watch. Men who are missing.
The men who cleared the drains of silt so that the rains don’t cause flooding and water-borne diseases such as leptospirosis. The electricians who came to fix breakdowns caused by wind and rain. The sanitation workers who used to spray neighbourhoods with mosquito repellent before the monsoon to prevent vector-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue fever and chikungunya. All are missing even though the monsoon officially arrived last weekend.
Continue reading...Country hits grisly milestone as WHO says pandemic is entering ‘new and dangerous phase’
In Australia, authorities are watching the rise in coronavirus cases in Victoria closely as the state prepares to further ease restrictions from Monday.
Gyms, cinemas, indoor sports centres and concert venues are scheduled to reopen on Monday while cafes, restaurants and pubs will increase capacity from 20 people to 50.
Brazil has passed a total of more than one million coronavirus cases, and nearly 50,000 deaths, according to its health ministry data, in a new low for the world’s second worst-hit country.
Brazil has recorded 1,032,913 confirmed cases, second only to the United States, with 1,206 new deaths reported on Friday to take the total official fatalities to 48,954, the ministry said.
Continue reading...President contradicts top China trade negotiator as Washington questions Beijing Covid-19 outbreak numbers
Donald Trump has renewed his threat to cut ties with China, a day after his diplomats held high-level talks with Beijing and his top US trade negotiator said severing the trade relationship was not a viable option.
The conflicting stances emerged as Washington questioned China’s credibility on accurately reporting the new Covid-19 cluster in Beijing.
Continue reading...Australian prime minister says widespread assault on political and private sector organisations has been going on for months but is increasing in frequency and scale
A wide range of political and private sector organisations in Australia have come under cyber-attack carried out by a “sophisticated state-based cyber actor”, the Australian government has revealed.
Scott Morrison disclosed the far-reaching attacks at a media conference in Canberra on Friday, while his defence minister declared that malicious cyber activity was “increasing in frequency, scale, in sophistication and in its impact”.
Continue reading...Parts of West Auckland locked down after suspect flees scene of shooting in a car
Two police officers have been shot and seriously injured in Auckland, New Zealand, during a traffic stop, with a hunt for the suspect continuing.
The shots rang out during what the police described as a routine traffic stop in the West Auckland suburb of Massey. After shooting two officers, the suspect fled, injuring a member of the public with their vehicle, a police statement said.
Continue reading...Indian media report release came after high-level talks between the India army and the PLA
China has freed 10 Indian soldiers seized in a high-altitude border clash in the Himalayas which left at least 20 Indian soldiers dead, media reports said on Friday.
The release follows several rounds of talks between the two sides in a bid to ease tensions after the battle on Monday, in which scores of troops from the two sides fought with nail-studded batons and hurled rocks at each other.
Continue reading...NHS to switch to alternative design by tech giants, says Matt Hancock in latest U-turn
The government has been forced to abandon a centralised coronavirus contact-tracing app after spending three months and millions of pounds on technology that experts had repeatedly warned would not work.
In an embarrassing U-turn, Matt Hancock said the NHS would switch to an alternative designed by the US tech companies Apple and Google, which is months away from being ready.
Continue reading...French president holds talks with PM on UK visit to mark second world war anniversary
Boris Johnson has told Emmanuel Macron that he sees little point prolonging UK-EU talks on a future trading relationship into the autumn.
The French president was in London on Thursday for a largely ceremonial visit. No 10 said Johnson had welcomed a recent agreement to intensify talks on the issue in July. However, comments dismissing the idea of “prolonged negotiations” suggest that Johnson is increasingly prepared to end the talks without an agreement and thinks both sides would need time to prepare for this rather than make last-minute adjustments in December when the existing transition period expires.
Continue reading...Father Sergei Romanov who was banished by church leaders in April says he will only be removed by force
A rogue Russian priest who denies the existence of Covid-19 has seized a convent in the Urals region and announced he will only be removed by force.
Father Sergei Romanov stormed the Sredneuralsk convent this week, after being banished by church leaders in April for protesting the closure of churches due to the coronavirus epidemic, which he called a “pseudo-pandemic”.
Continue reading...The Trump administration will go to court on Friday in an effort to halt publication of John Bolton’s memoir of his time as national security adviser, on the grounds it contains classified material.
Related: John Bolton says Trump is 'not fit for office' as fallout continues over book – live
Continue reading...Spanish government injects £4bn while Sweden study casts doubt on herd immunity
More than 8,000 people have been quarantined in fresh outbreaks of Covid-19 in three areas of Germany, while the most comprehensive study yet on immunity in Sweden showed very few people had developed antibodies.
As governments across Europe continue to ease their restrictions, authorities in North Rhein Westphalia, the southern Berlin district of Neukölln and the central city of Göttingen imposed local lockdowns in an effort to halt the spread of the virus.
Continue reading...Second failed attempt to win seat raises questions about messaging and clarity in Canada’s foreign policy, experts say
When Justin Trudeau was first elected in 2015, he promised that his victory would help Canada vault back on to the world stage, and reclaim a global influence that had eroded in previous years.
“To this country’s friends all around the world, many of you have worried that Canada has lost its compassionate and constructive voice in the world,” Trudeau told a raucous crowd on election night. “Well, I have a simple message for you. On behalf of 35 million Canadians: we’re back.”
Continue reading...Many bank directors received compensation after slavery was made illegal in 1833
The slave trade was abolished in the British Empire in 1807 but it was not until 1833 that the Slavery Abolition Act finally banned the ownership of other human beings. However, 46,000 slave owners continued to benefit financially as the subsequent Slave Compensation Act provided £20m in payments – a sum worth billions in 2020 terms. Despite the name of the act, the former slaves were not compensated.
University College London’s Legacies of British Slave Ownership project shows that 10% to 20% of Britain’s wealthy can be identified as having had significant links to slavery. The amount of money borrowed to pay off slave owners was so large that the government only repaid it fully in 2015. Companies with links to slavery in their past include:
Continue reading...Linking to Game of Thrones disregards Colin Kaepernick’s protest and what it inspired
The foreign secretary Dominic Raab’s assertion that the act of taking a knee appears to be “a symbol of subjugation and subordination” that originates from the TV show Game of Thrones showed a startling level of ignorance of the genesis of the protest adopted by the Black Lives Matter movement.
When the then NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the US national anthem before a game on 1 September 2016 to highlight racism, it began a protest that would reverberate around the world.
Continue reading...Pakistani court gives MQM party members life sentences for stabbing political rival in 2010
A Pakistani court has convicted several men over the murder of a prominent exiled politician in north London 10 years ago.
Dr Imran Farooq, 50, was repeatedly stabbed and bludgeoned with a house brick in Edgware as he returned home from work on 16 September 2010. The killing of Farooq, a founding member of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), sparked rioting in his native city of Karachi.
Continue reading...Smith, who died at home in Manhattan, played key role in Northern Ireland’s peace process in the 1990s as US envoy
Jean Kennedy Smith, the youngest sister and last surviving sibling of John F Kennedy, who as US envoy played key role in Northern Ireland’s peace process in the 1990s, has died aged 92, her daughter confirmed to the New York Times.
Related: Coronavirus live news: New York set to ease lockdown further as outdoor restaurants reopen
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