Category Archives: World

11Apr/23

‘It’s like you’re a criminal, but I am not a criminal.’ First-hand accounts of the trauma of being stuck in the UK asylum system

Steve Taylor, Leeds Beckett University

Warning: this story contains graphic descriptions of violence. Pseudonyms are used to protect the interviewees’ identities.

Angela had already been in the UK as an asylum seeker for nine years and four months when we interviewed her. She was still in a state of limbo, unsure whether asylum would be granted, and her story was disturbing to hear.

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10Apr/23

Good Friday Agreement: the early 1990s back-channel between the IRA and British government that made peace possible

Niall Ó Dochartaigh, University of Galway

In February 1990, in the midst of the Troubles, Sinn Féin’s Martin McGuinness publicly invited the British government to reopen a back-channel used during previous phases of contact with the IRA in the 1970s and during the 1981 hunger strike.

If [the British government] think there is something to be lost by stating publicly how flexible they would be, or how imaginative, we are saying they should tell us privately … there is an avenue which they are aware of whereby they can make what imaginative steps they are thinking about known to the Republican movement.

It was a crucial early step on the road to the Good Friday Agreement.

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03Apr/23

Remarks by Vice President Harris and President Hichilema of Zambia in Joint Press Conference

State House
Lusaka, Zambia

3:37 P.M. CAT

ZAMBIAN OFFICIAL: Mr. Hakainde Hichilema, President of the Republic of Zambia; Honorable Madam Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States of America; cabinet ministers present from both countries; members of the press; distinguished invited guests; ladies and gentlemen: Welcome to the press conference being held here at State House this afternoon.

And to begin the process, I now have the singular honor and privilege to call upon the President of the Republic of Zambia to deliver his remarks.
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27Mar/23

How Black children in England’s schools are made to feel like the way they speak is wrong

Ian Cushing, Edge Hill University

Whiteness is an invention of the modern, colonial age. It refers to the racialisation of white people and the disproportionate privilege – social, linguistic, economic, political – that comes with this. Crucially, as an invention, whiteness is not innate – it is taught.

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22Mar/23

Casey review: key steps the Met police must take to address its institutional racism and sexism

John Fox, University of Portsmouth

Baroness Louise Casey has found that London’s Metropolitan police force is institutionally racist, misogynistic and homophobic. We heard similar 24 years ago when, after the incompetent investigation into the murder of Stephen Lawrence, Sir William MacPherson reported that the Met was institutionally racist.

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18Mar/23

CGTN’S The Legacy of War Documentary Investigates Lasting Legacy of Iraq War, 20 Years On

China Global Television Network (CGTN) is marking the 20th anniversary of the start of the Iraq War with the release of a three-part documentary, “The Legacy of War”, premiering on March 17th. The documentary presents an objective account of the war and its aftermath through the stories of ordinary people. It highlights the impact the war is still having on people in Iraq. Continue reading

18Mar/23

Iraq 20 years on: researchers assess how US invasion shapes lives today – podcast

Mend Mariwany and Nehal El-Hadi, The Conversation

On March 19, 2003, the United States led an unlawful invasion into Iraq — at the time, the reason given was the search for weapons of mass destruction. The U.S. occupation of Iraq lasted over eight years, until the official withdrawal of troops throughout 2011.

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14Mar/23

Climate ‘danger zone’

By Megan Rowling | Just Transition Editor

Climate scientists and government officials are gathered in Switzerland this week to agree the final summary for policymakers in the latest blockbuster series of reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on global warming and how to keep it in check.

Coming before an important review of global progress on climate goals at the end of this year, it doesn’t take a PhD to work out that the key message will be along the lines of “must do better”.
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14Mar/23

IQAir World Air Quality Report 2022 Finds Only 5% of Countries Meet WHO PM2.5 Air Pollution Guideline

The 5th Annual World Air Quality Report reveals alarming details of the world’s most polluted countries, territories, and regions in 2022. For this year’s report, data from more than 30,000 air quality monitoring stations across 7,323 locations in 131 countries, territories, and regions was analyzed by IQAir’s air quality scientists. Read more

10Mar/23

NEW REPORT: Global Freedom Declines for 17th Consecutive Year, but May Be Approaching a Turning Point

Global freedom declined for a 17th consecutive year in 2022 as 35 countries suffered deterioration in their political rights and civil liberties, according to a new report released today by Freedom House. A total of 34 countries made improvements during the year, however, meaning the gap between the numbers of countries that improved and declined was the narrowest it has ever been since the negative pattern began. The report suggests that the struggle for democracy may be approaching a turning point, and offers recommendations on how democratic governments and societies should work together to roll back authoritarian gains. Continue reading