Month: October 2020

Midnight Oil win Sydney Peace Foundation’s gold medal for human rights

By Letitia Denham 1 month ago

Australian band Midnight Oil will be awarded the gold medal for human rights by the Sydney Peace Foundation for its “commitment to the pursuit of human rights over an extended period … with a powerful, far-reaching impact”.



a man standing on a stage: Photograph: Scott Barbour/Getty Images

© Provided by The Guardian
Photograph: Scott Barbour/Getty Images

The gold medal for human rights is being awarded this year in lieu of the foundation’s usual Sydney Peace prize, which involves a public call for nominations, deliberations by

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Canada won’t stop calling for human rights in China

By Letitia Denham 1 month ago

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday his government will not stop standing up for human rights in China.

On Thursday, the Chinese ambassador to Canada warned Ottawa against granting asylum to Hong Kong residents fleeing the situation. Cong Peiwu said if Canada cares about 300,000 Canadian citizens in Hong Kong — and Canadian companies doing business there — it should support efforts to fight what he called fight violent crime.

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Angry women block traffic across Poland over abortion ban

By Letitia Denham 1 month ago

Women’s rights activists and thousands of supporters are holding a fifth day of protests across Poland after a top court tightened the predominantly Catholic nation’s already strict abortion law

October 26, 2020, 8:48 PM

4 min read

WARSAW, Poland — Women’s rights activists and many thousands of supporters held a fifth day of protests across Poland on Monday, defying pandemic

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In ‘Secret Society Of Second-Born Royals,’ The Disney Princesses Are Superheroes Too

By Letitia Denham 1 month ago

Along with High School Musical and Descendants, The Secret Society of Second-Born Royals may be yet another example of Disney Channel beating Disney’s theatrical departments in the arena of new live-action movie franchises.

The Secret Society of Second-Born Royals was, over the weekend, the most-watched movie on Disney
DIS
+, and the second most-watched item behind The Simpsons (yes, The Mickey Mouse Club is in the top three,

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Analysis of The Indiana Gubernatorial Debate with Indy Politic’s Abdul-Hakim Shabazz

By Letitia Denham 1 month ago

Incumbent Republican Eric Holcomb, Democratic candidate Dr. Woody Myers and Libertarian Donald Rainwater answered questions about education, the economy, guns, and the powers of government in Indiana’s first gubernatorial debate Tuesday night.

Indy Politics’ Abdul-Hakim Shabazz joined WIBC host Tony Katz Wednesday morning to recap some highlights from the debate and provide commentary.

Abdul-Hakim Shabazz:

“I thought Governor Holcomb was good on specifics such as tax cuts and tax rates, etc., etc. I thought Donald

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Geneva Consensus: U.S. joins Brazil, Egypt, Hungary, Indonesia and Uganda to sign declaration challenging right to abortion

By Letitia Denham 1 month ago

Access to abortion is widely restricted in the other countries to co-sponsor the declaration. “There is no international right to abortion,” Pompeo said.

Though the document does not directly address same-sex marriage, the only co-sponsors to have legalized it are Brazil and the United States, while the text’s language affirming the family as “the natural and fundamental group unit of society” has clear meaning for countries that restrict LGBT rights. Among the co-sponsors, the Egyptian

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Barack Obama recalls epic battle for healthcare law in excerpt from memoir

By Letitia Denham 1 month ago

An advance chapter from Barack Obama’s first memoir of his White House years, published on Monday by the New Yorker, takes readers inside the epic political battle behind the passage of the Affordable Care Act at the end of his first year in office.



Barack Obama, Sonia Sotomayor are posing for a picture: Photograph: Tim Sloan/AP

© Provided by The Guardian
Photograph: Tim Sloan/AP

Related: Republicans closely resemble autocratic parties in Hungary and Turkey – study

Landing as the healthcare law faces a new threat from the

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should we really become a cashless society?

By Letitia Denham 1 month ago

Coronavirus has accelerated the concept of a cashless society.



a hand holding a remote control

© Vulnerable groups may struggle with a move to a cashless society.


During the peak of the pandemic, consumers were urged to shun physical money as much as possible amid fears that banknotes and coins could harbour the virus – and instead, pay for things with contactless cards, limiting the amount of human interaction needed to purchase everyday goods.

Therefore news from cash machine operator LINK

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View: Imperative to zap the cancer of religious radicalism to save the body politic

By Letitia Denham 1 month ago

Is to criticise anti-democratic practices and beliefs propagated in the name of a religion to criticise the religion? The answer might seem obviously and emphatically in the negative. But this is far from obvious to a whole lot of people around the world and in India. But it is important to gather consensus on answering the question with a definitive ‘No’, for democracy to flourish and protect the rights of even those who brook no
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Human rights body fears ‘paralysis’ of Polish ombudsman

By Letitia Denham 1 month ago

A leading international human rights body is expressing concern about a “risk of paralysis” of the institution of the human rights commissioner, or ombudsman, in Poland

October 12, 2020, 6:07 PM

2 min read

WARSAW, Poland — A leading international human rights body expressed concern Monday about a “risk of paralysis” in the institution of the human rights commissioner, or ombudsman,

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Families of deceased sexual assault victims would need court order to speak out under Victoria law

By Letitia Denham 1 month ago

The families of deceased sexual assault victims would need a court order to speak publicly about what happened to their loved ones under a new bill introduced to the Victorian parliament.



a sign on the side of a building: Photograph: Erik Anderson/AAP

© Provided by The Guardian
Photograph: Erik Anderson/AAP

The legislation, to be debated this week, seeks to fix botched laws enacted in February that gagged assault survivors from publicly talking about their experiences without a court order.

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However, the bill will also

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Misinformation And Conspiracy Theories Can Spread In COVID-19 Patient Groups : Shots

By Letitia Denham 1 month ago

Patient groups on social media are fighting COVID-19 misinformation.

Jub Rubjob/Getty Images


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Jub Rubjob/Getty Images

Patient groups on social media are fighting COVID-19 misinformation.

Jub Rubjob/Getty Images

For decades, people struggling with illnesses of all kinds have sought help in online support groups, and during 2020, such groups have been in high demand for COVID-19 patients, who often must recover in isolation.

But the fear and uncertainty regarding the coronavirus have

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The Trump administration is considering proscribing Amnesty, Oxfam, and Human Rights Watch as ‘anti-Semitic’ and telling other governments not to support them

By Letitia Denham 1 month ago



a group of people on a bridge: Human rights group Amnesty International drop a banner from Vauxhall Bridge opposite the US Embassy protesting against US President Donald Trump's visit to the United Kingdom on July 12, 2018 in London, United Kingdom. Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images

© Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images
Human rights group Amnesty International drop a banner from Vauxhall Bridge opposite the US Embassy protesting against US President Donald Trump’s visit to the United Kingdom on July 12, 2018 in London, United Kingdom. Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images
  • The Trump administration is reportedly considering a move to classify several major humanitarian groups as “anti-Semitic.”
  • Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is leading a push to proscribe Amnesty International, Oxfam, and Human
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Egyptian officials systemically abuse and torture gays, rights group says

By Letitia Denham 1 month ago

Malak el-Kashif, a political activist and transgender woman living in Egypt, was arrested at her Cairo home last March after participating in a protest and was then subjected to verbal and physical abuse at the hands of Egyptian authorities for months, according to Human Rights Watch. She says she was placed in solitary confinement at a men’s prison for 135 days, where she was refused medical treatment.

“I suffered the worst verbal abuse I have

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Polish court ruling to determine fate of human rights office

By Letitia Denham 1 month ago

Poland’s constitutional court has been asked to issue a ruling expected to determine the fate of one of the last state bodies that has kept its independence from the populist right-wing government

October 20, 2020, 11:58 AM

4 min read

WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s constitutional court is considering a ruling that will determine the fate of one of the last

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The Netherlands Is Taking Syria To Court For Gross Human Rights Violations

By Letitia Denham 1 month ago

On September 18, 2020, the Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Netherlands, Stef Blok, announced that the Netherlands had taken a decision to hold Syria responsible under international law for gross human rights violations and torture under the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UN Convention against Torture). 

The Netherlands has sent a diplomatic note to the Syrian government reminding it of its obligations under the UN Convention

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US considering declaring major human rights organizations are anti-Semitic

By Letitia Denham 1 month ago

The US State Department is considering declaring that several widely respected human rights organizations are anti-Semitic, according to multiple sources who have been made aware of the conversations.



a sign on the side of a building

© Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images/File


The organizations include Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Oxfam with sources telling CNN that many diplomats believe a declaration would be dangerous and undercut US policy on countries such as China, Cuba or Venezuela where the Trump administration has joined with these

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Women’s groups lead more protests over Poland’s abortion law

By Letitia Denham 1 month ago

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Women’s rights activists and thousands of their supporters held a fifth day of protests across Poland Monday, despite pandemic restrictions, after a top court tightened the predominantly Catholic nation’s already strict abortion law.

In Warsaw, demonstrators with drums, horns and firecrackers were blocking rush-hour traffic at a number of major roundabouts. Similar protests were held in other cities such as Poznan, Lodz and Katowice.

Protesters are defying a “red zone” ban

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Cannabis companies’ approach to IRS 280E: Audits, compliance

By Letitia Denham 1 month ago

  • Five cannabis industry lawyers and accountants told Business Insider they’re bracing their clients for an uptick in audits and investigations.
  • The audits stem from a section of the tax code called 280E, which prohibits companies that sell illegal drugs — like marijuana — from deducting regular business expenses, like office supplies or health insurance premiums.
  • 280E is “probably one of the worst things that’s forced onto this industry,” KushCo CEO Nich Kovacevich said.
  • For more
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India Proposes Law to Tackle Country’s Deadly Air Pollution

By Letitia Denham 1 month ago

(Bloomberg) — India’s federal government informed the top court that it is framing a new law to tackle one of the worst air pollution problems in the world.



Pedestrians are silhouetted as traffic moves along a road shrouded in smog in New Delhi, India, on Friday, Nov. 10, 2017. Thick toxic smog enveloped New Delhi forcing schools to shut down, halting traffic on highways and sending residents scurrying to buy air purifiers and filtration masks.

© Bloomberg
Pedestrians are silhouetted as traffic moves along a road shrouded in smog in New Delhi, India, on Friday, Nov. 10, 2017. Thick toxic smog enveloped New Delhi forcing schools to shut down, halting traffic on highways and sending residents scurrying to buy air purifiers and

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