authoritarianism – Page 11 – Desdemona Despair

Zimbabweans sit and pray on top of a large rock on the outskirts of Harare, Zimbabwe, 8 September 2019. Photo: Themba Hadebe / AP Photo

September 28, 2019

Zimbabwe’s capital runs dry as taps cut off for 2 million people – “It is a desperate situation”

By Farai Mutsaka 24 September 2019 HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) – Tempers flared on Tuesday as more than 2 million residents of Zimbabwe’s capital and surrounding towns found themselves without water after authorities shut down the main treatment plant, raising new fears about disease after a cholera outbreak while the economy crumbles even more. Officials in Harare have struggled to […]

Climate activist Greta Thunberg glares at Donald Trump arriving at the United Nations on 23 September 2019, after she scolded international politicians over inaction on global warming at Climate Action Summit 2019. Photo: The Independent

September 23, 2019

Trump drops by UN climate summit, skips Greta Thunberg’s speech, hurries off to talk faith and freedom – Standing ovation for Trump at religious freedom panel that never mentioned plight of Uighur Muslims

By Julian Borger 23 September 2019 NEW YORK (The Guardian) – In the UN general assembly chamber, the world’s leaders gathered to share the latest grim news of the planet’s climate crisis, but 100 metres away another meeting had been prepared: a summit of one. Donald Trump had booked a separate venue in the middle of the […]

Images of models portraying women who have been abused, at a demonstration opposing violence against women on Copacabana beach on 6 June 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Photo: CNN

September 16, 2019

Study finds four girls are raped every hour in Brazil, femicides increased in 2018 – Fears that President Jair Bolsonaro’s open misogyny will worsen violence – “Brazil is still one of the most dangerous places in the world for women”

By Helena Cavendish de Moura and Julia Hollingsworth 11 September 2019 (CNN) – In Brazil, four girls under 13 are raped every hour and every two minutes police receive a report of violence against women. Those are just two of the findings from a new study released Tuesday by non-governmental organization Brazilian Forum of Public Security, which […]

Aerial view of the Amazon rainforest burning out of control in the municipality of Colniza, Mato Grosso state on 24 August 2019, just days before nine Amazon state governors met with Bolsonaro to discuss pkans to continue destroying the rainforest and assimilating the indigenous peoples of Amazonia. Photo: Victor Moriyama / Greenpeace

September 16, 2019

State governors support Bolsonaro’s plan to continue destruction of Amazon rainforest for mining and agribusiness – Indigenous peoples of Amazonia to be assimilated

By Jenny Gonzales 9 September 2019 (Mongabay) – It is not only President Jair Bolsonaro who views rainforests and indigenous people as obstacles to Brazilian economic development. Seven of the nine Amazon state governors are in line with the policies of the chief executive, as attested to at an August 27 meeting between the president and representatives […]

The Organ Pipe Cactus national monument, in southern Arizona, is a federally protected wilderness area and Unesco-recognized international biosphere reserve. Trump’s border wall will traverse the entirety of the southern edge of Organ Pipe Cactus national monument. Photo: Marek Zuk / Alamy

September 16, 2019

Trump administration begins border wall construction in Organ Pipe Cactus national monument – “Walling off these precious places would be a colossal mistake and a national tragedy”

By Samuel Gilbert 13 September 2019 TUCSON, Arizona (The Guardian) – Construction of a 30ft-high section of Donald Trump’s border barrier has begun in the Organ Pipe Cactus national monument in southern Arizona, a federally protected wilderness area and Unesco-recognized international biosphere reserve. In the face of protests by environmental groups, the wall will traverse the entirety of […]

National Weather Service director Louis Uccellini led a standing ovation in the agency’s office in Birmingham, Alabama, for weather forecasters who corrected Trump when he falsely claimed Hurricane Dorian was set to hit Alabama. Speaking at an annual meeting of the National Weather Association on 9 September 2019, Uccellini praised the scientists for upholding "the integrity of the forecasting process." Photo: Rick Smith

September 10, 2019

Standing ovation for weather forecasters who corrected Trump after he said Dorian could hit Alabama – Tearful NOAA head offers halfhearted defense of Alabama forecasters – “He can’t have it both ways”

By Tom Porter 10 September 2019 (Business Insider) – National Weather Service director Louis Uccellini led an ovation for weather forecasters in the agency’s office in Birmingham, Alabama, who corrected President Donald Trump when he falsely claimed Hurricane Dorian was set to hit Alabama. Speaking at an annual meeting of the National Weather Association Monday, Uccellini […]

Anti-Muslim incidents reported to Tell MAMA between 30 July 2018 and 25 August 2018. Graphic: Tell MAMA UK

September 2, 2019

Boris Johnson’s burqa comments caused surge in anti-Muslim attacks in 2018 – Abuse incidents jumped by 375 percent in the week following PM’s article

By Nazia Parveen 1 September 2019 (The Guardian) – Boris Johnson’s comments on women wearing the veil led to a surge in anti-Muslim attacks and incidents of abuse, the monitoring group Tell MAMA has said. [pdf] In its annual report, the group said two significant spikes occurred in 2018. The first, in spring, reflected the “Punish a Muslim […]

Pope Francis arrives for his weekly general audience in Paolo VI hall at the Vatican on 7 Aug 2019. Photo: Maurizio Brambatti / EPA-EFE / REX / Shutterstock

August 15, 2019

Pope Francis again warns against nationalism, says recent speeches sound like “Hitler in 1934”, fears “devastation of nature that can lead to the death of humanity”

By Siobhán O’Grady 9 August 2019 (The Washington Post) – Pope Francis called for a united Europe in an interview published by Italian daily La Stampa on Friday, saying recent political rhetoric has echoed that of Nazi Germany. “I am concerned because we hear speeches that resemble those of Hitler in 1934,” he said. “ ‘Us […]

Targets of violent extremists in the U.S. in 2018. The largest percentage of attacks was against African Americans (“Black People”). Graphic: New Jersey Office of Homeland Security Preparedness (NJOHSP)

August 10, 2019

Here’s the data on U.S. white supremacist terrorism the Trump administration has been “unable or unwilling” to give to Congress

By Jana Winter and Hunter Walker 8 August 2019 WASHINGTON (Yahoo News) – Alleged white supremacists were responsible for all race-based domestic terrorism incidents in 2018, according to a government document distributed earlier this year to state, local and federal law enforcement. The document, which has not been previously reported on, becomes public as the […]

Members of the Wajapi community in the state of Amapá, Brazil, in 2017. Land invasions in indigenous territories are on the rise across Brazil, where indigenous leaders say they regularly come under threat by miners, loggers and farmers. Photo: Apu Gomes / AFP / Getty Images

July 29, 2019

Miners kill indigenous leader during invasion of Amazon protected reserve – “President Bolsonaro has virtually declared war on Brazil’s indigenous peoples”

28 July 2019 (BBC News) – Heavily armed gold miners have invaded a remote indigenous reserve in northern Brazil and stabbed to death one of its leaders, officials say. Residents of the village in Amapá state fled in fear and there were concerns violent clashes could erupt if they tried to reclaim the gold-rich land. […]