KeenWinBlog

Argentina’s Senate has passed a landmark abortion bill, becoming the fourth country in Latin America to legalise the practice. The Senate voted by 38 in favour to 29 against with one abstention to approve a bill allowing the procedure through the 14th week of pregnancy, bucking the traditionally strong influence of the Catholic Church in the region. The contentious vote followed a marathon debate that began at 4pm on Tuesday. Tens of thousands of people packed into the square around the National Congress for a 12 hour debate, breaking into chants of “legal abortion in the hospital” as the votes were counted. “I can’t believe it,” said Viviana Rios Alvarado, 25, as she embraced her friend moments after the vote. “So many things we’ve been through or that people we love have suffered through. It’s took too long, but now it’s here for others, and for us too. And that’s incredible,” she said. The vote is the result of a long campaign in a country that remained divided on the issue. Opp...

  Global activists and celebrities have hit out at the Nigerian government over a violent crackdown on peaceful protesters demonstrating against police brutality two months ago. In an open letter addressed to Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and made public in Lagos to coincide with International Human Rights Day on Thursday, 60 activists condemned the government for “unwarranted force against its own unarmed citizens”. Writing under the auspices of Diaspora Rising, which calls itself an advocacy body formed to strengthen “bonds among members of the global Black family”, the activists called for the release of jailed protesters as well as the prosecution of security operatives responsible for shooting civilians in Lagos. They also urged the government to lift a ban on public demonstrations. Among the signatories were US activist Opal Tometi, actors Danny Glover and Kerry Washington, Swedish teenage eco-warrior Greta Thunberg, singer Alicia Keys, civil rights campaigner Angela Da...

BBC Arabic says the Saudi embassy in London denies its ambassador spoke of possible clemency for female activists ahead of G20 summit. The Saudi ambassador to the UK, Khalid bin Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, said in an interview with The Guardian that the kingdom was under growing pressure over its human rights record. Saudi Arabia’s embassy in London has denied a report Riyadh was considering clemency for jailed female activists ahead of a G20 summit later this month. “The Saudi embassy in London denied to the BBC that its ambassador had said a debate was ongoing in the Kingdom about the possibility of clemency for detained women’s activists before the G20 summit,” BBC Arabic said  in a Twitter post. No further details were provided. The denial came a day after Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, Khalid bin Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, said in an interview with The Guardian that the kingdom was considering clemency for a group of jailed women’s ...

US says hard to assess level of autonomy in Hong Kong after recent incidents, including arrest of veteran politicians. The US says Hong Kong's treatment of pro-democracy activists raises questions about its level of autonomy China has accused US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo of "blackmailing" the Hong Kong government with the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, saying  on Thursday  the US administration's recent actions amounted to blatant interference in China's internal affairs. Pompeo said on Wednesday the recent treatment of pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong made it harder to assess whether the territory remains highly autonomous from China, a requirement for the special treatment afforded to the city under American law. A spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry's office of the commissioner to Hong Kong said in a statement that Pompeo's actions could not scare the Chinese people and that Beiji...

Nobel Peace Prize laureate says she was smeared after being named a member of Facebook's new oversight committee. The 41-year-old rose to prominence during the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings  A prominent Yemeni human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate said she has been subjected to "widespread bullying" and a "smear campaign" by Saudi Arabian media after she was selected to be part of a new Facebook oversight board. Tawakkol Karman, 41, was among 20 people chosen to oversee sensitive content posted on the social media network - and where necessary, flag the material for it to be removed from the platform.  "I am subjected to widespread bullying and a smear campaign by Saudi's media & its allies," wrote Karman in a Twitter post on Monday. "What is more important now is to be safe from the saw used to cut #jamalkhashoggi's body into pieces," she continued, referring to the sl...

On the 75th anniversary of VE Day, a Holocaust survivor explains why he would never accept compensation. by Mia Swart VE Day celebrations in Europe 1945 Michael Katz was born in 1928. He grew up in Warsaw, Poland, before moving to then Polish city of Lemberg (now known as Lviv and part of Ukraine) with his parents, Edward and Rita, in January 1940. He recalls how his life changed in 1941, when the Nazis occupied Lemberg. The first thing was that all Jews over the age of 12 were made to wear a Star of David on a white armband. Then, in 1942, Jews were rounded up. Katz's mother was taken to the Belzec extermination camp. His father, who had moved to Lodz, was first forced to live in the Lodz ghetto, then the Warsaw ghetto. From there, he was sent to either the Majdanek or Treblinka extermination camp. Katz was chosen to work in Janowska, a camp just outside Lemberg which began as a labour camp but later became an extermi...

Joe Biden among those who take to social media after video showing shooting of unarmed young man shared on social media. Racial tensions are rising in the US State of Georgia after a young African American man was shot dead while jogging. A video has emerged showing Ahmaud Arbery, 25, jogging when he was confronted by two white men, former police detective Gregory McMichael, and his son, Travis. The former policeman then shot Arbery, claiming he thought he was a burglar. The footage, which was taken by an unidentified witness in another car, shows Arbery jogging down a narrow two-lane road and around a white pickup truck stopped in the right lane, its driver's door open. As Arbery crosses back in front of the truck, a gunshot is heard. Arbery is then seen struggling with a man holding a gun as a second man stands in the bed of the truck brandishing a revolver. Two more shots are heard before Arbery stumbles and falls face-...

A woman opens her apartment window during the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Manhattan, New York. Washington, DC  - The turmoil caused by the COVID-19 makes the situation ripe for perpetrators of domestic violence to strike again. That is according to Jaydee Graham, who was in an abusive relationship off and on for four years. "One thing that really stands out with domestic violence survivors is that in times of chaos, turmoil and tragedy, in society and in our world, it opens the door for perpetrators and abusers to be able to come back in," said Graham, 29, who now works as a social worker and family advocate for single-parent families who are also domestic violence survivors in Louisville, Kentucky. "I think we always see this huge increase [in domestic violence cases] during this time because it is a very vulnerable and difficult time" due to the lack of food, housing, security and work and shortage ...

Women and children gather at the Madinatu IDP camp to listen to members of the Borno Community Coalition speak about the dangers of human trafficking As 16-year-old Miriam* stepped out of her tent to fetch water near the Madinatu Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in Nigeria's northeastern Borno state in January last year, a middle-aged woman she knew as "Aunty Kiki" approached her. She asked Miriam if she was interested in moving to the city of Enugu to work as a housemaid for a monthly salary.  Miriam, who is now 17, wasted no time in accepting the offer and began to prepare for her trip to the east the following day. She told her 17-year-old cousin, Roda*, about it and advised her to approach Aunty Kiki. When Roda, who is now 18, met Aunty Kiki the next morning, she asked if there was a job for her, too. The woman quickly agreed, so Roda packed her bags. "We were both very excited to travel to Enugu,"...