First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon has announced a proposed date for an independence referendum on 19 October 2023. Sturgeon says she wants to hold a second independence referendum on 19 October 2023. If the UK government does not grant a section 30 order, which would allow the Scottish parliament to pass laws normally reserved for Westminister, Sturgeon will set out plans for what the Scottish government will do in response if the order is not granted, Sturgeon noted that the referendum must be lawful and is publishing today its Scottish independence referendum bill which includes three key...
A report by Oxfam has detailed that funding needed for climate disasters has risen more than 800% in 20 years, with half of all requested funding being unmet today. Danny Sriskandarajah, Oxfam GB’s chief executive, described the finance gap as “unacceptable”. Speaking to the Guardian, he said : “Rich countries are not only failing to provide sufficient humanitarian aid when weather-related disasters hit. They are also failing to keep their promise to provide $100bn a year to help developing countries adapt to the changing climate, and blocking calls for finance to help them recover from...
The national strike called by the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) reached 12 days of protests on Friday, condemning the economic policies of Ecuador's President Guillermo Lasso. The Indigenous leader Leonidas Iza on Tuesday demanded – among other things – that the government repeal the state of emergency decree and remove the military and police presence around places where protesters have gathered in Quito, the capital. But the minister of government on Wednesday said the government could not lift the state of emergency because it would leave “the capital...
The horn of Africa has suffered four consecutive failed rainy seasons and is experiencing its worst drought in four decades, stressing food supplies already exacerbated by the conflict in Ukraine. Michael Dunford, the World Food Programme regional director for east Africa has called on governments to donate urgently to the horn of Africa, if they are to avert catastrophe 89 million people are now considered “acutely food insecure” by the WFP, which has grown by almost 90% in the past year. “Unfortunately, I do not see [that rate of growth] slowing down. If anything, it seems to be...
A group of high-level British lawyers are compiling evidence that could hold as many as 10 countries responsible for the failure to prevent genocide against the Yazidis in northern Iraq. The lawyers, who announced the collaboration as the Yazidi Justice Committee (YJC) on Tuesday have been investigating over the past two and half years the genocide committed from early 2013 by the Islamic State. The YJC is expected to name three countries in a report next month when the work is complete. The report will be launched on the 6 July. Aarif Abraham, an international human rights barrister and co-...
More than 250 people mostly from the Amhara ethnic group, have been killed in an attack in the Oromia region of Ethiopia on Saturday. The attack reportedly began around 09:00 on Saturday and continued until about 13.00. Calls were made by residents to district authorities but help only came hours later. "[Regional] special forces and the army arrived late in the afternoon around five. No-one came to help us until then," one resident said speaking to the BBC. An advocacy group, the Amhara Association of America, puts the death toll at 378 and says it has identified 176 victims by name. Another...
The Caravan’s multimedia reporter, Shahid Tantray, has been summoned by Srinagar police following a relentless campaign of police intimidation and threats for his critical coverage of rights in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). In a statement, he detailed how the J&K police force routinely questioned him about his work. During these conversations, the police would threaten to arrest him on fabricated drug charges and would also call in his family. “I was scared that the police would pick me up and harass my family for the work I was doing,” Tantray wrote in his statement. The intimidation...
A former senior Rwandan official, Laurent Bucyibaruta will be the most senior officer to date to face trial in France for his involvement in the Rwandan genocide, as his trial opened in the country last week. Bucyibaruta’s trial will be the fourth to be taken to trial in France in relation to the massacres of 1994. The trial is anticipated to last 2 months, and it has been announced that more than 100 witnesses (including survivors of the atrocities) will be called upon either in person or via videoconference. Bucyibaruta, aged 78-years-old, has been in France since 1977. He is currently...
Thousands of Palestinians rallied on Sunday during Nakba Day – which Palestinians call the “the catastrophe”. In 1948 over 700,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced from their homes. The Nakba refers to the systematic ethnic cleansing of one-third of the Palestinian population at the time by Zionist paramilitaries between 1947-1949 and the near-total destruction of Palestinian society. The anniversary comes when many are angered by the killing of prominent Al Jazeera veteran journalist Shireen Abu Akleh by Israeli forces and also marks one year since the bombing of Al-Jalaa building in...
The UK’s controversial Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 received royal assent to become UK law despite widespread criticism.