Daily Archives: February 3, 2016

Health + Ability

U.K. News | People with Disabilities

Leave a comment
More than 13,000 in the U.K. see mobility cars taken away under new disability assessment protocol
  • Some in the U.K. disability community have begun to worry and push back as the government transfers from the Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to the Personal Independence Payment (PIP), a program for people aged 16 to 64 with disabilities due for nationwide implementation in 2018.
  • The new scheme requires new applicants as well as historical DLA recipients to apply for the new allowance, which requires a face-to-face assessment by a program official to determine whether they qualify for the highest rate and the opportunity to appeal should they not.
  • Those without sufficient points to earn the highest rate (to date, 13,900 of the 31,200 former DLA recipients reassessed for PIP) lose access to the allowance rate that enabled them to lease a car through the Motability Scheme.

Read more:
“Nearly 14,000 disabled people have mobility cars taken away” (BBC)
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Motability (Motability)
“Girl who had leg amputated told she’s not ‘disabled enough’ for Motability car” (The Daily Mirror)

(Image Credit: BBC)

Religion + Belief

U.S. News | Muslims

Leave a comment
President Obama delivers fervent speech supporting American Muslims at Baltimore mosque
  • Obama spoke at the Islamic Society of Baltimore in his first visit to a mosque during his presidency.
  • His 45-minute speech condemned ongoing anti-Muslim rhetoric and highlighted the long history and important future of American Muslims.
  • The visit included a pre-speech roundtable that included an Olympics-bound athlete, artists, doctors, community organizers, and other prominent leaders in the American Muslim community.

“You fit in here, right here. You’re right where you belong. You’re part of America, too. You aren’t Muslim or American. You are Muslim and American.”

Read more:
“Obama, in Mosque Visit, Denounces Anti-Muslim Bias” (The New York Times)
“President Obama at Maryland mosque: ‘You fit in here’” (The Baltimore Sun)
“At Baltimore mosque, President Obama encourages U.S. Muslims: ‘You fit in here’” (The Washington Post)

(Image Credit: Drew Angerer/The New York Times)

Age, Class + Socioeconomics

Brazil News | Children

Leave a comment
Brazil sheds 43% of child workers over last decade
  • Brazil’s number of child workers decreased to 2.8 million in 2014 from 5 million in 2004.
  • The demographics of child workers also shifted from predominantly uneducated children from low-income families to teenagers from economically stable families.
  • The Brazilian constitution bans children under the age of 13 from working, while youth aged 14 and 15 can work under apprenticeship programs and those aged 16 and older can have formal day jobs.

Read more:
“Brazil reduces child labor by 43 percent in decade” (Xinhua)
2014 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor: Brazil (U.S. Department of Labor)
“Brazil halves the percentage of children working” (The Guardian, 2010)

Race + Color + Ethnicity

U.S. News | Latinos

Leave a comment
Latinos turn out in record numbers for Iowa caucuses
  • An estimated 10,500 Latinos turned out to Monday’s caucuses, more than 10 times the number in 2012 and quadruple that of 2008, and comprised 4% of Democratic caucus attendees and 2% of Republican attendees.
  • The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) undertook a $300,000 nonpartisan effort to get at least 10,000 of the 50,000 registered Latino voters to attend caucuses throughout the state.
  • On the Republican side, two candidates with Cuban heritage (Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio) won first and third place, respectively, in a first for Latino presidential candidates.

Read more:
“The Effort To Turn Out Latino Voters In Iowa Worked” (BuzzFeed News)
“Latino Turnout in Iowa Demands Attention From Campaigns, Experts Say” (NBC News)
“GOP: Iowa Caucus Is a Big Win for Latino Candidates” (Latin Post)

(Image Credit: Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images, via Latin Post)

Sexual + Gender Minorities

India News | Gay & Lesbian

India’s top court to reconsider law criminalizing homosexual sex
  • The court announced it will review the constitutionality of the law following a five-judge panel to review the 1860 law, reinstated in 2013 after a four-year reprieve.
  • Homosexual acts carry a 10-year prison sentence, and though rarely enforced, the law can be used to coerce and intimidate individuals in a country where 75% of the population continues to express disapproval of homosexuality.
  • Should the court uphold the law, advocates would have to depend on future reform to come from the country’s largely conservative parliament.

Read more:
“India’s Supreme Court will review law criminalizing gay sex” (Reuters)
“Supreme Court agrees to revisit law criminalising homosexuality” (The Indian Express)
“SC to hear petitions on criminalisation of homosexuality tomorrow” (The Hindustan Times)

(Image Credit: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters)

Age, Nationality + Migration

Australia News | Refugee Children

1 Comment
Australian court ruling clears way for deportation of refugee infants born in the country
  • Australia’s High Court upheld the legality of the deportation of newborns born to asylum-seekers in the country, which currently include dozens of infants, as well as more than 50 children brought to Australia for medical treatment and their families.
  • The case was brought by the Human Rights Law Centre (HRLC) on behalf of a Bangladeshi woman who was transported from offshore detention to Australia in 2014 for prenatal medical treatment and has remained there since.
  • Australian citizenship laws withhold citizenship from children born in Australia to foreign nationals until their 10th birthday, at which time they must have lived in Australia for a significant period.

Read more:
“Australian asylum ruling paves way for deportation of infants” (Reuters)
“High court upholds Australia’s right to detain asylum seekers offshore” (The Guardian)
“Asylum seeker mother voices fears about being returned Nauru immigration detention centre” (ABC)

(Image Credit: Human Rights Law Centre Handout, via Reuters)

Race + Color + Ethnicity

Myanmar News | Ethnic Minorities

Leave a comment
Ethnic minorities in Myanmar nominated for top government spots under new government
  • Under Myanmar’s National League for Democracy (NLD), politicians from the country’s largest ethnic minorities including the Kachin, Karen, and Rakhine were nominated for top positions.
  • Four MPs were nominated to speaker positions in the new parliament, which convened at the beginning of February.
  • The nominations come as leaders of ethnic rebel factions prepare to meet with government negotiators to address ongoing ethnic conflict in the country.

Read more:
“Myanmar ethnic minority MPs receive Suu Kyi boost” (Channel NewsAsia)
“Myanmar’s Suu Kyi lauds choice of ethnic and army-backed parliamentary speakers” (Reuters)
“Myanmar ethnic groups place faith in Suu Kyi govt for peace” (AFP, via Channel NewsAsia)

(Image Credit: Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters)

Class + Socioeconomics, Gender, Race + Color + Ethnicity

Cuba Feature | Afro-Cubans & Women

Leave a comment

Those Whom Revolution Left Behind

As Cuba’s economy continues to experience a significant boost from normalized relations with the U.S., many black Cubans and women have yet to see the benefits. Structural inequality and ongoing discrimination have shuttled the disadvantaged into an underclass of limited opportunity despite persistent and high-profile government attempts to eradicate the problem. While a significant number of white Cubans were able to flee abroad to the U.S. and send remittances back to their families, many Afro-Cubans were tied to what opportunity they could get in low-paying government jobs. Women have found themselves disproportionately shouldering domestic tasks, disappearing jobs, and lack of social capital relative to men. Boston Review, The Root, and the Thomson Reuters Foundation examine how political, social, and economic developments have re-marginalized Cuba’s black minority and women over the last two decades.

“Prejudice never disappeared. It was simply concealed under the table. And silence allowed all the problems to grow, under the table.”

Read more:
“Cuba After the Thaw” (Boston Review)
“One-on-One With Afro-Cubans: What It Means to Be Black in Cuba” (The Root)
“In Cuba, racial inequality deepens with tourism boom” (Thomson Reuters Foundation)

(Image Credit: Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters)

Ideology + Affiliation, Nationality + Migration, Religion + Belief

Saudi Arabia News | Artists

Leave a comment
Saudi Arabia reduces sentence for poet from death to imprisonment and lashes
  • Palestinian poet Ashraf Fayadh, a refugee in Saudi Arabia, had initially been sentenced to four years in prison and 800 lashes for apostasy, but was sentenced to death on appeal.
  • Fayadh will now face 16 years in prison, receive 800 lashes, and must publicly apologize and disavow his work.
  • Fayadh’s case stirred a fierce response from the international community, including artists, celebrities, nonprofits, and other human rights advocates.

Read more:
“Palestinian poet Ashraf Fayadh’s death sentence quashed by Saudi court” (The Guardian)
“Saudi Arabia Reduces Ashraf Fayadh’s Death Sentence to Eight Years in Prison and 800 Lashes” (Global Voices)
“Lawyer: Saudi court revokes poet’s death sentence” (AP)

(Image Credit: AP, via The Guardian)