Six In The Morning Sunday 21 March 2021

 

Atlanta spa attacks shine a light on anti-Asian hate crimes around the world

Christopher Johnson and Tara John, CNN

Updated 0750 GMT (1550 HKT) March 21, 2021

The outpouring of grief and anger over the news that six Asian women were among those killed in the shootings at three Atlanta area massage parlors has drawn attention to the rise of anti-Asian violence in the US.

And it's not just an American problem. From the UK to Australia, reports of anti-East and anti-Southeast Asian hate crimes have increased in Western countries as the pandemic took hold this past year. At least 11 people of East and Southeast Asian descent CNN spoke to described racist and xenophobic incidents, such as people moving away from them on the train, verbal abuse and even physical assault.

The past year has seen some Western politicians repeatedly stress China's connection to the Covid-19 outbreak, as well as raise the rhetoric against the Asian superpower. Within this environment, advocates say people of East Asian and Southeast Asian heritage have increasingly become a target for racism.

Climate fight 'is undermined by social media's toxic reports'

Scientists warn that Nobel summit and long-term decisions to save the planet are at risk from targeted attacks online

Robin McKie Science Editor

Sun 21 Mar 2021 10.00 GMT

Fake news on social media about climate change and biodiversity loss is having a worrying impact in the battle to halt the growing environmental threats to the planet, a group of scientists and analysts have warned.

In a report published by the Royal Swedish Academy of Science, they say measures needed to create a healthier, more resilient planet – by reducing fossil fuel emissions, overfishing and other threats – will be hard to enforce if they continue to suffer targeted attacks in social media. The international cooperation that is needed to halt global heating and species loss could otherwise be jeopardised, they say.

Anti-lockdown protests erupt across Europe as tempers fray over tightening restrictions

Demonstrators took to the streets in several European cities on Saturday to protest Covid-19 lockdown restrictions, with clashes between demonstrators and police erupting in the German city of Kassel, as authorities tried to confront a third coronavirus wave.

More than 20,000 people participated in the protest in the central German city of Kassel, where there also were confrontations between the demonstrators and counter-protesters.

The anti-lockdown protesters marched through downtown Kassel despite a court ban, and most didn't comply with infection-control protocols such as wearing face masks. Some protesters attacked officers and several journalists, according to German media.

Internal Documents Incriminate Paul RusesabaginaDid the “Hotel Rwanda” Hero Become a Terrorist?

As the manager of the Hôtel des Mille Collines in Kigali, Paul Rusesabagina saved more than a thousand people from genocide in Rwanda. Now he’s on trial in the country on charges that he's a member of a terrorist organization.

By Heiner Hoffmann, Maximilian Popp und Alexander Sarovic

On the evening of August 27, 2020, Paul Rusesabagina landed at the international airport in Dubai on an Emirates flight from Chicago. He had planned to continue on to Burundi that same night to give a talk at the invitation of a Protestant pastor. That, at least, is what he later told investigators.

Trips like this are routine for Rusesabagina. He has been considered a human rights icon since he saved the lives of more than a thousand people as a hotel manager in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide conducted by the Hutu majority against the Tutsi minority. His story served as the basis for the Hollywood film "Hotel Rwanda.” In 2005, then U.S. President George W. Bush awarded him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, one of the highest honors bestowed on civilians in the United States.

Barring fans from abroad for Tokyo Olympics creates many questions

By STEPHEN WADE

The Tokyo Olympics and the International Olympic Committee have banned fans from abroad with the games opening in four months. It's part of the fallout from holding the Olympics in the middle of a pandemic.

IOC President Thomas Bach said Saturday he was “sorry” when the decision was announced. In truth, what matters to the IOC — like any sports business that relies for most of its income on selling broadcast rights — is getting the Olympics on television. Broadcast rights in the latest four-year Olympic cycle accounted for 73% of the IOC's income. That broadcast income amounts to about $4 billion with American network NBC paying about half.

The IOC must get the 11,000 athletes into the venues and in front of cameras. Japanese residents will fill the stands to whatever level is allowed. The decision on venue capacity will come next month.

A woman won a landmark MeToo case in China. Why is winning so hard?

By Darius Longarino

March 21, 2021

A Shanghai court last week awarded approximately $US15,000 ($19,000) to a plaintiff in a sexual harassment suit against a colleague who had sent disturbing text messages to her almost daily for six months. It was a rare legal win in China, offering others who’ve been harassed some hope that China’s laws targeting sexual harassment are growing sharper teeth.

This outcome stands in stark contrast to other recent cases where the legal system has stymied survivors - or cases where those accused of harassment used the legal system to strike back. In December, a Beijing court adjourned after a closed 10-hour session of Zhou Xiaoxuan’s lawsuit against state television star Zhu Jun, and Chinese government censors reportedly scrubbed pro-Zhou messages from social media. And a prominent journalist named Deng Fei won a defamation case in December against He Qian, who had spoken out about being accosted by Deng as an intern.