UK report denies systemic racism, prompting angry backlash
Findings of government-ordered review into racism condemned by equality campaigners as an ‘utter whitewash’.
A government-commissioned review into racism has concluded the United Kingdom is not an institutionally racist country, prompting a backlash from critics who described the findings as an “utter whitewash”.
In an anticipated report published on Wednesday, the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities said the UK was not yet a “post-racial country” but should be regarded as a “model for other white-majority countries”, citing achievements towards equality in the sectors of education and economy.
While the report acknowledged “overt and outright” racism persisted and said some communities were “haunted” by historic discrimination, it downplayed the importance of systemic racism in explaining inequalities in areas such as health and crime.
‘People were going crazy’: Myanmar detainees recount military’s cruelty
Freed protesters and a journalist detained by the junta describe beatings and squalid conditions
Released from detention in Myanmar, protesters and journalists have described beatings, squalid conditions and cruelty under the military dictatorship that is opposed by most of the population.
Hnin, 23, was arrested along with 400 other young people in a haze of stun grenades and teargas in the commercial capital Yangon on 3 March for protesting against the military coup.
“When I opened my eyes, the police were holding guns in front of us,” she said. “We thought it was a dream, but it was a reality we couldn’t avoid.”
Amid AstraZeneca setback, Germany banks on homegrown vaccine
A German company is gearing up for mass production of its groundbreaking COVID-19 vaccine
As Germany ponders how to accelerate its sluggish coronavirus vaccination campaign after yet another hitch involving the AstraZeneca shot, a production facility in the historic pharmaceutical center of Marburg may hold part of the answer to reliable supply in the months and years ahead.
BioNTech the German company that developed the first widely used vaccine together with U.S. partner Pfizer is busily starting up a production facility that it says can produce up to a billion doses this year alone. That estimate was raised from the original hopes for 700 million.
The company, which had never brought a pharmaceutical product to market before, wowed the world last year when it got authorization to sell a completely new type of vaccine in Britain, the United States and Europe — three highly regulated markets for medical products.
Global rainforest destruction saw a surge in 2020, study finds
An area of untouched rainforest the size of the Netherlands was chopped down or burned last year. The latest data paints a grim picture for what was meant to be a "landmark" year in the fight against deforestation.
A new study published Wednesday found that the destruction of primary forest increased by 12% in 2020, impacting ecosystems that store vast amounts of carbon and shelter abundant biodiversity.
Brazil saw the worst losses, three times higher than the next highest country, the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the report from Global Forest Watch (GFW) citing satellite data.
The driving factor of deforestation has been a combination of a demand for commodities, increased agriculture, and climate change.
The World Economic Forum says it will take an extra 36 years to close the gender gap
By Julia Horowitz, CNN Business
A new report from the World Economic Forum estimates that attaining global gender parity will take nearly 136 years, up from its previous estimate of almost 100 years.
BBC China correspondent John Sudworth moves to Taiwan after threats
The BBC's Beijing correspondent John Sudworth has left China and moved to Taiwan following pressure and threats from the Chinese authorities.
Sudworth, who has won awards for his reporting on the treatment of the Uyghur people in the Xinjiang region, left Beijing with his family.
The BBC says it is proud of his reporting and he remains its China correspondent.
China has denounced the BBC's coverage of Xinjiang.
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