Remember this lady. In memory of Irena Sendler

First posted January 23, 2012 Irena Sendler (1910-2008) was a Polish Catholic social worker who served in the Polish Underground and the Żegota resistance organization in German-occupied Warsaw during World War II. Assisted by some two dozen other Żegota members, Sendler saved 2,500 Jewish children by smuggling them out of the Warsaw Ghetto, providing them… Read More Remember this lady. In memory of Irena Sendler

Sicilian fishermen risk prison to rescue migrants: ‘No human would turn away’

First posted August 03, 2019 NB: This story is moving because our time is filled with animosity. It reminds us that there are still amongst us those for whom compassion is a primary instinct. If there are people in danger at sea, sailors save them, without asking where they come from or the colour of their skin. The… Read More Sicilian fishermen risk prison to rescue migrants: ‘No human would turn away’

Bengal Imam who lost son to communal clashes calls for peace / Students Across India Rise Up To Protest Citizenship Act And Police Brutality

First posted December 15, 2019 His appeal to the protesters not to cause discomfort to ordinary people or harm public or private properties has been circulating on social media since Sunday morning. NB: This gentleman deserves our respect, gratitude and admiration. I would like to salute him and ask that we all learn from him. His… Read More Bengal Imam who lost son to communal clashes calls for peace / Students Across India Rise Up To Protest Citizenship Act And Police Brutality

The Great Abandonment: the extraordinary exodus of India’s migrant labourers

In 2020, the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, announced one of the harshest Covid lockdowns in the world, causing nearly 200 million migrant labourers to be stranded without wages, food and housing. Many undertook long journeys to return to their home villages, while others, caught in limbo with their families, were forced to wait, living… Read More The Great Abandonment: the extraordinary exodus of India’s migrant labourers

China to punish internet users for ‘liking’ posts in crackdown after zero-Covid protests

By Laura He Internet users in China will soon be held liable for liking posts deemed illegal or harmful, sparking fears that the world’s second largest economy plans to control social media like never before. China’s internet watchdog is stepping up its regulation of cyberspace as authorities intensify their crackdown on online dissent amid growing public anger against the country’s… Read More China to punish internet users for ‘liking’ posts in crackdown after zero-Covid protests

‘The Kashmir Files’ Has Fascist Features: Israeli Filmmaker doubles down. ‘Someone has to speak up’

NB: Here’s my post on the same theme some months ago. DS Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid, whose critical remarks on ‘The Kashmir Files’ movie at a film festival have raised a storm, has stood by them and said “someone has to speak up”. Mr Lapid, the head of the international jury at the International Film… Read More ‘The Kashmir Files’ Has Fascist Features: Israeli Filmmaker doubles down. ‘Someone has to speak up’

At last, a Kardashian has spoken: those Balenciaga bears should never have worn bondage gear

“We strongly condemn child abuse; it was never our intent to include it in our narrative.” Please just take a moment to note how – even in the face of a full-spectrum paedo panic – Balenciaga cannot bring itself to relinquish some pretentious wank about “our narrative”. “It was never our intent to include child… Read More At last, a Kardashian has spoken: those Balenciaga bears should never have worn bondage gear

China protests: authorities call for crackdown on ‘hostile forces’

NB: The Chinese Communist Party considers protesting citizens to be ‘hostile forces’! The only hostile force in China today is your totalitarian tyranny comrades, and it looks like the Chinse people have had enough of it. And as some of their posters are asking: by foreign forces do you mean Marx and Engels? By the… Read More China protests: authorities call for crackdown on ‘hostile forces’

The Guardian view on Modi’s India: the danger of exporting Hindu chauvinism

Editorial When the US state department recently told a court that the Saudi Arabian crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, should have immunity in a lawsuit over the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi, it portrayed its argument as a legal and not moral position. By way of evidence, it pointed to a rogues’ gallery of foreign leaders… Read More The Guardian view on Modi’s India: the danger of exporting Hindu chauvinism