I have been mulling over the topical issue of violence inflicted on women and girls for some time now, and ever since reading Euripides’ Trojan Women many years ago, I have been interested in the fate, often suffered by women, in conflict. Sadly, things don’t seem to change much down the millennia. So many examples […]
Superstore is one of Netflix’s most recent hits, a sitcom about the lives of a team of floor workers in a supermarket chain. With humour similar to that of popular series like Parks and Recreation and Brooklyn 99, the show turns a mundane day job into a hilarious series with relatable quirky characters. Grounded in […]
The impact of Brexit and Covid As the number of holidays in Europe is increasing, we are coming to terms with the changes brought about by the end of the Brexit transition period and Covid-19. On arrival in Europe, we have to join the non-EU passport queue. One critical change is that British passports are […]
Daydream is the concluding poem in a series of four poems written by international students at INTO Newcastle University Sailing through the endless sky, I saw stars twinkle in daylight. Or did the sun drop its chandelier? Diamonds, were scattered everywhere. I woke up before dawn, bathing in honey sunshine. I ate ocean breeze […]
2021, and a number of media owners and MPs declare that 19 July will famously strike a blow “for freedom”. For face masks will not be mandated for anymore, people can “happily” return to work, squashed together in cattle class on “our great public transport system”, and social distancing rules “will end”. All of us […]
I’m an international student at INTO Newcastle University. I study International Foundation in Business and Management course right from my home country Myanmar (Burma). During the pandemic period, schools, universities and colleges were forced to close by law. The transition in delivering education has made the students to study from their home and teachers to […]
Forget-me-not is the third in a series of four poems written by international students at INTO Newcastle University Every time a forget-me-not blooms A girl would stand on a hillside with a bunch of forget-me-nots Her eyes drifted expectantly through everything From the sunrise until the stars only hope to love the return Her […]
As the UK wonders how safe it is to remove restrictions with ‘only’ 52 percent of the country vaccinated, spare a thought for countries where vaccinations are currently very limited and the Delta variant has arrived. For example, I wrote in March about Tanzania, which I called a ‘country of concern’. Since that article, a […]
The last poetry is the second in a series of four poems written by international students at INTO Newcastle University On an ordinary night Everyone thought I was dead But I wasn’t. My New Year’s wish didn’t come true My friends keep me My parents cry every day My doctor said that not everyone […]
The number of Covid-19 infections has been increasing since the implementation of step 3 of the “roadmap out of lockdown” on 17 May. No other country with high vaccination rates has allowed the infection cases to rise so high. (see Table). The Prime Minister has a direct responsibility Boris Johnson carries a direct responsibility for […]
Me in your eyes is the first in a series of four poems written by international students at INTO Newcastle University You ask me, What colour is the cloud? Between breathing, clear transparent blue, white and grey. Me in your eyes, What colour is it? I don’t want to It’s just the grey, yellow […]
In the last two decades of diplomacy, perhaps the most successful move to thaw frozen relations has been a Friendship Tour to the secretive state by Middlesbrough Women’s Football Club.
There’s a poem I think we should all read as soon as we can. It won’t take much time out of your otherwise very busy days of waiting/hoping for the world to jump back up on its axis and start spinning again.
The end of June marks the deadline for EU citizens to lodge an application for settled status in the UK. The Office for National Statistics’ 2018 figure for EU citizens here was 3.66 million, yet recent reports suggest over 5.3 million applications for settled status have already been made. Unfortunately – perhaps partly because of the underestimate in numbers – there is now a backlog of around 400,000 in the processing of applications. This is likely to cause an anxious wait for many people at an already stressful time.
Scalloped pink-velvet rises,
Dolby surrounds and amplifies
Widescreen expands,
the trailers begin,
children prattle,
folks shuffle,
couples conjoin in love-seats,
and the stranger in C7 is not alone.
“In a world where goods and capital are mobile, I think rights should also be mobile, this is why Italy decided not only to allow its citizens living abroad to vote but also, since 2001, to elect their own representatives in the Italian Parliament in order for them to have their own voice.”
Covid and Mental Health hosted by the British Medical Association is concluded here, with the emphasis on mental health, domestic abuse and homelessness. In this article we shall report some of the work being done to analyse and understand the impact of the pandemic on the mental health of citizens, particularly those affected by domestic abuse.
Somebody asked me what are the top three places I would go to once my incarceration is finished. That’s easy. I’d head for the bar at Alphabetti Theatre in Newcastle, the bar at Live Theatre, also in Newcastle, and the bar at the Customs House in South Shields. Not for the drink — I’ve got plenty of wine and single malt at home — but for the company and conversation of like-minded theatre-lovers. For I have missed all that so much.
There are roughly three approaches to free speech: the absolutist approach of the United States, outlined in the First Amendment to the Constitution; the authoritarian approach, that says speech must be limited to ensure order and stability, for the safety of the collective; and, a third approach, encapsulated by the blurry wording of the European Convention on Human Rights, Article 10, with its dubious reference to the “duties and responsibilities”, which argues that free expression must occasionally be restricted to the benefit of the minority.
Dr Kola works at the WHO centre of psychiatric diseases. Part of her research involves analysing the impact of and response to Covid-19 in low- and middle-income countries, particularly the mental health implications. The virus has spread rapidly in several of these countries, with many not sufficiently prepared to manage the various factors.
I shall never forget speaking to ‘E’ as I met him off a flimsy boat arriving into Chios, packed with desperate people. He smiled at me, gratefully accepting the food that I offered to him, which the charity I was volunteering with supplied for people arriving. “What will happen to me now?” he asked me nervously.
A recent cross-party letter to the Prime Minister from 116 MPs and peers, has been coordinated by the APPG on Coronavirus. While the UK has committed funding to COVAX, we remain a net importer of Covid-19 vaccines. The letter called on the UK to donate one dose of the vaccine to the Covax scheme for every dose imported into the UK.
How many more variants of concern are we going to see? Some scientists believe there may a limited number of mutations that increase the ability to spread ad evade immunity: thus, the Covid-19 virus might have already played its best cards. However, there is no certainty about this.
“ I am glad that we have finally had a response from the government on this, nearly nine months later and that that there is an investigation into the violence and the SARS unit has been disbanded, but I and the Nigerian diaspora in the U.K. want to see tougher action from the UK government to show that further violence is not acceptable and to help clamp down on corruption.”
Before the sentencing, Lee said: “I am ready to face the penalty and sentences. I am proud I can walk with the people of Hong Kong on the road to democracy. I want to dedicate the song ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ to the Hong Kong people. We will walk together even in darkness with hope in our heart.” Amnesty International in its latest campaign briefing describes the jailing of these opposition leaders a “violation of international law”.
“Rights have been lost, that’s true. Our achievements pale into insignificance compared with what has been lost. I would like to expand the network we have created to include all British citizens who are committed to a positive debate on migration, and the protection of all rights. Somehow, we need to pave the way for the future of people mobility.”
A theme discussed frequently by speakers was that the pandemic is amplifying previously existing inequalities.
To understand how important asylum-seekers and migrants are, we need to look no further than our Cabinet Ministers! Boris Johnson is the great-grandson of a Turkish politician who sought refuge in the UK. Priti Patel’s Ugandan Indian parents migrated to the UK just years before the dictator Idi Amin ordered the expulsion of the Asians from Uganda. Dominic Raab is the son of a Jewish Czech refugee. Rishi Sunak’s Indian parents came from East Africa.
The question we should be asking is not about Hartlepudlians’ IQ, but whether their voting decisions were manipulated, and how.
Beneson’s call to action was a heartfelt response to appalling abuse of power by state apparatus. He intended a simple year long campaign focused on ‘prisoners of conscience’. 60 years later the work of Amnesty International continues to be just as important