Tag: racism

Starbucks shuts 8,000 US stores for racial bias training

by Jennie MATTHEW Agence France Presse NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Starbucks closed more than 8,000 stores on Tuesday to train around 175,000 employees against racial bias, an unprecedented public operation that highlights America’s ongoing struggle with discrimination. The move follows the April 12 arrest of two black men in a Philadelphia Starbucks, which sparked outrage, protests, and soul-searching about racial tensions that have deteriorated under President Donald Trump. For many, the training was […]

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Brazil judge orders Facebook to cut ‘fake news’ on slain activist

  RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — A Brazilian judge on Wednesday ordered Facebook to remove fake news posted about slain black rights’ activist Marielle Franco. Judge Jorge Jansen Counago Novelle, in Rio de Janeiro, gave the US-based giant 24 hours to pull “publications of false information with criminal content on the councilwoman Marielle Franco,” the court said in a statement. Facebook responded in a statement that it would comply and “remove the specific URL content […]

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NBA: LeBron James fires back at conservative critics

by Greg Heakes © Agence France-Presse LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — A defiant LeBron James said Saturday he would continue to speak up about social issues and racism in America despite criticism this week from conservative commentators. The NBA superstar says it is his duty as a parent and role model to use his platform to come to the defense of those that don’t have a voice. “To be an African-American kid and growing up in […]

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Trump denies he’s a racist as Americans honor King

by Jim MANNION Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States – Americans remembered civil rights hero Martin Luther King on his holiday Monday, a day after US President Donald Trump vehemently denied he is a racist amid an uproar over a reported presidential slur. The denial late Sunday came three days after Trump was quoted as calling African nations and Haiti “shithole countries,” setting off a storm of condemnation that threatened to derail a bipartisan compromise on immigration. “I’m not […]

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Merkel condemns ‘disgusting’ Virginia far-right violence

BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday slammed as “disgusting” the role of white supremacists in a violent protest in Virginia and an “evil attack” against counterdemonstrators that left one woman dead, her spokesman said. In sharply worded remarks, Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert expressed shock at the weekend rally by Ku Klux Klan members and other white nationalists in Charlottesville. “The scenes at the right-wing extremist march were absolutely repulsive — naked racism, anti-Semitism […]

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California lawmakers warn companies against working on Trump wall

LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Three California lawmakers have introduced legislation that would penalize firms keen to take part in President Donald Trump’s plan to build a wall along the United States-Mexico border. The legislation announced on Monday calls for California’s two public pension funds — the largest in the nation — to divest from companies involved in the construction of the controversial barrier. “Californians build bridges not walls,” Phil Ting, one of the […]

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Rock ‘n’ roll legend Chuck Berry dead at 90

By Shaun Tandon NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Chuck Berry, one of the creators of rock ‘n’ roll who helped shape modern youth culture with his dance-ready rhythms but who struggled to overcome institutional racism, died Saturday. He was 90. Police in the St. Louis area, where Berry was born and lived most of his life, said that first responders found the guitar legend unresponsive when they answered an emergency call at his home. […]

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