Diane Abbott saga & stories from Black, Asian and Arab communities in the UK you shouldn't have missed this week curated by Melissa Sigodo
Good afternoon,
Thank you for subscribing to The Thread. It will now be coming to you at 5pm on Friday so as to avoid missing any important stories that get squeezed through before the weekend.
Also, this week, I was on BBC News discussing the Diane Abbott situation. You can also watch my BBC interview here.
Also, as promised, here is the latest episode of The Thread podcast.
It has been such a long week and so much news got overshadowed by politics stories.
With the upcoming election, I hope The Thread will be even more useful to you as a lot of news will slip through the cracks.
But as ever, I've cut through the noise so you don't have to.
Health
A 55-year-old man has become the first patient to recieve a personalised vaccine against bowel cancer designed to ‘prime the immune system to recognise and destroy any remaining cancer cells and reduce the risk of the disease recurring.” Elliot Pfebve said he was “excited” and that “it may help thousands, if not millions of people.” Full story.
Immigration & Asylum
A 13 month old baby born in England has been told she will be ‘required to leave the UK immediately’ after her Jordanian parents who are living in the UK legally, took her on holiday and returned before her immigration status was confirmed. Full story.
The family of a man who died in Sri Lanka after being wrongly deported and ripped from his wife and children on the day of his wedding anniversary, have blamed the Home Office for delaying in allowing him to return to the UK. Full story.
Arts
Photographer Misan Harriman will have his black and white image of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry included in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery. Misan, who was also the first Black person to shoot the cover of Vogue’s Sep issue said he was ‘humbled’ and ‘proud.’ Full story.
Housing
A 12-year-old boy, Renoy Ellis who died after he fell from a flat in Kennington, London, on Friday has been described by his brother as ‘full of potential.’ This comes after 5-year-old Aalim Ahmed also fell from a flat in Plaistow on May 16. Full story.
Politics
Labour’s Keir Starmer has said that Diane Abbott is "free to go forward as a Labour candidate", following outrage of speculation she would be barred from standing. Full story.
Faiza Shaheen who campaigned for the Labour party and door-knocked at 6 weeks postpartum while recovering from a c-section revealed she was in a state of shock after finding out she will not be Labour's candidate in Chingford and Woodford Green, after allegedly liking posts on X. Full story.
Black British actors, authors and broadcasters including Lenny Henry, Renni Eddo-Lodge, Misan Harriman have signed an open letter urging Labour to “rectify” the “disrespectful” treatment of Diane Abbott calling claims she has been barred from running ‘vindictive.’ Full story.
Policing
A man who works for a youth-advocacy group was held by police and told he was a wanted man after being misidentified by facial recognition technology. Shaun Thompson says he was ‘let go only after handing over a copy of his passport’ and he felt he was ‘treated guilty until proven innocent.’ Full story.
The father of Stephen Lawrence who was murdered by racist thugs in 1993 has said he forgives his son’s killers but not the Met police after it took over 18 years for only two of the group to be convicted of the murder. Full story.
Crime
The sister of a woman who was fatally stabbed is calling for ‘tougher laws against men committing violence or murder against women" after figures revealed that Black women in London face higher rates of femicide compared to other ethnic groups. Full story.
A man who killed his flatmate was deemed mentally stable by mental health services weeks before the unprovoked attack. Full story.
Post Office Scandal
A man who says he protected his mother from going to prison by falsely confessing to stealing money from the Post Office awaits a decision on whether his conviction will be quashed. Mr Naga said he confessed because “his mother would not have survived prison.” Full story.
World News
Organisations say the UK is denying medical treatment for injured children from Gaza in need of specialist care saying they have not heard back after attempting to obtain visas for them. Other countries have taken in children left with critical injuries except the UK which is however treating Ukranian children injured in war. Full story.
This week we remember George Floyd who was murdered by a white officer who knelt on his neck for 9 and a half minutes. The officer has been sentenced but George will never come back. RIP George Floyd.
Three black men who were not seated together and did not know each other were removed from a flight from Phoenix, Arizona, to New York after “a white male flight attendant had complained about an unidentified passenger's body odour." The men who were left humiliated are now suing American Airlines for racial discrimination.
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