Oxford academics drank from 'enslaved woman's' skull, men blocking women from roles & other stories from Black, Asian & Arab communities you shouldn't have missed this week - curated by Melissa Sigodo
The month has flown by!
Good morning, evening and afternoon,
We have reached the end of The Source’s birthday month. So much has been covered and I hope it has been informative and useful to you. This month, I was also proud to launch exclusive news stories for The Source.
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So without further ado, here’s what you shouldn’t have missed this week.
News
Oxford academics drank from a “cup” made from a skull likely to be that of an enslaved woman from the Caribbean, a new book has revealed. Complaints finally put an end to its use in 2015. Read the full story by Edward Burnett at Oxford Mail.
Two sisters competing in Race Across the World from the Great Wall of China to India without taking any flights or using their phones have said that competing in the race strengthened their sisterly bond. Read the full story by Craig Buchan at BBC.
Young people from minority communities come across racist online content at least once a week, a new report has found. 42% of those surveyed said it harmed their mental health and only 10% reported it to the police with only 1 in 10 receiving a satisfactory response. Read the full story at Asian Image.
A programme of events at the Royal Observatory Greenwich will showcase how Islam played a role in modern astronomy but “all too often goes ignored.” Public astronomy officer at the Royal Observatory Jake Foster says that “Arabic astronomers like Al-Sufi, who created some of the earliest imagery of the constellations, laid the foundations for the Greeks and the Romans and informed what we know today.” Read the full story by Aisha Rimi at Hypen Online.
Crime
Police are investigating after a gang of 11 teenagers surrounded two young victims in a park in Manchester before carrying out an 'unprovoked' racist attack where they assaulted them with items suspected to be pieces of wood, a broken bicycle and stones. The suspects are described as white, dressed in dark clothing and riding bicycles and scooters. Read the full story by Stephen Topping at Manchester Evening News.
Politics
Migrant charities and MPs have slammed Home Secretary Yvette Cooper’s decision to publish the nationalities of foreign criminals saying that ‘attempts to manufacture a link between nationalities and criminality only serves to deepen prejudice and discrimination’ as well as stoke riots. Read the full story by Rajeev Syal at The Guardian.
Legal
A 20-year-old man who researched shooting has been jailed for five and a half years for terror offences relating to right-wing extremism. Prosecution, Lyndon Harris, said there was ‘evidence’ that Tobias Gleed had ‘racist views towards Black people and Jewish while the judge said he was “seriously under educated.” Read the full story by Becca Gliddon at East Devon News.
Immigration and Asylum
There are 10 assaults a day on asylum seekers according to Home Office. The British Red Cross also found that a hotel where one of the asylum seekers said there were “several incidences” of sexual harassment and assault against women and girls. Read the full story by Diane Taylor at The Guardian.
An Eritrean refugee who ran for two days towards the border of Sudan after the government tried to conscript him, will take part in the London Marathon to raise money for a refugee charity. Hagos Kidana Abrha was able to escape by running after his friend was captured by soldiers and managed to reach the UK by boat after being held hostage in Libya. He says the marathon will be a “step towards hope.” Read the full story by Diane Taylor at The Guardian.
Policing
Black-led organisations are calling on the government and the Mayor of London to urgently follow up on police reform after the Casey Review of the Metropolitan Police found the force to be institutionally racist, misogynistic, ableist and homophobic. The groups condemned the decision not to reappoint Baroness Louise Casey to complete her two-year review of the force. Read the full story by Vic Motune at The Voice Online.
A former police officer Jack Nicholson, 27, has been dismissed after he made racist and offensive language towards a colleague. The PC was based on Brighton and Hove division. Read the full story by Frank le Duc at Brighton and Hove News.
London Assembly’s police and crime committee has demanded a review of crowd control at the Notting Hill Carnival as police said that they frequently had to step in and “save life” last year. Read the full story by Ross Lydall at The Standard.
Sport
Former England striker Eni Aluko says former footballer Ian Wright and other male broadcasters and presenters “risk blocking female pundits getting opportunities.” The broadcaster said there was “a limited” number of spaces available for women and that men such as Ian needed to be “conscious” and ensure that women “are not being blocked”. Read the full story by BBC.
Following the article, Eni posted on her Instagram apologising and stating that it was “wrong” to raise Ian Wright’s name in the conversation as he has been an advocate for women’s football. Read the full story by Tasha Hashim at The Guardian.
Health
Sickle cell patients are avoiding ambulance care due to poor experiences, a report commissioned by London Ambulance Service NHS Trust and carried out by the Sickle Cell Society has found. Negative experiences included a “lack of appropriate pain relief, inconsistent care, having to answer too many questions while in acute pain, and not feeling listened to or respected.” Read the full story by Catherine Wylie at The Independent.
World News
Children as young as four are being forced to represent themselves in immigration court. A judge told the children “The reason we're here is because the government of the United States wants you to leave the United States.” Read the full story by Morgan Music at Latin Times.
The government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have agreed to pause fighting as they work towards a peace deal, according to their joint statement. Read the full story at Aljazeera.
The first female president of Namibia, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has announced that university fees will be scrapped from 2026. Read the full story by Khanyisile Ngcobo at BBC Africa.
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