Civil servants

Labour’s Stella Creasy was threatened with gang rape during a two-year campaign of sexual harassment at Cambridge University, she has revealed. The MP said college authorities "admonished" her instead of punishing the abusers when she made the complaint after running for a student council role. She said a culture of "privilege and entitlement" is behind the string of allegations of misconduct that politicians have been sharing recently. And she warned the problem is not unique to Parliament. Ms Creasy, now 45, said she remains "terrified" of seeing the men, who have gone on to become doctors, civil servants and "high-fliers". The MP said her first experience of sexual harassment was during her first year at Magdalene College, Cambridge. She said it lasted from 1996 to 1998 and included a campaign of abusive posters when she ran for the role of president of the college's student council. She warned the problem of sexual harassment and misconduct is not unique to … [Read more...] about Labour MP Stella Creasy reveals she was threatened with gang rape while at university

Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly said Monday that Ukraine is the only country that encourages "Nazism" at the state level, and some Russians are now accusing NATO hopeful Sweden of having a similar position. "But nowhere at the state level are the Nazis glorified. Nowhere," Putin said during a Moscow summit, according to Russian-state-owned news agency Ria Novosti. "And nowhere in civilized countries are thousands of neo-Nazi torchlight processions with neo-Nazi symbols encouraged by the authorities. This is not done anywhere. Unfortunately, this is happening in Ukraine." Putin has repeatedly declared that one of Russia's goals in invading Ukraine is the "denazification" of its neighbor , but Ukraine, whose president is Jewish, has strongly refuted the allegations that its government is led by Nazis. Meanwhile, as Putin has focused on purported Nazis in Ukraine, posters have reportedly emerged on Moscow's streets accusing some famous Swedish figures of supporting … [Read more...] about Putin keeps “Nazism” focus on Ukraine as Russians point to NATO hopeful

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene compared the billions of dollars that Congress is rushing to send to Ukraine for humanitarian and military aid to a "money laundering scheme," saying that nonprofits are being funded by the "friends and families" of U.S. elected officials. Speaking Monday on a podcast about the $40 billion package making its way through Congress, the Georgia Republican said that federal lawmakers "fund non­profits, they fund NGOs, they fund grants, grants that go to people, and if you really look into it, a lot of times it's their friends and families that operate these non­profits and NGOs, and it's basically like money laundering schemes." Greene is among the 57 House Republicans who have voted twice against sending aid fundi ng to Ukraine during its war with Russia. Both rounds of relief passed overwhelmingly in the House in 368-57 votes, and the Senate is preparing to take up its vote on the second package this week. In March, Congress passed a … [Read more...] about Marjorie Taylor Greene likens Ukraine aid to “money laundering scheme”

Democratic congressional candidate Scott Wallace of Pennsylvania cursed at his opponent Brian Fitzpatrick during a debate in a synagogue, telling the Republican representative to "f*** off." "Ironically, there was a later question about the need for civility in politics," Fitzpatrick told WBCB News. "Well, a good start is to not use vulgarities in the sanctuary of a synagogue in the middle of a congressional debate." The expletives came during a debate between the two candidates on Sunday night at the Congregation Tifereth Israel in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. The two candidates are running for the House in the state's first congressional district, a largely Jewish community. According to WBCB, Wallace's outburst "silenced" the audience. Fitzpatrick, who was first elected in 2016, said that he was "stunned" by Wallace's comment. The Democrat dropped the expletive when being questioned about his campaign's attack ad against Fitzpatrick's position on health care. The ad states that … [Read more...] about A Democratic congressional candidate told his GOP opponent to “f*** off” during a debate held in a synagogue

I’ve thought about Jim Obergefell often since we first spoke nine years ago, after his historic marriage to his husband on an airport tarmac outside Baltimore. He’s come to mind mostly during big moments in my own life as a gay man in America. I thought of Jim and his late husband, John Arthur, when I first considered proposing to my husband, Aaron, and the promises — in sickness and in health, till death do us part — that I’d be making. I thought of Jim and John again when Aaron and I exchanged vows in San Francisco City Hall in 2018, with our families around us and the bust of Harvey Milk nearby . We chose City Hall for its beauty and ease, but could have been anywhere in the country — a right Jim and John won us by overcoming a mountain of obstacles just to reach that tarmac. Advertisement I thought of Jim again last week, around the time I was emailing our lawyers about the next set of paperwork to file in our pursuit of U.S. citizenship for Aaron, who is … [Read more...] about Hearing threat to Roe vs. Wade, I thought of my gay marriage — and Jim Obergefell’s fight

A thick security blanket has been thrown in UP with paramilitary forces keeping an aerial vigil of sensitive places, including the disputed site in Ayodhya, even as the High Court, which would be pronouncing the verdict, has been declared a “no-access zone” restricting the entry to only those connected with the case listed today. The intelligence network is on high alert throughout the State to monitor movement and activities of anti-social elements. As a preventive measure, aerial survey, including at night, of sensitive places, including Ram Janambhoomi complex in Ayodhya has been done, police sources said, adding the force deployment has been such that it would take minimum time for them to reach any troubled spot. All the security personnel deployed in Ayodhya and Faizabad have been equipped with tear gas shells and rubber bullets and the gazetted officers of various government departments have been asked to assist in policing. They have also been provided with rubber bullets … [Read more...] about UP turns into a fortress ahead of Ayodhya verdict

The story so far: On May 16, a local court in Varanasi directed the district administration to seal the spot in the Gyanvapi Masjid complex where a “shivling” was reportedly found during a court-mandated videography survey. The three-day survey, conducted under tight security, had concluded in the morning. The Supreme Court on May 13 had refused to grant an interim stay on the videography survey of the Gyanvapi mosque-Kashi Vishwanath temple complex in Varanasi, ordered by the local court. Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana, however, had said on May 13 that the apex court would examine the documents in a plea requesting a halt to the videography, and later directed that the matter be listed before a Bench headed by Justice D.V. Chandrachud. This developments comes after a Varanasi court ordered the survey commissioner to resume videography inside the Gyanvapi mosque, directing that the inspection of the complex be completed by Tuesday. The dispute stems from a case filed by … [Read more...] about Explained | The Gyanvapi Mosque-Kashi Vishwanath dispute and the current case

In this second and concluding part of a one-hour interview given to N. Ram at ‘Temple Trees' in Colombo, Mahinda Rajapaksa , Sri Lanka's President, responds to questions about his ambitious initiative for a trilingual Sri Lanka, the role of the English language, the contentious 18th constitutional amendment, the jailing and conviction of General Sarath Fonseka, the status and future of 11,000 hard-core LTTE cadres and supporters, and relations with India. You have taken a special interest in language policy. You have announced a Ten Year Presidential Initiative for a Trilingual Sri Lanka and before that the initiative to promote English. This seems to have been thought out over the long term. How do you see this going? Last year was the Year of English and Information Technology. With that the people started spoken English, they started learning English. So I thought the best thing was that all Sinhalese must learn Tamil now, the Tamils must learn Sinhala, and they must all … [Read more...] about ‘Help us bring the communities together’

KUALA LUMPUR: The alleged harassment and assault case of a news portal reporter by a security guard has been reclassified after it was initially classified as "refer to magistrate". Kuala Lumpur CID chief Senior Asst Comm Habibi Majinji said the case will be investigated under Section 160 of the Penal Code for committing an affray. ALSO READ: Law needed to protect media practitioners, says Geramm "The case was previously classified as "refer to magistrate". "However, after reviewing the facts of the case, I instructed for it to be reclassified under Section 160 of the Penal Code as there are elements that warranted it," he said when contacted on Monday (May 16). ALSO READ: No criminal element in security guard assaulting reporter case, say police All those involved in the case, including witnesses, will be called up again for their statements to be recorded, he said. "We will investigate the matter thoroughly as both sides have lodged police reports. "We will … [Read more...] about Case of alleged harassment of reporter reclassified, probe now under Penal Code

SEREMBAN: The Fire and Rescue Department came to the rescue of five people including two children and an infant after the car they were in was swept away by floodwaters. A department spokesman said they received a call from the public about the 5.36pm incident and immediately dispatched a team. "We were told that a car had been swept away by flood waters in Kg Dingkir in Kuala Pilah. "We reached the scene located 7km away in nine minutes and managed to rescue two women, two children and an infant," he said in a statement. He said the public, Civil Defence Force personnel and police also assisted in operation. The victims were later sent to a relief centre in Kg Dingkir. … [Read more...] about Seremban Bomba rescues five in car swept away by flash floods