Volunteer programs for high school students

A police reform bill in honour of George Floyd that will ban chokeholds and "qualified immunity" for law enforcement officials has been passed by the US House of Representatives. The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act would also ban no-knock warrants, mandate data collection on police encounters, prohibit racial and religious profiling and redirect funding to community-based policing programs. The 220-212 vote comes nine months after Mr Floyd , a black man, died when a police officer in Minneapolis pressed a knee on his neck for several minutes. As he died, Mr Floyd was repeatedly heard to say: "I can't breathe." His death in May 2020 prompted massive protests across the US and around the world calling for an end to racial injustice and police brutality. Advertisement California Representative Karen Bass, who authored the bill, said: "Never again should an unarmed individual be murdered or brutalized by someone who is supposed to serve and … [Read more...] about George Floyd: US House of Representatives approves police reform bill banning chokeholds

Check-in data from hundreds of millions of people who visited pubs, restaurants and hairdressers before lockdown was barely used by Test and Trace, according to a confidential report obtained by Sky News. The report admits that the failure of the £22bn service to use the data for alerts or contact tracing meant "thousands of people" were not warned they might be at risk of infection, "potentially leading to the spread of the virus." Live COVID updates from the UK and around the world To make matters worse, when coronavirus data from venues was used, public health officials encouraged pubs and restaurants to contact customers directly - a breach of data protection law which could leave businesses facing legal action. The report says that lack of guidance from Test and Trace for local public health teams on how to use the data left businesses "being asked to, or volunteering, to contact customers and visitors". Advertisement It adds: "This is a … [Read more...] about COVID-19: Test and Trace ‘barely used’ check-in data from pubs and restaurants – with thousands not warned of infection risk

Rishi Sunak "isn't really levelling with people" about painful cuts that will be needed to repair the public finances, according to budget analysis by a respected economic think-tank. Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) director said "Santa Sunak… looks more like Scrooge Sunak" under plans for a squeeze totalling more than £50bn compared to the pre-pandemic outlook. That is the scale of spending cuts and tax rises over coming years compared to what the chancellor outlined in his first budget a year ago - implying a spending outlook that seems "implausibly low", Mr Johnson said. "The chancellor isn't really levelling with people about the choices the government is making to repair the public finances," he added. Mr Johnson characterised the plans outlined by Mr Sunak as a "tale of two budgets" with £65bn more coronavirus-related spending and a "super-deduction" tax break for investment followed by fiscal belt-tightening of £30bn, adding further to a squeeze outlined in … [Read more...] about Budget 2021: Chancellor accused of ‘not levelling with people’ over plans

THAILAND wants to welcome tourists back to the country as soon as July. Tourist groups in Thailand have launched the #OpenThailandSafely campaign, which wants to allow travellers with proof of a COVID-19 vaccine into the country without quarantine requirements by July 1. The petition, being sent to the Thai government, said: "As Thailand is starting to vaccinate its most vulnerable and its healthcare workers, we believe that now is the time to announce a firm and irreversible date to reopen its borders. "This will give confidence to international travellers and encourage them to book a trip to Thailand." "Thai tourism operators, especially those reliant on international travel, would then be able to start business planning, accept forward bookings, start to rehire staff, and conduct training programs. "Without a firm commitment to reopening made now, Thailand may lose all of 2021 as travellers will make plans for alternative destinations." Thailand has been off … [Read more...] about Thailand holidays to open to Brits as early as July – as country aims to reopen borders ahead of summer

A glass box, 25 square meters (269 square feet) in size, contains a toilet, a bed, a table and chair and a sink — nothing more. This artistic installation is a replica of a prison cell at the high-security Silivri prison in Turkey and is titled Prison of Though t. Next door, the exhibition titled T he Museum of Small Things is taking place in a part of Berlin's Maxim Gorki Theater. The show features a collection of everyday objects political prisoners may have: a telephone card, a paper airplane, black tea. In video installations, actors explain how each object is used, providing insight into the lives of the imprisoned, their solidarity, as well as their communication with one another — and their hopes. The exhibition was curated by Turkish journalist Can Dündar, along with Hakan Savas Mican. Dündar has been living in Berlin since 2016. He incurred the wrath of Turkish President Erdogan's government after reporting on arms deliveries by the Turkish intelligence service to … [Read more...] about Art in exile: A prison cell as an exhibition venue