Politics and Current
Black firefighter who later took his own life, had his food tampered with and had glass put in his shoes as he faced ruthless racial harassment at a fire station
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Black firefighters in southwest England, who have suffered a long time of racist treatment, intimidation and hostility from their colleagues, received an apology from the fire chief this week following the publication of a shocking report into long-standing and systemic racism in the fire service.
An independent inquiry into allegations of racism at Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service, which began in 2023 and included interviews with 40 current and former staff, found clear patterns of institutional racism throughout the organization between 1991 and 2018. – reported the International Fire and Safety Journal.
This included cases where black firefighters found themselves in unsafe situations by other firefighters who also exposed them to racial harassment, racial slurs, and swastikas.
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Among those notoriously abused was Avanos Biney, a black firefighter who served from 1998 to 2001 and who took his own life in 2017 at the age of 49.
The report found that Biney was considered competent and trustworthy by his superiors, who gave him high rankings and praise for his performances. However, his colleagues often made racist remarks in his presence and denigrated him and other black firefighters.
Another firefighter was handed an “equal opportunity” document and his response to Avanos was, “What a f***ing waste of time.”
The report also states that after the volleyball game, Biney discovered the N-word on his shirt and swastikas were placed in his belongings.
He was isolated and bullied, and his friends alternately ignored or looked at him. His food was tampered with, itching powder was placed in his utensils and bed, and glass was placed in his shoes.
The report found that Biney was also exposed to dangerous situations arranged by co-workers. On one occasion, when Biney was sent to a fully prolonged platform ladder that was not securely secured, other firefighters manipulated the ladder in order that it rocked and rotated, causing him distress.
Biney recorded the complete incident and said, “As you may see, that is their way of getting fun: rocking me back and forth. I’ve been here for about 10 minutes. This becomes quite boring and makes me feel somewhat sick.
Despite complaints to management and Fire Brigades Associationno motion was taken against those involved. Biney’s subsequent tribunal application alleging racial discrimination and victimization in 2002 was dismissed since it was submitted out of time.
Biney resigned and later worked for one more fire and rescue service in Jersey. He committed suicide in 2017 at the age of 49.
His family, who remember him as outgoing, generous, funny and selfless, demanded recognition of the institutionalized racism and other inappropriate behavior that contributed to his negative experiences at Gloucestershire Fire Service.
Biney’s nephew, Curtis Biney, who lived with him at the time of the violence while Avanos was employed by GFRS, he told the BBC“He was a victim of bullying and isolated from everyone else. People were doing things to his locker, people were saying things in front of him. Various things were said about him. In short, it all came down to a group of people who believed they could do these things without any reproach.”
Due to the shortage of accountability amongst top management, “this cannot be prevented,” he said. “You deal with it yourself, you stand up, go to work, do your thing and stay silent. It’s terrible.”
Curtis Biney said the investigation and report were “long overdue.”
An independent review by West Midlands Employers found that GFRS was institutionally racist between 1991 and 2018, however the service is no longer institutionally racist as a results of reforms implemented over the previous couple of years.
In addition to systemic racism and shocking incidents of racial discrimination over time, organizational failings identified in the report include leadership that prioritized operational competence over people management and social inclusion, a lack of psychological safety when raising concerns about inconsistent and ineffective grievance processes, and widespread historical misogyny , reported on Gloucestershire Live.
Fire Chief Mark Preece apologized on behalf of GFRS, saying he accepted the findings and committed to continuing to remodel the service.
“I want to apologize to our firefighters and past and present employees who have been victims of or witnessed terrible acts of discrimination, were made aware of wrongdoing, and tried to support the victims as best they could with little or no support,” he said.
“I fully accept the finding that the Service was institutionally racist between 1991 and 2018, which, combined with the lack of action by those leading GFRS during that time, made the lives of our black and minority ethnic firefighters unbearable. … I am not saying that racism, misogyny and bullying have been eradicated. There is still a lot to do.”
About Biney and other black and ethnic minority firefighters who have experienced discrimination, Preece said:
“I want to make it clear that they were not troublemakers, they were just trailblazers. The courage of those individuals and family members who have spoken out, past and present, is breaking down barriers and challenging ignorant, long-held views and stereotypes. Their commitment to making change for good must be recognized, and the legacy of anyone who relives trauma must be lasting and significant.”
According to the International Fire and Safety Journal, the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) said it will call for increased government motion and called for the establishment of a statutory advisory body to watch skilled standards across all fire and rescue services.
Describing the report as exposing “decades of appalling institutional racism”, Ben Selby, deputy secretary general of the FBU, accused fire service management of overlooking complaints and failing to guard black firefighters. He called on the service to “confront its history and take action to eradicate racism in all forms.”
Former GFRS fire chief Jon Hall told the BBC that he mentioned the concerns of black firefighters in 2013 when, after meeting with them, he discovered that no black firefighters had ever been promoted beyond their entry-level rank in the service. However, it took one other decade to resolve these systemic problems.
“This damning report underscores the scale of the problem, and fire commanders have had their heads in the sand for decades,” said Val Hampshire, FBU Southwest executive board member. She said collaboration between the fire service and the FBU is vital to achieving lasting impact in the fight against each racism and misogyny.
GFRS was covered by special measures regarding its performance and failure to handle diversity issues and promote a positive workplace culture in July 2022. In August 2023, the service announced that it had launched a latest workplace charter setting out the behavior, ethics and values of the service. It also committed to an independent review, reported the BBC.
These announcements followed independent report in 2022, which deemed the London Fire Brigade “institutionally misogynistic and racist” and report of the Inspectorate of Police and His Majesty’s Fire and Rescue Service in March 2023, which found “bullying, harassment and discrimination” across all fire and rescue services in England.
Politics and Current
Donald Trump under fire after he was caught on Hot Mic
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In some ways, the White House tried to manage the narrative on Wednesday.
After taking on the rotation of reporters allocated to cover the day by day schedule of the president – work previously carried out by Association of White House Corresponders -President Donald Trump went a step further, asking one in every of the reporters of the brand new within the press pool, together “Fox and Friends” by Lawrence Jones to say to the viewers: “We did a great job, please. Ok? “
“Say it was unbelievable,” said the president after casting the primary meeting of the office of the second term on February 26. The White House was already cut off, however the Audio Associated Press channel remained and captured the moment of a hot microphone.
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Jones, who has already lobbyed a number of inquiries to Softball for the president (including “Who is your favorite member of the office?”) I didn’t disappoint.
“The president chose members of the office who can really present their ideas and their ideas. He does not have to worry that they will leave and blow up everything-they are on the same side, “said the co-host Steve Doocy.
“I also think it’s great,” Jones replied. “They are guys who normally – and girls – are used to communicate their ideas. They divide the president’s vision and communicate it in such a concise way. I don’t think we’ve ever seen it in administration. “
“It is people who show how uncertain this president is,” said one in every of the critics who responded to a viral report on the moment of Caugh-on-Camera. “He knows that most of them we watched, right?” Someone said.
In fact, the meeting was dominated by Elon Muskwho opened with a weak joke, saying: “Well, I should simply call myself modest technical support,” and from there he initiated. Photos showed that the president was napping through the presentation of Musk.
Referring to his work as “necessary”, Musk presented one other federal agency within the Doge chopping block. “We spend lots within the defense department, but we spend that over a trillion dollars for interest. If this happens, the country goes, it is going to turn into de facto bankrupt – he said.
Jones was not the one Trump friendly correspondent who joined the press pool on Thursday.
The correspondent of Brian Glenn’s chief house from Real America, perhaps essentially the most absorbing the Networks Pro-Trump network, and the correspondent of the White House Newsmax, James Rosen, were a part of Gaggle, replacing older media, including the Associated Press, which was blocked within the events of the White House for refusing to call the Mexican bay with Mexico with Mexico with Mexico with Mexico with Mexican America after the president announced a change performed by the manager.
Meanwhile, the Association of White House correspondents announced that it might now not coordinate the common range of the White House until the dispute over unlimited access to the media is sustained. Also on Wednesday, the president announced He will sue reporters who use the common practice of anonymous quotes in unfavorable stories or books about it. Such quotes are sometimes used to cause greater honesty from the source, which otherwise might be afraid to talk.
What does all this mean for residents? Less difficult questions and a more favorable relationship for the president, whose crossing of the management has now not checked by Congress.
This explains why this clip He was on the web on Thursday with “The Simpsons”. When the owner of the nuclear plant, Montgomery Burns, decides to use for the governor, his campaign suggests dinner with the Simpsons family to assist the energy director involved with voters from the working class. Lisa Simpson is forced to ask This is an issue From a guest dinner of a guest:
“Mr. Burns, your campaign seems to have a fugitive momentum. Why are you so popular?”
Get used to it.
(Tagstotransate) Donald Trump
Featured
USAID cuts are already hitting countries around the world. Here are 20 projects that have been closed
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Countries around the world already feel the influence of Trump’s administration decision to eliminate over 90% of foreign assistance contracts and reduce the financing of around $ 60 billion. A number of hours after the announcement at the starting of this week, The programs have been closed, Leaving tens of millions of individuals without access to life -saving care.
About 10,000 contracts with the American International Development Agency were accomplished on Wednesday, in letters sent to non -governmental organizations around the world.
Letters said that the programs were rejected “for the convenience and interests of the US government”, based on an individual with knowledge of the content that they spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to talk publicly on this subject.
Many programs are present in the fragile countries that are highly depending on American help with a purpose to support healthcare systems, nutrition programs and stop hunger.
Here, several key projects around the world, which AP confirmed, have been closed:
1: In Congo, the motion of a bunch of help against hunger will stop to treat tens of hundreds of malnourished children from May, which, based on a charity, will make children put children in “deadly danger”.
2: According to the Committee on Cadastral Risk Management in Ethiopia in Ethiopia, help stopped for over 1 million people. The Ministry of Health was also forced to terminate the contract of 5,000 employees throughout the country, focused on stopping HIV and malaria, vaccination and assist in a difficult situation in coping with the trauma of war.
3: In Senegal, the largest malaria project was closed. According to a USAID worker, who was not authorized to talk over with the media. Mother and youngsters’s health and nutrition services were also closed. They provided look after tens of hundreds of pregnant women and treatment that would prevent acute malnutrition.
4: In South Sudan, the International Emergency Committee closed a project that provides access to prime quality health and nutrition services over 115,000 people.
5: The program closed by the Norwegian refugee council in Colombia left 50,000 people without saving their lives, including in the northeast, where the growing violence caused a humanitarian crisis once a generation. This included food, shelter, clean water and other basic items for people displaced in the region.
6: According to the International Rescue Committee, 90 community cuisines closed in the capital in the torn war of Sudan, leaving greater than half 1,000,000 people without consistent access to food.
7: According to Bangladesh, 600,000 women and youngsters will lose access to mother’s critical health care, protection against violence, reproductive health services and other life -saving care, in accordance with the United Nations Fund.
8. In small critical assistance, equivalent to access to water, food and health services for over 270,000 people, based on a help group, which didn’t wish to be listed for fear of repression.
9. Over 400,000 people in North Burkina Faso lost access to services equivalent to water. According to the help group, which didn’t want to get replaced for fear of a repressiveist.
10. In Somalia, 50 health centers serving over 19,000 people were closed per thirty days because health care employees are not paid, based on the American help group.
11. In Ukraine, based on money, humanitarian programs, which last yr reached 1 million people, were suspended, based on the spokesman for the Secretary General of the UN.
12. Hundreds of mobile health teams and other services were suspended in Afghanistan, they concerned 9 million people, based on the UN spokesperson.
13. According to the UN Secretary General in Syria in Syria, for about 2.5 million people in the northeast of the country ceased to supply services. Also in the north, a dozen or so health clinics, including the primary hospital recommending this area, closed, said doctors without borderlines.
14. In Kenya, over 600,000 people living in drought -harassed areas and chronic sharp malnutrition will lose their access to the rescue lifetime of food and nutrition, based on Mercy Corps.
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15. At Haiti, 13,000 people lost access to dietary support, in accordance with actions against hunger.
16. In Thailand, hospitals help around 100,000 Refugees from Myanmar According to the Border Consortium of the Help Group, closed.
17. According to the International Emergency Committee in Nigeria, 25,000 extremely malnourished children will stop to receive food assistance until April.
18. A program to enhance access to warning systems for disabled people for disabled people was detained in the Philippines.
19. In Vietnam, a program helping disabled people through training carers and providing medical care at home stopped, in accordance with humanity and integration.
20. In Yemen, 220,000 resettled people will lose access to mother’s critical health care, protection against violence, treatment of rape and other life -saving care, in accordance with the United Nations Fund.
———————–
The Associated Press Writers Sylvie Corbet got here in Paris, France, Robert Badendieck in Istanbul, Turkey, Evelyn Musambi in Nairobi, Kenya, Thalia Beata in New York and Edith Lederer in the United births contributed to this report.
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(tagstransate) @AP
Politics and Current
Speaker of the New York Council Adrienne Adams is considering Burmoral Run
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The speaker of the City Council in New York Adrienne Adams submitted documents to the financial council of the New York campaign to be able to create a campaign committee in the upcoming mayor’s race.
“We currently have chaos and we have reduced confidence in the other side of the town hall,” Adams said in an interview with Gothamist. “That is why I am seriously considering the campaign to become the first woman of the mayor of New York.”
In addition to becoming the first woman chosen as the mayor, Adams could be the first black woman and the first speaker of the city council who took the highest elected place in New York.
confirmed that Adams would do it Wait until the next week to make the final decision to launch. It is expected to offer the address of the “city state” on March 4.
“I wasn’t looking for it; It was not in my plans – she said, adding, “I believe someone have to be the soul of the city.”
A possible Adams offer for the mayor comes amongst the precipitation with the current mayor, Eric Adams. Adams, who is not related to the mayor, recently joined other city leaders, asking him to subside because of the corruption scandal.
If he joins the race, Adams will join the crowded, qualified field. Comptroller City Brad Lander and his predecessor Scott Stringer, Queens Assemblymber Zohran Mamdani, senator of the state Queens Jessica Ramos and senator of State Brooklyn Zellor Myrie.
There were also rumors that the New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was considering returning to politics and applying for the mayor.
A recent survey with the Honan Strategy Group showed that Cuomo has a most important role in a democratic basic race of 38%. Mamdani is second at 12%, and the mayor of Adams is in third place with 10%. The Adams speaker received only 2% support from survey respondents.
(Tagstranslate) Mayoral Race (T) Adrienne Adams (T) New York City (T) Eric Adams
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