Mercury, a liquid metal, is commonly used across Africa, Asia and Latin America in the gold mining process as a cheap and easy way to extract gold from ore. But it’s also toxic. Next week, governments around the world will gather to sign a new international environmental treaty: The Minamata Convention on Mercury.
In Indonesia, rising religious intolerance and related violence challenge’s the government’s slick veneer of national “dynamism and diversity.”
At a press conference today, the president of FIFA, the world’s football governing body, did acknowledge the migrant workers who died in Qatar while building World Cup sites. But ultimately, his response was inadequate when considering the scope and intensity of labor abuses in the Gulf State. FIFA should use it’s influence over Qatar to press the country to better protect its many migrant workers.
Without an ID, it's difficult or impossible to apply for jobs, access a hospital, open a bank account and withdraw money, obtain a driver's licence, vote, etc. Many of South Africans who are transgender are frequently denied these services, as their physical appearance doesn’t match their IDs.
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From earlier today:Deaths of migrants and asylum seekers trying to reach European shores are a recurring tragedy, but the scale of yesterday's incident is unprecedented, with hundreds dead or unaccounted for after an overcrowded boat carrying some 500 people caught fire and sank off the coast of Lampedusa, Italy.
