05/03/2025
March newsletter
Empowering women, for women and for everyone
Honouring women's achievements and empowerment on 'IWD' seems timelier than ever, in this age of masculinist tech bros. Here are my feminine stories from beyond the West.
Empowering women, for women and for everyone
Honouring women's achievements and empowerment on 'IWD' seems timelier than ever, in this age of masculinist tech bros. Here are my feminine stories from beyond the West.
04/03/2025
Nahel: French police officer should stand trial for murder of teenager, prosecutors say
Big news here in France for the fight against police's brutality and impunity:
French police officer should stand trial for murder of teenager, prosecutors say
PARIS, March 4 (Reuters) - Prosecutors have requested that a French police officer stands trial for murder after the deadly shooting of a teenager in 2023 that sparked violent protests across the country, the Nanterre prosecutor's office said on Tuesday.
In a statement, prosecutors said they had concluded their investigation into the shooting of 17-year-old Nahel M. by a police officer on June 27, 2023 in the Paris suburb of Nanterre, an incident over which two officers were investigated.
They requested that one of the officers faces a court trial.
It is now up to a judge to decide whether a trial will take place. Murder complicity charges against the other officer were dropped.
The police officer who was charged with murder fired at Nahel after the latter failed to comply with an order to stop his car. The boy of North African descent subsequently died from his wounds.
The police officer's lawyer wasn't immediately available for comment.
A video shared on social media, verified by Reuters, showed two police officers beside the car, a Mercedes AMG, with one firing his weapon as the driver pulled away.
death and the video were shared on social media, drawing widespread anger and provoking several nights of unrest in Nanterre and other cities across France.
At the heart of the unrest were long-standing accusations by rights group of systemic racism in the police.
The lawyer for Nahel's family wasn't immediately available for comment.
(Reporting by Juliette Jabkhiro; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
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For background, my piece from 2023:
03/03/2025
UN rights chief deeply worried about 'fundamental shift in direction' in US
Addressing the United Nations Human Rights Council, Volker Turk voiced his strongest rebuke to date of the dramatic about-face seen in the United States in recent weeks.
"We have enjoyed bipartisan support from the United States of America on human rights over many decades," he said, before adding: "I am now deeply worried by the fundamental shift in direction that is taking place domestically and internationally", the UN rights chief, Volker Turk, said on Monday.
He voiced deep concern over the United States' "fundamental shift" in direction since the last election, and decried the "unchecked power" of "unelected tech oligarchs".
Without naming Trump, he decried that "policies intended to protect people from discrimination are now labelled as discriminatory".
'Fear and anxiety'
Since returning to the White House on 20 January, President Donald Trump has signed a whopping 79 executive orders touching on issues from foreign policy to transgender rights.
With his Republican Party only holding narrow majorities in Congress, and seeking to move quickly to remake the US government, Trump has brandished his pen as a weapon targeting trade, civil rights and federal bureaucracy.
"This is generating fear and anxiety among many," Volker Turk warned. "On these issues and more, my office will continue building on our long history of constructive engagement."
"Progress is being rolled back on gender equality. Disinformation, intimidation and threats, notably against journalists and public officials, risk undermining the work of independent media and the functioning of institutions, Turk also lamented adding that "divisive rhetoric is being used to distort, deceive and polarise".
'Oligarchs'
Without mentioning anyone by name, Turk expressed concern over the growing influence wielded by "a handful of unelected tech oligarchs", who have people's data.
The US President has also made X and Tesla owner Elon Musk his cost-cutter-in-chief, as head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
In comments not limited to the situation in the United States, Turk warned that such tech oligarchs "know where we live, what we do, our genes and our health conditions, our thoughts, our habits, our desires and our fears".
"They know us better than we know ourselves. And they know how to manipulate us."
Turk stressed that "any form of unregulated power can lead to oppression, subjugation, and even tyranny: the playbook of the autocrat".
He called on countries everywhere to "adapt -- fast".
"States must fulfil their duty to protect people from unchecked power, and work together to achieve this," he said.
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