The strike, which ran for three days, marked the largest work stoppage to date in the healthcare sectorKaiser Permanente's healthcare workers unions have reached a tentative agreement with the company, the union said in a social media post on Friday.The California-based care consortium and the union representing healthcare workers resumed negotiations on Thursday, more than a week after contract talks broke off at the start of a 72-hour strike by 75,000 nurses, medical technicians and support staff. Continue reading...
This week's events make me wonder how long I can keep stalling. Plus, Keir Starmer's Jason Bourne momentOne of my children, aged eight, is reading a novel set during the second world war; a book that was sent home from school on Monday with a message from the teacher to put it aside if it was too dark. Set in 1944 on Long Island, New York, the book touches tangentially on the Holocaust in a way that seemed to me to be done in a sensitive and age-appropriate way. Coming as it does this week, however, amid horrific images and stories emerging from Israel, it did make me think more generally about how and when we talk to our children about the very worst things. Continue reading...
There is no moral justification for killing, kidnapping and torturing innocent civilians. We must say a clear no'I am weeping with my Jewish brothers and sisters, both in Israel and around the world, as they mourn the horrific acts of terror in Israel this past weekend. The stories of civilians murdered and families kidnapped are gut-wrenching. In grief, we are wrapped in darkness, and there are no words to express the weight we feel.Yet in the public square, words abound that both compound the grief of many and have the potential to precipitate more violence. So I must rise from the silence of mourning to speak. Continue reading...
The horror unleashed by Hamas has brought tragedy to Israel and devastation to Gaza - and fear to Jews across the worldThe word pogrom was not meant to exist in Hebrew. In the new Israel, the very idea of Jews being murdered en masse, their children butchered before their eyes, was meant to have been banished to the realm of bitter memory. It was only in the eastern Europe of exile that Jews would have to flee from tormentors bent on killing them, only there that they would hide in the dark, trying to stifle their breath lest they make a betraying sound. Once they had a state of their own, where they could defend themselves at last, there would be no need to speak of pogroms, except in the history books.But it was a pogrom that came to Israel last weekend, multiple pogroms in fact, as lethal as any that cut down the Yiddish-speaking Jews of the early last century or, in repeating patterns, the centuries before. Jews still remember the Kishinev pogrom of 1903, a calamity recalled in poetry recited to this day. At Kishinev, 49 Jews were murdered. Last Saturday, at least 1,200 were put to death, many of them in ways too sadistic to be recounted in a newspaper.Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnistDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
In the US, gun violence and shared trauma is normalized for young people - which could be why many are open to firearm ownershipWhen MaryAnn Alvarado asks her students if they know how to get a gun, their response always takes her aback. Everyone raises their hand," she said.Alvarado, 36, runs Teens on Target, a program operated by YouthAlive! in Oakland, California, that trains middle- and high-schoolers to become violence prevention advocates in their own communities. For many of the teens she sees, especially those coming from underserved neighborhoods, gun violence is normalized, she explained, or they believe that stopping gun violence is impossible. Others feel like gun ownership is okay to protect their family. I've heard youth say, I feel like everybody owns a gun here,'" she said. Continue reading...
UN says order affecting 1.1 million people will spark devastating humanitarian consequences' amid likely Israeli ground assault. Plus, how criminalisation is being used to silence climate activists around the worldDon't already get First Thing in your inbox? Sign up hereGood morning.Hamas has called on Palestinians to stay in their homes after Israel issued sweeping evacuation orders for almost half of Gaza's more than 2.3 million people ahead of an expected ground offensive.What is the US doing to help Israel? The US pledged to send more arms to Israel yesterday ahead of the ground offensive. Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, pledged his country's support for Israel today, tomorrow, every day". He told the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on a visit to the region that Israel may be strong enough on your own to defend yourself but, as long as America exists, you will never, ever have to. We will always be there by your side."What are the rules of war - and how do they apply to the Israel-Gaza conflict? After the horror of Hamas's attacks on Israel and the response by the Israeli military in Gaza, there have been calls for both sides to abide by international law amid accusations of breaches. Here's an explainer on the framework of international laws that is supposed to govern war or armed conflicts. Continue reading...
The US government has taken some steps to block Chinese imports made with forced labor. Britain and the EU have done shamefully littleLast month, Chinese diplomats sent letters - really threats - to discourage attendance at an event on the sidelines of the UN general assembly spotlighting Beijing's persecution of Uyghur and other Turkic Muslims in China's Xinjiang region. The childish tactic backfired, heightening media interest, but it highlighted the lengths to which Beijing will go to cover up its repression. A recent expose on the persecution of Uyghurs should reinforce our determination to address these crimes against humanity.A four-year investigation by the Outlaw Ocean Project pulls back the curtain on the massive use of forced labor in the Chinese government-backed fishing industry. Much of the study focused on people coercively kept on China's distant-water fishing fleet, which holds workers at sea for months at a time in appalling conditions, often with lethal neglect. But the study also showed that seafood-processing facilities inside China are deploying Uyghur forced labor on a large scale.Kenneth Roth, the former executive director of Human Rights Watch, is a visiting professor at Princeton's School of Public and International Affairs Continue reading...
Allegations against Dr Derrick Todd in Boston adds to spate of cases involving US physicians reported to have violated patientsIn the weeks since his dismissal from a Boston hospital, the number of women accusing Dr Derrick Todd of sexually abusive medical exams has surpassed 80, adding to a spate of cases involving US physicians reported to have violated patients in their most vulnerable moments.At least 82 women have joined a class-action lawsuit that was filed against Todd in a Massachusetts state court Wednesday, the plaintiffs' attorney Drew Meyer told the Boston Globe. Continue reading...
The Olympics are on the horizon but US Soccer has yet to appoint a replacement for Vlatko Andonovski. The search is not a simple oneUncertainty is an uncommon feeling for the United States women's national team. The program has four World Cup titles and four Olympic gold medals to its name, each of which is a record. Until August, the US had never been ranked below No 2 in the world and never finished worse than third at a World Cup.Change arrived quickly, however. A historic exit from the 2023 World Cup in the round of 16 evoked existential questions about the program's future as other top nations surpassed it. Former head coach Vlatko Andonovski also resigned in the immediate aftermath of the tournament, leaving the US without a coach. Continue reading...
The world's agreement to protect civilians was never perfect. But that's no excuse for leaders in Russia, the US and the UK to row back from itHamas's murder of Jewish civilians in the Kfar Aza kibbutz on 7 October was without doubt a war crime", the BBC's Jeremy Bowen concluded in his report from southern Israel this week. But what, Bowen then asked, about the lives of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, who now face bombing and siege - and possibly an imminent ground war - as Israel retaliates.Bowen asked a fundamental wartime question. In response, the Israeli commander in Kfar Aza, Maj Gen Itai Veruv, gave him an impeccable and restrained reply. You fight with [your] values and you keep your values at the same time," he replied. I know we will be very aggressive and very strong, but we will keep our morals and values."Martin Kettle is a Guardian columnistDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...
House unable to govern, with next steps uncertain, after Louisiana congressman fails to secure his party's supportThe Republican congressman Steve Scalise is ending his bid to become the US House speaker after failing to secure enough votes to win the gavel.I just shared with my colleagues that I'm withdrawing my name as a candidate for speaker-designee," Scalise said as he emerged from the closed-door meeting at the Capitol, where he first informed fellow Republican colleagues of his decision. Continue reading...
System intended to rectify disproportionate number of abducted and sex-trafficked Black children overlooked as runaways'California has become the first state to create an alert system specifically geared towards finding missing Black women and girls. Senate bill 673 was signed by Gavin Newsom earlier this week amid a wave of bills that have come across the governor's desk and were either approved or vetoed.Ebony alerts would allow the California highway patrol to trigger emergency notifications on phones and road signs - similar to Amber and Feather alerts - to let people know that a Black person between the ages of 12 and 25 is missing in the area. Continue reading...
by Hugo Lowell in Fort Pierce, Florida on (#6FHAD)
Frustrated US district judge Aileen Cannon shuts down conflict-of-interest hearing after lawyers make surprise requestThe federal judge in the criminal case about Donald Trump's retention of classified documents rebuked prosecutors for wasting the court's time" on Thursday with their sudden request to partly restrict the lawyer for one of Trump's co-defendants.US district judge Aileen Cannon abruptly postponed the hearing after getting the request - which came after prosecutors had first said they would not seek disqualification. Continue reading...
The 23-year-old Black man was stopped as he was walking home from a store, placed in a neck hold and injected with ketamineA jury has convicted one Colorado police officer and acquitted another for the 2019 homicide of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old whose death at the hands of law enforcement while on a walk home sparked international outrage and years of protests.A jury found Randy Roedema, an Aurora police department (APD) officer, guilty of criminally negligent homicide and third-degree assault on Thursday. A second officer, Jason Rosenblatt, was found not guilty of manslaughter and assault. Both had held him on the ground and ignored his cries saying he couldn't breathe. A third officer, who was the first to approach McClain, is also facing charges and has an upcoming trial. Continue reading...
Report comes amid pressure for Biden to deny Iran revenues amid speculation over how big a role Tehran played in Hamas attackA contentious deal to unfreeze $6bn of Iranian oil revenues has been plunged into uncertainty amid reports that the Biden administration has persuaded Qatar to withhold the funds in breach of a previous agreement following the devastating attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Israel.There has been mounting pressure from both Democrats and Republicans for the White House to deny Iran access to the revenues in the face of speculation over how big a role Iran played in the weekend's attack by Hamas, Tehran's close ally and proxy. Continue reading...
Judge asks Bankman-Fried's lawyer to have a word with him' after prosecutors complain of possible intimidationSam Bankman-Fried scoffed" as his former paramour and business partner, Caroline Ellison, testified against him in his Manhattan federal court crypto fraud trial, prosecutors alleged.This accusation against Bankman-Fried - who faces seven counts related to the collapse of FTX - came during a sidebar between lawyers and judge Lewis Kaplan on Wednesday that was neither audible to the courtroom gallery nor jury. Transcripts of the trial published Thursday detailed the exchange. Continue reading...
Obstacles include Uygur's overseas birth in Istanbul that seemingly renders him unqualified under the US constitutionCenk Uygur, founder and outspoken host of the progressive Young Turks TV show, said he could win the Democratic nomination for president despite obstacles including his own overseas birth in Istanbul seemingly rendering him unqualified under the US constitution.Joe Biden is not going to win", Uygur, 53, said on his show on Wednesday, announcing his extremely long-shot primary campaign to challenge the sitting president. Continue reading...
New Jersey Democratic senator has resisted calls for his resignation in the middle of a corruption scandalFederal prosecutors on Thursday filed a superseding indictment against the Democratic senator Bob Menendez, charging him with being an unregistered agent of the Egyptian government, a court filing showed.The New Jersey senator has thus far resisted calls for his resignation. His trial on corruption charges will begin next May. Continue reading...
Feared defender of the Chicago Bears NFL team, who later acted on television and in filmsIn 1986, when the Super Bowl champions the Chicago Bears sold out Wembley Stadium, Britain's favourite players were the silky smooth runner Walter Sweetness" Payton and the lovable lineman William the Refrigerator" Perry. But that belied the American football team's historical identity, born in the 30s when Bronko Nagurski led the feared Monsters of the Midway". And no Bear was more of a monster than Dick Butkus, who has died aged 80.In 2009 the NFL proclaimed Butkus the most feared tackler of all-time. Tackling wasn't good enough ... Dick loved to crush people," said his teammate Ed O'Bradovich. Deacon Jones, a Hall of Fame defender for the Los Angeles Rams, called Butkus a well-conditioned animal. A stone maniac. Every time he hit you he tried to put you in the cemetery, not the hospital." Steve Sabol, with typical NFL Films hyperbole, described Butkus as his favourite player. His career was the most sustained work of devastation ever committed, anywhere ... he mauled and tore ball-carriers apart." Continue reading...
Adam Aron duped into sending explicit photos to Mia', fake ballet dancer created by US woman who pleaded guilty to cyberstalkingThe boss of the world's largest movie theatre chain sent sexually explicit messages and photos to a woman who then tried to blackmail him for hundreds of thousands of dollars.Adam Aron, the chief executive of AMC Entertainment, which also owns the Odeon chain in Europe, exchanged messages for weeks last spring with an individual he believed was a ballet dancer with whom he had previously been in a romantic relationship. Continue reading...
LA have been the most consistently successful regular season team in the National League for years. But they stumbled in the postseason once againThe Los Angeles Dodgers achieved a special kind of baseball ignominy on Wednesday night, in the third game of their National League Division Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. In the third inning, Dodgers pitcher Lance Lynn became a successful launching pad for four Arizona home runs. It was the first time a team had homered that many times in a single playoff inning, made more preposterous by another would-be home run flying just outside the foul pole. The next pitch became a real home run, and Arizona's four runs in the inning stood up in a 4-2 final score and three-game sweep for the D-backs. The Dodgers, winners of 100 regular-season games, won none in the postseason.For Los Angeles, the manner of the defeat was brutal, but the end outcome was typical. The Dodgers are the most consistent franchise in the National League and one of the game's financial juggernauts. They've cleared that 100-win plateau five times in seven years and were paced to do so again in 2020's pandemic-shortened season. They managed a World Series win in that Covid-addled year, giving their fans some salvation. Otherwise, postseason torture has come to define this era of Dodger baseball. Continue reading...
Antony Blinken has visited Israel in a show of solidarity after the Hamas attacks and said the US would 'always be there' for its ally. In a joint statement with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the US secretary of state said Washington was working closely with Israel to secure the release of people taken hostage by Hamas. The war has already claimed at least 2,600 lives on both sides
US secretary of state appears with Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel and says Washington working to secure release of hostagesAt least 25 Americans have been killed in the attack by Hamas militants in Israel, Antony Blinken said on Thursday, during a visit to show solidarity with Israel.In a joint statement with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the US secretary of state said Washington was working closely with Israel to secure the release of people taken hostage by Hamas. Continue reading...
by Kalyeena Makortoff Banking correspondent on (#6FGM0)
Bank to cancel almost 18m in pay and bonuses due former CEO, who also faces potential FCA fine of 1.8mThe former Barclays chief executive Jes Staley has been banned from holding any senior City role and is set to miss out on nearly 18m in pay and bonuses after the UK's financial watchdog ruled he had misled it over his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.The Financial Conduct Authority said it would also fine Staley 1.8m for failing to disclose the extent of his close personal relationship" with the late sex offender. Continue reading...
Official data shows consumer price index up to 3.7% as central bank keeps watchful eye on latest inflation figuresPrice growth held steady in the United States last month as the Federal Reserve mulls the next stage of its battle against inflation.The consumer price index rose at an annual pace of 3.7% in September, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This was in line with August's 3.7% reading. Continue reading...
Trump son-in-law says his mother called him to say top Democrat upset her with remarks to our friends on the Upper East Side'Chuck Schumer, the Democratic leader in the US Senate, upset Jared Kushner's mother by telling her friends her son would go to jail over his ties to Russia, Kushner said on Wednesday.My poor mom, I told her to stop, you know, reading whatever. I said, I promise you, we didn't do anything wrong, it's good,'" Kushner told the Lex Fridman Podcast. But you know, she'd call me [to] say ... Our friends on the Upper East Side were talking with Chuck Schumer, who says Jared's going to jail.'" Continue reading...
My company in Germany has demanded my swift return from climate-change fieldwork near Papua New Guinea. I can't do itTwo weeks ago, my employer presented me with a stark ultimatum: return to my offices in Kiel, Germany, within five days, or lose my job. I am a climate researcher and since March 2023, I have been completing vital fieldwork into the social impact of climate change almost 24,000km away by overland routes, on the island of Bougainville off the coast of Papua New Guinea.My fieldwork had been mired in unforeseeable problems, from natural disasters to security threats, and my employer was, unsurprisingly, unhappy that my return had been delayed by many weeks. The urgency of their request to return meant I would have to jump on a plane if I was to meet the deadline; but for me, this was not an option. I have been practising conscientious objection to flying for more than 10 years. My employer has supported me on a slow trip" in the past. I do not boycott flying altogether, but I will only catch a plane when no other alternative exists.Gianluca Grimalda, formerly senior researcher at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, is a social scientist interested in social cohesion and adaptation to climate change Continue reading...
Frankie Dettori has put plans to retire later this year on hold to continue his racing career in the United States. The 52-year-old jockey, who has ridden more than 3,300 winners, will move to California later this year, and will also race in Dubai and Saudi Arabia.He revealed: "I've still got the fire inside me that I want to do it a little bit more" but said he would stick to his word and would ride his "final race in front of a big crowd like Ascot" later this month.
Chief justice says Traci Soderstrom showed gross neglect of duty' after she mocked prosecutor and praised defense attorneyA new Oklahoma judge could lose her job for sending more than 500 texts to her bailiff during a murder trial, including messages mocking the prosecutor, praising the defense attorney and calling a key witness a liar.The chief justice of the Oklahoma supreme court recommended the removal of Lincoln county district judge Traci Soderstrom in a court filing on Tuesday, following an investigation by the state council on judicial complaints. Continue reading...
Spokesperson for IDF also says Hamas fighters still trying to cross into Israel. Plus, why are one in seven of us addicted to ultra-processed foods?Good morning.Israel will not restore power, water or fuel to Gaza until the hostages taken by Hamas over the weekend are freed, an Israeli minister has said. Israel believes Hamas is holding about 150 Israeli hostages inside Gaza.What's happening on the ground today? At around 4.30am, Israel's military said it was conducting a large-scale strike" on targets belonging to Hamas in Gaza. It did not provide details. Israel is expected to launch a ground offensive in Gaza in the coming days.How has Forbes responded? Dan Alexander, a senior editor at Forbes and the author of a 2020 book, White House Inc: How Donald Trump Turned the Presidency Into a Business, tweeted: Hey Donald Trump, if you want to point out a single false fact in any of the articles I've published about you - or in the book I wrote about you - feel free. In the meantime, I'm going to keep reporting - and carefully fact-checking every word I publish."What else is going on for Trump? A federal judge is today expected to weigh whether the lawyers for Trump's two co-defendants, charged with trying to obstruct the US justice department from retrieving classified documents from his Mar-a-Lago club, had conflicts of interest and should be ordered off the case. Continue reading...
Combatants in this war have a duty not to target innocent people regardless of what they believe the other side' has doneDuring one of my several trips to Israel, I visited Sderot, thanks to an Israeli friend who loved showing his country to non-Israelis. The town has about 30,000 people, and the Gaza Strip, from which Israel withdrew in 2005 but has blockaded ever since, lies a mile or so away.After Hamas's 7 October attack on Israel, a horrifying video of Sderot emerged. Gunmen from Hamas, more specifically its military arm, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, roamed its streets in pickup trucks and on foot. They had a common purpose of shooting anyone they encountered: pedestrians, people at a bus stop, motorists and motorcyclists. Continue reading...
The 20-year-old is a vital part of Borussia Monchengladbach's rebuild. His development is crucial for club and countryThe seconds were ticking away, seemingly more quickly than normal, and Borussia Monchengladbach were heading for another home defeat. This one, a fourth out of four against bottom club Mainz, would really sting.One of their young players had seen enough. In the 89 minute he picked the ball up some distance from goal, scurried towards the penalty area, shifted it on to his right foot and thrashed a rocket of a shot up and over Robin Zentner from range before the goalkeeper could even think about getting himself set. Borussia-Park erupted, and Gladbach had salvaged a point. Continue reading...
Thirty years from now, the next generation will look back at their risk-filled childhoods and think: They loved me yet they let me do that?!'When Carl Frampton from Belfast was seven years old, his mum thought he was a bit on the timid side - shy and short of confidence. So she took him along to a boxing gym, as you do. The coaches there spotted something unusual about him. Most seven-year-olds burst into tears when they get punched for the first time. But for reasons as much of a mystery to him now as to everyone else then, little Carl shed no tears. He could take the punches. Three decades and two world titles later, it looks like his mum made the right decision.When I was in my early teens, I was also on the end of some bad stuff at school, so I told my mum I wanted to take up boxing. She said absolutely not and that was the end of that. Another good decision. My boxing journey wouldn't have lasted beyond the first punch. Undoubtedly, I would have cried me a river and walked out, never to return.Adrian Chiles is a broadcaster, writer and Guardian columnist Continue reading...
Brussels is right to backtrack on its threats - cutting the territories' largest aid package would only inflame the crisisJustified shock and outrage over the Hamas atrocities in Israel are driving some European politicians into ill-judged responses that risk exacerbating this crisis. Four European Union member states - Austria, Germany, Denmark and Sweden - have announced they will review and temporarily suspend their bilateral development aid to the Palestinian territories. On Monday, the EU commissioner Oliver Varhelyi unexpectedly declared - in a social media post - a freeze on EU development assistance to the Palestinians worth 690m. The scale of terror against Israel was a turning point", Varhelyi wrote. Providing around 300m annually, the EU is the occupied territories' largest international source of aid.The Hungarian commissioner's solo, and seemingly unauthorised, move was later reversed after a backlash from several governments, along with objections from the EU's chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, and the European Council president Charles Michel. The EU will now review its aid, not formally suspend it. Varhelyi - who was nominated by the Hungarian premier Viktor Orban, a close ally of Benjamin Netanyahu - is in charge of EU relations with neighbouring countries and rarely misses an opportunity to position himself as Israel's staunchest ally in Brussels.Martin Koneny runs the European Middle East Project (EuMEP), a Brussels-based NGO Continue reading...
by Hugo Lowell in Fort Pierce, Florida on (#6FGHQ)
Prosecutors say lawyers for co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira had conflicts of interest and should be ordered off caseA federal judge was expected on Thursday to weigh whether the lawyers for Donald Trump's two co-defendants, charged with trying to obstruct the US justice department from retrieving classified documents from his Mar-a-Lago club, had conflicts of interest and should be ordered off the case.The hearings - at 1pm and 3pm ET - are notable because an adverse decision by the US district judge Aileen Cannon could have major ramifications: Trump's lawyers are in an informal joint defense agreement with his co-defendants' lawyers, which could be upended if new lawyers were to come in. Continue reading...
Ex-president claims magazine, citing his $600m loss, worked with prosecutor who sued him and assigned writers to hit him hard'Donald Trump demanded" an apology from Forbes magazine after it dropped him from its list of the 400 wealthiest people in the US for the second time in three years.I hereby demand a full apology from the failing Forbes magazine," the former president wrote on Wednesday on Truth Social, the reportedly struggling social media platform he set up after being expelled from mainstream platforms over the January 6 attack on the Capitol. Continue reading...
The profile of Inter Miami - and the league itself - have been boosted by the Argentinian's arrival. But it's led to an increase in prices for someIt's difficult to overstate the impact Lionel Messi has had on Inter Miami and MLS since he joined the club in July. But there are some concerning signs underneath the veneer of Messi Mania.Soccer in North America will never be the same," Camilo Durana, the executive vice-president of Apple partnership, properties and events at MLS, told Forbes in June, days after the announcement that Messi was moving to the league. Continue reading...
The last pick in the 2022 draft is now leading the league in most QB metrics. He is the ideal quarterback for a phenomenally talented San Francisco teamIt's hard to move these days without being hit with a strident opinion about Brock Purdy.Either he's the second coming of Tom Brady: a late-round draft pick who fell through the cracks, knows how to win and has pushed his offense to another level. Or he's the latest product of the Kyle Shanahan system: a so-so quarterback playing in the ideal setup with a stellar supporting class. Continue reading...
The respected Uyghur scholar became a powerful symbol of the devastation of that culture. Her imprisonment cannot go unchallengedI last saw Rahile Dawut in 2016, at a conference we'd organised in Hong Kong. We sat in a sunny precinct, drank coffee, and enjoyed a rare moment of calm before the gathering storm. She was detained in 2017, and this week we have confirmation, via the US-based Dui Hua Foundation rights group, that Dawut has been jailed for life by China for splittism": a deliberate attempt to split the Chinese nation.When we met in 2016, Dawut was already experiencing trouble. On her journey from Urumqi to Hong Kong, her plane was diverted due to snow, and she and a student checked into a hotel in Chengdu. They were woken in the middle of the night by the local police: the hotel had reported them because their ethnicity was marked as Uyghur" on their passports, and Uyghurs no longer had the right to travel freely within their own country.Rachel Harris is professor of ethnomusicology at Soas University of LondonDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...