Monica Feria-Tinta: ‘You can't separate humans from nature'
Monica Feria-Tinta is passionate about the 'power of the law to create change and redress the environmental harm and ecological degradation' caused by mankind.
The Peruvian barrister has been a pioneer in the 'quiet revolution' over the past decade as ordinary people have turned to the courts to fight the damage done to 'power western civilisation' at the expense of the natural world.
Feria-Tinta has represented indigenous people from the Torres Strait against the government of Australia in a precedent-setting case in which a court ruled that state failings on the climate crisis violated their human rights. And the barrister has represented rivers, a cloud forest and endangered species, becoming what she calls herself in the title of her recently published book, A Barrister for
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The Guardian
10 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Australian universities urge Albanese to join New Zealand in $170bn Europe fund amid Trump attacks on education
Australian universities are urging the Albanese government to join New Zealand in a $170bn Europe research fund amid US president Donald Trump's sweeping crackdown on higher education and international students. Universities Australia's executive officer, Luke Sheehy, travelled to Brussels this week to meet representatives from the European Commission and the Australian ambassador, Angus Campbell, to discuss the possibility of joining Horizon Europe. The seven-year scientific collaborative research fund, with a budget of €95.5bn ($168bn), has 20 non-European partners – including New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Canada – but the Australian government has so far been reluctant to join. Industry insiders have attributed the government's reluctance to potential costs. New Zealand will pay €19m ($33m) over five years to be part of the program. The EU is drawing up strategies for the next seven-year funding cycle, due to begin in 2028, with a proposal expected to be announced mid-year. About €36bn ($63bn) is still available to the end of 2027. In comparison, Australia's total annual spend on research across all sectors is less than $40bn. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Sheehy said in a rapidly changing global environment, association with the body would give Australian researchers access to a mega-fund and support international collaboration on key sectors, including health and the environment. 'Growing geopolitical uncertainties are threatening to reshape our existing research alliances and we must adapt to remain ahead of the game,' he said. 'If we're serious about building a prosperous and productive economy, we need a seat at the table, particularly in a changing and more complex global environment.' The trade minister, Don Farrell, is in Paris this week restarting negotiations on a trade deal with the EU. Sheehy 'strongly encourage[d]' him to make Australia's involvement in Horizon Europe a focus of conversations. 'There is a strong appetite in Europe to have Australia come on board,' Sheehy said. 'This would remove the biggest roadblock for Australian researchers and scientists working with their European and other counterparts around the world. It's mutually beneficial. 'For what is a relatively modest investment, our best and brightest would gain access to billions of dollars in potential funding to take their work to the next level.' The higher eduction sector has closely focussed on Horizon Europe since the Trump administration was accused of possible 'foreign interference' in Australia's universities in March, pausing funding for programs at more than six universities. Researchers who receive US funding were sent a questionnaire asking them to confirm they aligned with US government interests and promoted administration priorities – including avoiding 'DEI, woke gender ideology and the green new deal'. Australia's Group of Eight CEO, Vicki Thomson, wrote to then-industry minister, Ed Husic, earlier this year on behalf of its member universities and the European Australian Business Council (EABC) CEO, Jason Collins, urging Australia to associate with the research fund. It has prepared a brief for the ambassador to the US, Kevin Rudd, at his request. Thomson, also the EABC deputy chair, has lobbied the government to join Horizon Europe for more than a decade. She will be meeting with stakeholders for negotiations in the next fortnight as part of an EABC delegation to Europe. Thomson said association with Horizon Europe was 'critical' to boosting productivity and providing essential buffers against negative global trends. 'Like trade, changes to the global research funding environment are also sending shocks around the world,' she said. 'The US is withdrawing from international research collaboration through the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and other agencies as well as defunding research in diversity, equity and inclusion. 'In the face of this, it is imperative that Australia maintains and extends international research collaboration through formal association with Horizon Europe.' The Australian Academy of Science president, Prof Chennupati Jagadish AC, also wants Australia to join the lucrative research fund, pointing to a possible research vacuum in the face of an increasingly unstable US. In April, the body announced a new global talent attraction program to capitalise on academics disfranchised by the Trump administration's research cuts. Americans represent 40% of collaborators in Australian physical sciences publications – including observational systems relied on for cyclone tracking capability and onshore mRNA vaccine manufacturing. Jagadish said the government must 'immediately act to diversify risk' by expanding international research collaborations, focusing on Horizon Europe. The industry minister, Madeleine King, was approached for comment.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Jailed Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong hit with new charges
Jailed pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong has been hit with further national security charges, a move rights groups said showed the Hong Kong government was trying to keep dissidents behind bars for as long as possible. Wong, a well-known activist who has been in jail for more than four years either awaiting trial or serving sentences, is accused of conspiracy to collude with a foreign country. He appeared in court on Friday to hear the charge and did not apply for bail. Hong Kong's national security police said in a statement they had arrested a 28-year-old man on suspicion of the offence, as well as for 'dealing with property known or believed to represent proceeds of an indictable offence'. According to the charge sheet, viewed by Reuters and Hong Kong Free Press, Wong is accused of conspiring with fellow democracy activist Nathan Law, who is in exile overseas, and others to ask foreign countries, institutions, organisations or individuals outside China to impose sanctions or blockades. He is also accused of conspiring to ask foreign parties to 'seriously disrupt the formulation and implementation of laws and policies' in Hong Kong and China, 'which was likely to cause serious consequences', Hong Kong Free Press reported. The charge comes under Hong Kong's national security law, which was imposed on the city by Beijing in 2020 after the 2019 pro-democracy protests brought the city to a standstill. The law has been criticised by foreign governments and rights groups as overly broad and ill-defined, and easily weaponised to crush the opposition by criminalising even benign acts of dissent. The Hong Kong and central Chinese governments reject the criticism and say the law was needed to restore order to the city. Wong is due to be released in January 2027. He is serving protest-related sentences, including a 56-month term for his role among the so-called 'Hong Kong 47' group of politicians, activists, campaigners and community members who held unofficial pre-election primaries in 2020. The cohort were sentenced in November, at the end of Hong Kong's largest national security trial. Just two of the 47 were acquitted. Human Rights Watch's associate China director, Maya Wong, called the new charges against Wong 'arbitrary, cruel and outrageous'. 'While imprisoned under one trumped-up charge, Joshua Wong has been suddenly slapped with yet another as the authorities appear intent on keeping one of Hong Kong's most influential democracy leaders behind bars,' she said. Amnesty International said the new charges could see him given a life sentence if found guilty. 'Hong Kong's national security law is turning five years old at the end of the month, and these new charges against Joshua Wong show that its capacity to be used by the Hong Kong authorities to threaten human rights in the city is as potent and present as ever,' said the organisation's China director, Sarah Brooks. 'Once again, the vague and sweeping offence of 'collusion with foreign forces' is being weaponised to justify an attack on the freedoms of expression and association. 'This latest charge against him underscores the authorities' fear of prominent dissidents and shows the lengths they will go to keep them behind bars for as long as possible – in so doing, continuing a chilling effect on civic activism in the city.' Reuters contributed to this report
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
More than a dozen ICE officers are trapped in sweltering shipping container with the migrants they deported
More than a dozen ICE officers alongside a group of eight migrants that had been placed on a deportation flight originally bound for South Sudan are now being held in a converted shipping container on a US naval base in Djibouti in the stifling heat, in horrendous conditions. The men and their guards are dealing with baking hot temperatures, smoke from nearby burn pits and the looming threat of rocket attacks, the Trump administration said. Neither the officers or migrants can leave container until the matter has been resolved by the courts, which could take weeks. Officials outlined grim conditions in court documents filed before a federal judge overseeing a lawsuit challenging Immigration and Customs Enforcement efforts to swiftly remove migrants to countries they didn't come from. Authorities landed the flight at the base in Djibouti, about 1,000 miles from South Sudan, more than two weeks ago after US District Judge Brian E. Murphy in Boston found the Trump administration had violated his order by swiftly sending eight migrants from countries including Cuba and Vietnam to the east African nation. The judge said that men, which include murderers and sexual abusers from Myanmar, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos, Mexico and South Sudan must have a real chance to raise fears about dangers they could face in South Sudan. All eight were accused of being convicted criminals by the Trump administration and deported in late May after their respective origin countries all rejected them being returned. The men's lawyers have still not been able to talk to them, said Robyn Barnard, senior director of refugee advocacy at Human Rights First, whose stated mission is to ensure the United States is a global leader on human rights. 'This Massachusetts District judge is putting the lives of our ICE law enforcement in danger by stranding them in Djibouti without proper resources, lack of medical care, and terrorists who hate Americans running rampant,' DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin said in a post on X. 'Our @ICEgov officers were only supposed to transport for removal 8 convicted criminals with final deportation orders who were so monstrous and barbaric that no other country would take them. This is reprehensible and, quite frankly, pathological.' On Friday, Barnard spoke at a hearing of Democratic members of Congress and said some family members of the men had been able to speak with them on Thursday. The migrants have been previously convicted of serious crimes in the US, and President Donald Trump's administration has said that it was unable to return them quickly to their home countries. The Justice Department has also appealed to the Supreme Court to immediately intervene and allow swift deportations to third countries to resume. The case comes amid a sweeping immigration crackdown by the Republican administration, which has pledged to deport millions of people who are living in the United States illegally. The legal fight became another flashpoint as the administration rails against judges whose rulings have slowed the president's policies. The Trump administration said the converted conference room in the shipping container is the only viable place to house the men on the base in Djibouti, where outdoor daily temperatures rise above 100F, according to the declaration from an ICE official. Nearby burn pits are used to dispose of trash and human waste, and the smog cloud makes it hard to breathe, sickening both ICE officers guarding the men and the detainees, the documents state. The stench is so bad and the air so polluted that some officers now sleep with face masks on. Officers and detainees became sick within 72 hours of landing in Djibouti. So far, thirteen ICE officials have fallen ill and are suffering from respiratory infections, together with the extreme heat and cramped living conditions. The ICE officials are experiencing 'coughing, difficulty breathing, fever, and achy joints,' the court documents state. They don't have access to all the medication they need to protect against infection, and the ICE officers were unable to complete anti-malarial treatment before landing, an ICE official said. 'It is unknown how long the medical supply will last,' Mellissa B. Harper, acting executive deputy associate director of enforcement and removal operations, said in the declaration. The group also lacks protective gear in case of a rocket attack from terrorist groups in Yemen, a risk outlined by the Department of Defense, the documents state. Along with the deportees, the ICE agents are forced to stay in the makeshift detention center with just six beds between the entire group. The detainees are also facing uncomfortable conditions only being able to shower once every other day while being subjected to 'pat-downs and searches' every time they need to use the restroom, some 40 yards away from the container in where they're being held. 'The conference room in which the aliens are housed is not equipped nor suitable for detention of any length, let alone for the detention of high-risk individuals,' Harper wrote. 'Notably, the room has none of the security apparatus necessary for the detention of criminal aliens. If an altercation were to occur, there is no other location on site available to separate the aliens, which further compromises the officers' safety.'
