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DW
7 days ago
- Politics
- DW
World White Hate – DW – 07/23/2025
Racist and right-wing extremist networks are coalescing, worldwide. They carry out terrorist attacks on minorities and democratic institutions. Authorities in the USA and Europe consider this movement to be more dangerous than Islamist terrorism. Right-wing extremist groups are networked worldwide. Driven by the ideology of white supremacy, they spread their propaganda via digital platforms. Social media and encrypted messaging services such as Telegram make it possible to disseminate content in real time and recruit new followers. 18-year-old Payton Gendron killed 10 people, most of them African-Americans, with an assault rifle in a supermarket in Buffalo in the US state of New York. Before committing this crime, he was influenced and then radicalized by right-wing extremist videos posted by British teenager Daniel Harris. Harris has written entire books about his white supremacist beliefs, and published them online. It's a problem with global dimensions: Armed with a machete and Molotov cocktails, a 17-year-old attempted to storm a school in the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo. He was wearing a swastika armband. These are just a few of the cases documented in the film, which clearly show how dire the threat of right-wing terror has become. Germany is also a flashpoint for right-wing terror, with attacks in Hanau, Halle and Munich. Many perpetrators are inspired by Brenton Tarrant, who murdered 51 people in two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, and by the Norwegian assassin Anders Breivik, who shot dead 69 young participants at a Labor Party youth camp on the island of Utøya near Olso. Previously, he had detonated a bomb in the government district of Oslo, murdering eight people. He justified his actions in a video and a 1,500-page manifesto that went viral. As with the Australian Tarrant, who also wrote a manifesto entitled 'The Great Replacement', Breivik's message is about the superiority of the white race, which is supposedly being targeted and replaced by migrants. It's a view that is also shared by an increasing number of people outside extremist circles. As a result, hatred and racism are spreading worldwide like a virus. In a major raid in Germany in December 2022, 25 right-wing extremists were arrested, including members of the so-called 'Reichsbürger' or 'Citizens of the Reich' movement, conspiracy theorists, retired military officers and a former member of the Bundestag. According to the German Federal Public Prosecutor's Office, the group had been plotting to overthrow the democratic system. In this context, UN Secretary-General Guterres spoke of the greatest threat to our democracy and its institutions. Filmmaker Dirk Laabs' research shows that soldiers and veterans pose a particularly great danger - in the USA, France, Germany, Spain and Russia. Former and active soldiers network globally and are potential assassins. Right-wing extremist mercenaries also represent a danger. This group is potentially even more threatening - due to their combat experience, access to weapons and professional networks. WORLD WHITE HATE unveils the parallels and overlaps between these very different right-wing extremist groups. But how can this hatred be countered? How can right-wing terror be stopped? What can be done to protect democratic society, people and state institutions from right-wing terror? Filmed in the USA, western and eastern Europe, the UK, Scandinavia and Brazil, WORLD WHITE HATE charts the development of the threat posed by right-wing terror, a danger that has been underestimated for far too long. It is exacerbated by populist politicians such as Donald Trump and radical right-wing parties. The documentary WORLD WHITE HATE by Dirk Laabs analyzes the mechanisms of radicalization and discusses possible counter-strategies for democratic societies. The central question remains: "How can we win the digital and real battle against increasing violence from the right?' DW English SAT 09.08.2025 – 10:30 UTC SAT 09.08.2025 – 21:30 UTC SUN 10.08.2025 – 04:30 UTC Lagos UTC +1 | Cape Town UTC +2 | Nairobi UTC +3 Delhi UTC +5,5 | Bangkok UTC +7 | Hong Kong UTC +8 London UTC +1 | Berlin UTC +2 | Moscow UTC +3 San Francisco UTC -7 | Edmonton UTC -6 | New York UTC -4
Chicago Tribune
16-07-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Quad County Urban League celebrates 50 years of creating as ‘family' and ‘game-changer'
Her photo may have been prominently displayed, along with Aurora matriarch Marie Wilkinson's, when the Quad County Urban League celebrated its 50th anniversary at Monday's open house, but Theodia Gillespie was determined to keep the focus of this event on others. With about 40 years working for the League – and over three decades as its president and CEO — Gillespie certainly has been at the forefront of the success of this group, which since July 14, 1975, has been advancing civil rights and empowerment through community partnerships for African-Americans and other underserved populations in DuPage, Kane, Kendall and Will Counties. Over five decades, the Quad County Urban League has benefited tens of thousands through programs in job training, youth services, education, workforce development and housing advocacy. At this open house, which drew well over 100 guests to the QCUL headquarters on Farnsworth Avenue, Gillespie used her moments at the podium in the packed room to acknowledge the 'visionary' community and business leaders who joined Wilkinson five decades ago after she reached out to the National Urban League to help launch a chapter in Aurora: Jannette Elliott, Ivan Fernandez, Elaine Hegy, John Marion and Charles Thurston. Gillespie also gave credit to the current board of directors, who helped her present 50th anniversary awards to key collaborators, including Challenge to Change, College of DuPage, East Aurora School District, Fox Valley Park District, Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois, Kane County Health Department, Painters District Council No. 30, University of Illinois 4-H Program, Waubonsee Community College and former league president and CEO Peggy Hicks. There are so many groups and businesses that work to enhance the mission of QCUL … all of which have 'created pathways in skilled trades, healthcare and more …' Gillespie noted. Those include the utility Nicor, which has been with Quad County Urban League since 1975, when it was then known as Northern Illinois Gas. I got to meet a couple of QCUL students enrolled in the Nicor Gas Career Academy, who both insisted that just two weeks into the six-week program, they already realize what a 'game-changer' this opportunity has been. The program, according to 44-year-old Randy Caruthers, is designed to 'train us to be the best employees we can be before walking in the door' as a job candidate. In essence, he said, 'it puts us at the front of the (hiring) line,' by helping 'you be the best version of yourself. And that, he quickly points out, will help land a job in any company. A former construction business owner, Caruthers said it was a major move from Texas to Will County that made him realize he needed a new career start. So, taking the advice of his wife's aunt, who works for Nicor, he decided to enroll in its academy at QCUL. 'I'm so glad I came to his place,' he said. The Nicor academy class of 38 students, by far its biggest, has 'been like a family,' noted 23-year-old Artays Bailey, which has not only made him feel welcomed but has given him more confidence in all aspects of his life. 'I've been networking all day,' added Bailey, who described himself as a 'dedicated warehouser' before taking the advice of a former student now up for a promotion at Nicor. 'I just really love this place and the people.' The open house did indeed feel more like a family reunion, with lots of smiles, hugs and plenty of lively conversation as the guests – partners and community leaders as well as past and current students and staff — toured the facility, heard about current programs and enjoyed the hundreds of photographs through the decades that were on display. Not surprising, the poster photo that seemed to receive the most attention was that of Marie Wilkinson, whose multi-tiered legacy in this community included feeding the hungry, clothing the poor, educating the young and fighting for fair laws and equal rights for everyone. Standing next to Marie's likeness, Gillespie knows just how fortunate she was 'to have a mentor like her,' who tirelessly worked for social justice even into her mid-90s; and who offered a young shy girl, not so long out of college, a chance to carry on a legacy that no doubt will go for at least another 50 years. 'I still feel her voice in my ear,' said Gillespie, '…telling me I can do this.'
Boston Globe
16-07-2025
- General
- Boston Globe
Today in History: Disneyland's opening day
In 1902, Willis Carrier produced a set of designs for what would become the world's first modern air-conditioning system. Advertisement In 1918, Russia's Czar Nicholas II and his family were executed by the Bolsheviks. In 1936, the Spanish Civil War began as right-wing army generals launched a coup attempt against the Second Spanish Republic. In 1944, during World War II, 320 men, two-thirds of them African-Americans, were killed when a pair of ammunition ships exploded at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine in California. In 1945, following Nazi Germany's surrender, President Harry S. Truman, Soviet leader Josef Stalin, and British Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill began meeting at Potsdam in the final Allied summit of World War II. Advertisement In 1955, Disneyland opened in Anaheim, California, after its $17 million, yearlong construction; the park drew a million visitors in its first 10 weeks. In 1975, an Apollo spaceship docked with a Soyuz spacecraft in orbit in the first superpower link-up of its kind. In 1981, 114 people were killed when a pair of suspended walkways above the lobby of the Kansas City Hyatt Regency Hotel collapsed during a tea dance. In 1996, TWA Flight 800, a Europe-bound Boeing 747, exploded and crashed off Long Island, New York, shortly after departing John F. Kennedy International Airport, killing all 230 people on board. In 2014, all 298 passengers and crew aboard Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 were killed when the Boeing 777 was shot down over rebel-held eastern Ukraine; both Ukraine's government and pro-Russian separatists denied responsibility. In 2020, civil rights icon John Lewis, whose bloody beating by Alabama state troopers in 1965 helped galvanize opposition to racial segregation, and who went on to a long and celebrated career in Congress, In 2022, a report said nearly 400 law enforcement officials rushed to a mass shooting that left 21 people dead at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, but 'egregiously poor decision-making' resulted in a chaotic scene that lasted more than an hour before the gunman was finally confronted and killed.
New York Post
10-07-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Activist's conviction for Hillary Clinton memes tossed by appeals courts
A social media influencer who was sentenced to seven months behind bars two years ago for posting anti-Hillary Clinton memes federal prosecutors deemed election interference for misleading voters had his conviction overturned. Douglass Mackey, 36, posted satirical memes of a fake ad in 2016 falsely indicating voters could stay home and simply text 'Hillary' to a phone number instead of showing up at the polls. But a three-judge panel for the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit concluded that prosecutors failed to prove Mackey was knowingly partaking in a broader conspiracy to hoodwink voters. Advertisement 'The case has been remanded to the district court with orders to immediately dismiss. Hallelujah!' Mackey later cheered on X. 4 Many of the memes bore Clinton campaign logos and fine print at the bottom to look authentic. @DougMackeyCase/X Advertisement 4 Douglass Mackey praised the appeals court's decision. @DougMackeyCase/X Mackey had initially been sentenced in October 2023, but was out on bail amid an appeal. His 2016 meme, which was posted shortly before the election, told voters to 'Avoid the line' and 'Vote from home' by texting a phone number. At the time, Mackey made the post via an alias, 'Ricky Vaughn.' Notably, his account at the time featured a man wearing a MAGA hat and a Bane mask. Prosecutors claimed some 4,900 unique phone numbers texted the number in the meme. Advertisement Twitter, as it was then called, eventually shut down his account, and he had garnered a spot on MIT's top 150 influencers of that election cycle. Mackey posted multiple memes that federal prosecutors in Brooklyn cited in the case, accusing him of attempting to suppress votes. Some of the memes included bogus claims that they had been paid for by the Clinton campaign. Some of the memes deployed the 'Vote from home' line but targeted specific blocs of voters, such as Latinos and African-Americans. 4 Federal prosecutors had been cheered by some Democrats for their 'groundbreaking prosecution.' Getty Images Advertisement The 36-year-old was accused of conspiring with other social media users in various chat rooms to chart ways to push President Trump's message, prosecutors said. However, the panel on the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit was unconvinced. 'The mere fact that Mackey posted the memes, even assuming that he did so with the intent to injure other citizens in the exercise of their right to vote, is not enough, standing alone, to prove a violation of Section 241,' Chief Judge Debra Ann Livingston wrote in the majority opinion, referring to the statute defining conspiracy against rights. 'The government was obligated to show that Mackey knowingly entered into an agreement with other people to pursue that objective,' the panel added. 'This, the government failed to do.' Judges on the panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit unanimously decided to overturn the charges and sent the case back to the district court with instructions to acquit Mackey. 4 The 2016 election marked the beginning of the more than decade-long Trump era of American politics. Bloomberg via Getty Images 'Its primary evidence of agreement, apart from the memes themselves, consisted of exchanges among the participants in several private Twitter message groups—exchanges the government argued showed the intent of the participants to interfere with others' exercise of their right to vote,' the judges noted. 'Yet the government failed to offer sufficient evidence that Mackey even viewed—let alone participated in—any of these exchanges,' they added, noting 'the government's remaining circumstantial evidence cannot alone establish Mackey's knowing agreement.'
Metro
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Singer Akon's plans for $6,000,000,000 futuristic 'Wakanda' city ditched
Singer Akon's plans for a $6 billion city in Senegal have been abandoned in favour of something more 'realistic'. Dubbed Akon City, the city would be a high-tech, eco-friendly 'home back home' for African-Americans and other black communities around the world and have its own crypto currency called Akoin. Early designs showed futuristic buildings, including curvaceous skyscrapers, with several people comparing the city to the fictional Wakanda in Marvel's Black Panther films and comics. The Locked up singer, who had a string of hits in the noughties, announced the plans in 2018 and in 2020 said he'd secured funding and had officially bought the land. However, Serigne Mamadou Mboup, the head of Senegal's tourism development body, Sapco, has now told the BBC: 'The Akon City project no longer exists.' He added: 'Fortunately, an agreement has been reached between Sapco and the entrepreneur Alioune Badara Thiam [aka Akon]. What he's preparing with us is a realistic project, which Sapco will fully support.' In 2020 Akon said construction had started, but all that has been built on the 800-hectare site is a reception building, which is only half finished. There are no roads, housing or a power grid. Plans for phase one – that were due to be completed by the end of 2023 – included a hospital, shopping mall, school, police station, a waste centre and a solar plant. The city, 60 miles south of Senegal's capital, Dakar was to be powered solely by renewable energy. Officials reportedly blamed funding, legal and construction issues for the the project's demise. More Trending The value of Akon's cryptocurrency, Akoin, designed to power the economy of the city, also plummeted in value. The singer has previously conceded that it 'wasn't being managed properly', adding 'I take full responsibility for that'. As the country prepares for the arrival of next year's Youth Olympic Games, there are now plans for a more modest development on the Akon City site, which sits along the West African country's coastline. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: A surprising UK building has just been named one of the world's most beautiful MORE: The dystopian megacity bigger than Scotland where 2,600,000 cameras are always watching
