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Showing posts from May, 2018

Ostracised and fetishised: The perils of travelling as a young black woman

Ashley Butterfield, 31, has been around the world - but a visit to India brought home the particular challenges of being a lone black female tourist. "Are blacks better in bed because of genetics or diet?" the middle-aged Indian restaurant owner asked me earnestly as I finished the dinner he had prepared. Although not a question that one typically expects when requesting the bill, I was not unsettled. Having worked in international development for the past seven years and having travelled in 30 countries, mostly alone, I have grown accustomed to hearing things that most people would find jarring. However, I didn't feel defiant, upset or even threatened by him. This was not the first time I'd experienced this sort of thing. Once I fell asleep on a bus in north India and woke up to a man, inches away from me, videoing me on his phone. "What are you doing?" I asked, alarmed. He simply replied: "Instagram." In Udaipur, a man approached m...

Cardinal Pell ordered to stand trial on sexual assault charges

Vatican treasurer Cardinal George Pell will stand trial on historical sexual assault charges, a court has ruled. Cardinal Pell formally pleaded not guilty to the charges on Tuesday. He has consistently denied any wrongdoing. An Australian magistrate ruled on Tuesday that there was enough evidence for the case to proceed to a trial on some charges, but not on others. Cardinal Pell, 76, is Australia's most senior Catholic and one of the most powerful officials in the Vatican. He was given a large police guard as he entered the Melbourne Magistrates' Court in front of dozens of media representatives and members of the public. Cardinal Pell, who is considered the Church's third-ranked official, took a leave of absence from the Vatican last year to fight the charges in his home country. Most of the evidence given remains confidential. But following the hearing on Tuesday, his lawyer, Robert Richter QC, argued that the most "vile" allegations agai...