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In an opinion piece in The Guardian, Valter Sanches, Christy Hoffman and Casper Gelderblom describe how workers are pushing back against Amazonâs global infrastructure that is held together by exploitation of those who operate it.
Amazon, the worldâs most powerful corporation, is an iceberg. Users and consumers see its top: the shops, the streaming service, the packages. But below the surface lies an enormous infrastructure, stretching across continents, linking production, distribution and delivery. A complex transnational system, populated by workers around the world whose labor drives Amazonâs profits.
Its chief executive and founder, Jeff Bezos, the worldâs richest man, tries to conceal this system with the comfort and entertainment his services offer. The reason is equally clear and outrageous. From the factories where the products it sells are made, to the doorsteps where they are delivered, Amazonâs global infrastructure is held together by the exploitation of those who operate it.
Throughout Amazonâs supply chain, Bezosâs behemoth violates workersâ safety, dignity and privacy, putting them to work in worksites designed to squeeze as much labor out of them for as little money as possible. Workers do not take this lying down. Supported by a myriad of progressive allies, there is labor resistance all over Amazonâs global map, with strikes and protests from Spain to SĂŁo Paulo, from Delhi to Berlin.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________In an editorial, Japanâs Asahi Shimbun says the Tokyo Summer Olympics should be called off because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
EDITORIAL: Prime Minister Suga, please call off the Olympics this summer
The COVID-19 pandemic has yet to be brought under control, rendering it inevitable that the government will have to declare another extension of the state of emergency currently covering Tokyo and other prefectures.
It is simply beyond reason to hold the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics this summer.
The central government, the Tokyo metropolitan government and Olympic officials are forging ahead relentlessly, refusing to address the public's perfectly legitimate questions and concerns. Naturally, people's distrust and apprehension are growing.
We demand that Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga evaluate the situation calmly and objectively, and decide against holding the Olympics and Paralympics this summer.
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Germanyâs Deutsche Welle reports that Spain also has a problem with how to handle unattended minors who have crossed the border from Morocco to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta.
Ceuta: Unattended minors stranded in Spanish enclave
The weather is good, and Marwan sees his goal in front of him on the horizon. The 16-year-old Moroccan wants to reach mainland Europe, less than 30 kilometers (19 miles) away on the other side of the Strait of Gibraltar. He made it to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, which is separated from Morocco only by a six-meter (20-foot) fence.
Normally, that fence means the end of the line for Marwan and thousands of others, but Morocco suspended its border controls earlier in the week in what many interpreted as the country getting back at Spain over several diplomatic disputes.
Marwan seized the opportunity, jumped in the water and swam along the coast past the border fence. He has wanted to leave his homeland for a long time now, as poverty and desolation become increasingly unbearable to him there. He reached the Spanish enclave in less than an hour, together with thousands of other migrants.
"The actual swimming part of it wasn't as bad as I feared it would be," he said. But from that point on, nothing went the way Marwan expected.
He's been sleeping on the streets for the last three days now and begs his way through the harbor district during the day.
"So far, no one is taking care of us," he said. "Most of what we have gotten to eat was from other Moroccans in the city."
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Al Jazeera says rights groups are demanding answers amid widespread reports of Palestinian users and content being censored on social media.
Advocates demand Facebook end âblatantâ Palestinian censorship
Rights groups and Palestine advocates are demanding answers from Facebook after multiple reports that the social media giant has censored Palestinian content on its platforms, especially during the recent Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip and occupied East Jerusalem.
In a letter to Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg on Wednesday, dozens of organisations said they were âangered and disturbed by the recent censorship of Palestinian users and their supporters on your platformsâ.
Earlier this month, Palestinian social media users reported that their posts on Facebook and Instagram â which is owned by Facebook â in solidarity with families facing forced expulsions from the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah had been blocked, hidden or deleted.
âAt this moment, social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram are often Palestinian protestorsâ and residentsâ only tools to share information to keep each other safe in the face of repression by the Israeli government and police, and during attacks on civilians,â reads the letter.
âThis blatant censorship of Palestinian political content is putting these activists further at risk.â
The letterâs signatories â including 7amleh, Adalah Justice Project, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and Jewish Voice for Peace â demanded that Facebook explain how it applies its policies, provide data on all removals, and allow independent researchers to review the removals.
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And finally the BBC reports that Professor Stephen Hawkingâs scientific papers and personal possessions are to be preserved for the nation. The archives include Hawkingâs personal script from his first appearance on âThe Simpsonsâ in 1999.
Stephen Hawking's papers to be saved for the nation
Prof Stephen Hawking's scientific papers and personal possessions are to be saved for the nation.
The objects include childhood letters, scripts from his TV appearances and Prof Hawking's ground-breaking research into black holes.
The 10,000-page archive will be kept in perpetuity at Cambridge University library.
His office will be reconstructed in the Science Museum next year and selected highlights will go on display.
Prof Hawking's son, Tim, said that the family was delighted that his body of work and memories of his life were being safeguarded for future generations.
"Our father would be really pleased," he said. "It was really important during his lifetime that science be opened up to the widest possible number of people and be democratized and not be the preserve of the elite few."