Tuesday, May 19, 2026

‘Vanderpump Rules’ Fires Stassi Schroeder and Kristen Doute For Racist Actions

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‘Vanderpump Rules’ Fires Stassi Schroeder and Kristen Doute For Racist Actions

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One week after former “Vanderpump Rules” cast member Faith Stowers revealed that two of the show’s original cast members, Stassi Schroeder and Kristen Doute, had reported her to the police for a crime she’d had nothing to do with, a Bravo spokesperson confirmed to Variety that Schroeder and Doute won’t return to the show. Additionally, new cast members Max Boyens and Brett Caprioni, whose past racist tweets were uncovered after the most recent season premiered in January, also will not return.

On Tuesday, Bravo issued a statement saying, “Bravo and Evolution Media confirmed today that Stassi Schroeder, Kristen Doute, Max Boyens and Brett Caprioni will not be returning to Vanderpump Rules.”

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Schroeder’s ouster has occurred one day after Variety reported that her agency, UTA, and her public relations firm, Metro Public Relations, have dropped her because of her actions toward Stowers. Fuse Literary, Doute’s book agency, has also cut ties with her.

During an Instagram Live chat last week, Stowers said that in 2018 Schroeder and Doute had called the police to report her for crimes that had been reported in a Daily Mail article about a black woman wanted for theft. The woman pictured in the article was not Stowers.

“There was this article on Daily Mail where there was an African American lady,” Stowers recalled during the chat on June 2. “It was a weird photo, so she looked very light-skinned and had these different, weird tattoos. They showcased her, and I guess this woman was robbing people. And they called the cops and said it was me. This is like, a true story. I heard this from actually Stassi during an interview.”

Schroeder had talked about the incident in the past and confirmed calling the police during a 2018 appearance on the “Bitch Bible” podcast. Doute tweeted a link to an article at the time about the woman involved in the alleged crime, posting, “hey tweeties, doesn’t this ex #pumprules thief look familiar? someone put her on mtv & gave her a platform for press. I didn’t wanna go there but I’m going there.”

In the wake of Stowers’ account going viral, both Schroeder and Doute apologized. But during the nation’s recent reckoning on systemic racism and police brutality, originally reignited by the death of George Floyd — which has led to uprisings in the streets, in newsrooms, and on social media — Bravo decided that time was up for the two longtime “Vanderpump Rules” co-stars. (And for Boyens and Caprioni as well, who were new this season, and largely despised.)

Neither Schroeder nor Doute immediately responded to Variety’s request for comment.

They now join an ignominious group — one that includes the likes of  New York Times editor James Bennet, Bon Appétit editor Adam Rapoport, “Glee” star Lea Michele and former “Bachelorette” Hannah Brown — all of whom have faced the consequences of their misconduct, and in Bennet’s case, sloppy decision-making.

“Vanderpump Rules” premiered on Bravo in January 2013 as an offshoot of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” focusing on the staff of Sur, a West Hollywood restaurant owned by Lisa Vanderpump. The highly rated show has had a sprawling — and nearly all-white — cast over the years, who, like many reality stars, have been known for their outrageous behavior. The most recent season featured a storyline about Jax Taylor and Brittany Cartwright having to fire Ryan Dotson, the pastor they’d asked to officiate their wedding, who had proudly trumpeted homophobic and anti-trans views. On the show, Taylor was enraged at his best man Tom Sandoval for bringing the issue up on camera.

The show recently wrapped its eighth season, which continued to perform well for Bravo despite criticism from fans and the media for its contrived storytelling, which has strayed far from its original mission of depicting the casts’ real lives. The show was due for an overhaul, though this sudden purge for ugly reasons is most certainly not what Bravo and Evolution had in mind.

When “Vanderpump Rules” will begin to film at all is unclear. The coronavirus pandemic has stopped production on television and movies since mid-March, and Bravo currently has no date to start shooting again.

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Universities can decide which students return to campus, even if they are not in their final year – The Mail & Guardian

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Universities can decide which students return to campus, even if they are not in their final year – The Mail & Guardian

Universities have been given a lifeline: they are now allowed to decide on the categories of students who can return to campus, provided that total on-campus student numbers do not exceed the maximum the government allows. 

Last month, Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande announced that under the level three lockdown a maximum of 33% of the student population will be allowed to return to campuses and residences. He said these students would include — among others — final-year students who need laboratories, those due to graduate this year and students who are doing clinical training. 

Final-year medical students returned to campus during level four of the lockdown. 

At a press briefing on Tuesday, Nzimande announced that the department had made provisions for universities to allow other categories of students who are battling to study at home to return to campus, but that the priority must still be students the department has given the go-ahead to return to campus. 

“I would like to emphasise that we recognise that some institutions may identify other groups of students, in line with their particular contexts, for their return to campus. However, any deviation from this criterion must be approved by my department and must fall within the maximum of 33% of the student population,” said Nzimande. 

The minister — who earlier on Tuesday visited the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) to check  its readiness  — said he was impressed by what he had found at the institution. 

TUT had reprioritised its funding for Covid-19-related measures and repurposed its chemical engineering laboratories to produce sanitisers and disinfectants for the university, as well as to supply surrounding communities, said Nzimande. 

He added: “I am happy with the progress I saw there.”

The chief executive of Higher Health — an agency of the department of higher education — Ramneek Ahluwalia, said the agency had already trained campus Covid-19 task teams how to operate in a coronavirus environment in anticipation of the students returning to campus. 

“We have been able to see how … every campus is trying its best to put every system [in place] from screening booths [and] cleaning protocols, right up to how a day ends; from putting physical distanc[ing] [and] security training [in place] to every parameter going forward,” he said. 


Mental health guidelines

Ahluwalla said the agency has also launched guidelines on mental health to all institutions, because it understands that many students and staff will be mentally affected by the virus. 

He said nurses at a campus healthcare facilities have been trained in addressing mental health, and that the aim is to deal with mental health issues at a primary healthcare level before it is escalated to tertiary and secondary levels, which include clinical psychology. 

Nzimande also added that students who will not be returning to campus will continue with remote learning. 

He said by the end of this week the department — through the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (Nsfas) — will begin the procurement of laptops for students funded by the scheme to assist them with online learning. 

“We are also finalising the process of verifying which Nsfas students already have acquired devices, to avoid mistakenly issuing some students with more than one device. We urge for patience from both parents, staff and students,” he said. 

Several institutions already issued their students with laptops when they moved to online learning after the closure of campuses. 

Nsfas-funded students will also receive 30GB of data for three months, beginning this month. 



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Ocasio-Cortez, Sanders Endorse Progressive Charles Booker In Kentucky Senate Primary

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Ocasio-Cortez, Sanders Endorse Progressive Charles Booker In Kentucky Senate Primary

The biggest names in American progressive politics, Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), are throwing their weight behind Charles Booker, a Democratic candidate for Senate hoping to unseat Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in Kentucky.

Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez’s endorsements break from the Democratic Party’s official stance in the race. Democratic leaders tapped Amy McGrath, the retired Marine fighter pilot who ran a high-profile race to unseat Republican Rep. Andy Barr in the 2018 midterms but fell short. The Democratic Senate Campaign Committee endorsed McGrath in February. 

But Booker, a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives and the state’s youngest Black lawmaker, has been gaining steam in the primary in recent weeks after taking a front-and-center role in the state’s protests against police brutality. His hometown of Louisville has been mourning the loss of two Black Kentuckians at the hands of police force. Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old EMT, was shot by officers in her own apartment in March. David McAtee, a beloved local BBQ joint owner, was killed by law enforcement during the protests for Black lives last week.

Sanders, who has been slow to weigh in on Senate races so far in the 2020 cycle, cited Booker’s participation in the protests in the endorsement he announced to supporters Tuesday morning. 

“As Louisville has become an epicenter of national tragedy and protests due to the police murders of Breonna Taylor and David McAtee, Charles has shown leadership by showing up on the frontlines,” Sanders said, adding that Booker “supports progressive policies such as criminal justice reform, Medicare for All, and getting big money out of politics.”

Ocasio-Cortez announced her endorsement in a tweet less than an hour later, backing a candidate she said is “building the kind of principled, inclusive, and winning coalition in Kentucky that can inspire positive change.”

Like Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez, Booker has also backed a Green New Deal, the sweeping plan to overhaul the nation’s economy and address climate change, and “Medicare for All,” a push to move all Americans to a single government-run health insurance plan. 

The Lexington Herald-Leader, Kentucky’s second-largest newspaper, also endorsed Booker Tuesday.

There is no independent polling in the Kentucky Senate primary, but the endorsements bolster the sense that Booker has gained momentum in a race in which a runaway McGrath victory seemed all but guaranteed just a month ago. Like other Senate candidates the DSCC and Democratic establishment had backed, McGrath seemed set to cruise to an easy victory as the left struggled to unite behind and boost progressive challengers like Booker.

“We haven’t seen a lot of progressive challengers get a lot of momentum and I think that is because you do see that national Democrats have lined up behind some of these challengers that they see as more able to win in especially very red states like Kentucky,” Jessica Taylor, with the nonpartisan election watch group Cook Political Report, said.

McGrath, who proved a powerful fundraiser during her 2018 congressional race, set early Kentucky fundraising records and has so far brought in more money than McConnell in 2020. But early missteps, including waffling positions on whether she would have voted to put Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court, and McGrath’s efforts to position herself for the general election also left room to her left. Booker has risen to fill that space in recent weeks, especially after McGrath struggled to respond to the protests for Black lives in her state’s biggest cities. During a Senate primary debate last week, McGrath admitted she had not been to the demonstrations and was staying home with her family. 

On Tuesday, McGrath sent an email to supporters that said she supported independent investigations whenever police used force that caused harm or death, expanding racial bias and de-escalation training for police, and requiring every police officer to wear a functioning body camera. 

Booker has marched with protesters, called for the firing of the police officers who killed Taylor, and pushed major reforms to the city’s police department. 

“This is a city that’s been on edge and Charles has been on the frontlines of it very much so from day one,” said Matt Erwin, a Democratic strategist in the state, about Booker’s recent rise. “There was this thought that this was a Louisville issue and not a state issue, but now we are seeing similar protests in really little and not racially diverse towns in Kentucky.” 

After struggling to raise money for months, Booker’s campaign has seen a surge in donations in the June, raising half a million dollars in the first week of the month. Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez’s endorsements come on the heels of several recent state and local endorsements, including prominent sports radio host Matt Jones, who himself considered a run for the nomination. Booker also aired his first television ad of the cycle Tuesday, a $400,000 30-second spot that called out McGrath’s willingness to work with Trump directly.

“Kentucky needs a real Democrat who will take on Mitch McConnell,” Booker narrates in the ad.

But his fundraising efforts still pale in comparison to that of McGrath and McConnell, who have poured millions of dollars into a general-election-focused race for the last year. McGrath raised $12.8 million in the first quarter of 2020, and McConnell pulled in $7.5 million during that same time period. 

The Kentucky primary will take place on June 23. 



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#EBA – Supervisor says the EU banking sector entered the crisis with solid capital positions and improved asset quality

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#EBA – Supervisor says the EU banking sector entered the crisis with solid capital positions and improved asset quality

The European Banking Authority (EBA) published today (9 June) the seventh EU-wide transparency exercise. This additional data disclosure comes as a response to the outbreak of COVID-19 and provides market participants with bank-level data as of 31 December 2019, prior to the start of the crisis. The data confirms the EU banking sector entered the crisis with solid capital positions and improved asset quality, but also shows the significant dispersion across banks.

CET1 ratio

NPL ratio

Leverage ratio

(transitional)

(fully loaded)

(fully phased-in)

25th pct

13.9%

13.4%

1.2%

4.9%

Weighted average

15.1%

14.8%

2.7%

5.5%

75th pct

18.5%

18.4%

4.3%

8.4%

Commenting on the publication of the results, EBA Chairman Jose Manuel Campa (pictured) said: “The EBA considers that the provision to market participants of continuous information on banks’ exposures and asset quality is crucial, particularly in moments of increased uncertainty. The dissemination of banks’ data complements our ongoing monitoring of the risks and vulnerabilities in the banking sector and contributes to preserving financial stability in the Single Market.”

In the context of an unprecedented health crisis, EU-wide Transparency data confirms banks entered this challenging period in a stronger position than in previous crises in line with the EBA’s ‘Thematic note on the first insights into the Covid-19 impacts‘. Compared with the Global Financial Crisis in 2008-2009, banks now hold larger capital and liquidity buffers.

EU banks reported increasing capital ratios in 2019. The EU weighted average CET1 fully loaded capital ratio was at 14.8% as of Q4 2019, around 40bps higher than Q3 2019. The trend was supported by higher capital, but also contracting risk exposure amounts (REA). As of December 2019, 75% of the banks reported a CET1 fully loaded capital ratio above 13.4% and all banks reported a ratio above 11%, well above the regulatory requirements. Compared to the previous quarter, the interquartile range remained stable.

The EU weighted fully phased-in leverage ratio stood at 5.5% as of December 2019. The leverage ratio increased by 30bps compared to the previous quarter, driven by rising capital and declining exposures. The lowest reported leverage ratio was 4.7% at country level, and 1.6% at bank level.

The asset quality of EU banks has been on an improving trend over the last few years. As of Q4 2019 the EU weighted average NPL ratio declined to 2.7%, 20bps lower than in Q3 2019. The Q4 2019 ratio was the lowest since the EBA introduced a harmonized definition of NPLs across European countries. Dispersion in the NPL ratio across countries remained wide, with few banks still reporting double-digit ratios, although in the last quarter the interquartile range compressed by 80 bps, to 3.1%.

  • The EBA postponed the EU-wide stress test exercise to 2021 to allow banks to focus on and ensure continuity of their core operations, including support for their customers.
  • The EBA has been conducting transparency exercises at EU-wide level on an annual basis since 2011. The transparency exercise is part of the EBA’s ongoing efforts to foster transparency and market discipline in the EU financial market, and complements banks’ own Pillar 3 disclosures, as laid down in the EU’s capital requirements directive (CRD). Unlike stress tests, transparency exercises are purely disclosure exercises where only bank-by-bank data are published and no shocks are applied to the actual data.
  • The spring 2020 transparency exercise covers 127 banks from 27 EEA countries, and data is disclosed at the highest level of consolidation as of September 2019 and December 2019. The transparency exercise fully relies on supervisory reporting data.
  • Along with the dataset, the EBA also provides a document highlighting the key statistics derived from the dataset, and a wide range of interactive tools that allow users to compare and visualise data by using maps at a country and a bank-by-bank level.

 

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NASA sun observatory spies Comet Atlas in the solar wind. (Mercury, too!)

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NASA sun observatory spies Comet Atlas in the solar wind. (Mercury, too!)

You’ll need a minute to take it all in, there’s a lot going on in this stunning view of the inner solar system, including a comet, Mercury and some solar weather.

First, let’s get oriented. You’re looking through the eyes of NASA’s Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory A, or STEREO-A. The spacecraft launched in 2006 with its now-silent twin to study the sun, in particular from angles we can’t see from Earth. The spacecraft is about one-sixth of an orbit ahead (hence the A in its name) of Earth, with the sun off-screen to the left in the new images.



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‘Strawberry Moon’ lunar eclipse treats skywatchers around the world (photos)

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‘Strawberry Moon’ lunar eclipse treats skywatchers around the world (photos)

The Full Strawberry Moon is seen during the penumbral lunar eclipse over the sky of Bekasi, Indonesia, on June 6, 2020. (Image credit: Aditya Irawan/NurPhoto/Getty)

Photographers around the world captured stunning images of the recent Full Strawberry Moon eclipse, showing the subtle darkening as the moon barely grazed the shadow of the Earth.

The penumbral eclipse took place Friday (June 5) out of the range of North American view, but was visible for more than three hours over central and east Africa, Eastern Europe, western and central Asia, and parts of Indonesia and Australia. (If the moon passes more fully into the Earth’s shadow, it experiences either a partial or total lunar eclipse, depending on how much of the moon is darkened.)

Related: Eclipse season 2020 has arrived! Catch 2 lunar eclipses and a ‘ring of fire’ this summer

The Full Strawberry Moon rises over Ponte da Ajuda, a historic bridge near the border between Portugal and Spain, during the penumbral lunar eclipse on Friday (June 5). (Image credit: Courtesy of Sérgio Conceição)

In Portugal, photographer Sérgio Conceiçao caught the eclipse on the Ajuda Bridge in Elvas, which is on a historically disputed border with Spain’s Olivença. He used a Canon EOS R digital camera and 92-millimeter lens at f/6.3, with ISO 400. 

The photographic sequence shows 23 moon exposures. The moon starts the sequence in a more “intense reddish pink color,” Conceição told Space.com, “and starting to whiten as it rises.” Two women are also visible on the bridge.

This view of the rising Strawberry Moon eclipse over Ponta da Ajuda combines 242 still images captured over the course of 75 minutes (Image credit: Courtesy of Sérgio Conceição)

Conceiçao also imaged a continuous shot of the moon in motion, using 242 still photographs taken with Canon 5d MKIII and 14-mm lenses at f/16. With the eclipse deepening during the 1 hour, 15-minute long set of exposures, Conceiçao said the image shows “the various shades that the moon has been passing through” over the timespan.

The Full Strawberry Moon of June 5, 2020, partially obscured by clouds, rises over the horizon during a penumbral lunar eclipse as spectators enjoy the good weather at La Malagueta beach in Málaga, Spain.  (Image credit: Jesus Merida/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty)

A five-hour drive away, on the coastal town of Malaga, Spain, photographer Jesus Merida captured the lunar eclipse at its darkest phase. The moon rose as people on La Malagueta beach carefully enjoyed the good weather that evening, while respecting physical distancing protocols due to novel coronavirus restrictions, Merida wrote in a description on Getty Images.

Astrophysicist Gianluca Masi of the Virtual Telescope Project captured this photo of the penumbral lunar eclipse over Rome, Italy, on June 5, 2020. Masi took this photo at the moment of greatest eclipse, at 3:25 p.m. EDT (1925 GMT), when about 57% of the moon’s surface was covered by Earth’s outer shadow, called the penumbra. (Image credit: Gianluca Masi/The Virtual Telescope Project)

Astrophysicist Gianluca Masi, who runs the The Virtual Telescope Project from Rome, captured a dramatic moment of the eclipse using a Canon 5D mark IV attached to an 8″ f/6.3 telescope. 



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Turkey sees success in Libya as shaping relations with US

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Turkey sees success in Libya as shaping relations with US

Jun 9, 2020

ISTANBUL — Turkey and the United States may embark on a new era in their relationship over the conflict in Libya, said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after a Monday telephone call with his US counterpart Donald Trump, adding that rebel commander Khalifa Hifter may soon be sidelined in diplomatic efforts establish peace.

The two leaders also discussed protests against police violence in the wake of the killing of African-American George Floyd in Minneapolis last month that have spread across the United States and to other countries, with Erdogan warning Trump that Kurdish militants were backing protesters in the United States.

In an interview with state broadcaster TRT late on Monday, Erdogan said Trump acknowledged Turkey’s success in reshaping the conflict in Libya, where the NATO member’s entry to support the internationally recognized government of Fayez al-Sarraj has dramatically shifted the war in his favor.

“A new period may begin between the US and Turkey regarding the [Libya] process, and we had some agreements during our conversation, and such a step could be taken,” Erdogan said without elaborating.

A statement from the White House said the two leaders discussed the Libyan conflict, Syria and the eastern Mediterranean region, but did not offer further details.

The United States has largely remained outside the fray since Hifter’s Libyan National Army (LNA) launched an offensive last year to capture the capital Tripoli that has killed hundreds of civilians. The energy-rich nation has been wracked by violence since 2011, when former leader Moammar Gadhafi was deposed with NATO support.

Now, international efforts to resolve the fighting between Sarraj’s Government of National Accord (GNA) forces and the LNA, which receives support from the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Russia, are gathering pace.

Erdogan met Sarraj in Turkey last week, while LNA officials held talks in Egypt that resulted in a call for a cease-fire. Saraj-allied forces rejected the proposed truce, likely seeing a cease-fire as an effort to stymie the GNA advance, which has inflicted heavy losses on Hifter’s forces while capturing strategic points in Tripoli last week.

“The most vital areas have been retaken … and the advance continues. Hifter has become crazed as these areas come under Sarraj’s control,” Erdogan said. “The developments indicate to me that Hifter could be tossed out of the process at any time.”

Hifter derives “all of his power” from Russia but is now on the retreat, Erdogan said. Turkey sees the capture of areas with natural gas and oil deposits as crucial and “and this upsets Russia,” he said, adding he plans to soon speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Putin praised Egypt’s efforts to broker a cease-fire, while his foreign minister agreed with his Turkish counterpart this week to collaborate on a peace process.

Erdogan’s call with Trump came despite Turkish officials’ sharp criticism over the killing by police of Floyd on May 25. In the call, Erdogan told Trump Turkey was saddened by the “inhumane” and “racist” killing of the unarmed man that set off the large-scale protests. Turkey has also “condemned” the US response over the heavy-handed police tactics that targeted Turkish journalists covering the protests. The comment elicited incredulity from critics of Turkey’s own record on press freedom that has made it the world’s biggest jailer of journalists. Two more journalists were detained this week in an espionage probe centered around the Turkish military’s role in Libya.

Trump is aware of allegations by Turkey that “antifa,” an informal movement whose name is derived from “anti-fascist,” has connections with foreign leftist organizatons and will assess information Turkey has provided to the United States on the activists, Erdogan said.

Turkey alleges antifa has links with the armed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which the United States has labeled a terrorist organization for its three-decade insurgency in Turkey, and Syria’s People’s Protection Units (YPG), a Kurdish militia the United States armed in the fight against Islamic State. Erdogan claimed antifa took part in “serious operations” in Syria.

“I told Mr. Trump that it’s significant that groups like the YPG and PKK have come together in the US with the terrorist organization called antifa,” Erdogan told TRT, adding that he warned Trump that US support for the YPG “would one day come to strike you.”

Trump has said he will designate antifa a terrorist group and blames the movement for violence that has accompanied the largely peaceful protests in the United States. The FBI has said it has no evidence antifa was behind the violence.

The eruption of anger over Floyd’s killing and the ensuing crackdown have prompted comparisons in Turkey between the two presidents, including “Trump’s attempt to start a culture war over the current unrest” with Erdogan, who “orchestrated a conservative backlash” against anti-government protests in Turkey in 2013, Asli Aydintasbas, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relation, wrote in The Washington Post.

The protests in the United States have allowed Trump to divert the conversation from his government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 111,000 Americans. Turkey, for its part, is heralding its “success” in battling the disease, including one of the world’s lowest death rates of about 2.8%, while trying to marginalize the opposition in the response.

“Trump and Erdogan are … looking to protect their strongman image during the pandemic, and clearly share similar ideas about how to deal with protests. But it is coming at the cost of unity within their respective nations,” wrote journalist Sebnem Arsu in The Independent.

In the interview, Erdogan said with a chuckle that Trump was impressed by Turkey’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak.

Separately, Erdogan said Turkey will take the “necessary steps” on the status of Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia, a sixth century world heritage site, after a top court rules on a lawsuit next month that seeks to convert the museum into a mosque. Erdogan has reportedly already ordered officials to draw up a plan opening the site to Muslim worship.

The president has in recent years revived a once-fringe cause by Islamists to make Hagia Sophia a Muslim house of worship again. Built by Byzantine Emperor Justinian, Christendom’s greatest cathedral became a mosque following the 1453 Ottoman conquest of Istanbul, then a museum in 1934 in what has largely regarded as a concession to its significance to multiple faiths.



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Modelers Suggest Pandemic Lockdowns Saved Millions From Dying Of COVID-19

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Modelers Suggest Pandemic Lockdowns Saved Millions From Dying Of COVID-19

Researchers cast a backward look to see what might have happened during the first months of the coronavirus crisis without any preventive measures.

(Image credit: NPR)



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Statues come down as Europe grapples with racist past

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Statues come down as Europe grapples with racist past

LONDON — Images of statues of colonial figures toppled or defaced in European protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death have sparked a debate about the continent’s dark colonial past and the enduring nature of its legacy of racism and inequality.

On Tuesday, campaigners calling for the removal of a statue of Victorian imperialist Cecil Rhodes were protesting at the University of Oxford, while London Mayor Sadiq Khan announced a review of the capital’s statues and street names.

In the English port city of Bristol over the weekend, a statue of the 17th century slave trader Edward Colston — who played a leading role in a company that trafficked 80,000 African men, women and children into slavery — was pulled off its plinth and dumped into the city’s harbor by protesters.

Protesters set alight a statue of King Leopold II of Belgium.Jonas Roosens / AFP – Getty Images

While in Belgium, a bust of King Leopold II — who reigned over the death and exploitation of millions of Congolese people in the late 1800s — was defaced, according to images on social media. Protesters clambered over another Leopold statue, chanting “reparations” and waving the Democratic Republic of Congo’s flag, according to Euronews.

“When things are happening in America, we understand here that our society was the parent of that racism and the parent of the slave trade,” Arike Oke, the managing director of the Black Cultural Archives, a center dedicated to preserving and celebrating the histories of both African and Caribbean people in Britain, said referring to Europe.

Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees told NBC News’ Global Hangout that while he does not condone the destruction of public property, as a black man and the son of Jamaican immigrants, he saw the bronze statue of Colston, which was erected in 1895, as a personal affront.

“I’d be lying if I tried to claim that I’d miss the statue being on that spot in the middle of the city,” Rees, who is the city’s first black mayor, said.

In the United States, some protesters demonstrating against Floyd’s death have targeted Confederate monuments, which have been a source of tension for years, as some say that they glorify the Confederacy and skim over the dark and painful history of slavery.

Meanwhile, in Belgium, tens of thousands have signed a petition to remove all statues of Leopold, whose troops decimated the Congo region.

His statue was also removed from the Antwerp suburb of Ekeren to be cleaned and restored Tuesday.

Ekeren’s district mayor, Koen Palinckx, said it remained unclear whether the statue would be restored to its former place, but that it would depend on its condition rather than the calls for Leopold’s statues to be removed.

“It’s part of our history and what we were in the past,” he said, adding that he understood the calls and that context was important but that removing the statues was not the answer.

Primrose Ntumba, a parliamentary assistant in the Brussels Parliament and an activist focusing on the representation of African minorities in Belgium, said Floyd’s death had given momentum and attention to a conversation about race and Belgium’s colonial history that activists like herself had been having for years.

“We have a lot of history that a lot of people don’t know about and it really impacts people of color and particularly black people in Belgium,” she said. “A lot of the white majority citizens in Belgium do not understand why black people are so angry because they have never been taught about it.”

Ntumba said Belgium had also witnessed cases of police violence.

Despite the symbolism of toppling statues, some British activists believe the reaction to Floyd’s death should focus instead on police violence against black citizens, an issue they feel is more readily associated with the United States than with the United Kingdom in the minds of many.



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Dominic Sibley enjoying competition at top of order for England

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Dominic Sibley enjoying competition at top of order for England

England start their summer on July 8 with the first of three Tests against the West Indies

Last Updated: 09/06/20 6:09pm











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Egland batsman Dominic Sibley says he is relishing the challenge of competing with Zak Crawley, Rory Burns and Keaton Jennings for two spots in the Test side

Egland batsman Dominic Sibley says he is relishing the challenge of competing with Zak Crawley, Rory Burns and Keaton Jennings for two spots in the Test side

Dominic Sibley may have made a fast start to his Test career in South Africa over the winter, but the Warwickshire opener is aware he still has plenty to prove in an England shirt if he wants to hold onto his place at the top of the order.

Sibley made his maiden Test century in Cape Town in January, as England came from behind to claim a rare series win overseas – only their second since 2016.

Dom Sibley celebrates his maiden Test century against South Africa in Cape Town

Dom Sibley celebrates his maiden Test century against South Africa in Cape Town

The 24-year-old was the only player to pass 1,000 runs in Division One of the County Championship last summer but accepts he has a lot more work to do to cement his international spot at the top of the order.

Dom Sibley is averaging over 40 in his six Tests for England

Dom Sibley is averaging over 40 in his six Tests for England

“You talk to people who have played way more games than I have and constantly you’ve got to keep proving yourself over and over again because there’s so many different challenges in cricket,” Sibley told Sky Sports.

“I’m not going to rest on my laurels, I’ve worked really hard in this lockdown period and I want to get off to a good start when we get going

“South Africa was a really pleasing series. Obviously getting a hundred and also winning the series was great, but also frustrating that I got in a few times and didn’t kick on, something to improve on there and it’s exciting to get going.

England openers Zak Crawley (L) and Dom Sibley shared a stand of 107 during the first innings in Johannesburg

England openers Zak Crawley (L) and Dom Sibley shared a stand of 107 during the first innings in Johannesburg

Sibley opened alongside Kent’s Zak Crawley for the final three Tests after Rory Burns sustained ankle ligament damage while playing football.

Crawley made a top score of 66, while Keaton Jennings was added to the squad for the tour of Sri Lanka, which was abandoned due to the coronavirus pandemic.

After years of struggling to find a partner for Alastair Cook, England have decisions to make in terms of who opens the batting.

England opener Rory Burns was injured during the South Africa tour

England opener Rory Burns was injured during the South Africa tour

“I think it’s good, it’s something that pushes each one of us to keep improving, drives us to perform and I know from going back down to the Lions after the South Africa tour with Keaton and Zak that those guys train so hard as well and you try and keep pushing yourself to ensure you’re at that level and it’s exciting to have four guys going for two spots.

“Rory has been a great help for me over the years and I’ve played a lot of cricket with him. After he left South Africa I spoke to him every now and again, but I knew he was struggling with his injury and going in for surgery so it was a bit of a balance, but we’ve chatted since then and it sounds like his rehab is going great and he’s feeling really strong in his ankle and hopefully we’ll see him back and scoring runs for fun.”

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England batsman Dominic Sibley says he can understand why Shimron Hetmyer, Darren Bravo and Keemo Paul decided not to travel to England for the three match Test series

England batsman Dominic Sibley says he can understand why Shimron Hetmyer, Darren Bravo and Keemo Paul decided not to travel to England for the three match Test series

England’s first opponents of the delayed international summer, West Indies, have arrived to begin their preparations for the three Test series which will be played at bio-secure venues from July 8.

England’s 55 man squad are able to train in small groups, with Sibley working at Edgbaston alongside Warwickshire team-mates Chris Woakes and Olly Stone plus Moeen Ali, to try and be ready as best as possible for the opening Test at the Ageas Bowl.

The Ageas Bowl will host the first Test of the summer as England take on West Indies

The Ageas Bowl will host the first Test of the summer as England take on West Indies

Sibley said: “The last two days have been really tough, the wickets have been a bit spicy at Edgbaston and they’ve had new balls in their hands – when you train like that it almost feels tougher than it would in the game.

“It’s nice to get it in the bank and hopefully when you get out in the middle it feels a little easier than it does in the nets.

“You can’t replace time in the middle at any level of cricket you play, it’s all well and good netting but as a batsmen you want to spend time at the crease – whether it’s a warm up game, second XI, a first team game you just want to be able to spend time in the middle.

“It’s obviously going to be frustrating that isn’t the case but it’s the same for everyone and it’s up to me to adapt as best as possible.”



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