Where, indeed, is the African National Congress (ANC) headed? People often ask if this is the same organisation that challenged the might of the apartheid regime and vigorously championed the cause of freedom for the downtrodden.
Australia’s competition watchdog sues Google
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has started court proceedings against Google for allegedly misleading consumers about its extensive use of personal data for targeted advertising. It said Google did not make it clear to consumers in 2016 that it changed its privacy policy to combine personal information in Google accounts with activities on non-Google websites that use its technology. It alleges that Google did not explicitly get consent from consumers and used this combined data to boost targeted advertising - a key source of its income.
Jordan detains union leaders ahead of protests
Jordan has detained 13 leaders of the Teacher Syndicate trade union to prevent a series of marches, sit-ins and strikes “that harm the state’s essential services and their functioning”. The union is one of the country’s largest grass roots movements. The 100,000-strong union has accused the government of failing to honour a 2019 agreement to increase the pay of public sector workers. Rights activists have accused the government of using emergency laws meant to limit the spread of coronavirus as an excuse to curb civil and political rights.
Morocco’s largest cities go into lockdown - again
Casablanca, Tangier, Marrakech, Fez and Meknes all went back into lockdown from midnight on Sunday in an attempt to contain their Covid-19 outbreaks. Morocco eased a nationwide lockdown a month ago and has opted to reintroduce restrictions on a region-by-region basis depending on developments in local outbreaks. The country has reported 20,278 cases of Covid-19, as well as 313 deaths and 16,438 recoveries.
Hurricane Douglas has come just shy of making landfall on Hawaii’s string of islands, but has already blasted it with torrential rains and high winds. Storms of this magnitude are rare for Hawaii - it has had only five hurricanes and tropical storms since 1950. Local government leaders have urged people to “prepare for the worst and hope for the best”. This comes just as Hurricane Hanna left a trail of overturned trucks, uprooted trees and flooded homes along the coast of Texas as it grapples with ever-expanding outbreaks of Covid-19.
