Girl, Bye: Candace Owens Denied Entry To New Zealand After Australia Said ‘Nope’
Owens has been denied a visa over her offensive remarks toward Jews and Muslims.
Candace Owens was refused a visa to enter New Zealand due to her previous banning from Australia. The conservative political commentator was expected to be in the country for a speaking engagement.
Immigration officials confirmed the refusal to theAssociated Press on Nov. 28. The denial of her entertainer’s work permit visa stems from Australia’s ruling on the matter. Its neighboring country initially rejected Owens’ visa due to her anti-Semitic remarks. Owens had denied that Nazis medically experimented on Jewish people in concentration camps during World War II.
While currently unable to enter either Oceanic country, Owens remains on the schedule to speak at multiple events throughout the region. The influencer’s speaking tour has slots in Auckland and many cities throughout Australia in February and March 2025.
Owens has emerged as a controversial and provocative figure, mainly popular among conservative platforms and communities. Following her announcement in August to travel to the countries, immigration officials in Australia took action to stop Owens in the midst of her planning stages to come.
Immigration Minister Tony Burke told reporters in October that Owens “capacity to incite discord” led to their decision to deny the visa. He also referenced her offensive comments regarding Muslims.
“Australia’s national interest is best served when Candace Owens is somewhere else,” stated Burke.
Owens initially intended for the speaking engagements to discuss free speech and her Christian beliefs. However, her previous commentary that attacked other religious groups resulted in Australia’s stance against the media personality.
New Zealand, however, did not cite these reasons for why they rejected her work permit. Instead, they denied her entry due to regulations that visa cannot be granted to those forbidden from entering another country.
With this latest update, it remains unclear if, and how, Owens will continue her speaking tour as planned.
Tireless HIV/AIDS Advocate A. Cornelius Baker Dies Of Heart Disease At 63
Baker was an early advocate for those living with HIV and AIDS during the 1980s when misinformation and fear-mongering about the disease was rampant.
A. Cornelius Baker, a tireless advocate for HIV and AIDS testing, research, and vaccinations died in his Washington, D.C., home on Nov. 8 of hypertensive atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, according to his partner, Gregory Nevins.
As The New York Times reported, Baker was an early advocate for those living with HIV and AIDS during the 1980s, when misinformation and fear-mongering about the disease was rampant.
According to Douglas M. Brooks, a director of the Office of National AIDS Policy under President Obama, it was Baker’s Christian faith that guided him towards compassion for others.
“He was very kind, very embracing and inclusive — his circles, both professionally and personal, were the most diverse I’ve ever seen, which was driven by his Christian values,” Brooks told the outlet. “His ferocity appeared when people were marginalized, othered or forgotten.”
In 1995, when he was the executive director of the National Association of People with AIDS, Baker pushed to establish June 27 as National HIV Testing Day.
He later wrote in 2012 on the website FHI 360, a global health advisor for which he served as a technical advisor, that, “This effort was designed to help reduce the stigma of H.I.V. testing and to normalize it as a component of regular health screening.”
Cornelius Baker was a remarkable leader, organizer & mentor who made extraordinary contributions to the #HIV/AIDS response. May he rest in peace & power, while we do our best to honor his legacy in the fight to the epidemic and advance global health equity https://t.co/0S9UvJJmja
Baker was also concerned that men like himself, Black gay men, and other men from marginalized communities, were disproportionately affected by HIV and AIDS.
Baker pushed the Clinton Administration to include Black and Latinx participants in clinical trials for drugs, and pointedly told the New York Times in 1994 that he was tired of hearing promises but seeing no action.
“Cornelius was a legendary leader in the fight for equality for LGBTQ+ people and everyone living with HIV,” Jennings said in a press release. “In the more than two decades that I knew him, I was continually impressed by not only how effective a leader he was but also how he managed to balance being both fierce and kind at the same time. His is a devastating loss.”
Jennings continued, “Cornelius’s leadership cannot be overstated. For decades, he was one of the country’s leading HIV/AIDS warriors, advocating locally, nationally, and internationally. No matter where he went, he took pride in supporting the HIV/AIDS community, beginning in the ‘80s and continuing until his passing, through a variety of roles, including with the Department of Health and Human Services, the National Association of People With AIDS, and the Whitman-Walker Clinic.” Jennings explained.
Jennings concluded, “His career also included several honors, including being the first recipient of the American Foundation for AIDS Research’s Award of Courage for Organization Building. Our communities have lost a pillar in Cornelius, and while we mourn his passing, we will forever be grateful for his decades of service to the community.”
“It is hard to overstate the impact of his loss to the public health and HIV/AIDS communities or the place he held in my heart, personally,” Hayes told Hiv.gov. “He pressed us, he charged us, he pulled us, he pushed us. With unwavering devotion to the HIV movement, he represented a north star, building coalitions across all sectors and working with leaders across the political spectrum to address health disparities and advocate for access to HIV treatment and care for all. He would say, ‘The work is not done, the charge is still there, go forth—you know what you need to do.’ I keep that in my ear and in my heart around this work.”
Hayes added, “His passing is a significant loss for the public health community and for so many more who benefited from Cornelius’ vigilance. His legacy will continue to inspire and motivate us all.”
Baker is survived by his mother, Shirley Baker; his partner, Nevins, who is also the senior legal counsel for Lambda Legal; his sisters Chandrika Baker, Nadine Wallace, and Yavodka Bishop; as well as his two brothers, Kareem and Roosevelt Dowdell; in addition to the larger HIV/AIDS advocacy community.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala To Serve Second Term As World Trade Organization Chief
The WTO director-general ran unopposed.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is set to serve a second term as the head of the World Trade Organization, following her reelection to the post on Nov. 29.
According to Reuters, her election will coincide with the term of Donald Trump, who has said that he plans to institute tariffs on goods originating outside of the United States of America.
The WTO director-general ran unopposed, and essentially had her return to office fast-tracked in order to avoid any risk of Trump blocking her appointment. Trump and his team have been critical of Okonjo-Iweala’s governance previously.
Okonjo-Iweala, for her part, told journalists that she is intent on delivering on her agenda following her reelection. “We have a full agenda to deliver…and we fully intend to get to work immediately, no stopping, to try and deliver on these results,” Okonjo-Iweala said.
She added that she can find common ground with Trump on some issues, like intellectual property rights.
“I think we should come into things with a very constructive and creative approach to trying to deal with the issues that will face the world trading system,” she told journalists.
She did not, however, offer any commentary on Trump’s proposed tariffs, saying only that she believes it to be premature to issue a statement on his policy.
“Until we get specifics in terms of what is planned, I think it would be a bit premature to try to pronounce on these issues,” Okonjo-Iweala said, in reference to Trump’s plans.
“I think we should wait…for actual policies. And we’re very much looking forward to working in a productive fashion,” she concluded.
“It’s not so much that everyone loves Ngozi,” a source close to the negotiations told the outlet, members were “worried that if she doesn’t get reinstated, then it’s possible that the administration in Washington would slow things (or) block other contenders. The alternative of no one leading the organization is unacceptable to them.”
According to Keith Rockwell, a former WTO spokesperson and a senior research fellow at the Hinrich Foundation, her appointment “creates tensions in the relationship with the United States, for sure — tensions which would probably have been there under any circumstances, but now this raises the stakes.”
Rockwell also said that problems at the WTO are not all about Trump, “It is a time right now in which application of the WTO rules has deteriorated. You can’t blame all of this on the United States. That’s true of many other members as well.”
Dmitry Grozoubinski, the author of the book Why Governments Lie About Trade, added additional context in his comments to the outlet.
“Governments are increasingly turning to trade measures to address issues like national security, environmental competition, and re-industrialization, and policymakers aren’t as moved as they once were by arguments that their ideas violate the letter or spirit of WTO commitments,” Grozoubinski said.
He continued, “If President-elect Trump makes destroying the WTO a priority,” the organization’s “options will be limited as the institution is not built to withstand overt demolition from within its membership.”
Sean Combs Sued For Allegedly Dangling Woman Off Luxury Apartment Balcony
Bryana 'Bana' Bongolan claims the incident happened about eight years ago in Los Angeles.
Sean “Diddy” Combs has been denied bail for the third time and has also been accused of dangling a woman off of an apartment building balcony on the West Coast eight years ago.
The complaint was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Nov. 27 and allegedly seeks compensation “in excess of $10 million” by fashion designer Bryana ”Bana” Bongolan.
The lawsuit mentions Combs’ ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura, who settled an abuse lawsuit for around $30 million in November 2023 with Combs. Following Ventura’s public lawsuit against the Bad Boy Records mogul, dozens of other civil lawsuits have come to light accusing Combs of violence, drugging others, and threatening those around him.
The balcony incident included in Bongolan’s lawsuit was cited in Ventura’s lawsuit.
According to Deadline, the lawsuit states, “On or about September 26. 2016, Sean ‘P. Diddy’ Combs sexually battered Ms. Bryana ”Bana’ Bongolan and dangled her off of a 17-story-high balcony. And then slammed her into the patio furniture on the balcony.”
The complaint alleges that the incident occurred in Ventura’s L.A. apartment.
“His outrageous and abhorrent conduct violated Ms. Bongolan’s fundamental dignity, bodily autonomy, and sense of safety,” the document continued. The attack occurred while Bongolan was staying at Ventura’s apartment, and the suit claims Combs entered the property “enraged.”
“This event was the culmination of a series of threats, intimidation, and violence that colored many of Ms. Bongolan’s interactions with Mr. Combs from the day she met him,” the document alleges.
Combs was arrested in a New York City hotel lobby by the federal government on Sept. 16. The 55-year-old business mogul has been charged with racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. He’s currently in jail at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn, and he’s facing a sentencing of up to life in prison if he’s found guilty in his May 5 trial. Combs continues to deny all claims against him although he did issue an apology to Ventura after a video of him beating her in a hotel hallway becomes public.
Alabama Cities To Honor Anniversary Of Historic Bus Boycott And Rosa Parks Day With Free Bus Rides
Montgomery and Huntsville will honor the anniversary of bus boycott with museum tours and free bus rides on Rosa Parks Day.
The Alabama cities of Montgomery and Huntsville are preparing to honor the 69th anniversary of the bus boycotts on Rosa Parks Day.
According to WSFA 12, the anniversary celebrations will align with the day honoring Parks, whose actions and detainment helped spark the bus boycott in 1955. On Dec. 2, a ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place at Holt Street Baptist Church Historical Museum, known as the meeting site where the boycott started. The museum will also host a private tour for registered guests, unveiling never-before-seen artifacts from the boycott period.
Also taking place in the state’s capital, attendees can view a reenactment of a Dr. Martin Luther King speech. The Holt Street Baptist church itself will cap off the event-filled day with an anniversary celebration, including a performance by the Montgomery Mass Choir.
In Huntsville, the city will host free rides on fixed-route buses to mark the historical occasion for the seventh year. Furthermore, the buses will have a seat reserved at the front to honor Parks, per AL.com. It will feature a cover and sash, provided by Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, with Parks’ name on it to recognize her role in the 13-month boycott.
“Rosa Parks’ courage and determination launched a movement that forever changed our nation,” shared Mayor Tommy Battle in a press release. ”I encourage everyone in Huntsville to take advantage of the free rides offered by Huntsville Transit on Rosa Parks Day. This is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the past while also embracing the accessibility and opportunities of the present.”
The boycott was an integral part of the civil rights movement, with the Holt Street Baptist Church playing a major role as a gathering place for the protest leaders such as Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Their efforts resulted in the U.S. Supreme Court declaring the segregation of public transportation as unconstitutional.
HealthyMD Partners With Pastor Jamal Bryant For Free HIV Screenings At Atlanta’s NewBirth Baptist Church On World AIDS Day
According to the CDC, Black people made up approximately 37 percent of all new HIV infections in the United States in 2022.
HealthyMD, a Black-owned healthcare company, has partnered with NewBirth Baptist Church to provide free medical testing on World AIDS Day.
HealthyMD will conduct the screenings at the famed Atlanta church led by Pastor Jamal Bryant on Dec. 1. The partnership will encourage those within the Black community to know their HIV and AIDS status and the realities of sexually transmitted infections, as shared in a press release to BLACK ENTERPRISE.
As HealthyMD inspires and educates attendees, they are contributing to World AIDS Day 2024 theme of “Collective Action: Sustain and Accelerate HIV Progress.” Beyond providing free and confidential testing for participants, they also aim to reduce stigma and misinformation surrounding HIV and AIDs.
While new medical advancements have increased the manageability of HIV and AIDS, the viruses still disproportionately impact communities of color. According to the CDC, Black and Hispanic people made up approximately 70% of all new HIV infections in the United States in 2022. Black people accounted for 37% of these diagnoses.
Georgia, specifically, has an infection rate double the national average, as southern states face increased poverty rates and healthcare shortages. Given the state’s diverse population, providing medical care and complimentary testing at the long-standing church allows HealthyMD to help remedy this systemic problem.
Through its mission to widen healthcare access, HealthyMD treats patients with comprehensive, end-to-end sexual healthcare across the country. Its co-founders and CEOs, Clifford W. Knights II and Steve Vixamar, have expanded the Florida-based company to over 20 mobile clinics. Furthermore, they have launched a telemedicine network alongside multiple standalone clinics in Florida and Georgia.
HealthyMD continues to work toward its goal of saving 1 million lives through its services. The testing initiative seeks to impact the Georgia community, spreading awareness while providing care for those most vulnerable to contracting sexually transmitted infections and HIV and AIDS.
HBO’s ‘Get Millie Black’ Debuts To Critical Acclaim, Exploring Crime, Identity, And Jamaica’s Underbelly
The series presents a look at social tensions present in Jamaica.
“Get Millie Black,” a TV show created by award-winning author Marlon James, has been winning the praise of critics since its debut on Max, HBO’s streaming platform, on Nov. 25.
According to The New York Times, the show focuses on its titular character, portrayed with depth and gravitas by Tamara Lawrence.
Black is an investigator who follows her moral compass, often against the wishes of her superiors, but her instincts are, more often than not, right.
Black’s childhood, which viewers are introduced to in the show’s opening moments, is traumatic. She is sent away from her native Jamaica to London after she stops her abusive mother from beating her brother Orville.
Black believes that her brother has died, but Orville is revealed to be a trans woman who now goes by Hibiscus.
Hibiscus is very much alive, but as the first episode makes clear, is almost always in some form of peril.
The case that leads Black to reunite with her sibling is a missing persons case; a teenage girl goes missing, and during the course of the investigation, a much more sprawling conspiracy begins to unravel, which places Black in contact with her sister, Hibiscus.
The five-episode limited series “Get Millie Black” will air new episodes each Monday until its season finale.
Critic Isabella Soares at Colliderdescribed the series in her review as a “brutal look at rampant crime, racism, and other social constraints,” this, in part is laid bare through Black’s examination of the missing persons case, which leads to a wealthy, white, and powerful figure in Kingston.
According to Soares’ review, the series presents a look at social tensions present in the underbelly of Jamaica, which other shows often do not explore with authenticity.
“Overall, ‘Get Millie Black’ is an intense watch and a rare look at the societal tensions in Jamaica’s underworld, which are rarely brought to light in the way that they are here. With several Caribbean cast and crew members involved in this production, including directors Tanya Hamilton and Annetta Laufer, there is a lot of thought into making the series authentic to the country’s culture and its conflicts.”
Fienberg also brings home the motivations for James to have the series reflect as authentically as possible the conditions of his home country.
“James, who was born and raised in Kingston by a detective mother, is invested in getting this milieu right, down to the sense of what it means to try to enforce the law in a land where the laws were designed to repress a colonized people. The drama is most potent when it’s exploring what it’s like for your entire identity to be criminalized, as seen in Hibiscus’ efforts toward self-actualization within a culture that forces her to literally live in a gutter, or the relationship between Curtis and his husband in a country where same-sex intimacy faces social and potentially legal sanctions.”
“While we are not shying away from the cruelty that our queer people experience, we also wanted to show the richness of their lives,” James said. “Some of their most important scenes are some of the lightest.”
Lawrence, meanwhile, believes that her character is an essential portrayal of what an ally for the queer community in Jamaica and elsewhere in the Caribbean could look like.
“I just thought for Jamaica this is going to be huge, Millie’s allyship was very powerful and important as an adjunct to the storylines. She is what other people in Jamaican society could be in terms of the steps forward that the Caribbean could be taking,” Lawrence told Deadline.
Former Cleveland Councilman Charged With Bribery And Fraud, Accused Of Defrauding Nonprofits Out Of $200K
Basheer Jones reportedly worked with a "romantic partner" to deceive non-profits out of around $200,000.
The Department of Justice has moved to formally charge former Cleveland City Councilperson Basheer Jones for bribery and fraud. According to Signal Cleveland, Jones was charged with a two-count indictment of conspiring to commit wire fraud and honest services fraud.
The federal court passed the charges on Nov. 25, leading many to believe that the former representative of Cleveland’s Ward 7 has been a cooperative defendant.
According to the DOJ, Jones leveraged his position as a public official for personal financial gain. He reportedly defrauded multiple community stakeholders who trusted him out of over $200,000.
The charge report detailed that Jones and his romantic partner deceived nonprofit organizations into providing funding to what they believed to be projects in Cleveland and the Ward 7 area. He instead kept the funds and distributed them to his other associates.
The fraud occurred from December 2018 to June 2021, but federal investigators have been investigating the incident since 2022. It began when the DOJ delivered subpoenas to a nonprofit community development called the Famicos Foundation. The investigation was headed by the FBI’s Cleveland Division and supported by the U.S. Department of Housing, Urban Development Office of the Inspector General, and the IRS.
The DOJ claims Jones convinced a nonprofit to hire his romantic partner as a “community outreach consultant” in 2018. The nonprofit then paid thousands of dollars to the partner, who continued to “conceal her relationship” with Jones. The charging document does not identify the partner by name.
According to court papers, Jones encouraged the nonprofit to pay his partner’s company $50,000 to buy items for a community event in 2020. While they were supposed to buy gift cards, backpacks, and other items, Jones and his associates used the money themselves.
Jones served just one term as a representative of the Hough and St. Clair-Superior neighborhoods on the Cleveland City Council from 2018 to 2022.
Alabama A&M Football Player Medrick Burnett Jr. Dies Weeks After Game Injury
Before his death was officially confirmed, the university mistakenly announced it prematurely.
Medrick Burnett Jr, a 20-year-old linebacker at Alabama A&M University, succumbed to a head injury he suffered during the Magic City Classic on Oct. 26.
According to AJ Clifton, the Jefferson County deputy coroner, Burnett died on Nov. 27.
According to The Athletic, the university retracted its original statement that Burnett died on the morning of Nov. 27 after encountering new information that Burnett was still alive.
According to the school, they had been “originally advised by an immediate family member on Tuesday evening” that Burnett had died before a representative of UAB Hospital told them otherwise.
Statement from Athletics
We retract the news of the passing of Medrick Burnette Jr, that was originally advised by an immediate family member on Tuesday evening. Our staff acted accordingly to the wishes of the family member to inform the A&M community and beyond of
According to the coroner’s office, Burnett “received an injury while playing in the Magic City Classic football game” at Legion Field in Birmingham on Oct. 26. Burnett died at a local hospital a month later, and the office also noted in their statement that “all questions pertaining to the death should be made to the Alabama A&M University.”
In the fundraiser, James briefly described Burnett’s injury and its aftermath on her brother.
According to the fundraiser, Burnett was “severely injured after a head-on-head collision during the game,” and as a result of the collision, Burnett “had several brain bleeds and swelling of the brain. He had to have a tube to drain to relieve the pressure, and after 2 days of severe pressure, we had to opt for a craniotomy, which was the last resort to help try to save his life.”
On Nov. 27, James posted an update to the fundraiser, “Please pray he is having a tough time but we are holding on til the very end. God give us strength so we can keep the faith.”
As of Nov. 30, the fundraiser has collected $55,850 toward its $100,000 goal.
Several media outlets attempted to contact Alabama A&M University for comment, but none were successful and the university has not issued another statement since its earlier retraction.
The fact that college football player Medrick Burnett Jr. died as part of the kickoff return team should be enough for the NCAA to change next year to the new NFL-style kickoff. I hope the media covers and promotes this. https://t.co/rJhuEbhut1
Medrick Burnett Jr. has died from the traumatic brain injury he suffered on a kickoff earlier this season. I hope people put the same energy into lobbying the NCAA to change their kickoff as they did into complaining his death was announced prematurely. https://t.co/HEhpqLIREMhttps://t.co/WJBGrLHBvr
“I’m trying to not be overly emotional, man. Medrick is an Alabama A&M current student-athlete, but he’s ‘Gram fam’ for life and, man, it’s just really sad. My heart, my thoughts, my prayers, all the prayers on behalf of my president, board and Grambling State University, of course, we extend our thoughts, our prayers, our well wishes,” Scott said. “I remember Medrick, he was one of the last student-athletes that we recruited in that 23 class, and I remember his parents coming down and meeting in the weight room and really just encountering him, his spirit, and his personality over the course of the last year.”
In its initial statement, Alabama A&M’s Athletic Director, Dr. Paul A. Bryant, described Burnett similarly, “Medrick was more than an exceptional athlete; he was a remarkable young man whose positive energy, leadership and compassion left an indelible mark on everyone who knew him,” Bryant said. “While words cannot adequately express our grief, we are humbled by the strength of his family, who stood by his side throughout this unimaginable ordeal.”
According to The Guardian, the group describes adultification as a racial bias that primarily affects Black children and includes seeing those children as more “streetwise,” “grown-up,” and less innocent and vulnerable.
Although police reform advocates welcome the IOPC’s new guidelines, they also called for a “fundamental shift” in the way the police treat children.
“When Black children are held to adult standards, the harm goes far beyond their own lives and that of their families, the trauma affecting whole communities, not least because those responsible are so infrequently held accountable,” the center wrote. “Keith Belcher and his family had to wait nearly 30 years for the Connecticut courts to acknowledge its grotesque sentencing of a 14-year-old boy; the family of 14-year-old Emmett Till, tortured and murdered by a group of white men in 1955, is still waiting for someone to answer for his lynching.”
IOPC Director General Rachel Watson states, “We recognize the commitment across policing to improve the way it handles race discrimination and have seen good progress in some areas, including complaint handling -– but a lot more needs to be done.”
Watson continued, “Too often, Black communities feel overpoliced as suspects and underprotected. We want to support the police to improve how they deal with race discrimination, to ensure that everyone can have trust and confidence in policing.”
Jahnine Davis, a leading expert in the United Kingdom on adultification and the director of Listen Up, a company that focuses on elevating voices regarding the safety of children, practice, and policy, told the outlet that the attention being brought to adultification via the new guidelines is a positive.
“My organization has delivered adultification training to forces nationwide. Attitudes and beliefs can and do change,” Davis said. “However, lasting change requires a fundamental shift towards prioritizing the welfare of children in all interactions. A child-first approach is needed, especially for Black children, who are more likely to experience the harsh consequences of this bias. It is as much a children’s rights issue as it is a safeguarding one.”
In its statement, a spokesperson for Black Lives Matter UK referenced the 2020 strip search of a 14-year-old London girl by police, referenced as Child Q, a case that brought national attention to the issue of adultification.
“These revised guidelines appear to be in response to the furor generated by the strip-search of Child Q in 2020. Training on ‘adultification bias’ is a paltry response to the seriousness of this case. The strip-search of children is a form of sexual assault, and this was a missed opportunity to ban the practice for good,” the spokesperson said.
The statement from Black Lives Matter UK also cautioned that more still needs to be done to protect children from police misconduct.
“Four years on, Child Q is still haunted by her experience with the police. The IOPC’s new package will not prevent future traumatization of children through strip-search. Rather, half-measures like this still leave space for police to make so-called mistakes, which can traumatize children for life.”
