activist

Joe McDonald, lead singer and songwriter of Country Joe and the Fish — the band known for its resounding anti-war chant at Woodstock — has died. He was 84.

His wife, Kathy McDonald, announced his death Sunday morning. He died Saturday in his Berkeley home due to complications from Parkinson’s disease.

As a formative member of the American counterculture in the 1960s and ‘70s, McDonald leaves a legacy of bridging contemporary political satire and brazen anti-war sentiments with the early sounds of acid rock.

“We’re just so proud of him. He’s our hero. He instilled in us that we have to speak up when we can, on whatever platform we can, about issues that we feel are important,” said his daughter Seven McDonald, a film producer, music manager and writer.

“While he was a very serious, earnest activist, he also had such an acute sense of cynical humor that is so fantastic and was capable of scathing satire,” her brother Devin added. “He’s most famous for that, but he also did so many heartfelt benefits for different causes.”

The siblings, who spent their childhoods on the road and in recording studios with him, joke that he was always doing a benefit show.

The musician was born on Jan. 1, 1942, in Washington to Worden McDonald and activist Florence (Plotnik) McDonald, who were both members of the Communist Party. The family soon moved to the Southern California city of El Monte, where Joe McDonald was raised.

His musical roots reach back to when his father taught him to play the guitar at 7 years old. But before embarking on his career in music, McDonald enlisted in the Navy at age 17. He served as an air traffic controller at the Atsugi, Japan, air facility for three years. Upon coming back to the states, he tried out college for a short time before dropping out and moving to Berkeley.

Before experimenting with an early variation of Country Joe and the Fish alongside guitarist Barry Melton in the mid-1960s, McDonald started a small magazine called Rag Baby. Once the group was solidified, they decided to turn their folksy roots electric and made the move to San Francisco — just before the city’s legendary Summer of Love.

The group, born out of the Bay Area psychedelic rock scene, was soon signed by Vanguard Records and in 1967 released its debut album “Electric Music for the Mind and Body.” At the time the band’s label and producer were hesitant to let the musicians fully express their politics, and excluded the soon-to-be-hit anti-war anthem “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die Rag” with the catchy chorus that began, “And it’s 1, 2, 3 what are we fighting for?”

Instead, they went with tracks like “Superbird,” a spoof of President Lyndon B. Johnson, which received little to no backlash. When the second album came around, the band was allowed to run with “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die Rag” as the title track. Trouble started to arise with the anti-Vietnam war anthem when the group changed the beginning chant of F-I-S-H to a more profane four letter word that starts with an “F.”

They performed this altered cheer at a gig in Massachusetts, where McDonald received a charge for inciting an audience to lewd behavior and a $500 fine. With this police run-in, Country Joe and the Fish received a slew of press, riling up the public ahead of their Woodstock performance.

The moment the band members began this chant at Woodstock became arguably the biggest moment of their careers, with over 400,000 people joining in. It’s a moment of protest that has gone down in history.

Not long after the festival, the band went their separate ways. McDonald continued to release solo music that stuck with the similar themes of politics and the Vietnam War.

“He took the toll for taking the stand,” said Seven. “He was not the biggest pop star, because he just opted to speak his mind and do his thing.”

In 1986, McDonald released “Vietnam Experience,” an album full of songs analyzing its long-term impacts on his generation. And in 1995 he was “the driving force” according to an Associated Press story, behind a war memorial to honor Berkeley veterans killed in the Vietnam War.

He told The Times in 1986 that he had “an addiction to Vietnam … I’ve been doing work with veterans now for 15 years, and I probably know more about Vietnam veterans than any other person in the entertainment industry.”

“I’ve always believed that the veterans are a basic element to the understanding of war,” he added, “and the understanding of war is the only path to peace.”

McDonald is survived by his wife of 43 years, Kathy; his five children, Seven, Devin, Ryan, Tara Taylor and Emily; a brother, Billy; and four grandchildren.

Pro-Palestinian German activist Yasemin Acar told Al Jazeera about what she says was harassment at a Berlin airport where she recorded a border guard asking about her destination because of concerns over “hostility towards Israel”.

The killing of prominent Iraqi women’s rights activist Yanar Mohammed has fuelled an outpouring of grief and calls for justice, with advocates from around the world remembering Mohammed as a “courageous” voice.

Mohammed, 66, was killed earlier this week after unidentified gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire outside her home in the north of Iraq’s capital, Baghdad.

“Despite being rushed to the hospital and attempts to save her life, she succumbed to her wounds,” the Organisation of Women’s Freedom in Iraq, a group that Mohammed co-founded, said in a statement shared on social media.

“We at the Organisation for Women’s Freedom in Iraq condemn in the strongest terms this cowardly terrorist crime, which we consider a direct attack on the feminist struggle and the values of freedom and equality.”

Several international rights groups also condemned Mohammed’s killing, with Amnesty International on Wednesday decrying the deadly attack as “brutal” and “a calculated assault to stifle human rights defenders, especially those defending women’s rights”.

The organisation, which said Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al‑Sudani ordered an investigation into the killing, also called on the Iraqi authorities to ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice.

“Yanar Mohammed … dedicated her life to defending women’s rights,” Amnesty’s Iraq researcher, Razaw Salihy, said in a statement. “The Iraqi authorities must stop this pattern of targeted attacks in their tracks, and take seriously the sustained smear campaigns designed to discredit and endanger activists.”

Mohammed was one of Iraq’s most prominent women’s rights activists, working since the early 2000s “to protect women facing gender-based violence, including domestic abuse, trafficking, and so-called ‘honour killings’”, Front Line Defenders said.

Her work included the establishment of safe houses, which sheltered hundreds of women experiencing exploitation and abuse.

In a 2022 interview with Al Jazeera, Mohammed described her organisation’s efforts to support Iraqi women who survived violence at the hands of ISIS (ISIL), which had seized control of large swathes of the country.

“Muslim-Arab women who were enslaved by ISIL and have not found a place to go back to, they are still living in the shadows of the society,” she said at the time.

“Not less than 10,000 women were the victims of ISIL attack[s], and this femicide is not really acknowledged by the international community or dealt with in a way that keeps the dignity or the respect [of], or compensates, those who were the victims.”

Years of threats

Mohammed had been the target of death threats for decades, “aimed at dissuading her from defending women’s rights”, Front Line Defenders said. “Yet she remained defiant in the face of threats from ISIS and other armed groups.”

In 2016, she was awarded the Rafto Prize “for her tireless work for women’s rights in Iraq under extremely challenging conditions”.

The Rafto Foundation, the Norway-based nonprofit group that administers the award, said it was “deeply shaken” by her killing. “We are deeply shocked by this brutal attack on one of the most courageous human rights defenders of our time,” the foundation said in a statement.

“The assassination represents not only an attack on Yanar Mohammed as a person, but also on the fundamental values she dedicated her life to defending: women’s freedom, democracy, and universal human rights.”

Other activists and human rights groups also paid tribute to Mohammed this week, with Human Rights Watch describing her as “one of Iraq’s most courageous advocates for women’s rights” for more than two decades.

“Yanar was a dear colleague and friend to so many of us in the women’s rights and feminist community, one of our icons. She spent her life standing up for women’s rights in the most dangerous environment,” said Agnes Callamard, secretary-general of Amnesty International.

“She faced constant threats, but she never stopped. And today we cry and mourn her energy, her commitment, her profound humanity, her amazing courage.”

SINNERS star Delroy Lindo said he appreciates the “love and support” he has received after the N-word was shouted while he was on stage at last week’s Baftas.

The 73-year-old actor and co-star Michael B Jordan were presenting an award when Tourette’s sufferer John Davidson involuntarily blurted out the racial slur.

Lindo addressed the controversy while on stage at the NAACP Image Awards in California on Saturday.

The British-born actor said: “We appreciate – I appreciate – all of the support and love we have been shown in the aftermath of what happened last weekend, it means a lot to us.

“It is an honour to be here amongst our people this evening, amongst so many people who have shown us such incredible support.

“And it’s a classic case of something that could’ve been very negative becoming very positive.

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“Thank you so much for the support.”

Lindo praised the ceremony as “a room where being fully seen is not rare, but it is expected”.

Campaigner John said he was “deeply mortified” by what happened.

Jordan and Lindo were acknowledged by actress Regina Hall as she presented the first award of the night.

Hall, best known for appearing in the Scary Movie franchise, said: “I just want to take a moment to the two kings who are in this audience and just send you so much love for your class.”

The 57th NAACP Image Awards were held in Pasadena and hosted by actor and comedian Deon Cole.

Cole took aim at the Bafta incident, joking: “If there are any white men out here in the audience with Tourette’s, I advise you to tell them they can read the room tonight.”

Robinson is notorious in the UK where he has been accused of promoting hatred against Muslims and organising mass anti-migrant protests.

British far-right activist Tommy Robinson says he visited the United States Department of State as part of a recent trip to Washington, DC, where he was welcomed by government officials and supporters of the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement.

“In America making alliances & friendships, today I had the privilege of an invite to the @StateDept,” Robinson posted on X on Wednesday, alongside a photo of himself next to a US flag.

Robinson is a household name in the UK, notorious for his anti-Muslim rhetoric and multiple prison terms. He was also a cofounder of the now-defunct far-right English Defence League – a street protest movement.

US State Department official Joe Rittenhouse, who is a senior adviser for the department’s Consular Affairs bureau, said he met with Robinson, calling him a “free speech warrior”.

“Honored to have free speech warrior @TRobinsonNewEra at Department of State today. The World and the West is a better place when we fight for freedom of speech and no one has been on the front lines more than Tommy. Good to see you my friend!” Rittenhouse said in an X post.

Rittenhouse posted photos of what appeared to be Robinson touring the State Department.

The State Department did not answer questions from the Reuters news agency on who else Robinson met, what was discussed and what the objective of his visit was.

A representative for the United Kingdom’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.

Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, has become an icon for British nationalists and one of the UK’s most high-profile anti-migration campaigners, organising a large rally last September in London attended by about 150,000 people.

Social media posts show that during his trip to Washington, Robinson also met far-right US influencer Jack Posobiec and filmed a video with Congressman Randy Fine, a Republican from Florida, who has a history of anti-Muslim rhetoric. Robinson said on X that he will next travel to Florida.

Robinson’s visit to the US State Department follows a surge in support from the administration of President Donald Trump for far-right activists in the UK and Europe under the pretext of protecting “free speech”.

In December, the Trump administration accused Europe of engaging in “civilisational erasure” due to demographic and cultural changes from what Washington has described as weak immigration policies.

US Vice President JD Vance took aim at European countries during his first international trip last year, accusing the region’s leaders of stifling free speech – particularly voices from the far right – and being lax on migration to the detriment of their societies.

“No voter on this continent went to the ballot box to open the floodgates to millions of unvetted immigrants,” Vance said in remarks that shocked European leaders.

The UK and European countries have stronger rules on hate speech than the US, and the European Union has taken a proactive stance on regulating social media and internet content – positions that have angered the White House.

Robinson was banned from Twitter in 2018, but his account was restored in 2022 following its acquisition by Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX.

Environment group says FBI is visiting climate activists’ homes as Trump administration rolls back pollution protections.

Environmental group Extinction Rebellion has said that climate change activists associated with the group are being investigated by the Trump administration, which is also openly working to roll back environmental protections in the United States.

The group’s New York chapter said that at least seven of its activists have been visited by FBI agents since Trump’s second term began last year, including one person who had two special agents from the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force come to their home on February 6.

The Department of Justice also opened an investigation into the environmental group Climate Defiance earlier this month in response to what Extinction Rebellion said was a “viral peaceful protest”.

“Trump is weaponising the DOJ to attack peaceful protesters in order to appease a multi-trillion dollar fossil fuel industry that got him elected,” Extinction Rebellion’s New York chapter said in a statement shared on Instagram.

“We can only assume that they are feeling threatened by our movement,” the statement added.

Known as XR, the activist group garnered media attention worldwide through disruption, hitting roads, airports and other public transport networks with direct action protests against climate change in major cities.

The environmental group’s global website says it is a “decentralised, international and politically non-partisan movement using non-violent direct action and civil disobedience to persuade governments to act justly” on the climate emergency.

Activist Greta Thunberg has previously attended actions organised by the group.

‘The single largest deregulatory action in American history’

According to the natural resource monitoring group Global Witness, fossil fuel companies, including Chevron and Exxon, donated $19m to President Donald Trump’s inaugural fund last year, representing 7.8 percent of the total amount raised. A number of fossil fuel companies also donated to Trump’s re-election campaign.

Trump, who has called climate change a “hoax” and a “con job”, has taken several steps to fulfil his campaign promise to “drill, baby, drill” as president, including expanding oil extraction in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

The Trump administration also recently revoked a 2009 government declaration known as the “endangerment finding”, which has been used as the legal basis for regulating pollution under the Clean Air Act, which was originally adopted in 1963.

Trump, who described the endangerment finding as “one of the greatest scams in history”, has claimed that repealing it was “the single largest deregulatory action in American history, by far”.

The move has prompted alarm from environmental and health groups, more than a dozen of which filed a lawsuit on Wednesday over the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to withdraw the endangerment finding, saying removing it will lead to “more pollution, higher costs, and thousands of avoidable deaths”.