HUMAN RIGHTS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The leader of Amnesty International said human rights movements are being galvanized globally by the actions of U.S. President Donald Trump. Kumi Naidoo, who took over as Amnesty’s secretary general last month, told The Associated Press in an interview that Trump administration policies have fueled campaigns on climate change, women’s equality and other issues that predated Trump’s presidency. The South African-born Naidoo, who formerly headed environmental group Greenpeace, identified climate change and authoritarian governments — what he described as a ‘slide toward fascism’ — as major threats to human rights and wellbeing globally…At the same time, Naidoo said he thinks the oversized attention the U.S. president attracts also helps moderate Trump’s disorienting influence. ‘If you look at Donald Trump, for example, he essentially has been the biggest mobilizer of the climate movement, the women’s movement, (and) people of color,’ Naidoo said. Trump, for example, has opposed U.S. participation in a landmark climate agreement. And his treatment of women also motivated his critics to organize worldwide demonstrations focus on women’s rights right after he took office.”
–Derek Gatopoulos and Theodora Tongas,” The Los Angeles Times, October 9, 2018 2:00 pm