Latest Slavery News

South Korean court finds former lawmaker guilty of misusing funds meant for sexual slavery victims

Nov. 14, 2024 02:00 AM EST

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s Supreme Court on Thursday handed a suspended prison sentence to a former lawmaker who was found guilty of embezzling funds while leading a group supporting Korean survivors of Japan’s wartime sexual slavery. Yoon Meehyang, who was also...

Harriet Tubman posthumously named a general in Veterans Day ceremony

Nov. 11, 2024 17:46 PM EST

CHURCH CREEK, Md. (AP) — Revered abolitionist Harriet Tubman, who was the first woman to oversee an American military action during a time of war, was posthumously awarded the rank of general on Monday. Dozens gathered on Veterans Day at the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad...

At an art festival in Dakar, artists from both sides of the Atlantic examine the legacy of slavery

Nov. 08, 2024 11:46 AM EST

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — A whirlwind of color and art at the opening of this year's Dakar Biennale of Contemporary African Art in the Senegalese capital stood in stark contrast to the serious topic of slavery featuring in the artworks of guest artists from the United States. The U.S....

Nevada voted to make abortion a constitutional right. What to know about key ballot measures

Nov. 06, 2024 15:39 PM EST

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A ballot question to enshrine Nevada’s abortion rights in the state constitution has received its first nod of approval from voters, who must also approve the measure in 2026 in order to amend the constitution. The measure passed early Wednesday morning. ...

Britain's foreign secretary says slavery reparations not about cash transfer

Nov. 04, 2024 10:15 AM EST

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Britain’s foreign secretary said Monday that reparations for the U.K.'s role in the slave trade are not about the “transfer of cash” and reiterated his country's position that leans toward focusing on the future. There have been calls from some of...

Calls for reparations for Britain's slave trade are rooted in dark legacy

Oct. 25, 2024 12:56 PM EDT

LONDON (AP) — A debate about reparations for Britain’s role in the slave trade overshadowed a summit in Samoa of the Commonwealth, many of whose member nations were once British colonies. Britain insists it will not pay to make amends for the historic wrong, but both King Charles...

Altogether fitting and proper? Trump repeatedly compares himself to Abraham Lincoln

Oct. 25, 2024 12:04 PM EDT

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Four score and seven years from now, the mystic chords of memory may recall the way Donald Trump compared himself to Abraham Lincoln, lauded him one day and lambasted him the next. It is altogether fitting and proper that our descendants would examine why the 45th...

King Charles tells summit the past can't be changed as leaders ask Britain to reckon with slavery

Oct. 25, 2024 04:34 AM EDT

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — King Charles III told a summit of Commonwealth countries in Samoa on Friday that the past could not be changed as he indirectly acknowledged calls from some of Britain’s former colonies for a reckoning over its role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. ...

Voters in California and Nevada consider ban on forced labor aimed at protecting prisoners

Oct. 15, 2024 12:35 PM EDT

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California and Nevada voters will decide in November whether to ban forced prison labor by removing language from their state constitutions rooted in the legacy of chattel slavery. The measures aim to protect incarcerated people from being forced to work...

Sweden charges a woman with war crimes for allegedly torturing Yazidi women and children in Syria

Sep. 19, 2024 10:48 AM EDT

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Swedish authorities on Thursday charged a 52-year-old woman associated with the Islamic State group with genocide, crimes against humanity and serious war crimes against Yazidi women and children in Syria — the first such case on trial in the Scandinavian country. ...