News

Over 1 billion Hindus will today be celebrating the birth of the religious deity, Krishna. Based on scripture and astrological estimations, Krishna's year of birth, in the northern Indian town of Mathura was 3228 BC.

Acid Attacks are very common in many countries around the world, especially India. These horrendous attacks on woman are mostly done by perpetrators who want to strip woman of their dignity and identity.

However Rupa, a victim of an acid attack back in 2008 proved them wrong. Rupa and her friends have been hiding their scars for years, but now have come forward together bravely, to show the world that there's nothing to be ashamed of. Rupa, 22, said:

Idris Elba, Parminder Nagra, Archie Panjabi, Adrien Lester, Chiwetal Ejiofor, Eamonn Walker. Al successful British Black actors yes, but what else do they all have in common?

The answer is that they emigrated to the US to make a career for themselves because of the dearth of opportunities that were presented to them on this side of the Channel.

Between them they’ve been nominated and/or have won Oscars, Emmys, Tonys and Golden Globes; all prestigious awards for those working on the stage, small screen and big screen.

Whomsoever despairs at how parts of our planet are imploding from ethno-religious war, take heart from the words of Faizullah Khan. He says:

We have another Jerusalem beyond Jerusalem. Hackney has a significant number of Jews living alongside Muslims living alongside Christians. Thank God we’ve got more peace in our Jerusalem.”

Since 2001 OBV has worked in the Criminal Justice system on many frontiers: holding Magistrates Shadowing schemes to nurture talent; promoting the recruitment of lay visitors to prisons to ensure justice is served; and visiting prisons to hold talks, panel debates and workshops with inmates.

After three years working away in US politics and in the UK Parliament, one of OBV’s founders Ashok Viswanathan has returned to the team.

For us here it was difficult to have Francine Fernanades leave due to ill health, but to prise Ashok away from the Westminster bubble back to where he began his political career is a real coup.

Today marks the anniversary of Independence for Chad. Human settlement in Chad existed in 7000BC and to this day it's areas are rich for archeological digging. Europeanisation came to Chad through violent French colonisation in 1900. By 1920 the French had full control of the area as part of French Equatorial Africa which included parts of Cameroon and the Congo as well as Gabon.

Mike Brown, an 18 year old US high school graduate has been shot dead in St Louis, Missouri after an encounter with a police officer. Police details of the incident - that an unarmed Brown had tried to capture the gun from the armed officer - were greeted with scepticism and bewilderment in Ferguson, the St Louis suburb of 20,000 people.