A white woman in New York is facing a criminal charge for calling 911 on a black man after he asked her to leash her dog in Central Park. Amy Cooper, who was shown calling police in a viral video, is accused of filing a false report, punishable by up to one year in jail. Ms Cooper lost her job and dog after the incident, and publicly apologised.

Video of the exchange shows Ms Cooper claiming that the black man, who was bird watching, threatened her.

The incident occurred on 25 May, the same day that unarmed African-American man George Floyd died in police custody, triggering weeks of national and global anti-racism protests. “Today our office initiated a prosecution of Amy Cooper for falsely reporting an incident in the third degree,” said Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance on Monday. “We are strongly committed to holding perpetrators of this conduct accountable,” Mr Vance said. He also encouraged “anyone who has been the target of false reporting” to contact the district attorney’s office.(BBC)…[+]

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have spoken to young leaders about equal rights – with Harry saying the wrongs of the past need to be acknowledged. Prince Harry and Meghan dialled into the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust weekly video call, which focused on responding to the Black Lives Matter movement.

Harry, president of the QCT, told them: “There is no turning back now, everything is coming to a head.” His wife Meghan added that equality is a fundamental human right. The duchess, vice president of QCT, said on the call: “We’re going to have to be a little uncomfortable right now, because it’s only in pushing through that discomfort that we get to the other side of this and find the place where a high tide raises all ships. “Equality does not put anyone on the back foot, it puts us all on the same footing – which is a fundamental human right.”(BBC)…[+]