Thursday briefing: ​How the colonial legacy has created a toxic beauty industry

<p>In today’s newsletter: Doctors are sounding the alarm over a surge in cancers and irreversible skin damage linked to bleaching creams, as colourism continues to shape beauty ideals from Africa to Asia</p><p>Good morning. The slogan “black is beautiful” rang out from civil rights marches in the US and UK during the 1960s and echoed through liberation struggles across the global south. It became a rallying cry against racist beauty standards that had long cast Black skin, facial features and hair as undesirable.</p><p>These movements urged pride in what had been denigrated for centuries, and their message was not limited to people of African or Caribbean heritage. Calls to embrace natural beauty resonated across Asia and much of the global south, directly challenging the colonial belief that lighter skin conferred greater worth.</p><p><em><strong>Ukraine </strong></em>| Donald Trump <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/13/trump-assurances-europe-putin-ukraine-alaska-talks">told European leaders</a> on Wednesday he would be seeking a ceasefire in Ukraine at his summit with Vladimir Putin on Friday and gave reassurances that he would not make any territorial concessions without Kyiv’s full involvement.</p><p><em><strong>UK news </strong></em>| David Lammy has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/aug/13/david-lammy-watchdog-illegal-fishing-without-license-jd-vance">referred himself to the environment watchdog </a>after going fishing with JD Vance without the required licence during the US vice-president’s trip to the UK.</p><p><em><strong>Immigration </strong></em>| At least <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/13/lampedusa-boat-capsize-deaths-italy">20 people have died</a> after a boat capsized off the southern Italian island of Lampedusa, a United Nations agency and local media reported on Wednesday.</p><p><em><strong>UK politics </strong></em>| Keir Starmer is to formally <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/aug/13/labour-to-revive-northern-powerhouse-rail-project-trains">revive Northern Powerhouse Rail</a> this autumn with an announcement expected before the Labour conference.</p><p><em><strong>Palestine </strong></em>| The United Nations special rapporteur for the occupied territories has warned that moves to recognise a Palestinian state <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/13/palestinian-statehood-israel-gaza-francesca-albanese">should not distract member states</a> from stopping mass death and starvation in Gaza.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/14/thursday-briefing-how-the-colonial-legacy-has-created-a-toxic-beauty-industry">Continue reading...</a>