World
Myanmar: Increasing evidence of crimes against humanity since coup
Crimes against humanity and war crimes have intensified in the wake of the February 2021 military coup in Myanmar, the UN Human Rights Council heard on Sept. 11. The Geneva-based body was briefed by Nicholas Koumjian, head of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM), who presented its latest report. The Mechanism was established by the Council to collect and preserve evidence of...
UK police violence: Thousands protest in London over police killing of Black man
Thousands of people gathered in London as protests erupted over killing of a Black man, who was shot dead by a Metropolitan Police firearms officer while he was unarmed in a car. Demonstrators gathered at the Parliament Square before marching along Whitehall and then on to Scotland Yard. They chanted “Who killed Chris Kaba?” “Police killed Chris Kaba” and “Say his name: Chris Kaba.” Some...
European powers snub Africa at climate control summit
Backed into a corner, African leaders have publicly come out swinging. Or should this opening salvo say: Seeing the fate of Africa being at stake African leaders issued “harsh words” to their former colonial masters. According to Senegalese President and African Union chief Macky Sall, the European powers “have not just put the fate of Africa … at stake...
Mixed feelings and controversy looms over UN Uyghur Report
The Peoples Republic of China is the focus of criticism by human rights defenders accusing the regime of genocidal practices, ethnic cleansing, crackdowns, and forced disappearances of Uyghur Muslims and other ethnic minority groups in its northwest Xinjiang region. A United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recent report said credible evidence of serious rights...
Tension rises as Turkey, Greece voice festering grievances
ISTANBUL—Troubled relations between regional rivals Turkey and Greece worsened on Sept. 6, with Turkey’s president doubling down on a thinly veiled invasion threat and Athens responding that it’s ready to defend its sovereignty. Turkey and Greece have decades-old disputes over an array of issues, including territorial claims in the Aegean Sea and disagreements over the airspace there. The friction between...
Biden administration’s military action in Africa shows U.S. footprint still there
The latest iteration of “scramble for Africa” by foreign interests, is not only being seen in the number of countries involved, but with the U.S. military strategies utilized. The United States African Command (U.S. Africom) is pushing military might as seen in the August return of its annual Senior Enlisted Leader conference in which NATO participated. According to several...
Only one in seven Britons say Truss will be better than Johnson, poll reveals
More than a quarter of people in the UK believe the new Prime Minister Liz Truss will be worse than her predecessor Boris Johnson, according to a new poll, showing overwhelming dissatisfaction among Britons with the Tory leadership. According to the results of a snap poll, published by YouGov on Sept. 5, only one in seven people in the country...
Papua, New Guinea: Conflict and election-related violence trigger wave of displacement
Following conflict and election-related violence in Papua, New Guinea, more than 15,000 people have been internally displaced in Hela, Southern Highlands and Enga provinces, the International Organization for Migration´s (IOM) said on Sept. 6. From August 13 to 30, IOM partnered with local authorities in deploying its Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) team to track and monitor internal displacement and identify the needs...
One third of Gaza Strip population in need of psychological and social support
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has reported an increase in the levels of mental disorders amongst the population of the Gaza Strip, especially among children, many of whom were already in need of mental health services and psychosocial support. Over three violent days in early August, until a ceasefire was reached on August 7, Israeli...
Minister Farrakhan’s historic Nigeria comments highlighted in Jay-Z verse
Ari Melber of MSNBC often makes references to rap lyrics during his broadcasts. In a recent segment he talked about lyrics by businessman and hip hop artist Jay-Z. In his verse dropped in a new song, Jay-Z references a clip from a 1996 CBS “60 Minutes” interview of Mike Wallace and the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan that in my...