World
U.S. military explosives vanish, emerge in civilian world
The Marine Corps demolition specialist was worried—about America, and about the civil war he feared would follow the presidential election. And so, block by block, he stole 13 pounds (6 kilograms) of C4 plastic explosives from the training ranges of Camp Lejeune. “The riots, talk about seizing guns, I saw this country moving towards a scary unknown future,” the sergeant would...
UK panel asks govt to scrap plan to turn back migrant boats
LONDON—A UK parliamentary committee on Dec. 1 criticized government plans to deter migrants and refugees from trying to reach Britain in small boats, saying the measures would endanger lives without stopping dangerous journeys across the English Channel like the one that killed 27 people in late November. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has proposed legislation that would give authorities patrolling the Channel...
University of Cape Town students cited for innovated business
(GIN)—Three female students at the University of Cape Town won intervarsity recognition as top student entrepreneurs after a two-day national final in Johannesburg recently. Among the winners was Zimbabwe-born Chido Dzinotyiwei, founder of Vambo Academy, an educational technology platform that uses digital resources to offer language learning, translation and knowledge services. “We want to democratize access to indigenous language learning and...
Moroccans take to streets, call for end to Rabat’s normalization with Israel
Anger and resentment is brewing in Morocco against the butchers of the Palestinian children and those normalizing the savagery in the garb of lucrative military deals. Demonstrators in late November took to the streets in several cities across Morocco to protest Rabat’s normalization of ties with the Israeli regime and recent military agreements signed between the two sides. Moroccans, including activists and ordinary people,...
Poverty and violence push 378,000 Central Americans North each year
For the past five years, poverty, food insecurity, climate shocks and violence have pushed, on average, some 378,000 Central Americans a year into the United States, according to a new report launched on Nov. 30 by the UN food relief agency. A joint report published by the World Food Program (WFP), Migration Policy Institute (MPI), and Civic Data Design Lab...
UN Refugee Agency concerned about indigenous Venezuelans in Guyana
One meal a day, no shelter, and no drinking water are only some of the difficult living conditions that indigenous Warao families from Venezuela are facing in remote locations across Guyana, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has warned. More humanitarian presence and support from the international community is needed, said Philippa Candler, UNHCR’s Multi-Country Office Representative in Panama, speaking to journalists in Geneva in late November. An estimated 24,500 refugees...
U.S. removes Colombia’s FARC from terrorism list
The U.S. has removed the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), a former rebel group, from its list of terrorist organizations, five years after the group reached a peace deal with the government in Bogota. “The Department of State is revoking the designations of the Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FT),” U.S. Secretary of State Antony...
In first U.S. labeled ‘backsliding’ democracy as global authoritarianism grows
A new report calls the rejection of the 2020 election results by many in the Republican Party as an ‘historic turning point’ for the United States. By Julia Conley, CommonDreams.org For the first time in its four years of compiling annual data on the state of democracy around the world, an international think tank added the United States to its list...
At the top of U.S. official’s Africa agenda: Ethiopia, Sudan and concerns about China
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s recent Africa visit, which included Kenya, Nigeria, and Senegal, appeared a lackluster response to U.S. President Biden’s talk of returning Africa to a place of prominence in Washington foreign policy. A Blinken’s speech, given during the second leg of his visit in Nigeria, was referred to as a major Africa policy speech. He said President...
Exclusive: IAEA chief hails ‘very constructive’ talks with Iran officials
The United Nations nuclear watchdog’s chief says he has held “very constructive” talks with Iranian officials as part of an ongoing visit to the Islamic Republic. “We’ve been having a long day of discussions, talks, and negotiations” with Iranian officials, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi told Press TV in an exclusive interview on Nov....