Honduras investigates murders of indigenous leaders
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras—Honduran authorities said Dec. 30 they are investigating the murders of two activists and Indigenous leaders killed in separate incidents. Felix Vasquez, a longtime environmental activist from the Lenca indigenous group, was shot by masked men in front of relatives Dec. 26 in his home in Santiago de Puringla. On Dec. 27, Jose Adan Medina was found shot to death...
Investigative reporting details massacres, reign of terror by U.S.-backed death squads in Afghanistan
By Brett Wilkins, CommonDreams.org The Americans, said the head of one provincial government, ‘step on all the rules of war, human rights, all the things they said they’d bring to Afghanistan,’ and are ‘conducting themselves as terrorists.’ An extraordinary investigation by Australian journalist Andrew Quilty published Dec. 18 by The Intercept reveals U.S.-backed Afghan government paramilitary death squads have been waging a campaign of terror...
Global chaos, confusion and uncertainty
When Bob Marley sang the prophetic “So Much Trouble in the World” in 1979, the lyrics are just as prophetic for 2020. As the year concludes, the United States has a new regime, and lingering trouble on the world stage. Although incoming President Joseph Biden is espousing an “America must lead again” position, contrasting his predecessor Donald J. Trump’s “America...
Khalifa Haftar threatens to target Turkish forces in Libya
Libya’s strongman Khalifa Haftar has threatened to target Turkish forces, who have been deployed to Libya to support the UN-recognized government in the face of foreign actors like France, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Mr. Haftar described Turkey as “the colonizing enemy” who has to “leave peacefully or to be driven out by force.” The Turkish parliament recently ratified a motion to extend troop...
UK and EU reach post-Brexit trade agreement
BRUSSELS—Just a week before the deadline, Britain and the European Union struck a free-trade deal Dec. 24 that should avert economic chaos on New Year’s and bring a measure of certainty for businesses after years of Brexit turmoil. Once ratified by both sides, the agreement will ensure Britain and the 27-nation bloc can continue to trade in goods without tariffs...
Dozens detained in Armenia during anti-government protests
YEREVAN, Armenia—Police in the Armenian capital detained dozens of people on Dec. 25 during protests against the country’s prime minister, who is being pressured to resign over his handling of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with Azerbaijan. Opposition politicians and their supporters have been demanding for weeks that Nikol Pashinyan step down over the Nov. 10 peace deal that saw Azerbaijan reclaim...
Activists call for end to recruitment of Canadian citizens by Israeli army
Human rights activists have called for an end to the recruitment of Canadian citizens by the Israeli military, which is against the laws of Canada. These activists maintain that this measure by the Israeli army is in violation of the Foreign Enlistment Act, which prohibits the recruitment of Canadian citizens by foreigners. According to the reports by the Israeli army, hundreds of Canadian citizens have joined the Israeli military...
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Thousands of migrants lose shelter, after camp destroyed in fire
The closure and subsequent fire, on Dec. 23, at a migrant camp in Bosnia and Herzegovina has left thousands of migrants without shelter and protection, amid plummeting winter temperatures, the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) has reported. Nearly all infrastructure at the Lipa Emergency Tent Camp, which housed about 1,400 migrants, has been destroyed or badly damaged. This number...
Kashmir parties opposed to Modi win seats in local polls
SRINAGAR, India—An alliance of political parties opposed to India’s policies in Kashmir has won a majority of seats in local elections, the first since New Delhi revoked the disputed region’s semiautonomous status and took direct control last year. The alliance, which is pro-India but favors self-governance in Kashmir, won 112 out of a total of 280 seats in District Development...
Growing movement demands return of cultural art, artifacts
Two-years-ago, a study, “The Restitution of African Cultural Heritage,” found at least 90 percent of Sub-Saharan Africa’s cultural legacy remains preserved outside of the African continent. “Whereas many other regions of the world represented in Western Museum collections are still about to hold on to a significant portion of their own cultural and artistic heritage, this is not the case...