Thai police use water cannon against protest outside parliament
Riot police in Thailand have used water cannons to disperse protesters trying to cut their way through razor wire hurdles outside the parliament in Bangkok as legislators debated a possible revision of the constitution. Police forces set up barricades outside the parliament building on Nov. 17 after hundreds of royalists earlier staged demonstrations to call on lawmakers not to amend...
Rape, abuses in palm oil fields linked to top beauty brands
SUMATRA, Indonesia—With his hand clamped tightly over her mouth, she could not scream, the 16-year-old girl recalls— and no one was around to hear her anyway. She describes how her boss raped her amid the tall trees on an Indonesian palm oil plantation that feeds into some of the world’s best-known cosmetic brands. He then put an ax to...
Spain opens 2nd migrant camp on overrun Gran Canaria island
BARCELONA, Spain—Spain’s government is scrambling to manage the steady stream of migrants to its Canary Islands from West Africa by opening a second holding camp, officials said Nov. 18, as political tensions rise in the Atlantic archipelago. The establishment of a second temporary migrant processing center on the island of Gran Canaria comes amid increasing criticism from local authorities and...
Cash-strapped African countries face pain from foreign interest obligations
(GIN)—Foreign investors who plied African countries with huge loans despite obvious difficulties for repayment got some bad news recently. The government of Zambia announced it missed a Nov. 13 deadline to repay $42.5 million in interest to Eurobond holders after the investors rejected a six-month delay sought by Zambia to pay up. This could set a precedent, lenders fear. Zambia has...
UN releases $100 million to guard against famine
The United Nations released $100 million of emergency funding on Nov. 17 to stave off the risk of famine in seven countries most at risk from a hunger epidemic fueled by conflict, economic decline, climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic. Mark Lowcock, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said $80 million would be split between Afghanistan, Burkina...
An African Giant Passes Remembering Ghana’s President Jerry John Rawlings
Another African tree has fallen with the death of former President Jerry John Rawlings, 73, who led Ghana’s successful transition to a stable democracy from military rule. “It is with great sadness that I announce to the nation that the first president of the Fourth Republic, His Excellency Jerry John Rawlings, has joined his ancestors,” said Ghana President Nana Addo...
EndSARS movement born out of young Nigerians’ outrage against police brutality
“For people who are not familiar with the histories of (global) policing and even just youth struggles, political struggles in Nigeria, the #EndSARS uprising may have come by surprise. The narrative in the U.S. about policing and police brutality (at the root of which is) White supremacy and racism … to be the same really in the largest Black...
Covid-19: Slow road to jobs recovery for Latin America and the Caribbean
The labor market in Latin America and the Caribbean faces a slow recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic, highlighting the need for “active macro policies” and other measures to promote sustainable development alongside getting people back into the workforce. That is the main finding of a joint report published on Nov. 10 by the UN’s Economic Commission for the region, ECLAC, and...
Blacks and Whites clash at South African school incident
JOHANNESBURG—South African president Cyril Ramaphosa has called for restraint Nov. 10 following clashes at an anti-racism protest outside a school in Cape Town. Members of the leftist opposition party Economic Freedom Fighters protested in front of the Brackenfell High School over allegations that a school graduation event was attended only by White pupils. The protest turned violent when the Black demonstrators...
UN refugee agency: Keep borders open for fleeing Ethiopians
The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Nov. 11 that it is working with Sudanese authorities to help more than 7,000 refugees who have fled Ethiopia over the past two days, following major clashes in the Tigray region of the country. The Office of UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and local authorities are screening and registering people arriving in...