Migrant death toll increases on Atlantic route to Europe
MADRID—At least 11 people are feared dead after another boat crossing the Atlantic Ocean to get from North Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands became a trap for migrants trying to reach European territory, Spanish authorities and activists reported Aug. 31. The Spanish government’s delegation in the Canary Islands said rescuers retrieved 32 survivors and one body overnight from a rubber boat in...
UN expert criticizes boycott of Durban Process against racism, calls for action
An independent UN expert in late October, strongly criticized countries which continue to boycott the 20-year-old Durban Declaration against racism and called on them to recommit to combatting discrimination and intolerance, in line with the landmark conference which took place in the South African city, in 2001. Two decades after Durban, Tendayi Achiume special rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial...
Rights experts hear how ‘racialized gate keeping’ impacts development in France
France should consider the economic and development benefits of partnership with people of African descent, the head of a Working Group appointed by the UN Human Rights Council said in a statement on Dec. 27. Dominique Day, chairperson of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, was speaking in the wake of its visit to Paris from...
On the brink of WW III? Rising fear of U.S.-Russia conflict in Europe
Fear of major war erupting in Europe and a possible third World War came as Russian President Vladimir Putin declared two breakaway enclaves in neighboring Ukraine independent, ordering “peacekeeping” troops into the area. The West called his act a violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty. His action left United States and European allies scrambling for a response at Final Call presstime. But...
UN highlights human cost of Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade
The United Nations on March 29 remembered the horrors of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and its continued impact on the modern world, by honoring the tradition of resistance to slavery and unity against racism, through personal stories of courage. In a commemorative event in the General Assembly Hall that included remarks from Member States from around the world, top UN officials denounced racism...
Germans fail to pay up for sacking Namibia’s indigenous lands
(GIN)—Reparations, a system of redress for egregious injustices, are not a foreign idea imposed from the outside of the United States. On the contrary, the U.S. has given lands to Native Americans, paid $1.5 billion to Japanese Americans interned in the U.S. during World War II, and helped Jews receive reparations for the Holocaust, including making various investments over...
Indigenous demonstrations in Ecuador continue
Thousands of Indigenous Ecuadorians have converged on the capital Quito in intensifying protests against soaring fuel prices. Indigenous people and members of other disgruntled groups began a peaceful demonstration towards the city center starting from the South of the capital, with hundreds joining from the North of Quito. The popular Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie) called for setting minimum prices...
Hate crimes against Muslims in Canada jump by 71 percent: Study
Hate crimes against Muslims across Canada jumped by 71 percent in 2021, according to a newly released report by the government agency Statistics Canada. Released on Aug. 9, the study found that the number of recorded attacks against Muslims increased from 84 incidents in 2020 to 144 in 2021. In 2019, a total of 182 incidents targeting Muslims had been...
Japan and China mark 50-year ties
TOKYO—Japan and China marked the 50th anniversary of normalization of their ties September 29 as their leaders Fumio Kishida and Xi Jinping stressed the importance of their strengthened relationship over the decades, though they still face difficulties. On Sept. 29, 1972, then-Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka and Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai signed a communique normalizing their ties and pledging peace and friendship....
Brazil expels U.S. fishing tour company from Indigenous land
RIO DE JANEIRO—Federal courts in Brazil have ordered a New Jersey-based fishing tourism company to leave a remote Indigenous area of the Amazon after prosecutors filed charges of operating without government authorization and manipulating Indigenous people, which is illegal in the country. The Attorney General’s office in Santarem alleged in the civil lawsuit that the company Acute Angling invaded an...