Another year, another UN vote to end U.S. blockade against Cuba
UNITED NATIONS (FinalCall.com) - A majority of the 193-member UN General Assembly voted to demand an end to the U.S.-led Cuba blockade for 23rd consecutive year as the Caribbean nation's foreign minister reported that the embargo has cost the Cuban economy more than $1 trillion. Speaking before the vote, Russian ambassador Vitaly I. Churkin said a swift lifting of the...
Sister saviours take Jamaica by storm
By Charlene Muhammad CHARLENEM KINGSTON, Jamaica (FinalCall.com) - The scripture says that God will send saviours after his people and a host of Muslim women and girls as young as 11-years-old went into the streets of Jamaica's capital to serve and to save people. As one of the buses carrying about two dozen Muslim sisters pulled out of the Pegasus Hotel, the excited...
UN votes to keep troops in Haiti as cholera case heads to court
By Saeed Shabazz -Staff Writer- UNITED NATIONS (FinalCall.com) - By a 15-0 vote the UN Security Council continued its military presence in Haiti which began in 2004. Reaffirming that Haiti was at an “important juncture” in the consolidation of stability and democracy, the Security Council extended the mandate of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) until October 15, 2015 at...
African leaders focus on unity, peace and prosperity during UN debate
By Saeed Shabazz-Staff Writer- UNITED NATIONS - The president of the 69th session of the UN General Assembly, Ambassador Sam Kahamba Kutesa from Uganda, spoke before the first African leader took the podium. He said the leaders would present positive visions for the next 50 years for a continent that has great problems and great potential. Africa is “emerging from the long...
Using UN resolution to bomb in Syria is illegal, say human rights activists opposed to air strikes
By Saeed Shabazz -Staff Writer- United Nations (FinalCall.com) - President Barack Obama came to the world body in New York asking for a global support of his own war on terror, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, known as ISIL and ISIS, and a rubber stamp for military action already underway. He got what he asked for. “The terrorist group known as...
Taking to the streets to free ‘The Cuban ‘
FCN Full Coverage: The 'Cuban 5' NEW YORK (FinalCall.com) - The men known as ‘The Cuban 5', Fernando Hernandez, Ramon Labanino Salazar, Renee Gonzalez, Antonio Guerrero and Gerardo Hernandez, were arrested on September 12, 1998 and convicted on June 8, 2001 in a Miami, Florida federal court on charges to commit espionage and threatening United States national security. The “Month of...
U.S. Ground Troops Possible in Anti-ISIS Battle
JIM.LOBE WASHINGTON (IPS) - U.S. combat troops may be deployed against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) if the strategy announced by President Barack Obama last week fails to make substantial progress against the radical Sunni group, Washington's top military officer warned. The statement by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, delivered during...
U.S. Foreign Policy: What is the greatest threat of them all?
JIM.LOBE WASHINGTON (IPS)–The June stunning campaign by Sunni insurgents led by the radical Islamic State of Syria and the Levant (ISIL) against the mainly Shi'a government of Iraqi President Nouri al-Maliki is stoking a growing debate here about the hierarchy of threats facing the United States in the Middle East and beyond. On one side, many foreign policy “realists” have...
UN warns: Iraq and her children face humanitarian crisis
UNITED NATIONS (FinalCall.com) - Senior United Nations officials have expressed “deep concern” about the humanitarian situation of an estimated one million people displaced so far in 2014 in Iraq, particularly children, who are reportedly being recruited and used by militias on all sides. “We have received worrisome information that children are taking part in hostilities,” said Leila Zerrougui, the special...
Palestinians gaining support for actions to join international community
By Saeed Shabazz-Staff Writer- UNITED NATIONS (FinalCall.com) - The Palestinian Authority presented UN officials the necessary documents to join 15 international conventions including Geneva Conventions and other important human rights treaties. If granted, it provides ordinary Palestinians with essential legal protections against discrimination or abuses by their own government according to the UN. In global terms, it will also increase...