Aboriginal leader says Australia’s voice referendum should be called off
An Australian senator of Aboriginal origin has said the country’s planned referendum on an Indigenous “voice” to parliament is just “window dressing” and should be called off. Lidia Thorpe, who is an independent Australian senator and one of the most prominent Aboriginal politicians, voiced her opposition to the proposal at the National Press Club in Sydney on August 16. “The voice is the...
More than 2,500 refugees dead, missing crossing the Mediterranean in 2023
More than 2,500 people have died or gone missing this year making the perilous journey across the Mediterranean Sea from Africa to Europe in 2023, according to the UN refugee agency. “By September 24, over 2,500 people were accounted as dead or missing in 2023 alone,” Ruven Menikdiwela, director of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told the UN...
Myanmar military orders civil servants, veterans to prepare for emergencies
Myanmar’s military rulers have ordered all government staff and those with military experience to prepare to serve in case of emergency after the junta reported “heavy assaults” in several places. On Nov. 16, Tin Maung Swe, administrative council secretary in Naypyitaw said, “If necessary, such a unit might be required to go out and serve for natural disasters, and security. “This is...
Rescuers race against time in search for survivors after powerful earthquake in Japan
SUZU, Japan—Japanese rescuers searched urgently through rubble for survivors on Jan. 3 ahead of predicted bitter cold and heavy rain in what the prime minister called a race against time after powerful earthquakes killed at least 73 people in western Japan. Fifteen people were listed as officially missing and possibly trapped under collapsed buildings. Ishikawa prefecture and nearby areas were shaken by more...
The U.S., Israel and Palestine
The more things change, the more they stay the same In an hour-plus State of the Union Address, President Joe Biden touched on a range of foreign affairs. He spoke on lawmakers providing more weaponry to Ukraine, the chaos of Russia and Ukraine affecting Europe and beyond, and after nearly one hour on domestic issues, he addressed the Middle East. “I...
Mandela’s visit to Libya raises questions about U.S. policy
Mr. Young, emcee of the glitzy fund-raising dinner honoring Dr. Dorothy Height, president of the National Council of Negro Women, at first seemed to echo official U.S. anger over the visit that week in Tripoli by Africa's most popular president with the African leader Americans most love to hate. Continuing, Mr. Young said he then realized that President Mandela's action-like...
African Union opens with plea for peace, economic development
AU ministers to chart role of Diaspora in Africa's growth (FCN, 05-28-2003)Birth of the African Union (FCN, 07-14-2002)The Birth of the African Union (Min. Louis Farrakhan, 07-24-2001) Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - The sixth ordinary session of the African Union (AU) summit opened in Khartoum on Monday, with African leaders expressing resolve to foster peace and economic development in the...
The Oil Factor: The loudest voice in Sudan’s referendum
(FinalCall.com) - Sudan's upcoming January 2011 referendum that will decide whether Southern Sudan secedes and forms a separate nation state seems plagued with the same confusion of tongues bestowed upon the Babylonians in the book of Genesis. The referendum is part of an internationally brokered 2005 peace accord between the North and South that ended 20 years of a...
Kerry’s mystery speech and other news from the OAU/AU Summit
If you go to the State Departments website and view the transcript of Secretary of State John Kerry's OAU/AU Summit remarks in Addis Ababa you'd think the speech went off without a hitch. Nothing could be further from the truth. According to Testanews.com, “Just like what happened to his predecessor Hillary Clinton, the electric power has just gone off...
France, U.S. strike different notes in Africa
GINNEWS (GIN)–There were smiles all around in Kenya as French President Emmanuel Macron and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta shook hands over a series of infrastructure deals worth $3.3 billion. It was the third stop on the French president's East African charm offensive–and the first-ever visit to Kenya by a French head of state. France wants trade and commercial relationships that are “fair...