Sri Lanka’s economic crisis pushes health system to brink of collapse
Sri Lanka is in the midst of the worst socio-economic crisis in its history, and the once robust health-care system is nearing collapse, with patients at risk from power shortages, a lack of medicines, and equipment shortages. When Ruchika found out she was pregnant with her second child, in October 2021, she could not have imagined that she would find...
There is no peace among the nations of the Earth
“For behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.”—Malachi, Chapter 4:1 (Bible) War in Ukraine is not subsiding and hostilities involving America...
Egyptians call on British Museum to return Rosetta Stone
CAIRO—The debate over who owns ancient artifacts has been an increasing challenge to museums across Europe and America, and the spotlight has fallen on the most visited piece in the British Museum: The Rosetta Stone. The inscriptions on the dark grey granite slab became the seminal breakthrough in deciphering ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics after it was taken from Egypt by forces...
President Macron says France will not apologize to Algeria for colonization
French President Emmanuel Macron once again says he will not “ask forgiveness” from Algeria for French colonization but hopes to continue working toward reconciliation with his Algerian counterpart Abdelmajid Tebboune. In an interview for Le Point magazine published late Jan. 11, Macron refused to apologize for atrocities the French forces committed during 132 years of their presence in Colonial Algeria from 1830...
French police clash with protesters during rallies over pension reform
Police have clashed with protesters in the French capital, Paris, amid a new round of rallies and strikes over President Emmanuel Macron’s controversial planned pension reform. A series of violent clashes erupted as protesters marched along a boulevard in Paris against the French government’s pension reform bill on March 7. Police fired tear gas to disperse the protesters. Workers from different sectors have walked out...
France under fire at UN for racism, police violence against protesters
France has come under fire by several states at the United Nations over racism and police violence, including against demonstrators during mass rallies over a controversial pension reform bill that finally became law. On May 1, the French government was accused of conducting attacks on migrants, racial profiling and religious intolerance during the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR),...
Amazon Indigenous people are leaving the rainforest for cities, and finding urban poverty
ATALAIA DO NORTE, Brazil—In 1976, Binan Tuku ventured to meet a Brazilian government’s expedition on the banks of the Itui River in a remote area of the western Amazon rainforest. After some initial suspicion, he and his father accepted machetes and soap in what was the beginning of the Matis tribe’s contact with the non-Indigenous world. Nearly 50 years later,...
300+ economists, millionaires, and elected officials to G20: ‘tax extreme wealth’
by Jake Johnson Hundreds of economists, wealthy individuals, and elected officials from around the world called on the leaders of G20 nations to help tackle runaway inequality by collectively raising taxes on the global rich, who saw their fortunes explode during the deadly coronavirus pandemic. In an open letter to G20 leaders as they prepared to convene in New Delhi, India, for their...
UN votes overwhelmingly to condemn U.S. economic embargo on Cuba for 31st year and urges its lifting
UNITED NATIONS—The UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly on Nov. 2 to condemn the American economic embargo of Cuba for a 31st year after its foreign minister urged, “Let Cuba live without the blockade!” The vote on the resolution in the 193-member General Assembly tied the record for support for the Caribbean island nation: The vote was 187 in favor, with the United...
Junior doctors in England launch fresh strike over pay dispute
Junior doctors in England staged a strike in the run-up to Christmas in an attempt to force the government to make a fresh effort to improve their pay and working conditions. The two-phase nine-day strike, which started on Dec. 20 at 0700 GMT (1:00 a.m. CST), is the longest industrial action by the junior doctors yet. UK health bosses say the...