Central Mediterranean: Deadliest quarter for migrant deaths in six years
Over 400 migrants died while attempting to cross the Central Mediterranean between January and March of this year, making it the deadliest quarter on record since 2017, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on April 10. IOM’s Missing Migrants Project documented 441 deaths during this period, though the true toll is likely to be higher. Investigations continue into several reports of so-called...
Chinese, Palestinian presidents pledge to establish strategic partnership
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing where they agreed to establish a strategic partnership between the two countries. During the June 14 meeting, Xi said this partnership will mark a new stage in their relations that will build on their past achievements and open up new prospects for the future. China will work with...
Israel’s hawkish minister to allocate $180M to settlements in occupied West Bank
The Israeli regime’s hawkish finance minister plans to allocate around $180 million to build illegal settlements and outposts on private Palestinian lands across the occupied territories. Israeli media reports said on August 16 that the proposal by finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, a key member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right regime, was set to be put forward at the coming weekly cabinet...
War and bloodshed in the Middle East
Death, carnage and war have enveloped Occupied Palestine in an escalation of violence that has killed more than 1,400 people and injured many more. The occupier Zionist State of Israel has declared war on the Palestinian resistance group Hamas. Hamas launched “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood” on the Zionist State in an early morning attack on Oct. 7. The move was announced...
Make America know her sins in Gaza
“Whoever kills a person, unless it is for manslaughter or for mischief, in the land it is as though he had killed all men. And whoever saves a life, it is as though he had saved the lives of all men.”—Holy Qur’an 5:32 Pressure is mounting on the United States government to clamp down on the Zionist State of Israel...
Unions lead protests against Milei’s anti-worker decree in Argentina
by Brett Wilkins Tens of thousands of Argentinians took to the streets of the capital Buenos Aires on December 27 to protest recently inaugurated President Javier Milei’s decree ushering in sweeping austerity and deregulation and to defy the new far-right administration’s crackdown on demonstrations. Led by labor union activists, the protesters railed against Decree of Necessity and Urgency 70/2023, announced recently by...
UN forum: Nations must collaborate now or risk further setbacks in sustainable development
Today’s multilateral arrangements—global and regional organizations and major development banks—are “not up to the job” of helping countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the deputy UN chief said on Feb. 20. The 11th Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD) kicked off in Bangkok, with participants echoing a compelling plea for nations to swiftly implement urgent actions, fostered by robust and sustained...
20 years later, Abu Ghraib torture victims get their day in court
by Brett Wilkins, CommonDreams.org Two decades after they were tortured by U.S. military contractors at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad, three Iraqi victims are finally getting their day in court as a federal court in Virginia takes up a case they brought during the George W. Bush administration. The case being heard in the U.S. District Court in Alexandria,...
The historical impact of African musicians on the geopolitical stage
When it comes to appreciating the power of African artists and their historical impact on geopolitics there is no shortage of icons from which to choose. A recent documentary produced by France24 focusing on the legacy of Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie is a case in point. His historic 1963 speech to the United Nations General Assembly inspired reggae legend Bob...
Angry Nigerian President Obasanjo lashes out at religious leaders over violence
LAGOS, Nigeria (PANA) - Seemingly frustrated that his government's efforts to curb Nigeria's spiraling sectarian and communal violence has not yielded the desired results, President Olusegun Obasanjo has vented his anger on religious leaders in central Plateau, which has been a hotbed of such crisis since 2001. On the heels of tit-for-tat killing by Muslims and Christians in the...