Somali piracy connected to toxic dumping, illegal fishing
UNITED NATIONS (FinalCall.com) - The head of the UN’s body charged with combating piracy has advocated establishing a UN force to fight the piracy problem off Somalia’s coast–but the problem may be more complex than simple banditry on the high seas. According to the UN secretary-general’s spokesman’s office, Secretary-General of the International Maritime Bureau Efthimios Mitropoulos said the Gulf of...
Will ‘grand bargain’ work with Taliban?
JIM.LOBE WASHINGTON (IPS/GIN) - The Pentagon appears to be moving in support of engaging leaders of the resurgent Taliban who are prepared to disassociate themselves from Al-Qaeda. While the seeds for that strategy are being planted now, the next U.S. president–be it the current front-runner, Democratic Sen. Barack Obama, or his Republican rival, Sen. John McCain–will likely be advised by...
Next president inherits Guantánamo
NEW YORK (IPS/GIN) - Leading human rights groups reacted with outrage to media reports that the administration of President George W. Bush has decided not to close the prison at the U.S. Naval Base at US-Occupied Guantnamo, Cuba. Quoting anonymous senior Bush administration officials, the New York Times reported that the issue would in effect be “kicked the down...
Caribbean seeks stronger ties with African nations
UNITED NATIONS (FinalCall.com) - Trinidad and Tobago’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Paula Gopee-Scoon told the United Nations General Assembly Sept. 27 that her nation “sought to partner with African countries to develop long-term strategies for sustainable development and use of their energy resources.” A few days later, government ministers from African, Caribbean and Pacific nations met in Accra, Ghana, for...
Cuban vice president: The Revolution is alive and well
NEW YORK (FinalCall.com) - The highest level Cuban delegation since former President Fidel Castro was here in 2000 came to the United States to attend the 63rd United Nations General Assembly session. Led by First Vice President Jose Ramon Machado Ventura and Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque, the delegation attended a forum in Washington Heights at the Church of...
West falls short on drive for new Iran sanctions
Ahmadinejad's 'wipe Israel off the map' myth debunked (05-26-2007) Web Video: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad UN Address (09-23-2008) UNITED NATIONS (FinalCall.com) - The 15-member UN Security Council recently voted unanimously for UN Resolution 1835 (2008), which called on Iran to “fully” and “without delay” comply with the council’s demand to end its nuclear enrichment program. The Security Council agreed with the assessment...
West attempts to derail anti-racism conference
UNITED NATIONS (FinalCall.com) - Next year the United Nations Human Rights Council is scheduled to convene a conference on implementing the Durban Declaration and Program of Action, the final action-oriented document from the World Conference Against Racism held in South Africa seven years ago. Trouble is brewing with several western nations trying to derail the gathering, commonly referred to as...
U.S. foreign policy fuels blowback in Somalia
JIM.LOBE WASHINGTON (IPS/GIN) - The population of Somalia has become increasingly radicalized and anti-U.S., according to a new report by a major U.S. human rights group. U.S. counterterrorism policies and support for the Ethiopian-backed Transitional Federal Government in Somalia have helped to create an increasingly desperate humanitarian and security situation in the East African nation, according to the report by...
U.S. Sec. of State makes historic trip to Libya
UNITED NATIONS (FinalCall.com) - When Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice greeted Libyan Leader Muammar Gadhafi in Tripoli on September 5, a three-decade old chapter of animosity between the two nations was closed. Ms. Rice became the first U.S. secretary of state to visit the North African nation since John Foster Dulles in 1953; and the highest-ranking U.S. official visitor...
Rwanda accuses France of hand in bloody genocide
Web Video: Democracy Now Reports on Rawanda's Accusation UNITED NATIONS (FinalCall.com) - Fourteen years after bloody 1994 genocide in Rwanda, a government commission recently issued a 500-page report charging senior French officials were complicit in the deaths of nearly one million Tutsis and Hutus. According to news reports, the Mucyo Commission, headed by former French justice minister Jean de Mucyo, implicates...