U.S. nuclear test’s fallout reached as far as Canada and Mexico, study finds
A recent study has exposed the widespread devastation caused by the U.S. military’s secretive detonation of its first nuclear bomb in New Mexico with radioactive particles reaching as far as Canada and Mexico. The study, released in late July ahead of submission to a scientific journal for peer review, shows that the cloud and its fallout went farther than anyone in the...
Probe blasts ‘institutional racism’ within Amnesty International UK
An independent investigation has found Amnesty International UK to be plagued with “colonialism and institutional racism” towards non-White individuals. The probe was carried out by the Global HPO, a body designed to provide interim management and consultancy services to organizations, whose final report on the matter was made available to Amnesty’s staff members on June 16. The probe found Amnesty International...
Liberia’s Trade & Investment Conference: Seeking Help and Investment from the Diaspora
When I first received the invitation for a delegation to attend an investment conference in Liberia, I was asked to reach out to retired teachers, farmers, and business persons who were not afraid of Africa, and ready to look into the tremendous possibilities of Liberia. We jumped at the opportunity. Though I had been to Liberia many times, this...
U.S. still rolling the dice at UN
Bush denied world support at UN (FCN, 10/06/2003) UNITED NATIONS (FinalCall.com) - The United Nations Security Council, on October 16, unanimously adopted resolution 1511, which expands the role of the UN in the political transition in Iraq and creates a multinational peacekeeping force, thus giving the United States the international mandate it was seeking in order to get more commitments...
UN rights chief says Myanmar’s junta committing crimes against humanity
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has accused Myanmar’s military junta of committing crimes against humanity, warning that the situation in the country seems to be heading toward a “fullblown” conflict in the wake of a February coup. Ms. Bachelet raised the alarm in a statement on April 13 and said expressing condemnations and imposing punitive measures...
Civil society groups urge UN action against France over Islamophobia
Dozens of civil society organizations have urged the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to open formal infringement procedures against the French government for entrenching Islamophobia. In a written complaint to the UNHRC, some 36 groups from 13 countries outlined the “clear violation of a number of basic rights that are protected in legislation that is ratified by Paris.” The coalition said...
Paris police suspended over beating of Black man
PARIS—A Black man beaten up by several French police officers said he is seeking justice after the publication of videos showing officers repeatedly punching him, using a truncheon and tear gas against him for no apparent reason. French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin ordered the officers involved in the case suspended. The incident came as President Emmanuel Macron’s government is pushing a...
Europe and U.S. return of stolen African artifacts is questionable
In 1974 Ghana’s Asante royal family requested the United Kingdom script and pass legislation that would encourage the return of its looted treasures. The reply was “very racist and rude,” recalled author, filmmaker, and art historian, Nana Oforiatta Ayim. The request was finally presented to the House of Lords. In response to the suggestion that sacred Ghanaian objects that embody...
Western nations block access to medicine
GENEVA (IPS)–Negotiators at the World Trade Organization (WTO) failed Nov. 29 to reach an agreement to ensure poor countries access to essential medicines. Health activists blame the fiasco on opposition from the United States and a handful of other industrialized countries. The WTO council on the Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights Agreement (TRIPS), entrusted with the matter of pharmaceutical...
Guterres ‘shocked’ at massacre of civilians in eastern DR Congo
The United Nations Secretary-General has expressed shock at the massacre of civilians in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and called on the authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice. At least 25 villagers are reported to have been killed in recent attacks attributed to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) militia in the villages of Tingwe, Mwenda and Nzenga,...