West African bloc to send delegation to Guinea after coup
ACCRA, Ghana—A delegation of West African leaders is to travel to Guinea to meet with the junta that toppled President Alpha Conde in a coup in early September. Top officials of West Africa’s influential economic bloc, ECOWAS, are expected to meet in Conakry, the capital, with the military officers now ruling the country and press them to immediately return the...
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...
The history David Livingston and Zanzibar’s slave trade
Petina Gappa’s 2019 novel “Out of Darkness, Shining Light” about the explorer David Livingston and the extraordinary group of Africans that carried his body, minus his heart, across Africa’s impossible terrain “illuminates the agonies of colonialism and blind loyalty.” Some wood from a tree in Zambia under which Livingston’s heart is buried, a testament to his last adventure after leaving...
The Gambia says child deaths linked to Indian cough syrup have risen to 70
The Gambia says the number of children who died of acute kidney damage thought to be linked to Indian-made cough syrups has increased to 70. President Adama Barrow gave the update at an emergency cabinet meeting held on October 13 to review various aspects of the incident. The cough syrup was made by an Indian company called Maiden based in New Delhi. The...
Burkina Faso expels reporters from French newspapers
Foreign reporters working for France’s ‘Le Monde’ and ‘Libération’ dailies have been expelled from Burkina Faso as part of measures the west African country has taken against French media. French newspaper Le Monde reported the expulsion on April 2, saying Burkina had told French correspondents to leave. “Our correspondent in Burkina Faso, Sophie Douce, has been expelled from the country ......
Nations of Africa demand a bigger voice, role on the global stage
If you listened to African leaders addressing the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA-78) as I did, you would have discovered a singular unanimous message of being fed up with Western powers’ dominance over global affairs. In unison, African leaders expressed dissatisfaction with living in a world that pretends present-day economic and social conditions are not connected with historical injustices. Much...
South Africa’s Naledi Pandor visits the U.S. and Jamaica
Dr. Naledi Pandor is South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation. From March 18-26, she embarked on a working visit to the U.S. and Jamaica. During her visit, she was scheduled to engage in high-level discussions with various stakeholders, including members of Congress. She also addressed a reception in honor of anti-apartheid activists and the South African diaspora,...
Amazon Indigenous group patrols to expel invading loggers
ALTO RIO GUAMA INDIGENOUS TERRITORY, Brazil—A bit after sunrise, dozens of Indigenous Tembé men began preparing for the important day ahead. They danced, chanted and donned matching black T-shirts before setting off on motorbikes into Brazil’s Amazon forest. Self-declared “forest guardians,” their aim was to find and expel illegal loggers and miners within their territory on the eastern edge of...
Security Council may reach agreement on Iraq resolution
UNITED NATIONS (FinalCall.com) –The United States and France are close to a compromise draft resolution that would set new guidelines for United Nations inspectors investigating Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, and how force could be authorized in the event of Baghdad’s resistance, Security Council delegates said as the council concluded a two-day open debate on Iraq. Speaking in New York...
World powers ‘boycott’ Afro-Descendants Group
GENEVA (IPS)–The United States and the European Union are ignoring the work of a group of intellectuals who are studying–at the behest of the United Nations–the problem of race discrimination suffered by people of African descent, rights activists have complained. According to the International Association Against Torture (IAAT), the members of the West European and Other States (WEOS)...