Is ‘real talk’ by African leaders a sign of the times?
Many world leaders mounted the speakers’ platform during the recent high-level general debate week of the 78th United Nations General Assembly. However, the tone of some African leaders was eye-opening and worth noting. The annual UNGA 78 gathering at UN headquarters in New York City is where the majority of member states give their input on pressing global issues....
Ugandan presidential candidate speaks in D.C.
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Ugandan politician and musician Bobi Wine came to the nation’s capital during the Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference to ask politicians to stop funding the oppression of the Ugandan people. His National Geographic Documentary, “Bobi Wine: The Man, The Music and The Movement,” was screened at an event sponsored by the Institute for the Black World 21st...
More than 2,500 refugees dead, missing crossing the Mediterranean in 2023
More than 2,500 people have died or gone missing this year making the perilous journey across the Mediterranean Sea from Africa to Europe in 2023, according to the UN refugee agency. “By September 24, over 2,500 people were accounted as dead or missing in 2023 alone,” Ruven Menikdiwela, director of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told the UN...
India expels 41 Canadian diplomats amid ongoing Ottawa-Delhi row
India has ordered Canada to remove 41 of its 62 diplomats from the country, ramping up a confrontation over accusations of New Delhi’s involvement in the killing of a Sikh separatist leader in suburban Vancouver. Media reports on Oct. 3 cited an official, who was familiar with the matter but spoke on condition of anonymity, as confirming the expulsion of...
How Costa Rica drafted Latin America’s first-ever anti-hate strategy
For Faustina Torres, from the Bribri indigenous community in Costa Rica, feeling invisible to others is a stinging form of discrimination she has fought against since childhood. “Costa Rican society does not teach us that there are indigenous people in this country,” she said. “It is a form of discrimination, making the existence of indigenous peoples invisible.” Amid an alarming trend...
New Zealand’s ruling Labor Party commits to recognizing state of Palestine
New Zealand’s ruling Labor Party has joined the growing weight of global opinion that recognizing Palestinian statehood is a prerequisite to a just solution. The Labor Party’s commitment entails extending an invitation to the head of the General Delegation of Palestine, allowing them to present their credentials as an ambassador to New Zealand. New Zealand’s Prime Minister Chris Hipkins in February held...
First Nations premier to lead a Canadian province after historic election win in Manitoba
WINNIPEG, Manitoba—The Canadian province of Manitoba has elected the first, First Nations premier of a province in Canada. Manitobans elected an NDP government led by Wab Kinew, who was raised as a young boy on the Onigaming First Nation in northwestern Ontario, later moving with his family to Winnipeg. His late father wasn’t allowed to vote as a young man under...
UN reports says West Bank settler violence has displaced over 1,100 Palestinians since 2022
JERUSALEM—Violence from Israeli settlers has displaced over 1,100 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since 2022, according to a UN report released in September, with officials describing the exodus as unparalleled in recent years. The report documented about three settler-related incidents each day in the West Bank—the highest daily average since the UN began documenting the trend in 2006. The...
IMF austerity measures are ‘undermining rights’ around the world
by Olivia Rosane The International Monetary Fund continues to impose austerity measures that threaten human rights. That’s the conclusion of a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report published September 25 that looks at 39 loans approved in 38 countries between the beginning of the Covid-19 lockdowns in March 2020 and March 2023. While, at the start of the pandemic, IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva...
Muslims targeted every day in hate speech ‘gatherings’ in India: Report
More than 250 gatherings targeting Muslims were held across 17 Indian states over the first half of the current year, according to a report which highlights a rising pattern of anti-Muslim sentiment in India from 2014 onwards. The report, published by Hindutva Watch on Sept. 24, used real-time data to identify human rights abuses in India to document hate speech...