Xiomara Castro elected as Honduras’ first female president
Honduras’ former first lady Xiomara Castro has won the country’s presidential election, and the ruling party’s candidate has conceded defeat. Conservative National Party presidential candidate Nasry Asfura said he had met with Castro and her family and conceded the late November election to her in private. “Now I want to say it publicly, I congratulate her on her triumph and as president-elect. I...
Activists call out U.S. role in Russia-Ukraine dispute
WASHINGTON—Sounding the drumbeats of war, President Joe Biden has ordered 8,500 U.S. troops to be on heightened alert for possible deployment to Eastern Europe, as the dangerous escalation at the Russian/Ukrainian border standoff intensifies daily. The Pentagon has warned that there is the possibility of sending as many as 50,000 troops into any conflict. Russian President Vladimir Putin has responded,...
Iranian official: U.S., other parties to JCPOA need to show good faith, make necessary decisions
Iran’s acting ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says a successful conclusion of the Vienna talks is possible if the United States and the other signatories to the 2015 Iran deal take the necessary political decisions. Addressing the IAEA Board of Governors on March 7, Mohammad Reza Ghaebi said “good faith” and the immediate removal of anti-Iran sanctions...
‘There’s no freedom:’ African students fleeing Ukraine are being held in detention centers in the European Union
A 29-year-old Nigerian student was studying trade and economics in Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine, when war broke out. The student, who remained anonymous, spoke to a Nigerian activist in a recorded conversation, which was obtained by U.K.-based newspaper The Independent. The student arrived at the Ukraine-Poland border on Feb. 27. Poland border guards reportedly confiscated his phone, and given very little...
Virgin Islands protests UK’s direct rule plan after premier’s arrest in U.S.
Hundreds of people in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) protested against a proposal by the Queen of Britain to put the overseas British territory under the direct control of the United Kingdom. The demonstration on May 2 came days after the BVI premier was arrested in the U.S. city of Miami on money laundering and drug-related charges. The protesters rallied outside Governor John...
Tunisians take to streets again in protest at constitutional referendum
Tunisians have demonstrated in the capital against a planned referendum on constitutional changes called by President Kais Saied that could cement his hold on power. Protesters in Tunis responded to calls from opposition parties. They chanted, ‘Constitution, liberty and dignity’ and ‘The people want an independent judiciary.’ The demonstrators also expressed opposition to a recent decision by President Saied to expel...
London police strip-searched 650 mostly Black youth in two-year period, report unveils
Police in London have strip-searched 650 mostly Black children—most of whom were found to be innocent of the suspicions against them—over a two-year period, the UK’s children’s commissioner says. Slamming the Metropolitan Police (Met’s) record on child protection, Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza said in a report released on Aug. 8 that she was not convinced that the force was “consistently...
Report: 200 environmental activists killed globally in 2021
MEXICO CITY—Some 200 environmental and land defense activists were killed around the world in 2021, including some 54 in Mexico, which assumed the position of the deadliest country in the annual report by nongovernmental organization Global Witness. More than three-quarters of the killings took place in Latin America, where Colombia, Brazil and Nicaragua also logged double-digit death tolls. It was the third...
Presidents of Cuba and Algeria report results of meeting
The presidents of Algeria, Abdelmajid Tebboune, and Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, announced Nov. 17 in Algiers the results of a meeting in which they agreed to boost economic, trade, financial and cooperation ties. Speaking to the press after the meeting between the two heads of state at the Presidential Palace ‘El Muradia,’ Tebboune told the media that it was decided to cancel...
Colombia: ‘Renewed hope’ for consolidating peace, says Guterres
The agreement between the Colombian Government and the five largest remaining armed groups there provides “renewed hope for comprehensive peace” into the new year, said the UN chief in a statement released by his spokesperson late on Jan. 1. The breakthrough was announced on Jan. 1 by the first-ever leftist president of the South American nation, Gustavo Petro, who tweeted that he...