EU: Brexit trade talks still face ‘too many difficulties’
BRUSSELS—With a deadline looming ever more menacingly, the European Union’s chief negotiator on the post-Brexit trade deal with Britain Nov. 4 publicly blamed London for a lack of progress in the two sides’ belated attempt to reach an even rudimentary agreement. “At this stage, there are still too many difficulties remaining on important topics,” Michel Barnier said on his way...
India’s top court hearing petitions challenging government’s removal of Kashmir’s special status
NEW DELHI—India’s top court Aug. 2, began hearing a clutch of petitions challenging the constitutionality of the legislation passed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in 2019 that stripped disputed Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood, scrapped its separate constitution and removed inherited protections on land and jobs. The five-judge constitutional bench that includes the Supreme Court’s chief justice is simultaneously hearing...
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...
Racist rhetoric in Tunisia must stop, independent UN experts warn
Tunisia must take swift action to curb racist rhetoric and halt ongoing rights violations of Black Africans, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) said on April 2. “Tunisia must immediately stop hate speech and violence against migrants from South of the Sahara,” the independent UN-appointed experts said in a statement issued under the Committee’s early warning...
UN food systems confab draws fire from food activists
(GIN)—The first-ever UN Food Systems Summit saw nearly 300 commitments from hundreds of thousands of people from around the world and across all constituencies to accelerate action and to transform food systems, according to a UN press release. The summit process was also applauded by farmer leaders for “inclusivity.” “The summit has been very inclusive,” said president of the Pan-African...
UN rights office warns over violent escalation in Yemen and beyond
Escalating conflict in Yemen has seen an alarming number of air and drone strikes already this year, notably against civilians and non-military targets, the UN rights office, OHCHR, said on Jan. 18. “We are deeply concerned by the continuing escalation of the conflict in Yemen. Overnight, air strikes by the Saudi-led coalition on the capital, Sana’a, are reported to have left at...
Cuba challenges America and Europe
(FinalCall.com) - Cuban President Fidel Castro has challenged the American and European governments to duplicate its ability to educate and provide health professionals to serve the needs of impoverished people around the world. The small island nation, only 90 miles from Florida, is capable of maintaining more than 16,000 health professionals working in Third World nations. In a speech March...
Cuban officials conclude Russia trip with agreements on oil, wheat, and renewed tourism
HAVANA, Cuba—Cuba said on June 20 it is reaffirming its alliance with Russia through a series of agreements considered key for the island nation, including the supply of oil, the sale of wheat and the resumption of flights between both countries that were halted by the war in Ukraine. The agreements between two longtime allies facing economic sanctions from the United...
Netherlands repatriates Indigenous remains to Caribbean isle
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico—The Netherlands has returned the remains of nine indigenous people that archaeologists found more than 30 years ago on the tiny Dutch Caribbean island of St. Eustatius, officials said. The request for repatriation was made by the island’s Culture Department as part of a new push to recover artifacts and human remains held by former colonial powers...
Africa should dictate terms of its relationships with U.S.
U.S. President Joe Biden has dispatched Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) to Ethiopia to meet with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to express the administration’s “grave concerns” about the humanitarian crisis in the country’s Tigray region. Sudan and Egypt, because of their water dependence on the Nile River, asked the Biden administration, the UN and the African Union to intervene...