Only one in seven Britons say Truss will be better than Johnson, poll reveals
More than a quarter of people in the UK believe the new Prime Minister Liz Truss will be worse than her predecessor Boris Johnson, according to a new poll, showing overwhelming dissatisfaction among Britons with the Tory leadership. According to the results of a snap poll, published by YouGov on Sept. 5, only one in seven people in the country...
London museums to return human remains stolen from Zimbabwe in Colonial times
(GIN)—The era of European museums claiming ownership of the bones and skulls of African war heroes stolen years ago may finally be coming to an end. A negotiated settlement to return African remains involved London’s Natural History Museum and Cambridge University. The two institutions now say they are ready to cooperate and return what was taken in the colonial era. Human...
Peru Congress opens door to early elections amid unrest
LIMA, Peru—Peru’s Congress tentatively endorsed a plan on Dec. 20 to hold early elections in an attempt to defuse a national political crisis marked by deadly unrest after lawmakers ousted President Pedro Castillo. The proposal, approved by 91 of the legislature’s 130 members, would push up to April 2024 elections for president and congress originally scheduled for 2026. The plan—which seeks to...
Iran supports initiatives for peace and stability in sub-Saharan Africa: FM
Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says Tehran supports any initiative that could lead to the improvement of security and stability in the African continent. The top Iranian diplomat arrived in the Mauritanian capital of Nouakchott on Jan. 31 at the head of a diplomatic delegation. He held talks on bilateral and international issues with top Mauritanian officials, including his counterpart...
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...
Brazil calls for common South American currency
Leaders of 12 Latin American countries have held a summit in the Brazilian city of Brasilia to discuss a common strategy in a changing world. At the top of the agenda was the call by the Brazilian President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, to create a common currency. In his opening remarks, President Da Silva urged Latin American leaders to “strengthen...
India and China pledge to maintain ‘peace and tranquility’ along disputed border despite tensions
BEIJING—Chinese and Indian military commanders pledged to “maintain the peace and tranquility” along their disputed border, China’s Defense Ministry said, in an apparent effort by the sides to stabilize the situation after a rise in tensions. China’s Defense Ministry issued a joint statement on social media late August 15 saying the 19th round of commander-level talks between the sides held recently had...
UN rights experts slam ‘systemic racism’ in U.S. police and courts
Police and criminal justice systems in the United States require urgent reform to eradicate “systemic racism” against people of African descent, UN-appointed independent rights experts said on Sept. 28. A new report by UN International experts advancing racial justice and equality in policing, published after an official visit to the country, shows that Black people in the U.S. are three times more likely to be...
Rwanda announces visa-free travel for all Africans as continent opens up to free movement of people
NAIROBI, Kenya—Rwanda announced in early November that it will allow Africans to travel visa-free to the country, becoming the latest nation on the continent to announce such a measure aimed at boosting free movement of people and trade to rival Europe’s Schengen zone. President Paul Kagame made the announcement in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, where he pitched the potential of Africa as “a unified...
Indonesia urged to protect refugees following mob attack
The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has appealed for action in the wake of a mob attack against refugees in Banda Aceh, Indonesia, on December 27. Hundreds of young people stormed a building basement where scores of Rohingya refugees were sheltered, according to media reports. The Rohingya are a mainly Muslim community who have fled waves of persecution in Myanmar, a predominantly...