Aboriginal leader says Australia’s voice referendum should be called off
An Australian senator of Aboriginal origin has said the country’s planned referendum on an Indigenous “voice” to parliament is just “window dressing” and should be called off. Lidia Thorpe, who is an independent Australian senator and one of the most prominent Aboriginal politicians, voiced her opposition to the proposal at the National Press Club in Sydney on August 16. “The voice is the...
Indonesia’s leader says it can join leading economies by 2045 if it continues educational reforms
JAKARTA, Indonesia—Indonesia’s president on August 16 urged a continuation of his educational reforms to turn Southeast Asia’s largest economy into one of the world’s biggest by its hundredth anniversary in 2045. President Joko Widodo said in his annual state of the nation speech a day before Indonesia celebrates its 78th year of independence that it has a great chance of...
Is Kenya’s offer of sending troops to Haiti the result of U.S., UN and Western meddling?
As African leaders long for a greater voice, more respect, and acceptance as equals to their Western counterparts on the global stage, observers and analysts question at what cost and how far are they willing to go for acceptance. That question is being raised after the East African nation of Kenya recently stepped forward to lead a sought-after multination...
‘Great steps’ taken to consolidate ties as Iran FM visits South Africa
The top Iranian and South African diplomats have exchanged views on important bilateral and international issues on the sidelines of the 15th Joint Commission for Economic Cooperation. The meeting took place between Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor in Pretoria on August 10. The joint commission was being held after a...
Israel occupation of Palestine amounts to apartheid: Academics
Hundreds of academics and public figures from across occupied Palestine and other nations have signed on to an open letter equating the Israeli regime’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian territories with apartheid. Titled “The Elephant in the Room,” the letter complained that American Jews have paid insufficient attention to “Israel’s long-standing occupation that … has yielded a regime of apartheid.” It also called on the Jewish leaders in the...
England’s senior doctors plan new strike in pay dispute with government
Senior doctors in England have announced a plan to go on their second mass strike this year over a long-standing pay dispute with the government. Consultant-level doctors in Britain’s publicly funded National Health Service (NHS) will strike on September 19 and 20, the British Medical Association (BMA) said in a statement on August 7. “It is now 133 days since the...
Guterres warns against nuclear catastrophe risk in message to Nagasaki memorial
UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for countries to recommit to eliminating nuclear weapons in his message to mark the 78th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the Japanese city of Nagasaki, observed on August 9. “We mourn those killed, whose memory will never fade. We remember the terrible destruction wrought upon this city and Hiroshima. We honor the unrelenting strength...
Save lives, UN agencies appeal, after yet another tragedy in the Mediterranean
Three UN agencies on August 10 appealed for greater access to safe and regular pathways for migration and asylum in the European Union after another deadly shipwreck claimed dozens of lives in the Mediterranean. The International Organization for Migration (IOM); the UN refugee agency, UNCHR; and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) also called for coordinated search and rescue mechanisms. The tragedy occurred between...
Safety standards weren’t met at French vacation home housing disabled adults where a fire killed 11
PARIS—Required safety standards weren’t met at a vacation home housing adults with disabilities at which a fire killed 11 people in eastern France, a deputy prosecutor said August 10. A day earlier, the fire killed 10 adults with slight intellectual disabilities and one person accompanying them. Nathalie Kielwasser, the deputy prosecutor of Colmar, said the first phase of the investigation showed that...
America’s conflicting news coverage of Africa, Israel, and Ukraine
“Too often, coverage of the African continent is done by people who are not on the African continent. Coverage is collected and assembled in Paris and in London and the United States but there are few people who are actually on the ground in their coverage of Africa,” said Linn Washington, Temple University journalism professor and former editor-in-chief of...