What is the aim, vision of Rep. Ilhan Omar’s U.S.-Africa Policy Working Group?
Before her removal from the powerful House Foreign Affairs Committee, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) announced that she would launch an African Policy working group to hear from officials and experts who she works with and in Africa. Omar, as a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, served as the vice chair of the Subcommittee on Africa. She was removed...
Is Israel baiting the U.S. into war with Iran?
With recent trips to the Middle East by bigwigs of American foreign policy, heightened violence in the Zionist State of Israel remained unabated and a United States-led, Israeli-instigated, and regional anti-Iran agenda moved closer to conflict with the Islamic Republic. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled the region as January came to a close and met with Israeli Prime...
Turkish leader acknowledges ‘shortcomings’ in quake response
GAZIANTEP, Turkey—The president of Turkey on Feb. 8 acknowledged “shortcomings” in his country’s response to the world’s deadliest earthquake in more than a decade as hope dwindled that more survivors would emerge from the rubble of thousands of toppled buildings. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited the especially hard-hit Hatay province, where more than 3,300 people died and entire neighborhoods were...
Vietnamese war victim to be compensated by South Korea for atrocities
A South Korean court has ordered Seoul to compensate a Vietnamese war victim, in a move that marks the first legal acknowledgement of the South’s liability for atrocities the country’s troops committed in the war. South Korea, under the government of Park Chung-hee, sent about 300,000 troops to South Vietnam to fight alongside U.S. troops from September 1964 to March 1973. Seoul...
Spain: Rights experts call for probe into claim Catalan leaders were spied on
Three independent UN-appointed human rights experts on Feb. 2 demanded that the Spanish government thoroughly investigate an alleged spying operation against leaders and activists from the Catalonia region, in the wake of a failed bid for independence six years ago. “Spanish authorities must conduct a full, fair, and effective investigation into these allegations, publish the findings and stop any unlawful...
Australia is removing British monarchy from its bank notes
CANBERRA, Australia—Australia is removing the British monarchy from its bank notes. The nation’s central bank said Feb. 2 that its new $5 bill would feature an Indigenous design rather than an image of King Charles III. But the king is still expected to appear on coins that currently bear the image of the late Queen Elizabeth II. The $5 bill was...
‘Walkout Wednesday’: UK hit by biggest day of strike action in a decade
Up to half a million British teachers, civil servants and train drivers joined the largest coordinated walkout over pay and working conditions in more than a decade. The nationwide walkouts, whose organizers threaten more disruption if their pay demands are not met, fully or partially closed schools, suspended most rail services, and forced the military to be put on standby...
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...
Africa occupies a ‘marginal place’ in U.S. foreign policy
In recent months, Africa has received much in the way of “optics” and symbolic gestures, but little in the way of substance. Africa is historically like a wealthy woman that gives her all to an abusive, unappreciative no-good man. While being interviewed by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), Kenyan native and Loyola University law professor, James Gathii, said Africa...
Burkina Faso: Out of the frying pan with France but into the fire with the U.S.?
The West African nation of Burkina Faso placed its former colonial master France on notice to remove their military from its soil. The move coincides with an uptick of anti-France and anti-West sentiment on the continent and among people in the landlocked country. French troops were in Burkina Faso under a 2018 security agreement that allowed French Special Forces...