Spain drops sedition charge against former Catalan leader
MADRID—A Spanish judge has dropped sedition charges against former Catalan President Carles Puigdemont for his role in the region’s illegal secession push in 2017 that brought Spain’s most serious political crisis for decades. Supreme Court judge Pablo Llarena took the step, which also included four other Catalan separatists involved in the events of 2017, because changes to Spain’s sedition law...
Will South Africa’s president survive ‘Farmgate’ until national elections?
South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, an anti-apartheid figure—once suggested as Nelson Mandela’s successor to the presidency—has been mired in a scandal that involves undeclared money. Recently, a stash of U.S. currency was discovered in the cushions of a couch on a farm owned by the president. According to several media reports, Ramaphosa declared he is innocent of charges that he...
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...
Israel’s new government unveils plan to weaken Supreme Court
JERUSALEM—Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s justice minister on Jan. 4 unveiled the new government’s long-promised overhaul of the judicial system that aims to weaken the country’s Supreme Court. Critics accused the government of declaring war against the legal system, saying the plan will upend Israel’s system of checks and balances and undermine its democratic institutions by giving absolute power to...
U.S. weapons sales to NATO members almost doubled in 2022
The United States’ weapons sales to NATO member states in 2022 have shown a drastic increase as countries react to fears caused by the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia. Foreign Policy magazine reported on December 29, 2022, that U.S. arms sales to NATO almost doubled this past year as the war between Russia and Ukraine prompted other European countries into purchasing more...
Dutch court upholds $15M payout to Nigerian communities damaged by spills
(GIN)—A Dutch court has upheld a payout to residents of the Niger Delta of $15.9 million for oil spills that contaminated land and waterways in three communities. In the case brought by Friends of the Earth, Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary was found to be responsible for the spills that occurred between 2004 and 2007. The payout will benefit the communities of...
UN rights chief appeals for end to arbitrary detention
Arbitrary detention must end “once and for all,” UN human rights chief Volker Türk said on Jan. 3 in an appeal to governments everywhere. “At the start of this year—the 75th anniversary year of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights—I call on governments and all detaining authorities, globally, to amnesty, pardon or simply release all those detained for exercising their rights,” he said...
Controversy ignites as comedian Kevin Hart says Blacks were kings in Egypt
“History is above all our studies the most attractive and best qualified to reward our research. As it develops the springs and motives of human actions and displays the consequence of circumstances, which operates most powerfully on the destinies of the human being.” —The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad According to Middle East Eye, some Egyptians have taken the term...
Anti-Israel protests held across Morocco against normalization with Tel Aviv regime
Moroccans have staged demonstrations across the North African country to reiterate their unwavering support for the Palestinian cause and voice outrage at the U.S.-sponsored normalization of diplomatic relations with Israel on its second anniversary. People from all strata of society heeded a call by the “Moroccan Front in Support of Palestine and Against Normalization,” took part in nationwide rallies in almost...
Kurds hold march of mourning after Paris shooting kills 3
PARIS—Members of France’s Kurdish community and others held a silent march to honor three people killed in a shooting at a Kurdish cultural center in Paris that prosecutors say was motivated by racism. Turkey summoned France’s ambassador Dec. 26 over what it called “black propaganda” by Kurdish activists after the shooting. Some have marched in Paris with flags of the banned Kurdistan...