The second pre-COP27 climate summit takes Global-North nations to task
Environment ministers from nearly 50 countries gathered in the Democratic Republic of Congo for the second “pre-COP27” climate summit. The first pre-climate summit occurred in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, with African leaders speaking to empty seats, due to the failure to show up by most European heads of state. COP or Conference of the Parties is the decision-making forum...
Nicaragua cuts ties with Netherlands, bars U.S. envoy over meddling
Nicaragua has severed diplomatic ties with the Netherlands over “repeated meddling” by the Dutch government shortly after denying entry to the new U.S. ambassador for his “interfering” attitude. “Nicaragua, faced with the repeated meddling, interventionist and neocolonialist position of the kingdom of the Netherlands that has offended … with threats and suspensions of works for the common good, communicates to...
Palestinian deaths toll in occupied West Bank stands at 100 this year as Israeli military escalates crackdown
A recent report has revealed that at least 100 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and East al-Quds this year, as tensions rise across the occupied territories in the wake of near-daily Israeli military operations. The number, compiled by the BBC, reached 100 after the Israeli army killed 17-year-old Palestinian boy Odai Trad Salah during a raid near the...
Little progress combating systemic racism against people of African descent: UN report
More than two years since the murder of George Floyd by a police officer in the United States sparked the global Black Lives Matter movement, there’s been only “piecemeal progress” in addressing systemic racism, the UN human rights office (OHCHR) said in late September, in a new report. While more people have been made aware of systemic racism and concrete...
Libya’s Tripoli government signs economic deals with Turkey
BENGHAZI, Libya—One of Libya’s rival governments signed preliminary economic and maritime deals with Turkey, in a move that has inflamed tensions between it and the North African country’s other administration. The agreements signed Oct. 3 also angered Turkey’s neighbor and regional rival Greece, which denounced them as “illegal.” The deals, signed by Turkey’s foreign minister with the Tripoli-based Libyan government, signal...
Several reported dead as two migrant boats sink in Greek waters
ATHENS, Greece—At least 15 people have died as two boats carrying migrants sank in Greek waters late on October 5, and rescuers were looking for dozens still missing, authorities said early Oct. 6. The coast guard said 15 bodies had been recovered near the eastern island of Lesbos after a dinghy carrying about 40 people sank. Five people were...
Female African warriors and their brave fight against the African slave trade
The film “The Woman King,” directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and starring award-winning actress Viola Davis, though receiving much acclaim, has also been criticized for historical inaccuracy. When questioned about the “backlash” Davis paraphrased Prince-Bythewood, stating, “you’re not going to win an argument on Twitter.” Davis’ husband and producing partner, Julius Tennon added, that the film depicts history but also...
Mali’s prime minister hits out at ‘neocolonialist’ France in UN speech
Mali has censured France over its deteriorating security situation, accusing Paris of having stabbed the impoverished, though minerals-rich, Sahel country in the back with the withdrawal of French troops. Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga, the new acting prime minister of Mali, made the remarks in a speech at the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Sept....
ECB head warns Europe’s economic outlook is ‘darkening’ amid soaring energy, food prices
The chief of the European Central Bank (ECB) has warned that the economic outlook for the continent “is darkening” and that business activity could “slow substantially” in the coming months amid skyrocketing food and energy prices in the wake of the Ukraine war. Christine Lagarde, speaking at the European Parliament on whether the eurozone would sink into recession, admitted that...
‘The war on Syria has failed,’ Foreign Minister says in UN speech, denouncing the West’s hegemonic ambitions
The current chaotic state of the world—from wars to the spread of terrorism and climate-induced disasters—is the result of hegemonic, wealth-hoarding countries and their ambitions to subjugate others, “which Syria knows only too well,” Foreign Minister Fayssal Mekdad said on September 26. In his address on the last day of the UN General Assembly’s annual high-level debate, Mr. Mekdad stated...