Israel’s spyware, cyber warfare were used on Palestinians and exported to Africa
Late last year, journalist Antony Loewenstein told inkstick.com, “In the last 10 years, Israel has made significant efforts to build relationships with Africa, but these are mostly transactional and a way to hopefully win support in the UN and other international forums.” Loewenstein, who was based in South Sudan in 2015 and Jerusalem between 2016 and 2020, is the author...
China raises defense budget by 7.2 percent as it pushes for global heft and regional tensions continue
BEIJING—China on March 5 announced a 7.2 percent increase in its defense budget, which is already the world’s second-highest behind the United States at 1.6 trillion yuan ($222 billion), roughly mirroring last year’s rise. Tensions with the U.S., Taiwan, Japan and neighbors with competing claims to the crucial South China Sea are seen as furthering growth in high-tech military technologies from...
U.S. anti-drug policies caused ‘genocide’ in Latin America: Colombia president
Colombian President Gustavo Petro says the United States’ anti-drug policies have caused a “genocide” in Latin America. “We have lived through a genocide of a million Latin Americans in the last half-century,” Petro declared on March 1 at a meeting of regional leaders on the Caribbean island of St Vincent and the Grenadines. The Colombian president said the U.S. drug strategy...
Wildfire grows into one of largest in Texas history and storms leave trail of destruction in Midwest
CANADIAN, Texas—A cluster of wildfires scorched the Texas Panhandle on Feb. 28, including a blaze that grew into one of the largest in state history, as flames moved with alarming speed and blackened the landscape across a vast stretch of small towns and cattle ranches. Authorities warned that the damage to communities on the high plains could be extensive. Known as...
Activists urge Nigeria to delay Shell’s $2.4 B sale of assets in deeply polluted Niger Delta
ABUJA, Nigeria—Local activists and international environmental groups want Nigeria’s government to delay approving the sale of oil company Shell’s onshore assets, claiming Shell is trying to shirk its environmental and social responsibilities in the highly polluted Niger Delta. The London-based company is trying to sell its subsidiary Shell Petroleum Development Company—which operates its onshore assets in the delta—to Renaissance Africa Energy Company,...
Russia: Conflict with Europe ‘inevitable’ if NATO deploys troops in Ukraine
Russia has warned NATO’s European member states of a potential conflict if the West realizes a debated plan of deploying troops to Ukraine. The Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Feb. 27 that both Europe and the United States should “assess” their support to Ukraine. “In this case, we need to talk not about the likelihood, but about the inevitability of...
Thousands rally against rising hunger in Argentina amid austerity measures
Protests erupted throughout Argentina for food assistance for the underprivileged, in response to the adverse effects of skyrocketing inflation and the implementation of President Javier Milei’s stringent austerity measures. Angry demonstrators took to the streets across the country on Feb. 23 and condemned the strict economic conditions created by Milei and his administration, voicing support for the economically backward. Since the...
UN forum: Nations must collaborate now or risk further setbacks in sustainable development
Today’s multilateral arrangements—global and regional organizations and major development banks—are “not up to the job” of helping countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the deputy UN chief said on Feb. 20. The 11th Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD) kicked off in Bangkok, with participants echoing a compelling plea for nations to swiftly implement urgent actions, fostered by robust and sustained...
Senegalese leaders propose June elections after court rejects president’s 10-month delay
DAKAR, Senegal—A group of Senegalese civic and religious leaders proposed holding elections in early June, the first new date offered since the president attempted to push elections back to the end of the year. President Macky Sall who faces term limits at the end of his second terms, said in early February he was postponing an election for 10 months, just...
Trillions of dollars in mineral resources but still poor
Despite being rich because of $24 trillion in mineral resources that are ready to be turned into consumer electronics and batteries in electric cars for Western industrialized democracies, the population of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is one of the poorest in the world. In fact, according to the World Bank, the DRC is among the five poorest nations...