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World News & Views

The latest from the Black community worldwide.

Congresswoman Waters and colleagues urge Secretary Clinton to support fair, free, inclusive Haitian elections

Congresswoman Maxine Waters, a leading proponent for democracy, human rights and economic empowerment in Haiti, and 44 other members of Congress are urging Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to support free, fair and inclusive elections in Haiti this November. Waters and her colleagues are concerned that the exclusion of over a dozen political parties – including the country’s largest party, Fanmi Lavalas – from the November ballot is undemocratic and unconstitutional. They also raise concerns about Haitian voters having access to voting cards and polling stations, particularly those voters displaced by the devastating earthquake earlier this year.

Nuclear energy is no alternative when profits always trump safety

As Japan is reeling from an earthquake and tsunami, it and the rest of the world are bracing for a more directly man-made calamity, a nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

The peace that wasn’t: Rwanda 20 years after the genocide

I woke up on the morning of April 7, 1994, from a fretful slumber. I managed to walk to the gate of my house. I had to know if there were any other houses left standing. What were all of those screams I heard throughout the night? What would happen now that the president was dead? I was benumbed with fright, but I made it to the gate. I had to know what was left of our neighborhood.

Rwanda admits force used in anti-thatch campaign

Rwanda's controversial policy to eradicate all thatched roofs in the country by the end of this month has led to forced evictions and left many without shelter.

Prison Radio demands treatment for Rashid’s cancer

This a call for We the People to counter the prison system’s strategic tactic of medical neglect and denial with intentional genocide of political prisoners.

Africa betrayed

Western imperialism continues to interfere in the governance of independent African states. We see a trend not just of neo-colonialism but one which moves towards re-colonization. And if we add to this the purchase of huge tracts of African land for agriculture by Middle East countries and China, the people of Africa are being betrayed once again.

Libya, the ‘humanitarian’ war: There is no evidence!

“This is an excellent exposé of the foundations laid for the U.S.-NATO war in Libya,” writes Les Blough, editor of Axis of Logic. “Please note that the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), based in Washington, D.C., was at the root of this international crime against the government and people of Libya.”

Cuban-trained U.S. doctors on their way to Haiti

U.S. graduates of the Latin American School of Medicine are prepared to alleviate the pain and suffering of thousands of Haitian people. The young physicians come from Harlem, Brooklyn, the Bronx and Staten Island in New York City, from Houston and from Minnesota. Two of them are currently working in Oakland, Calif.

Will NATO start bombing Spain?

Nobody can assure us that in its agony, the empire won’t be dragging human beings down to catastrophe.

Congo Week IV: Join the global movement

As we embark upon the fourth annual Breaking The Silence: Congo Week, Oct. 16-22, 2011, I greet you in the name of many Congolese youth who are seeking to ride the winds of change that blew from the African youth revolution in Soweto in 1976 to the streets of Cairo today, now making their way across the Atlantic to America, symbolized by the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Live from the streets of San Salvador

The Prisoners of Conscience Committee delegation from the United States returned recently from a fact-finding mission in El Salvador. We were in three cities - San Salvador, Suchitoto and Sansonate - and we talked to former combatants, government officials, union leaders, community leaders, members of street organizations, former political prisoners and more. One of my favorite groups that we met was Radio Zurda, a collective of youth who do a political radio show heard in El Salvador and Honduras, targeted towards a youth audience.

National Urban League proposes economic recovery plan for urban communities

This week the National Urban League submitted its "Economic Recovery Plan for Job Creation in Urban Communities" to both President-elect Barack Obama and Congress.

Haiti and Honduras: End military coups and occupations

The universal condemnation of the military coup in Honduras by Latin American governments is unprecedented. If this dictatorship is allowed to stay in power, no democratically elected government is safe. Just as President Obama promised a more respectful relationship between the U.S. and the rest of America – we are faced with another coup with U.S. military complicity.

Sanders at the Vatican: What did Bernie tell the Pontifical Academy?

Over a century ago, Pope Leo XIII highlighted economic issues and challenges in Rerum Novarum that continue to haunt us today, such as what he called “the enormous wealth of a few as opposed to the poverty of the many.” That situation is worse today. In the year 2016, the top 1 percent of the people on this planet own more wealth than the bottom 99 percent, while the wealthiest 60 people – 60 people – own more than the bottom half – 3 1/2 billion people.

Death toll in Haiti now stands at over 200,000

Haitian Prime Minister Jean Max Bellerive confirmed on Wednesday in Port-au-Prince that the number of deaths as a consequence of the earthquake on Jan. 12 has increased to over 200,000. He pointed out that the figure doesn’t include the corpses that are still under the rubble or the victims buried by their own families.

Egyptian security forces attack Gaza protesters

Egyptian security forces were attacking protesters in Tahrir Square, at the core of downtown Cairo, after they sat down in the middle of a busy Cairo street, protesting the imprisonment of the people of Gaza. Others were literally barricaded inside their hotel, the entrance surrounded by steel riot barriers. It is pandemonium.

Cuba and Miami announce record low infant mortality rates – Cuba 30% lower than...

“Florida’s infant mortality rate is at an all-time low,” reports the Tampa Tribune. So is Cuba’s, according to Prensa Latina. In Miami, the infant mortality rate dropped from 6.4 out of every 1,000 live births in 2011 to 6 in 2013. “State health officials credit improved prenatal and infant health care for the good news,” says the Tribune. By that measure, Cuba’s prenatal and infant health care must be much better than Miami’s, where 34 percent of the population is Cuban.

Cynthia McKinney stopped from leaving U.S. to speak in Syria

Today I was slated to speak in Damascus, Syria, at a conference to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 60th year that the Palestinian people have been denied their Right of Return enshrined in that declaration. But I was not allowed to exit the country.

One year ago the city collapsed

One year ago this morning millions of Haitians rose to greet the cool January sunshine. Twelve hours later as the sun dropped into the bay of Port au Prince, the city collapsed. In just 30 seconds, over 50 percent of the buildings in Haiti’s capital city were reduced to rubble.

Congo: Elections, democracy and the Diaspora awakening

Congo’s Nov. 28 presidential and legislative elections were fraught with tremendous irregularities and widespread charges of fraud. The opposition categorically rejected the results as fraudulent. Nonetheless, Joseph Kabila was sworn into office on Tuesday, Dec. 20.