Portugal’s government rejects paying reparations for colonial, slavery legacy
Lisbon, Portugal Reuters Portugal’s government said on Saturday it refuses to initiate any process to pay reparations for atrocities committed during transatlantic slavery and the colonial era, contrary to earlier comments from President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. From the 15th to the 19th century, six million Africans were kidnapped and forcibly transported across the Atlantic […]
UN rights chief urges states to act on slavery reparations
Geneva, Switzerland Reuters The United Nations human rights chief called for countries to take concrete steps on reparations for people of African descent at a UN meeting on Friday, adding his voice to calls for justice for slavery atrocities. Support is building among Africa and Caribbean nations for the creation of a tribunal to address […]
Caribbean ambassador calls for global action to establish slavery tribunal
Reuters A high-level Caribbean ambassador said on Wednesday it was crucial to establish a new international special tribunal to seek reparations for transatlantic slavery and its legacies in today’s society. Reuters reported earlier this month that support was building among Africa and Caribbean nations for the creation of such a tribunal on atrocities dating to […]
Briton who ran length of Africa says Congo kidnapping was only time he mulled quitting
Bizerte, Tunisia Reuters After running the length of Africa, British extreme athlete Russ Cook said he only considered quitting once during his near year-long odyssey – after he got kidnapped in the Congo by a gang armed with machetes. “The scariest moment was in the Congo, when I was on the back of a motorbike, […]
Alcohol policies need sharper focus on gender, WHO says
London, UK Reuters The World Health Organization on Friday urged governments to consider gender when developing their alcohol policies, warning that industry marketing increasingly targeted women who face greater health risks than men from lower levels of drinking. The Geneva-based WHO said that there was good evidence that men, women and minority groups were affected […]
Migrant arrivals to Spain’s Canaries surge seven-fold so far this year
Madrid, Spain Reuters The number of migrants boarding rickety boats from West Africa and reaching Spain’s Canary Islands has risen seven-fold so far this year from the same period of 2023, Interior Ministry data showed on Friday. A total of 11,704 irregular migrants reached the Atlantic Ocean archipelago between 1st January and 15th February, compared […]
Measles: Children most at risk as cases soar from Ethiopia to Yemen
LIN TAYLOR, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports…
United Methodists: Legislation aims to “decolonise”, give parity to non-US conferences
YONAT SHIMRON, of Religion News Service, reports that a proposed regionalisation plan would undo the dominance and control of the US church and make it on par with United Methodist conferences abroad…
EU border agency says stopping migration is impossible
Warsaw, Poland Reuters Irregular immigration to the EU from Western Africa rose more than 10 times on the year in January, according to the bloc’s Frontex border agency, which expects overall arrivals to grow in 2024 and says halting the movement of people completely is impossible. Frontex head Hans Leijtens spoke in his Warsaw office […]
Pope says Africans are “special case” when it comes to LGBT blessings
Vatican City Reuters Pope Francis said in an interview published on Monday that Africans were a “special case” in the opposition of bishops and many other people in the continent to homosexuality. But he said he was confident that, except for Africans, critics of his decision to allow blessings for same-sex couples would eventually understand […]