African nations tell COP27 fossil fuels will tackle poverty
Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt Reuters African nations must be allowed to develop fossil fuel resources to help lift their people out of poverty, governments said at the COP27 climate talks in Egypt, which welcomed leaders of oil and gas companies sidelined at previous talks. Pressure to leave hydrocarbons in the ground has been weakened this year […]
Contemporary slavery extensive around globe – UN investigator
United NationsAP A UN investigator says contemporary forms of slavery are widely practiced around the world, including forced labour for China’s Uyghur minority, bonded labour for the lowest caste Dalits in South Asia, and domestic servitude in Gulf countries, Brazil and Colombia. Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur Tomoya Obokata adds that traditional enslavement, especially of […]
UN urges Mali to end hereditary slavery
Dakar, SenegalReuters UN human rights experts on Friday called on Mali to crack down on hereditary slavery after a series of violent attacks against people born into servitude. Slavery was officially abolished in colonial Mali in 1905, but a system persists in which people are still forced to work without pay for families that enslaved […]
Snapshot: Ben Amera, Mauritania
See DANIEL BORN’s image…
STRANGESIGHTS: A “DANGEROUS” CHRISTMAS TREE; UGLY SWEATERS; AND, A GIFT OF CAMELS…
DAVID ADAMS writes about the odder side of life…
More than 80 countries ‘favour’ one religion over others, says Pew report
World Watch Monitor More than 80 countries favour a specific religion, either officially as a state religion or tacitly through special treatment, according to a new report by the US-based Pew Research Center. Islam is the most common state religion – 27 countries have it as their official religion, including 16 of the 20 countries in the […]