America’s addiction to war: To convert war into something sacred means fashioning a deceitful myth
Complexities involving alternatives to Washington’s war-making urges are, of course, not part of the national conversation on Veterans Day. Instead, we are promised that war and this country’s warriors will somehow redeem us as a nation. The unimaginable losses to families, communities, infrastructure and culture in the lands where such...
How US exploits religion to bless violence that hides wars’ hideous destructiveness with sacred sheen
Dear Veterans, I’m a civilian who, like many Americans, has strong ties to the US Armed Forces. I never considered enlisting, but my father, uncles, cousins, and nephews did. As a child I baked cookies to send with letters to my cousin Steven who was serving in Vietnam. My family...
Kenyan opposition raises concerns over $37 million to be spent on peace mission in troubled DRC
Kenya’s parliament has approved the deployment of nearly 1,000 troops for a new regional force in eastern Congo amid questions about the $37 million cost for the first six months of the mission. A parliamentary committee report says the money will be spent on equipment, allowances and operations for the...
Ethiopia, rebels on course to ending conflict in Tigray after commanders agreed to work on details
The latest round of peace talks between Ethiopia’s government and representatives of the country’s Tigray region has been extended as military commanders work out details on disarmament of Tigray forces after two years of conflict. An official familiar with the talks confirmed the extension into Thursday, speaking on condition of...
Hear Africa: Kenyan climate change activist tells Africans not to just make numbers at COP27
Elizabeth Wathuti channelled her frustration and sadness over the damage to natural habitats including Kenyan forests close to her childhood home into a life of activism, founding Green Generation Initiative to raise awareness through tree growing. Six years after starting the environmental advocacy group, Wathuti is one of Kenya’s most...
How a Senegalese woman went to study in US, cleaned toilets and used savings to build swanky Palm Hotel in Dakar
Souadou Niang is a popular figure in Senegal’s hospitality industry. Her popularity defies her humble beginnings. Her persistence and drive to overcome obstacles is almost legendary in nature. The persistence and drive explain how she became the proprietor of The Palm Luxury Boutique Hotel in Dakar, the Senegalese commercial and...
World Cup lodging chaos as Qatar prepares to charge $230-a-night in shipping container-style rooms
Football fans have had a sneak peek into the tiny £200 (230)-a-night shipping container-style rooms that await them in Qatar. The World Cup is less than two weeks away with footie supporters set to descend on the small Gulf nation in their thousands. Qatari have been frantically setting up infrastructure...
New evidence details how workers at World Cup stadiums were routinely brutalised, evacuated during Fifa inspections
Migrant workers employed at World Cup stadiums were secretly evacuated from the construction sites ahead of Fifa inspections, new research by human-rights investigators has found. Construction firm bosses sounded fire alarms to ensure labourers left the premises and were unable to complain about their treatment to Fifa officials, the report...
Jailed for not killing: How unknown genetic disorder landed mother 40 years in prison for murder of her 4 children
Around lunchtime on a warm March Day in 1999, Kathleen Folbigg went to check on her sleeping 18-month-old daughter and found her pale and unresponsive. Folbigg, alone in her house in Singleton, Australia, called an ambulance while she tried her best to resuscitate the child. “My baby’s not breathing,” she...
How Republicans aborted hopes of snatching Senate and House control from Democrats in US midterms
In the middle of an election night when Democrats were supposed to lose just about everything, CNN chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju stood at the edge of the House Republican Caucus “victory party” and reviewed the results as of midnight on the East Coast. The news ticker at the bottom...
