Inside Arab world plan to pull rag from under Western cultural dominion, expand the emirate via sports
Saudi Arabia’s announcement will also bring controversy. The nation has a terrible human rights record, homosexuality is illegal and there are severe restrictions on freedom of speech and women’s rights. This relaunch will bring accusations of ‘sportswashing’ – that by repackaging its flagship competition for global consumption, Saudi Arabia is attempting to repackage its reputation in front of a global audience.
Bombing of Fulani herders underlines pattern of deadly military assaults in Nigeria ‘overseen’ by US and Britain
Clashes between farmers and semi-nomadic herders have killed more than 3,600 people since 2016 in parts of Nigeria, according to a report published by London-based Amnesty International in December 2018. The violence is often painted as ethnic or religious in nature: chiefly Muslim Fulani herders clashing with mainly Christian farmers. But many experts say climate change and expanding agriculture are creating competition – and conflicts – over access to water and land, regardless of faith or ethnicity.
Bombing, killing of Fulani herders raises human rights concerns about US’ supplies to Nigerian military
The airstrike near the village of Akwanaja provides a stark example of a broader trend: The nation’s military, which is backed by the United States, the UK and other non-Western allies in a long war against Islamist insurgents in the northeast, has been unleashing deadly aerial assaults for years in other parts of the country.
Technology-fuelled racism in football is a haunting throwback to 1980s-style monkey chants and banana-throwing in stadiums
A report last year from Fifa, the governing body of world soccer, showed that more than 50 per cent of players competing in two international tournaments in 2021 – the African Cup of Nations and the European Championship – received some form of discriminatory abuse in more than 400,000 posts on social media. More than a third were of a racist nature.
Kenya and Uganda have copied Chinese policing models, other African countries are following suit
Between 2003 and 2017, African countries secured $3.56 billion in Chinese loans for public security, including surveillance systems, national security networks, and other security wares like anti-riot gear. This figure is almost certainly an undercount given that the bulk of this equipment is included in military sales.
Expert says racism in football is often caused by jealousy of Black players’ flair, exuberance native Europeans lack
Experts believe the global outrage, widespread reaction and outpouring of support for Vinícius following his latest abuse could mark a turning point in the fight against racism in Spain. It certainly struck a chord in Brazil, where there were protests outside the Spanish Consulate in Sao Paulo, while the Spanish league is now seeking to increase its authority to issue sanctions. Its protocol up to now has been to detect and denounce incidents and pass evidence to courts, where cases are typically shelved.
Fragile M23 ceasefire fuels fears of resumption of fighting in eastern DR Congo as Kinshasa rules out talks
Rebel leaders say they are fighting because the government broke a 2013 peace accord with the group, and because local Tutsis are at risk. Yet Rwanda is widely thought to be pulling the strings, reviving the group to push its own agenda.
In ex-US Secretary of State ‘Henry Kissinger’s killing fields’ in Cambodia media couldn’t report on the carnage
In another confidential cable sent in December 1973, Thomas Enders made a final accounting of solatium payments to those who had lost a relative in Neak Luong. They had actually not received the $400 per dead civilian that they had been promised. In the end, the US valued the dead of Neak Luong at just $218 apiece.
Why charities want banks and anti-money laundering agencies to rethink de-risking rules
To cope with this threat, Islamic Relief USA has seven different US bank accounts. The hope is that at least one will facilitate transfers to the fragile zones in which the organisation works. Other NGOs, such as members of the American Relief Coalition for Syria, reported delays or blocks to wire transfers impeding their ability to serve people in need.
Unhumanitarian crisis: How vague money-laundering and counter-terror protocols slow aid, hurt needy
Financial sector experts say the biggest roadblocks are caused by vague anti-money laundering and countering the finance of terrorism (AML/CFT) regulations – enforced in the US by a web of government agencies, and for which there are no viable humanitarian exemptions.
