In Ethiopia’s western Gambella region, 540 people–mostly ethnic Amhara–were killed during a massacre that began in the town of Meti, Godere Zone. The massacre took place September 10, and was not reported until Voice of America’s (VOA) Amharic Service covered the killings last week. The massacre began after the Ethiopian government began to forcefully evict … Read more
The government of Ethiopia is guilty of ethnically targeted human rights violations, according to Amnesty International. The violence is directed against Ethiopia’s largest minority group, the Oromos, and is motivated by political fear. Thousands have been tortured, according the Amnesty’s report. Amnesty based its report on 200 testimonies gathered in Ethiopia. “We interviewed former detainees … Read more
Russia launched a Progress 57 Cargo Ship from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan Wednesday, bound for the International Space Station. The ship was launched just three hours after the failed launch of the American rocket Antares, which exploded over Wallops Island, Virginia. The Russian ship is expected to rendezvous with the International Space Station later Wednesday. The Russian ship, a Progress M-25M … Read more
The Western African nation of Niger is experiencing an outbreak of cholera. To date, 51 people have died of the disease this year–deaths are on the rise, with 38 deaths taking place in September alone. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) reported that 1,300 people have been infected with cholera so … Read more
China is expected to send 100,000 troops into its restless western province of Xinjiang to reinforce the People’s Armed Police force already there, according to a Hong Kong based rights group. Hundreds of people have died in recent months in Xinjiang’s ethnic unrest. The Chinese Communist Party’s 18th Congress discussed a number of problems facing the … Read more
A twenty-year sentence has been handed down to a mullah in an Afghan court. The man was found guilty of raping a 10-year-old girl known as Brishna. The girl has faced death threats from her community in the wake of her bringing suit against the man. A Kabul judge handed down the sentence Saturday, hailed as … Read more
Enclosures of water are being dispossessed from small-scale markets in a rising trend of so-called “ocean grabbing,” according to a recent report by Transnational Institute (TNI) and Afrika Kontakt. Claiming that seas and shores must be taken from common fisher people in order to preserve sustainability, the World Bank is backing corporate interests and a rise in large-scale aqua-industry market-based … Read more
Tuberculosis is a disease that is seldom heard about these days, but the WHO and MSF have said that forms of TB known as multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) have risen to the level of a global threat. TB is already carried in a latent form in approximately one-third of the global population, and MDR-TB is increasingly the form … Read more
Cambodian land-grabbing constitutes a “crime against humanity,” British lawyer Richard Rogers has told the International Criminal Court (ICC). The lawyer is officially representing 10 Cambodian victims of the alleged abuse in the suit. “I am confident,” said Rogers, who is a member of the Global Diligence LLP as well as the Cambodian Nation Rescue Party’s … Read more
A new UNICEF program is helping tens of thousands of African girls to get an education. The initiative is a cash transfer program–the most effective type of program in promoting development that includes the poor, according to UNICEF officials, and the current phase of the program will help send 73,000 girls to school over the … Read more
The nature of deforestation has changed dramatically in recent years, according to a new study by Chalmers University Scientists. Deforestation today is driven by globalization and commercialization to a large and increasing degree–international trade is contributing to deforestation through a demand for beef, soy, palm oil and timber. “From having been caused mainly by smallholders … Read more
Over 1,000 cases of Malaria have been diagnosed in Yei River County, Central Equatoria State, South Sudan this week. “In total those who are registered on OPD we have is one thousand eighty three cases of malaria, and among these cases we have four hundred and fifty four under five, with three dead which means … Read more