Agence France-Presse – Somali pirates free 26 Asian hostages after four years

Somali pirates have released 26 Asian hostages held for nearly five years after the hijacking of their fishing vessel, the last commercial ship seized at the height of the country’s piracy scourge, negotiators said on Saturday. The crew of the Naham 3, held hostage for the second longest by Somali pirates, were taken captive when their Omani-flagged vessel was seized …

“I Just Sit and Wait to Die” – Reparations for Survivors of Kenya’s 2007-2008 Post-Election Sexual Violence

On January 25, 2008, during the explosion of post-election violence in Kenya, four men beat and brutally gang-raped Apiyo P., a 53-year-old mother of five. She told Human Rights Watch how the rape continues to affect her: I am not at peace, my body is not the same. If I am pressed, urine just comes out. I feel weak. Sometimes …

Graham Vanbergen – Origins of the EU – USA Covert Operations to Assimilate Europe Into A Federal State

For anyone who still has doubts, the European Union was not really motivated by the twin desires of ending warfare on the continent of Europe and promoting economic growth by making it easier for European countries to trade with each other. This was the story you were spoon-fed. It was actually the creation of America. Read on. Post second world war, America …

World’s Small Farmers Fighting Back as WTO Pushes Corporate Agenda

The World Trade Organization (WTO) kicked off its 10th ministerial conference in Kenya on Tuesday to develop a new free trade agreement, as grassroots activists rallied worldwide against measures they say would undermine the rights of small-scale farmers in developing countries. It is the first time the WTO has met in Africa, where free trade and globalization have left a legacy of …

Thomas C. Mountain – Climate Disaster Hammers Ethiopia

This year the rains failed in southern Ethiopia and some 25% of a country of 90 million people are facing acute food shortages in the coming months. This climate disaster, brought on mainly by western industries damage to the environment, has left the Ethiopian government quietly begging the international community for a preliminary food aid package worth $500 million, desperately …

Abayomi Azikiwe – Behind the Obama Visit to East Africa. Imperialism with a “Human Face”, Outright Militarization of the African Continent

Also the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, came to the United States the previous week and held high-level meetings with Obama along with other officials in the State Department and the Pentagon. Obama’s term ends next year and many have criticized him for not visiting the country where his father was born since he was elected …