Russia Supplanting France in Africa
In recent years there has developed a shadowy competition for influence between Russia and France on the African continent, and Moscow seems to be winning.
Tag Archives: France
US Passes Military Budget Greater Than Next Nine Countries Combined
The US House of Representatives passed a mammoth US$858 billion military spending bill, putting the US budget for weapons and war-making higher than the next nine countries combined. Also attached to the bill was unprecedented US taxpayer funding for Taiwan’s military.
International Peacekeepers Abandon Mali
France and the United Kingdom have ceased support for the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, the deadliest currently in operation. These withdrawals followed a decade of fruitless attempts to end hostilities between the West African nation’s government and its rebel Islamists.
Japan Caught In Its Own Net of Plastic Pollution
As garbage islands floating in the Pacific Ocean have grown to the area of entire countries, Japan and other nations’ use of plastic fishing nets is believed to not only take a major toll on sea life, but is even threatening the future of the fishing industry itself.
Bolsonaro’s Destructive Legacy in the Amazon
Brazil President-Elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva declared last week that “the devastation [of the Amazon] will be a thing of the past.” He has his work cut out for him. Outgoing President Jair Bolsonaro presided over the destruction of an unprecedented proportion of the precious rainforest, crucial to human survival, during his four years in office.
EU Urged to Denounce Israel’s Apartheid
Leading human rights organizations have urged European Union (EU) officials to “publicly and unequivocally denounce” Israel’s disregard for international law and its apartheid system during this week’s EU-Israel Association Council meeting.
UN Chief Blasts Morally Irresponsible PR Industry
During his wide-ranging plea for fundamental change delivered this week at the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres denounced public relations and advertising firms for enabling the fossil fuel pollution currently destroying the planet.
London Museum Returns Benin Bronzes
The Horniman Museum and Gardens, based in London, has recently agreed to return all 72 of its artifacts that were forcibly taken from Benin City, now part of Nigeria, during a British military operation in 1897.
America’s Belt and Road Initiative
The Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII) is the United States’ latest attempt to challenge China’s global investment strategy, the better-established Belt and Road Initiative, but it is unclear how serious a challenge PGII can present to Beijing.
Kishida’s Stance on Nuclear Weapons
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has outlined what appears to be a sincere effort to realign Japan’s position on nuclear weapons–from one that supports the maintenance of the US “nuclear umbrella” to one that aims for gradual global nuclear weapons disarmament.
