On the occasion of the World Day against the Death Penalty, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and the Center for Human Rights Defenders in Iran call on the Iranian authorities to put an end to capital executions which target in particular prisoners of opinion, of which journalists
Volunteers in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, say they have stopped attacks by looters amid a power vacuum in the Central Asian nation. The volunteers, who organized through social-media channels, said they had to step in to protect buildings and property as police had vanished from many areas. Kyrgyzstan’s government resigned after mass protests over parliamentary elections many saw as rigged
A new World Bank report says Ghana’s annual deforestation rate is around 3.51%, meaning the country loses at least 315,000 hectares of its forest a year, costing about $400 million annually. To help reverse the damage, a Ghana project is promoting sustainable forestry through timber, seedling and essential oil sales and educational tours
Turkey’s backing of Azerbaijan in the conflict with Armenia over the disputed Nagorno Karabakh enclave is coming under increasing scrutiny. Despite international pressure, Turkey is rejecting calls to back an unconditional ceasefire, as Ankara steps up its support of Azerbaijan’s military goals.
On Sept. 25, Chinese state media reported that Yao Qiang, an ethnic Han man who had been serving as Vice President of Xinjiang University in the regional capital Urumqi since March 2019, had been appointed as the school’s newest president three days earlier. This marks the first time since the founding of the XUAR by China in 1955 that a Han person has served as the head of the university, which is the flagship institute of higher education in the region
The political turmoil in Kyrgyzstan follows a period of relative calm in the country’s post-Soviet history, which is marked by revolutions in 2010 and 2005
In recent days, while we are all grasping at any sign of hope for the region, it is remarkable to see that there have been desperate calls for peace from Armenians and Azerbaijanis around the world. But beyond the undisputedly symbolic and signaling value of such calls lies a challenge for peacebuilding work, as “peace” is neither ceasefire, appeasement, nor absence of war
A debate is raging around the United States over statues that were built to memorialize historical figures. Some champion those honored as heroes who helped build the country. Others say their involvement in slavery and colonialism taints their legacy
The Africa Centres for Disease Control has helped direct the continent’s 54 countries into an alliance praised for responding better than some richer countries, including the United States. Africa has registered 37,000 deaths since the first case was announced, compared to more than 210,000 in the U.S
Hundreds of mourners have bid farewell to independent Russian journalist Irina Slavina, who died after setting herself on fire in an apparent reaction to investigators trying to tie her to an opposition group and what’s been described as years of harassment by authorities. Before her suicide in front of the police headquarters in Nizhniy Novgorod on October 2, Slavina wrote on Facebook, “Blame the Russian Federation for my death.”