(2024-12-09). South Africa's progress in 2024 sets the stage for hope in the New Year. sanews.gov.za South Africa's progress in 2024 sets the stage for hope in the New Year | As the year draws to a close, President Cyril Ramaphosa has reflected on South Africa's achievements and challenges, expressing optimism for the year ahead in his weekly newsletter. | This year marked three decades since the advent of democracy, with the country commemorating its progress in building a constitutional order rooted in freedom, equality and human rights. | Among the highlights was South Africa's seventh successful General Election, with 70 political parties contesting. The Electoral Commission was lauded for its efficient man…
(2024-12-09). Amnesty files complaint against German police union VP over Palestine comments. skwawkbox.org 
Manuel Ostermann's racism and calls for violence against anti-genocide protesters lead to formal complaint from human rights group Amnesty International's German office has filed a formal complaint against police union vice president Manuel Ostermann over his racism and incitement to violence against anti-genocide protesters. In a video, Ostermann has "called for the deportation of demonstrators …
(2024-12-09). Cuba represented in Higher Education forums in Uruguay. plenglish.com The First Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Higher Education (MES), Modesto Gómez, heads the delegation of Cuba to the Meeting of Ministers and High Authorities of Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean, which began today at the headquarters of the Latin American Integration Association (Aladi). | The meeting, whose main objective is to address the challenges and opportunities of Higher Education, with the participation of the Deputy Director General of Unesco, Stefania Giannini. | Ambassador Jorge Martí, Chargé d'Affaires in Uruguay, Miriam Alpízar, head of the Secretariat of the Ministry of Higher…
(2024-12-09). Israel's genocide in Gaza is fully intentional, and other takeaways from the Amnesty International report. mronline.org 
Amnesty International this week confirmed what many others have already said: Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. But the report goes to many lengths to prove one critical element in the case against Israel: that the genocide is fully intentional.
(2024-12-09). Friday essay: 'A future of dust' — Jeff Sparrow on Gaza and why, in evil times, writers have a responsibility to take sides. mronline.org "We must ask for no references to Gaza/Palestine/Israel as it's a very sensitive topic in our area. If these topics are included it drastically changes our risk management plans for events. Thus for safety and harmony we kindly ask the guest speakers avoid these topics and any questions about it that come up." — Sam Wallman and I received this message from our publicist, one day before an event at a suburban library about our coauthored book.