Britain survived as a state by moving its tyranny and violence out of sight. Priti Patel’s plan to send refugees to Rwanda is business as usual.
The UK government has signed a deal to transport asylum seekers arriving in the UK to a processing site in Rwanda | Allstar Picture Library Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo
20 April 2022 (openDemocracy)* — “What do they know of England, who only England know?” was the ode that Rudyard Kipling once sang. His claim was a confession that, if you really needed to know about the structures that govern this island, you shouldn’t look here at all: you should look at India, Jamaica or Nigeria.
(UN News)*— Against the backdrop of shifting population demographics, conflicts, post-pandemic shocks and climate change, the developing world is on the brink of a “perfect storm” of debt, food and energy crises, experts warned the Commission on Population and Development on Monday [25 April 2022].
While sounding the alarm over the planet’s unequal COVID-19 recovery and notable reductions in public spending for youth, older people and other vulnerable populations, officials from across the UN system stressed that this multipronged crisis has a “decidedly female face.”
Zbigniew Brzezinski’s book, The Grand Chessboard, was published 25 years ago. His assumptions and strategies for maintaining ‘U.S. global dominance’ have been hugely influential in US foreign policy.
Rick Sterling
As the conflict in Ukraine evolves, with the potential of escalating into world war, we can see where this policy leads and how crucial it is to re-evaluate.
The Need to Dominate Eurasia
The basic premise of “The Grand Chessboard” is outlined in the introduction:
* With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States is the sole global power
* Europe and Asia (Eurasia) together have the largest land area, population and economy
* U.S. must control Eurasia and prevent another country from challenging US dominance
25 April 2022 (UNEP)* — The deep, dark ocean is often thought of as a peaceful, silent world. However, it is an orchestra of sounds, like the snapping of shrimp, the clicks of dolphins and the songs of whales.
Photo: Shutterstock
New science suggests that in many places, though, human activity may be drowning out those noises — and having a disorienting and destructive impact on marine animals.
“Scientists have been warning about this for a long time,” said Heidrun Frisch-Nwakanma, who leads underwater noise work at the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS).
25 April 2022 (UN News)*— The explosive growth of extractive operations around the world often plays out on indigenous people’s lands without their consent, causing irreparable harm to their livelihoods, cultures, languages and lives, speakers told the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues on Monday [25 April 2022], as it opened its 2022 session amid calls to respect their free, prior and informed consent on the existential decisions uprooting their communities.
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UN Photo/Manuel Elías | A view of the UN General Assembly Hall prior to the opening of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII).
25 April 2022 (UN News)* — Ethiopia’s eastern Somali Region has been hit by three consecutive below-average rainy seasons, worsening the already deteriorating humanitarian situation for around 3.5 million people, more than half the local population.
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UN Ethiopia/Getachew Dibaba | Around one million livestock are believed to have died in drought-affected parts of Somali Region, Ethiopia.
As a result of the drought, Zeineba, 60, was forced into the most difficult decision of her life: to leave her neighborhood behind and move to another village, to save her life and that of her family. “My livestock perished from lack of water and pasture, and could not survive the harsh drought anymore. It is painful,” she lamented.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 