Pollution-plagued Bangladesh has passed an extra “green tax” in an attempt to force polluting factories to clean up their act. The factories will have to pay extra levies if they are found to have polluted “air, soil and water.” The green tax is part of Bangladesh’s $32 billion budget for 2014-2015, announced Thursday. Announcing the … Read more
Afghanistan produces 90 percent of the worlds opium–which becomes heroin–and, although the crop is illegal in the country, it remains the main product of agriculture in large regions, especially in the south. Production in 2013 surpassed its previous record, which was set in 2010. The UN estimates that Afghanistan has produced almost $3 billion worth of opium … Read more
Uganda’s Foreign Affairs Minister Sam Kutesa is set to become President of the UN’s General Assembly on June 11. The election of Kutesa has caused some criticism because the Ugandan government–for which Kutesa forms foreign policy–has been under the 28-year rule of President Yoweri Museveni, and has been accused and found guilty by international courts of international … Read more
Russia is being sued by Ukraine for 1 trillion Ukrainian Hryvnias (UAH) for the illegal annexation of Crimea. The announcement was made by Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk Tuesday in the Verkhovna Rada. The PM told the Parliament, “Ukraine has begun the process. The General Prosecutor’s Office has launched an investigation. And in a criminal case, the Ukrainian government … Read more
4,500 Russian fighters have illegally crossed the Ukraine border from Russia into Donetsk and Lugansk, said Yaroslav Gonchar, deputy commander of the Azov battalion to the Ukraine Independent Information Agency (UNIAN) Thursday. “According to the information that I have, approximately four and a half thousand fighters from Russia have entered into Donetsk and Lugansk regions … Read more
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statements, affirmations and denials in recent months have caused the US State Department, the New York Times, and other news agencies to begin to publish articles labeling his words “lies,” “fiction” and “false claims.” Putin has maintained strong stances against accusations of Russian involvement in Crimea and Eastern Ukraine, as well as … Read more
Alexsandr Boroday, the leader of the Donetsk Peoples Republic in East Ukraine held a press conference Saturday in which he admitted that the pro-Russian actions in Crimea as well as those in Donetsk, Lugansk and other contended areas in Eastern Ukraine, made up a team and were organized by “a single command.” Boroday, who is … Read more
Tuesday, the US government released satellite images which show Russian forces still near Ukraine’s eastern border, contradicting assertions by the Russian government of late that the forces had been withdrawn. The photos were published by the US State Department and on the US Mission to NATO’s Twitter account. The troops pictured are assembled at Belgorod, … Read more
The petition to designate Russia a “state sponsor of terrorism” has passed the half way mark at the Obama Administration’s White House. The petition currently has 54,085 signatures, and needed only 45,915 signatures by May 23 to to qualify for reaching its goal of 100,000. The petition, created April 23, reads, “In its unannounced war against Ukraine, … Read more
The peace deal signed by South Sudanese leaders President Salva Kiir and Dr Riek Machar in Addis Abada, Ethiopia, Friday has been broken. Both sides are blaming the other. The agreement came at the urging of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who visited South Sudan Friday and spoke to the two warring leaders. Pressure has … Read more
Friday a deal was signed in Addis Abada, Ethiopia, between South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir and top rebel leader Dr Riek Machar. Under the deal, a transitional government is to be formed. A new constitution will The agreement also calls for a new constitution and new elections. By Day Blakely Donaldson Source: South Sudan News … Read more
Amnesty International has revealed that Nigerian security forces received multiple advanced warnings about the raids that took place on the Chibok boarding school April 14-15, in which over 240 schoolgirls were kidnapped by Boko Haram forces. Security forces were warned hours in advance, according to the rights group, who accused the Nigerian authorities of “gross … Read more