Saint Vincent: Region seeks justice for slavery’s descendants, legal action against UK, France and Netherlands
Vincentian Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves has told Britain’s Observer newspaper he instructed law firm Leigh Day to bring a case against the UK, France and the Netherlands for reparations for slavery. With the backing of the 15 Caricom heads of state, Gonsalves believes the case could be heard in the international court of justice at the Hague.
Historian Prof Bridget Brereton told the T&T Guardian there is a “very compelling moral and legal case for Britain and other countries to pay reparations for slavery and the slave trade,” but noted: “The difficulty will be conceptualising how reparations should be made.” In St Vincent, the reparations committee is seeking the establishment of a development fund as opposed to payments paid to the individual descendants of victims. …
Trinidad and Tobago Guardian
Ghana: Training of male midwives begins
The Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the Ghana Health Services, has begun training males as midwives in selected midwifery training schools in the country this academic year. …
Addressing the matriculation ceremony of the Garden City University College (GCUC), the Offinso Municipal Director of Health Services, Mrs Beatrice Appah, said the training of males to offer services to women in labour would address the posting of personnel to rural communities.
Explaining, she said many female midwives often refused postings to rural communities after their training, a situation that greatly undermined the quest to reduce maternal mortality in the country. …
Graphic Online
United Arab Emirates: Western celebrities’ Arabic culture clash
Western celebrities – from pop singers to rappers – often visit the United Arab Emirates for either work or pleasure. And almost as often, these appearances spark controversy because of their general lack of knowledge of local cultural traditions and Islamic laws.
During the recent Formula 1 event in Abu Dhabi earlier this month, several Arabic and Western singers were invited to perform, including Jay-Z, The Muse, and the British electro legend Depeche Mode. Jay-Z was notable not just for his performance, but for his inability to stifle his swearing.
In addition, some people consider Jay-Z’s music as sexist because of the names he uses to describe women in his lyrics. Others describe his music as aggressive.
“I’m not allowed to go to these concerts and I choose not to,” Salama al-Nuaimi, an Emirati national said. “A lot of drinking takes place and that goes against our religion – also I don’t want to encourage sexist music.”
Despite frequent controversies, whether over the language, dress or just the fact they represent an entirely different world, foreign performers continue to receive invitations to Gulf countries and they continue to come.
“I don’t see any harm in sharing other cultures through their performances,” said Mashael al-Absi, a Bahraini national. “Also, we have lots of fans who appreciate Western celebrities.” …
Al Jazeera
Estonia: ‘Skype,’ ‘Stand-Up’ Included in New Edition of Estonian Dictionary
The latest edition of the dictionary of the Estonian language is out and among the 2,000 new entries are the verb skaipima (“to Skype”) and püstijalakomöödia (“stand-up comedy”).
Many of the new entries in the volume, last updated seven years ago, are prefixes or new meanings of existing entries, but there are a number of new words as well.
Some of them are slang terms derived from English that have now passed muster with the Estonian Language Foundation, which publishes the dictionary. Skoorima means “to score,” covering many of the same senses as the English slang expression …
EER News
Iceland: Iceland MP voices opposition to undersea power line
An Iceland MP has claimed that establishing an undersea cable to the UK could lead to a contamination of the island country’s clean energy. MP Vigdís Hauksdóttir told parliament last week that the technology to establish the cable now existed, but it was better not go ahead with the project.
Vigdís Hauksdóttir said those in favour of the cable claimed that it was solely for the purpose of exporting Iceland’s surplus energy. The MP alleges that in reality this is not what will happen and the cable will eventually evolve into a two-way conduit with energy being piped back from European Union states. …
Ice News
Mexico: Mexican Petroleum, PEMEX, and Other State-owned Oil Companies
Its privileged status in national mythology affords it a certain immunity from criticism. It’s more than a question of economics. PEMEX is deeply tied into Mexican identity and the question of national sovereignty.
But PEMEX is in deep trouble. It’s heavily indebted, its production is decreasing, and if present trends continue Mexico will be an oil importer by 2020.
The basic problem is that PEMEX is not really managed as an oil company, but as a cash cow of the Mexican government, which makes it difficult to function as a normal oil company. PEMEX is the source of a third of the Mexican government’s revenue. …
Mexidata.info
South Africa: Occult Crime Unit Is Offensive to Common Sense and Morality
Decades after its formation, the Occult-Related Crime Unit (ORCU, founded by Kobus “Donker” Jonker in 1992) continues to waste public resources, misdirect police attention, and stigmatise young people who are by and large more misunderstood than malignant. …
Even on the very fuzzy definition of “occult” used by ORCU, too few such crimes occur to merit the existence of a dedicated unit. But it is in the definition of these crimes, as well as the background metaphysics and psychology, that ORCU starts to appear just as spooky as the crimes and motivations ORCU exists to combat.
In response (I presume) to a fairly constant barrage of criticism on social media, the South African Police Service (SAPS) removed the web page that gave us our best insight into how a unit in a 21st-century police force is being guided by ideas from the Dark Ages. …
All Africa
