Yellen launches Amazon basin effort to disrupt nature crimes
Belem, Brazil Reuters US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen launched on Saturday a new effort with Amazon basin governments to disrupt illicit finance that fuels nature crimes, including illegal harvesting of trees and other plants, minerals and wildlife. Yellen said the initiative aims to increase cooperation among finance ministries, law-enforcement agencies and other entities from Brazil, […]
Suriname’s ex-president fled murder conviction. His victims’ families want him found
Paramaribo, Suriname Reuters The families of Surinamese activists slain for their opposition to the government in the 1980s say decades of suffering and sluggish legal proceedings have been prolonged by the apparent inability of authorities to locate the man at the centre of it all: former President Desi Bouterse. Bouterse, 78, dominated politics in the […]
Ex-Suriname President convicted in killings ordered to report to prison-prosecutor
Paramaribo, Suriname Reuters Former Surinamese President Desi Bouterse, whose conviction for involvement in the killing of 15 people more than four decades ago was upheld in December, must report to a jail to serve his sentence, the public prosecutor said on Wednesday. A three-judge panel affirmed the convictions of Bouterse and four others in the […]
Suriname court upholds ex-President’s conviction over activist murders in 1982
Paramaribo, Suriname Reuters A three-judge panel in Suriname on Wednesday upheld the conviction of former President Desi Bouterse for his role in the execution of 15 people in the former Dutch colony in December, 1982, though no arrest warrant was immediately issued. Bouterse, 78, who dominated Suriname’s politics for decades and left office in 2020, […]
Amazon under threat: Impact of climate-driven drought may last until 2026
BRAD HAYNES and JAKE SPRING, of Reuters, report on the devastating impact of the drought gripping northern Brazil, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana and parts of Venezuela and Colombia…
Amazon nations fail to agree on deforestation goal at summit
Belem, Brazil Reuters Eight Amazon nations agreed to a list of unified policies and measures to bolster regional cooperation at a major rainforest summit in Brazil on Tuesday, but failed to agree on a common goal for ending deforestation. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has staked his international reputation on improving Brazil’s […]
Protesters storm Suriname’s parliament as rally against austerity measures turns ugly
Paramaribo, Suriname Reuters Dozens of protesters forced their way into Suriname’s parliament as hundreds more rampaged through the nation’s capital Paramaribo on Friday, clashing with police as demonstrations against the government descended into chaos. Thousands took to the streets of Paramaribo in initially peaceful demonstrations against government austerity measures, including eliminating subsidies, against a backdrop […]
Netherlands PM Rutte apologises for role of Dutch state in slavery
The Hague, The Netherlands Reuters Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Monday apologised on behalf of the Dutch State for its historical role in slavery, and for consequences that he acknowledged continue into the present day. “Today I apologise,” Rutte said in a nationally televised speech at the Dutch National Archives. “For centuries the Dutch state […]
“Death sentence”: low-lying nations implore faster action on climate at UN
United Nations Reuters Faced with what they see as an existential threat, leaders from low-lying and island nations implored rich countries at the United Nations General Assembly this week to act more forcefully against a warming planet. The failure by developed economies to effectively curb their greenhouse gas emissions contributes to rising sea levels and […]
SNAPSHOT: FLAMINGOS IN FLIGHT, SURINAME
See VINCENT VAN ZALINGE’s image…