Comment & analysis

On the 7th of January 2015 the Yemenese branch of Al-Qaeda took responsibility for a brutal attack on the French satirical newspaper, Charlie Hebdo. Eleven people were gunned down and a further eleven people were injured.

Consider this: thousands of diverse, locally-rooted, grassroots economic projects are in the process of creating the basis for a viable democratic alternative to capitalism.

The Toronto Police Service is using the surveillance and rights-denying regime called carding to stop, question and document the personal information of people who are not suspected of a crime.

It is most unsettling that South African political leaders and policy makers are not doing enough to encourage South Africans to disabuse themselves of the illusion that their problems can be solved through the logic of exclusion and scapegoating of certain types of foreigners that has pervaded,

The global upsurge in the streets and through new social movements presents a conundrum for human rights groups; on the one hand, it creates a tsunami of unpredictable change, while on the other hand, it promises new opportunities for renewal.

Thanks to the extremist Islamic sect Boko Haram, the situation of Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, especially women, girls and children in the far north of Cameroon has reached humanitarian crisis level.

There are many commentators who say that, economically speaking, Africa is on the rise. As America’s grip on economic supremacy falters, and Europe slips further into its dotage, many African nations have been quick to help fill the vacuum.

Reuters, amongst other news agencies, directly links South Africa’s xenophobic violence to King Goodwill Zwelithini’s incendiary statements: “Let us pop our head lice.

“How many times can a man turn his head pretending he just doesn't see?
How many ears must one man have before he can hear people cry?
How many deaths will it take till he knows that too many people have died?
The answer my friend is blowing in the wind…” - Bob Dylan

For the last year, Andrew Franklin, a former US marine and now security consultant in Kenya, has been advocating for the building of a separation barrier between Kenya and Somalia.