Beijing highlighted the failure of a push by the United States and some Western countries to debate China’s human rights record in Xinjiang at next year’s U.N. Human Rights Council. Uyghur rights groups voiced strong disappointment.   In a statement Friday by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a spokesperson accused the U.S. and the West of “misinforming the public,” comments that came a day after the 47 member states of the U.N. Human Rights Council voted on the motion to debate China’s treatment of Muslim communities in the Xinjiang region.   The draft resolution was rejected with 19 against, 17

OUAGADOUGOU— Captain Ibrahim Traore was appointed as president of Burkina Faso on Wednesday, according to an official statement, after the West African country’s second coup in less than nine months.   The impoverished Sahel nation plunged into renewed turmoil at the weekend when Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba — who had seized power in January — was toppled by newly emerged rival Traore, leading a faction of disgruntled junior officers.   It was the latest putsch in the Sahel region much of which, like Burkina Faso, is battling a growing insurgency.   Traore has been appointed as “Head of State, Supreme

The push for democracy in Chad suffered a setback last weekend, when a political forum organized by military rulers postponed elections for another two years. An 18-month political transition led by Mahamat Idriss Deby was supposed to end this month. Instead, it’s been prolonged after a national dialogue forum last weekend adopted resolutions that push back elections by two years and authorize Deby to run for president. Cameron Hudson, a senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, told VOA he wasn’t surprised by the developments but called the conference a missed opportunity to move Chad

Bangkok – At a symposium convened by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on agrifood systems transformation in Asia-Pacific, governments, the private sector and other stakeholders are being urged to massively accelerate transformation of their agrifood systems, or risk worsening malnutrition and environmental degradation in the world’s most populous region.   Rising food prices, floods, drought, water scarcity, increasing climate-related disasters, the global pandemic and conflicts, are driving food insecurity across the region. These challenges directly impact the most vulnerable people,  including smallholder farmers, others depending on the land for their livelihoods and millions of urban

IRVING (Texas, US)— The East African Community (EAC) is setting up a Diaspora desk that will focus on facilitating East Africans living in the diaspora to invest and trade in the region.   EAC Secretary General Dr Peter Mathuki has revealed that the Secretariat is also currently developing a Diaspora Engagement Strategy, providing a framework for interacting with the diaspora community.   The Secretary General was speaking during the East Africa 17th Annual Trade and Investment Conference, organized by the East Africa Chamber of Commerce in Irving, Texas, USA.   The meeting saw hundreds of East Africans residing across the