Free Republic

As the top human rights body of the United Nations seeks international scrutiny of systemic racism in response to the recent killings of African Americans by police, some countries are wondering if there is a double standard at play for America rather than the ways other countries are targeted for human rights violations because of dehumanizing their people. A draft resolution, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, singles out the United States and could become the centerpiece of a hastily scheduled debate by the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday. The text calls for a...

A study provides a window into the first 100,000 years of the history of modern humans. The real Garden Of Eden has been traced to the African nation of Botswana, according to a major study of DNA. Scientists believe our ancestral homeland is south of the Zambezi River in the country's north. The conclusion comes after the study of maternal genetic lineage of anatomically modern humans, finding it was closest to those living in the area, which includes northern Botswana, Namibia to the west and Zimbabwe to the east. For 70,000 years, our ancestors thrived in the area before changes...

The Duke of Sussex says there is "a race against time" to halt global warming, adding that he is "troubled" by climate change deniers. "I don't believe that there's anybody in this world that can deny science," he said. He called it "an emergency", adding "the world's children are striking" after teenage activist Greta Thunberg led a worldwide protest on Friday. Prince Harry is visiting Botswana as part of a tour of southern Africa. He says it was the place he went to "to get away from it all" after his mother's death. "This last week, led by Greta, the...

More than 400 buffaloes believed to have been chased by lions drowned in a river in northern Bostwana this week, the government said. The mass drowning occurred in Chobe River near the border with Namibia.

Early in September, international news was awash with the claim that 87 elephants had been “killed by poachers” in Botswana. The story originated from the NGO Elephants Without Borders, which received massive publicity – and presumably donations – as a result. Even the beleaguered UK Prime Minister tweeted the story, while a petition calling for wildlife guards to be re-armed surpassed 150,000 signatures. I know a little of Botswana. A few years ago, I was declared “public enemy number one”, threatened by a government spokesman on television, and banned from the country. This was because Survival International was instrumental in...

A local farmer near Ottosdal in North West has shared CCTV footage of what appears to be a meteorite hitting the earth at 18:49 Saturday night. According to a member of a neighbourhood watch, who shared the video with OFM News on social media, they were doing night patrol in the area of Hartbeesfontein when they received reports from Klerksdorp, approximately 30 kilometres away. People reportedly saw ‘a light’ falling from the sky and initially thought it was an aeroplane. He told OFM News that everyone came together and started searching, but shortly thereafter received the CCTV footage from Barend...

President Ian Khama’s letter to newly-elected United States of America (USA) President, Donald J Trump can be described simply as charming with its selection of words as Khama seeks to continue the good Botswana America-relations with the new President. And he got the desired results when President Trump reciprocated and promised him a world of opportunities for prosperity, peace and trade. Thoughtful Khama had been as humble as a lamb in his salutations to President Trump, putting aside the various light jokes he used to throw about Trump at the height of USA elections campaigns. It would seem as soon...

Researchers have presented one of the first computerised tomography (CT) scans of a mummified individual from southern Africa, and also completed the first successful aDNA (ancient DNA) extraction from such remains. The mummy is estimated to have been about 300 years old. Professor Maryna Steyn, Head of the School of Anatomical Sciences, together with researchers from the University of Zurich (Switzerland), University of Pretoria and University of Botswana have published these findings in a paper, Radiological and genetic analysis of a Late Iron Age mummy from the Tuli Block, Botswana, in the South African Journal of Science. Mummified human remains...

A picture from the Lucara Diamond Corporation of the 1,111 carat gem quality, Type IIa diamond ============================================================================================================================================ A 1,111 carat "high quality diamond" has been discovered at a mine in Botswana, said to be the biggest find in more than a century, according to the mine company. The gem, only second in size to the Cullinan diamond which was unearthered in South Africa in 1905, was mined by Lucara Diamond Corp. "The magnificent stone, which originated from the south lobe of Lucara's Karowe Mine, is the world second largest gem quality diamond ever recovered and largest ever to be recovered...

White South Africans are in grave danger; there may be a solution. Things are very bad in South Africa. When the scourge of apartheid was finally smashed to pieces in 1994, the country seemed to have a bright future ahead of it. Eight years later, in 2002, 60 percent of South Africans said life had been better under apartheid. Hard to believe — but that's how bad things were in 2002. And now they're even worse. When apartheid ended, the life expectancy in South Africa was 64, the same as in Turkey and Russia. Now it's 56, the same as...

Botswana is a landlocked country which is situated in Southern Africa. It is my favourite country in the world. It is a "Wildlife Paradise" in more ways than one. It is home to the "Big Five" namely Lion, Leopard, Cheetah, Elephant, and Rhino. They are called the "Big Five" because they were difficult to hunt on foot in the past. Botswana has reserved 40% of its land exclusively for wildlife. Botswana is home to many famous "National Parks" and "Game Reserves". The most famous are Chobe National Park and Moremi Game Reserve. Chobe National Park in Northern Botswana is globally...

As part of the celebrations for his 91st birthday next Saturday, Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe will be served a feast featuring five impala, two buffalo, two elephants, two sables, and one lion. According to a report in Zimbabwe's The Chronicle, the menagerie was donated by Tendai Musasa, owner of the prominent Woodlands Farm near the Elephant Hills Resort at Victoria Falls, where the 20,000-person shindig will take place. While you'd think that eating elephants and lions, icons of wildlife conservation, would be illegal, it turns out it's not—neither under Zimbabwean nor international law. As of 1997, elephant populations in Botswana,...

PRESIDENTS Jacob Zuma of South Africa and Botswana’s Ian Khama angrily clashed with their Zimbabwean counterpart, President Robert Mugabe over xenophobia in South Africa, with the two demanding that instead of blaming their neighbour, Zimbabwe and other Sadc states must fix their broken economies to curb the rising tide of immigration. Hazel Ndebele/Elias Mambo While Sadc leaders met for an extraordinary summit in Harare on Wednesday to discuss an industrialisation strategy and roadmap, the major highlight of the meeting was the recent xenophobic violence and killings in South Africa which raised a storm of debate and anger across the region....

Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Moscow on Monday where the issue of Middle East peace talks will be raised, Russian authorities announced Thursday. “The two leaders will hold talks concerning key aspects of Russian-Palestinian relations and their future, with particular attention on the trade, economy and humanitarian sectors,” the Kremlin said in a statement according to AFP. There will also be “an exchange of ideas on the process of Israeli-Palestinian talks and other problematic regional situations,” the statement continued, adding that North Africa would also be on the agenda. …

From my Free Web Book 'AncientCanalBuilders.com' The largest wide-array man made (or at least non natural) structure in the world is in fact an ancient terra formed systems of agricultural-aquaculture canals in Northwestern Botswana and Northeastern Namibia, north of the Kalahari Desert in Southern Africa. Obviously quite ancient, the canal systems no longer provide free flowing water throughout its 105,000 mile array, but many sections show obvious intention to provide cross sectional irrigation. These canals are too evenly spaced over too large an area to be any kind of natural formation. Based on entry and exit points, it is readily...

When the International Court of Justice in The Hague starts hearing complaints against Israel's security fence in the West Bank on Monday, India will be busy constructing a fence of its own. After 15 years of fighting in Kashmir that have left more than 65,000 dead, the Indians are using cement, razor wire, and electronic sensors to stymie a menagerie of Pakistani guerrilla forces. "The fence will be a permanent barrier at the border to prevent militants from entering," the head of India's Border Security Force in Jammu and Kashmir told The Washington Post last summer. "Why should we wait...

Navi Pillay said Tel Aviv's two-week onslaught on Gaza - which has cost more than 650 Palestinians lives - would be thoroughly investigated. Ms Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the attacks have destroyed houses and hospitals and killed civilians. "These are just a few examples where there seems to be a strong possibility that international humanitarian law has been violated, in a manner that could amount to war crimes. "Every one of these incidents must be properly and independently investigated." According to Gaza officials, 475 houses have been destroyed and 2,644 damaged, while 46 schools, 56 mosques...

GENEVA, July 23 (Reuters) - The United Nations on Wednesday launched an international inquiry into human rights violations and crimes that may have been committed by Israel during its military offensive in the Gaza Strip. The U.N. Human Rights Council condemned the Israeli assault which it said had involved "disproportionate and indiscriminate attacks", including aerial bombing of civilian areas, collective punishment, and the killing of more than 650 Palestinians. At the end of an emergency session, the 47-member forum adopted a resolution presented by Palestinians by a vote of 29 states in favor, 1 against (the United States) with 17...

A Gallup survey done across 20 sub-Saharan African countries on the main sources of lighting for households saw Mauritius fair best, with 100% of respondents saying this was provided by power lines. South Africa came in second at 80% in terms of households with grid supplied power for lighting, followed by Ghana (67%), Nigeria (66%) and Cameroon (65%). At the bottom of the list in this survey for electrical grid power supplying household lighting was Liberia at 4%, followed by Chad and Burkina Faso at 8%. In Chad, Tanzania, Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, Sierra Leone, Madagascar, Uganda and...

The threat by Britain to stop aids to African nations that violated gay rights has been rebuffed by many African countries. Nigeria's Senate has passed a bill which outlaws same-sex union in whatever guise... Never in the post-colonial era of Nigeria's recent history has its moral and cultural peculiarities been brought under acute interrogation as it was when the West lent its voice to the recognition of same-sex relations and the demand for the recognition of gay rights in Africa... Though Euro-modernist historians have argued that same-sex unions existed in pristine African countries, it must however be stated that such...