Headlines

• The chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers is held for a six-month term in turn by the representatives of the members in English alphabetical order. The chairmanship is transferred from one Member State to the next in mid-May and mid-November.

Strasbourg, Nov. 12.– Liechtenstein will take over from Latvia on Nov. 15 the Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe for the next six months.

The Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, Reinis Brusbārdis, will take stock of Latvia’s Presidency and hand over to Dominique Hasler, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Education and Sport of Liechtenstein, who will present the priorities of her country’s Presidency.

Jerusalem, Nov.7.– Israel’s war against Hamas has entered its thirty-second day, a month after Hamas killed at least 1,300 Israelis and wounded more than 3,300 in a merciless assault. In Gaza, the Hamas-controlled health ministry reports more than 10,328 Palestinians have been killed. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad hold hostage more than 242 soldiers and civilians, including foreign nationals.

According to reports from Gaza, the Israel Defense Force (IDF) is exchanging fire with Hamas forces near one of the group’s strongholds in the northern part of the Strip. Hamas and Hezbollah continue to fire missiles at Israel and Israeli airstrikes on Gaza continue.

What happened this Tuesday

■ The IDF exchanged fire with Hamas militants on the outskirts of a Hamas stronghold in northern Gaza, the Al-Shati refugee camp, according to Palestinian reports. The IDF said it attacked targets staying near the Al-Quds hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday overnight. Rocket fire from Gaza into Israel continued on Tuesday.

One of the Cuban dictatorship’s leading means of forced labor exploitation has for decades been the compulsory military service. It violates the Protocol on Trafficking in Persons and other international accords, forces minors --under 18-- to serve, and now delivers Cubans to kill Ukrainians in the invasion of their homeland.

Cuba has a large captive pool of men with military training or seeking to avoid their country’s harsh compulsory service who are forbidden from leaving the country unless so authorized. Desperate to escape poverty and hopelessness, hundreds are enlisting as mercenaries for Russia. They risk their lives for around $26,000 a year, a ticket out of Cuba, and a few other benefits while Cuba’s bankrupt regime secures more oil, food, and perhaps a commission from Russia.
 
For decades, Cuba’s compulsory military service has exploited young men as forced labor and subjected them to deplorable conditions. Many commit suicide, harm themselves seeking a discharge, die in senseless accidents, or end up in prison for deserting or dead in mysterious circumstances. Cuba Archive has documented 20 non-combat fatalities just in 2022 and 2023, including 2 minors.
 
The Cuban regime has long rented out its citizens for senseless combats in faraway lands. The Castro brothers forced 377,000 to serve in the Angola war (1975-1991), most for three years, earning billions collecting $1,000 per month per soldier, who were, in turn, paid just $8 to $17 a year. At least 2,085 were killed, and many thousands returned mutilated, traumatized, and mentally ill.
 
[ See the article in Global Americans based on Cuba Archive’s in-depth report. ]

Nigeria surely heaved a heavy sigh of relief with the affirmation of the election of President Bola Tinubu by the Supreme Court …

Abuja, Oct.31.– Our country surely heaved a heavy sigh of relief with the affirmation of the election of President Bola Tinubu by the Supreme Court of Nigeria on October 26. The tension has gone the way of a pierced balloon; the anxiety on his part and on the part of his challengers, has similarly evaporated, leaving the victor to savor his victory and the losers to bite their nails, wondering what is left of their war chest. It is life imitating life, of course.

All the drama has ended. The swords, I should hope, have been sheathed; the tsunami of public sentiments has been downgraded to a cool flood; the lucky lawyers have put their law books back on the shelves and are doing what comes naturally to the suddenly loaded, to wit, laugh all the way to the banks.