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Monthly Archives: March 2024

The Kimberley Process. The stones of conflict.

The West aims to sanction the Kremlin also in the diamond market of which Russia is the main producer. Among those directly affected are Botswana, Angola and Zimbabwe. Trying to classify Russian diamonds as conflict diamonds to limit their foreign trade as much as possible: the failed attempt took place from 6 to 10 November…

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The cat… with a bag.

One day, a penniless farmer from an oasis went to a rich merchant in the neighbouring village to ask for a loan. The old harvest was finished, the new one was still in the field and there was nothing left in the pantry to barter. But as borrowing is a savannah custom, the farmer decided…

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The Republic of Cyprus. Towards new waves of migration.

An island divided between two states with a buffer zone under the control of the UN at its centre. It is subject to the various interests of the great powers in the eastern Mediterranean. The migration issue makes Cyprus the country with the highest rate of asylum seekers in the entire European Union. The upheavals…

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The world is entering an era of instability.

According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), he world has entered a more dangerous period in the last twelve months, with increased tensions and conflict reshaping the global defence-industrial landscape. Data published in the new The IISS Military Balance 2024 shows how countries are reshaping their equipment and spending plans and how their…

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Antigua Guatemala. Holy Week

The ancient capital of Guatemala, a baroque jewel among the mountains, is the scene of spectacular processions on carpets of flowers in the days before Easter. Holy Week is not just devotion, it combines faith, religiosity, art, gastronomy, life stories and mutual help. Evocative processions pass through the streets of the historic centre covered with…

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Paraguay. A Buffer State.

A landlocked country with almost all its rivers navigable. The difficult road to independence. Lugo’s parenthesis. The world of the triple frontier. The landed oligarchies. Paraguay nestles in the heart of the southern Latin American cone between Bolivia, which surrounds it to the north and northwest, Brazil which it borders to the east, and Argentina…

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Mexico. Thirty years after NAFTA and the uprising of the Zapatistas.

Last January it recalled the 30th anniversary of the North American Free Trade Agreement signed between the United States, Canada and Mexico as well as the insurrection of the Zapatista movement. The indigenous movement that broke out at that time, led by the so-called “Subcomandante Marcos”, still exists in the Mexican state of Chiapas (bordering…

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Nigeria. At the top of the crime world.

Africa’s most populated country and leading economy boasts the continent’s highest crime index and cumulates all superlatives as new forms of criminality are emerging. Nigeria which ranked sixth in the world and first in Africa with a population of 236 million in early 2024 and also boasts the largest GDP on the continent, alongside South…

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Journey to Beauty Through Arts and Creativity.

A journey towards Beauty is also a journey to God. Fr Raul Tabaranza, a Comboni missionary from the Philippines is exploring this journey, making use of his artistic painting talents. Art says a lot; if you can read the message of a painting, the artist’s emotion is always there. Even though a work of art…

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Advocacy

Sister Nelly, a mother for women prisoners.

For more than twenty-five years, Sr. Nelly Leòn Correa from Chile has accompanied inmates in and outside the prison and created the "Mujer, Levántate" (Woman,…

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Baobab

The Mask of Genius.

It was a scorching dawn. Scattered across the vast grassy savannah beyond the rocky mountains, the villages seemed to bleach under the thick blanket of clay…

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Youth & Mission

A ‘Catholic Toolkit for Young Europeans’ ahead of 2024 EU…

As the 2024 European elections approach, COMECE (Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union) has released the ‘Catholic Toolkit for Young Europeans’. This comprehensive toolkit…

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