The tragic story of the first dog in space
On November 3, 1957, a small stray dog from the streets of Moscow made history. Laika, a mixed-breed dog, was the first living creature to be sent into orbit around the Earth by humans. More here.
At an anti-Trump rallye in a small town in the U.S.
Under the motto “No Kings”, an estimated seven million people took to the streets against Donald Trump and his government – in all 50 states. I was able to observe a rally in the Pacific North West. More here.
The German Ernst Friedrich and his fight for peace
On October 1, 1925, the pacifist Ernst Friedrich opened the world’s first anti-war museum in Berlin. In 1992, his grandson was able to reopen the museum, which had been destroyed by the Nazis. More here.
Thoughts and observations on the murder of Charlie Kirk
The murderer of right-wing conservative US “influencer” Charlie Kirk has been officially apprehended. Obituaries and commentaries are spreading hatred, slander, and distorted quotes. As a result, a German TV correspondent may now have to fear for his US visa. More here.
On the death of the German-South African journalist, writer and human rights activist
Born in 1924 to Orthodox Jewish parents in Fürth near Nuremberg, Ruth Weiss had to flee from the Nazis to South Africa as a young girl. There she experienced the apartheid regime. This made her a lifelong fighter for human rights. More here.
German Green Party co-founder Eva Quistorp turns 80.
In 1979, she co-founded the German Green Party. In the 1980s, she organized the large peace marches in the then capital, Bonn. She also fights for women’s rights. Today, Eva Quistorp turns 80. More here.
August 23: International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition
Arab slave traders shipped hundreds of thousands of slaves across the Red Sea. A dark and largely unknown chapter in the history of the Horn of Africa. Guest post by Volker Seitz. More here.
August 9: International Day of Indigenous Peoples
The phenomenon of missing and murdered indigenous people exists not only in the United States, but also in Canada. In Prince George, British Columbia, I had the opportunity to attend a vigil in memory of a missing family. A unique case. More here.
The first atomic bomb, tests on indigenous land, and a bonsai tree
Hiroshima and Nagasaki serve as reminders of the horrors of war. The first atomic bombs were tested on indigenous land—with devastating consequences for their lives. A bonsai tree has survived the Hiroshima bomb till today. More here.
Women power: Lysistrata and her modern daughters
Sex is the elixir of life, the basis for procreation, but also a means of brutal subjugation. Women on almost all continents have therefore used sex strikes as a weapon of peaceful resistance. More here.
