Janessa Schilmoeller

Janessa Schilmoeller is a Mint Press correspondent and staff writer based in Southern Africa. Janessa has worked with intercultural education programs for several years and focuses on topics of international relations, social change and human rights. She has previously lived in Jordan and has traveled to various countries in the Middle East. Janessa is currently reporting from Southern Africa where she coordinates study abroad programs focused on nation building, liberation theology and decolonizing the mind while reporting on social and political issues in the region. Follow her on Twitter at @jschilmo

SCAF And Saudis Team Up Against Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood

(MintPress) — Egyptians voted over the weekend for the first competitively elected president in their nation’s history – choosing between a veteran of the once-banned Muslim Brotherhood (MB) and a former prime minister under the Mubarak regime, who is strongly supported by the Saudi-funded military apparatus currently ruling the country. The ballot left few options […]

Janessa Schilmoeller
By Janessa Schilmoeller
In this Sunday, June 3, 2012, file photo, Muslim Brotherhood presidential candidate Mohammed Morsi confers with an aide during a meeting with relatives, unseen, of those killed and injured during last year's revolution that forced former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak from power, in Cairo, Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood has declared that its candidate, Mohammed Morsi, won Egypt's presidential election. (AP Photo/Ahmed Gomaa, File)

(MintPress) — Egyptians voted over the weekend for the first competitively elected president in their nation’s history – choosing between a veteran of the once-banned Muslim Brotherhood (MB) and a former prime minister under the Mubarak regime, who is strongly supported by the Saudi-funded military apparatus currently ruling the country. The

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US Cautious About Future Investments As Unrest Sweeps Across Libya

(MintPress) – The seizure of Libya’s international airport by an armed militia group last week, combined with an attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, has left many Americans wary of investing in the future of Libya after the removal of former President Muammar Gaddafi last year. As an armed militia temporarily seized control of […]

Janessa Schilmoeller
By Janessa Schilmoeller
Members of the National Freedom Front hold placards as they burn tyres outside the UN office during a protest against the military attack on Libya by International coalition forces. (AP Photo/Chamila Karunarathne)

(MintPress) – The seizure of Libya's international airport by an armed militia group last week, combined with an attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, has left many Americans wary of investing in the future of Libya after the removal of former President Muammar Gaddafi last year. As an armed militia temporarily seized control of Tripoli’s

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UN Calls For Protecting Indigenous While US, Corporations Scramble To Buy African Land

Update | By Joey LeMay The United Nations (UN) has now adopted guidelines for a purchasing nation that call for the protection of indigenous people who use the land. Governments must now be transparent about land deals, respect human rights and consult with local communities during the purchasing process. Agencies admit that it will be difficult to ensure the guidelines are […]

Janessa Schilmoeller
By Janessa Schilmoeller

Update | By Joey LeMay The United Nations (UN) has now adopted guidelines for a purchasing nation that call for the protection of indigenous people who use the land. Governments must now be transparent about land deals, respect human rights and consult with local communities during the purchasing process. Agencies admit that it will be difficult

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UN Investigation: US Must Turn Over The Black Hills, SD To Native Americans

Update | By: Trisha Marczak  Following an investigation, the United Nations is calling on the United States to turn over the Black Hills to Native Americans, citing the land was originally granted to Native Americans through its treaty with the U.S. government. James Anaya, the U.N. special reporter who led the investigation, took 12 days […]

Janessa Schilmoeller
By Janessa Schilmoeller
Representatives from the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples will be meeting with U.S. government officials over the next week to evaluate conditions of Indigenous populations in the United States. (AP Photo/Don Heupel)

Update | By: Trisha Marczak  Following an investigation, the United Nations is calling on the United States to turn over the Black Hills to Native Americans, citing the land was originally granted to Native Americans through its treaty with the U.S. government. James Anaya, the U.N. special reporter who led the investigation, took 12 days to

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Police Brutality And Racial Tensions Better, But Constant 20 Years After Rodney King Riots

(MintPress)-Twenty years after the infamous Los Angeles riots erupted following the acquittal of four officers from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) accused in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King, Americans continue to struggle with racial inequality and police brutality. Racial tensions soared in Los Angeles when three white officers and one Hispanic […]

Janessa Schilmoeller
By Janessa Schilmoeller
In this Friday April 20, 2012 photo, James Oh, right, owner of Tom's Liquor on the corner of Florence and Normandie, greets a customer in his store in South Los Angeles. In the 20 years since the 1992 riots, residents of the city’s largely black and Hispanic South Side complain that the area still is plagued by too few jobs, too few grocery stores and a lack of redevelopment that would bring more life to the area. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)

(MintPress)-Twenty years after the infamous Los Angeles riots erupted following the acquittal of four officers from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) accused in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King, Americans continue to struggle with racial inequality and police brutality. Racial tensions soared in Los Angeles when three

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Monsanto Buys Bee Health Research Firm, Continues Use of Pesticides Fatal To Bees

(MintPress)-Monsanto, the same company blamed for contributing to the worldwide vanishing bee population, is the new owner of Beeologics, a leading bee health research organization. The leading biotechnology company purchased the large bee research firm last fall amid emerging allegations that the pesticides and genetically modified (GM) corn crops produced by Monsanto could be linked […]

Janessa Schilmoeller
By Janessa Schilmoeller
In this May 21, 2008 file photo, honey bees sit on a honeycomb at Bad Segeberg, northern Germany. (AP Photo/Heribert Proepper, File)

(MintPress)-Monsanto, the same company blamed for contributing to the worldwide vanishing bee population, is the new owner of Beeologics, a leading bee health research organization. The leading biotechnology company purchased the large bee research firm last fall amid emerging allegations that the pesticides and genetically modified (GM) corn crops

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Vermont GMO Labeling Bill Inching Ahead, Slowed By Threat Of Monsanto

(MintPress)-The Vermont state legislature is inching closer to passing a bill requiring labels on all products containing genetically-modified organisms (GMOs); but advocates are concerned that powerful agribusiness firms, like Monsanto, will succeed in stalling the bill and blocking consumers’ rights to know what is in their food. “Today, 80 percent of all packaged foods sold […]

Janessa Schilmoeller
By Janessa Schilmoeller
Protesters march to the Statehouse in Montpelier, Vt., Thursday, Feb. 26, 2004, to call for a time out on genetically engineered crops. They went inside to listen to Monsanto lobbyists as they testify before the House Agriculture Committee. Vermont lawmakers are in the process of passing a bill that requires labeling on GMOs. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)

(MintPress)-The Vermont state legislature is inching closer to passing a bill requiring labels on all products containing genetically-modified organisms (GMOs); but advocates are concerned that powerful agribusiness firms, like Monsanto, will succeed in stalling the bill and blocking consumers’ rights to know what is in their food. “Today, 80

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