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Photo: Eritrean asylum seekers in Tunisia, in search of a better life ©MorganeWirtz

Migrants Prefer Returning to Libya Than Staying in Tunisia

By Morgane Wirtz*

This year, hundreds of migrants and asylum seekers settled in Tunisia have packed up to risk their lives again in Libya. For them, "It is better to die for something than to live for nothing".

BRUSSELS (IDN) – It is a large white house with blue shutters in Al-Maharas, a small town in central Tunisia. The ground is immaculate. The rooms are empty. Through the open windows, we hear the sea. The scent of seaweed and sea salt tickles our nostrils. If we close our eyes, it feels like we are on vacation. If we close our eyes.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Africa; 02 September 2020

Image courtesy of The World Health Organization

The Rich Countries Should Help Contain the Effect of Coronavirus in the Third World

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN) – There was a great piece of news announced on August 25 by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Wild-polio has been wiped out of Africa, thanks to a vaccine. It only remains in some isolated parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan where public health officials fight the poliovirus against inbred conservative peoples, some of whom who are prepared to kill the health workers on the grounds they are spreading the disease.

This fight to eliminate polio has been going on since 1988, a warning that even when a vaccine for Coronavirus is invented there will be many barriers to surmount before it has done its job.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 01 September 2020

Photo: We're used to thinking of Hitler's Third Reich as the incomparably evil tyranny that it undoubtedly was. But Hitler didn’t take power by force. He used a set of rhetorical tropes codified in Trump’s bedside reading that persuaded enough Germans to welcome Hitler as a populist leader. (Photo: photolibrarian/Flickr/cc)

Legal Loopholes May Deny Mauritius Much-Needed Oil Spill Clean-Up Funds

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Just over a month since a cracked shipping vessel leaked over a thousand tons of dirty oil, blanketing the pristine sands of the East African island of Mauritius, authorities have now arrested the ship’s captain for unsafe navigation. He faces a sentence of 60 years if found guilty.

It’s been an environmental nightmare for the tourist destination whose lagoons, lush tropical jungles and mountains attract millions of visitors every year. Some 39 dolphins have been found dead since the Japanese-owned ship struck a coral reef on July 25.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 31 August 2020

Photo: Amina Mama, the poet. CC BY-SA 4.0

African Women's Groups Decry Spike in Sexual Violence Tied to Pandemic

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – As the number of cases of the coronavirus inched up in Africa this summer, another number was reaching new heights with less notice.

In Nigeria, Liberia, Morocco and South Africa, protestors have been taking to the streets demanding urgent action against the surge in rape and sexual violence against women. But it is hardly an African problem.

“African countries are not unique in this pattern of increased gender-based violence during the pandemic,” noted feminist writer Rosebell Kagumire and human rights lawyer Vivian Ouya in an online Al Jazeera opinion piece.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 31 August 2020

Photo: Zukiswa Wanner. Credit: Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study

Zambian Writer, ‘A Role Model for A Generation’, Tapped for Cultural Prize

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – This year’s Goethe Medal has been awarded to African writer and publisher Zukiswa Wanner, Elvira Espejo Ayca of Bolivia and Ian McEwan of the U.K. for their commitment to international cultural exchange.

Zukiswa, a writer, journalist and publisher, is the author of the novels The Madams (2006), Behind Every Successful Man (2008), Men of the South (2010). and two children's books, Jama Loves Bananas and Refilwe. As an essayist, she wrote “The Politics of Race, Class, and Identity in Education” and 2011 Mail & Guardian’s book of Women Introductory essay, “Being a Woman in South Africa”.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 31 August 2020

Photo: Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. Source: SADA ELBALAD.

The Press Freedom Climate in Algeria Has Changed for The Worse Under New President

Viewpoint by M ElHaies

The writer is a consultant in CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa program. This article is being republished courtesy of CPJ which first carried it on its Website on August 26.

NEW YORK (IDN) – Two weeks after the imprisonment of a high-profile Algerian journalist, a former reporter has been sentenced to prison for his online commentary, cementing fears that Algeria’s new president, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, is on track to match his predecessor’s record of enacting restrictive policies toward the press even as he has promised democratic reforms.

: Africa & ME Editor; OPINION; 30 August 2020

Photo: Taliban fighters attend a surrender ceremony in Jalalabad city, capital of Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, Feb. 8, 2020. (Saifurahman Safi/Xinhua via Getty Images)

Message to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on Afghanistan

Viewpoint by Saber Azam

The writer is a former official of the United Nations and author of the recently released book, “SORAYA: The Other Princess”, a historical fiction that overflies the recent seven decades of Afghan history.

GENEVA (IDN) – The US internal serenity is essential to the political and economic stability of the planet. The last four years have been challenging for Americans, their allies, and the rest of the world.

Hardly in the US history, an election such as the forthcoming in November this year will be so crucial. Wizards predict that it would be a game-changer. If the winners of the country's leadership are Joe. Biden and Kamala Harris, many critical issues will be high on their agenda, and the crisis in Afghanistan will undoubtedly constitute one of them.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 30 August 2020

2020] Photo: Supporters of Donald Trump speaking at a campaign rally at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona. Credit: Gage Skidmore.

Trump's Strength Lies in Extraordinary Loyalty He Commands from His Base

Viewpoint by Sonali Kolhatkar

This article was produced by Economy for All, a project of the Independent Media Institute. Sonali Kolhatkar is the founder, host and executive producer of “Rising Up With Sonali,” a television and radio show that airs on Free Speech TV and Pacifica stations.

LOS ANGELES (IDN) – The last four years have been deeply traumatizing to millions of Americans as we have watched our nation in the stranglehold of a maniacal, dictatorial and compulsively deceptive president. But it is worth examining the relationship that President Donald Trump has with his voters in order to understand why he won the 2016 election and why he continues to command such fervent loyalty a few months ahead of the next election. Willing to overlook his lies, improprieties, and corruption, Trump’s voters have a transactional relationship with the president that is practical, powerful, and surprisingly instructional to the rest of us.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 29 August 2020

Photo: Australia's Prime Minister has unveiled new powers that stop foreign governments from making deals in the country without prior federal approval. Credit: Federal Govt. of Australia.

One Nation, Six Governments – COVID-19 Battle Uncovers Australian Federalism

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY (IDN) – China may have one nation and two systems, but in Australia, it looks like there is one nation and six systems. As the second wave of coronavirus spreads across the continent, the State Premiers have taken unilateral decisions to close borders to travellers from other states to the dismay of Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

Speaking at the Bush (Regional) Summit on August 28, Morrison bemoaned “Australia was not built to have internal borders, in fact the very point of federalism was not to have them”. While acknowledging that COVID-19 has touched people everywhere, he added, “We must not allow this crisis, this pandemic, to force us to retreat into provincialism. That’s not the answer”.