HUMAN RIGHTS

Photo: Evangelical preacher Billy Graham, one of the key figures in the religious revival of the 1950s and beyond. Credit: Billy Graham Evangelistic Association

America's Christian Right, Republicans and Donald Trump – 2

Viewpoint by John Newsinger*

This is the second of a six-part article originally published in International Socialism under the title The Christian right, the Republican Party and Donald Trump. Click here for part one of the series. Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of IDN-InDepth News.

LONDON (IDN) – And this was just one campaign. The American Legion, the veterans’ organisation which in 1952 claimed more than 2.7 million members, launched its own "Back to God" campaign, helping equip the country to combat the threat of atheistic communism.

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 20 February 2020

Photo: Presidential and legislative elections in DR Congo. Credit: Africa Renewal.

2020 Is Election Season Across Africa

By Franck Kuwonu, Africa Renewal

NEW YORK (IDN) – Voters across the continent will be heading to the ballot box this year to choose their leaders in presidential, parliamentary and local elections ending with Ghana in December.

Comorians will be electing a new 33-member national assembly following presidential elections in 2019 while Ghanaians will select their parliamentarians and president on 7 December.

: Africa Renewal; THE WORLD; Africa; 20 February 2020

Photo credit: Illustration by Marco Ventura for Rolling Stone

America's Christian Right, Republicans and Donald Trump – 1

Viewpoint by John Newsinger*

This is the first of a six-part article originally published in International Socialism under the title The Christian right, the Republican Party and Donald Trump. Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of IDN-InDepth News.

LONDON (IDN) – Donald Trump was elected to the United States presidency in 2016 by the votes of the Christian right. Some 81 percent of evangelical Christians, who made up a third of the total electorate, voted for him.

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 19 February 2020

Photo: Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald (centre) with former leader Gerry Adams on the Irish border. Credit: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

What Sinn Féin’s Election Success Means for Irish Relations with the EU and Brexit

Viewpoint by Mary C. Murphy*

CORK, Ireland (IDN) – Ireland’s traditionally centre-right conservative political system has been rocked by a wave of support for Sinn Féin in the February 8 general election. The previously small left-wing republican party, with historic links to the paramilitary Provisional Irish Republican Army, now has legitimate ambitions to form part of the next Irish government in coalition with other parties.

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; EU & Europe; 13 February 2020

Photo: Peter Mutharika whose presidential victory in May 2019 was attributed to massive fraud. Credit: Malawi 24.

Malawi Court Tosses Fraud-Riddled Presidential Elections

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Following an exhaustive review of petitions submitted by the opposition, judges of the Malawian Constitutional Court ruled against Peter Mutharika whose presidential victory in May 2019 was attributed to massive fraud.

Veteran diplomat Vernon Mwaanga of neighboring Zambia said the Court raised the bar for African countries where elections are plagued by irregularities.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 12 February 2020

Photo: Ola Henrikson, IOM’s Regional Director for the EU, has asked Croatia – which assumed the six-month rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) – on 1 January 2020, to encourage any discussion on migration policy as a positive contribution of migrants for inclusive growth and sustainable development, including within the EU. Credit: European Union

New Research Pleads for Recognizing Contribution of African Migrants To Sustainable Development

By Reinhard Jacobsen

BRUSSELS (IDN) – A new set of European Commissioners has taken office in Brussels. The main migration focus of the previous cabinet of Commissioners was halting migration – which led to deals with third countries on stopping and returning refugees and migrants. People evacuated from Libya, for example, are brought to Niger and Rwanda, where they are processed before those successfully registered as refugees are taken to Europe – often after long processes filled with uncertainty.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; THE WORLD; EU & Europe; 18 January 2020

Photo: The writer in front of the Sultan's Al Alam Palace in Old Muscat. Credit: Manish Rai.

Ibadis Are Ray of Hope for The Middle East

By Manish Rai

MUSCAT, Oman (IDN) – It’s widely believed that there are two main branches of Islam i.e. Sunni and Shia, which differ in their understanding of early Islamic history and hence they have different ideas about how Islam’s leadership should have been organised in subsequent eras. But there is a third, lesser-known body of believers with deep historic roots, and their identity fractionally predates the Sunni-Shia split in the seventh century. They are the Ibadis, who number less than 3 million in total. Only in one country, Oman, do they form a majority. However, significant pockets exist in North Africa, especially Libya, and along the east African coast, particularly on the island of Zanzibar.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Middle East; 04 January 2020

Photo: Mairam Bibi, a victim of bride kidnapping, with her sons. Credit: Mairam Bibi

The Story of a Kyrgyz Mother Bride Kidnapped as A Teenager

By Aqila Hassanzada*

NARYN, Kyrgyzstan (IDN) – Mairam Bibi says her sons will not follow in their father’s footsteps – an abductor who kidnapped a teenage girl and forced her into a violent marriage.

At the age of 41, Mairam is sitting in her small straw house telling the story so many women in Kyrgyzstan could tell.

One morning when she was a teenager, Mairam was going to school when an old car stopped in front of her. Two men ran out of the car and headed towards her. She was terrified.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Central Asia; 11 December 2019

Photo: Children playing on the riverside in Naryn. Credit: Sehar Naz Janani

A Kyrgyz Activist Translates UNICEF Mandate into Action

By Sehar Naz Janani

NARYN, Kyrgyzstan (IDN) – His pale skin, teary eyes, shivering body and trembling voice added to the air of grave solemnity pervading the room.

Breaking the dead silence, his mouth slowly started murmuring, “I am an orphan… But, I have a sister… She beats me every now and then” and added, “She also abuses me emotionally. I could not take it anymore.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Central Asia; 09 December 2019

Photo: Children raise their hands to answer a question in class at a UNICEF learning space in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. (8 July 2019). Credit: UNICEF Patrick Brown

Odds Still Stacked Against Poorest Children

By Sean Buchanan

NEW YORK (IDN) – Although there have been historic gains over the last 30 years in improving children’s lives, urgent action is needed if the poorest children are to feel the impact, warns a new UN report.

The report, published on November 18 by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and released ahead of World Children’s Day on November 20, calls on countries to recommit to promises made under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted in 1989.