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By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) — The country that drew worldwide attention over a now-debunked U.S. theory linking Saddam Hussein with the purchase of “yellowcake” uranium powder is in the spotlight again.
On February 21, unidentified attackers set off a landmine that exploded under a car full of election commissioners in the Tillaberi region of the landlocked West African nation of Niger, killing seven.
Viewpoint by Dr Yossef Ben-Meir
The writer is President of the High Atlas Foundation, which is an implementer of the USAID Farmer-to-Farmer Program in Morocco.
MARRAKECH (IDN) — Participatory community movements found a contemporary impetus in post-World War II reconstruction of Europe and decolonization, primarily in Africa. The approach of locally managed change, however, was highly distrusted during these initial years, during which the dominant view was that central-level policymakers are in a better position than the people to make highly productive decisions regarding development projects.
Viewpoint by Michael McEachrane*
LUND (IDN) – Centuries of European colonialism have had a tremendous impact on shaping inequities within and among countries, many of which are yet to be effectively addressed. This may seem like a trivial statement, but it is only recently being recognised by EU countries.
In 2019, the European Parliament passed a resolution on the Fundamental Rights of People of African Descent. It called for a comprehensive perspective on colonialism and slavery, which recognises their historical and contemporary adverse effects on people of African descent.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) — For months, Tanzanian President John Magufuli stuck to a controversial stand that COVID-19 would only be defeated by prayer.
This Sunday (February 21), the President amended his position. He urged citizens to wear masks — only locally made ones — and take other preventive measures against the virus.
By Devendra Kamarajan
NAIROBI (IDN) — When the COVID-19 pandemic crisis started, most people were extremely pessimistic. They thought that the region would drown in terms of trade declining catastrophically. But a new report reveals that the East Africa Community economies — Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda — have, by global standards, proven to be relatively resilient.
By Kester Kenn Klomegah*
MOSCOW (IDN) — The opening of the world's largest free trade area in Africa on January 1, 2021, is of great interest to Russia. It comes more than one year after the first Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi on the Black Sea. As Russian President Vladimir Putin then said: "The event really opened a new page in relations between Russia and the states of the African continent."
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) spanning 54 states over the next years has the potential to unite more than 1.3 billion people in a $2.5 trillion economic bloc.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) — A plane carrying Cameroonian, Angolan and Congolese asylum seekers due to take off from Alexandria, Louisiana, was cancelled with minutes to spare after advocacy groups published affidavits by detainees of torture by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
The affidavits listed a host of violent tactics ICE officials had reportedly used to pressure the detainees to submit to their deportation. ICE agents were accused of choking, beating, and forcing the asylum seekers to agree to expulsion by threatening them placement in Covid-19 wards.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK | BRUSSELS (IDN) — As Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni bore down on rights groups and the opposition, the European Union (EU) Parliament responded with the threat of sanctions against Ugandan individuals and organizations they hold responsible for abuses during the recent general election.
Museveni apparently sparked the EU backlash when he instructed the Ministry of Finance, in a letter dated January 1, to suspend the activities of the Democratic Governance Facility, a basket fund of European countries that bankroll most Ugandan civil society organizations that work on governance, rights and related themes.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) — A federal class-action suit filed on behalf of eight Malian citizens against Nestle SA, Cargill, Hershey and Mars, Inc. among others for their alleged complicity in the trafficking and forced labour of African children, is now under review by the US Supreme Court.
The plaintiffs are former child slaves trafficked from Mali to harvest cocoa beans in Côte d’Ivoire, the biggest exporter and producer.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) — Colorado Congressman Joe Neguse , one of the standout speakers at the impeachment trial of ex-president Donald J. Trump, got raves from news pundits, saying a new national political star had been born.
He credits his parents with the values that propelled him into a career in politics.
“Over 35 years ago, my parents came to the United States from a small country in East Africa … as immigrants to a country that welcomed them with open arms and tremendous opportunities,” Neguse said in his first electoral victory speech.
IDN-InDepthNews offers news analyses, features, reports and viewpoints that impact the world and its peoples. It has been online since 2009. Its network spans countries around the world.