USA and Canada

Photo: Trump has a hobby, a nasty hobby, of blocking Nigerian candidates for international positions. He incited the Board of the African Development Bank (AfDB) against its president Akinwunmi Adesina’s second term bid. And, he has been blocking, Nigeria/Africa’s candidate for the position of director general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Collage of pictures of Akinwunmi Adesina (left) and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (right) by IDN-INPS.

Letter to US President-elect Joe Biden

By Azu Ishiekwene

The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-In-Chief of The Interview magazine based in Abuja, Nigeria.

ABUJA (IDN) – If Nigerians had a vote, you’ll probably not be the 46th President of the United States of America. A Pew Research Centre poll in January showed that two countries – Kenya and Nigeria – were still madly in love with lame-duck President Donald J. Trump.

You might wonder why in spite of your long list of transgressions against Trump – from his malicious negligence in the fight against Coronavirus to his congenital lying, and from race-baiting to his crooked politics – we still love him.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 10 November 2020

Photo: Screenshot of President Trump delivering President Trump delivering remarks in North Carolina on November 2, 2020. White House YouTube video.

The Evil That Men Do Lives After Them

Viewpoint by Roberto Savio*

ROME (IDN) – Now it is clear that Joe Biden is the new president of the United States. It is unlikely that Donald Trump’s legal manoeuvring will change the election results, as when a conservative Supreme Court in 2000 decided in favour of George Bush over Al Gore, who lost by 535 votes. Not even this Supreme Court, where Trump has six sympathetic members (three appointed by him, quite a record), and only three unsympathetic, will dare to change a result coming from too many states.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 09 November 2020

Photo: US Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris and President-elect Joe Biden as he arrives for his victory address after being declared the winner in the 2020 presidential election, in Wilmington, Delaware. The National | EPA

Defending Democracy and Our Future: Biden’s Victory and the Struggles Ahead

Viewpoint by Joseph Gerson*

NEW YORK (IDN) – That was one roller coaster of a week! A nasty four years!

Celebrating Biden’s election with others in my hometown, there was joy as drivers’ faces lit up with smiles, women in hijabs and Central American landscapers gave us thumbs up, and hundreds of car horns rang out in support.

People’s joy was an expression of relief at the anticipated departure of a would-be dictator more than a love for Joe Biden. The African-American commentator Van Jones' tearful words spoke for so many:

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 08 November 2020

Photo: Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu with the then US Vice President Joe Biden. Source: The Times of Israel.

Biden Is A Veteran Friend of Israel But Against Settlement

By Raphael Ahren

The writer is the diplomatic correspondent at The Times of Israel, which published it on November 7, 2020.

JERUSALEM (IDN) – Joe Biden, the newly elected 46th president of the United States, is a true friend of the Jewish state, friends and even political adversaries of the emerging president-elect agree.

“He has a deep feeling for Israel,” said Michael Oren, who served as Israel’s ambassador to the US when Biden was vice president. Oren opposed almost all of the Middle East policies championed by Biden and his boss, Barack Obama, especially on Iran and the Israeli-Palestinian question. Still, he annually attended Biden’s Rosh Hashanah party, and asserts that the former Delaware senator is genuinely concerned about Israel’s well-being.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Middle East; 07 November 2020

Photo: A woman casts her vote in Tanzanian elections as an electoral official looks on Credit: DW/E. Boniphase Amas

Trump’s Cousins Can’t Wait to Be Born

Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene

The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-In-Chief of The Interview magazine based in Abuja, Nigeria.

ABUJA (IDN) – I suspected the pregnancy will not be carried to full term and now, it’s playing out. Even before the US electoral monster conceived by President Donald J. Trump was weaned, a few African countries are already taking delivery of their own premature electoral monster babies.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 06 November 2020

Far Poorer and Less Technologically Advanced Nations Than the US Have No Problem Holding Quick, Efficient Elections

Viewpoint by Glenn Greenwald*

This article is being republished from Information Clearing House.

NEW YORK (IDN ) – The richest and most powerful country on earth — whether due to ineptitude, choice or some combination of both — has no ability to perform the simple task of counting votes in a minimally efficient or confidence-inspiring manner. As a result, the credibility of the voting process is severely impaired, and any residual authority the U.S. claims to “spread” democracy to lucky recipients of its benevolence around the world is close to obliterated.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 04 November 2020

Photo: Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Source:Twitter

U.S. Upsets Election of African Candidate for Top World Trade Post

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Backed by an overwhelming number of World Trade Organization (WTO) delegates, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was on a fast track to become the head of the global trade group.

Dr. Okonjo-Iweala was set to become the first woman and first African to lead the global trade watchdog. A selection panel of WTO trade ministers found she had far more support than a South Korean rival and it was expected that the Asian candidate would be withdrawn because the African candidate would be most likely to attract consensus among the members.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 02 November 2020

Win or Lose, Trump Is Africa's Dangerous Example

Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene

The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-In-Chief of The Interview magazine based in Abuja, Nigeria.

ABUJA (IDN) – If Donald J. Trump were president of Wakanda on the eve of an election, that country would have received several warnings from the US State Department on the need for free and fair polls, and the necessity for all parties to play by the rules. [Wakanda a fictional country appearing in American comic books.] But what is playing by the rules if parties will not accept an orderly transfer of power?

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 29 October 2020

Photo: Chief Justice John Roberts administers the judicial oath to Judge Amy Coney Barrett on October 27, 2020. Judge Barrett's husband, Jesse M. Barrett, holds the Bible. Wikimedia Commons.

The Politicization of the United States Supreme Court

An affront to the Independence of the Judiciary and American Democracy

Viewpoint by Somar Wijayadasa*

NEW YORK (IDN) – The United States Senate confirmed President Donald Trump’s nominee, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, as a Justice of the Supreme Court. Despite the partisan rancor, Barrett’s confirmation was a forgone conclusion. The Court now has a conservative majority of 6-3 that could fundamentally reshape America. More on this later.

This year 2020 may go down in modern history as the worst year ever that faced an extraordinary set of challenges.

: Somar Wijayadasa; OPINION; 29 October 2020

Why Joe Biden Should be Elected and Not Trump Despite Foreign Policy Successes

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN) – Any day now the news will come that the US and Russia have decided to renew the important nuclear arms reduction of around 1000 warheads each that was agreed by Presidents Barack Obama and Dimitri Medvedev. Another feather in Trump’s foreign policy hat? Yes, indeed.

In fact, his record on foreign policy is said by his supporters to be better than both the Democrat and Republican presidents before him. Most important, he has not started any new wars.