USA and Canada

Image Copyright © 2014 Province of British Columbia.

The Menace of Human Trafficking—A Canadian Perspective

Viewpoint by Anusha Jaura-Sindhwani*

Human trafficking is one of the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with 169 targets endorsed by the international community in 2015. Goal 8.7 aims at "immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labour in all its forms". Anusha's Canadian perspective is based on 20 years of experience in the child welfare sector. She is also on the Human Trafficking Committee which looks at prevention and supporting youth at risk of trafficking.

: Opinion Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Decent Work & Economic Growth; 07 April 2021

Photo: Two women walk at an IDP camp in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, after brutal attacks in northern Mozambique. Credit: UNICEF/Mauricio Bisol.

Experts Urge US to End Military Solutions for African Problems

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — Three noted Africa experts, at a Roundtable with the BBC, are warning of endless “forever wars” if Africa continues to rely on military solutions with weapons and training from the U.S. and the international community instead of addressing local grievances.

The group spotlighted the case of Mozambique where a small ragtag movement demanding religious freedom and a share in the region’s economic wealth morphed into a deadly armed movement of Islamist militants controlling the area called Cabo Delgado.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 05 April 2021

Photo: International Criminal Court (ICC) assembly hall. Credit: ICC.

President Biden Repeals Trump Sanctions on the Criminal Court

By Jessica Corbett*

Common Dreams first published this report on April 2, 2021.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN) — Progressives in Congress and human rights organizations on April 2 welcomed the Biden administration's repeal of sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) imposed under former President Donald Trump in a bid to pressure the Hague-based tribunal to not investigate alleged U.S. and Israeli crimes. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced in a statement that President Joe Biden revoked Trump's Executive Order 13928, "ending the threat and imposition of economic sanctions and visa restrictions in connection with the court."

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 04 April 2021

Photo: Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev discussing German unification with Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher and Chancellor Helmut Kohl in Russia, July 15, 1990. Credit: Bundesbildstelle / Presse- und Informationsamt der Bundesregierung.

Rolling Back on NATO's Expansion Should Be President Joe Biden's Immediate Task

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — History and events have not been kind to Russia. Napoleon’s invasion, revolution, two world wars, Hitler’s invasion, Stalin’s communism and, most recently, the expansion of NATO, have shattered the Russian people’s equilibrium and self-regard time and time again.

At the end of the Cold War and with agreement on the NATO-Russia Founding Act it seemed that big steps towards a new kind of future were being taken. First, Russia would have a seat at NATO's table. Later it would join NATO. Later still, the European Union. Some said this would happen over ten years, others twenty.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 30 March 2021

Photo: US President Joe Biden. Source: The Conversation.

Stop Arms Sales—Open Markets for Middle East Exports Wider

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — The Middle East is going to hell in a handbasket. Israel is about to hold its fourth election in two years. After having effectively quashed the notion of a two-state solution, the favourite for the premiership is the long-serving Benjamin Netanyahu, the principal living architect of the repression this represents. There is now effectively only one state in the old Palestine, yet most of the Arabs have no vote.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 23 March 2021

Photo: Now-U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2011 at the Russian White House, in Moscow. (Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)

The US-Russia Relations Hit Rock Bottom

Viewpoint by Somar Wijayadasa*

NEW YORK (IDN) — The United States-Russia relations that flourished for decades—even during the Cold War—and benefited both parties have irreversibly damaged.

Tensions between the two superpowers escalated over allegations that range from the Russian interference in US elections, the SolarWinds cyberattacks, and Washington's demands that Russia free the jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.

Russia vehemently denies all allegations and admonishes the US that Navalny’s case is purely an internal matter.

: Somar Wijayadasa; THE WORLD; Russia; 23 March 2021

Photo: Phrase III of the clinical trial of Sovereign 2 was approved on March 3. Credit: BioCubaFarma

Cuba Working On A ‘People’s Vaccine’ In Response To Vaccine Hoarding By Global North

Viewpoint by Beth Geglia*

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN) — “The life of just one person is worth more than the private property of the richest man.” This is what’s written on the Calixto Garcia public hospital in Havana Cuba as a testament to the country’s commitment to free public healthcare, and to putting people before profit. I know this about Cuba because in March, at the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic, I spent a week in the ICU at Calixto Garcia. I had been hit by a speeding ambulance, and Cuban doctors saved my life, operated on me twice, and nursed me to stability before putting me on a private medical evacuation flight back to the US.

: Opinion Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 18 March 2021

Photo: Stray Cat, California City, CA, USA. Credit: Brian Wangenheim on Unsplash

Solving the Ferderal Cat Problem in The United States

By J W Jackie

RENO, Nevada, USA (IDN) — It is estimated that between 60 and 160 million feral cats roam the United States. Generally defined as unsocialised “wild” cats, their ability to reproduce quickly has begged for the problem to be addressed for quite some time. With non-profit organisations working to address the issue in a humane way, groups across the country are actively working to bring the issue to light and further address the problem in local areas. How to do this humanely is a primary topic.

: J C Suresh; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 17 March 2021

Photo: Counterintelligence in Mozambique and DRC. Source: Strategic Intelligence

U.S. Steps Up Counterterrorism in Mozambique and the DRC

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — U.S. counterterrorism officials are stepping up their activities in Africa, addressing the expansion of violent extremism on the continent.

Two previously unlisted insurgent groups identified as foreign terrorist organizations operating in Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have been slapped with sanctions along with their leaders.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 15 March 2021

Photo credit: The Daily Outlook Afghanistan

Detoxracy: The Current Challenge to Democracy in America

Viewpoint by Bill Dahl*

QUERETARO, Mexico (IDN) — Detoxification is essential to human life. Every cell of the human body must routinely detoxify. From the cellular level, these toxins are transported to our organs of elimination—the kidney and liver, to be processed and expelled. Organizations, institutions and governments also become toxic and must purge these life-threatening poisons.

Culminating in the siege of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, the world has witnessed the fact that democracy in America is under siege. It has become toxic. This article examines the challenge to detoxify democracy in America; a process I refer to as detoxracy.