THE WORLD

Photo: Participants in a rally sponsored by The World Can't Wait are dressed as hooded detainees and holding WCW signs in Upper Senate Park on January 4, 2007. Photo by Ben Schumin. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

It's Time to Question the Validity of the "War on Terror"

Viewpoint by John Scales Avery*

COPENHAGEN (IDN) — Twenty years after the events of 9/11, 2001, and in the midst of the messy withdrawal of the United States from Afghanistan, it seems appropriate to question the validity of the so-called “War on Terror”. The Costs of War project estimates that America's 20-years of wars, initiated with the supposed intention of fighting terrorism, have killed almost a million people, displaced 37 million, and have cost the US government 8 trillion dollars.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 12 September 2021

Photo: Young fruit trees growing in the Atlas Mountains are monitored by HAF. Credit: HAF

Former Pastoral Nomads Considering In-Place Farming

By Jacqueline Skalski-Fouts

The writer is an undergraduate student at the University of Virginia.

VIRGINIA, USA (IDN) — North African pastoralism, an agricultural method used for centuries by nomadic people in the steppe highlands, is on the decline. Facing limited grazing land due to overuse and drought, pastoral nomads are favouring more sedentary farming methods like growing fruit or nut trees and crops.

: Africa & ME Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Food security, nutrition & sustainable agriculture; 10 September 2021

Photo: Scene of popular support in Conakry after the coup. CC BY-SA 4.0

Condé Took Guinea for A Ride, But the Coup Makes No Sense

Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene

The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP newspaper based in Abuja, Nigeria.

ABUJA (IDN) — Zambia’s peaceful and orderly election in August offered a glimmer of hope that Africa’s story might be changing. For the third time in three decades, an opposition leader defeated the sitting president sending a message to the world that the continent may not be the incumbent’s lair after all.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 09 September 2021

Suicides, Not Accidents, Are the Biggest Killer in The Construction Industry

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY (IDN) — It is news, when a worker falls off a construction site and dies, but not necessarily when a construction worker commits suicide. It may be a slow and quiet death, which the employers and the workers’ family may not like to talk about.

In the USA, the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that in 2018 there were 1,008 construction fatalities, but there were also 48,344 suicides by construction workers that year, which went largely unnoticed.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; SUSTAINABILITY; Decent Work & Economic Growth; 08 September 2021

Photo: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (left) with U.S. President Joe Biden (right). Screenshot of France24 video.

Ukraine's President Is Using the 'Kremlin Excuse' to Ban Media That Doesn't Always Agree with Him

Viewpoint by David C. Speedie

This article was produced by Globetrotter in partnership with the American Committee for U.S.-Russia Accord. David C. Speedie, a Board Member of ACURA, was formerly Senior Fellow and Director of the Program on U.S. Global Engagement at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs. Prior to this, he chaired the Program on International Peace and Security at Carnegie Corporation. Source: Globetrotter.

: Opinion Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 08 September 2021

Taiwan Unlikely to Return as Part of Mainland China

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

TAIPEI (IDN) — “And then, there is Taiwan, the issue administration officials and national security experts agree is most likely to tip the scales from power struggle to military conflict. At the White House, the State Department and the Pentagon, officials are trying to figure out if the long-time American policy of “strategic ambiguity”—providing political and military support to Taiwan, while not explicitly promising to defend it from a Chinese attack—has run its course. Pentagon officials say the matter could come to a head within six years,” wrote New York Times recently.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 07 September 2021

Image: Panorama of Dar es Salaam city a few minutes before dusk. Taken from Benjamin William Mkapa Pension Tower, facing south. Muhammad Mahdi Karim | Wikimedia Commons.

New President in Tanzania Cracks Down on Reformers

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan appears to be taking a page from her predecessor, the late John Magufuli, by cracking down on members of the opposition who have been calling for constitutional reform for decades.

Freeman Mbowe, leader of the opposition Chadema party, has been detained on “terrorism” charges that his party has branded a bid by President Hassan’s government to muzzle the opposition.

: SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 07 September 2021

Photo: Lawmakers at the signing of the Texas Heartbeat Act. Photo from Sen. Bryan Hughes. Credit: The Texan.

Abortion Bounty Hunters in Texas Are Not ‘Whistleblowers’ — They’re Cruel Vigilantes

Viewpoint by Norman Solomon

Norman Solomon is the national director of RootsAction.org and the author of many books including War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death. He was a Bernie Sanders delegate from California to the 2016 and 2020 Democratic National Conventions. Solomon is the founder and executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 07 September 2021

Photo: Makerere University tower. CC BY 2.0

Famed Ugandan University Building to Be Demolished a Year After Fire

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — The Cabinet of Uganda has resolved to demolish what remains of the Makerere University main building—one year after a devastating fire consumed the historic building in flames.

Minister Chris Baryomunsi said the structure will be rebuilt. “We have also directed the Minister of finance to release US$3 billion for the reconstruction of the building,” he told the press.