(2021-01-08). Central African Republic: Post-election violence triggers mass displacement. news.un.org Amidst post-election violence in the Central African Republic (CAR), more than 200,000 people have fled for their own safety, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Friday.
(2021-01-08). For a borderless pragmatism. Outline of a Progressive Migration Policy. indybay.org Immigration leads to stronger economic growth, which in turn creates jobs, Without migration, we would all be sitting in Olduvia in East Africa, as we were 100,000 years ago. About 3% of the world's population, about 215 million people, live in a state other than the one in which they were born. Migration has always existed. Not everything has become more right-wing in the last 50 years.
(2021-01-08). Monday 1/18: Virtual Celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. National Holiday w/ MoAD. indybay.org Online via livestream (FREE & all ages welcome)…
(2021-01-08). Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa. wsws.org Employees at British Gas walk out to defend pay and conditions; UK University students rent strike across 31 universities; Kenyan healthcare workers' strike continues despite union sending doctors back…
(2021-01-08). Long live the Haitian Revolution! workers.org 
January 1 marked the 217th year of independence for the Republic of Haiti. The Haitian Revolution was led by formerly enslaved Black revolutionary Franàßois-Dominique Toussaint Louverture and later by Jean-Jacques Dessalines. A majority of Louverture's army had been born in Africa. The Haitian Revolution began in 1791 after a Vodou . . . |
(2021-01-08). Hotel diplomacy: Qatari hotel opens in Cairo as economic ties take centre stage. middleeasteye.net 
Hotel diplomacy: Qatari hotel opens in Cairo as economic ties take centre stage | While Qatari investment projects in Egypt have not stopped during a three-year rift, the opening of the Qatari-funded luxury St Regis hotel in Cairo is seen as official sign of thawing relations | Fri, 01/08/2021 – 14: 04 | The St Regis overlooks the Nile and is located in downtown Cairo (Marriott hotel we…
(2021-01-08). Uganda: 'Deteriorating' human rights situation in run-up to elections next week. news.un.org The UN human rights office, OHCHR, is urging authorities in Uganda to ensure elections next week are free and peaceful, noting that the arrest of opposition candidates and their supporters are among several "worrying" developments ahead of the vote.
(2021-01-07). Tunisian Forces Arrest High-Ranking Al-Qaeda Operative, Interior Ministry States. sputniknews.com CAIRO (Sputnik) – Tunisia's security services have detained a terrorist from among the leaders of the Al-Qaeda* terror group (banned in Russia), the country's interior ministry said on Thursday.
(2021-01-07). China's "Belt and Road Initiative" Is Not Debt-trapping Africa. globalresearch.ca Over the last three years, a new type of groupthink has emerged among many Western media and policy think tanks in their geopolitically motivated efforts to malign China. They've claimed that China is practicing a new type of colonialism, which …
(2021-01-07). Invermectin: South Africa Bans 'Miracle' COVID-19 Treatment as "Unsafe" globalresearch.ca The import into South Africa of ivermectin, a drug that has made international headlines recently as a so-called "miracle cure" for Covid-19, has been declared illegal by the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra). | Ivermectin, which has been used …
(2021-01-07). Ivermectin: South Africa Bans 'Miracle' COVID-19 Treatment as "Unsafe" globalresearch.ca The import into South Africa of ivermectin, a drug that has made international headlines recently as a so-called "miracle cure" for Covid-19, has been declared illegal by the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra). | Ivermectin, which has been used …
(2021-01-07). Africa in Review 2020: Anti-Imperialist Perspectives Essential in Understanding the Way Forward. globalresearch.ca One of the most serious attacks on the anti-colonial and national liberation legacy in Africa was the attempts by the United States and the Kingdom of Morocco to liquidate the right to self-determination among the Saharawi people in the Northwest …
(2021-01-07). Sudan's transitional government signs Abraham Accords normalizing ties with Israel. peoplesdispatch.org According to the deal Sudan will recognize Israel and will "normalize" relations with it. The UAE and Bahrain had signed the deal in September last year…
(2021-01-07). Food for Mozambicans struggling amidst violence and COVID-19, 'will be compromised' without more funding: WFP. news.un.org Despite increased insecurity and limited funding, the UN food relief agency is continuing to supply food for hundreds of thousands of people affected by conflict in northern Mozambique.
(2021-01-07). Guterres 'shocked' at massacre of civilians in eastern DR Congo. news.un.org The United Nations Secretary-General has expressed shock at the massacre of civilians in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and called on the authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice.
(2021-01-07). Libya urged to investigate fate of hundreds missing in Tarhuna. middleeasteye.net 
Libya urged to investigate fate of hundreds missing in Tarhuna | Dozens of mass graves were found in Tarhuna last summer after withdrawal of forces aligned with eastern commander Khalifa Haftar | Thu, 01/07/2021 – 19: 12 | Since June, Libyan teams have been searching for graves and exhuming bodies in Tarhuna, southeast of Tripoli (AFP) | Human Rights Watch urged Libya's internationally recognised government to…
(2021-01-07). Saudi Arabia: UN rights expert welcomes 'positive first step' toward détente in Gulf. news.un.org Saudi Arabia's action in lifting sanctions against Qatar is a "positive first step" towards normalized relations in the Gulf region, a UN independent human rights expert said on Thursday, urging the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt to follow suit.
(2021-01-07). FROM THE FIELD: The genocide survivor helping others avoid starvation. news.un.org During the 1994 Genocide Against The Tutsi In Rwanda, Liberee Kayumba avoided starvation thanks to emergency rations from the World Food Programme (WFP). Today, she is helping to ensure that Burundian refugees in the country have enough to eat.
(2021-01-07). Hirak activists on hunger strike against pre-trial detention hospitalized in Algeria. peoplesdispatch.org The three Hirak activists – Mohamed Tadjadit (25), Noureddine Khimoud (25) and Abdelhak Ben Rahmani (38) – began a hunger strike on December 27 last year after they were denied bail and their pre-trial detention was extended by the authorities…
(2021-01-07). Landslide in Papua New Guinea kills 15 gold miners, children. wsws.org For tens of thousands of people, the desperate search for flecks of gold provides the only means of survival.
(2021-01-06). Sudan signs agreement normalising ties with Israel. middleeasteye.net 
Sudan signs agreement normalising ties with Israel | The Abraham Accords were signed as US treasury secretary inked a deal with Khartoum to access $1bn in financing from the World Bank | Wed, 01/06/2021 – 15: 36 | US treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin with Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok during a visit to Khartoum (Supplied) | Sudan signed the Abraham Accords with the United States o…
(2021-01-06). Trade union coalition in Sudan launches campaign to dissolve government-backed militia. peoplesdispatch.org The Sudanese Professionals Association launched the campaign following the torture and killing of a young activist, Bahaeldin Nouri, who was abducted by the intelligence wing of the government-backed Rapid Support Forces on December 21…
(2021-01-06). Three Major Threats to Life on Earth That We Must Address in 2021. counterpunch.org 
A scientific paper published in 2018 came with a startling headline: "Most atolls will be uninhabitable by the mid-21st century because of sea-level rise exacerbating wave-driven flooding." The authors found that atolls from the Seychelles to the Marshall Islands are liable to vanish. A 2019 United Nations (UN) report estimated that 1 million animal and plant species are threatened with extinction. Add to this the catastrophic wildfires and the severe bleaching of the coral reefs and it is clear that we no longer need to linger over clichés about one thing or another being a canary in the coal mine of climate cat…
(2021-01-06). You don't want to imagine an ocean without coral reefs—but you might have to. mronline.org 
The reefs will die. That seems certain. The UNEP report will not circulate. That seems equally certain. The Marshall Islands and Rwanda will file their updates. That has already happened. Meanwhile, the United States and its allies will sit on the sidelines, expanding fracking with a "who cares" attitude.
(2021-01-06). Arabic press review: Regional media reacts to end of Qatar blockade. middleeasteye.net 
Arabic press review: Regional media reacts to end of Qatar blockade | How has Middle East media interpreted Tuesday's deal ending Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the UAE's embargo on Doha? | Wed, 01/06/2021 – 12: 01 | GCC secretary general Abdullatif al-Zayani and Bahraini diplomat Hamad Al-Amer, right, at a press conference in 2013 (AFP) | Bahraini diplomat attacks Gulf reconciliation:…
(2021-01-06). Iowa Farm Bankruptcies Continue To Rise, Despite Aid. popularresistance.org There were 27 farm bankruptcies in Iowa in 2019 — more than double the 13 bankruptcies in 2018, the American Farm Bureau Federation reported. This was despite the $1.58 billion the federal government paid Iowa farmers in Market Facilitation Program payments to ease losses because of the trade dispute with China. | Later this month, we'll know how many Iowa farms went bankrupt in 2020, but Iowa State University economics professor and crop markets specialist Chad Hart said to expect another increase. | "The government has provided a lot of short-term funding to help farmers get through the year," Hart said,…
(2021-01-05). Saudi Arabia and Qatar end years-long row with border reopening, resumption of ties. rt.com 
Full ties have been restored between Saudi Arabia and Qatar after hugs were exchanged between leaders of the two nations at the annual Gulf Cooperation Council summit on Tuesday, ending their three-year-diplomatic dispute. | Riyadh and its allies, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain, have agreed to resume relations with Doha, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud told a news conference. | It follows the announcement by Kuwait — a mediator of the talks — on Monday that the four Arab nations would reopen their land, sea and air borders with Qatar. | The countries had cut Qatar…