Archive for August, 2022

31/08/2022

How France Underdevelops Africa

Human Wrongs Watch

SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 30 2022 (IPS)* – Most sub-Saharan African French colonies got formal independence in the 1960s. But their economies have progressed little, leaving most people in poverty, and generally worse off than in other post-colonial African economies.

Anis Chowdhury

Decolonization?
Pre-Second World War colonial monetary arrangements were consolidated into the Colonies Françaises d’Afrique (CFA) franc zone set up on 26 December 1945.

Decolonization became inevitable after France’s defeat at Dien Bien Phu in 1954 and withdrawal from Algeria less than a decade later.France insisted decolonization must involve ‘interdependence’ – presumably asymmetric, instead of between equals – not true ‘sovereignty’.

For colonies to get ‘independence’, France required membership of Communauté Française d’Afrique (still CFA) – created in 1958, replacing Colonies with Communauté.

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31/08/2022

The West’s Dangerously Simple-Minded Narrative about Russia and China

Human Wrongs Watch

By Jeffrey D. Sachs | Common Dreams – TRANSCEND Media Service*

The overwrought fear of China and Russia is sold to a Western public through manipulation of the facts.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) pose during their meeting in Beijing, on February 4, 2022. (Photo: Alexei Druzhinin/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)

23 Aug 2022 – The world is on the edge of nuclear catastrophe in no small part because of the failure of Western political leaders to be forthright about the causes of the escalating global conflicts.

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30/08/2022

A Tale of Spanish Neckties and Other Made-in-Europe Things

Human Wrongs Watch

MADRID, Aug 30 2022 (IPS)* – Shortly before the 25 August approval by the Spanish Parliament of the government’s plan to save energy, the country’s right and far-right opposition parties revived their debate about an earlier suggestion of not wearing neckties in the Spanish Congress and Senate and other official institutions.
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"Wildfires – well known for their disastrous consequences in southern Europe – are now occurring as far north as Scandinavia". Credit: Unsplash/Fabian Jones.

“Wildfires – well known for their disastrous consequences in southern Europe – are now occurring as far north as Scandinavia”. Credit: Unsplash/Fabian Jones.

The suggestion was made by Pedro Sanchez, President of the Spanish government, as a way to help save energy.

The idea was that neckties increase the feeling of warmth, now that the country has to face two great problems: energy shortage and unprecedented heatwaves that increase the consumption of electricity and other energy sources.

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29/08/2022

Sharing Indigenous Knowledge with Tourists

28 August 2022 (UN News)*After successfully reclaiming her people’s territory in Northern Argentina, Celestina Ábalos turned to tourism to share and promote her indigenous culture.  UN entrepreneurship training during the COVID-19 pandemic helped her business to grow.
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Ivar Velasquez | Indigenous Argentinian tourism entrepreneur Hero photo alt text Celestina Ábalos stands outside her home.
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Indigenous entrepreneur Celestina Ábalos runs a tourism business in the UNESCO World Heritage site of Quebrada de Humahuaca in Jujuy province, northern Argentina, sharing her community’s culture and knowledge of medicinal herbs.
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“I am a child of Pachamama, Mother Earth. Earth is everything to us. It is life. We cannot conceive of ourselves without her. My community dates back 14,000 years. On behalf of 60 families, I led a 20-year fight for the right to land, education and freedom.

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26/08/2022

World Reaches ‘Tragic Milestone’ of One Million COVID-19 Deaths So Far in 2022

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — There have been one million COVID-19 deaths so far this year – a “tragic milestone” that must lead to more people being vaccinated against the disease, World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reported on Thursday {25 August 2022}

© UNICEF/Priyanka Parashar | COVID-19 vaccinations are administered at a hospital in Odisha, India.

“We cannot say we are learning to live with COVID-19 when one million people have died with COVID-19 this year alone, when we are two-and-a-half years into the pandemic and have all the tools necessary to prevent these deaths,” said Tedros, speaking during his regular briefing from Geneva.

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26/08/2022

Security Council: Managing Israel-Palestine Conflict ‘No Substitute’ for Meaningful Political Process

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — Managing the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis is no substitute for a real political process, a truth laid bare by recent events, the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process told the Security Council on Thursday [25 August 2022], as he urged delegates to turn their attention to the broader strategy of ending the occupation and realizing the long elusive two-State solution.

UN Photo/Loey Felipe | Tor Wennesland (on screen), Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, addresses the UN Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.
25/08/2022

“The Worse, The Better” Doctrine and the Melting Ice

Human Wrongs Watch

MADRID, Aug 25 2022 (IPS)* – There is a prevailing doctrine among the right and far-right political parties who are still in the opposition and are most likely to jump to power in those countries where they are not already ruling. It is the doctrine of “the worse things go, the better for us.”

As of 2019, the total value of the annual world shipping trade had reached more than 14 trillion US Dollars. Credit: Bigstock

Their markets-influenced neo-liberal thinking implies that their already existing or about-to-be governments will have the golden chance of overriding the present and past rights’ achievements in fields like social public services including health, education, pensions, and migration policies, let alone the fight against gender violence.

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25/08/2022

Ukraine ‘Testing Ground’ Shaping US Network, Electronic Warfare Effort

Human Wrongs Watch

By Colin Demarest | Defense News – TRANSCEND Media Service*

Fierce battles being waged in Ukraine are showcasing cyber and electronic warfare and their consequences for connectivity and communications, according to the deputy commanding general at U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command.

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17 Aug 2022 – Fierce battles being waged in Ukraine are showcasing cyber and electronic warfare and their consequences for connectivity and communications, according to the deputy commanding general at U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command.

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25/08/2022

The World Owes the Rohingyas their Right to Human Dignity

Human Wrongs Watch

New Delhi, Aug 25 2022 (IPS)* – It has been five years since the forced exodus of the Rohingyas from Myanmar, and their plea for justice and accountability continues.
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Dr Mohsina Chaklader, a doctor with Humanity Auxilium, walks through Cox’s Bazar. Chaklader says while physical conditions in the refugee camps that house more than 900,000 more needs to be done. Credit: Humanity Auxilium

Dr Mohsina Chaklader, a doctor with Humanity Auxilium, walks through Cox’s Bazar. Chaklader says while physical conditions in the refugee camps that house more than 900,000 more needs to be done. Credit: Humanity Auxilium

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25/08/2022

Israeli Suppression of Palestinian Rights Organizations ‘Illegal and Unacceptable’

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — Twenty-four UN-appointed independent human rights experts condemned on Wednesday [24 August 2022], Israel’s escalating attacks against Palestinian civil society in the occupied West Bank, describing it as “illegal and unacceptable”.

IRIN/Shabtai Gold | Palestinian women walk by Israel’s barrier near Ramallah in the West Bank.

During a raid last week, the Israeli army broke into and shut down the offices of seven Palestinian human rights and humanitarian groups operating in Ramallah, located in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). 

These actions amount to severe suppression of human rights defenders and are illegal and unacceptable,” the experts said, encouraging UN Member States to use international law to end the abuses. 

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