By Mohamed FofanahFREETOWN, Jul 30 2020 (IPS) – Last week, Sierra Leone’s parliament voted to repeal the country’s 55-year-old libel law, which criminalised the publication of information that was deemed defamatory or seditious, and which had been used by successive…
Sudhirendar SharmaWater future is in the hands of an archaic water sector, predominantly under government control, and afflicted by business-as-usual approach.Cape Town achieved ‘Day Zero’ not too long ago, sending alarm bells ringing across the urbane world to set in…
By Richard Falk[Prefatory Note: The text below is a modified interview conducted by Daniel Falcone, and published in Counterpunch on July 9th. Even the passage of a few days has made it seem more likely that a new geopolitical confrontation…
Alan Stoga“In all of the West, we run into a divided society. Those who are smart enough to play on the stock market are fine; they can live. Those who are educated to play in the digital economy are also…
By Samira Sadeque UN, Jul 24 2020 (IPS) – Rohingya women are coming together to feature their own work, plight and stories in mainstream conversations about their community — a space they say they’ve been left out of.
Mostafa Kamal Majumder When I joined journalism the political arena was extremely polarized. The language of politics of especially the opposition was so strong that verbatim reporting of their viewpoints would lead to rejection of the news copy because the…
by Christy Hoffman and Sharan Burrow on 23rd July 2020 @CHoffmanUNI The pandemic has seen a surge in remote working. Collective agreements are needed to ensure individual autonomy, rather than monitored isolation, is the outcome.
By Stella Paul HYDERABAD, India, Jul 22 2020 (IPS) – With Tabaski (Eid al-Adha) around the corner, 11-year-old Fatoumata Binta from Terrou Mballing district in M’Bour, western Senegal, wakes up early and joins her brothers Iphrahima Tall and Ismaila to…
By Pepe Escobar Fasten your seat belts: the US hybrid war against China is bound to go on frenetic overdrive, as economic reports are already identifying Covid-19 as the tipping point when the Asian – actually Eurasian – century truly…
By Countercurrents Collective Protesters pulled down a statue of Christopher Columbus in Baltimore, the U.S. They threw the statue into the city’s Inner Harbor. Statues of Columbus have also been toppled in cities including Miami; Columbus, Ohio; Richmond, Virginia; St…
By Alice Tidey Commemorations are being held in Bosnia on Saturday to mark the 25th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre — Europe’s worst atrocity since the Second World War and the only one to be declared a genocide.
Alan Stoga “We’re shocked, for example, that trains don’t work. We are shocked that the digital infrastructure is not good … America doesn’t not just invest in itself; Americans don’t invest in each other.” — Christine Loh What’s wrong, America?…
Sudhirendar Sharma It is not the distance but the approach that creates a connection of convenience between shades of insecurities and vulnerabilities. Hold it tight. The rickshaw ride could turn unruly as it meanders through the underbelly of an unalike…
Dr. Sinha MA Sayeed On this very day of the opening death anniversary of HM Ershad, a legend in the history of Bangladesh for so many reasons, explainable or not, let me out the outset, pray to Allah for his…
Mostafa Kamal Majumder While improving the content of The New Nation, I simultaneously initiated measures to improve the getup and makeup of the paper. I noticed that the computer section was deciding how the getup should be like on a…
By Ramzy Baroud 72 years after the destruction of historic Palestine at the hands of Zionist militias lies an opportunity to reassert the centrality of the right of return for 5 million Palestinian refugees. Just 48 hours before thousands of…
Mostafa Kamal Majumder Political violence in Bangladesh is an old phenomenon. I came face to face with a very destructive such violence on 23 May 1980 when a public meeting of Khondaker Mushtaq Ahmad came under a bomb attack in…
Sudhirendar Sharma National chauvinism does not go very far – even where it goes it only acts as a delusive will-o’-the wisp.
Mostafa Kamal Majumder The fifth Parliament elected under the interim government of Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed on 27 February 1991 had a host of new members to the Parliament. The election was like a festival with all parties taking part in…
By Jacob Duer SINGAPORE – There is no denying that single-use plastic has been a lifesaver in the fight against COVID-19, especially for frontline health workers. It has also facilitated adherence to social-distancing rules, by enabling home delivery of basic…
By Tsitsi Matekaire LONDON, Jun 26 2020 (IPS) – In Malawi, Mary was only 14 years old when she was recruited and trafficked to the city of Blantyre and sold for sex in a bar. A man had arrived in…
Mostafa Kamal Majumder As The New Nation became more or less self-reliant and I could respond to demands of working journalists to improve their working conditions in the paper with a mission to make it sustainable I got a phone…
By Thalif Deen UN, Jun 23 2020 (IPS) – The coronavirus pandemic is beginning to transform the United Nations into an institution far beyond recognition.
Mostafa Kamal Majumder The Old Sangsad Bhaban at Nakhalpara was where I started my Parliament reporting. My seniors most of the time used to engage me to cover the question hour held at the start of sittings every day. The…
By Erna Solberg and Tommy Remengesau, Jr. OSLO/NGERULMUD – From Jamaica to Palau and Norway to Indonesia, the impact of the COVID-19 crisis is global, and national recovery efforts must be globally focused to seize shared opportunities. Nowhere is this…
By Matthew Brown BOULDER, COLORADO – Safari tourism has long been an economic boon to people living in Africa. But the suspension of flights and safari visits because of the COVID-19 pandemic has decimated this critical source of income –…
By Helen Clark NEW YORK – “Our house is on fire,” warned the teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg at last year’s World Economic Forum meeting in Davos. Her pointed words – accusing adults of sitting idly by as the planet…
Mostafa Kamal Majumder The New Nation was at a high trajectory in respect of its circulation through the Internet. But at least 14 years of soft copies of the paper were lost as the website from where it was available…
By Neena Bhandari The Asia Pacific region predominates in the numbers of victims of modern slavery. The region had 55 percent of the victims of forced marriage worldwide. This is the second of a 2-part series on trafficking and modern…
Jun 14 2020 (IPS) – Prime Minister Scott Morrison asserted in a radio interview that “there was no slavery in Australia”. This is a common misunderstanding which often obscures our nation’s history of exploitation of First Nations people and Pacific…