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Published by The Non-profit International Press Syndicate Group
with IDN-InDepthNews as the Flagship Agency
Dear Reader,
We are pleased to send you Edition 48 | 2020 of BEYOND BREAKING THE NEWS, a flagship news product, now in the fifth year, meanwhile published every Monday by the Non-Profit International Press Syndicate Group, with registered offices in Canada, Germany, Japan and Singapore, and correspondents around the world. Previous editions are available on https://newsletter-archive.indepthnews.net. Read. Share. Publish; free of charge but mention us as the source. We would appreciate your Feedback.
Kind regards from the Non-Profit
International Press Syndicate
By Sean Buchanan
LONDON (IDN) – “The UN said some three years ago that it expects Gaza to become ‘unliveable’ by 2020,” recalls Majed Abusalama, award-winning Palestinian journalist, scholar, campaigner and human rights defender.
“Since then, Israel not only refused to take action to reverse Gaza’s rapid deterioration into a post-apocalyptic wasteland but intensified its attacks on the Strip, hindering efforts by activists, NGOs and locals to keep this open prison habitable for a little longer. With the novel coronavirus now spreading throughout refugee camps and communities across Gaza, we cannot afford to wait any longer for the world to acknowledge our suffering and take action.”
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By Kester Kenn Klomegah*
MOSCOW (IDN) – India assumes the rotating Chairmanship of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) regional association on January 1, 2021. The South Asian nation takes over from Russia under whose leadership the organization managed to achieve progress in the political, economic and humanitarian fields.
During the five-nation bloc's last meeting held under the theme “BRICS Partnership for Global Stability, Shared Security and Innovative Growth” – on November 17, the organization noted that much advance has been attained in streamlining the full-scale operational activity of BRICS.
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By Abdus Sattar Ghazali *
FREMONT, California (IDN) – The United Nations has overwhelmingly approved a resolution calling for Palestinian self-determination and end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory since 1967.
The resolution was approved on November 19 by the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee — the committee that deals with human rights and humanitarian affairs. It was passed 163 to 5, with 10 abstentions. Those who voted against were: the United States, Israel, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Nauru also voted against the resolution.
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By Jutta Wolf
BERLIN (IDN) – "Ethiopia needs a ceasefire," German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Ethiopia, Demeke Mekonnen, at a meeting at the Foreign Office in Berlin on November 27. The talks focused on the conflict in the northern Ethiopian region of Tigray.
According to the German Foreign Office, Ethiopia and Germany are partners with longstanding relations. Ethiopia is a priority country of German development cooperation. Germany is one of the biggest buyers of Ethiopian goods, primarily coffee and textiles. The main German exports to Ethiopia are finished products such as machinery, engines, motor vehicles, chemicals and medicines.
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By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) – Elections are a deadly game in Uganda. That was the message issued twice by Security Minister General Elly Tumwine as political rallies heat up and a national election to elect the President and the Parliament scheduled for January 14, 2021 draws near.
"Police have a right to shoot you and kill you if you reach a certain level of violence," Gen. Tumwine declared. "Can I repeat? Police have a right to shoot you and you die for nothing.... do it at your own risk."
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By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) – A U.S. State Department red level “Do Not Visit” warning against travel to Burkina Faso has been posted to the U.S. website, as rising rates of COVID-19, terrorism, crime and kidnapping are said to endanger visitors to that country.
“Terrorists may conduct attacks anywhere with little or no warning,” the State Dept warned. “Targets could include hotels, restaurants, police stations, customs offices, areas at or near mining sites, places of worship, military posts, and schools.”
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By EEPA
Europe External Programme with Africa is a Belgium-based Centre of Expertise with in-depth knowledge, publications, and networks, specialised in issues of peacebuilding, refugee protection and resilience in the Horn of Africa. EEPA has published extensively on issues related to movement and/or human trafficking of refugees in the Horn of Africa and on the Central Mediterranean Route. It cooperates with a wide network of universities, research organisations, civil society and experts from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Uganda and across Africa.
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By L. Storchi
BRUSSELS (IDN | EEPA) – On November 26, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) held a plenary debate on the current situation in Ethiopia and the conflict in the Horn of Africa region. The speakers called for de-escalation and a resumption of the dialogue for peace between the Ethiopian federal government and representatives of the Tigray region. The discussion followed a draft Joint Motion for a Resolution on November 25, supported by several parliamentarians from different political parties. The motion was adopted by the European Parliament. European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic announced plans to visit Sudan to speak to refugees.
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By Sean Buchanan
LONDON (IDN) – With Ethiopian prime minister Abiy Ahmed having ordered federal armed forces to launch a “final offensive” on the country’s Tigray region after a 72-hour ultimatum that dissident local leaders surrender expired, there are fears that those most likely to suffer will be innocent civilians.
In an attempt to counter such fears, Abiy Ahmed released a statement November 26 on his Twitter page saying that care would be to protect innocent civilians from harm.
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Viewpoint by Dr Yossef Ben-Meir
The writer is President of the High Atlas Foundation in Marrakech, Morocco.
MARRAKECH (IDN) – One ought not to doubt the Kingdom of Morocco’s abiding sincerity in its commitment to the principles of multiculturalism and to the diverse identities that constitute this Islamic nation. This embracing on the part of the government and the general public is a real, constant, and codified one, even synonymous with what it means today to be a Moroccan. However, the lived pluralistic experiences of the people must take new forms with every generation, and its translation into advancing development is now the nation’s foresighted call.
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By Sahil Mishra *
NEW DELHI | BEIJING (IDN) – The highly publicised fifth plenary session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) concluded at the end of October 2020 with an important communiqué which outlines the main objectives of China's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) and the long-term vision to realize socialist modernization by 2035.
Among many political, and economic measures, one aspect that emerged from the four-day closed-door meeting is that China will endeavour to develop modern and advanced weapons and equipment over the next five years.
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Viewpoint by Roberto Savio*
ROME (IDN | OtherNews) – The recent meeting of the G20 – scheduled to take place in Riyadh but held virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic – has been an eloquent example of how the world is drifting, in a crisis of leadership. It was, in a sense, a showcase. Everybody had to accept the view that the host of the meeting, the ailing King Salman of Saudi Arabia, was accompanied on TV screens by his apparent heir, Prince Mohamed bin Salman, who is clearly the mastermind of the brutal assassination, dismembering and disappearance of the body of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
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Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*
LUND, Sweden (IDN) – If you like confusion in foreign policy take a new look at Syria, the country that has the worst civil war since the one that raged in Angola in the 1970s, 80s and 90s. Syria is now a near-total wreck. Four of its historically important Christian cities are in ruins. More than half a million civilians are dead and many more wounded. Millions are without jobs. This legacy that happened on the watch of Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump now lands in Joe Biden’s in-tray.
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By Rita Joshi
BERLIN (IDN) – Global environmental threats, the opportunities brought by new sciences, and the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic call for the transition to the bioeconomy, says the communiqué emerging from the Global Bioeconomy Summit 2020 organised by the International Advisory Council on Global Bioeconomy (IACGB) composed of about forty high-level policy experts and drivers of the bioeconomy in all hemispheres. The transition is "more critical than ever before".
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By Reinhard Jacobsen
BRUSSELS (IDN) – Representatives of non-governmental organisations and academia from all around Europe have called upon the European Union (EU) to urgently appoint senior High-level Envoys for the Horn to engage in and provide support to international, in particular African, efforts to curb the crisis in the Horn of Africa.
The appeal is addressed in a letter to the President of the EU Council Charles Michel, President of the Commission Ursula Von der Leyen, and President of the European Parliament David Sassoli.
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By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) – “Meeting with foreign diplomats is not a crime. Nor is peacefully advocating for human rights.” Those were the first words of Antony Blinken as he steps up to the plate and assumes the position of foreign policy adviser to President-elect Joe Biden.
Blinken joins prominent leaders in the human rights community coming to the defence of three domestic rights activists who met with Western diplomats for a briefing on November 3.
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Viewpoint by Chandra Muzaffar
This article is being reproduced from the Website of the International Movement for a Just World (JUST) presided over by Dr Chandra Muzaffar.
KUALA LUMPUR (IDN) – Amidst the gloom generated by the twin health and economic crises, the birth of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a ray of light auguring hope.
More than a million lives have been lost worldwide as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, there is massive unemployment and entire societies have been devastated.
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By Mark Leon Goldberg, UN Dispatch
NEW YORK (IDN) – Linda Thomas-Greenfield will be nominated by President-elect Joe Biden to serve as the United States Ambassador to the United Nations. Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield is a veteran diplomat who most recently served as Assistant-Secretary of State for African Affairs in the Obama administration. Prior to that she served as the US Ambassador to Liberia during a critical time in that country’s transition to democracy.
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