Tag Archives: 3: Moderate/Neutral

Nationality + Migration

Global News | Palestinians

UN General Assembly vote will allow Palestinian flag to fly at UN headquarters
  • With 119 in favor, eight against, and 45 abstaining, the Assembly voted to allow observer states–Palestine and the Vatican–to fly their national flags in front of the UN’s New York headquarters.
  • The flag is expected to go up on September 30, when Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to address the General Assembly.
  • The U.S. and Israel criticized the measure as working in conflict with peace efforts in Israeli-Palestinian relations.

Read the full story at the New York Times.

Nationality + Migration

U.S. News | Syrian Refugees

President Obama announces U.S. will take in 10,000 Syrian refugees over next year
  • Obama announced that preparations are being made to take in the number by the end of September 2016.
  • The U.S. had originally planned to accept 1,500 Syrian refugees by the end of 2015.
  • While welcoming the increase, humanitarian groups criticized the number as too low relative to U.S. capacity, calling on the president to increase the yearly refugee cap from 70,000 to 200,000.

“The White House’s pledge is a start, but it just scratches the surface. … The U.S. can and must do more to help ensure that thousands of Syrians fleeing violence have the safety and security they need.”

Read the full story at BuzzFeed News.

(Image Credit: Robert Atanasovski/AFP /Getty Images, via BuzzFeed News)

Nationality + Migration

Venezuela News | Syrian Refugees

Venezuelan president offers to take in 20,000 Syrian refugees
  • President Nicolás Maduro indicated that the country is ready to take in the refugees to help cope with the global migration crisis.
  • Maduro has previously expressed support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose conflict with rebel forces has driven much of the flight from the country.

“How many more Arabs must die before a great human conscience of peace is awakened? … I want 20,000 Syrians to come to our Venezuelan fatherland, to share this land of peace, of Christ, of (independence hero Simon) Bolivar, and to help with the development of this magical land.”

Read the full story at Reuters.

Nationality + Migration

U.K. News | Refugees

U.K. announces it will take in thousands of refugees
  • A spokesperson for the U.N. refugee office reported that Britain will be offering refuge for 4,000 Syrian refugees.
  • The announcement comes as PM David Cameron has come under fire for the his reticence to take in refugees.
  • The Syrians who arrive will be offered resettlement as millions pour out of the country torn apart by conflict driven by pro-Assad forces, rebel factions, the Islamic State, and the defense against IS.

Read the full story at Reuters.

Gender, Race + Color + Ethnicity

Latin America & the Caribbean Feature | Afro-Latinas

The Summer of the Afro-Latina

Image Credit: planeta-afro.org, via Global Voices
Image Credit: planeta-afro.org, via Global Voices

Summer 2015 saw a flurry of activities as Afro-Latina advocates and organizations united in forums and campaigns addressing the racial, ethnic, and gender discrimination experienced by women of African descent throughout Latin America. Events including the Afro-descendant Women Leaders of America Summit and advocates including bloggers, Descato Feminista (Feminist Contempt), Teatro en Sepia (Theater in Sepia), and the Red de Mujeres Afro-Latinoamericanas Afro-Caribeña y de la Diáspora (Network of Afro-Latin American and Afro-Caribbean Women of the Diaspora) focused on issues including gender-based violence, domestic labor, and political representation. Global Voices explores the busy summer for Afro-Latina advocacy.

View the feature at Global Voices.

Health + Ability

Singapore News | HIV+

Singapore repeals ban on short-term stays for HIV+ visitors
  • Singapore lifted a two-decade-long prohibition on HIV+ visitors in the country.
  • While visitors will be able to stay for up to three months on one of Singapore’s short-term visas, those with HIV will be ineligible for long-term or work visas.
  • Singapore, which has 5,000 of its own citizens afflicted with the illness, began repatriating and blocking the entrance of HIV+ travelers through immigration policies similar to those held by Australia and New Zealand.

“While things have improved slightly, we cannot forget that many are still being asked to leave their jobs and are ostracised by friends and family because of HIV infection. Many still suffer alone, and have trouble securing jobs and health insurance.”

Read the full story at the Guardian.

(Image Credit: Roslan Rahman/AFP/Getty Images, via the Guardian)

Other

Russia Feature | Adoptive Families

The Assisted Families of Russia

Image Credit: Irina Yakobson/The Moscow Times
Image Credit: Irina Yakobson/The Moscow Times

The Moscow Times delves into the intricate process of adoption in Russia, highlighting the legal and psychological challenges faced in a country that sees relatively high levels of adoption, but also high failure and dissolution rates. Couples discuss their attempts to celebrate their families and increase the visibility of adoption in Russia as the nation closes many of its doors to international adoption.

Read the full feature at The Moscow Times.

Race + Color + Ethnicity

U.S. News | Native American

President Obama announces tallest North American mountain will have native name officially recognized
  • Denali (“the high one” in Athabaskan) is the native name for Mount McKinley, the tallest mountain in North America, and has now become federally recognized as the official name of the mountain.
  • In 1896, the mountain was renamed Mount McKinley during President William McKinley’s second election campaign despite Ohioan McKinley having no connection to the mountain or Alaska.
  • President Obama will announce the change as he becomes the first sitting president to visit the Alaskan Arctic, where he will meet with Alaskan Native leaders to discuss cooperative measures.

Read the full story at BuzzFeed News.

(Image Credit: Becky Bohrer/AP, via BuzzFeed News)

Nationality + Migration

Europe News | Migrants

More than 4,000 migrants rescued off Libya’s coast in coordinated European naval effort
  • The Italian-led effort was responding to distress calls, which led to the rescue of around 4,400 migrants in one of Europe’s biggest operations in the Mediterranean.
  • The migrants had been stranded aboard nearly two dozen overcrowded dinghies and boats.
  • More than 2,300 have died trying to cross the Mediterranean from Africa and West Asia to get to Europe, leading to more proactive rescue efforts by European navies.

Read the full story at Reuters.

Other, Race + Color + Ethnicity

Israel News | Incarcerated Palestinians

Israel looks to release Palestinian hunger-striker after months of charge-less detention
  • Israeli authorities have offered release to prisoner Mohammad Allan on the condition that he be exiled for four years.
  • Allan lost consciousness last week after having been on hunger strike for two months, but vowed to refuse basic nutrients after being revived.
  • One of a number undertaken in protest of Israel’s “administrative detention” of prisoners (overwhelmingly Palestinian) without charge, the hunger strike has continued even as the government recently passed a law allowing for the force-feeding of prisoners.

“I think that, under the circumstances, this is a realistic proposal that would be good if he accepts it.”

Read the full story at The New York Times.

(Image Credit: Amir Cohen/Reuters, via The New York Times)

Gender

Nigeria News | Women

Women’s rights groups in Lagos continue to combat discrimination and gender-based violence
  • One activist cited more than 500 cases of gender-based discrimination that her organization has handled so far in 2015.
  • Advocates have zeroed in on workplace discrimination as a key area for improvement, with women-unfriendly policies in recruitment and human resource policies like maternity leave erecting barriers to equal opportunity.
  • Women’s rights groups have also secured a pledge from newly inaugurated President Muhammadu Buhari to see women in at least 35% of government roles in his administration, which they plan to take action on should he renege on his campaign promise.

Watch the CCTV report on YouTube.

Nationality + Migration

Israel News | Refugees & Migrants

Israel Supreme Court limits detention of migrants without charge to a year
  • The ruling struck down a portion of the Infiltration Prevention Act that allowed for migrants to be detained for up to 20 months.
  • Among the more than 2,500 migrants detained at the Holot detention facility in the Negev, those who have been detained without charge for 12 months or more are to be released in the next 15 days.
  • Israel refers to illegal migrants as “infiltrators” and since 2009 has granted asylum requests–mostly from Eritreans, Sudanese, and Congolese–to fewer than 0.15% of those who applied.

“The court made it clear that a policy whose purpose is to break asylum-seekers’ spirit to coerce them to leave Israel is unconstitutional. The judges also criticized the slow pace of examining asylum claims and the abysmally low recognition rate of refugees in Israel.”

Read the full story at the Times of Israel.

(Image Credit: Flash90, via The Times of Israel)

Ideology + Affiliation

Afghanistan Feature | Artist-Dissidents

Video

A Protest in Color

A group of artists convened at the presidential palace in Kabul to paint a mural in protest against government corruption.

View the AFP feature on YouTube (in French).

Race + Color + Ethnicity

Ecuador News | Indigenous Ecuadorians

1 Comment
Indigenous Ecuadorians march against government
  • Indigenous leaders led a march from an Amazonian province towards Quito against President Rafael Correa’s regime.
  • They argued that government policies are dispossessing them of land and resource rights and economic security.
  • Demonstrators connected indigenous struggles to broader inequalities marginalizing the poor and the general citizenry.

Watch the AFP report on YouTube.

Ideology + Affiliation

Germany News | Journalists & Dissidents

1 Comment
Germany drops treason investigation against website
  • Germany’s former top prosecutor had been pursuing charges against Netzpolitik.org for allegedly leaking state secrets.
  • That prosecutor was recently replaced, and his acting replacement determined that the site’s posting of documents detailing government plans to ramp up surveillance of online communities did not constitute state secrets.
  • The case prompted worldwide response from journalists, who argued the investigation stifled press freedom in the democratic country.

Read the full story at Reuters.