In The News

TNI: Unused Citizen Power and Public Collateral

Ann Pettifor January 26, 2019
Citizen majorities who support action on climate change or a tax system that reduces inequality must find political courage to battle moneyed interests. Citizens in nations with sound taxation systems hold more power than they realize. Taxpayers can demand that public debt target the public interest – as former US President Franklin D. Roosevelt accomplished during the Great Depression and some...

Al Jazeera: US Interference Denounced in Venezuela

January 25, 2019
The world is dividing into the usual camps over Venezuela’s president. The United States, Canada and Brazil suggest the election was flawed and Juan Guaido, who leads Congress, should serve as interim president until another election as dictated by the constitution. China, Russia and Turkey support incumbent dictator Nicolas Maduro who presides over an economy in shambles, and Venezuela's...

Reuters: Guaido Claims Venezuela’s Presidency

Mayela Armas, Angus Berwick and Corina Pons January 24, 2019
Venezuela’s Juan Guaido, head of the opposition-run Congress, declared himself as interim president soon after the United States, Brazil, Colombia, Canada and Costa Rica granted him formal recognition. Nicolas Maduro claimed to start his second term on January 10 following what many described as a corrupt election. Maduro quickly described the situation as a coup and broke relations with the...

Washington Post: Sudan Unites Against al-Bashir

Muhammed Osman and Max Bearak January 23, 2019
Nationwide protests erupted in Sudan and popular opposition to President Omar Hassan al-Bashir continues. Muhammed Osman and Max Bearak report for the Washington Post: “throngs of demonstrators – most in their teens and 20s – have been met with tear gas and bullets. Thousands have been swept up in mass arrests, and at least 40 have been killed.” Protestors have mobilized against a regime they...

Guardian: Disfigured Syrian Girl Refused US Visa

Amanda Holpuch January 23, 2019
Under Donald Trump’s travel ban, the United States denied a visa to a 16-year-old Syrian refugee seeking medical treatment for burns from a bomb attack that left her disfigured. The Guardian notes that Marwa had settled in Nuremberg, Germany, with her family. There, doctors advised the family to seek advance treatment in the United States, “following 13 operations to repair trauma from third-...

The Economist: Qatar Decides to Leave OPEC

January 20, 2019
As of January 1, Qatar is no longer a member of OPEC. Qatar, the first Arab state to join OPEC after its creation in 1960, is now the first Arab state to withdraw from the oil cartel. According to Qatar’s Minister of Energy Saas al-Kaabi, the decision was made to “focus efforts” on natural gas production. Although the Gulf nation is the world’s largest exporter of liquified gas, it is a minor...

Washington Post: Response Needed in Yemen

Missy Ryan January 20, 2019
Aid agencies and the United Nations have put out a warning about the food shortages in Yemen as the civil war rages on. As Missy Ryan for the Washington Post reports, “the civil war is putting more and more civilians on the brink of starvation.” Analysis suggests that 16 million people, more than half Yemen’s population, are regarded as “food insecure.” This announcement comes in the face of...