Suella Braverman visits site yet to house deported asylum seekers in Rwanda

Guardian News – Mar 18, 2023

The home secretary toured a housing facility in Rwanda that is being built to provide accommodation for asylum seekers deported from the UK. Britain agreed to send tens of thousands of people to Rwanda as part of a deal last year but no flights have taken off after the policy was challenged in court. The deal is part of the government’s wider plans to deport asylum seekers arriving in small boats across the Channel. Critics say the approach is impractical and could criminalise the efforts of thousands of genuine refugees

“Antarctica’s Fate & Africa’s Future: Record Ice Movement, Unprecedented Storms & Unparalleled Suff ering (with More in Store…)”

BBC World Service – The Real Story, Is the asylum system broken?

Click here to listen

Millions of people around the world are on the move today in search of a safe and better life. It’s estimated over 100 million people were displaced last year. Over 30 million are refugees and 5 million are asylum seekers. The UN body for refugees says 72% of the refugees originate from just five countries: Syria, Venezuela, Ukraine, Afghanistan and South Sudan. These refugees are often fleeing persecution, conflict, violence, natural disasters and human rights violations. They make the dangerous journey across land and sea to seek asylum in other countries. Over the years, thousands have died or gone missing in the the Mediterranean trying to reach Europe. While, with help from the UNHCR and host countries, many get legal status and are settled, thousands are held in processing centres and camps, often for years. We discuss problems with the current international asylum system and ask what would a fair global asylum system could look like?

Owen Bennett Jones is joined by:

Gerald Knaus – the founding chairman of German think tank The European Stability Initiative.

Jeff Crisp – former head of policy development and evaluation at the UNHCR.

Dr Ashwini Vasanthakumar – author of The Ethics of Exile: A Political Theory of Diaspora. She writes on the ethics and politics of migration.

Also featuring:

Ahmed – a migrant, an asylum seeker and a refugee, who fled Syria in 2015 and is now settled in the UK>

Alexander Downer – Australia’s former foreign minister.

Ylenja Lucaselli – A member of the Italian Parliament for Fratelli d’Italia.

(Photo: The number of people crossing the English Channel has risen in recent years. Credit: PA)

Producer: Rozita Riazati and Rumella Dasgupta.

The aftermath of Cyclone Freddy in Mozambique and Malawi

CGTN Africa Mar 18, 2023

Cyclone Freddy hit both Malawi and Mozambique, leaving behind a trail of death and destruction. Suzgo Chitee, a journalist based in Lilongwe, and CGTN’s Rene Del Carme discussed about the possible recovery plan for the southern Africa nations and what the future holds.

Experts: America needs to accept the fact of China’s rise and multipolar world order

CGTN Mar 18, 2023

For more: https://www.cgtn.com/video Is China out to change the international order? Is it out to challenge the sole hegemon, the United States? At Our World forum, CGTN spoke with David Ferguson, a senior translation editor from Foreign Languages Press of China International Publishing Group, and Einar Tangen, a political and economic affairs commentator, on the concept of the U.S. hegemony. They believe America should accept China’s rise and be open to a multi-polar world order.

Big History and Great Transition – Great Transition Network

To become astute visionaries and shrewd activists, must we also be students of history? This question animates our March forum: Big History and Great Transition. Of course, our concern with the shape of the future springs most immediately from the dire condition of the present. Still, discerning a feasible path to a transformed civilization rests with an understanding of the roots and driving forces of the contemporary predicament, and that requires looking to the past.

In our own past, GTI has prolifically examined questions of the present and future (Where are we? Where are going?) but only sparsely the question of the past (How did we get here?). What fresh lessons, insight, and inspiration can we glean from a long view of history? In a mind-expanding opening essay , David Christian, an eminent historian, and leading figure in the emerging transdisciplinary field of Big History, offers answers.

David sees three key dimensions that link Big History to Great Transition. The first is epistemological: taking a panoramic view across the phases of cosmological, planetary, and human evolution is essential for grasping this moment of history. The second is cultural: our interdependent world of shared crises and destinies spurs the scientific knowledge, public awareness, and a cosmopolitan ethos necessary for corrective action. The third is futural: deep technological and social innovations can be expected that provide a basis for optimism.

What are your thoughts on these intriguing claims? What does the view from the moon reveal and what does it conceal? How can the cultural contribution of big picture perspectives be augmented, e.g., curricula organized around Big History? Does the arc of history point strongly enough toward enlarged public consciousness and collective action to warrant optimism?

Bernie Sanders on taking the U.S. back from corporate interests

MSNBC Feb 22, 2023 #berniesanders #msnbc #capitalism

Senator Bernie Sanders talks about his new book, “It’s OK to be Angry About Capitalism,” and how Americans can address income inequality and take the United States back from corporate interests.

Sen. Bernie Sanders on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” | full interview

Face the Nation Feb 19, 2023 #berniesanders #news

Watch the full version of an interview with Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont that aired on Feb. 19, 2023, on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”