By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe Upfront The facts of history are diverted and they sometimes become misleading.  The Bagram airbase in Afghanistan, which Obama visited in 2010, has become a new centre for war crimes, and the war talk is barely mentioned on the mainstream media. Let go back to 1960's and talk about the war in South Vietnam which probably killed seventy to eighty thousand people. When American President, John F Kennedy became involved in 1961, the situation had become out of control.  Kennedy authorised the use of napalm, chemical warfare, to destroy ground control and crops of poverty-stricken farmers in the government of Ngo Dinh Diem in South Vietnam. It was a process of diverting the rural population in a process called ‘strategic hamlets.’  In the coming years, U.S expansionism continued with the takeover of Cuba, trying to liberate it from Spain. Then it stole Hawaii from its population and also invaded the Philippines, killing thousa...

Photo Source: Al Jazeera By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe Upfront AT THE HEART OF THE MIGRANT CRISES of our age lies a dangerous convergence of power and division, where political ambition hardens into dogma and dogma into fanaticism. The greatest burden falls not on those who wield power, but on families stripped of home, heritage, and belonging. Their journeys—fraught with uncertainty—demand resilience, hope, and often sheer luck to secure even the most basic sustenance. As The Guardian observed, ‘the refugee crisis is not only about numbers but about human dignity and survival.’ Recent conflicts have produced displacement on a staggering scale, with violence in Iraq’s Ramadi alone forcing millions from their homes. Since the beginning of 2014, fighting displaced about 2.8 million Iraqis, according to UN figures reported by BBC News. In 2013, about 40,000 South Sudanese were waiting to be transported from Sudan, where they lived in appalling conditions in Khartoum squatter camps. ...

By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Glove Upfront T here is clamour in Greece about Tsipras administration doing a mere lip service on economic changes which they loathed in election rallies, after their mandate win. In July, 2015, the bailout programme was defended by Tspiras and it has to go well with the hopes of the Greek public. But, there has been no real enthusiasm shown for tax reforms.  Rather, there has been a tax surge.  More than 60,000 Greek farmers have been asked to pay additional taxes and pre-pay at least fifty percent of next years tax. Some 70,000 businesses have to pay hundred percent tax for next year in advance. Every service employee in government service will have pension cutbacks. The Greek leaders don't only need a credible strategy which will drive them out of debt, but they also got to have an eye on their public expenditure. Most of the Greek bonds have been sold off by international banks and foreign investors, which means, that these institutio...