Photo Source: www.thelocal.fr By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe UpFront When Macron became the President of France, he vowed to keep the pride of its democratic traditions, intact, by bringing a new revolution.  In fact, he wanted to make French democracy, a role model, for the modern world.  His supporters loved his Eurocentrism, his balance of political charisma, and intellect, amidst difficult times in Europe. Some called him a younger version of de Gaulle, if not Napoleon. British columnists likened this ex-banker, Hollande's protégé, as ‘next Blair’, and wanted their own version of Macron, in their country. Although Macron started on a positive note, very few predicted protest-stricken streets of Paris, nineteen months after. As France’s new President, who won an election as an independent candidate, mostly because the other political opponents destroyed each other, he gave promises of a renewed and stronger welfare system, but ordinary people in France have ...

Photo Source: The News Minute By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe UpFront India is not only a country that now has the world’s tallest statue, but it is also a country of debt-ridden, anguished farmers, malnourished children, and where millions of people, still sleep in temporary shelters, on the road pavements, and can’t have ample meals for a day. A protest march called ‘ Dilli Chalo’ (Delhi March) by hundred thousand farmers, mainly an amalgam of two hundred seven organisations called All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC), in November 2018, just before next Indian prime ministerial election, in 2019, reflects that Narendra Modi’s slogan ‘ Sab ka Saath, Sab ka Vikas’ (everybody’s support and everybody’s development) hasn’t resonated well with every citizen in the country. For these dissenting farmers, hoping for a better future of their children, the protest march to New Delhi has involved a great amount of sacrifice, because people have been travell...

Photo Source: India TV Written by Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe UpFront Sri Lanka slipped into chaos in October 2018 when a constitutional crisis happened in a matter of fourteen days. It was 26 October, when President Maithripala Sirisena removed Ranil Wickremesinghe and appointed Mahindra Rajapaksa as the new prime minister. When people questioned his unconventional decision, as he sacked him without any parliamentary consultation, he defended this decision on the basis of internal stability, governance issues and accountability. He had adjourned the parliament session till November 16, giving Rajapaksa ample time to gain support. Eventually, Rajapaksa became the new prime minister and entered the official Temple Trees Residence. But this is something against democratic values because Wickremesinghe enjoyed a majority in the parliament. As two ‘non-confidence votes’ have already passed against Rajapaksa, it seems that it is illegal for Rajapaksa to stay in power. parliament h...

Photo Source: Catholic Ireland Written by Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe UpFront Aasia Noreen Bibi, commonly known as Aasia Bibi, had been kept in solitary confinement in a Lahore jail, a space without windows and with an open sewer, for around eight years. In the prison, she struggled with malnutrition, unattended illness, beatings and psychological abuse.  I n one of the most disturbing incidents she recounts how she had her neck put in a brace that was tightened with a key. It was then  pulled about on a chain by guards.  Bibi was accused of blasphemy in a Muslim country because in her village, twenty-five miles, north-west of Lahore, several Muslim women, poor and uneducated like her, disagreed that she should draw water from the community well, as she was a Christian. Wife of Ashiq Masih, a brick maker, one of the few jobs available to Christians in her village in rural Pakistan, she also made a living for the family, as making money was hard. The disc...

Photo Source: Evening Standard Written by Naveed Qazi | Editor Globe UpFront When the pilgrim watchers of the Muslim world went on a killing spree in Yemen, it shut the mouth of its cronies that represented the Kingdom, both regionally and internationally.  The global media has gone amok against the killing silence of Saudi government lately, when a mysterious killing of a Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi happened in the Saudi embassy in Turkey. Who was Jamal Khashoggi? What threat did he pose to the monarchy? If we dwell into the truth, he was one among many, who was killed for speaking the truth against the Saudi kingdom. Sometime earlier, there had been calls for beheading of a Shiite woman, Isra-al-Ghomgham, representing the rights of the Shiite community in Saudi Arabia, in the Qatif province, when she was sentenced in the General Intelligence Prison in al Damaam under secret.  Saudi Arabia has been notorious for its human rights violations for quit...

Photo Source: WBUR Written by Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe UpFront In the quest for national assimilation in Denmark, the minority liberal government has passed a law called ‘ghetto deal’ in March 2018 targeting the neighbourhoods, compromising primarily of Muslim immigrants, with different ethnic backgrounds, who will eventually go into cultural training centres. The government has  introduced the political plan 'One Denmark without parallel societies – no ghettos by 2030' and enacted the concept of 'non-western' in Danish law. These ‘ghetto neighbourhoods’ are defined as low-income areas and the children living in them are called ‘ghetto children’.  Currently, there are around twenty-five ghettos identified by the Danish government.  The immigrants, who live in these ghettos, come from countries such as Pakistan, Somalia, Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Turkey.  From 1980, immigrants have grown from 50,000 to 500,000 till date. Prime Minister Lars Lokk...

Photo source: Washington Post By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe Upfront In September 2018, Russia and Turkey reached what became known as the Sochi Agreement, a deal that temporarily prevented a full‑scale assault on Idlib province, home to nearly three million people. As Al Jazeera reported, Presidents Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced the creation of a demilitarised buffer zone, 15–20 kilometres deep, to be established by 15 October 2018, with rebel fighters expected to withdraw heavy weapons while Russian and Turkish patrols, supported by drones, would monitor the area. The Arab Center Washington DC, in analysis by Joe Macaron, stressed that the deal was always fragile, testing Russian–Turkish relations and hinging on the willingness of radical factions to comply. The Guardian’s Martin Chulov added that the agreement was seen by many Syrians as a temporary reprieve rather than a durable peace. On the ground, the truce offered temporary relief. Farmers began buying ...

Photo Source: New York Times By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe UpFront Australian politics has seen a turbulent decade. Three Prime Ministers have led the country since 2007, but no one has served a full term. Before 2007, John Howard assumed the PM office for 11 years. Since then, Australian democracy has been in shambles. What does it notify? Incredibility of democracy or leadership failures? As per Associated Press, ‘revolving prime ministers’ are hated by the Australians. In fact, Australia is now called as the ‘coup capital of the Pacific’. Aussies complain that their leaders insist upon ‘Game of Thrones’ like political institutions than actual governance. First, Kevin Rudd was replaced by his deputy, Julia Gillard, back then, in 2010. When she lost a general election, after losing popularity in the public, Tony Abbot replaced her, in 2013. But Abbot lasted only until 2015 before Malcolm Turnbull succeeded him. When Turnbull assumed charge, he was accused of leading...

Photo source: VOA News By Naveed Qazi, | Editor, Globe Upfront An unmarked mass grave has been found in the region of Veracruz in Mexico in September 2018. It is believed that the site could possibly contain remains of around 500 victims, according to an advocacy group, Solecito. Other investigators believe that the figure could be up to 174. It is one of the largest mass graves found in the country. According to local inputs, there have been around 32 burial pits in the site, and the bodies may have been buried at the site, two years ago, since 2018. The site is on a narrow isthmus between the Gulf of Mexico and the Alvarado Lagoon, about an hour southeast of Veracruz. Arbolillo, a small fishing village, is the nearest inhabited point. A criminal group had sent a map to Solecito, where they indicated that the current mass burial site contained remains of more than 500 bodies. It has marked a national crisis, as many families rushed to a morgue, for clues, that could help th...