Israel and Palestine: annexation in the shadows of SARS-CoV-2? Background The world's attention is fully focused on tackling the Covid-19 pandemic. But in the shadows of this crisis, Israel is quietly planning to annex parts of the Westbank. How likely is annexation and what will its consequences be? Bettina Marx, Steffen Hagemann
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Migrants and Refugees in a Time of Pandemic: Access to Healthcare Services in Turkey Commentary The Covid-19 pandemic affects different groups of people differently. It is, however, possible to argue that asylum seekers, migrants and refugees scattered across the globe are among the most vulnerable groups to the outbreak. Yet, what are the key challenges facing migrants and refugees in Turkey, particularly challenges in accessing healthcare services during the pandemic? Burcu Karakaş
A “Bridge to Health” divides India Analysis The Indian government faces strong pushback from civil society for mandating the use of a privacy-intrusive COVID-19 tracing app. The heated legal debate resembles the previous one over the country’s controversial biometric ID system Aadhaar. Kim Arora
Flawed but vital, “Planet of the Humans” poses several inconvenient questions Review Michael Moore and Jeff Gibbs new movie, Planet of the Humans (POTH) serves to uncomfortably remind viewers that in many ways, despite our increased awareness of the growing biodiversity and climate crises, often our “environmental” and “sustainable” solutions, such as “natural” fossil gas, biomass and biofuels, have proven as bad or worse than the coal and petroleum they were intended to replace. L. Michael Buchsbaum
Western Balkans Strategy Group Expert group The Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung's offices in Belgrade, Sarajevo and Berlin have estalished a Strategy Group tasked with conceptualizing and presenting to EU decision-makers policy proposals aimed at revitalizing the EU Accession process of the Western Balkan countries in line with progressive, green, and gender-sensitive values. The Group consists of prominent Civil Society representatives from each of the WB countries, and is subdivided into working groups. Western Balkan Strategy Group
Autocracy in El Salvador? The Historical Challenge in Time of Pandemic Article El Salvador, like many other countries in Central America and the world, is in a situation bordering on tragedy, facing a pandemic under the immense structural failures resulting from centuries of environmental and human exploitation. Marco Pérez Navarrete
We need a democratic debate on tech, privacy and social rights Commentary Tech will not free us from coronavirus, but it can provide us with helpful tools – if we foster an open and democratic debate on how to use it. Alexandra Geese
India in the times of the COVID-19 pandemic: an image full of contradictions Background In its fight against the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, India is facing its greatest social and economic challenge since independence in 1947. Persisting political and social contradictions have become more visible than ever before. Media reports are shifting the focus away from areas that really matter for the preservation of a democratic social fabric. Yet the current situation also leaves a ray of hope. Marion Müller
Poland: Freedom of the press in free fall Background The direction has been pointing constantly downwards since 2015. In the international ranking on press freedom by "Reporters Without Borders", Poland was 18th at the time, but has now slipped to 62nd place. 44 places in five years. The changes in the media landscape are admittedly occurring more subtly than in Hungary, for example. But restrictions on the work of journalists in the country are becoming increasingly noticeable. Joanna Maria Stolarek