Opinions

Vanessa Tsehaye is an Eritrean activist and founder of One Day Seyoum, an organization campaigning against all human rights abuses in Eritrea. The organization continues the work of notable regime critics who were imprisoned in 2001, one of whom is Tsehaye's uncle. (CNN)When the Norwegian Nobel Committee gives the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize medal to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Tuesday, celebrations will be undercut by many expressions of disappointment and outrage. Local and international voices criticizing his domestic record attracted considerable media attention, while some took to opinion pages to develop their arguments further. But Abiy's domestic record was not why he was awarded the prestigious prize. According to the committee, he was chosen for "his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighboring Eritrea," resulting in a peace deal they hope "will help to bring about positive change for the entire populations of Ethiopia and Eritrea." … [Read more...] about Opinion: Abiy Ahmed’s Nobel Peace Prize win is a flawed decision

Vanessa Berhe is a Swedish-Eritrean human rights activist and founder of One Day Seyoum, a youth-led organization that campaigns for the release of political prisoners in Eritrea, including her uncle, Seyoum, whom the organization is named after. (CNN)It was one week after 9/11, and the world's attention was on New York City. The terrorist attack had changed the world forever, but in a small country in the Horn of Africa, things were about to alter even more drastically. In the early hours of September 18th, 2001, a radio message announced the shutdown of the press in Eritrea. Following the announcement, a group of journalists and politicians who had been advocating for democratic reforms were imprisoned without a trial. The country was due to hold its first-ever elections, but they were canceled, and several democratic institutions were shut down. September 18 represented a significant turning point in Eritrean history, but the government's actions went mostly unnoticed to … [Read more...] about Opinion: Why I’m staging 17 minutes of silent protest for Eritrea

Two down, one to go.Federal judges in three separate circuits issued injunctions — two nationwide, one limited to the 9th Circuit — against President Trump’s pending “public charge” rule, which would make immigrants ineligible for green cards if they sign up for certain public benefits.On Monday, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., joined fellow jurists in the San Francisco-based 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in lifting injunctions after the federal government persuaded them that it likely had the legal authority to adopt the new restrictions.That leaves the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, which is mulling an appeal of a nationwide injunction issued in October by a district court in New York City, as the last barrier. Advertisement The lower court decisions hinged on complaints by immigrant advocates and several state attorneys general (including California) that the government violated the federal Administrative Procedure Act by adopting an … [Read more...] about Opinion: Court decisions are falling Trump’s way on a bad immigration policy

Two and a half months ago, the White House put President Trump on an irreversible path toward impeachment by releasing a reconstructed transcript of his July 25 call with new Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The question I posed then was whether Democrats could keep their focus on Trump’s handling of Ukraine and resist the temptation to turn the impeachment inquiry into a parade of long-simmering grievances against a norm-breaking president they simply cannot abide.The answer appears to be yes, they can. Tuesday morning, top House Democrats announced that they will proceed with two articles of impeachment, accusing the president of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in connection with l’affaire Ukraine. They left the door open to more articles, such as obstruction of justice for Trump’s (unsuccessful) attempts to interfere with Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. But the … [Read more...] about Opinion: History says go big on impeachment. Democrats play small ball

Roxanne Jones, a founding editor of ESPN Magazine and former vice president at ESPN, has been a producer, reporter and editor at the New York Daily News and The Philadelphia Inquirer. Jones is co-author of "Say it Loud: An Illustrated History of the Black Athlete." She talks politics, sports and culture weekly on Philadelphia's 900AM WURD. The views expressed here are solely hers. Read more opinion on CNN. (CNN)Beauty pageants are beastly. Roxanne Jones Just ask any woman -- offstage and out of earshot, that is -- who's ever entered one. You won't hear any of that "I'm-just-so-happy-to-be-here" nonsense. Or see tears of joy and hugs for the woman who just beat them to win the crown. Not happening. I should know after surviving, and sometimes winning, titles in the teen pageant circuit around New England. My mother's idea, not mine. A single mother with three children to raise and a mortgage to pay, she'd enter me in any contest that mentioned the words "scholarship" and … [Read more...] about I competed in pageants. I could never have imagined this milestone