April 10, 2020

A daily digest of major media coverage of issues that affect workers, workers' rights, and workers' organizations overseas; discuss the impact of globalization; or mention the work of the Solidarity Center. In this issue (scroll down to see the same stories organized regionally):

1. New on the Solidarity Center Website
2. SPECIAL: Workers and COVID-19
3. Workers and Worker Rights in the News
4. Austerity / Economic News / Trade
5. Closing Space for Civil Society
6. Democracy / Authoritarianism
7. Gender Inequality
8. Human Rights
9. Humanitarian Crises
10. Inequality / Poverty / Social Justice
11. Labor Migration / Human Trafficking
12. Multinationals / Supply Chains
13. AFRICA
14. AMERICAS
15. ASIA
16. EASTERN EUROPE / RUSSIA / CENTRAL ASIA
17. MIDDLE EAST / NORTH AFRICA

NEW ON THE SOLIDARITY CENTER WEBSITE

• Liberia: Healthcare Workers Raise Alarm

SPECIAL: WORKERS AND COVID-19

• COVID-19 and the World of Work
• Coronavirus Finds Fuel in a World of Migrants
• Immokalee Workers Essential, but Among Most Vulnerable to COVID-19 (U.S., migrant/immigrant farmworkers)
• Mexico Urges End to Harassment of Health Workers in Pandemic
• Mexican Workers Illegally Fired in Pandemic Face Long Wait Without Help
• Workers at Two More Mexican Hospitals Test Positive for Coronavirus
• Brazil's Doctors Fight Coronavirus Pandemic While They 'Struggle' with Bolsonaro 'Every Day'
• Brazil's Overcrowded Favelas Ripe for Spread of Coronavirus
• GM Plans to Extend Shutdown of Brazil Auto Production by 60 Days
• Latin America: Pandemic, Journalists and Jobs
• Racist Harassment of Asian Health Care Workers Won’t Cure Coronavirus (U.S.)
• Hundreds of Migrants Stuck in Niger amid Coronavirus Pandemic
• Doctors Sue Zimbabwe Government over Lack of COVID-19 Protective Equipment
• Africa: Coronavirus an 'Existential Threat' to Africa and Her Crowded Slums
• Nigerians Struggle as Virus Lockdown Hits Supply Chains
• Coronavirus Curfew Creates Water Shortage for Burkina Faso's Poorest
• Foreigners Targeted in Central African Republic as Coronavirus Fears Grow
• Coronavirus: Gulf Countries Urged to Free  Detained Migrants and Activists
• Millions at Risk of Going Hungry in Lebanon amid Coronavirus Lockdown: HRW
• Malta Accused of Sabotaging Migrant Boat (out of Libya)
• Pakistan Doctors Beaten by Police as They Despair of 'Untreatable' Pandemic
• Malaysia's Top Palm Producing State to Reopen Estate, Mills Without Coronavirus Cases
• Clothing Makers in Asia Give Stark Coronavirus Warning
• Marooned and Abandoned: Workers from Jharkhand and Bihar Run out of Food in Meerut (day construction laborers, India)
• Ukraine: Journalists Demand Action and Support from Government

WORKERS AND WORKER RIGHTS IN THE NEWS

• Zimbabwe a Hunger Hotspot, Says World Food Program

AUSTERITY / ECONOMIC NEWS / TRADE

• Coronavirus: Algeria Gets Help Against Pandemic from Trade Partner China
• Coronavirus: Jordan's Ailing Economy Rocked y Spread of Virus
• South Africa COVID-19 Lockdown Extended, Ministers' Salaries Cut

CLOSING SPACE FOR CIVIL SOCIETY

• 'A Patriot': Murder of Activist in Iraq's Nasiriyah Puts Protesters on Edge
• Chinese Writer Faces Online Backlash over Wuhan Lockdown Diary

DEMOCRACY / AUTHORITARIANISM

• The World Is More Dissatisfied with Democracy Than Ever, Research Says
• Montenegro Urged to Delay Law Change Debate in Pandemic (freedom of information)
• Bolivia Enacts Decree Criminalizing 'Disinformation' on COVID-19 Outbreak
• China's Investigative Journalists Offer a Fraught Glimpse Behind Coronavirus Propaganda
• Jordan Military Arrests TV Executives for Airing Virus Complaints
• Journalists Assaulted While Covering COVID-19 Measures in Haiti
• Cambodian Journalist Sovann Rithy Detained for Quoting Prime Minister on COVID-19
• Tanzanian Journalist Maxence Melo Found Guilty of Obstruction
• In Parts of Africa, Police Are Accused of Excess Force amid Coronavirus Lockdowns

GENDER INEQUALITY

• Tackling Kenya’s Domestic Violence Amid COVID-19 Crisis
• 'Most of the Men Are Your Enemies': One Woman's Crusade in Somalia (protecting female climate migrants)
• Coronavirus: Iraqi Women at Risk as Conservative Families Refuse Treatment
• Controversy over $500 Million Loan that Allows Tanzania to Take Pregnant Girls Out of Their Classroom

HUMAN RIGHTS

• Canada Lifts Khashoggi-Inspired Freeze on Arms Exports to Saudi Arabia

HUMANITARIAN CRISES

• New, Larger Wave of Locusts Threatens Millions in Africa

INEQUALITY / POVERTY / SOCIAL JUSTICE

• COVID-19 Fears Grow for Indigenous South Americans as Yanomami Teen Tests Positive
• Indigenous Groups Isolated by Coronavirus Face Another Threat: Hunger (Americas)

LABOR MIGRATION / HUMAN TRAFFICKING

• Coronavirus Finds Fuel in a World of Migrants
• Immokalee Workers Essential, but Among Most Vulnerable to COVID-19 (U.S., migrant/immigrant farmworkers)
• Hundreds of Migrants Stuck in Niger amid Coronavirus Pandemic
• Foreigners Targeted in Central African Republic as Coronavirus Fears Grow
• Coronavirus: Gulf Countries Urged to Free  Detained Migrants and Activists
• Malta Accused of Sabotaging Migrant Boat (out of Libya)

MULTINATIONALS / SUPPLY CHAINS

• As Borders Harden During Pandemic, Some Countries Look to Hold Onto Their Own Food
• Immokalee workers Essential, but Among Most Vulnerable to COVID-19 (U.S., migrant/immigrant farmworkers)
• GM Plans to Extend Shutdown of Brazil Auto Production by 60 Days
• Nigerians Struggle as Virus Lockdown Hits Supply Chains
• Malaysia's Top Palm Producing State to Reopen Estate, Mills Without Coronavirus Cases
• Clothing Makers in Asia Give Stark Coronavirus Warning

AFRICA

• Liberia: Healthcare Workers Raise Alarm
• COVID-19 and the World of Work
• Coronavirus Finds Fuel in a World of Migrants
• Hundreds of Migrants Stuck in Niger amid Coronavirus Pandemic
• Malta Accused of Sabotaging Migrant Boat (out of Libya)
• Doctors Sue Zimbabwe Government over Lack of COVID-19 Protective Equipment
• Africa: Coronavirus an 'Existential Threat' to Africa and Her Crowded Slums
• Nigerians Struggle as Virus Lockdown Hits Supply Chains
• Coronavirus Curfew Creates Water Shortage for Burkina Faso's Poorest
• Foreigners Targeted in Central African Republic as Coronavirus Fears Grow
• Coronavirus: Gulf Countries Urged to Free  Detained Migrants and Activists
• Zimbabwe a Hunger Hotspot, Says World Food Program
• South Africa COVID-19 Lockdown Extended, Ministers' Salaries Cut
• The World Is More Dissatisfied with Democracy Than Ever, Research Says
• Tanzanian Journalist Maxence Melo Found Guilty of Obstruction
• Controversy over $500 Million Loan that Allows Tanzania to Take Pregnant Girls Out of Their Classroom
• In Parts of Africa, Police Are Accused of Excess Force amid Coronavirus Lockdowns
• Tackling Kenya’s Domestic Violence Amid COVID-19 Crisis
• 'Most of the Men Are Your Enemies': One Woman's Crusade in Somalia (protecting female climate migrants)
• Coronavirus: Iraqi Women at Risk as Conservative Families Refuse Treatment
• New, Larger Wave of Locusts Threatens Millions in Africa

AMERICAS

• COVID-19 and the World of Work
• Coronavirus Finds Fuel in a World of Migrants
• Immokalee workers Essential, but Among Most vulnerable to COVID-19 (U.S., migrant/immigrant farmworkers)
• Mexico Urges End to Harassment of Health Workers in Pandemic
• Mexican Workers Illegally Fired in Pandemic Face Long Wait Without Help
• Workers at Two More Mexican Hospitals Test Positive for Coronavirus
• Brazil's Doctors Fight Coronavirus Pandemic While They 'Struggle' with Bolsonaro 'Every Day'
• Brazil's Overcrowded Favelas Ripe for Spread of Coronavirus
• GM Plans to Extend Shutdown of Brazil Auto Production by 60 Days
• Latin America: Pandemic, Journalists and Jobs
• Racist Harassment of Asian Health Care Workers Won’t Cure Coronavirus (U.S.)
• The World Is More Dissatisfied with Democracy Than Ever, Research Says
• Bolivia Enacts Decree Criminalizing 'Disinformation' on COVID-19 Outbreak
• Journalists Assaulted While Covering COVID-19 Measures in Haiti
• COVID-19 Fears Grow for Indigenous South Americans as Yanomami Teen Tests Positive
• Indigenous Groups Isolated by Coronavirus Face Another Threat: Hunger (Americas)

ASIA

• COVID-19 and the World of Work
• Coronavirus Finds Fuel in a World of Migrants
• Gulf Countries Urged to Free  Detained Migrants and Activists
• Pakistan Doctors Beaten by Police as They Despair of 'Untreatable' Pandemic
• Malaysia's Top Palm Producing State to Reopen Estate, Mills Without Coronavirus Cases
• Clothing Makers in Asia Give Stark Coronavirus Warning
• Marooned and Abandoned: Workers from Jharkhand and Bihar Run out of Food in Meerut (day construction laborers, India)
• Chinese Writer Faces Online Backlash over Wuhan Lockdown Diary
• China's Investigative Journalists Offer a Fraught Glimpse Behind Coronavirus Propaganda
• The World Is More Dissatisfied with Democracy Than Ever, Research Says
• Cambodian Journalist Sovann Rithy Detained for Quoting Prime Minister on COVID-19

EASTERN EUROPE / RUSSIA / CENTRAL ASIA

• COVID-19 and the World of Work
• Coronavirus Finds Fuel in a World of Migrants
• Ukraine: Journalists Demand Action and Support from Government
• The World Is More Dissatisfied with Democracy Than Ever, Research Says
• Montenegro Urged to Delay Law Change Debate in Pandemic (freedom of information)

MIDDLE EAST / NORTH AFRICA

• COVID-19 and the World of Work
• Coronavirus Finds Fuel in a World of Migrants
• Coronavirus: Gulf Countries Urged to Free  Detained Migrants and Activists
• Millions at Risk of Going Hungry in Lebanon amid Coronavirus Lockdown: HRW
• Malta Accused of Sabotaging Migrant Boat (out of Libya)
• Coronavirus: Algeria Gets Help Against Pandemic from Trade Partner China
• Coronavirus: Jordan's Ailing Economy Rocked y Spread of Virus
• 'A Patriot': Murder of Activist in Iraq's Nasiriyah Puts Protesters on Edge
• The World Is More Dissatisfied with Democracy Than Ever, Research Says
• Jordan Military Arrests TV Executives for Airing Virus Complaints
• Canada Lifts Khashoggi-Inspired Freeze on Arms Exports to Saudi Arabia