Four members of the East African Community (EAC) are losing $2.8 billion each year for providing corporations with tax incentives that are anyway useless to attract foreign investments, according to a report issued by the Tax Justice Network-Africa and ActionAid. This trend is “depriving countries of critical resources needed for reducing poverty” and “dependence on foreign aid,” reads the study, focused on Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda and titled “Tax competition in East Africa: A race to the bottom?”

Abdullah Al-Deerezi.

Human rights activists welcomed this week a decision by Bahrain's highest court to order a retrial in the case of 21 men accused of “trying to overthrow the monarchy” and “having links to a foreign terrorist organization”.

Throughout the 2008-2010 financial crisis, Canadian banks were touted by the government and the banks themselves as being very stable and that they needed no bailout. However, in reality, Canada’s banks received billions in cash and loan support during the 2008-2010 financial crisis—and the government has remained resolutely secretive about the details, according to a study released this week by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA, one of the focal points of Social Watch in that country).

Fishing port in Gaza. (Image: Press TV)

Israeli keeps on putting pressure on fishermen in the Gaza Strip at the height of the fishing season. Nearly a dozen Palestinian fishermen were arrested by Israeli forces off the coast since mid-April. The Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO, focal point of Social Watch in the occupied territories) warns that those Israeli policies are worsening the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

“Speak Up, Speak Out: A Toolkit for Reporting on Human Rights Issues” seeks to help journalists and other content creators learn the basics of reporting on women’s and other human rights issues. This handbook was produced by Internews, an international non-profit organization devoted to “empower local media worldwide to give people the news and information they need, the ability to connect and the means to make their voices heard”.