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Photo: Rosilah Abdul Hamid (centre) with her 13 year old daughter Syafeeqah Mohd Rusdi (on the right) and 10-year old Nureen Irdeenah Mohd Rusdi (on the left). Credit: Kalinga Seneviratne | IDN-INPS

Leading Singapore NGO Supports Free Childcare for 'Low-Income Mothers'

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SINGAPORE (IDN) – The Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) – Singapore's leading gender equality advocacy group – has called upon the government to provide free childcare to low-income families to enable, especially single mothers, to find sustainable employment.

In a report titled 'Why are you not working?' based on interviews with 47 mothers from low-income families – most of whom come from the minority Malay and Indian communities – AWARE said that the rise of precarious employment, gradual withering away of family backing and lack of public support for caregiving has made it impossible for mothers of low-income families to balance work and caring for the children.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; SUSTAINABILITY; Gender Equality; 17 August 2018

Photo: Guevara in rural Bolivia, shortly before his death (1967). Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Guevara and Marx: Critical Remake of an Old Film – 1

By Roberto Massari*

This is the first of a nine-part series.

BOLSENA, Italy (IDN) – In June 2018, I was invited to make a presentation on the relationship between Che Guevara and Karl Marx at the International Conference on Karl Marx: Life, Ideas, Influence. A Critical Examination on the Bicentenary, organised by the Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI) in Patna (Bihar), India.

What follows is the fruit of my work to that end and is conceived along the lines of a documentary film structure:

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 16 August 2018

Photo: Kumi Naidoo. Credit: Amnesty International

Kumi Naidoo Wishes a 'Bigger, Bolder & More Inclusive' Amnesty

By Devendra Kamarajan

NAIROBI (IDN) – The human rights movement needs to be bigger, bolder and more inclusive if it is to tackle the challenges that people face today, says life-long social justice campaigner Kumi Naidoo as he officially starts his four-year tenure as Secretary General of Amnesty International.

Amnesty is the largest human rights movement worldwide, with a global presence including offices in more than 70 countries, 2,600 staff and seven million members, volunteers and supporters worldwide. Naidoo wants more.

: Devendra Kamarajan; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 16 August 2018

Africa's Emerging Markets Vulnerable To Cyber Attacks

By Emmanuel Tita Sama*

LAGOS (IDN) – As emerging markets race to join the digital revolution they are fast being hijacked by cybercriminals, who are preying on the fledgling IT environment with potential security weaknesses and using them to launch attacks on territories with more advanced defence strategies.

The United Nations recently reported that, shockingly, only 38 percent of countries globally, have a published cyber security strategy, which has highlighted that there is a huge chasm between countries in terms of awareness, understanding, knowledge and the ability to deploy cyber security capabilities and programs "to ensure a safe and appropriate use of technology as an enabler for economic development".

: IDN-INPS Middle East & Africa Editor; THE WORLD; Africa; 16 August 2018

Photo: Nobel Laureate V. S. Naipaul, speaking in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in November 2016. CC BY-SA 4.0

A Nobel Laureate who was 'the Most Homeless, Rootless Person'

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | LONDON (IDN) – "V.S. Naipaul's legacy is complex – but his writing must be celebrated," writes essayist Amit Chaudhuri. "His comments about Islam, women and Africa were often unjustified, unpleasant and untrue – but that can be acknowledged alongside his gifts."

Novelist Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul, known as V.S. Naipaul, died on August 11, 2018 at his London home at the age of 85. Born in Chaguanas, Trinidad, in 1932, in a family with Indian roots, he wrote more than 30 books including A Bend in the River and his masterpiece, A House for Mr Biswas.

: Global Information Network; ARTS & CULTURE; 15 August 2018

Photo: Vladimir Putin meets with U.S. President Barack Obama in New York City, 29 September 2015. CC BY 4.0

Libya and Ukraine were Big American Mistakes with Russia

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

Under Obama the spirit of cooperation had nearly all gone. But President Donald Trump wants to bring the era of goodwill back again. Unfortunately, because of his erratic leadership, no one is quite sure whether to trust him. Moreover, he says one thing about friendship with Russia while his Administration increases sanctions and does a go-slow on arms control.

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Two mistakes, committed on President Barack Obama's watch, were the triggers for the end of the long post-Cold War period of good relations with Russia. They were the attack on Libya by the U.S., France and the UK and the subsequent killing of its long-time dictator, Muammar Gadhafi. The second was the crisis in Ukraine.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 14 August 2018

Photo: Emmerson Mnangagwa speaking in Headlands on Didymus Mtasa as Vice President of Zimbabwe in 2015. CC BY 3.0

'Skulduggery' Foils Zimbabwe Inauguration Of Mnangagwa

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | HARARE (IDN) – The hastily organized inauguration of Emmerson Mnangagwa as president of Zimbabwe has hit a brick wall.

Invitations to the heads of diplomatic mission, international organizations and consulates were pulled back after challenges to July 30 general election put a question mark around the slim victory of Mnangagwe over his rival Nelson Chamisa.

Mnangagwa allegedly beat Chamisa with 50.8 percent of the vote to Chamisa’s 44.3 percent.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 14 August 2018

Photo credit: The University of Lincoln.

UK University Launches Distance Learning PhD For Diplomats

By Robert Johnson

LONDON (IDN) – Employees of United Nations agencies and other international organizations as well as accredited diplomats now have an opportunity to pursue a globally recognized postgraduate academic degree DProf (Professional Doctorate) that has the same status as PhD, the Doctor of Philosophy.

The University of Lincoln, a public research university in the cathedral city of Lincoln in England, has launched a two-year distance learning for the purpose. With origins tracing back to 1861, the institution achieved university status in 1992 and its present name and structure in 2001.

: Robert Johnson; THE WORLD; EU & Europe; 14 August 2018

E-Government Favours Sustainable and Resilient Societies, Finds UN Survey

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – Almost two thirds of 193 United Nations member States demonstrate a high-level of e-government development with EGDI (the E-Government Development Index) values above in the range of 0.5 and 1, finds a new survey, which also draws attention to the widening 'digital divide' between the industrialized and least developed countries.

The share of countries with low e-government levels, in the range of 0 to 0.25, has dropped by a significant 50 percent, from 32 countries in to 16 countries in 2018, says the 2018 UN E-Government Survey.

: Santo D. Banerjee; SUSTAINABILITY; Sustainable Cities & Communities; 13 August 2018

Photo: UN Peacekeepers serving with the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) patrol the city of Bangui in 2017. UN Photo/ Hervé Serefio

Security Council Calls for Better UN Agency Cooperation in Central Africa

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – In view of "the volatile and fast‑evolving nature of the political, security and social situation" in Central Africa, the United Nations Secretary-General has asked the Security Council to extend by three years from September 1, 2018 to August 31, 2021 the mandate of the UN Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA).

Created on January 1, 2011, and operating under the purview of the Department of Political Affairs, UNOCA covers the 11 member States of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS): Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Rwanda, and Sao Tome and Principe.