By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK. 24 August 2023 (IDN) — Salif Keita, renowned singer-songwriter known as the “Golden Voice of Africa”, has been appointed one of five “special advisors” to the head of Mali’s military junta. Under a decree dated 11 August, the Afropop singer was named advisor to Colonel Assimi Goita […]
U.S. Extends Protected Status as Sudanese Crisis Worsens
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK. 24 August 2023 (IDN) — In a long-awaited acknowledgment of the worsening crisis in Sudan, the United States has extended its temporary protected status to Sudanese nationals for 18 months—from 20 October 2023 through 19 April 2025. Officials of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security cited Sudan’s […]
African Connection of Atom Bomb That Destroyed Hiroshima
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK. 24 August 2023 (IDN) — This month marks the anniversary of the first use of an atomic bomb, developed in the U.S. and dropped on a Japanese city to deadly effect. Little is known, however, of the African connection to this deadly weapon—namely the use of uranium […]
Saudi Arabia Seeks Civilian Nuclear Program in Return for Ties with Israel
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS. 24 August 2023 (IDN) — The US continues its backdoor negotiations to broker a deal to help establish diplomatic relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia—a potential game changer in the geopolitics of the Middle East. One of the demands of the Saudis is US assistance to set up “a civilian […]
Sri Lanka Back as Donor Darling Ignores the BRICS
France’s Macron and the US Fish in the Indian Ocean By Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake* COLOMBO. 23 August 2023 (IDN) — Sri Lanka continues to swing wildly between being a ‘Donor Darling’ flooded with foreign ‘aid’ and ‘advisors’ on the one hand to a ‘bankrupt’ pariah or outcast on the other. Last year, the strategic Indian Ocean […]
UN May Seek Accountability for Saudi Killings of Hundreds of Migrants
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS. 23 August 2023 (IDN) — The United Nations has expressed serious concern over the killings of hundreds of migrants, mostly Ethiopians, crossing war-ravaged Yemen trying to reach Saudi Arabia. “I think trying to stop migration using the barrel of a gun is intolerable,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters on […]
International Criminal Court Is No Longer a Paper Tiger
By Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden. 23 August 2023 (IDN) — There can be no question that if President Bashar al-Assad of Syria falls the International Criminal Court (ICC) will want to put him on trial for war crimes. The long arm of international law will reach him wherever he flees to. The ICC has an […]
If This Is Artificial Intelligence, Let’s Go with Real Stupidity
By Norman Solomon* SAN FRANCISCO. 22 August 2023 (IDN) — At first, I admit, I was a bit flattered to learn that online entrepreneurs are selling study guides for my new book. I thought of CliffsNotes from long ago, helping fellow students who were short on time or interest to grasp the basics of notable […]
Polarisation as a Challenge to Democracy
By Wolfgang Merkel* This article was issued by the Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission. BERLIN. 22 August 2023 (IDN) — It is above all social conflicts that shape politics, its disputes and its effects on democracy. The effects can be positive or negative, depending on the degree of conflict and […]
UN Dilemma: Terrorists vs Freedom Fighters
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS. 21 August 2023 (IDN) — A former UN Ad Hoc Committee chairman to Eliminate International Terrorism once predicted the UN will never agree on a definition of terrorism because “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter”. As someone rightly remarked: to the Indians, it is the Muslims in Kashmir; […]