By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK, 22 May 2023 (IDN) — Rarely does an attack on a journalist get worldwide attention, provoke alarm and outrage from the news writing community who cite threats to freedom of expression in a young and fledgling democracy nestled in the tip of South Africa. But this time, […]
Poor Countries Face Collapse Over Unsustainable Borrowing
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK, 22 May 2023 (IDN) — African countries that borrowed billions of dollars from international creditors and private lenders face painful repayment demands that threaten their budgets for schools, power, food and fuel. After nail-biting negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ghana’s Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta announced […]
Ex-Nigerian Leader Ordered To Explain Loan For Crime-Stopping Project
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK, 22 May 2023 (IDN) — Outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari has been ordered to account for a $460 million loan from a Chinese bank to pay for a closed circuit TV (CCTV) project that failed to materialize. Minister of Finance Zainab Ahmed reportedly has been unable to explain […]
The Military-Industrial Complex Is Triggering US Debt Crisis
By Jeffrey D. Sachs* This article was published in Common Dreams and is being republished with the author’s permission. NEW YORK, 22 May 2023 (IDN) — In the year 2000, the U.S. government debt was $3.5 trillion, equal to 35% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). By 2022, the debt was $24 trillion, equal to […]
Insufficient Progress Made Towards Disaster Risk Reduction
By Radwan Jakeem NEW YORK, 21 May 2023 (IDN) — A review of progress on implementing the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction has determined that global progress towards disaster risk management has been weak and insufficient, putting at risk the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Right to Life: A Missing Perspective on Nuclear Arms
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, 21 May 2023 (IDN) — The Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy (LCNP) has made a new submission to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in advance of its Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the Russian Federation. Currently, the tentative schedule of the UPR Working Group, with Russia on its agenda, […]
China-Strategy: Transatlantic and European Cacophony
Viewpoint by Herbert Wulf This article was issued by the Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission. BONN, Germany, 21 May 2023 (IDN) — The G7 summit of foreign ministers in Japan in mid-April sought to emphasise the need for a unified China policy. However, the diplomatic pronouncements can only gloss over […]
Has Hunter Biden Been Linked to Bangladesh Islamists?
Viewpoint by Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury* DHAKA, Bangladesh, 20 May 2023 (IDN) — US President Joe Biden’s scandalous son Hunter Biden, who has earlier met with State Department official on behalf of Gabriel Popoviciu, a corrupt Romanian real estate tycoon in exchange for US$1 million when Joe Biden was vice president in 2016, seems to […]
A19-Year-old Self Publishes a Fantasy Novel
By Maya Schlessinger* NEW JERSEY, USA, 20 May 2023 (IDN) — While most Pascack Valley (PV) students go to the library to check out books, PV senior Treshan Nilaweera, 19, hopes to see his own on the shelves. Last October, Nilaweera self-published a fantasy novel entitled The Many Worlds Theory, now available for purchase on […]
Southern Africa Looks Forward to Productive Landscapes
By Rita Joshi BONN, Germany, 19 May 2023 (IDN) — The largest living structure on earth, spanning 8,000km across Africa, is ushering in a new era of sustainability and economic growth. A game-changing African initiative launched by the African Union in 2007 aims to restore the Sahel’s degraded landscapes and transform millions of lives, according […]