By Kalinga Seneviratne This article is the 50th in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, the flagship agency of the Non-profit International Press Syndicate. Click here for previous reports. NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan (IDN/LCN) — There were over 250 religious leaders from across the world attending the 7th Congress of Leaders of […]
UNICEF Appoints Climate Activist Vanessa Nakate as Goodwill Ambassador
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — A Black climate activist, who found her picture snipped out of a news photo of young environmental activists (all white) at a U.N. confab, is finally getting a serious platform for her important work. Vanessa Nakate, the Ugandan-born fighter for climate protection has been selected […]
African Ministers Commit to Fighting Pollution, Climate Change, Loss of Nature
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — The 18th session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) closed with environment ministers from 54 African countries adopting a series of decisions and key messages to tackle climate change, the loss of nature, pollution and waste, including the elimination of open dumping […]
Namibian Leader in Bitter Feud Over Colonialism with SWAPO Critics
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — At a recent meeting of the SWAPO Party Youth League in Ongwediva, Namibian President Hage Geingob took the offensive, attacking his critics for dismissing the successes of the SWAPO party. “SWAPO is not dying, and party members should tell those who think so to go […]
UN Chief Considers Financing Education, Imperative for ‘Peaceful, Prosperous, Stable Societies’
By Radwan Jakeem NEW YORK (IDN) — Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, two-thirds of countries have cut their education budgets. “But education is the building block for peaceful, prosperous, stable societies,” says the UN Chief. “Reducing investment virtually guarantees more serious crises further down the line”. Secretary-General António Guterres spelt out: “We need to get […]
Truss, Sunak and Vajpayee: Devil is in the Detail
By Shastri Ramachandran NEW DELHI (IDN) — When it comes to well-known public figures, it is the little-known tidbits about them that are interesting. How and why Rishi Sunak lost to Liz Truss in the race to become UK’s Prime Minister is no big mystery. It is because the cow could not help Sunak. Had […]
China and India Slug it out in Colombo
By Shastri Ramachandran NEW DELHI (IDN) — Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar are all contested sites with both Beijing and New Delhi competing for influence in these countries. There can be no denying the geopolitics involved in bilateral relations in the region. Time was when most of the South […]
Kazakhstan Set to Return Astana as Name of Its Capital
By Assel Satubaldina This article was published in The Astana Times newspaper. NUR-SULTAN (IDN) — Kazakhstan’s capital is set to soon be renamed back from Nur-Sultan to Astana after the Parliament endorsed the draft law on constitutional amendments required to rename the capital on September 16. The document now awaits President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s discretion.
Kazakhstan, the Centre of a New Route of Global Relationships?
By Kalinga Seneviratne NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan (IDN) — Pope Francis has raised the prospect of Kazakhstan becoming the centre of a new route connecting the East and West, but this time a route that builds on human relations and respect. Kazakhstan was once the meeting place of traders and travellers travelling from the East to the […]
Kazakhstan: A Bridge Between West and East
By Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of Kazakhstan As Kazakhstan hosted on September 14-15 the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, an influential US magazine National Interest published an article by the Kazakhstan President where he dwells on the significance of the two-day congress amid rising global tensions. The following text was re-published by The […]