By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — Business consultant Athol Williams said he witnessed high-level corruption under the presidency of Jacob Zuma—but a good portion of it emanated from a U.S. company with connections to U.S. presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, according to a new report.
Explosion At Illegal Oil Refinery in Southeast Nigeria Kills Scores
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — In one of the deadliest explosions in years, fire and blast shook south-eastern Nigeria, Imo state, possibly the result of illegal oil refining of stolen crude or “kpofire”. News reports described charred bodies left scattered among burnt palms, cars and vans after the weekend explosion […]
Former Kenyan President Kibaki Leaves Mixed Legacy
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — Kenya’s former president Mwai Kibaki leaves a mixed legacy of economic reforms and a new constitution alongside a controversial election which led to deadly violence and entrenched corruption. His death at 90 years of age was announced by his successor, President Uhuru Kenyatta. A British-educated […]
Urgent Need to Tackle Inequalities in Financing for Development Worsened by the COVID-19 Pandemic
By Jamshed Baruah NEW YORK (IDN) — In the face of dramatic reversals in global progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), urgent action is required by the international community to improve developing countries’ access to affordable finance. Inaugurating the four-day Forum on Financing for Development (FfD Forum) on April 25, ECOSOC President Mr. […]
World Military Spending Hits a New High of Over $2.1 Trillion—For the First Time
By Thalif Deen NEW YORK (IDN) — World military spending hit a new all-time high last year reaching a staggering $2.1 trillion—for the first time ever. The five largest spenders in 2021 were the United States, China, India, the United Kingdom and Russia, together accounting for 62 per cent of expenditure, according to the latest […]
A Staged Default: Sri Lanka’s Sovereign Bond Debt Trap and IMF’s Spring Meetings Amid Hybrid Cold War – Part 3
This is the second in a series of three articles. Please click here for Part 2. Viewpoint by Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake * An Unsinkable Aircraft carrier? Asset stripping a strategic island COLOMBO (IDN) — Former US Under Secretary for South and Central Asia, Alice G. Well, a few years ago called Sri Lanka a “valuable piece […]
A Staged Default: Sri Lanka’s Sovereign Bond Debt Trap and IMF’s Spring Meetings Amid Hybrid Cold War – Part 2
This is the second in a series of three articles. Please click here for Part 1. Viewpoint by Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake * Sri Lanka a theatre of US proxy war in the Indian Ocean Region? COLOMBO (IDN) — Like Lebanon, once known as the Paris of the Middle East, Sri Lanka is a relatively wealthy country […]
A Staged Default: Sri Lanka’s Sovereign Bond Debt Trap and IMF’s Spring Meetings Amid Hybrid Cold War – Part 1
This is the first in a series of three articles. Viewpoint by Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake * Debt cancellation, not asset stripping is the need of the hour! COLOMBO (IDN) — In Cherry Blossom lined Washington DC in the glare of global media April 18-23 Sri Lanka became the poster child of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF), […]
Caribbean Foreign Relations and Super-Power Politics of Putin’s Ukraine War
Viewpoint by P.I. Gomes Dr P.I. Gomes is retired Ambassador of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana to the Kingdom of Belgium and the European Union and former Secretary-General of ACP Group of State, now the Organisation of African, the Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS). PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago (IDN) — Recent events of […]
UN Condemns UK Plan to Dump Asylum-Seeking Refugees in Rwanda
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has joined other human rights groups in protesting plans by the United Kingdom to dump migrants and asylum-seekers who cross the Channel thousands of miles away to Rwanda as the government tries to cut the record numbers of people […]