By Kalinga Seneviratne This article is the 51st 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. BODHGAYA, India (IDN) — The Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual leader, has just concluded a three-day speaking engagement here at Bodhgaya, known as […]
UN Concerned About 10 Million People Detained Worldwide
They are Threatened with Torture & ill-Treatment By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — According to a joke that was circulating in Washington political circles in a bygone era, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s notorious torture chamber in the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad—once held up as a symbol of barbarity—was never shut down. After the […]
South Pacific: Democracy Prevails in Fiji
Former Coup leaders Change Roles in Parliamentary Vote By Ravindra Singh Prasad SUVA (IDN) — In a parliamentary vote on December 24, former coup leader Sitiveni Rabuka was elected the new Prime Minister by a slim majority of one after a hung parliament. He replaces another former coup leader and twice democracy-elected Prime Minister, Voreqe […]
Austria: Call for an Independent Law Enforcement Body
A Special Report by Aurora Weiss VIENNA (IDN) — Austria’s capital is home to 20 international United Nations offices and organisations seated at the Vienna International Centre. But law enforcement in this country falls short of the UN’s requirements. The United Nations Convention against Corruption, for example, calls for independent bodies or persons specialized in […]
A NATO-Ukrainian Proposal for European Security
By Vladimir Socor * WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN) — The Ukrainian Presidential Office envisages a system of international security guarantees vis-a-vis Russia that would answer Kyiv’s post-war requirements. The guarantees would be provided by willing North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member countries, albeit, at the moment, short of NATO membership, this would potentially clear Ukraine’s path […]
McCarthy’s Ghost Could Haunt Biden’s Path to Renomination
Viewpoint by Norman Solomon and Jeff Cohen* SAN FRANCISCO (IDN) — These days, conventional media wisdom says that President Biden will have a smooth path to renomination if he wants it. Don’t be so sure. Fifty-five years ago, pundits scoffed when a Democratic senator announced that he was running against incumbent Lyndon Johnson for their […]
US Foundation Commits $19.2 Million to Bolster Nigerian Media
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has announced 13 grants totalling more than $19.2 million to strengthen local and regional investigative journalism in Nigeria. The initiative, awarded through the foundation’s Nigeria program, seeks to reduce corruption by supporting Nigerian-led anti-corruption efforts that advance […]
Fiji: Two Former Coup Leaders Fight for Democratic Right to Govern
By Ravindra Singh Prasad SUVA, Fiji (IDN) — It is an ironic fact in Fiji Islands, a multi-ethnic nation of under one million people in the South Pacific, that coups don’t work and ultimately lead to constitutional reforms and democratic elections. As Fiji goes to the polls on December 14, the choice is between choosing […]
ANC Worried About Possible Ouster of South African President
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | JOHANNESBURG (IDN) — A convoluted tale of monies hidden in a sofa in the home of the South African President Cyril Ramaphosa threatens to unseat a popular leader while it creates more headaches for the African National Congress. According to the charges, a fortune in U.S. […]
Recalling the Massacre in Namibia on Genocide Prevention Day
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — Genocide Prevention Day falls on December 9 and marks the anniversary of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (also known as the UN Genocide Convention. On this day, the victims of genocide worldwide are remembered. People around the world […]