By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 19 May 2024 (IDN) — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is promoting a long-awaited new law that would provide universal health care free of charge for all. It could lead to the biggest shake-up in the health sector since the end of the racist system of apartheid 30 […]
Microsoft Shuts Down Center in Lagos, Leaving Hundreds in the Lurch
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 19 May 2024 (IDN) — A Microsoft development center is shutting down in Lagos, where hundreds of staffers had nursed high hopes for training opportunities and the prospect of a good job in the high-tech industry. Just two years ago, the Development Center was opened with […]
A Novel Uncovers the Brutal Realities of West African Migrant Trafficking
By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | 19 May 2024 (IDN) — ‘The Human Flow’, a novel by Jonathan Power—a renowned journalist, filmmaker, and broadcaster—offers a gripping and thought-provoking read. Published by ‘ibidem Press’ in February 2024, it is a captivating book about two journalists—a Tanzanian, Agnes and Jon, an Englishman. They embark on a dangerous journey […]
Swiss Court Convicts a Former Gambian Minister for Crimes Against Humanity
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 17 May 2024 (IDN) — A former minister of the West African nation of The Gambia has been found guilty of multiple crimes against humanity during the brutal regime of President Yahya Jammeh. The verdict came from the top court of Switzerland whose law recognizes universal […]
African Women Battling Legal Bias in Families
By Kizito Makoye DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania | 16 May 2024 (IDN) —Thandi* was barely 14 when she was forced into marriage—crushing her dreams to become a nurse. Her cash-strapped granny who lives in Malawi’s impoverished Nano district, married her off at a meagre pride of 15,000 Malawian Kwacha, barely $8. The money, intended to […]
Bad Weather and Poor Harvests Devastating Cocoa Crop in Ghana
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 13 May 2024 (IDN) — Everyone or almost everyone loves chocolate, making it imperative to follow Ghana’s production shortfall and similar problems in the Ivory Coast. These shortfalls have fuelled historic surges in cocoa prices, forcing customers to shell out more for familiar chocolate bars and […]
Lawyer Defies President of Tunisia as He Cracks Down on Free Speech
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 12 May 2024 (IDN) — Authorities in Tunisia are tightening a noose around the necks of its citizens, persecuting those who criticize the government and jailing dozens of Tunisians on dubious and political charges. A slender country wedged between Libya and Algeria; Tunisia faces a severe […]
New Head of African Disease Control Center Linked to Corruption Probe
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 12 May 2024 (IDN) — Trouble is brewing at the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Auditors of the African Union say the new Director General of Africa’s CDC failed to follow procurement rules, possibly creating an “avenue for fraud.” Dr Jean Kaseya is now […]
Kenya Hosts the first-ever UN Civil Society Conference
By Devendra Kamarajan NAIROBI | 12 May 2025 (IDN) — ‘Meaningful participation’ and ‘inclusion’ were the catchwords at a two-day UN conference in Nairobi, Kenya, ahead of the Summit of the Future, which will bring delegations from all over the globe to the UN Headquarters in New York in September. The first-ever UN civil society […]
Catastrophic Flooding Takes Hundreds of Kenyan Lives
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 7 May 2024 (IDN) — “Maji! Maji! (Water Water!). That was the frantic cry heard throughout Mathare, one of Kenya’s overcrowded squatter settlements in the capital, Nairobi, as torrential rains triggered widespread flooding across the capital city. The rains have been ravaging Kenya since March during […]