By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | OUAGADOUGOU (IDN) — French flags were set ablaze in the streets of Ouagadougou as hundreds of citizens of the West African nation of Burkina Faso gathered in the capital city on January 20. Many carried placards with the message “French army, get out!” Anti-French sentiment has […]
Spectacular Boom in Crypto Market in Africa
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — Why is cryptocurrency booming in Africa but sinking in rich western countries, including the U.S.? For starters, cryptocurrencies have gained acceptance among a large proportion of the low-income population that was, previously financially marginalized. Most banks in Africa were not accessible to this segment. Even […]
Amnesty International Condemns Atrocities in Mozambique
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — A 20-second video showing soldiers throwing dead bodies onto a pile of burning rubbish in northern Mozambique gives just a glimpse of what is happening far from view in this “forgotten war”, the human rights group Amnesty International has declared. It is the “latest evidence […]
Early Anti-Apartheid Activist Passes At 90 Years of Age
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — “Too often, democracy is seen as an event which happens once in five years.” Thus spoke Frene Noshir Ginwala, a South African of Indian descent who was the first speaker of the country’s democratic parliament. While she was modest about her achievements, she left an […]
MLK Urged Americans ‘Not To Rest’ While African Nations Struggle For Freedom
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — Africa was ever on the mind of Martin Luther King Jr. and his concerns for the continent appear in in his many papers in the King Institute. MLK spoke out about the Congo at an event celebrating the independence of Kenya. “There are many problems […]
South African Apartheid-Era Minister Who Sought Amnesty Dies
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | PRETORIA (IDN) — There were many heartless, soulless, violent men and women who defended apartheid during the years of racist white rule in South Africa. Some held government jobs, some were brutal enforcers of law, some gave quiet approval as tens of thousands of Blacks were […]
Ghana Seeks IMF Bailout As Inflation Soars
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | KAMPALA (IDN) — For years, few expected a financial crisis in Ghana, much less to see Ghana become a debtor nation like some of its more troubled neighbors in West Africa. “Ghana is a major cocoa and gold exporter, so why is the West African nation […]
New Year’s Tragedy at Uganda Mall Takes Nine Lives
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | KAMPALA (IDN) — A poorly designed shopping mall in Kampala, Uganda, according to visitors, was a disaster waiting to happen. On New Year’s Eve, that disaster became every parent’s nightmare. After fireworks were exploded outside the Freedom City Mall, families moved towards narrow corridors to exit—and […]
Dutch Court Upholds $15 Million Payout to Nigerian Communities
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | AMSTERDAM (IDN) — A Dutch court has upheld a payout to residents of the Niger Delta of US$15.9 million for oil spills that contaminated land and waterways in three communities. In the case brought by Friends of the Earth, Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary was found to be […]
Nigerian Military Performed “Forcible Abortions on Thousands”
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — U.S. security assistance and cooperation programs with Nigeria are facing a review after an investigation by a Reuters news team found evidence of a secret illegal abortion program carried out by the Nigerian military during its war against an insurgency in the largely Muslim northeast […]