By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — As election fever was cresting in the East African nation of Kenya, declassified documents were published exposing the spread of fake news by the UK’s propaganda arm against the country’s first vice president, Oginga Odinga (October 1911-20 January 1994), for his leftist views. Provisional results […]
New Jersey Senator Seeks Review of Aid to Rwanda For Rights Abuses in DR Congo
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — The Rwandan government’s human rights record is under a harsh spotlight over its role in the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Sen. Robert Menendez, chair of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he would place a hold on U.S. security assistance to […]
Study Supports Reparations in Climate-Damaged African Nations
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — The African continent of 1.2 billion people, which represents 17% of the world’s population, contributes less than 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions but suffers from extreme weather events, which scientists have warned will become more frequent due to climate change.
New Film Highlights World’s Only Female Army in the Kingdom of Dahomey
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — The only documented female army in modern history was that of the Kingdom of Dahomey—now southern Benin—which, by the 1800s, had thousands of female troops. In September, a film version that portrays the lives of these warrior women will be seen in cinemas around the […]
The Congo, its Minerals and its Tribalism
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden (IDN) — When the United Nations pulled its troops out of the Congo, a country the size of western Europe, in June 1964, Secretary General U Thant reported, “The UN cannot permanently protect the Congo from internal tensions and disturbances created by its own organic growth towards unity and […]
Unsolved Cases of Police Brutality on The Rise in Kenya
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — For Kenyans who waited six years and one month for justice, a Nairobi court finally handed them a decision—finding three police officers guilty in the kidnapping and murder of a human rights lawyer, his client and their taxi driver—all of whom disappeared after being locked […]
Deep Cuts in Funds for African Drought Victims as Money Flows to Europe
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — The war in Ukraine is draining millions of dollars away from crises in Africa as funds are being redirected to Europe. Somalia, facing a food shortage largely driven by the war, could be the most vulnerable. Its aid funding is less than half of last […]
Ivorian Parliament to Review Polygamy in a Blow for Women’s Equality
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — A bill before parliament in the Ivory Coast would upend monogamy and restore polygamy—a marriage that includes one husband and at least two wives. Outraged women’s groups call it a return to inequality. The move mirrors setbacks worldwide, including the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on […]
Why Do Zimbabwean Women Shun Politics?
By Farai Shawn Matiashe MUTARE, Zimbabwe (IDN) — Cyberbullying and online sexual harassment are some dilemmas that young women trying to rise in Zimbabwe’s patriarchal and male-dominated political space face. What started as a debate on the opposition party, Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), led by young and charismatic politician Nelson Chamisa not having structures, […]
New Film Shows Eminent Somali Runner Forced into Slavery in the UK
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — Somalia-born runner Mohamed Abdi Jama Farah, known as Mo Farah, won 10 gold medals (four Olympic and six World titles) for being the second man in history to win long-distance doubles at successive Olympics and World Championships. But he won much more than that. He […]