By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | MOGADISHU (IDN) — Mohamed Ibrahim Warsame, better known by his pen name Hadrawi, has passed away in the Somaliland capital, Hargeisa, after a long illness, according to family members. He was 79. “We have lost an icon in Somali literature,” President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said. “A […]
Son Of ‘Goodwill Zwelithini’ Ascends to Zulu Royal Throne
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — In the traditional ceremonies of the Zulu people, Misuzulu Zulu, 47, was crowned the new king of the country’s richest and most influential traditional monarchy. Thousands of people gathered at the Zulu royal palace in South Africa to witness the ceremony. Misuzulu Zulu ascended to […]
Rising Prices, Low Incomes Bedevil Sierra Leoneans
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | FREETOWN (IDN) — Americans aren’t alone in turning purple over the car’s skyrocketing costs for housing, food, medical care and fuel. Last month in Sierra Leone, women street vendors gathered peacefully to protest the soaring cost of living. A few days later, the number swelled to […]
Kenyans Select Presidential Winner but Not All Agree
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — What began as a quiet voting exercise with a low voter turnout ended with an upset victory for Kenya’s Deputy President, William Amolo Ruto, who becomes the nation’s fifth president. The race had taken a worrying turn since polls were shut down several times after […]
Asians Recall Expulsion from Uganda 50 Years Ago
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | LEICESTER (IDN) — It remains a bitter memory for Asians, some life-long and others more recent residents of Uganda, of their sudden, unexpected expulsion from the African country they called home 50 years ago this month. They had just 90 days to pack up and leave, […]
Evidence of How British Dirty Tricks Smeared Kenya’s First Vice-President
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 […]