Southern Voices to be Heeded: A Call for Debt Justice, Debt Jubilee and Debt Cancellation COLOMBO (IDN) — The Coalition for Economic Democracy in Sri Lanka (CEDSL) is a group of concerned academics, activists, agricultural, fisheries and industrial workers, students, businesspersons, trade unionists, and professionals based ‘in country’ and overseas, including the diaspora, who uphold […]
Asia Pacific Peace Groups Vow to Oppose US-Incited Impending War
By Devinder Kumar MANILA (IDN) — Peace advocates from Japan, Australia, India, South Korea, and the Philippines, gathered to manifest their unity to oppose all kinds of “imperialist aggression” in the region, have in a global press conference held in Manila on June 24, called for just peace as they sounded the alarm on the […]
Tourism in Asia Hard Hit by Three Factors
Ukraine War and Chinese Lockdowns Add Fuel to COVID’s Devastating Blow Analysis by Mohan Srilal COLOMBO (IDN) — The COVID-19 pandemic dealt a devastating blow to tourism across Asia that has been a driving force of economic growth, particularly in countries like Sri Lanka, Maldives, Thailand and Indonesia. Today there’s a trifecta of impacts on […]
Famine is a Policy Choice: The Afterlife of Covid, Institutional decay, and Privatization—Part 2
This is the second in a series of two articles. Click here for Part 1 COLOMBO (IDN) — What was never mentioned in connection with power cuts and soaring fuel and energy prices was the privatization of sale of the Yugadanavi power plant to an American New Fortress company in a corrupt mid-night deal in […]
Famine Is a Policy Choice: IMF Talks, Geopolitics and Disaster Capitalism—Part 1
Viewpoint by Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake * This is the first in a series of two articles. Them belly full but we hungry A hungry mob is an angry mob A rain a-fall but the dirt, it tough A pot a-cook but the food no ‘nough A hungry man is an angry man — Bob Marley and […]
Tourism Collective Taps into Fiji’s Unique Culture, Ecosystems
By Jone Salusalu* SUVA, Fiji (Wansolwara | IDN) — Fiji is home to some 300 islands and is known for its pristine and white sandy beaches that iconically stand as an exotic pride for Fijians all over the world. Many are uninhabited islands with lush green forests and peaks, but most are habited islands with […]
Fiji Govt’s Indifference Threatens Levuka’s World Heritage Status
By Kalinga Seneviratne LEVUKA, Fiji (IDN) — This rugged island of Ovalau covered with greenery is only 13 km long and 10 km wide and is situated off the eastern coast of the main Fijian island of Viti Levu. Its only town, the port settlement of Levuka with about 1500 population is Fiji’s only UNESCO […]
South Pacific: Fiji Tourism Is Back on Its Feet with Focus on Sustainability
By Sheryl Lal and Akansha Narayan* NADI, Fiji (IDN) — Though Fiji Islands was unaffected by the first wave of COVID-19, its tourism sector, the lifeblood of the economy, has been devastated by border closure across the world due to the pandemic in the past two years. Thus, when the Fijian Tourism Expo (FTE) returned […]
UN Human Rights Chief’s China Visit Under Critical US Scrutiny
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — The upcoming visit to China by Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, has come under critical US scrutiny. Asked about the proposed visit, US State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters on May 20: “We are deeply concerned about the upcoming visit. Our understanding of […]
Fiji: Recognising Sufferings of Indentured Labourers
By Ravindra Singh Prasad SUVA (IDN) — Every year on May 14 Fiji’s Indian community mark the day when the first shipment of their ancestors came here as indentured labourers to work in British sugarcane plantations established in their Pacific Ocean colony. Girmitiya is how they came to be known over time—the name derived from […]