Afghanistan On the Long Road to Trust and Reconciliation By Rita Joshi BERLIN (IDN) – As a friend to Afghanistan, Germany has supported efforts to achieve peace in the country for many years. After 40 years of almost constant violence, the main prerequisites for peace, according to the German Foreign Office, are “a willingness to […]
Moulding Muslim Culture in Sri Lanka Echoes Chinese Uighur Experiment
Viewpoint by Dr Ameer Ali The writer is a lecturer in economics at the School of Business and Governance, Murdoch University, Western Australia. PERTH (IDN) – The July 7 ‘Rally of the Un-Enlightened‘, that fizzled out without the expected turnout of 10,000 Buddhist monks, was the most emphatic demonstration yet by the majority Sinhala Buddhists […]
Too Many Taboos Hinder Progress of Young Pakistani Women
By Sehar Naz Janani KARACHI (IDN) – “Girls have the right to take important decisions of their lives, and only education can help them to stand on their feet and fight for themselves”, says Rabia, a Pakistani mother from rural Sindh. Pakistani mothers are so dedicated to educating their daughters to ensure that they would […]
Sri Lanka’s Strategic Location Incites US-China Rivalry
By Kalinga Seneviratne SINGAPORE (IDN) – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cancelled a scheduled visit to Sri Lanka on June 27 as part of his ‘Indo-Pacific’ tour citing “unavoidable scheduling conflicts”, according to the United States Embassy in Colombo. But they might more precisely have said, the visit was dropped “due to unavoidable opposition to U.S. […]
Ethics Essential to Developing Global Smart Tech, Say Experts
By David Robie* This feature is moved in association with the Pacific Media Centre in New Zealand. BANGKOK (IDN) – Addressing the annual conference of Asian communication scholars, a leading cyber security expert has called on universities to play a more active role in implementing ethics and legal frameworks for communications smart technology to save […]
Tunisia Forces Bangladeshi Migrants to Return Home
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network New York (IDN) – A shipload of desperate Bangladeshi migrants was told to turn the boat around and go home by Tunisian officials or be deprived of food, water and medicines. The migrants, trapped on a merchant ship off Tunisia for three weeks, were sent back to their home […]
Borobodur in Indonesia has the Potential to Epitomise Religious Tolerance in Asia
By Kalinga Seneviratne This article is the 33rd in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate. Click here for previous series. SINGAPORE IDN) – Thousands of Indonesian Buddhists went on a 4 km procession from Mendut monastery to the historic Borobodur temple in Central Java […]
Asia-Pacific Failing on Achieving Global Development Goals
By Devinder Kumar NEW DELHI | BANGKOK (IDN) – The leaders and senior government officials, attending the 75th Session of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) from May 27 to 31 in Bangkok, have called for efforts to advance equality and empowerment for over four billion people across […]
Congress Should Dump Gandhi Family, Reinvent itself for Survival
Viewpoint by Shastri Ramachandaran The Congress party has to reshape and sharpen itself for re-emerging as an instrument of public usefulness, writes in the Outlook Shastri Ramachandaran, a political and foreign affairs commentator, also for IDN-INPS. Views expressed are his own. NEW DELHI (IDN-INPS) – Congress president Rahul Gandhi and, perhaps, his sister and party’s […]
Pakistan Tests Nuclear-Capable Ballistic Missile, Affirms Willingness for Dialogue with India
By Ayaz Gul This article first appeared on Voice of America on May 23, 2019. ISLAMABAD (IDN-INPS) – Pakistan says it has successfully conducted a “training launch” of a ballistic missile capable of carrying both nuclear and conventional warheads up to 1,500 kilometers. The move came amid Pakistan’s heightened military tensions with neighboring rival India, […]