By David Robie This article was published in Asia-Pacific Report and is being republished with the author’s permission. SUVA, Fiji, 6 March 2023 (IDN) — Two countries. A common border. Two hostage crises. But the responses of both Asia-Pacific nations have been like chalk and cheese.
Pacific Islanders Want Japan to Stop Dumping Nuclear Waste into Their Ocean
By Kalinga Seneviratne SUVA, Fiji 6 March 2023 (IDN) — Alarmed at Japan’s plans to dump nuclear waste into the Pacific Ocean regional leaders are calling upon the Japanese government to immediately call a stop to such plans. Papua New Guinea’s Minister for Fisheries and Marine Resources, Jelta Wong, said on Monday (6 March) “there […]
Flawed Nigerian Polls Stir Outrage Among Nation’s Voters
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | ABUJA, 2 March 2023 (IDN) — An error-filled election exercise witnessed countrywide and worldwide marred Nigeria’s much-awaited national polls, leaving the victory by the ruling party candidate stained by the stench of corruption and dubious validity. Held on February 25 using the supposedly secure Bimodal Voter […]
Tunisian President’s Remarks Spark Fear Among Migrants and ‘Blacks’
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | TUNIS, 27 Feb 2023 (IDN) — Tunisian President Kais Saied sparked controversy last week when he complained that sub-Saharan migrants arriving in Tunisia were changing the complexion of the North African country from “Arab” to Black. The President complained that “the undeclared goal of the successive […]
Hunger Strike in Thai Prison Threatens Two Young Political Activists
By Jan Servaes* BRUSSELS, 23 Feb 2023 (IDN) — Tantawan “Tawan” Tuatulanon and Orawan “Bam” Phupong, aged 21 and 23, respectively, have been on hunger strike since January 18 to push for reforms in Thailand’s judicial system, the release of political prisoners and the abolition or reform of some of the laws against dissidents, including […]
A Blacklisted Syria Makes a Come-Back—on the Ruins of an Earthquake
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, 23 Feb 2023 (IDN) — Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, accused of human rights abuses, war crimes and use of chemical weapons—is one of several authoritarian Middle Eastern leaders who never addressed the UN General Assembly or stepped into the United Nations.
UN Chief Berates Global Financial Systems for Denying Debt Relief to Africa
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK, 21 Feb 2023 (IDN) — At the opening of the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa this weekend, UN Secretary General António Guterres scolded an “unfair financial system” for denying many African countries the debt relief and concessional financing they need. “Systems and structures, from health and […]
Nigerian Central Bank on Hot Seat After Sweeping Banknote Recall
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | LAGOS, 20 Feb 2023 (IDN) — Chaos! It’s hard to find a better word to describe the confusion, frustration and anger felt by many Nigerians discovering that, in a surprise move by the Central Bank, their naira currency was being pulled from circulation and replaced by […]
Sankara Family Rejects Plot Chosen by Government for His Reburial
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK, 20 Feb 2023 (IDN) — The military government in Burkina Faso announced this week that the burial of the country’s former president, Thomas Sankara, will take place in a private ceremony next week at the spot where he was assassinated in a coup more than three decades […]
Looking Back, Facing Forward as Nigeria Decides
Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP newspaper based in Abuja, Nigeria. ABUJA 15 Feb 2023 (IDN) — It’s hard to imagine that it’s nearly eight years since. This time in 2015, I was over the moon with the prospects of a general election that was certain to end the […]