By S. Gianesello BRUSSELS (IDN | EEPA) — As the UN Security Council prepared to meet on March 4 to talk over the humanitarian situation in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, the situation in the Horn of Africa was getting from bad to worse with reports of ethnic targeting and cleansing. The meeting was requested […]
Buddhism Under Threat in Asia, Warns New Report
By Krishan Dutta BANGKOK (IDN) — A new report released by the Sydney-based Lotus Communication Network (LCN) on February 26 warns that Buddhism is under threat across Asia, both from within and outside, and calls for concerted action by Buddhists across the region to empower themselves. The 238-page report produced as an eBook identifies six […]
Seven Years Since Chibok, Search on for Missing Schoolgirls in Latest Nigerian Kidnap
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — Nail-biting negotiations are underway for the release of 317 schoolgirls kidnapped on February 26 in north-western Nigeria — a region beset by banditry that takes thousands of lives each year. Terms of a large ransom are reportedly being discussed but officially denied. Frightened parents who […]
U.S. President Biden Concerned About “Deteriorating Humanitarian Crisis” in the Horn
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — In what may be U.S. President Joe Biden’s first major test in Africa, a key U.S. ally stands accused of undertaking a campaign of ethnic cleansing, massacring hundreds of unarmed civilians and threatening the fragile stability of the region. President Biden, confronting the scenario linked […]
The Great Game of Vaccination Diplomacy Targets Africa
By Kester Kenn Klomegah* MOSCOW (IDN) — Russia is committed to helping eradicate the rapidly increasing coronavirus infections in Africa amounting to approximately 3.8 million with its latest developed Sputnik V vaccine. Such a step will enable Russia to reassert its geopolitical influence that involves a keen competition with other foreign players on the continent. […]
Heavily US-Armed Niger Faces Electoral Violence
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — The country that drew worldwide attention over a now-debunked U.S. theory linking Saddam Hussein with the purchase of “yellowcake” uranium powder is in the spotlight again. On February 21, unidentified attackers set off a landmine that exploded under a car full of election commissioners in […]
Tanzania President Acknowledges the Menace of COVID-19
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — For months, Tanzanian President John Magufuli stuck to a controversial stand that COVID-19 would only be defeated by prayer. This Sunday (February 21), the President amended his position. He urged citizens to wear masks — only locally made ones — and take other preventive measures […]
Time to Redouble Efforts for Economic Diversification in East Africa
By Devendra Kamarajan NAIROBI (IDN) — When the COVID-19 pandemic crisis started, most people were extremely pessimistic. They thought that the region would drown in terms of trade declining catastrophically. But a new report reveals that the East Africa Community economies — Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda — have, by global standards, […]
Facebook News Ban Turns Attention to Tech Giants’ Impact on Journalism in Australia
By Kalinga Seneviratne SYDNEY (IDN) — The tech juggernaut Facebook’s shock decision to block all news feeds from Australian media outlets from February 18 in response to a proposed new Media Bargaining law, that will force social media giants to pay for news content that is posted on their platforms, has created fury among Australians […]
Ugandan Election Rights Violations Elicit Threat of European Union Sanctions
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | BRUSSELS (IDN) — As Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni bore down on rights groups and the opposition, the European Union (EU) Parliament responded with the threat of sanctions against Ugandan individuals and organizations they hold responsible for abuses during the recent general election. Museveni apparently sparked the […]